"I have a confession to make," I said. We were sitting in Santana's car, and she had her attention focused on the road.
"Mm? What's that?" she said, giving me a quick glance.
"I don't actually think I can afford a new mattress," I murmured. "I should have told you before we left."
"I kind of figured as much," Santana replied. "I talked to Rachel about it, don't worry. She agreed that if we find you something under $500, we can take half of it out of your housing deposit. Will that help?"
"What, really?" I pushed back into my seat. That was a huge help. I was planning on getting the cheapest thing possible, so I was really glad I had some options now. But the housing deposit was supposed to be insurance against if I ended up being a bad roommate - I'd been there less than 24 hours and stolen Rachel's food. I didn't understand why they were being so accommodating. Santana must have sensed my uneasiness. She reached over and patted my leg.
"No one plans to have their bed literally stolen, Britt. And seriously, you need to call Jenna and demand she pay you back for this," Santana frowned. "If you don't, I will, cause this be some bullshits."
"I don't think it's her fault..." I twisted my hands. I didn't really want to think of the alternative.
"We won't know until you call her," Santana sighed. "But fine, I'm not going to pressure you into anything."
"I'll call her, tonight," I nodded. The car slowed into the parking lot of a shopping center, and I knew immediately which store we were going into. A huge sign that hung over the entrance read Mattress Land.
"I figured we would start here, and then grab a bed frame from Walmart or IKEA or something once you know what you want," Santana said as she turned off the ignition.
"That sounds perfect." I unbuckled my seat belt and hurried out of the car. I was already at the entrance of the store before Santana even finished getting out of her seat. She shook her head at me and I could tell I was making her smile again, but I was glad to. I felt like a kid at a toy store. I raised a hand to cup my mouth and shouted, "Hurry up, Santana!"
"Settle down, Britt." She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder and clicked the beeper for the lock of her car. I was too impatient to wait any longer and ran in. A large man was standing off to the side of the front of the store and I skipped past him to the nearest mattress I could find and plopped onto it full body. Santana shook her head again as she followed behind slowly, nodding to the man. He walked over, clapping his hands together.
"Looking for a mattress, ladies?" he said cheerfully.
"No, we were thinking pillows," Santana shrugged. "Or maybe a rug?"
"Haha, funny, funny girl," he said, waggling a thick finger at her. Santana shrugged lightly, but even from the bed I could see that her lips were tensing into as polite a smile she could muster.
"You look familiar," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You've probably seen me on TV," she said, matching his stance by crossing her own arms. She looked serious, so I wasn't sure if she was pulling his leg or not. He cocked his head to the side while still attempting to maintain a cheerful grin, but he just looked confused.
"A couple years ago, this store, or at least, the one in Lima, Ohio, hired my high school Glee club to perform in a commercial," she elaborated. She glanced at me, her lips spreading into a small smile. "Actually, can I talk to you? Britt, I'll be right back, you keep looking."
I was so confused, but I did as Santana said. I didn't pretend to know what was going on and I trusted Santana. My body went rigid. I wondered why that was - I'd only met her a few days ago, and already I felt completely comfortable with her. Was that really unusual though? Jenna and I had gotten along pretty quickly, but we had a lot in common. I stood up and pushed away from the mattress, clasping my hands to my cheeks and patting them a few times. I could feel myself getting a little hot and I was sure I was getting red in the face. I felt embarrassed, but I didn't know why.
"She'll be annoyed if you're still sitting at the same mattress when she gets back," I whispered to myself, and forced myself to the next mattress over. I collapsed into it, face first this time. It was too firm, and I twisted my head to the side. This was going to be a lot like Goldilocks and the Three bears, except instead of porridge and chairs, I went straight to the beds. I kind of wished my hair was in curls for the occasion. I pushed up from the mattress and crawled across it, careful not to touch my shoes to the surface. I was on my fourth mattress when Santana laid down next to me.
"Find anything you like?" she asked, turning her head to look at me. I rolled over and kept going to bump into her. She smiled and rolled away and I followed until she didn't have anywhere else to go.
