Disclaimer: I do not own Glee; it is the property of Ryan Murphy.


The sun was hot that day. Waves of heat hit the town of Lima, causing nearly everyone to stay indoors if they could. If anyone was caught out in the heat, they were either in a pool, or trying to get to somewhere that had air conditioning. Only a few unlucky individuals were out in this sweltering heat.

Brittany S. Pierce happened to be one of those individuals.

Oddly, the heat seemed to have no effect on her, other than a sheen of sweat that gleamed on her forehead. The young blonde was cheerfully skipping down the street as she licked up a cone of vanilla ice cream. Due to the heat, the treat was already beginning to melt, dripping down onto her hand and causing her fingers to become sticky. And—being the messy young twelve year old that she was—ice cream covered her mouth and cheeks. There was even a dot of it on her nose!

But did the little girl notice? Of course not! It was a hot summer day, and she had a nice big ice cream cone to cool off with. Brittany S. Pierce hadn't a care in the world. At least, she didn't until…

"Ouch! Damnit Satan, get off! Stop it!"

Brittany paused and glanced over toward the commotion. Across the street, there were a pair of kids—about her age—who seemed to be having a fight of some sort. One of them was sitting on top of the other and beating them pretty badly.

Being the innocent little girl that she was, Brittany hated to see other people fight. Which was why she had no second thoughts as she crossed the street to the pair yelling, "Hey, stop!"

The person who appeared to be winning—now Brittany could see she was a girl—paused and turned slightly at the interruption, allowing the boy beneath her to squirm out and run away. Rising to her feet, she called, "Noah, you coward! You better learn to toughen up, or no one's ever gonna respect you!"

When Brittany reached the other side of the street, she paused and surveyed the other girl. She was much darker than Brittany, and also a bit shorter too. And, at the moment, she was sporting a rather nasty black eye, as well as a long cut on her cheek. She also wore baggy boy shorts and a grey wife-beater… clothes that were vastly different from Brittany's pale pink sundress. All in all, this girl looked like the exact opposite of someone that Brittany would want to confront.

Unfortunately, the other girl caught sight of Brittany at about the same time. Wearing the deepest scowl that Brittany had ever seen, the dark-skinned girl snapped, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Why did you stop me?!"

Rather than backing off, Brittany drew herself up and replied, "You shouldn't beat people up, it's mean. And you shouldn't curse. My Mommy says that if you curse, you should get a mouthful of soap."

She sneered, "Well it's good your 'Mommy' isn't here then, isn't it? And anyways, you're quick to judge ice cream-face, you don't even know what the fight was about."

Brittany blinked and brought a hand to her face. Given that her fingers were also covered in ice cream though… it probably didn't help much. "Well, what were you fighting about then?" she countered.

Dark brown eyes surveyed Brittany for a moment, as if the girl was contemplating on whether or not to give her a reason. Finally, she stepped back and reached for something behind a box in the alley they were next to. When she returned to the blonde girl, she held a very small kitten in her hands. "Noah was tormenting this little guy with a stick, so I made him stop."

As soon as the young Latina brought out the fluffy little creature, Brittany's eyes lit up with wonder, and she gasped softly. All prior doubts about the girl in front of her evaporated, and she said, "Well… then I guess it's okay you beat him up." She lifted her eyes to meet the other girl's chocolate brown orbs, and asked softly, "Can I hold him?"

"Your fingers are all sticky and covered in ice cream," the girl replied. "Besides, you gotta hold a kitten with two hands."

Brittany stared at the cone in her hand, which held a small pool of melted vanilla ice cream. "I'll trade you!" she said finally. "You can have my ice cream if I can hold him."

Scrunching up her nose, the girl said, "It's all melted."

"Please?" Brittany whined. "I love kitty cats."

"Fine."

And so, a trade off was made. Brittany's bright blue eyes widened as the kitten was placed in her hand, and she eagerly gave away her cone so she could hold the small animal properly. Tufts of fur stuck to her sticky fingers, and she giggled when the feline began to lick some of the ice cream off of her thumb. "Aww… he likes ice cream! And he's so cute."

Lifting her eyes to the other girl, Brittany giggled when she noticed that her ice cream cone had been all but devoured. "What's his name?" she asked curiously, once the girl had finished.

Santana took her time in replying, as she was licking the sticky treat from her fingers. Finally, she answered, "He doesn't have one. Don't you know a stray when you see one? Look how skinny he is."

Brittany frowned at the little kitten in her hands. It was true, the poor thing was practically skin and bones. "Well then, I'll name him Lord Tubbington."

Laughing, the girl said, "That's the opposite of a skinny stray."

"I'm gonna keep him, and he'll get nice and well fed and fat," Brittany answered matter-of-factly. Truth be told, she wasn't sure how her parents would feel about Lord Tubbington, but usually all Brittany had to do was pout a bit, and she got her way. Smiling at the girl, she asked, "So, what's your name?"

The girl's smile fell away and she frowned, "Who wants to know?"

"Umm… me? That's why I asked. Or are you a stray too?" Brittany asked, confusion thick in her voice.

After a moment of silence, the girl finally said, "I'm Santana."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Santana! I'm Brittany. Umm… sorry I stopped you earlier. If I had known that boy was picking on a poor little kitty, I might have joined you." Brittany shifted the kitten in her hands so that he could set to work licking her other fingers.

This statement caused Santana to laugh at the absurdity of picturing this innocent little girl throwing a punch at anyone. "Aww, it's alright. If you think I look bad, you should see him."

