A/N: Hey guys, totally overwhelmed with the response to this story, keep the reviews coming; glad you guys are enjoying it. I need to apologize for the last chapter though, it fell a bit on the short side and there were stupid grammar errors (such as they're/their, which normally I'm anal about lol), but I was on my way out and didn't have time to re-check it. So just to let you know that normally my chapters will be relatively error-free. So anyway here's the latest chapter, Brittana get a bit more complicated. :D
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The sun was not helping Brittany's mood at all as she stomped onto the grassy fields of the football pitch. Every stomp of her foot, every beat of her heart seemed to fall in unison– she felt her pulse beat against her very skin in only what could be described as sheer anger and adrenaline. It was a very hot day as she wiped her brow, but that was the least of her concerns right now. There was a handful of senior students spread out on the bleachers, no doubt on their free period too. Out on the field there were a dozen or so boys playing football all wearing their McKinley gear, Brittany spotted their over-sized coach by the name of Beiste who was yelling random things at them. Brittany wasn't listening at all, she was looking frantically everywhere for a flash of green dress, or a cloud of smoke, or a hat, or those damn legs. She huffed; Santana was nowhere to be seen. She did however spot a familiar face in the crowd nearby, Rachel was reading a book sitting next to another boy with extremely gelled hair and wearing a black shirt with a bright neon green bowtie. If this were any other day Brittany would be fascinated by him, and ask him a bunch of questions and maybe ask to borrow his bowtie – but she couldn't afford to get distracted now.
"Where is she?" Brittany practically barked at Rachel.
Rachel looked entirely taken aback as did the boy sitting next to her. Brittany was too at the sound of her own voice to be honest, she sounded like another person entirely when she was mad.
"I…I assume you mean Santana?" she squeaked.
Brittany simply glared at her. Brittany momentarily felt what it must be like to be Santana and have people look at you in timid fear.
"Over there" Rachel said quickly, her hand on her chest with the other pointing meekly across the opposite side of the field. Brittany spun around and raised a hand to shield her eyes from the blaring sun; there was nobody over there. She looked back to Rachel, frowning for an explanation.
"Oh! You can't really see through the gaps from here but she's usually skulking underneath the bleachers smoking away, honestly I told her if she's going to join Glee club then she'd seriously have to reconsider her lifestyle choices, smoking damages the vocal chords and I for one wont allow-"
"Thanks Rachel" Brittany cut her off, not really in the mood to hear the girl's persistent rambling. She strode in the opposite direction around the football field toward the bleachers at the far end. She was kind of glad she was so angry, it was the only thing keeping her from crying.
Brittany rounded the corner by swinging around one of the metal pole stands of the bleachers. She came into view of the area beneath, the ground stripy with the sunlight coming down from the gaps in the stand above. There was a small wooden table with a radio on it, a fluffy rug on the ground and a tattered old brown sofa; it was almost like a small living room. Santana was there, lying legs crossed on the sofa, spinning her hat with a finger in one hand and the other behind her head; she looked in deep thought. She didn't seem to notice the blonde was there. It momentarily sidetracked Brittany, but then she remembered why she was even here.
"You!" Brittany heard her own unsteady voice say.
Santana shot up in surprise, and then stood up slowly throwing her hat down and glancing between Brittany's face and the sheet of paper fisted in her hand that the blonde was now holding up.
"Ah, I take it you got an A+ for that flawless Spanish then? Well I thought it was flawless, if I do say so myself" she said smugly, shrugging with the usual smirk on her face.
"You think this…this is funny?" asked Brittany disbelievingly, her voice beginning to crack and tears beginning to sting the back of her eyes, she blinked, willing them to go away. She marched forward until she was standing right in front of Santana.
"Yeah…I do actually" Santana began, folding her arms defensively as Brittany approached, and her smirk growing slightly wider. "I mean, c'mon! That bit about the ankles behind your head in cheerios and otherwise – that was pretty funny, I'm a bit of a comedic genius don't you think?"
