Guest: Oh, no! (Maybe this chapter will help.) I'm a little confused by your question. Carmen is pretty much Santana's step sister and the daughter of Eva - Santana's dad's girlfriend. No cheating as of yet.

booknerd4: I'm glad you liked that, and like the quotes! I've got such a long list of them now... but it's still hard to find ones I need sometimes. Sorry for the wait.

Do vd Graaf: Definitely no Finchel. I'm really considering Faberry... it's between that and Quinn/Artie.

CeeBeeGeeBee: Ohh, really? I think I might be able to get that in here somewhere :P Possible... but now I'm thinking maybe Quinn/Rachel or Quinn/Artie. I'm glad you weren't disappointed and liked Brittany's parents, and hopefully this chapter is good for you, too. Santana is (pretty much) happy when with Brittany... but the rest is gonna take a while. I'm sorry for the wait on the update.

dawndwilson: There's nothing really "wrong" with Santana, other than the fact that she's extremely unhappy with herself. She's sad, and she pretty much just hates herself. As for it being normal teenage behavior, I really don't know.

Thank you so much for reading and all your reviews and/or adding to alerts/favorites.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.


I vaguely noticed the shift on my bed; my eyes remained closed and my mind was already slipping back into unconsciousness. I was almost lost in the land of sleep when I heard her voice.

"'If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up,'" she said. "J.M. Power."

(I thought I might have been dreaming.)

"Santana Marie." Her words were followed by a barely-there touch to my arm; my eyes finally opened.

"Brittany?" I croaked. Her hand, which had flattened over my arm, urged me to roll onto my back.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey," I whispered back.

She had me trapped again; lost within her eyes.

A soft giggle pulled me back to reality. I looked at a smiling Brittany for a moment, searching her face for what was funny, slowly registering the slow circles being raced on the inside of my elbow.

"What?" I asked.

"You..." she shook her head. "Nothing." She smiled, but her unspoken words hung in the air. I wanted to know, but I wouldn't ask.

I glanced down to her fingers tracing over my skin just before they trailed down my arm.

"You should get up," she said. I groaned.

She laughed as I rolled over onto my stomach. "What time is it?"

"A little past ten."

"Too early," I mumbled into my pillow. The bed shifted again as Brittany crawled over me. I turned my head to peak at her where she knelt next to my bed, and before I could catch it, a smile overtook my face. She grinned back.


Brittany's excited explanation of Fourth of July cooking at her house finally got me out of bed. She waited happily in my room as I walked down the hall to my bathroom to get dressed. When I returned, she jumped up and was at my side before i could even fully enter the room. My eyes fell to the floor when we headed for the stairs and her pinky found mine. I gave a quick glance at our connected fingers just before Brittany began to explain that her mom dropped her off before going to the grocery store and that if we hurried, we could beat her back and Brittany could win her bet with Lord Tubbington. We were almost to the door when Antonio's voice stopped us.

"¿Dónde vas?" he asked.

"A casa de Brittany," I answered, taking a step toward the door.

"¿Para qué?" Brittany glanced at me and I sighed before leading her over to the office entrance. Antonio sat in his chair facing us, looking at me expectantly. My mom glanced over at us, sending Brittany a smile before she returned to her screen.

"Me ha invitado a su casa para cocinar y cosas."

He watched me for a moment, looked at Brittany, and then nodded. "Okay," he said, turning back to the papers scattered across his desk.

Brittany and I finally made it out of the house, but it wasn't until we had to separate to get into the car that I noticed her smile and the strange way she was looking at me. I waited until we were both in my car, and it was still there so I said, "What?"

She only smiled brighter before looking down to her hands in her lap, but I began to frown, sitting for a moment without starting the car and then repeating, "What?"

She looked back to me, smile smaller, shyer, and said, "Your voice. It's really pretty." And I stared.

I don't know how long we sat there for, but suddenly she said, "We're gonna lose the bet." My brain started running again and I quickly looked away and started the car.


I felt sick with nervousness as soon as I pulled into Brittany's driveway. I wasn't sure why; I had already met her parents and sister, we hadn't done anything wrong, and I was almost certain I hadn't lost her the bet. But it was there, I was nervous.

