Brittany knew it from the moment Santana stepped foot into the classroom. She had been the Latina's best friend since she was six years old, and in that time, she had developed a knack for reading the girl like a book. Today, something was wrong. She could feel it.
The brunette walked in five minutes after the tardy bell had rung, mumbling a quiet apology to their teacher before taking her assigned seat across the room from Brittany. That was red flag number one. Santana Lopez does not apologize. Ever. Red flag number two came when Brittany noticed the tired, red puffiness of her eyes.
The longer Brittany studied her friend, the more irregularities continued to surface. The Latina's usual pristine high ponytail was loose and unkempt, and she was wearing street clothes instead of her cheerleader uniform. Once seated, Santana barely moved. In fact, she maintained her gaze on the cheesy motivational poster at the front of the room all the way up until the end of the class period.
As soon as the bell sounded, Brittany packed up her things and darted over to Santana's desk to find that the girl had already left, which only caused her worry to escalate. Santana always waited for her so she could help the blonde find her next class, but Brittany was quick to push away the hurt feelings bubbling up in her chest. She was sure that the brunette just had a lot going on in her head and wasn't as focused as she normally was. Santana would never just leave her. She was sure of it.
Brittany eventually found her way to her locker after taking a wrong turn or two to find the brunette there waiting for her and gave her a bright smile as she greeted, "Good morning, San."
Santana instantly snapped her gaze up from where she had been staring at the floor, revealing the dark circles that lined the underside of her eyes. The girl looked exhausted.
"Britt, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to leave without you. I just-"
"It's okay, San. Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're here now because I don't think I'd ever be able to get to class on time without your help, assuming you still want to, that is."
The brunette gave her a small but warm smile, "Of course."
"Awesome. Let me just switch out my books real quick so we can go," Brittany said as she turned to unlock her locker, but it wasn't long before she realized that she had completely forgotten the combination. After standing there for a moment, she felt a gentle hand being placed on the small of her back, causing her to tear her eyes away from her stare down with the lock to glance over to the brunette beside her.
"It's okay, B. I got it," Santana offered as she slid in front of her and started to spin the dial while Brittany just stood there feeling slightly embarrassed for needing so much assistance. "There you go. It's open," the Latina informed, pulling the blonde out of her distracted daze.
Glancing over to the other girl, Brittany mumbled a shy, "Thank you, San," before turning her attention back to the now open locker so she could retrieve everything she needed for her next class, shutting the door and locking it back behind her.
"Anytime," Santana replied with a broad grin as she reached out and wrapped her pinky around Brittany's, giving it a squeeze before motioning her head in the direction of the blonde's next class.
Just as the pair started to make their way down the hall, they heard an angry voice yell out from behind them, "Santana! Where the hell were you this morning?"
Gritting her teeth, Santana let her finger slip from Brittany's and spun around, "Look, Fabray, I'm not exactly in the mood to deal with your shit today so please just leave me alone."
"Oh, you're the one who's not in the mood to deal with me? That's rich. I guess Brittany hasn't mentioned how I had to cover for you this morning when Coach Sylvester asked where you were. She made me run the entire practice for your stupid ass because it's apparently my fault that you couldn't manage to wake up on time."
Having heard enough, Santana stormed up to where Quinn was standing and brought herself within an inch of the girl's face as she spoke in a low growl, "I already tried to play nice, Baby Mama, but Auntie Snix is about to drop by for a visit if you don't learn how to shut your trap. I already told you that this morning hasn't been good for me so just accept it and walk away."
The two cheerleaders stood there staring at one another for a few more seconds before Santana finally decided to just drop the situation so she could get Brittany to class on time. She didn't get far, however, before Quinn roughly grabbed her by the arm and pulled the brunette back towards her. Clutching her hand into a tight fist, Santana turned around with every intention of hitting her square in the face when she felt gentle fingers quickly wrap around her wrist.
"Stop the violence," Brittany quietly pled, effectively stopping Santana in her tracks.
Shoving Quinn off of her with the arm the head cheerleader had been clutching onto, she took off down the hallway with Brittany following close behind.
After rounding the corner, Santana slowed down to a walk so the blonde could catch up to her. As soon as Brittany was at her side, she felt her friend lace their little fingers together once more, swinging their hands back in forth a little to lighten the mood as they continued to walk. Letting out a huff of air, the Latina released the tension in her shoulders.
"Are you okay?" Brittany tentatively asked after a couple minutes of silence, glancing over with a look of concern.
