Ok I would just like to thank everybody that followed and reviewed this story, I'm glad most of you seem to really like it:)
Glee4ever123: I know she's being a bitch but there's a reason for her being so guarded, and Brittany being Brittany might be the only one to fix that;)
Guest: Thank you so much:)
Yeongling98: Thank you! Hope you enjoy this chapter:)
ScarlettDancer: I completely understand where you are coming from because I absolutely hated reading fics in second person and would avoid it but then it kind of grew on me and lots of people are writing them now so I thought I would give it a try. I hope it's not too annoying and you can keep reading it but I understand if you don't xx
CAROL: THANK YOU CAROL! Xx
Triniredster: Glad you like it! :)
Magickgdom1989: Thank you for reviewing your wish is my command:)
Katiek28: Yeah I could totally see Sugar doing that after highschool haha. There will be lots of interesting Santana and Brittany interaction to come! xx
You wake up and groan at the dull throb in your lower back. You hope you won't have to sleep on the floor for much longer. You roll around on the floor a little just to stretch out your back before you get up and get yourself ready for a day of dancing.
It's been a week since you met Santana and you've barely seen her since. You stay out in the living room and watch tv at night until she comes home, and when she does you barely exchange a greeting before you're heading to your room to get some sleep. You don't think she minds because she doesn't seem like one to chat for hours about how her day went, anyway she's usually got Puck attached to her face so she wouldn't be able to talk much. Two nights last week she didn't come home at all so you stayed up the whole night waiting for her until about six in the morning when you gave up and let yourself sleep. You had a nightmare both nights.
Last night she came home at eleven which was pretty early for her so you were happy to get a better sleep, even if it still meant you had to endure the sounds coming from down the hall.
So today you get up and you shower, letting the water wake you up from your restless nights. After you finish you rush back to your room in only a towel and you get dressed in your dancing clothes, this pretty much just consisted of blue shorts and a yellow tank top. You head out to your spot which takes you about half an hour to walk to and smile when you see Sugar is already there.
'Heya Brittany!' She yells over her music as you set up. There's only one guy watching her dance but she still puts on a killer show for him. You lay out the cardigan from the first time you set up here because you don't want to confuse anyone by switching up places to put their money.
'Hi Sugar!' you yell back.
Once you've set up, which really doesn't take long at all, you shuffle your feet along the ground until you find the perfect spot, preferably somewhere with no cigarette buds, you see enough of them at home. Sugar's dock is currently blaring Wynter Gorgons 'Dirty talk'. You smile because you know this song, so you sway to the beat for a few seconds before completely losing yourself in the song.
You only ever stop dancing when the song ends and it's only then that you realise people have been watching you. You open your eyes and sometimes there's one person standing there, or a couple, but sometimes there's twenty and that's when you blush and hope that Sugar picks another song quickly so you don't have to stand there awkwardly for much longer.
Some people smile at you before leaving and you smile back to be polite, and some even say good job which you really appreciate and say 'thank you', and then there's those that don't say anything, they don't even smile, they just keep walking like they've seen better. That kind of upsets you sometimes because you don't want to be just another dancer, you want to be more, you want to be the best and have people paying hundreds of dollars to come watch you perform. That's the dream, and you're not going to stop until that happens. You make a mental note that when you get home you're going to practice some new dance moves so you can get them perfect for the crowds tomorrow.
At around one o'clock, you guess, Sugar tells you she's going to get some lunch and asks if you want her to leave the music on. You shake your head and tell her that's ok because you should probably go get some lunch too. You kind of hoped that she would invite you to lunch with her but instead she just nodded, packed up her equipment, slung her hulla-hoops over her shoulder, and she walked away into the crowds, disappearing in an instant.
