A/N: Um, the panther/jaguar in this story will probably have some characteristics of wolves and vampires. But that's what's so awesome about literature and imagination; you can do stuff like that :)
Please enjoy.
Also, I'll be needing ideas in a few chapters so get your thinking caps on guys.
And Finally, I own nuffin Glee related cept' this here story!
The next day, Rachel had made up in her mind that she had not, in fact, petted a jaguar in Brittany's hallway. What she did spend her yesterday evening doing, she wasn't sure yet. But coddling a wild animal was not it.
Before the first class had started, she saw Brittany in the hallway. She was going to make her way over to the blond, when the black haired cheerleader appeared beside her, seemingly out of nowhere. As if she knew Rachel's thoughts, she sent a sharp glare the girl's way, causing Rachel to abruptly turn on her heels and play like she was stopping at her locker. She actually wasn't even sure whose locker she was at; she just prayed it wasn't another cheerio's. Out of her peripheral, she saw the blond stroking Santana's hair, and in turn, the Latina leaned into the touch with a pacified expression. When the pair started walking towards her, she quickly turned her eyes back to the locker in front of her.
"Hey Rachie!" Brittany smiled, pulling the girl into a quick, but tight, embrace.
"Good morning Brittany, Santana," she smiled, looking between the girls.
"Dwarf," the silky raven-haired girl replied, shifting her feet. There was an awkward silence and Rachel wasn't sure if she should bring up the bizarre dream she had last night or not.
"Um, Rachel, I thought your locker was over there," the blonde asked, pointing to a set of lockers on the other side of the hallway.
"Oh, um, it seems that you are correct," Rachel smiled embarrassingly as she headed for her actual locker. "I was wondering why my combination wasn't working," she chuckled nervously.
"Careful Berry. Looks like Finn's stupid is contagious," Santana smirked, causing both Brittany and Rachel to frown.
"It's okay, Rachie. I sometimes forget my locker too. Lucky for me, San is always there to remember for me." She linked pinkies with the Latina, and the action along with the statement had the latter fighting back a grin. "Maybe she could remember for you too?" And grin gone.
The brunette smiled briefly before the nickname, "San," caught her attention. The panther. Brittany's house. The dream.
"Um, Brittany, may I have a word with you?" Rachel asked, doing her best to avoid the low noise Santana emitted after hearing the girl's request.
"Sure thing. I'll be right back, Sanny!" She leaned in to kiss the cross cheerleader's cheek before linking arms with Rachel and pulling her into an empty classroom. "What's up?"
"Well, it's about yesterday," she started slowly. The blond nodded enthusiastically, waiting for the girl to continue. "Did, yesterday really happen? I mean, I didn't actually go to your house and pet a wild panther did I?"
"Of course not, silly," the blond laughed, shaking her head. Rachel found herself laughing in relief. She knew she wasn't crazy. She knew it.
"She isn't wild."
The brunette sharply stilled her motions. "Pardon?"
"San isn't wild," the blond said, hopping onto a desk and swinging her legs. "Wild means uncontrolled and messy and stuff right? San is trained and very neat and well-mannered and even house broken."
House broken? What the hell did that even mean for a panther? Now Rachel was definitely perplexed. Apparently yesterday did happen. And she still didn't know how to feel about that. The bell rang before either girl could say anything more.
"So are you coming over again, today?" Brittany asked, hopping off the desk.
Rachel hesitated for a moment. She wasn't sure if she could handle the plethora of emotions again today that she experienced yesterday. But she did need to learn the routine still. Plus, when she looked up, the pleading blue eyes, pouty lips, and hopeful countenance shoved all reservations she had aside and she found herself nodding involuntarily.
"Yay! This is gonna be so much fun!" The girl bounded out of the room, leaving Rachel looking unsure about what exactly she meant.
An hour after school had gotten out, Rachel found herself in front of the familiar pink home. She took in a deep breath before knocking, semi-expecting loud thumps and crashes to follow. Fortunately, none of those things occurred. However, what did happen, might've been slightly worse.
The door was snatched open and an angry, "What?" resounded.
Rachel stumbled a few steps backwards at the loud and sudden voice.
"Uh, um, hi Santana," she managed to get out, "is Brittany around?"
Rachel could tell the Latina was milliseconds away from slicing her in two with her jagged words when the sweet and oh so welcome voice cut in. "Rachie! You're here, come in!" The brunette stood her ground, unable to move do to the penetrating force known as Santana Lopez, standing in the doorway.
"Um, excuse me, Santana," she said nervously as she tried to slide past the girl. The Latina remained unmoved, and hastily pushed the smaller girl away from her when her body accidentally brushed against hers.
"San," Brittany snarled in a low tone, causing the Latina to duck her head. Rachel watched the two girls curiously before following them upstairs to Brittany's room. She noticed the coffee table was no longer there, but the holes in the wall were. She was honestly surprised that Brittany was still allowed company. She just knew her parents would have had a fit and grounded her.
When the girls were just outside of the dancer's room, an onslaught of nerves suddenly attacked her. She looked at the Latina, trying to determine if her face looked as wound up as hers. Surely if she and Brittany were as close as she knew them to be, Santana had to know about San. Nevertheless, her face was stoic and expressionless as they entered the doorless room. She stared at the bed, half expecting to see black furry legs sticking out from underneath, but she found none. The room was still and quiet. Brittany flopped down on her bed and the Latina calmly sat down right beside her, almost obedient like. Rachel stood awkwardly in the doorway, scanning the room for the slightest sign of the deadly animal she encountered yesterday. When she saw the claw marks on the floor at the foot of the bed, her eyes widened as if the beast was snarling at her, inches from her face.
