A/N: Thanks again for all the reactions! Means the world!
I hope you'll all like this new chapter, enjoy and let me know what you think!
Brittany and Santana were leaning against the wall outside of the bar. Brittany had been kicked out after her little stunt, even though Santana had insisted she had come to her defense. She luckily hadn't been banned forever; the bartender had just told her to go cool off outside.
He gave her some ice for her hand to take with her. Santana was currently carefully wrapping that ice around her right hand. She still wasn't really talking to Brittany, but for the first time there was no animosity in her eyes, and she didn't seem as distracted as usual.
When the ice bandage was securely wrapped, Santana let go of her arm, Brittany already missing the feel of her dainty, soft fingers. Both girls just stood there quietly for a moment, the silence somehow, miraculously, not awkward.
Brittany stood watching the stars and feeling sappy, when Santana finally broke the silence. "Thank you," she almost whispered. "It's no big deal," Brittany answered immediately. Truth was, she would have probably done the same thing for just about any girl, when someone said no, it meant no, and guys should just learn to respect that. Defending Santana had still felt a thousand times better than defending a random girl though.
"And I'm sorry about the other day. I don't know why I went off on you like that. I never do that," Santana added, still speaking very quietly. Brittany looked at her, and just like last time, she seemed to be ashamed of herself.
Brittany couldn't remember the last time she had been ashamed of her own behavior. Sure, she did the occasional thing that she later regretted, and she wasn't always proud of her actions. Sleeping with that girl the other day, for example, had been a mistake and Brittany felt kind of bad about it, a little guilty, but not ashamed. She was never really one to dwell on things like that.
She hoped she would be able to convince Santana that she didn't need to be ashamed either. Clearly something had been bothering her that night, and she had taken it out on Brittany, not that big of a deal, Brittany could handle it.
"Don't worry about it, Santana, it really wasn't that big a deal." She shot her what was meant to be an encouraging smile, but Santana looked at the ground, obviously thinking Brittany was lying.
"Hey," Brittany said softly, touching Santana's arm – her fingertips tingled and she was happy that Santana didn't flinch like she had seen her do before at unexpected touches – "look at me".
Santana looked up, bashfully, and Brittany felt herself getting lost in those deep brown orbs again. Focus Britt, she told herself. "It was sort of fun okay," she continued, having decided on a different tactic, "it's not every day a pretty girl literally jumps me". She grinned, and was elated when Santana returned her grin with a tiny smile. It made her heart jump.
"But if you still feel bad about it," she went on – bracing herself for Santana's reaction, because she was taking a big risk – "how about you buy me a cup of coffee, and then we can both forget about it forever?"
Santana frowned. "You don't even want to know why I acted so crazy?" "You're not crazy," Brittany immediately said, "and no, I don't need to know, I'm sure you were dealing with something else, it's none of my business". She was surprised to realize that she actually meant it. She was still intrigued by Santana, she couldn't read her at all, but she truly didn't particularly care about the exact reasons behind the fight.
"Good," Santana breathed, "because I don't even know what happened. I usually never do that." "You said that before," Brittany grinned, "and you seriously need to stop it now. So how about that cup of coffee, huh?" She honestly didn't know where she was getting the courage to be forward like this. She had plenty of game in other situations, but Santana threw her off so completely – it was like a whole different ball game.
"Would that be like a date?" Santana asked softly, sounding worried. "It could be whatever you want it to be," Brittany answered, not meaning it at all. She honestly didn't think she could just be friends with this girl. If she never saw her again, maybe she'd get over it eventually, but if they'd become friends, Brittany knew she would perpetually long for more.
"It can't be a date," Santana said, sounding apologetic. "Why? Is this because of Puck? 'Cause I'll talk to him. He'll understand." Brittany genuinely thought Puck wouldn't be too terribly upset, he didn't seem hung up on Santana, and had slept with about three girls since.
"It's not about Puck," Santana said. "Why then, is it because I'm a girl?" "Yeah, I'm sorry, but I can't go on a date with a girl." She sounded like she actually was sorry, and Brittany thought she saw a flicker of longing in her eyes. It was gone soon though, replaced by a hard look that said 'don't challenge me'.
Brittany was genuinely confused. Santana said 'I can't', not 'I won't'. What did she mean by that? And why did she sound like she actually did want to go?
"Look Santana," Brittany said, "it's okay if this is new to you, I mean, there's no pressure, we can just see wherever this goes. One date wouldn't mean we'd be a couple or anything like that."
Wrong move, Santana looked like a deer caught in the head lights. "I have to go," she said, pushing herself away from the wall, and walking towards the parking lot.
"Wait!" Brittany yelled. "Please don't just leave! We can talk about this, all right, I'm sorry! We can just be friends!" Santana turned around, tears in her eyes again. "I'm sorry, Brittany, but I really can't. Please just leave me alone, please," she pleaded, sounding desperate.
Brittany watched her get into her car and take off. She was beyond confused, and very disappointed. But above all, she wanted to get to know Santana now more than ever before.