And then my door swung open and Brittany pulled me out of the car. I followed her without a thought. We walked in the house and when Brittany turned to shut the door behind us, I saw Brittany's sister poke her head out from behind the wall hiding the kitchen; just as soon as she appeared, she disappeared.

There was a flash of blonde when we reached the kitchen. I scanned the room, seeing no sign of the little girl and only that of Brittany's dad smiling at us from behind the counter. He opened his mouth in greeting, but I was distracted by Brittany's sister sneaking out from behind the counter. She made a quick stop at the wall to my right, pressing her back flat against it; I watched as best I could from the corner of my eye as to not tip her off of my looking. She slipped around the end of the wall and to Brittany's side, where she was hidden from my view. I looked over to Brittany then and she gave me a smile before allowing her sister to tug her away.

After a few minutes, I looked back to Brittany's dad. He was in the same spot behind the counter, a soft smile upon his face. I glanced around the kitchen and shuffled my feet, wishing Brittany would soon return.

"Would you like to help?" I looked back to Brittany's dad. The counter in front of him was full of various foods and utensils; mainly apples, knives, cutting boards, and bowls.

"Okay," I replied, my voice sounding so small. He smiled, placed the knife in his hand on the cutting board before him, and cleared a space next to him. After a wooden cutting board had been placed in the space and the apples had been herded between the two, he looked back to me. With a knife held up, ready for use, he ushered me over. I took the spot next to him and accepted the knife.

"We're just slicing apples now," he said, resuming such. "Susan should be back from the store soon, and then the fun begins." He glanced at me again, hands working slowly on slicing apples, and flashed a smile. I reached over to retrieve an apple and followed suit, beginning to slice the apple.

We worked in silence for a while, only hearing the thud of our knives against the wood and the distant sounds from throughout the house.

"You're really good at that," Brittany's dad complimented. I looked over to see him smiling, hands paused in the middle of his task. "Slicing," he clarified. Before I could think of anything so say in return, there was another voice.

"Santana's good at everything," Brittany said. Brittany, with her sister close to her side, was again in the room, occupying the same spot I earlier had. She grinned at me and I looked down to the apple I had been slicing, feeling my face heat up.

The thud thud thud of Brittany's dad's knife started again. I looked up slowly and mumbled, "I'm not good at everything."

Brittany shrugged. "Pretty much." Before I could refute, the creak of the door made us aware the door had been opened and Brittany took off. Brittany's dad leaned over to me and said, "Here comes the fun," before he followed after Brittany. It took me a moment to notice the mini Brittany standing in front of me across the room, giving me a wary look. There was more noise, and then she too was gone.

It wasn't long until Brittany, her sister, and her dad reentered the room, led by Brittany's mom. Excluding Brittany's sister, they were all carrying green recyclable grocery bags. Brittany swept past me and I watched as bags were placed around the kitchen, covering the empty spaces.

Brittany's arm looping through mine startled me, especially since I was immediately tugged forward, almost tripping, and by the time I realized what was happening, I was already running along behind her.

"Britt," I laughed, but she continued to pull me along, outside until we reached her mom's SUV. She led to me the open trunk before removing her arm from mine, only to grab more of the green bags. With her arms full of bags, she turned back to me and smiled. I let out a low chuckle at her silly grin and reached for some bags. With out arms full and only four bags left in the back of the SUV, we made our way back inside, passing Brittany's dad as we entered the front door.

Back in the kitchen, Brittany's mom was emptying the contents of the bags; the bags were then handed to Brittany's distracted sister, who was trying to snoop through the full bags at the same time. Brittany and I continued in, placing the bags in any spot we could. We heard the door closed; Brittany's dad walked in with the remaining bags.

"It's nice to see you, Santana," Brittany's mom said, leaning against the counter with a welcoming smile.

I smiled in return, said, "You too," and glanced at Brittany.