"Oh yeah, real funny. Funny, calling somebody you hardly know a whore. Oh and what about this bit huh?" said Brittany, flattening the paper out, her hands shaking. "You think it's funny to make fun of one of my parents dying? You think I don't think about that? You think I don't lose sleep over thinking about that possibility almost every night?"
Santana was looking wide-eyed at Brittany, she looked stunned into silence. Which just irked Brittany even more; she wanted her to say something, to do something. Anything.
"What? Now you've got like nothing to say? C'mon Santana you always have something to say, you're a 'comedic genius' after all, c'mon make me laugh!" she exclaimed, tears now silently falling from her face, her voice incredibly uneven. She wanted to be angry, assertive, but she was beginning to crumble.
"Say something!" she blurted out through the tears.
There was a brief moment of silence.
"Smoke?" Santana asked calmly, taking out the usual packet of cigarettes that peeked out from her leather jacket pocket and holding it out toward the blonde.
Brittany's tears stopped as she narrowed her eyes at Santana's offering, confused. After all that, all Santana offered her was a smoke? No apology? No explanation? Not even much of a change in facial expression. Brittany felt a wave of annoyance course through her veins unlike any she ever felt before.
Smack.
She did it. She slapped Santana right across the face.
The noise of her palm hitting Santana's cheek even made a slight echo around the bleachers above them. Brittany retracted her hand then gasped covering her mouth at her own actions.
"You know…" Santana began, flicking her hair back into place and rubbing her jawline with the palm of one of her hands. "A simple 'no' would have been fine" she said, hissing at the stinging pain undoubtedly flashing across her skin.
The anger that had been flowing through Brittany's veins a moment ago was replaced by a sinking feeling of guilt, she tried desperately not to but she began sobbing slightly again.
"I-I'm…I'm…so sorry, I've never…never hit anyone before in my life" said Brittany meekly; sweeping away the tears that fell below her eyes.
Santana just bit her lower lip scanning the ground, apparently unable to look Brittany in the eye. Brittany felt even more guilty but then slightly annoyed too.
"You're kinda useless, you…you know that?" the blonde said.
Santana looked up visibly confused.
"T-This is technically the part where…where you're supposed to like hug me and…and tell me everything's going to be OK" said Brittany matter-of-factly, her voice still sounding crackly from crying.
"Why?" asked Santana narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Cause that's what people do when other people are upset, they hug them and tell them everything's going to be OK" said Brittany, not quite believing she was explaining the basics of human interaction to Santana.
"Oh…" said Santana slowly, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly looking around. Brittany had barely known Santana a week, but she had never seen her look so out of her depth. It was odd and fascinating at the same time.
Brittany watched as Santana stepped forward and ineptly opened her arms.
"Uh…" the Latina hesitated, apparently not knowing which way to hug the cheerleader.
"You don't do this a lot, do you?" said Brittany knowingly.
"Uh…no, not really" Santana replied, dropping her arms and fidgeting with her hands.
Brittany's heart swelled a little as she took the initiative and wrapped her arms around Santana's waist, leaning down slightly to rest her chin on the shoulder of Santana's jacket. Santana wrapped her arms around Brittany's neck in response and leaned into the blondes other shoulder. Brittany was no longer crying.
Brittany shut her eyes and inhaled the familiar scent of smoke mixed with leather and coconuts; it overwhelmed her senses. She hummed contently. This felt real nice. She was sort of tingling.
"I'm sorry…" she heard Santana mumble. Having Santana this close to her was making it really hard to concentrate; she didn't want to say anything stupid. "I was just playing with you, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything" the other girl continued.
Brittany felt a small smile pull up her lips. She simply nodded, smiling a little, letting Santana know she was listening and understood. Oh how she wished Santana would keep talking though, she could stand here forever hugging her and listening to her voice speak things into her ear. Brittany opened her eyes. This crush was getting way out of control.
"I still think you're a dipshit though" said Santana lightly, Brittany giggled faintly, she knew by Santana's tone she was mostly teasing.
