Brittany's POV
I woke up and realized I was spooning her again. God I need to stop this. She's a stranger that I've only known for like 24 hours. And I'm pretty sure she's a spy. At least I think she's a spy. After spending the day with her yesterday, I'm not sure anymore. I actually think I remember Quinn calling Sam a 'Love Interest' once. I guess 'Love Interest' does have a better ring to it than spy. Although calling Santana a spy is way hotter.
The events leading up to and learning Sam was a 'Love Interest' turned my life upside down and inside out. It was a quick series of events that seemed to never end. Like at first all my ducks were in a perfectly straight line and I was the happiest human ever. All my friends had things to bitch about, and the only thing I could ever complain about was that Lord Tubington was smoking again.
Then my world fell apart.
The principal came and got me early from class and I just had this deep sinking feeling, like the earth was about to swallow me whole. My brother came and brought me home, which was the first sign something wasn't right since he goes to school about an hour away, and hates coming back to this stupid town. When we got home my mom was a crying mess on the couch. I realized that my dad was nowhere around, and I just knew. Every time my mom is in any kind of distress, my dad is always around trying to cheer her up. They didn't need to confirm my thoughts. I could tell by just looking at them. My father is dead.
Everything after that just seemed like I was sleep walking. Sam was there, of course. When I looked at him, I would start to feel a little happy again, but it seemed like a foreign feeling. Like I've never been happy before. It also felt wrong to feel happy. That's when I just sort of let everything go. I started hanging out with a weird assortment of people, quit going to school, and started getting high all the time. Sam was a distant thought most of the time, but he somehow still managed to be there for me. It wasn't until the funeral that the rest of my world collapsed.
Quinn and Sam were in the corner of the kitchen speaking in quick hushed voices. I didn't even think they knew each other. Hell I barely even know Quinn.
"I don't know what to do Quinn. I'm thinking about calling my mentor, but I don't want to ring any alarms quite yet." Sam looked anxious and scared as he confessed this. "I don't even know where she's been all week."
Quinn looked serious, "You're her Love Interest Sam. They will still kill you if you can't keep her happy. It's your job."
"I fucking know Quinn. What I am telling you is she doesn't want to talk to me anymore. I text her all the time, I show up, and I just annoy her. I think she might even start to try and see other people." Sam spat back, "I'm asking you for help, not to be grilled."
"I get that you need help, but it's only been a week. Maybe quit being such a nice guy all the time and try to meet some of her new friends. This is what you're trained to do. You're trained to be whatever she needs, so why are you being such a bitch about this?" Quinn lectured, "She needs to love you or she isn't going to tell you her secrets – and if she isn't telling you her secrets you're dead. I've heard of them sending in new 'Love Interests'."
My brain wasn't able to fully process this conversation. Sam is my 'Love Interest' – I don't even know what that means. Quinn knows about Sam so she must be Puck's 'Love Interest.' Quinn's situation would explain a lot because she seems to really have her head on her shoulders, and I know Puck is kind of a fuck up. I know this because I've been spending time with some of his friends recently, and these aren't sort of people who have their lives sorted out. I would know, mine just fell apart.
This is about the time I gave up on everything. I quit going to class and continued to hang out with the drop outs. I thought my mom might say something about my recent behavior, but honestly she kind of gave up around the same time I did. The only time I was sober was when I was at the library. I dedicated about 50% of my time trying to figure out what a 'Love Interest' was. I decided my home computer or phone wasn't a good option to do my research, I was so paranoid about them monitoring me. I also decided to keep Sam semi close. Not close like we were before, because the thought of him touching me was repulsive.
My researching wasn't panning out like I'd hope it would. I still knew nothing about what a 'Love Interest' was, other than the minor things I overheard Quinn saying. Firstly, Sam has a mentor. I assume someone who teaches him how to do certain things or just provides guidance. Which would make sense, since we were 12 when we meet. It would also make sense how he took himself from the friend zone to being my boyfriend so quickly. This would also explain why his parents are never really around, but he never complained about them. I always thought that was kind of weird. He never really complained about anything. Secondly, Quinn said something about them killing Sam if I didn't love him anymore. I haven't decided if this is a figure of speech – or if Sam really might die. The part that scares me is that I can't actually decide if I care. Lastly, he shares my secrets with them. Which is weird because I don't have any secrets. Or at least I don't think I do.
Except I know that I do. I'm an expert hacker. But I've never told Sam about this. I've never told anyone about this.
Sam tried as best he could to take Quinn's advice. He started asking me to tag along when I would go to the bars, but since he didn't have a fake ID, and I had no intentions of getting him one, I just blew him off. At first I decided to try and hang out with Puck a bit and try to get a better understanding of his relationship with Quinn. However, he's a douche and would only ever try to sleep with me. The problem was I didn't like him like that. I didn't like anyone like that anymore.
