AN: Hi Y'all, here's another chapter. Thanks so much for the follows, favs and reviews. I hope you like this update and I'd appreciate any feedback you have.
Oh and I wrote a quick two shot if you wanna check it out, it's called I Want You To Want Me And Want Me You Do.
I stood in front of Santana silently weighing up my options: get in the car with Santana, a virtual stranger (although she felt far from it), and suffer the wrath of Quinn? Or tell her that I'd rather walk home and finish High School mostly unscathed?
"Uhh" I stuttered, Santana cocked her head at me in confusion.
"Thank you", I managed to say before making my way over to the car.
Well, that was my decision made. Santana had a hold over me and I couldn't control myself around her. I had definitely meant to be distant with her because I was frustrated that she was leaving me out of the loop about something that I was almost a hundred percent sure involved me but for some reason my mouth betrayed me.
She opened the passenger door for me and helped me in, like she was being a gentleman (woman?) and as if I was someone who deserved to be treated like a lady. I had never really been treated like a lady before because we all know that guys are only ever after one thing and one thing only; sexy times. Even Artie and he's been the nicest to me out of any other guy. It's not like Santana would want me like that anyway, she's a girl and I'm a girl and just because she's super hot and I totally thought she flirted with me before doesn't mean that she wants anything more than friendship. Do I even want anything more than friendship? Ugh, why is Santana so confusing?
"I'm sorry I ran off earlier, sometimes I get pissed easily and I didn't want you to bear the brunt of it", we had been driving for a little while before she spoke. The silence had been sort of awkward but I was really lost for things to say in case I said the wrong thing and made things worse.
"It's ok I guess, I was worried about you though", I answered her truthfully because it was ok now that she was here but I had spent the rest of the day hoping that she wasn't upset or sad.
"Believe me, I'm not worth worrying over", Santana's words shocked me because of course she's worth worrying over, she's been nothing but kind to me since we first met and she has never made me feel stupid or hurt my feelings. She even stuck up for me against Quinn and she hasn't known me long.
"How was the rest of your day? Anything exciting happen after my dramatic exit?" she was trying to lighten the mood and I knew it because people always did stuff like that when they had said something revealing and wanted you to forget about it. I'd never forget about what Santana had said though because I knew it showed her insecurity and I wanted to make sure that she knew she was worth worrying about.
"Nothing much, although I do know that the school was buzzing with excitement over the new girl who managed to piss Quinn off, you'll probably be famous", I laughed. It was true though, people were shocked that Quinn hadn't done something worse other than shouting at Santana in the lunch room because everyone knew that pissing Quinn off is the number one thing on the list of things to avoid doing at McKinley.
And here I was sitting with Santana, in her car, having a playfully nice time after Quinn had specifically told me not to. I guess I never was good at following lists or rules, they're just so rigid and sometimes they confuse me because surely getting bad grades should be number one on the list of things to not do in High School? And why wasn't committing a crime or getting kicked out more important than annoying someone? I've read that list on the Muckracker's website and committing a crime definitely isn't even on it. I've never liked the school newspaper anyway, especially its editor, Jacob Ben Israel. He always makes things up about people and once wrote that I was caught in a comprising position with Artie under the bleachers. I was bent over to put the brakes on Artie's wheelchair and he insinuated I was doing something else. Damn JBI.
"Is that why you're wearing my jacket? Because I'm famous now?" Santana had her cheeky smile on that looked devious but showed her cute dimples too so she looked adorable at the same time.
Crap. I forgot that I had put her jacket on before leaving. It gave me a weird feeling in my stomach when I put it on because it still smelled like Santana and it was a really cute jacket too. I didn't think that I'd be seeing her again today so I thought she wouldn't see me wearing it.
I could my cheeks reddening and I had no doubt that she knew she was embarrassing me.
"Or maybe you just like looking like a sexy badass", she continued, still wearing that smile.
Sexy. That's literally the only word my mind seemed to concentrate on. She had called me sexy.
