This is my little side project while I waste my time procrastinating instead of exams; I hope it's enjoyable.
Please review.
Thank you.
At eleven o'clock sharp there was a knock on the door to Brittany's apartment. Brittany bounced over to the door, trying to pull her shoe on and unlocked it quickly to reveal Santana.
"Hey San, sorry, I couldn't find my shoes and now I can't get them on, everything's a bit of a mess this morning"
She said, raising her eyes to meet Santana's and giving her a crooked grin, seeing Santana's eyes sparkle.
"That's okay Babe, I'm not on a time limit"
Santana said, her hand flying to cover her mouth.
"Shit, Brittany, I'm really sorry, it just came ou-"
"Don't fret about it"
Brittany breathed.
"It happens all the time"
She said, shrugging her shoulder and trying to make light of the situation. Santana, with her hand still over her mouth laughed nervously.
"Seriously Santana, it's fine, let's just forget it"
Brittany said, finally getting her shoes on and reaching for her keys and coat. "Where are we off to?"
She said, giving Santana a small smile which the other girl weakly returned.
The two women exited the apartment complex keeping a safe distance from each other. Santana leading Brittany to a red Honda Civic, unlocking the door and entering the driver's side of the vehicle.
"You sold Cecil"
Brittany commented, getting into the car and fastening her seatbelt.
Santana gave her a perplexed look and hummed questioningly, putting her keys into the ignition, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.
"Cecil, you sold him"
Brittany said, running her hand over the leather interior of the car. Santana glanced sideways at Brittany, grimacing when she found the other women staring at her.
"Yeah, uh I had Luca, and then I was earning a high wage as a lawyer, I could kind of afford to buy a safer, more child friendly car"
Santana said, easily navigating the car through the busy streets of New York.
The remainder of the car ride was silent except for the sounds of the radio until they pulled up at a dinner, fifteen minutes into their trip.
"Here's our place"
Santana said, unclipping her seatbelt and moving out of the car. Brittany stayed seated in the car, mouth open in surprise, she hadn't even realized where Santana was steering the car; one block from their old apartment, snug in between two massive buildings is 'Sal's'. A small, little diner; a place Brittany and Santana visited for years.
A sharp knock on her window pulled Brittany from her thoughts.
"You coming Princess? Or do I have to wait another two hours for my coffee?"
Santana said, opening the door of the car.
They entered the diner and immediately walked to their booth, both body's moving from muscle memory.
"I still come here all the time with Luca"
Santana said, playing with the salt shakers.
"Best pancake stack in all of New York except for yours"
Brittany agreed, nodding her head, a gasp interrupted both girls.
"Do my eyes deceive me, or is the Santana Lopez bringing someone that isn't my boy Luca into my diner"
A very familiar voice asked, gaining both girls attention.
"Sal…"
Santana breathed.
"I thought you didn't work Saturdays"
She said, glancing warily at Brittany.
"Well Santana, one of my girls called in sick"
The little old lady said, flipping her note pad across her fingers in a rhythmic pattern.
"And I was the only one that could cover her shift, the poor dal."
She followed, nodding her head.
"Why is your girl not facing me Lopez? Did her mother not teach her manners? Are you going to introduce us?"
Sal said, nodding her head towards Brittany, who was staring out the window, eyes focused intently on nothing.
"Ah well, what can I get the lass? I already know your order Tana, coffee with a side of coffee and some bacon and eggs."
She said, chuckling to herself. Santana cleared her throat and glanced at Brittany, still staring out the window.
"Uh, she'll have a strawberry shake and a stack of pancakes and maple syrup"
Santana said nervously, looking at her hands clasped in front of her, raising her head when she heard the notepad drop.
"Brittany Pierce, you look at me right away."
They heard, both wincing at the name being called Brittany slowly raising her eyes to meet Sal's.
"Hey Sal"
She said quietly, smiling slightly.
"Long time no see"
Sal screamed and threw herself into the booth, engulfing Brittany into a bone crushing hug, surprising for a woman of her age and size.
"Brittany! I Never thought I'd see you again, you just stopped coming one day, and the devil herself over there used to bite anyone's head off and eat them instead of her eggs if someone spoke about you! Where have you been kid?"
The older lady said laughing and standing up again, grinning from ear to ear. Brittany laughed at the enthusiasm of her old friend and smiled back at her.
"Actually, I've been in London, teaching dance"
She said, flicking her eyes over to Santana.
"I'm so happy to see you!"
Sal said, clapping her hands together.
"Both meals on the house for my two lovebirds!"
She shouted and ran to the kitchen.
"Oh no-"
"We're not together"
Both girls yelled out as Sal ran away, their comments falling on deaf ears.
They sat in silence, searching for a topic and both avoiding eye contact.
"So…uh"
Brittany said, fidgeting awkwardly with the edge of the menu on the table; a habit that she picked up as a young child.
"It's okay Brittany, you can ask me about him"
Santana said, looking up to meet the other woman's eyes.
The remained silent again, just looking at each other, searching in the depths of each other's eyes for something they weren't even sure they wanted to find. Brittany breathed in deeply before speaking again.
"How, um, how old is he?"