The one thing that did confuse me was when I started to have lingering thoughts about one of the girls I've been hanging around with. Then she kissed me and I felt nothing. That's when I realized how truly broken I was. My trust and confidence are gone and all I'm left with is this overwhelming desire to smoke a lot of weed and drift into another universe.
I decided to switch my research from Puck to Quinn. Sadly, the only real information I received from her was that some friend she knew in college was moving in with her. Some girl she's never spoken about before, but they are apparently best friends. Just like Sam, she came with a nicely packaged back story. She's like 5 years older than me and moved in next door when Puck moved back from touring in some punk band. That must have been when she was in 'college'. Although she never really talks about it.
This new information breaks her perfect backstory though. Not in a huge way, but in a way that if you're looking for, like I am, you'd notice. So I started to wonder why some girl would move from New York to loser town Lima Ohio. Every time I asked Quinn though, she would never say much about it. So I just gave up and decided to embrace this new girl. I'm like 90% sure she's my new 'Love Interest' and I'm going to use her to continue my research, and destroy these people for destroying my life. I just need to know what a "Love Interest' is and who they are working for.
I decided to spend as much time as possible with her. I needed to see what kind of questions she'd ask me and how she's interact with me. The odd thing was she didn't ask me anything. There were some other things that made me think she might not be my 'Love Interest.' She didn't really seem to know anything about me. The intensity in her eyes when I told her about how my life fell apart made it seem like she was hearing it for the first time. I remember when I first meet Sam he already know a lot of the things I enjoyed. I never even thought about it because as a 12 year old, your brain doesn't work the same. She also didn't bend over backwards for me. Most of the time it seemed like it wouldn't matter to her if I was even around. Sam was never like that. Quinn doesn't act like that either. Both of them act like their world revolves around their 'Love Interests.' She also seemed to really know Quinn.
I didn't have much time to think about this further, since the woman in my arms started to move. My mom doesn't really care when I come home, I just needed an excuse to sleep over again. She turned around to face me and started to look over my face with her firry brown eyes. I loosen my grip on her slightly and whisper, "Hey there."
I have no idea while I'm still holding her. My plan was to just gather research, not do the same old thing I did with Sam, but I can't move my hands away from her.
"I think I'm going to pass on paintball today, I should probably spend some time at home. I'm not usually gone for a whole day." I continue to lie.
She just nods her head and continues to lay there sleepily. She really is cute right now. I laugh as she snuggles in closer.
After some persuading she finally agrees to get out of bed. We head downstairs where Quinn has made everyone some breakfast. I decided to stay and try to observe Santana's interactions with Quinn, and Quinn's interactions with Puck. Santana and Quinn have this chemistry together that you really couldn't fake. I do notice; however, that Santana seems to know nothing about Puck. Which is weird since her and Quinn seem so close. You'd think you'd tell your best friend about some guy you've been dating for years. Especially if they all lived in New York together.
The thread that tears apart their perfect story is starting to unravel.
When I get home I grab my journal. Ever since I found out about Sam I've been writing down everything I remembered about him, and any interactions I have with Quinn. I now start pouring in everything that happened with Santana.
I hadn't even noticed her blinds were slightly opened until movement catches my eye. When I look up I can't help but smile at the sight. Santana is sitting on her bed looking over some book or something, I should try and get my hands on that, and Quinn is dancing in and out of the closet. Every now and then Santana will throw a pillow or something at her. After about 20 minutes or so they both disappeared.
I head to the library and see if I can figure out anything new. I spend the next three hours scavenging the internet, but with no new leads, I don't find anything new. When I get home I notice the same black car that dropped off Santana parked outside their house. I wonder if this is Santana's mentor. I decide to jot down the license plate and see if I can hack the system or something later. I head up to my room to check if I can see anyone in Santana's room. She's a spy Brittany – get your shit together.
Inside Santana, Quinn, and some other blonde are all covered in multicolored paint. They look like they had a lot of fun and now I'm a little sad I missed out on it. I would also really like to know who this mysterious blonde is. Shit, I should have went paintballing.
I decide to just head over there, since I never received Santana's number, and my curiosity is killing me. Plus I've spent all day thinking of some questions I could ask without it being too obvious.
When I knocked on the door the mysterious blonde answered, "Oh. Hey there blondie." She greeted me looking slightly amused, and then yelled, "Ladies there's someone on your porch." She doesn't hang around any longer after that.
Quinn comes bouncing down the stairs, "Hey there Brit. What's up?"
"I was just stopping by to see what you guys had planned for tonight." I had anticipated Santana answering the door not the mysterious blonde. I wonder if I've ever meet Sam's mentor and just never knew. I start to feel a little anxious about the whole thing now that I'm standing here.