"Now," Brittany's mom said, looking around the cluttered kitchen. Before she could continue, Brittany, Brittany's dad and Brittany's sister all shuffled to stand before her. I began to smile slowly, watching them curiously. Brittany looked back at me and reached out, quickly pulling me to her side; I couldn't help but smile more.

"The girls and I will work inside on drinks and desert while you-" she pointed at Brittany's dad "-go outside and work on the chicken and burgers. Derek should be over soon to help you." Brittany's dad stood straighter, lifted his arm to salute and offered a "Yes, ma'am."

"Go on," Brittany's mom said, giving a wave of her hand. Brittany's dad dropped his arm back to his side and nodded. Both of their faces broke into smiles and Brittany's dad moved forward, kissed his wife, and headed to the back door. When Brittany's sister broke from our line to go to her mom, I realized Brittany still had a hold on mine.

Brittany's mom began to move about the kitchen once again. "You girls can work on the pie while Jackie and I deal with the groceries and drinks," she said. She reached into a couple bags before turning to us; she smiled and moved past us to the island where the cutting boards and apples were. Brittany curled her pinky around mine and guided me over. Brittany's mom grabbed two knives from the counter and handed one to me and one to Brittany. "Be careful with the knife, Hon," she cautioned; I wasn't sure if she was talking to me or Brittany.

I heard mutters behind me from who I guessed was Brittany's mom and sister. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I figured it wasn't my place anyway.

"Are you excited, Santana Marie?" I sent a quick glance over to Brittany before looking to the cutting board before me and resumed slicing my apple.

"For what?" I asked.

"Today, of course," she replied in a voice that said duh. I looked over to her again. She was looking down, focused on the apple in front of her; she was trying to perfect her slices. I couldn't help but smile a so-big smile at her slight fumbling. I hadn't really been excited before, but then I had the sudden thought that I would be spending the whole day with Brittany and I knew my answer.

"Yeah." She looked to me and I caught a glimpse of her concentrated face before she smiled. It took me a moment to become aware of my staring; I looked back to my apple.

We worked on slicing our apples for a while before I glanced over to Brittany. My hands slowed to a stop as I watched her, a so-big smile starting to form. It didn't take long for her to catch on, though, and she looked up and met my eyes. I wanted to looked away, but it happened again - I was stuck and I couldn't look away. But then she started to frown. Oh god, I thought. Oh god, I'm staring and she thinks I'm weird.

But her frown was a pout, and she looked more so sad than mad or weirded out.

"I'm not so good with knives," is what she said.

"What?" Her eyes shifted over to her apple slices. "They're fine, Britt." I smiled. "But you should peel and core the apples first."

"Oh," she said, biting her lip. I placed my knife on my cutting board before reaching out for Brittany's.

"Here," I said, reaching for her apple as well. I peeled the remainder of the apple before putting it back in front of her. I handed the knife back, but she stayed still and continued to look at me. "Do you want me to show you an easy way to do it?"

She nodded. I shuffled closer and she looked down to the apple. I was close to her side when I reached for her hand that held the knife; as soon as my skin touched hers, my hand jerked back. She turned her head to look at me and I smiled nervously before I reached for her hand again, trying to calm myself when my hand was lightly placed over hers. I moved her hand to the apple and paused. I looked down at the apple, and our hands. I considered telling her to hold the apple in place, but as I opened my mouth, I found that the words were stuck. I shuffled again, putting myself behind her, and slipped my arm beneath hers to hold the apple.

"Start out slow," I instructed, pressing down on her hand so the knife cut into the apple, "so you know what you're doing." After three slices, I spoke again. "And then you can start going faster." I moved our hands quicker, but only a little.

With the remainder of the apple slices, I retracted my hand and stepped back, just a little, to create more space between Brittany and I.

"And peeling?" Brittany asked. I stepped closer to her again and grabbing another apple, putting it in Brittany's free hand.

"Peeling," I said, " isn't as hard as it seems." I covered her hand holding the knife again, guiding it to the apple as I covered her other other hand as well. I pushed on her hand with the knife, pushing it into the apple. "Just go slow and keep circling the apple."

