Note: so this is a Brittana AU based on the movie Tonight You're Mine (in some countries it's called You Instead), where two feuding rock stars are handcuffed together for 24 hours at a music festival where they're both due to perform. It's a visually interesting movie but there's not a lot of story there. I kind of feel like my version is better because imo brittana makes everything better. Pretty much 90% of the dialogue here is mine. Still I kind of retained the basic formula in terms of how things move. Santana and Sam are The Make while Brittany, Quinn, Dani and Tina make up The Dirty Pinks.
X
''Hello everyone, it's the fabulous and fierce Sugar Motta and I'm coming at you from Coachella!'' Sugar Motta - former internet personality turned legit entertainment presenter - announced into a camera as she stood in the backstage grounds of the festival amongst gear and heavy duty cords and giant lighting fixtures. ''Right now I'm standing here with Santana Lopez and Sam Evans aka The Make aka the hottest act of the year. They're gonna be headlining the mainstage this weekend but for the moment we have them here with us for an exclusive interview and acoustic performance. So! Santana, Sam, glad to have you. The sun, the sounds, the people...On a scale of 1 to OMG how excited are you guys to be here? Santana?''
Together the duo sat upon a giant battered looking amp as Sugar tried to encourage a reply from Santana. The camera man, who Sugar had introduced as Mike Chang, focused his lens on her more so than Sam.
Sporting aviator sunglasses and decked out in skin tight jeans and a loose, tattered but somehow extremely stylish black tee Santana gave a simple reserved shrug in response.
''In Santana speak that means very.'' Sam nudged Santana in the side in a sibling like manner when it became clear she wasn't going to elaborate. He had a puppy dog like excitement about him as he chirped and leaned forward to speak into Sugar's mic. He purposely stuck his head into frame to subtly get the focus on him. ''There's an amazing energy here and I feel like this whole experience is going to be a lot of fun.''
After listening to her music partner's response Santana bounced her head side to side as she tried to formulate a slightly more thoughtful answer for the camera. ''I mean absolutely we're happy to be here and I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun but for me it's all about the music. I just want to give everyone a good show.''
Sugar nodded eagerly and pushed forward. ''Which I don't think will be a problem for you two. You guys have been heating up the charts with your latest single You Instead which I'm totally in love with. It's everything, it's electronica, it's dance, it's sexy, it's glossy, it's hot. You can't go anywhere without hearing it every five minutes. What's life like for The Make now that you've experienced this kind of sudden almost overnight success?''
When it became clear that Santana was more interested in the acoustic guitar she had pulled into her lap Sam answered for them both. ''Well I don't know if it's been sudden, I feel like we've been building up to this for the last few years. Without a doubt this album has taken us to another level and it's definitely opened a lot of doors for us. This festival being one of them. I think we're just sort of taking it all in at the moment. The charts, the appearances, the fans - it hasn't entirely caught up to us. We're just enjoying the chaos of it all right now.''
Santana nodded in agreement but remained silent. Sugar took it as cue to end her short mini interview and looked back to Mike and his camera to address the imaginary audience. ''Amazing, amazing. So before The Make heads off they promised us an exclusive acoustic performance so take it away…''
And with that The Make launched into a stripped down version of their most popular song.
She got loved up on the seashore
Kissing with a girl she never met before
Food was sparse but the drink was plenty
Jane was sixteen and Jill had just turned twenty
Lying there on the midnight sand
She said she'd give her the sky if she held her hand
She counted every star in the sky and said
I don't want that I want you instead
I-I don't want that I want you instead
If you don't rearrange us
If you don't rearrange us
If you don't rearrange us
While Santana had felt bored and annoyed with the inane chit chat part of the interview she found herself exhaling with relief. Playing nice with the media was not her most favorite thing to do, but playing her music, well that was always a welcome release. There was always a sense of comfort, in surety when she was singing and playing. That's where she knew who she was.