She moved towards the door, "Do you want to come in? We went and did this stupid paintball thing Santana wanted, and I really need to sit down." After I filter in to the house she falls on to the couch, "Rachel and Mercedes are coming over for dinner if you want to stay and hang out with everyone. I think Santana is going to grill up some steaks. Although we might just have to order pizza. Who knows if Santana can even grill."
"Sounds good. Is Puck coming by?" I asked, more curious on if I'll be getting high tonight than anything else.
She shakes her head as Santana comes bounding down the stairs in just a towel, "Hey slutasarious, did I get all the paint out of my ha-." she cuts off when she sees me on the couch, "Brittany. Shit, I didn't realize someone was here."
"Excuse us one minute Brit." Quinn quickly adds as she follows Santana upstairs.
When Santana returns downstairs she looks flawless. It looks like she got some sun today. Her skin was already dark, but right now it glows. She has on tight dark blue jean shorts with a tiny tank top, and I think maybe a bathing suit. "So are you staying over for dinner? I was going to head to the store and grab us some steaks and salad."
"Yeah, I'd like to. Are you sure it's okay?" I'm now feeling like I invited myself to a party I wasn't actually wanted at.
Santana laughs, "Of course, do you want to come to the store with me?"
We head out and I'm surprised at how easy it is to be around her. The annoying thing with Sam was that he never seemed to do anything other than wait around for me to call him. This time instead of letting me pick the music she started playing some Weekend and it was actually quite entertaining just to watch her. She seems very different for some reason. Maybe it's because I didn't spend the whole day with her.
"Who was the woman that answered your door?" I blurt out as were entering the store. Shit I didn't want to sound so clingy.
Santana gives me a smile as we migrate through the store, "Holly. I guess she's supposed to be like my mentor or something, so she was just checking in on how I was adjusting. It actually worked out since I was already going paintballing because she made an excellent target."
Shit, I wasn't expecting her to be so straight forward with me. This is weird. Should I question her further? Do I really want to force her to lie to me and ruin my night? I don't even think she realized her error, because she just kept shopping like she never said anything out of the ordinary. Like it's perfectly normal for people to have life mentors. Maybe she's like her shrink. No Brittany.. She's a spy.
When we get back to her house Rachel and Mercedes were already there.
"Damn girl, you look smoking hot right now. One of these weekends we're going out dancing. The guys will be lining up to buy you a drink, and when you tell them you're a lesbian, I'll be waiting in the wings to collect all those rejected strays!" Mercedes jokes as she hands us our wine glasses.
Santana gives her a wink, "Yeah girl that sounds perfect."
I follow Santana out back and try to assist, but mainly just watch her, as she starts up the grill. Mercedes joins us and Santana starts telling us about their paintballing game. She was so animated when she described her story it was impossible not to become absorbed. It was also impossible for me to keep my hands off her. It started off as only light touches and grazes, but as the night proceeded my touches lingered.
After dinner Quinn set up the fire pit and we all relaxed around it. Santana pulled up the lawn chair from the night before and collapsed in it. I decided to push my luck and sat on the same chair with her. When my wine glass was empty I leaned in to her chest and ask if they have anything for s'mores.
"Always eating." She jokes as she finishes her drink.
Rachel followed Santana in to the kitchen to refill everyone's wine glasses and once they were gone Mercedes asked, "I thought you and Sam were a thing?"
Oh Mercedes.
Mercedes is closer to my age than Quinn is. I actually use to have a couple classes with her before she graduated. She's always liked Sam so it prevented us from ever being close. It's not until I quit hanging out with Sam and started hanging out with Quinn, that she even gave me the time of day. I have no idea if her and Sam ever hang out, but I hope they do.
"We're taking a break or something like that." I shrug as Santana and Rachel reappear.
I hear Rachel groan as she sits down, "What does that even mean? Finn said he wanted to take a break. Does that mean we can see other people? Is he seeing other people? You're obviously trying to see other people."
"I think you pissed someone off." Santana whispers as she hands me a stick with a marshmallow on it. I shove it back in her hands and stare expectantly at the fire. "And how would the princess like this cooked?"
"Seriously. What's the point of a break?" Rachel continues.
Mercedes and Rachel are both staring at me for an answer, "I can honestly assure you that Finn and mine reasons for requesting a break aren't the same." Like Sam's a spy – Finns just being a guy who wants to sleep around.
After a couple more s'mores I am officially stuffed. My plan was to gather more intel and return home to further my research, but I don't see that happening now. Especially when she wraps her arms around my waist and whispers, "I'm going to bed, are you staying over again?"
"Yes." I respond before I even realized what I was saying.
When we get upstairs Santana takes out some clothes and heads to the bathroom. Before she leaves I ask if I can put my number in her phone. I have no idea if what I'm about to do is the best way to go about this, but before I input my number, I quickly download an app that will allow me to see everything she does on her phone.