"And to core it," I continued once we had fully peeled the apple, "just take this thing-" I grabbed the apple corer, placed it on the apple and pushed down, twisting it before pulling it out "-and do that." I turned my head slightly to look at Brittany. "Got it?" She nodded, and I let her take over with slicing the apple.

I was suddenly aware of how very close my face was to hers. I was so distracted, lost in thought as I watched the side of Brittany's face, that I hadn't realized what happened until I heard Brittany gasp. I looked down to the cutting board.

"Oh my god," Brittany panicked. There was non-apple skin red on the cutting board. "Mom, I cut Santana!" At the mention of Brittany's mom, I jumped back. I had been so caught up with Brittany, I forgot we weren't alone, and that we were in Brittany's kitchen. Brittany was quick to turn around, her worried blue eyes finding my lost brown ones.

"Lemme have a look, dear," Brittany mom said, placing a gentle hand on my wrist. She turned me to face her, lifting my hand to examine it. I finally began to register the pain in my finger and mumbled, "Ow."

"I'm so sorry," Brittany said.

"Ew, blood!" Brittany's sister squealed.

"It's not bad, is it?" Brittany asked her mom, leaning forward to look at my left hand cradled by her mom.

"Just a little cut," Brittany's mom assured. "No big deal, I'm sure you'll live." I smiled a little as Brittany's mom patted my hand before dropping it, still feeling a little lost. Brittany's mom turned to Brittany's sister and said, "Go get Santana here a band-aid, Hon." The girl looked up at me for a minute before nodding and racing out of the room.

I lifted my hand to look at my finger, watching as a tiny bit of blood trickled down; my stomach became a little unsettled and I looked over to Brittany. She had the most adorable I'm-so-so-sorry pout and my so-big smile wanted to make an appearance, but I held it back.

"I didn't mean to," Brittany said, voice sad and low. "I'm really sorry. You're hand was just there and then-"

"It's okay, Britt-Britt," I interrupted. "Really." She nodded slowly and made her way to the sink. She ripped a paper towel from the roll and placed it under the running water her mom turned on for her. She turned back to me, a slightly smaller but still definitely there pout on her face. She brought the damp paper towel to me.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," she said. I just smiled back. "Can I see your hand?" I lifted my hand for her, which she grabbed gently; I watched her face and she cared for my cut. She bit her lip when she was done and looked to my face, but before either of of could say anything, I felt a soft tug at my pants leg. I looked down and there was Brittany's sister; she presented a box of band-aids.

"We have a whole bunch of band-aids," she started quietly, "but I brought you mine. They're the best." I could tell Brittany was about to object and then her sister added, "Definitely better than Britt's."

"I can get you mine instead," Brittany offered, but her sister quickly began riffling through her box of band-aids and looked up at me. "I have pretty flowers, Spongebob, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. You can pick."

I smiled and said, "How about you pick?" She looked down to the band-aids in her hand again before grabbing one and holding it up for me to take. "Thank you," I said, accepting the Minnie Mouse band-aid. Without another word, she scampered out of the kitchen.

"Here," Brittany said. I looked her way and she reached for the band-aid. "I'll put it on for you," she suggested. She unwrapped the band-aid and took my hand with the same gentleness as she had before, slowing putting the band-aid in place around my finger.

"Thanks," I said, still eyeing our hands.

"I'm sorry I cut you," she apologized again.

I shrugged. "Cuts happen. It's really no big deal."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I assured. "But next time I wanna see what awesome band-aids you have stashed away."

"I don't plan on hurting you again," Brittany laughed, but there was something serious behind it.


While Brittany's mom and sister began working on the strips for the top of the pie, Brittany and I got the cookie cutters and began to cut the dough into leaf shapes.

With the bottom crust and apples already in the dish and the strips and leaves cut, Brittany's mom and sister arranged the strips in a lattice formation stop of apples before Brittany and I placed our leaves around the edges.