Music had always been how she knew who she was. It was the first thing she had ever felt connected to. The only thing she had felt connected to.
She and Sam had met in middle school and had bonded over the fact that both of them were music nerds. It wasn't just about a certain genre or album for them, they found an appreciation for it all. They would talk about anything and everything from the origins of country music to the social significance of the disco era. They would trade files back and forth whenever they each found something new, some new sound, some new band, sometimes some old band. They would go through phases where they would each become fixated on a certain artist or band and simply devour anything they could get their hands on. There was a two month period where Sam listened to and learned everything he could about The Police. Watching old videos and interviews, reading ancient articles. There was an entire summer where Santana latched onto The Pretenders, or more specifically Chrissie Hynde. Brass In Pocket-era. Chrissie was actually the reason that Santana had decided her first guitar was going to be a telecaster.
They started tinkering around in the garage together after school. There was months and months of rattling away making racket together but the slow start didn't sway them, they were driven. They both had a passion for song and it was that passion that kept them going.
Sam had always been most comfortable pulling the strings musically. He liked to arrange things, it was where he felt most comfortable. Santana meanwhile was the voice and the lead. Their sound was Garbage meets The Killers. Edgy, eclectic, slightly glam rock. They started small, landing tiny gigs at holes in the wall. It took them years to make a name and build a rep until finally they had their big break.
They got a deal. It was everything they had wanted since they were kids, or so they thought. It quickly became clear that the record company had other plans for them. Sam and Santana weren't exactly hard on the eyes. Record execs concluded that with the right image, the right hair, the right stylists the duo could really sell. They were faced with the choice, play the game or miss out on an opportunity and vanish into musical obscurity like so many other bands that came before them.
They talked it out and came to a very tough decision and in the end, neither of them were willing to walk away from their dreams of the stage. They agreed to play the image game. If that's what they had to do to get their music out to the masses it was a small price to pay they said. During the time span of a month or so they met with stylists and PR people who helped them mold a very specific, very manufactured image.
Very early on their image team said it was best if Sam played the role of the nerdy intellectual, the musical mastermind of the duo. Stylists wrapped him up in ridiculous clothes that were so incredibly lame that they in turn became cool in some kind of ironic way. They told him it would be best if he was the quiet agreeable one while they worked on molding Santana into the dreamy edgy sexy one. The front woman with a certain dangerous allure.
The Make's image was glossy and apathetic, and over the last year they had been spreading that image everywhere from Spin magazine to Rolling Stone. And the world was eating them up.
Their first single exploded and suddenly they were everywhere, late night talk shows and all over the red carpet, they found themselves presenting and performing at award ceremonies, rubbing elbows with movie stars and models. Their Instagram and Twitter accounts blew up. Music from their debut album was featured in sports car and sneaker commercials. They had been approached to write the soundtrack for half a dozen mindless action/thriller flicks. Santana had been featured in People's Most Beautiful magazine issue.
Their music was climbing the charts yes but in a way so much of what they were doing started to feel overshadowed by the glitz of it all. At first it had been fun, all of the parties and photoshoots, the TV and radio interviews and seeing their images on billboards, and yeah Santana had even enjoyed that 8 hour period in which she and Kanye West had an epic Twitter feud (''I usually don't but...you're someone's father.''). But after awhile it had all started to feel a little bit hollow.
Like they had made a deal with the devil and didn't know how to come back from it and were simply doomed to live it out.
Even worse, things had started to become strained in her friendship with Sam. It was true he had gotten a fair share of media attention as part of the duo but without a doubt Santana was the breakout star. She tended to turn more heads, land more solo interviews, and well, she inevitably had more groupies accosting her each night as she walked to their tour bus. It was why Mike the camera man had put the camera on her more than Sam, just like every other photographer or camera person nowadays. Now when they walked the red carpet as The Make the photogs on scene would snap a few of them together but would of course inevitably tell Sam to step aside so they could get one of Santana on her own.
