"Hey, you alright down there?"
Santana looks up from her drink and shrugs "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks"
She stares into her glass and absent mindedly stirs her cocktail with the little pink umbrella that came with it. This is so not a typical friday night, she should be at home with Quinn. Cuddling on the couch, or having another horror movie marathon, because the blonde likes them so much. Santana should be with her, at home in her appartement, in the city wandering around, in a club partying .. Anywhere but here.
"You don't seem so fine to me" the bartender comments, as she slides the latina another drink. "You've been staring at your empty glass for five minutes now."
Santana looks up. "I'm okay, really .. It was just ..-"
"-A rough night?"
She sighs "Yeah .."
Santana takes the shot and quickly throws it back. Her troat burns and the liquid stings on her tongue, but she manages to get it down easily. Her face cramps for a second and she lets out a little cough, but that is all.
"Okay, you are so not fine."
"How do you know?"
The blonde behind the bar quickly takes an order from another customer and then turns back to Santana.
"I've been working in a bar for a pretty long time, I have my methods. What you just swallowed down, was one of our strongest shots. I didn't want to give you the strongest one, because, you know .. I don't want you to die or something. But I bet you would've handled that one just the same."
"Yeah" Santana croaks "So ..?"
The blonde smiles sadly "That means you're emotionally so hurt, that you don't care about the physical pain anymore. You become kind of physically numb."
"Oh. Okay" she whispers in response.
A group of girls arrive at the bar, and the blonde moves away to serve them. Santana goes back to staring at the bottom of her empty glass.
Empty, just like her life right now. And then to think she thought she would feel better here. In this bar of all places, the bar where she and Quinn met. She looks around. Everything is still the same. That table, where a guy and his friends are discussing their girlfriends and previous hook-ups. That chair, where one of the boys is scratching his ass right now.
That's where they met.
Santana blinks a couple of times, trying to hold back a tear. The bartender approaches her again and she discreetely wipes her hand over her face.
The blonde glances behind her, and then leans down with her elbows on the bar. "Hey" she says quietly "You want to tell me what's wrong?"
Santana frowns and looks up. When she looks into the kind, blue eyes that are watching her, she shows a little, sad smile. "I really don't think you would want to listen to all my crap, honestly .."
The blonde grabs a chair and sits down, before looking at Santana.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Well, we're practically strangers .."
The girl shows a little smile and reaches her hand out. "Hi, I'm Brittany. What's your name?"
Santana frowns at first, but shakes the blonde's hand. "Santana Lopez."
"So" Brittany smiles "Now we're not strangers anymore."
The brunette hints a smile at her "So, are you a Forrest Gump fan or something?"
"One of my faves" Brittany nods. "C'mon, you can tell me what's wrong, I'll listen."
Santana opens her mouth to say something, but they suddenly hear some noise at the other end of the bar, a group of young girls just arrived. Brittany sighs. "Right after I've served those people, I'll be right back, promise."
She walks over to the new customers and Santanawatches the tall blonde take their orders, grabbing a few bottles of liquor and making small talk with the girls while she prepares their drinks. She wishes she would be so comfortable around people she doesn't know.
Brittany returns, she stuffs some money in her bright red apron and takes place on the stool again. "Sorry about that, what were you saying?"
Santana gulps "Nothing, really." she says quietly "And it's okay, you have to work. I get that."
She looks down and blinks with her eyes, she doesn't glance up when she feels a hand on hers.
"Hey .. Are you crying? Oh, sweetie. You're crying .."
Santana sniffs and bites her lip, and suddenly the hand is gone, leaving a cold spot on her fingers. A couple of seconds later she feels an arm around her shoulders. She looks up, blond hair falls down over her face, and the big blue eyes are looking at her with an comforting look. She sighs and leans back in the girl's embrace.
It's strange hugging somebody she doesn't know at all, but it feels good to have someone holding her like they don't want her to go. Like at least someone wants to stay.
Santana sobs for a while, then wipes her eyes and looks up. "Sorry" she whispers.
The girl lets go of her, resting her hand on Santana's shoulder. "You don't have to apologise to me .. Just talk to me, that's what I'm here for"
Santana takes a deep breath and looks down. "It's just .. It's just my girlfriend broke up with me and .. It has just been our two year anniversary, and I knew, I knew it was coming but I just .. I don't know .."
