Chapter 1: The Airport Encounter
The nausea did not go away, nor did the Feeling.
Light filtered through the coloured tints of the diner windows and created a pseudo-paradise; blue bouncing off red jumping to yellow flashing on white. It was a magnificent and absolutely tantalising view, but there was something unsettling about the way that the colours moved. The heavy lights disillusioned and confused you – a hellish yet heavenly place. But there was a certain beauty to everything that unravelled right before Dani's eyes, be it the stunning illumination or the blindingly atrocious aquamarine sweater.
Who was Brittany? Not her, that's for sure. She's BKS.
As Santana back-pedalled slightly (Santana? Stepping back? Was the world ending?) and stumbled against the invisible chair leaning against the wall, her face flashed an alarmed, wounded-deer look. Watching the Latina was like seeing a pufferfish deflate – she lost all her confidence and flair in the chime of the door-bell. Time froze for a moment at three in the afternoon and Dani stood there, the vertex of a seeming triangle between Brittany and Santana, soaking in the pregnant silence that engulfed the clamour of the diner.
The rest of life overwrote the tenacious stillness in the room, and Dani was forced back into her cha-cha waitressing dance of swerving to miss teenage busboys. The new shiny object, BKS, was being served by Santana, who was still stricken but recovered to some extent. She had a habit of growing sweaty palms and unconsciously rubbing her hands over her work apron (of which Dani had notice whenever she was within proximity to her Latina), and least to say, she was all over that little piece of fabric tied around her waist.
Their conversations were largely inaudible, two soft voices drowned under by a shrieking toddler and a vexed dad trying to coax the monstrous cry. It had definitely occurred to Dani to play a little spy-next-door game with the corner booth that her girlfriend and BKS sat quietly whispering to each other, but she was both too busy to tend to her personal life, and the Feeling was eating away at her intestines that a pain had grown. Her belly ached but still she wore a strained smile on her face, masking the fact that she had so desperately wanted to smack the kid upside-down.
Curiosity overwhelmed her at some points of the afternoon; sometimes it got to the point of taking the first step towards confronting the secret conversation, while others she took a backwards step and reminded herself that Santana could do whatever the hell she wanted. Surely Dani would find out eventually, anyway. A little patience into the mix of curiosity would not hurt anybody, or so she thought.
Twilight was approaching and the sky began to dusk into a nice shade of morose violet. By the time the morning shift ended, the twosome were still going in some conspiratorial planning in the murky corner. As Dani retrieved her pleather jacket from the back of the kitchen, she ambled painfully slowly towards the main diner, hoping that by the time her elongated strides reach the cashier, Santana would be ready to go. By the time she reached the door, her girlfriend was already waiting for her with an unreadable expression on her face. BKS silently stood beside her.
Was she coming with us?
"Hey babe," Dani said quietly, leaning in for a kiss. Santana turns her head for a cheek-kiss, catching her partner in an uninvited surprise. "Who's this?"
"Hey. This is Brittany, from my high school days."
BKS beamed a genuine smile and offered a preppy wave. There was a particular sense of cheerleader-ness to the blond, with her bright blue eyes that practically screamed 'I play with dolls but I'm also super-hot, I know'. Her chest pushed out as if she had initially wanted to pull Dani in for a hug, but BKS seemed to have been held back by something. Either way, Dani was glad she hadn't – it would have been a touch of sheer awkwardness.
"Hi, I'm Dani."
"Nice to meet you,"
Dani tasted irony in that sentence; the aches in her belly returned with an intention to kill her.
"Britt's in town for an internship with the research faculty at NYU. I think it's just another group of whacked-up scientists who want to run crazy tests on her but she wouldn't believe me, so whatever trouble you're getting into, I'm not coming to save you."
Smurf Kitten punched Santana playfully on the shoulder, an incredulous eye-raise plastered on her porcelain face. "Stop it, they're nice and they promised to take me out for waffles after every session."
A triangle formation began to form as they headed towards the direction of the bus stop, with Dani as the middle vertex and the other two as the base. The pain had settled into her stomach nicely and she wasn't in any mood to speak, leaving her girlfriend's full attention towards BKS. Of course, there were the constant worried glances that Santana shot towards her, but she ended them with short, it's-okay smiles.
The bus stop (finally) appeared about fifty metres ahead of Dani, and BKS offered to walk the rest on her own after Santana had mentioned that the loft was in the opposite direction. A breeze of winter air blew against them; it was crisp but attacked at Dani like a warlord. Was everything trying to kill her today?
