Notes: Cross-posted to Tumblr and ao3.

I've been rewatching season 6 lately and suddenly got the urge To Write, so have the first of a short three part story regarding the Brittana proposal. (Also I just really love Mercedes being the best friend possible.)

Story and chapter titles from "Nobody (feat. Jade Novah & Cynthia Ervio" by Todrick Hall.

Santana knows she's in trouble as soon as she walks into her and Brittany's hotel room. Everything's the exact same as her and Britt left it this morning, the opened suitcases and clothes thrown haphazardly, the empty water bottles covering the dressers and random bits of jewelry and makeup tossed about, even the vending machine snacks they forgot about in order to cuddle up on the bed in complete and utter exhaustion. Everything's the exact same, except for one Mercedes Jones standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed and a stormy look on her face, the door to their conjoining rooms wide open.

Santana holds up her hands in preemptive surrender and lets the door swing shut behind her with a heavy thump. "No matter what Josie tells you, it wasn't me."

Mercedes' face clears into confusion. "What?"

"What?"

"What did you do?"

Santana takes a couple wary steps into the room. "Nothing, it's nothing."

"Santana," Mercedes warns.

"Mercedes," Santana deadpans.

"You know, whatever. I'll figure it out sooner or later," Mercedes concedes. "But that's not why you're in trouble."

Santana blinks and glances around the room. "Uh, then what is it?"

"This is." Mercedes points to the desk, and as Santana steps closer she can see the hint of elation hidden in Mercedes' frown; it confuses Santana, but not as much as what Mercedes is pointing to. On the desk is a little box that Santana recognizes instantly. It's a deep red velvet with soft padding inside, and it contains the most important thing Santana has ever bought; a thin band that will lay flat on Brittany's finger since she doesn't really wear a lot of jewelry, the diamond in the middle and the tiny ones on either side of the band all sparkle and create faint rainbows whenever they catch the sunlight (something Santana knows because she takes it out to stare at it so much), and on the inside of the band is a small engraving that reads and I love her. Santana knows all this because she spent months looking in every city they travelled through for the perfect ring, and then weeks after that searching for a place that she could sneak off to for the engraving.

"Huh?" Santana says blankly.

"You're planning to propose and you didn't even tell me?" Mercedes chides teasingly.

Santana swallows but can't help the smile that quirks her lips when she glances up at Mercedes. "Yeah," she says simply, because, after everything Brittany and her have been through, it really is that simple. Mercedes' chiding expression stretches into a beaming smile, but before she can do anything, a seed of panic blooms in Santana's chest. "But, uh, I didn't— I mean, where did you find this?"

Mercedes shrugs. "I came in here looking for my headphones since Brittany borrowed them last night, and I found this on the bedside table instead. You should probably keep it in a safer place though, if you want to keep it a surprise, you know?"

Santana shakes her head, her eyes glazed and worried. "I didn't leave it there. It was in my makeup bag since Britt never goes in there. She always says she hates trying to find anything in my mess and she refuses to touch it," Santana explains with a faint smile, one that fades as her eyes widen. "You don't think—" Santana says at the same time that Mercedes sucks in a sharp breath, the skin around her eyes tight.

"I swear I found it right there," Mercedes says and points at the bedside table across the room, her voice strained with worry.

"She didn't— I mean, she wouldn't have— Right?" Santana feels something heavy under her sternum, like someone reached into her chest and started to squeeze while simultaneously kicking the hell out of her stomach.

Mercedes shakes her head violently. "I'm sure she didn't, I mean— You'd probably know by know, right?"

"Right," Santana agrees, but she doesn't sound certain at all.

"Well you said you kept it in your makeup bag, right? So where is it?"

"I left it on the bedside table," Santana says, and heads to her side of the queen bed to look for the bag. The makeup bag is sitting propped against the wall on the alarm clock, the zipper undone and her makeup just as haphazardly thrown in as usual, exactly how she left it this morning since her and Britt were running late, but it's not where she left it, and Santana frowns deeply at it.

"Was housekeeping in here?" Mercedes asks suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Housekeeping," Mercedes repeats, "Maybe they knocked your makeup bag off the table and the ring box fell out so the housekeeper just put it back on the table instead of in the bag."

Santana feels the vice grip loosen around her heart a little bit. "Maybe," she agrees, "I mean— Yeah, you're probably right. It was in there this morning before we left, and neither of us have been back to the room yet, so that's gotta be it. There's no way she found it," Santana says confidently, even though she doesn't feel very confident.