"Yeah well, I still think you're a bitch" she said back croakily, grinning.
Santana gave a low laugh then sighed.
"Then I guess we both have our problems" she said sagely.
"I guess" replied Brittany, trying desperately to prolong this exchange for as long as possible.
To her dismay, Santana sighed then pulled away. She then walked over and sat down on the sofa, patting the space next to her for Brittany to sit down. Brittany hesitated then followed suit, slumping down next to Santana, they both leaned back lazily at the same time. Brittany couldn't quite believe how Santana managed to make her feel enraged and hurt one minute, and strangely content the next.
"Wow, for an old sofa this is pretty comfy" said Brittany lolling her head back, turning to Santana. The other girl had her eyes shut and just nodded. "Where did it come from?" she asked curiously.
"Funny story actually. Me n' Puck got high one night and were driving around when we came across the furniture storage factory across town. Well, I ain't exactly sure why, can't really remember – but we thought it would be pretty funny to break in and just steal a sofa. So we did." Santana said shrugging, eye's still closed. "We then put it on the back of Puck's pick up truck and drove here with it."
Brittany giggled. "That's really silly."
"Yep" Santana said simply, her right hand patting Brittany's left knee. After a moment the Latina left it resting there. Brittany slowly looked down then glanced to her side at Santana; she was just lying, head back, eyes closed, she could have been sleeping, Brittany knew she wasn't though. Santana inched her hand higher up Brittany's thigh until just below the pleats of her cheerio skirt, she left it there squeezing slightly then began tracing small circles with her middle finger on the inside of the blonde's thigh.
Brittany's eyes instantly closed as her mouth fell open. Her skin burned under the other girls touch. She shot her head up and looked to Santana who was still lying there, eyes closed, completely unaware. Brittany looked back down at Santana's hand that was slowly stroking her. Up and down. Her leg muscles naturally clenched. Brittany felt a moan bubbling up from the back of her throat but she bit her lower lip harshly and swallowed it. She didn't want to break the comfortable silence; she also didn't want Santana to stop what she was doing. Ever.
A couple of minutes passed and Brittany was finding it increasingly difficult to stay in this maddening ecstasy for much longer without making a sound. She could already hear the hitch in her breathing every time the Latina's hand moved ever so slightly or when her fingers grazed over a new area of skin, and it was incredibly warm under here; the sunrays were beating down from the gaps above and the enclosed area made it very humid. Brittany swallowed thickly unable to tear her gaze away from the hand caressing her. She raised a shaky hand to wipe her brow and blinked profusely. It was really hot. She needed a drink.
"S-Santana…?" she said looking to the other girl, her voice shaky.
"Mhmm?" Santana replied casually, raising an eyebrow but eyes still shut.
Brittany frowned. How could one person be so oblivious to what they are doing? Didn't she know the torture she was inducing? Still the other girl's hand was stroking up and down, then around and under. Brittany didn't understand at all.
"I know you're like uhm, not good with comforting people but…" Brittany began, clearing her throat a little. "What you're doing right now isn't really comforting, in fact it's like super distracting and uhm…you're sorta making me wet."
Crap. She didn't mean to say that last part out loud.
Santana's movements stilled as her eyes popped open. She shot up from the sofa quickly and began pacing not looking back at the blonde.
"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that!" Brittany began, standing up too and cracking her finger knuckles. "I kinda have this tendency just to blurt things out, I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry" she continued as she balled her hand into a fist and began bashing herself on the forehead with it. "Stupid, stupid, stupid" she continued to mumble as she thudded her fist against her head.
"It's fine, just forget it…" Santana said turning around and holding her hand up for Brittany to stop. "And stop hitting yourself moron." She added quickly, rolling her eyes.
"Sorry…" mumbled Brittany dropping her fist as she began bouncing up and down on the spot slightly. "Uhm…are we OK? Are we friends now?"
"No." Santana said sharply. "I mean, I don't really know you" she added, possibly trying to take the harshness out form her initial response.