There was a little bit of tension there between them now, something strange and unnamed and because of that all of it had started to feel less and less like Santana's passion and more like a job. They had both agreed to do the festival and then the plan was for them to take a break from touring and press so they could regroup and talk about where they were going as musical partners, and if in fact they were going in the same direction.
The festival was a huge deal and for first timers they had gotten a great spot in the lineup. It was too good to pass up, that they could both agree on. Whatever this was, it was going to be a turning point for them as musicians. Whether they were taking that turning point as partners in this was another question.
X
''Look I'm just saying we have to be on top of our game in ways other bands here don't have to be...'' Brittany explained as she and her bandmates walked the backstage/tech area of the festival, kicking up gravel and dirt on the makeshift road.
She and the rest of her group, The Dirty Pinks, had been walking the main grounds, mingling with concert goers and enjoying the other acts along with them, that is until Brittany saw some of her band mates attempt to partake in the festivities a little too much for her liking. At that point she insisted they begin their way back to the artists lounge in the VIP area to rest up for their show later that evening.
''I don't get it,'' Quinn complained.
''We were just having a drink or two,'' Dani chimed in.
''Yeah,'' Tina agreed with laughter. ''It's not like we were doing anything hard. This is Coachella for christ sake, if we can't have fun here what is even the point.''
''The point is,'' Brittany continued in a serious tone. ''We still have something to prove. We're basically time fillers here guys. They handed us a shitty slot on one of the shitty stages. We're barely a blip on the radar which means we have to give twice as good of a show as any of the headliners here. And for us, that means when we show up for our set tonight, we need to be sober.''
Quinn, Tina and Dani grumbled but nodded in agreement all the same. They could understand and respect that reasoning. Brittany was their leader after all and they had worked too long and too hard to get here only to screw it up.
''At least for the next few hours anyway,'' said Brittany as she peeled off her jacket and hooked it over her shoulder. It was a little leather thing with a trendy fur trim around the collar. Hipster hobo chic. ''The second we finish our set believe me, the first round will be on me okay?''
''I'm holding you to that,'' Dani said, giving Brittany a playful poke.
Their show that night really was a fluke and none of them wished to flush the opportunity of a lifetime down the toilet.
The Dirty Pinks weren't exactly mainstream. You were never going to hear them on the radio and the few music videos they had produced were wildly lacking in production value. The critics loved them and they had a small but very fervent fanbase yet they had never truly crossed over to become hugely popular.
The origins of the group all started with Brittany and Quinn in college. Each of them had musical inclinations as adolescents but it wasn't until they found each other in college and bonded over their mutual hatred for shitty college bar bands fronted by men that they decided to have some fun of their own and make some real racket together. They figured they could be just as good if not better then all of the boneheaded male musicians around their university bars. It had all started off as a goof, just something to do in their downtime between classes, the two of them toiling away with notebooks and instruments. Brittany had a definite grasp for the guitar and if push came to shove she could fake her way as a so-so pianist. Quinn meanwhile had decided to make her home behind the drums. They spent many nights banging away and learning how to create with each other.
And then it started to become something else, something real, something rewarding as they found their footing. It became less about showing up schlubby bar bands and more about them having a real message, a purpose. After a handful of some bare bones performances around their school and in a handful of bars they became campus celebrities.
Their sound and their image wasn't exactly polished but it was passionate. It was about young women being loud, making noise and refusing to apologize for it. They created a buzz within their little university bubble and soon found themselves recruiting Tina, who Quinn shared an art class with, and Dani, who they were all pretty sure had never stepped foot on campus but had found her way into the fold anyhow. With Tina on bass and Dani rocking rhythm guitar things started to take real shape.
When they landed their record deal Brittany thought they were set, they thought it was the break they had been waiting for but they were then confronted with the very real, very ugly business side of the music industry. They had a great handful of rocky-poppy-catchy tunes in their back pockets but despite their sound being both smart and accessible their record company never made much of an effort to give them the support or push.
At least not without strings attached.