"Sexy, eh?" I raised me eyebrow in question at her, I had no idea where I got the confidence to call attention to what she had called me but the way her cheeks blushed, her smile faltered and she seemed totally caught off guard was so worth it.
"I just call it as I see it", she recovered quickly with a shrug.
I just smiled at her because I was so happy and flattered. Of course girls compliment eachother all the time but somehow hers felt like something more.
I had completely forgotten that I had been annoyed at her earlier. How does she do that?
We continued talking about anything and everything, except for the giant elephant in the room, or the car at least, which was the Quinn/Santana argument but I wanted to make her more comfortable with me before I started interrogating her.
Just before we turned onto my road, I had a sudden urge to spend more time with Santana. I didn't want her to leave so I had a plan.
"Hey, are you busy or anything right now? Like, I mean after you drop me home? Because I was thinking that maybe we could hang out if you wanted. Which you probably don't because I guess someone like you would have loads of cool people to hang with that aren't Glee club losers like me."
"Brittany, stop", Santana stopped my mindless babbling.
"Of course I'd like to hang out with you, ok? And you're not a loser so stop thinking that you are", she continued without mentioning that I was acting like a total dork. Thankfully.
"Where do you wanna go?" she was slowing her car, obviously waiting for a direction from me.
"Continue straight on here, we can take a walk in the park if you want to?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'd like that a lot", she smiled at me and continued passed the turn she would take to go to my house. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to face my dad and his blurry eyed stare and I was so happy that Santana wanted to hand out wit me.
We had been walking in the park for a few minutes when Santana started telling me stuff about her and Quinn. I was surprised because I hadn't expected her to say anything to me about it and I thought that she would ignore it until I was forced to bring it up.
"Quinn and I aren't on the best of terms, you know? Ever since we were in school together, we had this weird rivalry thing going on because of the cheerleading squad. I was head cheerleader and she wanted to be and we were vicious to each other but things got out of control eventually and we ended up falling out for good", I nodded at Santana, gesturing for her to continue.
"That's pretty much it, well as much as I can tell you right now anyway", she smiled regretfully, as if she wanted to tell me but she wasn't sure if she should. I totally understood because trust takes time to build and I didn't expect her to start telling me everything about herself just because we had been getting along for a little bit.
"I think I could've done more to stop our friendship from getting so bad but I was too busy trying to be a bitch to everyone that I wasn't paying attention to Quinn when she needed me and now she just can't stand me and she blames me for a lot of shit that happened to her. She just pissed me off when she threw that slushy at you because it's not her place to bring you into our fight", she had stopped walking and we were standing facing each other at the side of the lake now.
"She probably doesn't want me to know anything about her past, she seems sad sometimes and I know that she's mean to everyone to protect herself from getting hurt", I was talking about Quinn, but I think I was talking a bit about Santana too. She seemed like she wanted to protect herself and I had briefly seen her interact with other people and she was distant and scathing with her words. I'm not sure why she wasn't like that with me but I wasn't going to question it.
"Yeah, I guess you're right", Santana seemed deep in thought for a second before she spoke again "So Brittany, what's your story?" she asked me out of the blue.
"Oh…not a very exciting one", I tried to deflect because I didn't have a story; I was boring Brittany who was stupid in school and good at dancing. That's it.
"I find that hard to believe", she grabbed me by the wrist and walked me closer to the lake before sitting on the grass. I sat beside her.
"I'm 17, I like dancing and math", I really didn't know what else to tell her about me. I wasn't all that interesting.
"Math? Really? I hate math, way too many numbers and formulas for me", she chuckled.
"Math is great Santana, there's only one way to solve a problem, you just have to pick the right formula and you've got yourself an answer. It's not like English where there is never just one right answer or Spanish where there's so many different things to learn about the one word", I found myself ranting before I could stop myself.
"Hmm, you're right actually. Spanish is just easy for me because I'm fluent and English is a good class for me because I am the Queen of bullshitting", she flicked me with her finger so I turned to look at her. I had been busy looking out at the beautiful lake but now I was glad to be looking at beautiful Santana instead.