"I'm sure that's it," Mercedes soothes. Santana takes a deep breath and sits on the edge of the bed, sending Mercedes a wavering smile full of relief. "I can keep it, if you want," Mercedes suggests after a long moment. "That way there's no way Brittany will find it."

Santana looks up at her with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Of course," Mercedes says with a laugh, "What are friends for?"

Warmth blooms in Santana's stomach at the thought; she'd spent so long convincing herself she didn't need friends, that sometimes she forgets how much she really loves having someone who always has her back. "Thanks, Wheezy," she says, hoping to offset the too obvious gratitude and appreciation she feels for Mercedes.

Mercedes just rolls her eyes indulgently, all too aware of Santana's weird way of expressing genuine affection (and a little bit fond of the old nickname, if she's being honest). "When are you planning on proposing?" she prompts, grabbing the ring box off the desk and handing it to Santana.

Santana shrugs nonchalantly as she takes the box, but Mercedes can tell she's practically bursting with joy. "I wanna do it back in Lima. Maybe during homecoming or something. But I don't know if I can wait that long."

"Will you do it in the choir room?" Mercedes asks knowingly.

Santana gives Mercedes a lopsided smile, "Yeah, that's the plan."

Mercedes sighs dreamily. "That sounds perfect. I'm so happy for you," Mercedes says with a proud smile so wide it crinkles her eyes, reaching forward to tug Santana off the bed and into a tight hug.

"Thanks," Santana says into Mercedes' shoulder, and the spark of happiness under her sternum flickers and heats up. She never even knew how badly she needed someone else telling her she's doing the right thing until this moment. "But she hasn't even said yes," she eventually mumbles with just a hint of doubt colouring her voice.

"Girl!" Mercedes half-shrieks as she pulls back, holding Santana at arms length by her shoulders. "Are you kidding me?" she laughs, "Of course she'll say yes."

Santana swallows the small sliver of insecurity that's bubbling in her throat. "Yeah?"

Mercedes rolls her eyes fondly. "Are you crazy? That girl's so in love with you she can't see straight."

Santana chuckles and lets herself relax. "I don't think she was ever seeing straight."

Mercedes' laugh lights up her face. "Touché."

Santana grins and carefully fingers the seam of the ring box as she sits back down on the bed. Mercedes smiles softly at the look on Santana's face; the Mercedes of sophomore year would never ever in a million years believe where she is right now, hanging out in a Seattle hotel room with Santana Lopez on the fourth month of her very own tour, talking about Santana's plans to propose to one Brittany Pierce, but there's also nowhere else Mercedes would rather be.

"It's beautiful," Mercedes murmurs as she sits beside Santana.

Santana hums distractedly.

"She'll love it."

Santana's smile spreads into the softest smile Mercedes has ever seen as she uses her thumb to flip open the ring box with practiced ease. "I've been looking for it since L.A.," she admits, and Mercedes' jaw drops.

"That was months ago," Mercedes gasps. "As in literally the first month of the tour."

Santana nods wordlessly and continues to smile at the ring. Mercedes takes the moment to admire the ring again. It's still as pretty and sparkling as it was when Mercedes first found it, and now that her original shock has faded she can really appreciate how perfect it is for Brittany. The centre diamond sits slightly above the band but not so much as to be hinder-some, the accent diamonds on either side of it sit right in the thin band and sparkle softly in the afternoon sunlight streaming in from the window, and there's a hint of an engraving on the inside of the band that peaks out from where it sits in the cushion.

"I'm really proud of you, Santana," Mercedes says. "I never would have believed this was possible back in high school."

Santana rolls her eyes with a wry grin. "You tried to date the Mayor of Gaytown, I'm pretty sure you would have believed anything."

"No seriously!" Mercedes protests with a laugh, throwing an arm around Santana's shoulders. "Sometimes I can't believe how far we've come, you know? Like five years ago I was just barely on the social ladder with some hardcore early 2000s fashion going on, and you were so far in the closet they were about to name you the queen of Narnia."

"Oh shut up," Santana laughs.

Mercedes laughs again too, tightening her arm around Santana's shoulders. "We did good," Mercedes says.

Santana grins and stares down at the open ring box, watching the way the diamonds sparkle brightly as she slowly tilts the box, thinking about a tour so successful it got bumped from one month to five and a girl so perfect that Santana can barely contain herself from blurting a proposal out every time she sees her.

"Yeah," Santana says softly, "we really did."