Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters.

Author's Note: I like to write at 3am in the morning so there may be some mistakes but I will fix them later. I swear I intended this whole thing to be fluff but then it took a different turn so I cut it before it could turn into actual angst.

Hearing Voices

Summary: The voice disguised itself as Santana's and each time it would utter the same two words. Marry me.

Part I

The first time Brittany heard the voice, it was a sleepy Sunday morning where the delicious smell of bacon cooking in the kitchen had drifted into the couple's bedroom and woken her. She buried her head into the pillow next to hers, savouring her girlfriend's scent, until she could no longer ignore her grumbling stomach. As she made her way to the open door, Brittany grabbed a baggy t-shirt that had been discarded on the floor the previous night and pulled it over her head.

She shuffled into the kitchen lazily, wrapping her arms around Santana's waist at once as she stood over the stove, dressed in her underwear and one of Brittany's hoodies. The blonde dropped a kiss on the tan shoulder, nuzzling into the shorter girl's neck and mumbling a barely coherent, "Morning."

Santana's laugh echoed pleasantly around their kitchen and she rested her hand over Brittany's joined ones to hold them in place. "Babe, you didn't have to get up. I was going to bring you breakfast in bed." She turned slightly in Brittany's arms and pressed a kiss to her lips, grinning with adoration at the goofy smile that had spread across the blonde's face.

They stood like that for several minutes. Brittany's head rested fittingly on Santana's shoulder while the Latina watched over the eggs sizzling in the pan. In the silence Brittany could hear her girlfriend's gentle breathing, always in sync with her own, and after innocently sneaking her hands under the hoody, the steady thumping of the Latina's heart almost lulled her back to a peaceful sleep.

"Marry me."

Brittany's head shot up immediately and she gaped at Santana who was still wrapped in her arms. After studying Brittany's expression for half a minute, Santana raised her hand and cupped her girlfriend's cheek softly. "Brittany?" The blonde was snapped out of her daze by the worried voice. "Are you okay?"

"What – What did you say? Before, I mean." She unconsciously pulled Santana closer to her and waited with excited anticipation for her answer.

"I said, breakfast is ready," replied Santana, narrowing her eyes in concern. When Brittany appeared to deflate with disappointment, her hand instantly moved from her girlfriend's cheek to her forehead. "Brittany, are you okay?" she asked again. "You don't feel warm. Are you tired? We can just forget about breakfast for now and I'll make us something later instead."

Forcing a smile onto her face despite her confusion, Brittany shook her head and before she could say anything to ease Santana's worries, her stomach grumbled helpfully. "I don't think breakfast can wait," she grinned sheepishly. This didn't seem to appease Santana who was still watching her worriedly so Brittany dropped her lips to meet the Latina's in a deep kiss. "I'm okay. I was just dreaming."

A really good dream, she added silently.

The second time the voice had spoken to Brittany was later that same day. After breakfast, Santana had insisted on helping Brittany with the washing up which actually translated to mean she was going to stare at her girlfriend's legs the entire time and steal kisses every few seconds. Although their only plan for the day was to lounge around their apartment, Brittany still made a disgruntled Santana get dressed ("We'll have a lot of fun taking the clothes off later," she had whispered seductively into her ear.).

Despite Santana's attempts to convince Brittany to pass the time away in their comfortable king-sized bed, the two of them ended up on the couch in the living room. Santana didn't have any objections to this though because the confined space made it that much easier to adjust herself into a position that left Brittany no choice but to lie on top of her.

Brittany smiled as she placed kisses down her girlfriend's neck while her hand slowly inched its way up the Latina's bare thigh. Her other hand was resting on Santana's stomach under her t-shirt, just mere millimetres from the waistband of her shorts.

To Santana's complete surprise, Brittany suddenly sprung upright causing them to lose all contact. When she identified the distraction, she groaned and moved to pull the blonde back on top of her but the childlike wonder on Brittany's face stopped her. Instead, Santana shifted so she could rest her head on Brittany's lap and watched her girlfriend with the utmost amount of adoration.

Beauty and the Beast had been playing, forgotten, in the background but the opening chords of 'Beauty and the Beast' had brought the blonde's attention back to the television. Feeling Santana's eyes on her, Brittany blushed and smiled shyly as Belle led the Beast into the ballroom. "I love this scene," she whispered softly.

"Marry me."

Her mouth dropped open as she tore her gaze away from the screen and looked down at Santana. That was definitely not part of the scene and Brittany was certain this was no dream which meant the words had to have come from her girlfriend but the confusion on Santana's face was quickly crushing her hopes.

She cleared her throat nervously, feeling her heart pounding against her chest. "Um, I missed what you said," murmured Brittany lamely. "Can you say it again?"

It felt like the longest half a second in Brittany's life as she waited for Santana to reply but the Latina simply chuckled and repeated her words. "I said, I know. I didn't expect you to hear me at all, knowing you and your Disney movies," she teased. Santana pulled herself into a sitting position, pressing her lips against Brittany's cheek before resting her head on the blonde's shoulder. "You're my Beauty."

"But you're more beautiful," Brittany immediately countered. As they argued lightly over who was the Beauty, she tried to push those two words to the back of her mind.

The third time the voice made an appearance wasn't until three days later on a Wednesday night. Santana grinned lazily, still panting slightly, as she settled into the crook of Brittany's neck. The blonde had her arms wrapped around her girlfriend and she, too, was smiling happily. It could be said that it was a satisfied smile.

"Marry me."

Brittany froze. Their bedroom was silent aside from Santana's breathing which was starting to even but the words continued to replay themselves in her head. She was sure that she had just heard it but she had been certain the last time as well.

"Santana?" she whispered, not wanting to wake her girlfriend if she had indeed fallen asleep. The Latina mumbled something Brittany couldn't decipher but she eventually pulled her head back to look at the blonde and show she was listening. Taking a deep breath and capitalising on her brief moment of courage, she asked, "Do you ever think about marriage?"

She could feel Santana's body tense and watched as she closed her eyes before slowly opening them again. "Brittany," Santana began carefully. "Where is this coming from?"

"I asked you first," pouted Brittany. Her ocean-blue eyes were brimming with questions and a great deal of worry but she dropped her gaze to their sheets so Santana couldn't read them.

There was a long silence until Santana finally broke it with a sigh. She propped herself up on her elbow, brushing her other hand through Brittany's hair. "I love you, Brittany. I've loved you for almost my entire life." Her hand moved to rest itself against Brittany's cheek. "We've been together for ten years now and I know marriage seems like it should be the next step but..."

"You don't want to marry me," Brittany whispered sadly as Santana struggled to finish her sentence.

The Latina's eyes instantly widened and she hastened to correct her girlfriend. "No, it's not that! Brittany, it's not that I don't want to marry you. I do. I mean, if there's anyone in the world I would want to be married to, it would be you and only you." She placed her hand under the blonde's chin and lifted it to meet her eyes. "I love you so much and I've never felt the need to put a label on that. I've known since the first day I met you that we were going to be together forever. Marriage is just a piece of paper. What we have is so much stronger than that."

She knew Santana was right but ever since those two words had been spoken – or dreamt – she couldn't get them out of her head. Brittany could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and not wanting Santana to see her cry, she grabbed her pillow and her t-shirt before jumping out of bed. "I'm sleeping on the couch tonight," she choked out as she almost ran from the room.

With a frustrated groan, Santana pounded her pillow with her fist a few times. Neither of them was able to sleep that night.