"I don't really know," I said, laying almost over her shoulder. "This one is too soft, that one was too hard."
"Mm, we'll keep looking. I've got some good news and some bad news. What do you want first?"
"The bad news," I said. "I'd rather you make me feel bad with the promise of making me feel better again."
"Oh, I hope it doesn't make you feel too bad," Santana said, propping her head up with her hand as she turned to face me. "Turns out they have a bit of a delay in their delivery service, so even if you find something you like, they can't deliver it until tomorrow. So you're stuck bunking with me again tonight."
"That's not bad news," I said. "I guess it's worse news for you. I kind of swim in my sleep."
"Hah, I noticed, the way you were tangled up this morning," Santana said, her nose scrunching lightly and she tapped my nose with her finger. I wiggled it and she laughed. "But the good news is, you can have any mattress you want for free."
"What? For free?" I jerked back.
"For free," she nodded, looking proud of herself. I eyed her suspiciously.
"H-how did you manage that? Oh my god, you didn't kill the manager, did you?" I shot upright.
"No, Britt, what?" she shook her head, her lips peeled back to reveal almost all her teeth as she gazed at me. "No, look, remember I told you about our Glee club, right? A few years ago, we did a commercial for the company. We were never paid for it. Well, we kind of were - we were all given free mattresses. But we weren't allowed to accept them because it would have disqualified us from sectionals."
"I'm sorry, Santana," I shook my head. "I don't really understand."
"I talked to the manager, showed him the video our glee club was in on youtube, and asked if he'd negotiate a deal with me for the mattress," she smiled. "He called his boss or something, and turns out the manager of the store in Ohio runs the entire chain of stores now. He remembered me and well, free mattress."
"Wow," I said. I couldn't believe my luck. I furrowed my brow and shook my head. "But Santana, that's your free mattress. I can't just take that."
"Britt, I already have a mattress," Santana said, raising a brow. "What would I do with two?"
"...make a mattress fort?" I suggested. She wrinkled her nose again and grabbed my hand.
"We can make a mattress fort if you want, but we'll use your mattress. Okay?"
I nodded and she helped me up to my feet. When she turned to walk to the next mattress, her hand pulled away from mine and I instantly missed it. I walked close to her, thinking that maybe if I swayed my hand enough it would bum hers and she would catch it again. Then I realized I was being silly and I took a few steps to the side.
"Where are you going?" Santana asked, gesturing to the mattress next to her. "Did you already try this one?"
"No, I didn't," I said, shaking my head lightly. I was starting to feel red again.
"What kind of bed are you looking for?" she wasn't looking at me, thankfully, as she sat on the mattress. She pushed down on the foam top a few times and then finally looked up at me. I twisted around and sat next to her, avoiding her gaze.
"I don't know," I stretched and laid back, hoping she didn't notice that my cheeks felt red. "My old mattress wasn't very comfortable. I like your bed though."
"Hmm," Santana laid down next to me. Again her hand slide against mine, and I swore she was doing that on purpose. I was sure of it. I breathed in through my nose and held my breath. I nudged my hand against hers, keeping my eyes trained to the ceiling. I wiggled my pinky over hers, tracing it lightly. Her pinky twitched and then linked with mine.
My heart felt so nervous. It was banging against my ribcage, and I think it was because I forgot to breathe. I exhaled slowly and looked over at Santana. She was smiling at me. She pulled our linked hands up in the air and then let them fall back to the mattress. Her smile made me feel less anxious and I hoped that was enough to tell my heart to stop pounding so loud. I was sure that because we were so quiet, she would hear it.
"This one is comfy," she said. "But it's a little harder than mine."
"Should we try another one?" I asked, but neither of us made any attempt to move. I liked just lying there. I was afraid if we moved, Santana would pull her hand away again.
"Maybe we're not testing these right," Santana said. She slowly sat up and as I expected, she pulled her pinky out from mine. I was almost disappointed, but then she grabbed both my hands and started kicking off her shoes. I wasn't sure what she was doing, but she nodded at me to copy her. Once we both had our shoes off, she pulled me up onto the mattress and we started jumping and laughing.