Brittany hints a smile at her and runs her hand over the girl's back. Slowly up and down. "Hey .. It's okay.."
"Yo Britz! We need you!"
Brittany shows the girl an apologising smile "I have to go, I'll be back."
Santana sighs and rests her face in her hands. She feels so pathetic. Not only did she get dumped, she's sitting alone in a bar, being comforted by the bartender of all people. With all of the respect, ofcourse. She seems like a really nice girl.
She tries to think of a calm and quiet song, but the only ones she can think of are either depressing or reminding her of Quinn. As a cherry on top, a rock song they once danced to is blasting out of the speakers, some idiot probably asked if they could turn the volume up. She holds her hands over her ears, still closing her eyes. She sighs, trying to get herself under control again. The alcohol rushes through her veins, but she doesn't feel wasted at all.
Suddenly she feels a tap on her shoulder, and she looks up. Brittany is watching her, softly shaking her head. Only then, Santana realises how ridiculous she must've looked, in the middle of a bar, red cheeks, closed eyes and covering her ears with her hands.
She gulps and hints a forced smile at the blonde. Brittany smiles and gets up from her bar stool. "I know what you need." she says, she turns around, takes a few bottles and a glass, and puts them down in front of Santana. The girl is watching her curiously.
"I, am going to make you the perfect drink, on the house. And meanwhile you're gonna tell me about your girlfriend, okay?"
"Ex-girlfriend" Santana corrects her.
Brittany nods. "Ofcourse, but no more crying .. You need to toughen up if you ever want to get back in the game, girl."
She manages to get a small chuckle out of Santana and she smiles. "So, what was she like?"
"Uhm .." Santana frowns "She was funny, sweet .. I could talk to her, you know? She always celebrated the holidays like, with over the top decorations and stuff. She was that kind of person. Cheerful .."
"Hmm, how did you guys meet,?"
"I met her .. Uh, right there, actually" she says, pointing at the table behind her.
Brittany sighs, while opening a bottle. "So you thought it would be good for you to come back here? You're torturing yourself, honey,"
Santana shrugs "I don't know .. She was really nice to me, we even sang karaoke that night .." she smiles at the memory. "She wasn't so subtle in her leering, and she used this cheesy pick up line .. I liked her right away."
Brittany pours some liquor in the glass and nods "Then what?"
Santana clears her troat "Uh, she began to change .. When we were together for a year it was .. Well, we were doing great, actually. So I was thinking about moving in together and stuff .. You know, I wanted to be with her more often. But she immediately protested and said she didn't want that and .. Well, it surprised me, obviously .."
"Hmmhmm" Brittany hums, putting the cap of the second bottle on again.
"And, well .. She started forgetting our dates, she never let me come over unexpectedly, so I started thinking she might be cheating on me or something .. But she got really angry when I asked her about it."
"She was cheating on you" Brittany comments, receiving a frown from Santana.
"You don't know that."
Brittany shows her a small smile "Sweetie, I know you know this too, but you just don't want to believe it."
Santana sighs "That might be true .."
"Yeah .. What happened today?" she asks, stirring in the cocktail she just created.
Santana gulps and takes a deep breath. "She uh .. She called me up this morning, asked if we could meet up. I said that I had to work, and she suddenly got really pissed at me. Like I never made time for her and stuff. And then, uhm .." she blinks and looks down. "She said that she couldn't do this anymore, that I was too much to handle or something, that she needed her freedom .. And she just hung up .."
Brittany smiles at her compassionately. She slides her the drink when Santana looks up. "Here, I call it 'The Rebound'. It's not officially a drink here, I only make it for nice people who don't deserve to be so heartbroken, like you.
Santana hints a smile at her and takes the drink. She looks up as their hands brush against eachother, and Brittany smiles at her.
"Don't drink it too fast, I'll be right back." she skips over to another bartender and whispers something in the guy's ear. A second later the boy turns his head and narrows his eyes at Santana. The girl frowns a bit confused and a grin appears on the guy's face. He answers Brittany and Santana takes a sip of her drink when the blonde walks back.
"You like it?"
Santana smiles and nods. The drink is extremely sweet, with a slight after taste of lemon. She licks a drip off her bottom lip and looks up at Brittany. "It's perfect."