After an abysmal selling first album it was made clear that if they wanted more support, more publicity, more attention, they were expected to play the game.
A rock group consisting of all young attractive women? Well that could definitely sell the execs told them. But they were going to have to make compromises. They would have to allow their record company to portray them in a very specific light. New hair, new wardrobe, new image.
They had a band meeting to see where each of them stood on the matter and it had taken them all less than five minutes to conclude absolutely none of them were down with being puppets or dolls to be paraded around. They weren't going to sacrifice their integrity like that. They were real, they were authentic, they were rough around the edges and they weren't going to change or conform or polish themselves for anyone or anything.
And while they all had their integrity intact they were all well aware that they were very much on the brink of losing their record deal and being released from their contract.
Landing this gig at Coachella was a happy accident. One last lifeline thrown to them by someone from the record company who knew someone who knew someone who could get them a slot. Brittany knew this was their last chance to make one last splash, one last effort to have a breakthrough performance that would get people buzzing and hopefully prove that they may be a little rough around the edges but they were still worth investing in as a band.
''All I know is that tonight we're putting on the best show of our lives,'' Brittany insisted confidently. ''Even if it's the last thing we do. I mean if we're going out, let's go out with a bang yeah?''
''With a bang,'' Tina said.
Dani nodded along. ''With a bang.''
''With a bang,'' Quinn added finally.
Brittany smiled. ''Now let's rest up for a few hours before we hit the stage and-wait who the hell is that on our gear?'' Her facial features turned sour as she squinted off a short distance away to spot a couple of people sitting on their personal band equipment.
As with most festivals there was always a period of time between sets that allowed sound people to switch each band's gear in and out. The Dirty Pink's gear was being stored in the wings until it was their turn to take the stage that night and it appeared as if another band was sitting on it while giving an interview.
''Huh?'' Tina made a thoughtful noise.
''Those people over there, whoever they are they're sitting on our gear,'' Brittany grumbled.
Quinn held up her hand to block the sun from her eyes and perhaps get a better view of what their lead singer was talking about. ''Oh my god, is that The Make?''
''I think it is,'' Dani said.
''Ughhh.'' Brittany scrunched up her face in mock repulsion. ''I hate them.''
Tina shook her head. ''Nah, I think their stuff's kinda catchy. Way over-produced but catchy.''
''I'm not too crazy about their sound but Santana Lopez is hot,'' Dani remarked with a wiggle of her brows. ''Her entire Instagram account is in my spank bank.''
''Gross,'' Tina giggled.
Brittany studied the topic of conversation from afar. ''I mean sure yeah in that mega hot Maxim way she's sorta totally gorgeous but The Make's music is such a turn off. Everything about them is so manufactured. Total lady boner killer.''
''Have you seen her Rolling Stone cover though? Guh.'' Dani pulled her phone out of her pocket, pulled up Santana's magazine cover and pushed it into Brittany's face.
Brittany slapped Dani's hand away comically. ''Fine whatever, so Santana Lopez is sexy. That doesn't change the fact that her band is everything that's wrong with the music industry. They're sell outs who care more about their image than their music. We were given the same option-''
''-and just because they took it doesn't make their band any less than ours,'' Quinn said in a calm attempt to be mature about it.
Brittany huffed and disregarded her drummer, instead choosing to walk ahead.
She didn't know why she was so frustrated or why she felt the need to aim it at them but there was just something about seeing The Make that set her off. Maybe it was because they had embraced their glossy image and compromised themselves in a way Brittany could never do herself. Maybe it was because she hated the fact that she actually secretly loved (and owned) their most popular single. Or maybe it was because she just found Santana Lopez's sexy yet obnoxious public persona so irritating. Brittany wasn't really sure but before she knew what was happening or what she was even doing she was approaching The Make as they were being filmed for an acoustic performance. Without warning she walked into frame and kicked at the amp Santana happened to be sitting on.