You pout a little because now you're on your own again and you forgot to ask what time she was getting back, or if she was getting back. When you look down to your feet you see a pile of coins sitting on your cardigan and decide to count them now, maybe if you had enough you could call it a day early. You don't really like the idea of going back to the apartment so early because there's never anything to do but you would rather that then to stay out on the streets by yourself for the rest of the day. You wouldn't be able to walk far because you might get lost, and you can't let that happen in such a big city. You used to get lost all the time back home but in a town where every second family knew who you were it was easy to find your way back to the house, plus your dad was a cop and he had a sixth sense for finding you when you were in trouble.
When you count up the money you've got $40.25. You think that's a pretty good effort for just the morning and you think that instead of putting this into the money for this weeks rent that you should go and buy some groceries. For the last week you've been buying little snacks only when you're hungry in hopes of saving money but you've been dreaming of filling up the fridge and pantry in the apartment with yummy food so you can actually have breakfast before you leave for dancing in the morning. You had a look in the pantry the other day and found a half-eaten box of crackers and a jar of peanut butter. The fridge wasn't much better with a six-pack of beer and two old pizza boxes. Since then it's been your mission to fill it with good healthy food, and today was that day.
You grin to yourself with excitement as you pack up your station and walk quickly through the fast moving crowds. You've started to get into the habit of walking fast to fit in a little bit, and it seems to be working.
You walk back the way you came because every morning you pass the same supermarket and have to will yourself not to look through the windows at all the colourful fruits and vegetables. But today you get to go in and treat yourself. When you walk in the first thing you realise is that it's kind of colder in the supermarket so you stuff all your coins into your pockets and slip on your cardigan.
You grab a cart and can't help but smile at how grown up you feel, you used to help mom with the groceries and wondered in awe how she could remember everything they needed all off the top of her head, it was like she had superpowers or something. You resist the urge to race down the aisles with your feet on the rails of the cart because you want to look like an adult.
You grab a bunch of bananas because they would be good for breakfast, along with some bread, butter, and milk. You got to start with the basics. When you get to the sweets aisle you chuckle as you quickly chuck in a small block of chocolate. Your mom used to curse you every time you snuck chocolate into the cart but you knew later that night she would come into your room with the block and jump under the covers with you, hiding from your dad until all the chocolate was eaten.
When you think you've got everything you make your way to the registers. They all look pretty full but you've got time so you happily stand in one of the big lines. That is until a guy with blonde hair waves for you to come forward to his register. You nod to him and carefully manoeuvre your cart to get to him.
'Hi there, how's your day going?' He asks cheerily. You can't help but smile because his smile is really big.
'It's going really well so far! How's yours?' You ask as he begins to scan your items.
'Well I only just started my shift so it's going great!' He chuckles before looking back to you. 'You know I'd asked you if you fell from heaven but I know you're no Angel.'
You stare at him for a while as he smiles at you. What does that mean? Is that a New York thing to say? Is he saying you're mean?
You don't really know what to say so you just kind of keep staring at him and smile a little because obviously he was trying to make some sort of joke but you don't really get it.
After an awkward moment he finally clarifies. 'Sorry I uh, saw you earlier and you were dancing to Dirty Talk.' He explains with a blush and then begins singing quietly. 'I am no angellll, I like the way you do those things to me.'
He blushes even harder when he finishes and looks around wondering who else heard him do that. You laugh a little and that seems to make him relax.
'Anyway.' He says with an embarrassed chuckle. 'You were really good.'
You feel yourself blush because it's been a while since someones complemented you on your dancing like that and it feels good. He seems to get his confidence back after that and then he's introducing himself to you.
'I'm Sam by the way.' He smiles. 'Sam, I am.'
You smile widely back because you love Dr. Suess, but you don't really want to reveal that to Sam just yet, you only just met him afterall.
'Brittany.' You say back.
'Well Brittany that comes to $62.95.' Sam tells you and you kind of freeze for a second. That can't be right. You want to ask him if he accidently double-scanned anything but when you look at his face he looks so sure. You furrow your brow because you didn't really buy that much, mom used to buy a trolley full of groceries and you only bought like ten things…
'Um…' You say quietly. You can feel your face heat up as you reach for the money in your shorts. You know you have some money at home but that's for rent, and plus it's still at home. 'Uh, I've only got $40 on me at the moment.' You admit weakly.