"Right…" Brittany said slowly. "What does it mean?"
"What does what mean?" asked Santana looking slightly annoyed as she swooped up her hat and placed it back on her head.
"Uhm, what just happened"
Santana looked to Brittany. She didn't look angry or upset, just…indifferent.
"Nothing" she said simply, shrugging.
"Oh…" Brittany said. Santana spun around and was beginning to leave. "Wait, uhm, where are you going?" she asked quickly.
"It's almost lunch and I said I'd meet Man Hands."
"Oh…well uhm…I guess I'll see you in English, last period?" Brittany reminded her uncertainly.
"Guess you will" said Santana, shooting her a wry smile and departing.
Brittany sighed in relief then left a few minutes after Santana did. She looked across the field and could just manage out Santana sitting next to Rachel and the boy with the bright bowtie. She climbed up and sat on the bleachers watching the game, but her mind was still racing.
"Why did I say that? I'm so stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." Brittany mumbled to herself repeatedly. She didn't know how long she had sat there until a voice interrupted her rambling.
"You know, talking to yourself is a sign of madness" came a suave voice.
Brittany scrunched her face looking up, blocking the sun beaming in her eyes. It was Puck. He was standing on the bench one row in front of her. Puck had a complacent grin on his face; he was dressed in his football gear and was twirling his helmet with one finger on one hand. It reminded Brittany of the way Santana spun her hat. She began to think the two were similar in some ways. Both were arrogant, careless, and stubborn. Brittany sighed. Puck lacked Santana's mystery though, and her wit, and her intelligence, and her legs, and her boobs. Brittany shook her head. What was she talking about again?
"Earth To Brittany, did you hear me?" came Puck's voice.
"Sorry, what did you say?" asked Brittany shaking her head.
"You. Me. Karofsky's party on Sunday night. Whaddya say?"
Brittany briefly remembered Puck and Santana talking about it a few days ago. Today was Thursday, Sunday was an odd day to have a party, Brittany thought.
"Wait, you're uhm…you want to take me?" asked Brittany confused. "But you and Santana are always laughing at me."
Puck's grin dropped.
"Pfft. Thats nothin'. Look babe, you're hot, I'm hot, you're a cheerleader, I'm on the football team – it's like the laws of nature." Puck said wiggling his eyebrows.
Brittany laughed shaking her head.
"C'mon, it'll be fun" he pleaded.
"I dunno…is Santana going?"
"Santana? Probably…" he said ruffling the back of his Mohawk with one hand. "I mean, I've never known her to pass up on free beer" he said shrugging.
"OK, I'll go with you" Brittany said quickly.
"Really? Ya will?"
Brittany nodded smiling.
"He shoots! He scores! Aww yeah, we'll work out arrangements tomorrow, see ya later chica!" he said grinning madly and sprinted down the bleachers and ran across the field doing what Brittany thought was an air guitar. She giggled. She heard the lunch bell ring in the distance.
Brittany and Quinn spent lunch in the cafeteria, sitting where they usually sat for lunch, at the largest table with most of the other cheerios. Brittany watched silently as they all harped on about make-up and boys and the Twilight movies. Brittany rolled her eyes, she was beginning to see Santana's dislike of the Cheerios. At least Quinn was different.
"What are you thinking?" Quinn asked smiling across at her.
"What I'm gonna wear to Karofsky's party on Sunday, you're coming too, right?" Brittany asked. Surely the most popular girl in school would be going, even if Quinn were a bit uptight.
"I guess" she sighed, toying with her food with a plastic fork.
"Puck asked me so-"
"Puck?" Quinn quickly interjected, sounding alarmed.
Brittany nodded.
"You can't go with him Brittany" she hissed urgently.
"Why not?" she asked confused.
"Look, there's something I need to tell you-"
The bell ringing interrupted her. Lunch went by pretty fast. Quinn mumbled she'd tell Brittany later. Quinn had said that a lot this week, she always said she'd tell Brittany stuff later, but later never came.