Brittany giggled and nodded. Eyeing the girl, she noted that Santana's shirt was sweat-soaked from the heat. Then a thought occurred to her. "Hey Santana, do you wanna get an ice cream with me?" she asked shyly.

Santana paused and quirked her head at the blonde. "But… didn't you just get an ice cream?"

"Yea, but I'm gonna get another for Lord Tubbington. He looks really hungry, and I already know he likes ice cream," Brittany replied earnestly.

"Are you buying?"

"Mhmm."

Santana could have said that ice cream probably wasn't good for cats, but she held her tongue. After all, free ice cream was free ice cream. "Alright."

"Great!" Brittany chirped. Shifting the kitten carefully so that it was held against her shoulder, she reached out and grabbed Santana's hand. Without giving the other girl any time to react, Brittany raced off down the side walk. "There's a really great ice cream place nearby. They have all kinds of flavors and toppings, but I usually just get vanilla."

Within a few minutes the pair arrived at an ice cream parlor. Both were breathing a little heavily, and their cheeks were flushed from running in the summer heat. Seemingly, Brittany had forgotten that she still held Santana's hand, as she didn't immediately let go once they'd stopped. The blonde quickly lead her newfound friend into the small parlor, causing a tiny bell to jingle, alerting others to their entrance.

Santana peered around the store curiously. She had never been to many stores and restaurants outside of Lima Heights, because her parents couldn't afford much else. Her mother was a secretary somewhere, and her father was a waiter, but his salary mostly went toward his bills for school. Someday, he was going to be a doctor. The store had a few booths, and a counter displaying all the different flavors and toppings. There was also a list of specialties written on a chalk board against the wall, which was what Santana focused on.

A man came out from a door to another room and smiled, "Hey there girls." Noticing Brittany, he blinked, "Say, weren't you just in here a little bit ago?"

Brittany giggled and nodded. "Yes sir. But I made a new friend and got a kitten, so I'm gonna need some more ice cream for them."

The man smiled politely, "Well, what can I get you?"

Turning to her new friend, Brittany said, "You first."

Santana blinked and glanced at all of the flavors, "Can I get anything I want?"

"Mhmm, I have plenty money from my Mommy."

Nodding, Santana walked up to the counter and stared up at the man. "I want half cookies 'n cream, and half cookie dough ice cream, with chocolate syrup and sprinkles," she demanded.

"Psst."

"What?" Santana asked, turning to stare at the blonde.

"You're supposed to say please," she whispered.

"Oh… yea." She turned to the man and said in a rather dull voice, "Please."

"Alrighty, and will that be all for you two?" he asked, speaking to Brittany and ignoring Santana.

"Nope! I also need a really big bowl of vanilla ice cream with a cherry on top," she replied chipperly. "I'm gonna share with Lord Tubbington."

"You got it," the man replied.

While he was preparing their treats, Santana turned to the blonde. "So umm, thanks for… buying me ice cream and stuff," she muttered, embarrassed.

"It's no problem! Ice cream is a lot more fun to eat with friends," Brittany answered, smiling warmly at her.

"Are we friends?" Santana asked doubtfully.

Brittany nodded seriously. "Of course silly. You have to be friends to eat ice cream together. Plus, you helped Lord Tubbington, so I know you're good. You saved my kitty."

Santana felt a small smile curl her lips, "Cool."

"Alrighty, two ice creams, coming up," the man said. He handed them both to Santana, "That'll be ten dollars and fifty-three cents."

Brittany reached into her pocket and handed the man a twenty, "Here you go, sir!" Turning to Santana, she said, "C'mon, let's go eat before it melts."

"Umm… shouldn't you get your change?" Santana muttered.

The little blonde blinked, "I don't think so. He can have it. Now let's go!"

Before Santana could react, she was already wandering off toward one of the booths. "Hey, wait up," she called, following after the blonde. Once she sat down, she murmured, "You just gave that guy almost double what you owed him. Are you rich or something?"

Brittany shrugged, "I dunno. Mommy just gives me money to spend on stuff I want." She settled Lord Tubbington on the table top and pulled her bowl over so he could lick up the ice cream. "Eat up Lord Tubbington! You need to get a lot fatter so your name makes more sense."

The dark haired girl frowned and began to eat her own ice cream. She wasn't sure if this girl was stupid, or just really irresponsible with money. Either way, Santana could probably milk this friendship thing out for a while and get all kinds of free stuff from it. Chocolate hued eyes lifted to watch the blonde, who was giggling as she fed the kitten some more ice cream from her finger. A small smile lit her face, and she pulled her eyes away. 'I don't want to use her though… at least not like that. Maybe… maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have a friend like her,' she thought.

"Hey Brittany?" Santana asked.

Brittany looked up from playing with the kitten, "Yea?"

"Do you wanna maybe go to the park for a bit after we finish our ice cream? There's a really nice one that's not too far from here," she mumbled, and a slight blush warmed her cheeks. This was an entirely new feeling to Santana—being friendly.

The blonde girl beamed at her new friend, "I'd love that Santana!"


Another one shot. Different because Santana isn't super wealthy yet, but rather a scrappy little girl. I hope you guys enjoyed this. It didn't flow quite as easily as the first one shot did, but I think it's still alright. I do love writings stories where the characters are still children, and not quite teenagers yet. Simply because I love little kids—I just think they're the bee's knees.

Anywho, as always leave a review for me. Let me know if you think it was good, or if I could change some things. Also, if you have your own ideas for a one shot, feel free to spit ball them at me. Just remember that it has to be about how Santana and Brittany first met.