Sam must see your face because he's quick to reassure you.
'Oh hey that's cool, um. How bout you just get half of this, and then when you have more money on you, you can get the rest?'
You smile and thank him because it was nice of him not to make you feel poor, even though you kind of are, you hope he will still like you after this. You give him your money and he scans through half of the items which comes to $39.
'Nice meeting you Brittany, hope to see you again.' Sam smiles as he hands you the receipt.
'Nice meeting you too Sam.' You say back and grab your grocery bags. Right now you kind of just want to leave before you die of embarrassment.
After meeting Sam and deciding he could be another potential friend you head back to the apartment and put away the groceries. The fridge and pantry are far from full, in fact they're still pretty bare, but it's better than it was. Now It feels slightly more homey.
As you go to check the cost of the items on your receipt so you don't make the same mistake next time, you notice something that makes you smile. Right down the bottom of the receipt is a phone number with the words 'Call me:)' underneath it. Smiling to yourself you pull out your phone and put Sams number in.
ToSam: Sneaky;)
It's later that night after you've had a dinner of peanut butter on toast that you get a reply. You think he must have just finished work.
FromSam: Very stealth:) How'd the rest of your day go?
You spend the remainder of the night texting Sam and practicing dance moves until your legs start to ache so bad you let yourself go to bed…or floor, either way you just rested for a bit.
Later you hear Santana and her boyfriend get home, and you finally fall asleep.
XXXXXXXXX
The next morning you wake with a smile on your face, even though your back still aches from another night on the hard wooden floor. But talking to Sam all night last night felt good, like someone out there stills cares about you, even if you only just met them.
You continue to smile as you get ready for a day of dancing. You plan on getting a lot more money today so you can go back and see Sam to buy some more food, proving to him that you do have money, and plus you kind of want to see him again.
Once you're dressed you head to the kitchen and open the fridge to get a banana. You scrunch up your face when you find the fridge is bare. Maybe you put them in the pantry?
You open the pantry and find the same result, only half a loaf of bread is left and that half eaten box of crackers.
What the hell?
You look around the apartment for some clue as to what happened. Maybe a bear came in last night and stole all your food? But then you see it. On the coffee table in the living room is the wrapper of the block of chocolate you bought. You feel your heart sink because you were really looking forward to climbing under your blanket and eating that when you have a bad day, you could really use it right now actually.
'Santana.' You mumble and furrow your brow. You would never eat someone elses food unless they offered it to you, surely Santana wouldn't just eat your food…maybe she misunderstood because you put it where her food goes too?
It's not until eleven thirty that night, after a day of angry dancing, that you finally get to confront Santana about it. You had built up a big argument in your head about what you were going to say to her but as you hear the door open and see how she smirks when she spots you sitting on the couch, you kind of forget what you had to say.
She walks confidently into the apartment and plonks herself down on the couch next to you. You're watching America's Next Top Model which is your favourite so you wait until the commercials before you ask Santana about your food, deciding that you would let her unwind a little from work before you question her.
'Puck and I had the munchies.' She shrugs nonchalantly. You furrow your brow because that doesn't explain why she had to eat all of your food.
'Well, are you going to pay for some more food?' You ask, surprising yourself at how angry you sounded.
'Um no, I'm not your fucking mother.' Santana laughs and digs into the back of her work shorts, pulling out a piece of rolled up paper out of a small plastic bag and a lighter. She puts the paper between her lips and lights the end. You're still so mad about the food situation that you don't even question why she's smoking something like that. Instead you roll your eyes and huff because you know you're not going to get the answer you want from her.
'I'm going to bed.' You sigh and stretch up from the couch. Santana blows some smoke in your direction and you want to yell at her but you don't know if she did it on purpose or not so you decide not to say anything.
'Why is it that as soon as I get home you always go off to bed?' Santana smirks before taking a slow drag. 'Do I scare you or something bambi?'