"Well, it was nice meeting you."
"Yeah, hope to see you around. We'll show you the true NYC experience." Dani smilingly said through the chill, teeth grinding against each other and creating even more pain. She could feel the Feeling rising again, but this time with more friends and evil little minions.
Pointedly, BKS turned towards Santana and enveloped her in an intimate hug of friendship.
"Don't forget what I said to you in the library,"
What did she say in the library?
(invisible line-break)
Coldness continued to seep through her pleather jacket as Dani held onto Santana's warmer hands. The walk back to the loft was largely filled with gaps of silence in between mindless how-was-your-day's and did-you-hear-that-kid-at-the-diner's? There was a thought eating away at Dani, wanting her to ask about BKS but simultaneously not wanting to pry too much. Every relationship had a limit, and with Santana, the limit stopped at bottled-up emotions and 'Brittany'.
They had had one or two talks about 'Brittany' (it felt wrong not to call her BKS) in the past months of being together, but Dani did not have much information to really piece together an opinion towards her. There were no yearbooks and no pictures of Santana's high school days, because she believed that 'high school was fun but it wouldn't be anywhere I want to go back to'. She made high school sound much more complex and miserable, considering that she was head bitch of the school. It dawned on Dani that in fact, she didn't really know much about New Directions or McKinley High. Just the occasional name-drops and the famed quarterback, Finn Hudson, whose death put Santana in a drunk downwards spiral.
'Brittany' was not a conversation starter. There was that one time when Dani had mentioned her to her Latina, and the latter stated that she loved her, but 'it's over'. But how could a high school love end simply with 'it's over'?
"Brittany seems lovely," Dani gazed over at her girlfriend, giving her hand a little squeeze. "Now I finally have a face to put onto her headless image of her in my mind."
The smile that Santana mustered was slightly strained, and she didn't seem too excited about the direction that the conversation was going, as always. "Yeah, she is."
"Movie night tonight?"
"Yeah, okay."
"Oh, come on. You don't want me half-naked on your couch as we watch something in the dark?"
"Your hair is going to glow in the dark, y'know. Like a Smurfette."
"Adds some blue-hue kink to it,"
Santana laughed. That was all Dani had planned out to do.
(invisible line-break)
Rachel returned to NYC about two days later. She called up Dani on her free afternoon and begged for a ride back to her makeshift home at Elliot's, as he was busy with Kurt at some 'drag queen convention', as Santana liked to call it (it was actually a fashion show, Dani's assuming, but it showed that her girlfriend was coming back into her bitch element and she wasn't going to complain). It was probably a good idea to tell Santana that she was going to see Rachel this afternoon, but it was an even better one to shut up about it for fear of the Cold War starting again.
"Well, I have my night shift today because Gunther thinks I need to make-up for the days that I wasn't in town. Typical asshole." Santana rolled her eyes, already crossed by the fact that Dani had a free day and she wouldn't be able to spend it with her. "I swear, I'm going to take that door chime shit and strangle the hell out of him. Go all Lima Heights on his white ass."
Dani giggled. "There are other days. We could go to the zoo this Saturday."
"Yeah, and throw Gunther into the ringer with a lion."
"I'm thinking no, since you need the job and all."
"I'm going to be casted as Funny Girl, so I don't see why I do."
Of course, Santana was just the understudy, but it was clear that she was not going down without a fight. For nights after the encounter with Rachel (and her eventual moving-out), Dani had sat through countless of aggressive complaints and threats about beating her down from the top and snatching her crown, and guiltily enough it reminded Dani a lot of Toddlers and Tiaras. Two queen bees could not reign one hive at the same time, and so a series of war battles and cat-fights began. Being the neutral person (despite Santana's numerous attempts at 'converting' her through long nights of sweaty sex) and coupled with long waitressing hours and One Three Hill rehearsals, it was seriously taking a toll out of her. Perhaps this was why she had enjoyed the week away from Rach-tana drama a little too much – life was dull, but it was peaceful.
Dani wasn't looking for drama. She had had enough of it with her parents and the whole lesbian thing.
Come to think of it, this BKS chick was increasingly looking more and more like the blond that her parents had caught her with in the basement. She was a sweet thing, a curious junior who didn't think twice about going back home with Dani. In retrospect she was the complete opposite of Santana – quiet and defenceless, but they had one thing in common: defiance. The blond was definitely not Dani's first love, because her feelings for every other girl that she had dated up till now felt completely different from what she had for Santana. It was frightful but thrilling at the same time.
