While the Angels Walk with the Lonely Ones
It's two weeks after their first encounter, and Santana has gotten used to her nightly chats with Brittany. They fall into a bit of a routine - Brittany is the only girl who comes to get drinks for the dressing rooms, and Santana paces her shift so she isn't busy when the dancers are on break.
Tonight is one of the crazier nights at McClaren's, and Brittany leans up against the bar in the place of an empty stool. Santana feigns nonchalance as she pours another round of rum and coke for a group of giggly college coeds in the corner. Brittany smiles as she sweeps back around.
"God, don't ever send me back to college," Santana groans, shooting a glare over at the girls, who are now posing in awkward iPhone self-shots.
"Did you go to college, then?" Brittany flips her hair over her shoulder.
"Yeah, I went to Boston University for undergrad. Really only got in 'cause I'm Latina." She rolls her eyes. "I majored in chemistry, but you can see how far that got me."
Brittany bites back a smile. "Chemistry, huh? I'd hate to see you putting your degree to use at a bar. Remind me to stay away from your mixed drinks," she teases.
Santana laughs a little self-consciously. "I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. My dad's a doctor, so I figured I might as well see what that had to offer." She shrugs. "Didn't exactly work out."
"Where are you from?" Brittany cocks her head. "Boston and Los Angeles aren't exactly next door neighbors."
"No kidding," Santana says dryly. "I'm originally from Ohio, but I wanted to get out of Bumblefuck, USA, so I headed north. And then I ended up here. I don't really know how," she finishes, tapping her fingers absently against the bar. Brittany is watching her with curious eyes, and Santana feels herself blush a little bit. "What about you then, how'd you end up in LA?"
Brittany shrugs. "I don't really have much of a story. Grew up in San Francisco and tried college, but I wanted to be a dancer, so that didn't last long. It was only a matter of time before I ended up here." She gestures vaguely to the bar around them, and Santana arches an eyebrow.
"A smoke-filled bar in the armpit of Los Angeles," she says flatly. "Big dreams there."
Brittany swats half-heartedly at her, but she's smiling. "I don't know, okay? I just know that I belong in the City of Angels, always have." She snorts softly. "If I have to work in a couple of armpits to pay the bills, so be it."
"Have you ever been to New York?" Santana asks, leaning forward onto the bar so that she and Brittany are inches apart. "It's tons better than here."
Brittany shakes her head. "You've been, I'm guessing?"
"Oh yeah. I could have lived in New York - almost did. Plus in Boston, I was living closer than I'd ever been, so I went whenever I had a few dollars and some wheels." She pauses. "It's a great big world, and you don't really realize it until you've been there a couple of times and you still don't really know where you are."
"LA's like that," Brittany puts in. "Plus we don't freeze our asses off every winter."
Santana shrugs. "I still prefer NYC."
"Why, 'cuz it rains two-thirds of the year?" Brittany snorts. "So you all grow gills and webbed feet?"
She squeezes in her cheeks and makes a fish-face, and Santana finds she can't breathe for laughing so hard. It's then that Ebony comes over to fetch her castmate, and Brittany reluctantly removes herself from the bar. Santana's about to say goodbye when Brittany suddenly moves back in, putting her face right up beside Santana's.
"Want to get a drink after work?" she breathes, her voice brushing Santana's ear. "The girls and I are going over to The Element. It's a Thursday night tradition."
"Tonight's Tuesday."
"We can start a new tradition, then," Brittany says breezily, pulling away a little. Her eyes are big and bright and fuck they're blue, and Santana knows she never had a chance in hell.
"I'd love to," she replies, and the glow that leaps onto Brittany's face is worth the exhaustion and hangover she knows she'll drag herself through tomorrow.
"Awesome. I'll come get you at closing." She grins, and flounces off with Ebony. Brittany's wearing a sheer robe over her royal blue lingerie, and it's unreal how good her ass looks. Santana surreptitiously checks her chin (no drool, thank god) and reluctantly drags herself back to pouring drinks.
a/n: I have been absolutely astonished with the amount of positive feedback I've been getting in the last three days! It makes me feel better about writing weird AUs. also, I know this chapter is short. Please don't shoot me.
(secret that might make you happier: I'm basing my mental image of B off HeMo & 'Slave 4 U' at Glee Live. If you haven't seen pictures, GO TO GOOGLE RIGHT NOW. they will change your life. she is a sexy, sexy beast.)
I'm trying to get this story written and published as fast as I can, but between now and Christmas is absolutely crazy. I can't promise an update before this weekend, but I will try for early next week. I have a lot of later scenes already written out and edited, so it's really just writing filler for the moment.
perpetual reminder that I don't own Glee, that you can find me on Tumblr (amerrybritt-mas) and Livejournal (findyourstars), and that Brittana is canon and everything is happy and good in the world. Have a wonderful holiday season, my darlings!