You want to smile because Bambi is one of your favourite movies but then you remember she's doing it to make fun of you so you bite your lip.
'No I like it when you get home, I can't really sleep unless someone else is in the apartment, so I wait up for you.' You say honestly. You want to go to your room but Santana has her legs up on the coffee table and you can't really get past her.
'You wait up for me every night?' Santana asks with what you think might be a look of shock. You're not too sure because while she was talking you were only staring at her lips as the last wisps of smoke escaped them. It made you lick your own lips. 'Some nights I get home at like four in the morning, some nights I don't even come home I stay at Pucks.'
You look back into her eyes and nod your head slowly, remembering the nightmares you have when she's not home. 'Yeah…those nights suck.'
'Why don't you…can't you just invite some friend over so you can go to sleep?' Santana asks. She seems like she's kind of mad at you but you don't know why, shouldn't you be the one mad at her?
'I don't have any friends.' You admit sadly. You thought Sugar was your friend but maybe she's just kind of a work friend since she didn't invite you to lunch yesterday, not that you technically work but…
'None?' Santana laughs through a scoff, taking another drag from that thing she was smoking. 'What kind of loser doesn't have one friend?'
You get kind of offended that she called you a loser. People used to call you that at school and it made you sad. But then you remember Sam.
'Well I kind of met a guy yesterday at the supermarket, Sam, we talked while he served me.' You say proudly and watch as Santana's smirk widens.
'He served you did he?' She smiles. 'Wanky.'
'Yes.' You say back. You don't really understand why that was so funny.
Santana stops laughing when she realises you're not joining her.
'Alright well why don't you invite Mr. Checkout-Chick over for a booty call every once and a while?'
You scrunch up your face and shake your head. You only just met Sam yesterday, that seems a little soon.
'I don't really want to do that…can't I just wait up for you?' You offer with a pout. As much as you like Sam you would never move that quickly with anyone. If someone really likes you, they'll wait as long as it takes. Dad used to always tell you that.
'Well fuck, I don't want to have a fucking curfew just so I can get home early enough to put the kid to bed and no doubt turn on her night lamp!' Santana yells, surprising you at the sudden outburst. You look down to your feet to try and avoid looking into those deep fiery eyes, the ones that draw you in until you can't remember what you wanted to say anymore.
You're not a kid, and it hurts that she thinks you are.
'I don't have a night lamp.' You state quietly, your eyes still trained at the ground. 'And you don't have a curfew, just come home when you're ready like you always do.' You shrug.
It's silent for a moment. You don't look at Santana but you know she's still there because every now and then a new puff of smoke comes into your line of vision and you scrunch your nose up at the smell.
'What's your number?' You eventually hear and your eyes travel back to Santana to see her pulling out her phone. You find yourself smiling a little because that's like the second friend you've made in two days, first Sam wants your number and now Santana. You kind of tilt your head in question though because two minutes ago she was yelling at you and now she wants your number? Santana rolls her eyes before explaining. 'I'll text you if I won't be coming home, that way you can, I don't know, go out and get laid or something.'
You think you should probably be offended by her words but you're not because this means that you no longer have to wait up every night, wondering if every noise is Santana coming home or if it is just another creak of the apartment, and most importantly you'll know if she's even coming home at all. So you quickly put your number in her phone and hand it back.
'Thanks.' You smile widely. You don't understand how all day you had been so damn mad at her and then just like that she had turned your mood around, she didn't even have to get off the couch to do it either.
'Okay well I'm here now so go to bed.' Santana waves you off as she puts out her smoke on the coffee table. You make a mental note to ask her to stop doing that, but right now you're in too good a mood to argue.
You tap her legs to make her move them which she arches a brow to, you only arch yours back and then she's smirking and lifting her legs to let you pass. You giggle in success and throw over your shoulder: 'I thought you said you weren't my mother?'
You don't look back but you can hear Santana's breathy chuckle and you smile to yourself as you walk to your room.
Later you hear Puck come in and you reach over for your ipod.