''Excuse me, what the hell are you doing?'' Brittany questioned firmly.
''The fuck,'' Santana asked no one in particular. Stunned at the sudden interruption both she and Sam stopped singing and playing. ''We were in the middle of something here.''
''Who are you?'' Sam asked.
Brittany laughed mirthlessly. ''Who am I? Who are you?''
''We're The Make,'' he answered, wrinkling up his face a bit. ''And you?''
As if on cue Quinn, Dani and Tina came jogging up, each of them coming to halt behind Brittany. ''We're The Dirty Pinks,'' Brittany answered as she sensed the others behind her.
Sam laugh-snorted. ''Why didn't you just call yourself The Vaginas?''
Unamused with that remark Brittany reacted by dropping her jacket to the ground and making a grab for the acoustic guitar in Santana's hands, swiping it away instantly. ''Why don't I just smash your guitar?''
Santana shot Sam a wicked glare. It was his smart ass comment and yet it was her guitar that was possibly going to pay the price. She didn't say anything to him, instead she decided to make a grab for the jacket Brittany dropped. With ease Santana slid into it, it was rather trendy in that ironic way. ''You wanna play that way blondie, fine, I'll just take this.''
Unprepared for that retort Brittany paused. ''Give that to me, it's mine.''
''Nah I think it's mine now,'' Santana teased. ''Unless of course you want to give me back my guitar!''
''You give me back my jacket first!''
''Like hell.''
''Okay then.'' Brittany shrugged and held the acoustic up, resting it on her shoulder like a baseball bat. ''Prepare to see your guitar busted into a million and one pieces.''
Santana tried to make grap for her instrument and actually managed to get her hands on it. And then like toddlers the two of them started an absurd game of tug-o-war, each of them wrestling for the guitar around their bandmates who stood in a tight circle and watched with amusement.
Sugar Motta's camera caught the entire ridiculous scene. Despite her segment being completely ruined the entertainment reporter smirked at it all.
It was childish yes but highly entertaining for the bystanders but pretty soon everyone was involved, trying to leap in and break up the squabble. Everyone began shouting over each other, about who's fault it was, who should calm down and who needed their ass kicked. Collectively they only stopped when finally a voice broke through.
''Stop, stop, stop!'' a tall blonde woman hollered over all of them as she and her driver came to a halt in a tiny golf cart. She wore some official looking lanyard around her neck and seemed to be affiliated with the festival somehow, though no one was entirely sure in what way. She stepped off of her cart and approached the scene, or more specifically Brittany and Santana. She managed to pry the guitar away from both of them as well as silence the entire group. ''Shame on you people. If musicians can't get along what hope have we got!''
''Who the hell are you?'' Santana asked.
''You can call me Holly,'' the woman said calmly. ''Ms. Holiday if you're nasty. And not to toot my own horn but I'm a spiritual advisor slash life coach to the rich and famous.''
''A spiritual what to the who now?'' asked Brittany.
Holly gave them all a sly little wink. ''I'm a professional life coach. It's all very hush hush though because I don't just work for anyone but trust me, I'm the person that the powerful go to when they need life advice. I'm the woman who counselled Drake during his last break up with RiRi and I'm also the godmother to both of Britney Spear's children...I can't remember either of their names but that's beside the point.''
''What are you doing here?'' asked Quinn skeptically.
''Meeting with some new clients.'' She cupped the side of her mouth and quietly whispered as if she didn't want any passersby to overhear. ''Tegan and Sara. They wanted my guidance and input because they're really contemplating bringing their iconic mullets back.''
''Oh I loved the mullet years,'' sighed Dani wistfully.
''The mullet years were some good years,'' Tina said in agreement.
''I was on my way to advise them on that very pressing matter,'' Holly continued. ''When I saw all of you arguing like fools with each other. I don't care what it was about or who started it but I suddenly felt compelled to share my gift of guidance with you here and now.''