After math, Brittany practically ran to English (now familiar with the school's layout). English and Spanish were her favorite lessons. Even though she only started Spanish today. She sat next to Santana in both. But that was coincidence, right?
She took her usual seat next to Santana; still double-checking to make sure she wasn't ready to pull her chair away. Most of the lesson dragged in, the teacher giving them little opportunity to talk. Still on the plus side, her and Santana had to still share a book, which meant they had to sit close. Brittany occasionally stopped writing just to watch her. She wondered if she should apologize again for earlier but didn't really want to bring it up. Santana even eventually gave her a small smile, that just about made Brittany want to jump up and down on her chair, instead she redirected her excitement by tapping her fingertips on the table repeatedly.
"Stop that" Santana said abruptly, glaring at Brittany's hands.
"Sorry" the blonde mumbled. She sure had said that a lot today.
"I'm also still sorry about earlier" she whispered leaning into Santana's ear. She felt the girl stop writing and tense up a little. "And sorry I hit you too" she said, leaning back and peeking her head down a little to gauge Santana's reaction that was masked slightly under her hat. Santana stopped writing and put her pen down.
"Can't really complain Blondie" Santana said shrugging. "I do like it when a girl's rough" she said lowly, a smirk spreading across her face.
"I…uh…" Brittany stammered, feeling heat radiate from her cheeks.
"You know this whole me not making fun of you is going to be pretty hard, you're so easy to mess with" she said playfully rolling her eyes.
Brittany just smiled bashfully back. Santana wasn't so bad after all; in fact, Brittany thought she was pretty awesome.
"Alright class!" bellowed the teacher's voice. "I want you to go into groups of four and discuss what you thought Shakespeare was trying to convey in this chapter"
"Esto debería ser divertido" mumbled Santana rolling her eyes.
Puck and Finn Hudson spun around and dragged their stools back to their table.
"Hola" Puck said grinning.
"So what do you think Shakespeare was trying to-" began Finn.
"Nuh uh. We ain't actually going to be discussing that, idiot." Santana interjected holding a hand up.
"Hey" said Puck tapping Santana's forearm. "I found a date to the party on Sunday" he said pointing a finger toward Brittany, grinning.
"You…you're taking her?" asked Santana, slowly looking back and forth between Puck and Brittany with a crease in her brow. They were talking about Brittany almost as if she weren't there. Brittany bit her lower lip.
"Yeah. Why? That a problem?" asked Puck, frowning.
"No you clown, you were just supposed to be driving me is all" Santana said shrugging.
"Oh, don't worry I'll still drive you there, you'll get your drink on"
"Good" said Santana.
"Hey uh, don't worry Santana, I'm still going too, I'll be your date" said Finn smiling dopily and nodding his head awkwardly at Santana.
"Oh great…" began Santana smiling sweetly at him. "I look forward to enjoying it, of course the only way that will happen Finnescence is if you magically grow a vagina afores Sunday, even then, there's only so much butch and general tallness I can take. I mean seriously, why the hell are you so freakishly tall? You're like a freakin' beanstalk; no doubt the night will be spent with students trying to clamor their way toward you, trying to climb up and see what magical adventures await them at the top."
Brittany and Puck tried desperately to stifle their laughs with their hands. Finn just laughed weakly.
The class soon ended and Brittany was glad the school day was over. Santana as she was packing her bag seemed very quiet. Normally she was punching Puck, or berating Puck, or laughing with Puck.
"Hey uhm…are you OK?" Brittany asked her quietly.
"I'm fine." Santana said shortly, glancing momentarily at her. The Latina slung her backpack over her shoulder; Brittany heard the usual glass bottles inside. She went to say something but Santana was already striding out down to the front and out of the class.
Brittany slumped back down on her chair and watched her leave. She guessed she'd have to go home and tell her mom that she went by another day without making a new friend. Santana Lopez couldn't be human she decided there and then. She had to be a book, for only books were so complicated. Yep. Santana Lopez was definitely the most complicated book she never read.