"Let's try to jump to the next one," she said with a grin. She counted to three and we jumped as far as we could. The whole time she kept us linked by at least one hand. We jumped from mattress to mattress, each time taking a moment to roll back and forth on the surface. A few times, we had to rescue one another from rolling off the edge.
We must have tested every mattress on the floor, some of them twice because I insisted on double checking. Eventually I found one I really liked, because it was just as comfortable as Santana's bed. She agreed, she could hardly tell the difference between her mattress and the one I decided on. She spoke to the manager again and signed some paperwork for me, since it was technically 'her' mattress until it got to our apartment.
The trip to IKEA wasn't as fun. I mean, I really like IKEA, but we weren't jumping on mattresses anymore. I was looking at the really cool kids bedroom sets that I wished I could have had when I was younger when Santana came over to me and linked her pinky with mine again. I was so surprised, I didn't protest when she dragged me away to the big person styled bed frames. Santana said she'd still let me use my housing deposit funds if I needed it for the bed frame, but I found one I liked that I could afford on my own.
After I picked out a bed, I dragged Santana to look at lamps and other things. I couldn't afford anything else, but Santana hadn't let go of my pinky and I wasn't going to either. She let me pull her along and stood by my side as I held up funny cooking utensils and made her help me figure out how they worked. I wanted this day to last forever.
It was almost 9pm when we got back to the apartment. Santana and I carried the box for the bed frame up the stairs and into my room. Santana said we had to unpack it now and put it together, or else we'd have double as much work to do tomorrow when the mattress arrived. I didn't want to, I was super tired, but Santana wouldn't cave in to my begging. I was starting to realize why everyone else did their best to avoid arguing with her. She was really stubborn.
"Britt, I'll finish this. It's late, and I know L.A. is three hours behind us, but you promised to call Jenna when we got home," Santana said. She had most of the pieces of the bed frame in front of her still. I had tried to help, but I made everything worse and Santana had to take it all apart again before starting over. I wasn't allowed to help anymore.
"We haven't even eaten dinner yet," I whined, but I really just didn't want to talk to Jenna. It wasn't even that I didn't want to talk to her. I was just scared about the eviction notice. I knew Jenna had cashed my rent check, and it didn't make sense for her not to pay the rent, unless she knew we were both leaving.
"We're not going to eat until you call her," Santana threatened, looking up at me from the instruction manual that came with the bed. She glared at me and I stared back with my head slightly lowered and my eyes wide. I bit on my lower lip, twisting my fingers in my hands, doing my best puppy dog face. She exhaled sharply and broke her gaze from mine to roll her eyes.
"Stop it," she huffed, unable to keep from grinning. "I'm serious, Britt."
"Please...?"
"No," Santana said firmly.
"Can we order chinese first? I'll call Jenna after! I promise! I just need to know the food is on its way."
Santana sighed and dropped the instructions into her lap. She stared at me and almost looked like she was going to yell at me, but she shook her head instead.
"Fine, get the phone. There's a menu on the fridge. But I swear, B, right after, you are calling her."
"'Kay!" I squealed and jumped up. I raced downstairs and was back in a flash. Santana grabbed the phone from me and I scooted next to her to look at the menu. She smacked my leg for sitting on the instruction manual, but I shifted and let her tug it from beneath my butt. We decided to get fried rice and those sugary donut things that I always confuse for dumplings but then turn out to be fried dough or something. She wanted lo mein, but we couldn't remember the difference between lo mein and chow mein, so we got both. I asked if we could get orange chicken too, and she just shrugged and said, "Why not?"
"Okay. Now. Call Jenna." She handed me the phone the moment she finished ordering the food. I opened my mouth to protest, but she surprised me by placing her hand on mine.
"I know, Britt, Jenna is your friend. You're afraid that calling her will confirm she wasn't as good a friend to you as you thought," Santana said and slowly shifted her hand to let her pinky lock with mine. She held it up, letting her elbow rest on her knee, and gently shook our linked hands. "But you can't let her walk all over you. And I'll be right here, okay?"