It had been an hour since Dani had walked Santana to the diner and was about three train stations away from the airport. Unconsciously she had hummed 'Here Comes the Sun' under her breath for more than ten stations, and she was not going to stop now. She remembered the first day Santana had come to the diner; she complained to Gunther that the red go-go boots were not her colour, and that she would never wear them in this lifetime.
"I think the boots will make you look hot,"
Dani later swore to Santana that it was a casual and innocent comment, and that she certainly was not trying to flirt with her (it still didn't assure her girlfriend and Santana went on that Dani chased after her, and not the other way around). The next day, Santana showed up to work with the boots.
After that, as she claimed, Dani made her get stinky-panic sweat under her boobs. It was a wonder how a queen-bee goddess like Santana could have such terrible nerves.
There was a buzzing in the back of her pants and she slowly reverted back into the present world. As she swiped her phone from her pocket, she made a mental note that she was already late to pick Rachel up.
"Hello? Dani?"
"What's up Rachel? Have you landed?"
"No, I'm still stuck in Ohio because the people here are incompetent in doing their jobs. Thanks to them, the flight is going to be delayed due to 'traffic issues'."
Dani sighed dramatically albeit mockingly. "No. What's the plan now?"
Faint 'thank you' and 'welcome to Starbucks!' sounded from the background and it became conclusive that if Rachel was getting coffee now, it was going to be a long day for both her and Dani. It was safe to say that the Funny Girl star might very well be stuck in Ohio for more than to her liking.
"Yolanda-at-your-service claims that the flight is due to fly in about an hour, but you know how airport people are. They say one hour and it turns out to be four. This is going be the death of me; if I don't get my beauty sleep tonight, I can't show up for dress rehearsals tomorrow. And I'm not going to let Santana win.
"The airlines is definitely going to hear from my attorney."
"Okay, Rachel, A: you don't have elitist lawyers, and B: what am I supposed to do for four hours at the airport? Catch a flight to Florida and back?"
There was a short pause, the jiggling of keys, and a little safe-swearing uttered under Rachel's breath. All Dani could think of was that she was delving through her travel tote for some type of stress ball, but she was too irritated by the fact that she too was stuck in an airport. The difference was that she was coffee-less, because she refused to buy coffee from some capitalist money-leeching franchise (such as Starbucks).
"Well, I was actually going to move out of Elliot's apartment (it's a lovely place, don't get me wrong, but it's not doing any good for my vocal chords with the paint fumes everywhere – it's not because Kurt is always around now) and into a nice one uptown with my friend. She should be at the airport waiting for me, and maybe..."
"You want me to meet up with a complete stranger?" Dani scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "What is this, a blind date?"
"Well, not exactly..."
"Rachel Berry, if you thought you could ask me to pick you up and help you move out of Elliot's place, you owe me big time." Sighing, she caved to the desperate pleas and whimpers of her friend. "Who is this friend of yours?"
"Don't think of this the wrong way, but," There was a dramatic pause, thanks to the Broadway genes she was born with. Rachel was innately talented at creating suspense during times when people would have stabbed her in the chest.
"Her name's Brittany, and she's San-"
"Oh, Blue Kitten Sweater."
"What?"
The only thing at the airport cafe that was affordable to whatever Dani had in her pockets was a cup of ice chips, which was actually free. As she sipped the ice water and mouthed each cube every few minutes, her fingers drummed rhythmically on the tabletop, setting up an appropriate beat in her head for one of the songs that she had written in her little black book. The aroma of black coffee was strong; the caffeine in the air engulfed her mind through her nostrils.
Her phone buzzed clamorously on the metal table.
'Hey babe, what's up?'
A small smile grew on Dani's face. It was Santana's first of many breaks during her shift and the first thing she always did was to text her querido. She tapped a snarky reply and crossed her legs on the bench while sliding another ice cube between her teeth.
'Gunther's being a bitch again. Drop by after work for the sunrise?'
It became a ritual for the both of them – if either one of them had a night shift, or both worked together, then they would watch the sunrise in the diner. Sunrises were what brought them together, and it became a symbol of passion and affection. 'You bet. Save me some fries.'
'Can't wait to see you.'