"And if you ever want any help with either of those subjects, I'd be happy to", she was asking me in a way that didn't make me feel stupid and I really appreciated that.
"Thanks but I couldn't waste your time like that. I'm sure you've got a million other things to be doing", I didn't want her to think that I was hinting at her to help me because I already knew that she was fluent in Spanish.
"Really, I don't mind Brittany. I'd be glad to. And maybe you could help me a little with my math?" she asked me with a flush of embarrassment on her face.
I couldn't help but smile my biggest smile because no one had ever, ever asked me to help them with anything other than dance routines. I know that people think I'm bad at all things academic because of some of the answers I've given in class but I'm not and I couldn't believe that Santana was recognizing this.
"In that case, I'd love for you to help me out but only if I can return the favor", I bumped her shoulder with mine as we sat side by side staring at the lake, watching the sun set.
Santana bought me ice cream before we left to go home. She insisted on paying when we ordered and it made me feel like we were on a date. She told me that it was her way of saying 'thanks for not freaking out on me when I ran out of school and randomly turned up to bring you home'. I just shrugged and told her that she didn't need to thank me, but that she could buy me as much ice cream as she wanted whenever she wanted.
We pulled up outside of my house a little after 9pm. Time had gone so quickly since Santana picked me up and we had talked and laughed a lot. She was so cocky but it made me laugh because she knew she was being silly most of the time.
"Here you are, I got you home safely", Santana said as we pulled up to my house.
"Yeah, you did", I wasn't happy anymore because now we would have to part ways and I still didn't want to.
"We should hang out again soon", she suggested, my mood brightened right away.
"Definitely", I turned my whole body to face her.
"I figure that if I hang out with you enough, eventually you'll give me my jacket back", she pulled at the material covering my wrist that was resting in between the two of us.
Before she moved her hand away I took it mine.
Time literally just stopped.
What the hell was I doing? My heart was beating out of my chest and her hand lay limply in mine while she stared at me quizzically.
I was about to pass out from holding my breath when she laced her fingers through mine and began rubbing her thumb over the back of my hand.
"Although I figure you wearing my jacket is hardly a bad thing", she breathed quietly.
The entire atmosphere in the car changed and it felt electric.
"I like wearing it", I answered her, my voice shaky.
"Good", she was so close to me now. Her face was right in front of mine and I noticed that I was leaning over the middle of the console of the car and that her hand was now squeezing mine.
We were going to kiss.
I knew it.
She was eyeing my lips hungrily and I would bet a thousand dollars that I was doing the same to her.
Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart
We jumped apart as Santana's ringtone chimed loudly and broke the heavy atmosphere in the car.
"Crap", she cursed while she regained her composure "Sorry, it's my mom, she's probably looking for me to get her something from the store", she wasn't making eye contact with me and it made me nervous.
"Don't worry, I better head in anyway, I'm sure my mom will be angry that I missed dinner", I told her even though my mom probably wouldn't have noticed that I missed my dinner. She was too busy noticing all the things that my dad missed.
"I hope I didn't ruin your dinner with that ice cream", Santana was looking at me again but she seemed a bit shyer than before.
"Definitely not, I'm like a bottomless pit", I was grabbing my stuff from the back seat and when I went to take her jacket off, she stopped me.
"No, keep it for now. It looks really good on you", her eyes were raking over my body when she said it.
"I'll give it back to you tomorrow then", I promised as I went to get out of the car.
"Oh wait, before I leave, I really wanna know what you did to Quinn earlier on", I was being daring but I felt like it was the right time to ask.
"Nothing too bad, just a little prank", although the way she said it made it seem a lot more than a little prank, her eyes glinting devilishly.
"Somehow, I don't believe you", I said before reaching forward toward her and kissing her cheek slowly.
"Your eyes totally give you away", I whispered into her ear and I felt her shiver against me.
Before she could answer I thanked her again and hopped out of the car with a wave, making my way to my front door.
I knocked once and before anyone answered, I turned around to see Santana staring at me, we locked eyes and she gave me another tiny wave before driving off.
I definitely made the right decision by accepting Santana's lift home.