She whispered, tearing the edge of the menu off and rolling it into a ball.
"Luciano Carlos Lopez, my Luca, he is two years old, almost three. Luciano, it means light and-"
"Carlos is your Papi's name"
Brittany cut in, smiling at Santana under hooded eyelashes.
"Yeah, Carlos is Papi's name"
Santana repeated, searching Brittany's face for any clue as to how she felt.
4 years earlier.
Santana opened her eyes to the morning sun streaming through her blinds, rolling over; she buried her head into a pillow and groaned.
"Britt, get the blinds"
There was no response from the body beside her, Santana noticed the distinct smell of cologne, and slight snores erupting from the body beside her. Sitting up fast in her bed she was greeted with the confirmation of her suspicions. Laying in bed next to her was a man, fast asleep and butt naked.
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
Santana screamed, jumping from the bed and startling the man awake.
"What the FUCK are you doing in my apartment!?"
She shouted, pointing her finger at the man who stared up at her bashfully, it was then that she noticed her clothing situation, or lack thereof scrambling to cover her body with the sheet on the bed.
"Please tell me what is going on?"
She said to the man, eyes pooling with tears.
"Woah there sweetheart"
The man said from the bed, reaching down and handing her a t-shirt from the floor.
"I've never received a reaction like that before, are you okay?"
He said, handing the shirt to her carefully.
"¿Estoy bien? me veo bien? Acabo he despertado con un hombre al azar que pone en la cama donde mi novia normalmente es! Estoy completamente desnuda, por lo que son! ¡Dios mío, estás desnuda! ¿Cómo fue esto incluso sucede?!"( Am I okay? do I look okay? I've just woken up to a random man laying in my bed where my girlfriend normally is! I am completely NAKED, so are you! oh my god, you're naked! How did this even happen?!)
Santana ran from the room to her bathroom, locking the door behind her and sliding down until she was sitting against the cold tiles, tears streaming down her face, she didn't know how long she had been in there when she left. Her apartment was void of all forms of life, especially the guest to her impromptu slumber party. Sporting a killer headache she moved to the kitchen in search of some painkillers when she found the note.
Hey Chica,
you seemed to be in a state this morning,
I'm sorry about how the morning unfolded, I can tell you weren't very impressed.
I hope you're feeling okay, give me a ring if you need to talk about anything.
-Oliver
She grasped the note in both hands before scrunching it into a small ball and throwing it, landing behind the fridge and forgotten.
She reached for her phone and dialed a familiar number. Ringing out three times before the person on the other end answered.
"You better have an excellent fucking reason to wake me up at ten thirty on a Sunday Lopez"
Quinn Fabray hissed into the phone causing Santana to wince at the sudden sound and lack of pain relief.
"Quinn"
she choked out, fighting back a flood of tears.
"I slept with someone"
Quinn sighed into the phone, sympathy flooding her when she heard her close friend's words.
"Honey, it's going to happen, you cant avoid these things. B is gone-"
"It was a man, Q"
Santana cried into the phone, sobs wracking through her body.
"A big, smelly, snorey, sweaty man"
The was a long silence, only filled with Santana's sobs and Quinn's breath until the blonde spoke.
"I'll be over tonight"
She said, clicking the end button.
Santana sat on the floor of her once lively apartment, surrounded by clothes and empty alcohol bottles, Brittany had left her a month prior, the had ended their relationship that day at the airport, an emotional farewell of more than just a person.
She still felt like she cheated, she curled up in the middle of her bedroom and cried, wearing Brittany's old t-shirt. A sharp knock on her door hours later alerted her to Quinn's presence and she spent the next two days yearning for her lover.
Brittany took a deep breath, thinking over Santana's words.
"You said yesterday you were taking Luca to his father's today…"
She said, staring into Santana's eyes, their food come and gone, and their plates laying forgotten on the table.
"After I found out I was pregnant, Quinn and I searched for Oliver's number everywhere. It wasn't fair to leave him out of the picture. It was as much him as me."
Brittany nodded, agreeing with Santana's words.
"So are you…?"
Brittany hinted, wiggling her eyebrows at the latina and causing her to throw her head back in laughter.
"Oh god no! Britt, I am still one hundred percent gay! Both Oliver and I were very drunk and made a stupid, childish mistake, but that mistake was beautlful, and out of it came the most wonderful miracle of my life. Oliver and I became very close friends throughout my whole pregnancy; he was there every step of the way. I love him dearly, but it's very much just best friend love"
She laughed, pulling a photo from her purse.
"This is him and Luca"
She said, holding out the small card to Brittany, revealing a handsome young man around their age with sandy colored curly hair sitting on one side of the small boy, Santana at the other. Brittany stared deeply at the photo, looking at the likeness between father and son, and what she could see of Santana in the young boy. They were sitting in a path, Luca grinning up at his mother as her she was laughing, the man smiling at them both lovingly.
Santana studied Brittany's face from across the other side of the table, watching her take in her son and his father.
"The most amazing thing Britt, was when he opened his eyes and really looked at me for the first time, it was all you."
Brittany stares at the photo again, her eyes drawn to Luca's. A deep, ocean blue twinkling, and staring back at her.