A figure in the far distance raised an arm and waved frantically at this direction. Dani could only presume that it was none other than BKS, who today was sporting a knitted beanie with car ears for flaps. There was something in the way that she dressed – from afar, she looked like a childlike spirit that literally skipped her way across the lobby. On the other hand, there was an air of sophistication that hung around her, contradicting this innocent gaiety, and giving her a certain smartness that most people lacked. Santana had once mentioned that BKS was a mathematical genius and had scored a 2400 on the SATs (by shading in a penis in the answer sheets, shockingly). Dani was a broke musician-cum-waitress and scored barely enough to enter any top schools in the city. Sitting here eating ice cubes, she would never have been able to afford an education, anyway.
But that didn't stop her from attending college tours and basking in the experience by sitting outside on the NYU lawn and pretending to be a student.
"Hi Dani," BKS smiled a radiant smile and settled down on the seat opposite of her. "People in New York City are mean. Lord Tubbington was right."
She was silly and whimsical, but she didn't seem like she was mentally challenged. BKS gave off a pure-hearted vibe, and this made it nearly impossible for Dani to be mad at her, let alone suspicious of her. "Lord Tubbington?"
"My cat, Lord Tubbington. He gives good advice, but I can't say the same for Lady Tubbington. She's pretty and everything but all she does is gossip about the neighbour's slutty cat."
It was surprisingly endearing to watch her eyes sparkle with youthful delight as BKS rapidly talked about her two cats. She was charmingly aloof to the rest of her surroundings and lived in her own bubble house of magic stickers and glittered unicorns. Dani sipped another ice cube and it burned the Feeling away, surely but slowly.
"So, how have you and Santana been?" BKS interjected, feigning casualness with a warm smile. "We haven't talked much since I went to MIT and she didn't mention you last week."
No place for you in Lima, Dani. Just New York.
"It's great,"
What was the right thing to say to your girlfriend's ex-girlfriend? Moreover, she had those puppy-dog eyes that would kill you if you broke her heart. BKS flashed a genuine grin, a pageant smile that promised to solve world hunger and save the dying orphans. The more they talked, the more Dani began to realise that BKS was quite simpleminded for an MIT genius. She enjoyed banana nut muffins (of which she was munching on right this second) and seeing the sun in the sky. She hated cold soup and socks with holes in them. BKS was just like the blue kitten sweater – flamboyant but painfully virtuous.
A nice friendship was knitting the two together, and Dani believed that BKS, Santana and herself could hang out some fine day.
"Why didn't you come to Lima with Santana?"
Dani blinked. "We have this... rule... to separate the past from the present."
"I think you should've come; it would've been fun dancing and singing with you. You look like you can do a nice pirouette, and I could've introduced you to Marley! I think she's a closet lesbian because she turned down Ryder and Jake. That's what Lord Tubbington told me."
"I used to take ballet when I was a kid," Letting out a short chuckle, Dani pointed her toes underneath the table. "That's how I got strong thighs. Parents thought they could feminise me, but they put my in a room with other girls in tights. What did they expect?"
"It was nice hanging out with Santana again; she made me feel like we were back in high school except Finn is now in Upstairs Land. I pray to him everyday."
"Do you mean for him? He's not a God-" There are a short pause as Dani's brain lagged behind. "Was high school fun, with Santana, I mean?"
"Santana is always fun. We used to have sleepovers and we would go to glee club and Cheerios practice together. She was my special unicorn."
Perhaps a girlfriend in the right mind would have reacted at the mention of her partner being another's unicorn, but Dani's lips twitched upwards involuntarily.
"We have a secret place in the library where we go during free periods to have sweet lady times, and it was nice when we went there last week. I got mad at the new librarian though – she was a big jerk."
A whole week, in a secret spot in the library, with your ex-girlfriend who you still loved, but 'it's over'. Dani cocked an eyebrow, an inward hurricane creating chaos with her emotions. For some moments she liked the fact that BKS was straightforward and simpleminded, but other times she detested it. Such a time was right now. If Santana still had love for BKS, and if there was even a smidgen of it, it was still love. Love was like evil – it grew from a seed buried into the soil and spread like an oak tree.
Dani smiled and let the Feeling conquer her. She decided to overlook BKS's oblivious comment completely – if something did happen during Santana's Lima week, then she would have told Dani.
She was her unicorn now, and unicorns were not to be shared.
# Thanks for the input/support for my first story (except for that Spanish one, because I don't speak Spanish)! Please note that this is a story that can go one way or the other, and the endgame is not determined yet, so feel free to win me over in your reviews. But this story will include Brittana/Dantana/Brittani scenes.
#VOTE4UROTP