"Yeah, I'll be okay. I just can't wait for this day to be over."
"Did something happen?"
Santana felt her entire body freeze in response to the question, but she quickly willed herself to keep moving forward.
"I'm sorry, B, but I don't really want to talk about it right now."
"No, it's okay. I understand. Just know that I'm here if you need me, alright?" Brittany offered with the same caring tone her voice always held during moments when Santana's defenses were up.
Quick to reassure her friend, Santana responded with a head nod and a quiet, "Yeah, I know."
Finally making it to their destination, Brittany turned to face the brunette, "Good. So, should I just wait here after class?"
"Yeah, I'll come back as soon as I can."
"Okay, I guess I'll see you then," Brittany responded as she released her friend's finger.
"Yeah, see you then, Britt-Britt."
The blonde hesitated for a moment before she suddenly wrapped Santana up in a hug and quietly whispered into her ear, "I hope your day gets better."
"It already is," Santana replied as she returned the gesture. Gently pulling away, she added, "You should probably get in there before you're late."
Nodding in agreement, Brittany said a quick farewell before turning toward the classroom.
As she watched the other girl disappear behind the door frame, Santana couldn't help but feel as if most, if not all, of the light in her day had left with her, leaving her to dwell on the thoughts of what had happened the previous evening. It wasn't until the tardy bell had sounded that she remembered where she was and rushed off to class, knowing full well that she was going to be written up again for being late and mentally added it as one more thing that had gone wrong for her that morning.
The rest of the day passed quickly with Santana meeting Brittany after every class to help her find where she needed to go. After school, Santana walked Brittany to the choir room and stopped just outside the door.
Realizing that the Latina was no longer following her, Brittany turned around to ask, "Aren't you coming inside?"
Santana gave a slight shake of her head, replying, "No, I have to go to detention. You know what they say: third tardy's a charm. Plus, I don't think I can deal with any of their idiocy today, especially Wannabe Streisand and her orangutan of a boyfriend. I swear you and I are the only two people in this ridiculous club with a functioning brain, and my fuse is already short enough as it is. There's no telling what would happen if those assclowns gave me a reason to blow up on them."
"Cosas malas?" Brittany inquired with a knowing smirk, which Santana quickly returned.
"Yeah, Britt. Very bad things."
Hearing everyone inside the room start to quiet down, Brittany took a quick peek to see what was going on and looked back to Santana, "Okay, well everyone is starting to get seated so I guess I'll talk to you later."
"Alright. Later, B."
As soon as Brittany left, Santana made her way towards the cafeteria to spend the following hour of her life doing absolutely nothing but sitting in a cold, hard plastic chair.
She had been absentmindedly tapping her fingertips on top of the lunch table in front of her for about five minutes when the seat next to her was suddenly pulled out. Noticing a big blur sit down, she didn't even think twice before she asked, "What'd you do this time, Puck?"
"Just the same old same. Mrs. Nelson caught me making out with one of the JV cheerleaders in the girl's bathroom again. You know, I think they have finally started to catch on to the fact that suspension isn't going to work since they only assigned me three weeks worth of detention."
Santana rolled her eyes before glancing over at the boy beside her, "Wow, how very unsurprising of you, but seriously, are those JV skanks really the best you could do?"
"You know me, Babe. I don't care where they are on the social pyramid as long as their willing to put out for good ol' Puckasaurus."
Santana let out a loud groan, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling yourself that? It's obnoxious. Oh, and don't call me 'Babe,' either. The last thing I need is for people to think we're together."
"Whatever. Anyways, what made you decide to grace all of us consistent troublemakers with your presence?"
"My inability to make it to class on time."
"Nice. All three tardies in one day?"
"No, just two, which means I wouldn't even have to be here if Sue hadn't made me stay back after morning practice yesterday to make sure all the dimwitted freshmen put her equipment up right."
"Well, I guess that's what you get for being the co-head cheerleader, or should I say Quinn's bitch?"
"For the last time, I'm not her bitch!" Santana warned before she added, "Speaking of the Ice Queen, she's also partially to blame for me being here."
"Oh? What did she do this time?"
"Pitch a fit in the middle of the hallway because I missed practice this morning. She's lucky Britt was there to stop me before I kicked her ass," Santana hissed through clenched teeth, feeling her anger from earlier beginning to resurface.
"Wow, sounds like you're the epitome of punctuality today."
"Yeah, and it sounds like you decided to finally crack open a dictionary. Congratulations on the expanded vocabulary, Suckerman," Santana spat back with a glare.