Brittany turned and threw her bandmates a WTF expression. They shrugged in response. Santana and Sam seemed to be just as perplexed. But there was something about this woman, this Holly as she spoke that just seemed to tickle everyone. They didn't know what she was about but she was entertaining.
''Here's what we're gonna do, we're gonna form a circle, hold hands and pray,'' Holly instructed whimsically.
Santana scoffed. ''I'm not praying.''
''And I'm not holding her hand,'' Brittany smarted right back, pointedly looking at Santana.
''Come on,'' Holly urged, waving her hands about her sides. ''Look I'm going to tell you all the same thing I told Justin Beiber the first time I met him - 'gurl, you need to not'. Now I need everyone of you to set aside pride and ego and open yourself up to possibility. Especially you and you.'' She gave a nod directly to Santana as well as Brittany. ''Let's everyone take hands.''
With reluctance and perhaps a bit of curiosity about where this could possibly go, everyone standing about began to form a circle and slowly The Make and The Dirty Pinks all took each others hands. Holly stood between Santana and Brittany, taking a hold of each of them.
''Now close your eyes,'' Holly told the group who complied for no particular reason. Once they did Holly began her prayer. ''Lord, help me and these idiots to use the gifts you've blessed us with, to come together in appreciation of the music and community here. We're all put on this earth for a purpose and their purpose is to make music. Make love not war and all that bullcrap. Now I want you...'' she tugged at Santana's hand. ''And you...'' and then tugged at Brittany's. ''...to say I love you to each other.''
''Are you high?'' Santana asked Holly. ''One, I barely know her, two, she tried to break my guitar and three, I think she might be a little unstable.''
Brittany squinted. ''You're a jerk. You know none of this would've even happened if you hadn't planted your ass on my vintage amp.''
''You call that piece of crap vintage? It's a piece of junk. It's probably worth more now that it's touched my ass, glorious thing that it is.''
''Oh my god,'' said Brittany. ''You're so full of yourself. You know I've seen the Rolling Stone spread and newsflash, your ass? Isn't even that hot.''
Santana gasped comically in offense. ''You take that back!''
''That spread was probably airbrushed as fuck anyway,'' Brittany laughed.
''How dare you.'' Santana shook her head, appalled, even as the others giggled at her devastated response. ''This ass...'' she pointed to her own rear end. ''Has never been airbrushed.''
''Bend over and prove it.''
''You'd like that huh?'' Santana challenged.
''I'd like it,'' Dani piped in, holding one of her hands up as if they were voting on the matter.
Quinn rolled her eyes at her bandmate and slapped her hand down. ''Shut up,'' she chuckled.
Santana's eyes however were locked in Brittany in their ridiculous banter. There was definitely some butting of heads there but there was also a playfulness in the back and forth that hinted at something else. ''You know,'' Santana said, almost seductively, ''for someone who doesn't think much of my ass you sure do seem fixated on it for some reason.''
''You are the last person I would ever be fixated on, believe me.''
''Tell you what,'' Santana started in on Brittany again, almost purring at her. ''Why don't you come to my personal trailer and you can make up your mind on what's airbrushed and what's not.''
''Not interested. You're so not my type,'' said Brittany.
''I'm every girl's type,'' Santana stated rather confidently.
From nearby Sugar Motta gently elbowed Mike as they watched the scene. ''Are they fighting or are they flirting?''
''I'm not sure,'' he answered in a whisper. ''Both?''
Sugar quirked an intrigued eyebrow at this. Whatever this was she wanted to get it on cam. ''Whatever you do, keep rolling. Make sure you're getting this,'' she quietly instructed Mike who nodded in response, keeping his camera focused on the two lead singers.
Meanwhile Holly looked between Brittany and Santana, studying their back and forth with each other intently. ''You know what I think you two should try a little exercise I've come up with that helps people become closer to each other.'' And then in a swift little motion before anyone really saw what she was doing, she whipped out a pair of handcuffs and fastened a cuff to Santana's right hand and Brittany's left hand until everyone heard that tiny undeniable clink that meant they were both tied together.