I nodded slowly and she placed the phone in my hand. I fumbled with it for a second and then punched in Jenna's number. It rang three times before it made a funny dial tone. I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked down at it.
"I must have put in the wrong number," I shook my head. I felt my cheeks burning as I redialed the number. I knew Santana was looking at me. I knew she knew I didn't dial the number wrong. I felt hot again, but this time it wasn't a light, fluttery sort of embarrassment. It was the kind that made my head hurt and my stomach tighten like I was going to throw up. I held the phone to my ear, and again, the out of service dial tone signaled.
"The number you have reached has been disconnected."
"I should just get my cell," I said, dropping the phone. I started to stand, but Santana squeezed her pinky tighter to mine and held the rest of her hand against my knee. It wasn't a lot of force, but it was enough to keep me planted to the ground.
"Did she change her number?" Santana asked quietly. She looked at me like she already knew the answer.
"Sh-she's probably just busy and her phone died or-" I started, but I ran out of breath. I was trying to figure out an excuse, something to say that explained why Jenna's number wasn't working. I pressed my free hand to my forehead. Jenna hadn't called like she promised to when she left. And I didn't remember her leaving her key when she left or talking to our landlord. I tried to convince myself that I had been too busy packing my own things to notice, but then I remembered how her attitude towards me moving had shifted the moment she met Santana and Quinn. Maybe she realized that since I was moving out at the same time and they were helping me, there wasn't any harm in taking the rent money for her move? She probably hadn't planned for me to be around long enough to be evicted. But this was the second notice?
Had she done it before? My shoulders started shaking. I wanted to say something. If I said something, it could distract my body from reacting the way it was. But there wasn't anything I could say that would make me feel better. I started to think worse things. Like Santana would think that I was stupid. Or that I was dumb for trusting Jenna so easily. But also that I probably just lost my closest friend over something as silly as a mattress. That even if she hadn't taken the rent money or thought I wouldn't have found out, she already cut ties with me.
I expected Santana to start lecturing me about how I was naive and hadn't been responsible about the situation. That's what my mom would have said. I knew I was getting redder in the face and it wasn't helping that Santana wasn't going to let me run out of my room so I could hide in the bathroom. I felt the tears start streaming down my face, and it just made me feel worse and worse. Santana probably thought I was over-reacting. I didn't want her to see me like this.
"Britt," she said, her voice almost cracked when she spoke. It scared me. I snapped back and looked at her. Her brow was crinkled lightly and her eyes looked really sad. I sniffled and felt more large tears fall down my cheeks. She lifted her free hand and wrapped it around my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. I slipped my pinky from hers and wrapped both arms around her back. I felt bad for crying into her shoulder, but she just held me tightly. She let me cry and didn't say anything for a long while. I was glad, because it let me calm down and catch my breath and not think about anything. She left me to my thoughts and I realized on my own that she didn't think I was stupid or naive or any of that. No one that made me feel so safe and welcome in their arms would think that.
After I stopped shaking and my breathing returned to normal, I realized she was making long, soft strokes up and down my back. I sighed, turning my head and resting my cheek on her shoulder. I felt her cheek press against my neck and her hands stopped to hold me. She rocked back and forth, and it took me a moment to realize she was singing. At first it just sounded like she was humming, and maybe she was, but then I heard her sing a little louder.
"-come stop your crying, it will be alright. Just take my hand, hold it tight," she slid her one hand down my back and fumbled for mine. I let her grab ahold of it, and only after she squeezed it tightly did I squeeze back.
"I will protect you from all around you, I will be here, don't you cry," she kept rocking me back and forth. "For one so small... you seem so strong." I actually coughed out a laugh at that line. I was taller than Santana, and I could only think the opposite of that statement was true, since I was the one sobbing in her arms. I could feel the muscles in her face shift as she smiled against my neck. She must have thought it was funny too.
"My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm. This bond between us can't be broken, I will be here, don't you cry."
I lifted my head from her shoulder, sniffled and giggled at the same time. She used her free hand to fix my hair and brush it out of my face.
