There were five seconds left on the clock. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Coaches were standing, yelling at their players to execute their plays. Teammates were standing from the bench, waiting on edge to see who would win. The McKinley Titans were down by one point, 54-55. Everyone was in the stands cheering for both sides. The entire gym was filled with people watching the girls' basketball team take on their biggest rival. Girls were on the court trying to get open to score that last necessary bucket to win.
Four seconds left. Santana passed her defender. She knew that this was the last play of the game. One opportunity left. As much as Santana wanted to be the reason her team won, she didn't have an open shot. Another defender came to guard her.
Three seconds. Santana faked a shot and the defender fell for it.
Two seconds. She passed the ball to an open Brittany, trusting the girl with the entire fate of the game. Brittany caught the ball.
One second. She shot the ball up. The crowd went dead silent. A pin could be dropped on center court and it could have been heard throughout the gym. The ball hitting the rim captivated everyone's attention. It rolled around for an agonizing amount of time before it fell into the net. As the buzzer went off, the McKinley side of the gym went wild. The Titans won their first conference championship in girls' basketball ever. The entire team was cheering even louder than the crowd. Santana went to Brittany and picked her up two feet off the ground, spinning her.
"Britt, you did it! I knew you could."
Santana placed Brittany on the ground.
"No, we did it!"
Brittany gave Santana a quick peck on the lips. They just stared at each other, realizing what just happened. All of a sudden the entire team came over and picked them both up and put them into the air. They both looked at each other, forgetting what just happened for a moment.
"You're right, Britt. We did it!"
Eventually, the crowd died down. The Titan girls went to shake their rivals' hands. Many of the girls from the other team were very upset. Santana was the last of the McKinley girls. When she got to the other team's captain, the girl stopped her.
"As much as I hate you Lopez, you did good."
"Thanks, you too."
The other team left the gym. The girls went into the crowd to say hi to their fans, friends, and family. Brittany and Santana went together to see the glee club. Everyone was there to cheer the pair on.
"You guys did great!"
Rachel pulled both of them into a hug.
"I'm in a good mood right now Berry, don't ruin it by talking too much."
"Santana, calm down. She's just trying to congratulate us. Thanks Rachel."
"You're welcome Brittany and you are too Santana."
"Alright, I'll play nice. Thanks Berry."
"You know you could call me by my first name once in a while."
"Don't push it."
Rachel sat back down in the bleachers as she pouted. Brittany looked at Santana.
"Thanks San for trying."
"Anything for you."
All the guys from glee club came up to the girls.
"What? Is this attack of the testosterone-less men?"
"Santana…"
"Sorry Britt. I mean, hi guys. Thanks for cheering us on"
"Of course Santana. We haven't missed a game all season and we're especially glad we didn't miss this one. You two were great out there."
"Thanks Puck."
"I'm surprised you gave that shot to Britt, Santana. I thought you would have taken it."
Santana's face turned into a sneer. Brittany spoke up before Santana could let her rage out.
"Artie, you obviously don't know Santana very well. Just because she appears selfish once in a while, doesn't mean that she really is. She knew that she was covered. If she would have taken that shot, we would have lost. She put in all her trust in me to make that shot. I was the only one open. She knew I could make that shot and giving me the opportunity to prove that right was very hard for her. So give her a break. She did the right thing and she is as much of the reason we won tonight as I am."
Santana couldn't believe the words Brittany had just said about her. Somehow without her saying it, Brittany knew that Santana was very angry with Artie. She also knew that it was a lot of trust to give to Brittany. Santana loved basketball. It was one of her few passions; something she shared with Brittany.
"Thanks Britt."
Those were the only words Santana needed to say to get her point across. Brittany knew that Santana was a fragile person and Santana was very thankful that Brittany understood her so well.
After a round of hugs from everyone, the glee club left, leaving behind Santana and Brittany. Brittany's parents came over to them next.
"Congratulations girls!"
"Good job guys!"
Brittany's parents and her younger sister hugged the both of them.
"You girls were amazing. Can we take you girls out to celebrate?"
Brittany looked to Santana and she just nodded.
"Yeah Mom. Where are we going?"
"How about that Italian place nearby?"
"Breadstix? Britt, you know that's my favorite."
"Breadstix it is."
Brittany, Santana, Brittany's parents and her sister got into the family van and drove to Breadstix. The group sat down in a booth.
"So Brittany, that was amazing shot at the end."
"I couldn't have done it without Santana. She put her trust in me and believed in me making me believe in myself."
Brittany looked and smiled at Santana. Santana's cheeks quickly turned red.
"Brittany was wide open. I knew she could make the shot so I passed it off to her."
"Well that's great Santana. You two make a great team."
"Thanks Mr. Pierce. So Ashley, what do you think about playing basketball next year?"
Ashley was surprised that someone had talked to her. She expected the entire night to be about Brittany and Santana.
"I'm pretty sure I will try out."
"Ash, that's great. You're really good and you should play."
"You really think so Santana?"
"Yeah! I've seen that shot of yours. It's almost better than mine."
Everyone at the table chuckled. Brittany smiled at Santana. She thought about how lucky she was to have her best friend and sister get along so well.
"I bet I can beat you."
"Okay. You're on Ashley. Tomorrow, 3 o'clock. Your driveway. Be there."
Ashley smiled at the competitiveness Santana had.