Brittany's mom and sister left the kitchen to go outside and check on Brittany's dad's progress on the rest of the food. Meanwhile, Brittany and I set out to make the mixture to put on top of the pie. I placed the sauce pan on the stove and turned it; at the same time, Brittany got all the ingredients we needed because I didn't know where anything was (or what exactly it was we were making). Once we had everything mixed together, I turned the stove off and moved the pan to the potholder Brittany placed next to the pie. We, in a very disorderly manner, returned all the ingredients to their places before returning to the mixture; we poured it over the top of the pie carefully.

I was putting the sauce pan in the slowly filling when Brittany's finger brushed against my nose; I froze. My hands were buried in the water, my feet firmly on the ground, and my shoulders stiff; and then she began to giggle. I released the pan into the water and twirled on her, my nose scrunched up. Her laughter quieted but she was smiling so brightly.

"Britt...," I started. She laughed, and I lunged. She squealed as I trapped her against the counter, but she was still smiling, and I smiled back. My first thought was to lean forward and rub my nose against her cheek to give back the stickiness she smeared on my nose, but as soon as I inched closer I froze. Instead, I blindly reached to the sink to capture the soap bubbles and brought them between us, quickly pressing them to her cheek. She laughed louder and I couldn't help but join in.

We calmed down, laughter fading but smiles still on full display. "'I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living,'" she said. "Dr. Seuss." And then I really began to take notice of how close, for the second time that day, we were.

"Are you trying to flood my kitchen, Santana?" I leaped back at the voice and quickly looked over to see Brittany's mom turning off the slightly overfilled sink. My insides were so tight and my face was so hot that I wasn't aware of her smile.

"I..." I trailed off, unsure of what to say. Brittany touched my arm, causing me to look back her way.

"She's joking," she said. I glanced back to Brittany's mom who was starting to laugh. I smiled nervously.

"How about we get this pie in?"


We spent about an hour cleaning up and putting the rest of the groceries in their places before all the food was done. Our pie turned out looking pretty amazing, but we had to abandon it and go outside to eat our actual lunch. When we made it out to the back yard, I was surprised to see a bunch more people than just Brittany's dad. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that.

All my nerves that floated away came rushing back; it got even worse when Brittany left my side, dragged away by some unknown person. I watched her as she went around the yard, to her dad and then on to other unfamiliar faces. I thought I saw her looking back at me at one point but I wasn't sure. And then I was distracted by someone approaching: Brittany's sister. She was walking slow and didn't look up at me until she was right in front of me; she said nothing as she held a plate up to me.

With a plate of food in my hands, Brittany's sister gone, and no one else near, I retreated to one of the big chairs at the side of the yard. Once I was settled in the chair, I looked to my food: A burger, a piece of BBQ chicken, BBQ chips, and a fruit skewer. I nibbled on the chips as I watched the people in the yard like they were a TV show - that's what it felt like because earlier was gone and I was on the outside again.

Soon, nearly all my chips were gone and I moved on to the fruit skewer. I sent one more glance around the yard - no sign of Brittany - and pulled the watermelon start from the stick; my face screwed up slightly at the off taste after having eaten the chips. It took a moment for it to taste like actual good watermelon, and then I heard her. My head whipped to the side to spot a chucking Brittany.

"You have food," she said. I looked down to my plate and then back to her. I nodded. "Sorry. I got you some, but then everyone wanted to talk and..." She shrugged.

I smiled. "It's okay."

She shuffled her feet, looked down for a moment, and then said, "Can I sit with you?"

I gave a nod and she moved to sit in front of me on the chair, mirroring me with her legs crossed and plate in her lap.

"I really didn't mean to leave you alone." Her voice was nearing that same sad tone she had when she cut me before. I looked at her in silence, for once not worried about getting caught and focusing on her. And then I smiled; she seemed to understand without me having to say anything.

"How do you like it?" I paused my hands from picking at the chicken before answering. It really was good, but I hadn't been in the mood to eat.

"My dad's not the best cook, but he's pretty good with the grill." My hands resumed picking at the chicken.

"Do you do this every year?" I asked. "Have a party on the Fourth of July?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Once in a while we go to one of my aunt or uncle's house's, but most of the time everyone comes to our house." It was then that I realized the party was a family event; all the people there were family except for me.