Puck instantly threw his hands up in defense, "Hey, chill. I was just joking. There's no need to get hostile."
"Whatever," the girl muttered under her breath as she turned back towards the front of the room to wait out her detainment period.
Once the hour was up, Santana took off without a word in search of her car so she could finally go home. The Latina had almost made it across the school's parking lot when she noticed Brittany standing there, waiting for her.
"Hey, Britt-Britt. What are you still doing here?"
Greeting her with a wide grin, the blonde replied, "After I got out of Glee, I noticed that you only had a little while left before you got out, too, so I figured I'd just wait out here since I remembered there was something I meant to ask you earlier."
"Why didn't you just text me?"
Brittany immediately ducked her head in embarrassment as she nervously drug her foot against the paved cement beneath her, answering with an honest, "I don't know. I just felt like waiting for you."
Sensing the girl's uneasiness, Santana quickly reassured, "Oh, okay. That's fine. What did you want to ask me?"
"Well, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come over for dinner. Mom's cooking lasagna tonight, and she asked me to invite you since she knows how much you love it. She also gave the okay for you to stay over if you want."
"I-" Santana started, but the words soon died on her lips. Taking a deep breath, she answered, "I can't tonight, Britt. Sorry."
"A-alright. That's cool. No worries."
Hearing the dejected tone in Brittany's voice, Santana quickly responded, "Hey, please don't be upset, B. I really do wish I could be there. I've just had a really, really long day and need to go home to process it all, okay? Otherwise, I would so be there to eat your mom's amazing lasagna with you and the rest of the Pierce clan." Leaning down a little to catch the blue eyes that were still diverted to the ground, she asked, "How about next time, huh? Can I take a rain check?"
Finally meeting Santana's gaze, Brittany gave her head a firm nod, "Of course."
"Okay, good. Just let me know the next time your mom invites me to dinner, and I'll make it a point to be there. Fair enough?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," Brittany said with a few more quick nods.
"Good. Well, I'm going to go ahead and drive home then, but I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"
"Okay, see you later," Brittany replied as she started walking over to her car, giving the brunette a small wave before she left.
Santana turned into her driveway fifteen minutes later, feeling completely relieved to finally have a chance to be alone after her terrible day. Swiftly making her way over to the front door, the brunette turned her key in the deadbolt and darted inside. Flipping the thumb turn back into the locked position, she spun around to head up to her bedroom. The brunette didn't get far, however, before she spotted her mother sitting the living room couch.
"Oh, to what do we owe this pleasure?" she sneered as soon as she made eye-contact with the older woman.
"Please cut the sarcasm, Santana. I've been sitting here for the past hour, waiting for you to get home. Where have you been?"
Ignoring her mother's inquiry, Santana asked, "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"I took off early."
"Where's your car?"
"In the garage."
"You never park in the garage during the day, nor do you simply just take off from work," the young Latina stated suspiciously as she finally started to catch on to what was happening.
"I know, but I have to talk to you about last night."
"And you were afraid I'd bail if I knew you were here," Santana assumed, already knowing she was right.
"Santana, please. We need to discuss this."
"Well, tough shit. I've had a long day, and I'm not really in the mood to talk right now so I guess we'll just have to finish this little chat another time," she snapped as she turned to make her way over to the staircase.
"Santana, wait! Santana!" the woman called out as she pushed herself up from the couch, but by that time, Santana had already dashed up to her bedroom, slamming the door and locking it behind her.
Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps from outside the door, ending with a jiggle of the door handle and a few swift knocks. "Santana, I'm sorry, okay? Please, just open the door," the woman pled through the wooden barrier, which only caused Santana to turn on her stereo so she could drown out her mother's voice as the woman tried to coerce the young brunette into letting her inside.
Laying down on top of her bed, Santana buried her face into a pillow and allowed the blaring music to drown out her sobs as she felt her walls finally come tumbling down. All she could hope for now was for sleep to bring her a better day than the past twenty-four hours she had just experienced.
Author's Note:
Hi, I just wanted to say a quick 'thank you' for taking the time to read my new story. With Paperwoman ending soon, I figured that now was a good time to begin my next one. This is going to be a definite change from the type of chapters I am used to writing, so I am really excited to get started.
I would also like to thank my beta, ruby-may89, for her help with this chapter. If you haven't checked out her story Only You, then I highly recommend it.
Anyways, thank you so much again, and I hope to see you next time.