The blonde smiles back "There is also a lot of alcohol in it, so I hope you weren't planning on driving home tonight."
Santana's lips curl up in a challenging smile and she takes a big gulp from the drink. "Oh I wasn't planning on that .."
Brittany chuckles "Good girl. You feeling a bit better now?"
Santana sighs and nods again "A lot better, thanks."
The blonde sits down and smiles "You're welcome."
"No, seriously. Thank you." Santana hints a smile at her. "You probably think I'm just a loner or something, sitting by myself in a bar. But I just can't really talk to my friends about this stuff .. Thanks for just listening to me."
An adorable smile appears on Brittany's face and Santana can't help but to smile back. "You know," she says. "I have seen you here earlier."
Brittany raises an eyebrow and nods "You have? That .. Really doesn't surprise me" she chuckles "I'm here pretty much every day."
"Yeah, but you want to know the truth?"
Brittany laughs a bit "Okay, sure. Give me the truth."
"The first time I came here .. Wow, your drink is starting to work .. I uh, that was the night I met Quinn, my now ex-girlfriend. You know her."
The blonde nods, while trying to hide a laugh. Santana suddenly slurs out her words, she sounds different. Pretty drunk, actually.
"But, I was here alone at first. And I saw you walking by, and I thought you were really hot." she chuckles as Brittany starts to laugh.
"Oh, did you really?"
Santana shakes her head while joining Brittany in her laughter. "I can't believe I just said that."
"Well, I am very flattered." the blonde winks.
Santana feels a slight blush colouring her cheeks, and she looks down. "Shouldn't you go back to work .."
"Nope, I asked Puck to cover my shift. I'm off for the night." she explains with a smile.
"Oh" Santana answers "Do you maybe, uh .. Want to go somewhere? Get a drink or something ..?" She asks shyly, and Brittany smiles at her.
"Oh, like, in a bar?"
She giggles when Santana looks up frowning, and then chuckles.
"Yeah .. That was pretty stupid" the latina smiles. "We can do something else .. If you want, ofcourse."
Brittany smiles when she hears the hope in Santana's voice "Well, if that means I get to see your beautiful smile again tonight, then I would be honoured."
Santana mutters some silent curse words when she realises she is actually starting to blush. Brittany just giggles at her. "You're cute. I'll get my stuff."
The girl looks up and can just see Brittany walking away to the back. She smiles when the blonde glances over her shoulder, before disappearing around the corner.
Santana sighs dreamily. She knows she will probably wake up with the same heartache as before, but right now she's feeling pretty great, thanks to this amazing angel who just tiptoed into her life.
Wow, she really drank a bit too much.
She feels a tap on her shoulder again, this time Brittany is standing behind her. The blonde grins "You ready to go?"
She smiles back and nods, before jumping off the bar stool, grabbing her purse, and walking out with her new friend. The are almost at the entrance when Santana suddenly holds still. She looks at Brittany with a frown "I didn't pay for my drinks yet"
The blonde chuckles "Don't worry about that, we'll deal with that later."
She links her arm in Santana's and walks her to the cab waiting in front of the door. She opens the door and Santana cautiously gets in. She waits for Brittany to take place next to her and she crosses her legs.
"Where are we going?"
The blonde ignores her question, tells the driver an adress and then turns to Santana. Her lips curl up in a little smile.
"Sweet heartbreak girl .."
Santana smiles at her and shoves a bit closer, so she's next to her and their thighs are touching. The light of the streetlights they're passing gives the blonde's face a warm glow. Her blue eyes glinster in the moonlight, and Santana can't help but think about how beautiful she is.
Beautiful, and oh so close.
Not close enough.
Only a few seconds later she realises she is staring at her, and she quickly blinks a couple of times, and awkwardly smiles, before shuffling a bit further from her.
Brittany chuckles. She cups Santana's cheek with her right hand and lets her thumb caress her soft skin. Santana smiles shyly, and she moves closer again, before looking into the magial blue eyes.
"I shouldn't be doing this yet" she whispers.
Brittany continues striking her thumb over Santana's cheek and she softly shakes her head. "Who is telling you what you should or shouldn't do?"
She shuffles impossibly closer and leans in so their noses are only inches apart. "And besides" she says quietly "Somebody once told me I make a perfect rebound ."