''Excuse you, what the hell,'' Santana huffed.
''Ouch,'' Brittany whined at the new slight pressure on her wrist. ''Holly, lady, whoever you are, this isn't funny!''
''Trust me, this is going to be a life altering experience for the both of you.'' Holly began walking backwards towards her cart and driver. ''You have to learn to love each other. If musicians can't get along what hope do we have,'' she repeated cryptically.
Holly hopped onto her ride and without another word zoomed off on the trail, leaving everyone in the dust. While their bandmates stood back and watched in confusion Santana and Brittany shouted in unison but Holly was long gone. Befuddled, their only choice was to give chase down the trail, following in the direction of Holly's cart. Leaving their bandmates behind they ran for it, zooming around more gear and tech people scattered about the area. They ran and ran and ran, shouting nonsense at the top of their lungs until eventually they were both out of breath and came to a halt in the middle of the newly made dirt road. They clutched their sides in exhaustion.
Once they got their bearings about them they stood up and it was then that they realized just how far they had run. Neither Sam nor any of The Dirty Pinks were in sight.
It was just them tied together with a piece of metal by the wrists.
''Who the hell was that woman?'' Santana said, kicking dust up into the air in frustration.
''How the hell am I supposed to know? And will you stop moving around, when you jerk your arm like that it jerks mine too. See.'' As if to demonstrate Brittany waved her cuffed hand at the side of her face which then forced Santana's cuffed hand to do the same, mimicking the movement. And then just for kicks she wiggled her hand about further, in a way that made Santana's hand lightly and playfully slap her own face.
''Ow!'' Santana squeaked.
''Stop slapping yourself,'' Brittany smugly instructed.
Santana rolled her eyes and smiled. ''What are you? Five years old? Stop. Do you know where we are?''
They looked around the area, both of them completely clueless as to where they were in this maze of a festival grounds.
''No idea,'' Brittany answered. ''What we need to do is find a roadie or someone working backstage who has a bolt cutter.''
''No, what we need to do is find someone working in the emergency services here. Festivals this big have security, medics and firemen standing by. I saw their HQ earlier today, we just gotta find it again.''
''Fine, whatever, let's just start walking, sooner or later we'll come across someone but the longer we stand here talking the more time we waste.'' Brittany started them off, setting a brisk pace as she began to follow the trail while keeping her eyes open for someone who looked like they knew where they could get their hands on some heavy duty tools. Unfortunately it looked like the majority of those passing them by were press people or festival goofers hauling around packages of water with moving dollies. Santana had no choice but to stumble after Brittany.
''Can you maybe slow down?''
''What?'' asked Brittany.
''Your walk. You have...longer legs than I do.'' Santana chanced a glance down at Brittany's bare legs. Her eyes stayed there for awhile in appreciation. Brittany was sporting a very short, very poofy black skirt topped off with a plain white tee and a funky leather vest. It was very eclectic, very rock and very leggy which Santana didn't exactly mind.
''Well that's not my fault,'' Brittany teased and glanced back with a smirk which quickly disappeared when she saw Santana admiring her form. ''Stop looking at my ass.''
''I wasn't looking at your ass I was looking at your legs.''
''Same thing. Ughhh, out of all of the musicians here I can't believe you're the one I get handcuffed to. Why couldn't it have been Lady Gaga or Sia or even freaking Adam Levine.''
''Ew, Adam Levine? I'm way hotter than Adam Levine. And you know what? This isn't my idea of a good time either. It's like I get it, you don't like my band or my music, fine, but you were the one who busted in on my performance, threatened to break my guitar so maybe in your head I'm the 'obnoxious rockstar' but I didn't say or do anything to you until you started coming in on me before we even introduced ourselves to each other.''
Realizing that her initial aggression towards Santana was uncalled for Brittany paused in the trail and allowed her shoulders to sink.