"What is your problem, Hobbit?" Santana asked, glaring at the girl who was still staring at the floor.
"Uh, um, nothing. Just, a bit cold," she said, wrapping her arms around herself. That was only a half lie. She actually still hadn't thawed out from the walk over.
"Well then come over here! San gives off the best body heat!" Santana rolled her eyes at the statement, but when the blond wrapped her arms around her and pulled her back on the bed, she couldn't fight the smile and small laugh that danced on her lips.
Rachel felt left out and wanted to join in on the girl's mirth, but she couldn't help feeling like an outsider.
"Come on, Rachel," Brittany giggled, pulling herself back up so that she was sitting again. The Latina copied her actions. "San won't bite," she said, running her fingers through the girl's hair that draped freely over her shoulders.
"Hard," the Latina mumbled as she grinned impishly, managing to show all her teeth to the nervous girl on the other side of the room.
When Brittany's wandering fingers stroked just behind her ear, Santana's eyes closed and she nuzzled her face into the hand. The brunette made slow tentative steps towards the girls and Santana's eyes shot open, narrowing into slits as she grew nearer. Her steps halted at the motion, but Brittany whispered something incoherent that caused the Latina to close her eyes once more. Once she was standing in front of the cheerleaders, Rachel moved to sit on the other side of the blonde—away from Santana—but the girl scooted over, preventing the brunette from sitting.
"Uh-uh, here," Brittany muttered, pointing to the seat in between both her and Santana. Rachel's and Santana's eyes popped at the girl's words, and Brittany just rolled her eyes, already annoyed at the girls' behavior. "Just sit."
Rachel hesitantly complied; she didn't miss the way the Latina leaned away from her once she'd taken her seat. She couldn't, however, deny the extreme warmth that seemed to radiate off the darker haired girl. She had to resist the urge to lean in and wrap her arms around her.
Santana endured for as long as she could before abruptly jumping up and away from the bed.
"Okay, enough of that," she grumbled, running her hands through her hair and looking anywhere but back at the bed.
"Um, yes, I'm afraid Santana is right," Rachel said softly, trying to hide the hurt in her voice. "Brittany, you and I need to rehearse the dance since yesterday our focus was…elsewhere." Her gaze shifts between Brittany and Santana nervously, feeling unreasonably guilty about hanging out with Brittany without Santana the day before.
The Latina looked down at her nails, clearly unimpressed with the admission. Then, without warning, an evil glint flashed across her face.
"So, what were you and Britt focused on yesterday?" she asked, folding her arms.
Rachel jerked her head up at the girl's question and then looked uneasily at Brittany who was rolling her eyes.
"Um, well, I, she, err…see we-"
"Um, well, but, see, what?" Santana mocked as she took a step forward but then stopped as if blocked by an unseen force field, "cat got your tongue?"
"Anyway," Brittany said, jumping up from the bed and giving Santana a disapproving glance, "let's get started on the routine." She walked over and hit a button on her stereo. "Ready Rach?" she smiled enthusiastically, pulling the tiny brunette from the bed. Already forgetting about the dark haired Cheerio, the tiny singer hopped up and allowed herself to get lost in the melody and movement of the music.
The girls' evening finally wrapped up around 9. Rachel was more than willing to walk home, but Brittany insisted that since Santana was heading home as well, that she give the tiny singer a ride.
"Um no, not gonna happen. Sorry," Santana said as she gathered up her things.
"Yes, Brittany, I too have to object. I'm perfectly capable of walking."
"Yea, the little hobbit probably has a secret rabbit hole that she can slip through or some shit."
"Santana…" Brittany trailed off, pulling the Latina by the hand off to the side. She mumbled something to the girl, causing her to protest and shake her head, but Brittany remained firm. Moments later, the dark haired cheerleader headed to the door with an obvious scowl.
"You have 20 seconds, Frodo," she muttered through clenched teeth as she walked out and slammed the door behind her.
"You should probably go." Brittany said, pulling the brunette into a gentle hug and pushing her out the door. "And don't worry. Her bark is worse than her bite." The blond bit her bottom lip as if she didn't believe her own statement, but the brunette didn't have time to question her about it.
When the door shut behind her, she hesitantly turned toward the Latina's car. The girl's eyes were narrowed at her, and the brunette set her shoulders back and braced herself before walking over. She just needed to survive 3 minutes, trapped, alone, with Santana hates-my-existence Lopez.
The cheerleader had already started to back out of the garage before Rachel's door had even been shut properly. After rushing to buckle her seatbelt, the brunette turned to glare at the driver, who was leaning so far against her door that Rachel was sure she was trying to jump out.
"Despite your boorishness, Santana, I do appreciate you giving me a ride home."
The Latina just grunted in response, causing the tiny singer to huff and stare straight ahead. It was only a few seconds before the brunette found that, despite being inside the car, she could still feel the icy winds of outside. It was then that she noticed that all the windows were down. It was two weeks into December, in northern Ohio, and the windows were down.
"Um, would you mind letting your windows up?" she asked, rubbing her hands together as the winter breeze chilled her small frame that was still damp from rehearsing earlier. "I'm a bit cold."
"Thought you had a natural fur coat, yentl." The brunette frowned, unsure of why the Latina disliked her so much. She was going to ask, but thought better of it. She really didn't have the energy to argue right now; her body was already beginning to feel the aches from Brittany's complex routine. The blonde might be bubbly and friendly, but when she's in her element, she's all business.
They reached Rachel's home and said girl swiftly exited the car with a muffled thank you. Santana hightailed it out of the driveway before Rachel could even make it up to her front door. The brunette just sighed and shook her head; what more could she do?