My eyes shifted around the yard. "Oh." I had no place there.

"We don't usually being other people, but..." she trailed, shrugging off the rest of her sentence. "But what?" I wanted to ask; but I didn't. The something lingering in her words made me feel marginally better. (I was not family, but still there, because ..., after all.)


We had finally finished eating and then Mike texted us - Mike texted me, actually, and Brittany got a text from Artie - to get our stuff together and head down to the lake and meet at the showers. I didn't think much of it when we left Brittany's house with nothing but our phones and some money.

After we paid to get in and placed our sticker in the window, we drove the short road to the showers where some of our group were already waiting. (We didn't wait for the rest of them before heading down to find a camping spot.)


By the time we were done, we had a pretty large camp set up: five tents arranged in a circle with a medium-sized fire circle in the middle (which Brittany and I hunted down rocks for to put on the edges).

And when I got a text from Mikey (Down for a firework war?) I informed the others of the invite.

Puck was the first to respond with a "Fuck yeah!" All the guys, aside from Kurt, joined in the excitement. I could see the excitement in Brittany's eyes as I revealed the location - the motocross track (Brittany and I's spot). Quinn, Mercedes, Rachel, and Kurt were the only ones to stay behind.


"Hey, you made it!" Mikey greeted. I finished exiting the car and turned around to smile at him.

"Dude!" Puck shouted, running up and cutting me off from Mikey. "This is like, an actual war, right?"

"Aim and fire, my friend," said another voice. The figure walked closer and I recognized him as Jesse St. James.

"Exactly," Mikey agreed, smiling as Jesse retreated back to a group of guys, none of which I remembered enough to know their names. Puck took off to join the group. "Are you two actually gonna join in?" Mikey asked Brittany and I.

"No way," I said, but Brittany was nodding excitedly.

"C'mon, San," Mikey said. "It'll be fun - even your friend is gonna do it." I shook my head in refusal. Mikey shrugged and turned to the group crowding around a pile of fireworks.

"You're really not gonna try?" Brittany asked me.

"Shooting fireworks at each other?" I replied, because it was obvious. "No thanks."

She gave a small pout. "Not even for me? I'll protect you." I smiled, and smiled bigger, preventing a laugh from escaping. I bit my lip. There was a small jump beneath my skin, a shiver; I wanted to say yes, just for her. I wanted to give her what she wanted, because it seemed as if I never did. But having fireworks shot at me - and her - was really not something I wanted to do. I shook my head. (For some reason, I thought that since I wouldn't do it, maybe she wouldn't do it either.)

"Okay." She was doing it.


With most everyone gathering to join in the "war," I made my way to the large structure used as an announcing stand. It was tall and old and rusty (and in need of repair - but this was Lima). I was cautious going up the ladder, but it didn't shake under me, so by the time I was at the top, I sat in the old chair without much worry.

Mikey's voice sounded so distant and small, but I was able to make out his instructions.

"Okay," he started, "pick your weapons. Once we're ready, we'll spread out." (Which some already were.) As more people drifted from the middle, armed with different kinds of fireworks, his voice rose. "After we start, you can return to the pile at any point to get more - but you can still by shot at." Puck, Artie, and a few other guys scrambled to grab more fireworks before backing off, moving to opposite sides of the track.

It was a nice view from up in the stand; The light was dim, but not quite dark, allowing me a wide view of the whole track, the small pile of fireworks and the people spread around. I felt myself stiffen when I spotted Brittany hiding in the far left corner.

Just then, she looked up - straight at me.

Just then, someone sat in one of the chairs next to me.

I jumped and looked over to see a few girls, friends of Mikey's, joining me on the stand.

Brittany held back awhile, watching the others run about the track. Her head shifted my way every so often, her eyes just bright enough to be seen from so high up. My eyes drifted, watching Mikey, spotting Tina, seeing Mike run, looking at blonde hair. (I always ended up back on Brittany.)

A firework flew into Mikey's shoulder, one into Puck's hand, and Brittany ran. She made it across the track untouched, delivering a hit to Mike on the way. A guy with blondish-brown hair shot at Brittany and she shot back - both missing - before sneaking off to the right. Artie began to trail after her, but Mikey got him in the arm - and received a hit to the back of his leg - which caused him to fall back.