"What do I get when I win?"
"When? That won't happen. But to be fair, I will offer what the prize would have been. I would take you out for some ice cream and after we would go see a movie."
"Now I really want to win. What would you want if you win?"
"If? Come on Ash. You know that tomorrow, it's going down and you won't be able to handle this. So, my prize will be that you cater to anything Britts and I want for a whole day."
"Deal."
Santana and Ashley shook their hands to formally agree as the rest of the Pierce clan shook their heads in disbelief. Food was ordered and everyone was laughing having a good time. Plates were emptied and stomachs were filled.
"Thank you for taking me with you Mr. and Mrs. Pierce."
"It was no problem at all dear."
"I had a great time. Picking on Ashley is always fun."
"Hey!"
"You know you love it."
Everyone smiled at the playful bickering. Brittany's mother knew that Santana had a special place in her heart for Brittany and had created one for Ashley as well. Santana and Brittany shared a moment that her mother couldn't decipher. After the moment finished, Brittany's mother cleared her throat to speak up.
"Santana dear, if you would like to spend the night, we wouldn't mind."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Just call your mother to make sure it's okay."
"Thanks Mrs. Pierce."
Santana pulled out her phone but didn't get up from the table. She quickly dialed her mother's number.
"Hola Mami."
"Hi Santana. Is something wrong?"
"No. Mrs. Pierce asked if I wanted to spend the night at their house and I wanted to make sure that's okay."
"That's fine Santana."
"Thanks, bye."
"Bye."
Santana hung up the phone.
"My mother says it's okay."
"Good. Is everyone ready to go?"
The table nodded their heads and filed out. The car ride was fairly silent. Santana had an unreadable expression on her face that Brittany was trying to figure out. They pulled into the driveway and entered the house. Brittany and Santana started to go up the stairs, but the voice of Brittany's mother stopped them.
"Brittany, can you go to your room? I just want to talk to Santana for a minute. Is that okay?"
Brittany and Santana looked at each other slightly confused. Brittany shrugged her shoulders and bounced up to her room. Santana descended down the stairs to the kitchen where Brittany's mother was.
"Mrs. Pierce, did I do something wrong?"
"Oh no darling. I just wanted to make sure you were... okay. After your mother called, you acted very different. Do you mind telling me why?"
Santana stared down at the ground.
"It's nothing really."
"Santana, the look on your face is not nothing. Here, sit down. Tell me what happened."
Santana and Brittany's mother sat down at the table.
"My mother and I have never really been close. She has never been there for me, like I've been growing up on my own. I am allowed to do just about anything because she doesn't care. I could have said that we were going to jump out of a plane and she would have said okay. The worst part is she doesn't know anything about me. She has no idea that basketball is very important to me. She has never been to one of the games. And she doesn't realize that Brittany and your family mean so much to me."
Santana had tears running down her face. Brittany's mother pulled her into a hug which Santana gladly accepted.
"Santana, I had no idea. Look, you are welcome here anytime. You are like family to us. I have never seen someone treat Brittany the way you do and get along so well with Ashley."
"Mrs. Pierce, you guys mean so much. I love Brittany. She's my best friend and I don't know what I'd do without her. And I love Ashley too. She may be a little runt, but she's like the sister I never had."
"I really appreciate it Santana. You have made this family so much better. If you'd like, you can call me Shannon."
"It's nothing against you Mrs. Pierce, I just don't think I can do that so suddenly. But thank you. It means a lot that you have let me into your family."
Shannon rubbed the tears from underneath Santana's eyes.
"Okay dear. Go back to Brittany. We all know how impatient she gets."
They both laughed a little. Santana stood up.
"Thank you so much. I don't know if you know how much this means to me."
"I think I do. Family is important and I want to make it clear that you will always have one here."
Shannon hugged Santana one more time before she smiled and went upstairs to Brittany's bedroom. She went inside and closed the door.
"Hey San. What was that all about?"
"I really don't feel like getting into the details, but your mom talked to me about how that I'm like family to you guys and that if I ever need anyone to come here. She saw how I reacted after talking with my mom."
It clicked in Brittany's brain about the look on Santana's face from earlier.
"I'm sorry San."
"Don't be sorry. I have the Pierce clan and that's all I need."
Brittany flashed a toothy smile and Santana and hugged her. Their bodies lingered together for a little longer than usual. Eventually, they broke it off. Brittany cleared her throat.
"So um, should we talk about what happened earlier?"
"What?"
"I think we need to talk about the kiss San."
Santana got nervous but she didn't know why.
"What's there to talk about? We both got excited after the win and it just kinda happened."
"So there wasn't any more to it?"
Santana hesitated as her bottled up emotions started to rise up. Quickly, she stuffed them back down. Santana had gotten good at that.
"No, why?"
"Okay, just wondering."
Disappointment oozed out of Brittany's voice. Santana changed the subject as quickly as she could.
"So did you want to watch a movie?"
"Sure. Pick one."
Santana picked a movie and put it in. Brittany got comfortable on the bed. Soon, Santana joined her. They covered up under the blanket and watched Pitch Perfect.
"Hey San, who's your favorite character?"
Santana didn't answer.
"San?"
Brittany looked over at the peacefully sleeping Santana. Brittany brought her voice down to a whisper.
"San, I love you."
She placed a kiss on Santana's forehead and fell asleep too.