Santana took it as a chance to maybe start again and stepped forward so they were able to face each other head on. She bit her lip and extended her hand to Brittany. ''I'm Santana…'' she said, trying to introduce herself.
''I know who you are,'' Brittany said although this time her tone was softer and less accusational.. ''I see you on TMZ and in trashy gossip rags all the time. I know all about you.''
''You do, do you?''
Brittany lifted a shoulder. ''According to what I've heard and read you're a self important asshole who will say and do anything for attention. You care more about showing off your abs in a magazine spread than making real music.''
''You know most of what you read in the tabloids is garbage, right?''
''I've also heard you're really good in bed.''
''Well now that rumor is 100% true.''
''I'm sure it is.''
''Anyhow aren't you going to introduce yourself to me?''
Brittany inhaled deeply. ''I'm Brittany.''
''Nice to meet you, Brittany.''
''How about this, I promise to walk slower if you promise to stop hitting on me.''
Santana smirked and opened her mouth to respond when something behind Brittany caught her eye. ''Wait, whoa, roadie at 12 o'clock.'' Her eyes lit up as she announced. She took Brittany by the hand and started leading the way.
X
''I don't understand what I'm looking at here.''
Sugar and Mike were in their rented camper just on the outskirts of the festival. They had drove down together in the cramped thing with the plan to stay and document the entire event. The media outlet they were hired by wanted them to produce several videos for this year's Coachella. They were due to make the rounds just like every other press outlet, interviewing bands and the occasional performance, filming the sights and sounds of the grounds, generally trying to capture the feel and atmosphere of the festival for everyone sitting at home in front of their computer clicking around on Youtube.
Or at least that had been the plan until Sugar and Mike had witnessed the lead singer of The Make collide with the lead singer of The Dirty Pinks.
Mike had captured the entire dust up on camera and afterwards they had retreated back to their camper to review the footage on a computer. It was then that Sugar got a wild idea.
''Think, Mike. You have Santana Lopez, lead singer of The Make, getting up close and personal with Brittany Pierce, lead singer of The Dirty Pinks.''
''So?'' the camera man shrugged.
''So we got that moment on camera. Whether they were flirting or fighting it really doesn't matter because the story's juicy either way.''
''What story?''
''Two rockstars handcuffed to each other at Coachella. Maybe someone will get bitchslapped, maybe someone will get laid, who knows how this is gonna play out. The Dirty Pinks aren't exactly huge but Santana Lopez is and any video we post about her is bound to get hundreds of thousands of hits and me and you are gonna break this story, whatever it turns out to be. Love match or rivalry.''
''What exactly are you suggesting?''
''I'm suggesting that we do what we were hired to do. Get interviews and footage of the festival but also keep an eye on those two. And if anything goes down, we'll be right there with our camera.''
''We're not TMZ, Sugar.''
''Oh come on!'' she laughed and gave him a nudge in the shoulder. ''Look we're not going to do anything crazy or stalkery, they're walking around a public place and if we just happen to be around with a camera there's no foul there. It's fair game. Don't you want to know what this is?''
Sugar tapped the laptop screen where footage of Santana and Brittany was paused. They were looking at each other with a playfulness yet also a strange sort of intensity.
Whatever was between these two musicians, there was definitely a story there.
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Just an FYI I've never been to a festival in my life because I'm a prissy little thing who gets teary eyed when I get a fleck of dirt on my shoes and because I know I could never handle the outdoorsy-ness of it all I've never bothered to go to one. So I'm kind of just basing a lot of this on movies and music concerts that I've watched over the years. I am however a musician in my down time just for fun. I can play the bass and if I'm playing in front of non-musicians I can fake my way on the piano, though if I'm playing in front of an actual pianist they can tell right away I'm just fudging it. My real love is the guitar. My guitar collection is my EVERYTHING, also if you play you should come talk to me ^_^. So when it comes to the musicianship kind of stuff I have a tiny bit of understanding. So, just, bear with me here as I try to have some fun.