Sparkling bright red and blue smacked into Brittany's chest; I barely saw the pain flash across her face before she ran for cover. Tina, who was running in the same direction as Brittany, got saved from a hit on her side by Mike jumping in the way, but got hit on the ankle from Jesse. Brittany and Tina met and hunkered down by one of the mounds. On the other end of the rack, Joe took a hit to the upper back and Mikey only just dodged a hit to the face. Brittany and Tina dispersed, Brittany heading for the firework pile and Tina running off the track.

When Tina sat next to me, I noticed that the girls that had joined me before were annoyingly loud.

"Brittany says hey," Tina told me. I nodded, not knowing how else to respond, and looked back down to Brittany. Tina reached down to her ankle, examining her hit, I assumed.

"Did it hurt?" I asked, causing her to look up at me.

"Yeah," she said, sitting straighter, "but not as much as what the others are getting, I bet." Right then, as we looked down, Brittany was retreating as Mikey shot off his firework which skimmed across the cheek of a guy with jet black hair.


It was dark when we got back to the lake and I knew the firework show would be starting soon. Brittany texted Quinn to let her know we were back and she replied quickly, saying to meet her and the others at the marina.

As soon as we got there, Quinn led us to the two boats we would be using. Due to the large group we had, not everyone would fit in just one boat so we decided to split the group where we had a girls and a guys boat; Mike was assigned to drive one boat while Quinn drove the other. Brittany and I followed the girls (and Kurt) onto Quinn's boat, and once everyone was settled, we were off.


When there was a decent distance between us and the marina, Quinn killed the engine; Mike followed, stopping beside us. It was 9:55 and the firework show started at 10:00pm, so we had a few minutes to spare.

I felt Brittany's pinky curl around mine and then she pulled me to the front of the boat (because it was quieter with a better view, I thought). Tina was at the front with us, but the rest stood around the middle or sat in the back.

"I'm excited," Brittany said. I gave her pinky the lightest squeeze.

"I think the lake view is better than anywhere else," I revealed.

The first firework went off.

"Beer!" Puck shouted from the other boat. All the guys already had cans of beer in their hands and Puck was reaching into a full ice chest, throwing cans across to us. (Mike jumped boats and he and Tina shared a kiss before he handed her a beer.) Quinn tossed me a beer, followed by one for Brittany which I caught because she was busy watching the fireworks. I got Brittany's attention just before the music started and handed her a beer. I saw her lips form the words "thank you," but the music was too loud for me to actually hear.

I settled into my seat next to Brittany; we both ha dour heads resting against the back, looking up at the fireworks, our beers held by the nearby cup holders.

The loud bang of a rocket startled me. I searched until I saw the guys setting up another on the back of the boat. I felt movement against me and turned to Brittany. The music was drowning her laughter. I nudged her with my shoulder. Her smiled widened and she pushed back at me. I returned the nudge, harder, and then she surprised me; she pushed against me again, but crawled onto my lap at the same time. My whole body froze beneath her; her eyes found mine and she seemed to freeze to me, too.

Time passed, time stilled. Something happened and it was just Brittany and I. I could feel her breath against my face, warm and flutter inducing. Her eyes were deep and searching, searching me while I tried to form any sort of thought. Her breath got warmer and her eyes got closer; I knew it was happening.

She moved in closer - closer to me, closer to my lips. I could hear the erratic thump thump thump of my heart and I was scared she could hear it, too. She was almost there, but not quite - I still had a chance to escape...

But I could do nothing but look back at her. I wanted to look away, I wanted to look over her face, but I couldn't look away from her eyes, which I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do or not. Her lips inched closer and with a shaky breath, I closed my eyes. I told myself it was what I wanted when I felt her lips press to my cheek.


It was around midnight when we made it back to the marina. The majority of our group was on the brink of being drunk, but we had smart enough to have our drivers which included me and Brittany, even though she wasn't driving. We piled into my, Quinn's, and Artie's cars and headed back to the campsite.

We had only been sitting around for a few minutes when Brittany told me she had to leave.

"You're not camping?" I asked quickly. "Why?" I was so scared; I thought I had made her upset. At that point, there was never a time when such had been true, and I didn't want it. I couldn't have her upset with me.

"My parents want me to go home to spend some time with my family," she explained. I was relieved, but I still didn't want her to go. "I'm sorry," she added.

"Do you want me to take you home?" She started to nod-

"I can give you a ride, Britt," Artie said.

"Um..."

"It's not problem, really," he pushed. "I haven't spent much time with you anyway." I couldn't hide my disappointment, but I knew Artie wouldn't back down.

Brittany pulled me into a hug. "'If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives,'" she whispered. "Lemony Snicket."

"See you in a bit, San," Artie called.


At 2:00 in the morning, it started to rain.

At 2:10, it started to rain harder. We ditched our tents, grabbing only what we needed and dragging ourselves through the sand to our cars; we all packed into Quinn and I's cars, seeing as no one else was sober enough to drive.

At 2:56, it started to storm. We had made it across town to the lodge. Quinn got into her dad's office and gave us keys for the rooms.

At 3:41, I was at Brittany's. I hadn't thought about the decision when I made it. All I knew was that it was storming and there was loud thunder; all I thought about was when Brittany expressed her fear of thunder storms.

When I was sitting in my car in front of her house, I started to think: It's almost four o'clock in the morning, what the fuck are you doing? There was no way I could just knock on her front door.

It took me about ten minutes of sitting there listening to the rain to think about texting her.

Me: Are you awake?

Brittany: Yeah, are you?

Me: Yeah

I took a moment to smile at my phone before sending another text.

I'm outside

I got nothing back. I sat for a few minutes, waiting, but still nothing popped up.

And then I noticed Brittany's front door crack open the tiniest bit; Brittany poked her head through. I stared for a moment before smiling. I stuffed my phone in my pocket and grabbed my keys before jumping out of the car and jogging to her front door.

Brittany let me slip in, closing the door behind me but remaining close. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, I spotted her smile.

"Hi," she said, and then reached out for my pinky. She led me up the stairs to her room. We sat on her bed, across from each other in a similar fashion as the chair before. My hair was drenched, my clothes close to being so.

"It's raining," I said as a stupid explanation. She nodded.

She pulled my hand into her lap and smiled.

"Hi," I said, a delayed response to her at the door. She laughed, but ignored me.

"Is that why you came?" she asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

When I noticed the large bruise between her shoulder and neck, my eyes bugged. "Damn, Britt."

She looked confused for a moment before she smirked. "Battle scar."

My brain turned off again and I leaned forward and reached out to brush my fingers against the strange coloring on her skin. It wasn't until I saw her tongue poke between her lips that I realized how close we were once more.

I kept staring at the same spot on her skin, but I was encompassed by her, and my heart was beating so fast. I could feel her watching me, willing me to look at her. And it worked; I looked up. I couldn't get a hold of whatever helped me all the times before. And then I knew it was going to happen. Her eyes sparkled as she looked back at me; she knew it was going to happen, too.

Brittany leaned in, so slow, eyes locked on mine. My heart was beating rapidly, my mind racing faster and slower than ever at the same time. My breath hitched as her lips pressed against mine ever so gently.

(At 4:14, Brittany's lips touched mine.)

My body erupted in shivers. I was too afraid to open my eyes even though I didn't know when I had closed them. I was breathing hard, and I almost jolted out of bed when her lips captured mine in a longer, deeper kiss.


¿Dónde vas? - Where are you going?

A casa de Brittany - Brittany's (house)

¿Para qué? - What for?

Me ha invitado a su casa para cocinar y cosas - She invited me to go over to her house so we can cook and stuff


First of all, I am very sorry for how bad I've been with updates. But, once again, I hope the chapter (at least somewhat) makes up for it.

A lot of the time, I tend to skip over anything that is not really Brittana moments, so I tried to do more of everything.

Tell me what you think?