"Do you... solve everything... with songs?" I could still barely speak, but I was pretty sure Santana understood what I said. The corners of her mouths raised into a gentle smile and her eyes squinted a bit because of how big her smile was at me.
"God, you think I'm a dork, don't you?" she laughed. She let her hand grace back behind my ear, and she kept stroking my hair. It was sweet. I don't know why it made me feel better.
"No, I like that song," I shook my head, and my nose accidentally brushed her hand. She dropped her hand and I reached for it. She laughed as I raised her hands in mine and linked all our pinkies. "Thank you."
"Are you feeling better?" She swung her hands with mine lightly, mimicking the rocking motion she had made earlier. It was slow and light, but pleasant.
"I am," I nodded. "Sorry... I just-"
"No, I'm sorry, I pressured you to do something you didn't want to do," she shook her head. She held our hands still.
"It's okay." I looked down at our hands. Even though our pinkies were linked and it was a little awkward, I wiggled my index fingers under hers and stroked them with my thumbs. "Jenna's phone is disconnected."
She nodded and waited for me to continue.
"I think she took our last month's rent money," I shrugged, trying not to let it get to me again. "I really thought... we were better friends than that." I think my voice cracked. Santana must have known I felt like crying again, because she suddenly pulled me to my feet.
"Don't make me sing to you again," Santana said.
"What would it be this time?" I giggled.
"Definitely Dance, by Big Sean?" She looked at me expectantly, but I stared back and shook my head.
"Wobble-dee wobble-dee wa, wobble wobble," she started, pulling our arms back and forth to the beat. "I'm sta-stacking my paper - may wallet look like a bible."
I started laughing. She wasn't bad at rapping at all, but she looked too cute to be busting out gangster rhymes.
"I got girlies half naked, that shit look like the grotto," I said, pulling my hands out of hers and bobbed my hand up and down, holding out my index finger and my thumb. "How your waist anorexic and then your ass is colossal-"
"Like woo woo," we said in sync. "Drop that ass. Make it boomerang. Take my belt off. Bitch I'm Pooty Tang."
"Tippy tow tippy tay. You gonna get a tip today," I said, stepping back and dipping down with the beat. "Fuck that. You gonna get some dick today. I. Walk. In with my crew and I'm breakin' they necks, I'm looking all good I'm making her wet, they pay me respect they pay me in checks, and if she look good, she pay me in sex."
"Do it," Santana said, nodding her head along.
"Bounce that ass-"
"-ass."
"It's the roundest. You the best you deserve a crown bitch. Right on that-"
"Ass ass ass ass, ass ass ass ass, ass ass ass ass," we shouted in unison, dipping back and forth and I started to break it down, kicking back and dropping down as I popped back and forth.
"Stop," I popped up, holding my hand up. "Now make that motherfucker hammer time like... wo-oooh."
Santana was clapping her hands, stumbling backwards and laughing, and I cracked a grin.
"I... that," she laughed, needing to prop herself up against the wall. "You're so good at rapping!"
I opened my mouth to gasp and clasped my hands over it.
"That's right, I got you to rap, bitch," Santana said. She dipped her hand forward and drew a check mark in the air. "Cha-chick. Goal met."
"Santana...!" I laughed, pushing her playfully.
"Such a dirty mouth, too," Santana said, dashing past me and towards the door. I caught her and held her in a bear hug around her waist. "You kiss your momma with that mouth?"
"Nope," I giggled. "Didn'tcha here? I got dem bitches and hoes."
She squirmed in my grip, but I held her tight. She twisted enough to glare at me and my smile widened. She quit trying to escape, instead opting to try and argue her way out. Or at least, that's what it looked like until she didn't say anything. In our silence, I realized how close her body was pressed up against mine, and I felt my chest tighten. I felt my goofy grin soften as her own scowl warmed into a bashful smile. My grip on her waist loosened. I was positive now that she knew how hard my heart was beating against my chest, because her back was pressed up against it. Neither of us reacted, we just stood there. I wanted to do something. To say something. Or else my heart was going to go through my chest. I was sure of it.
Bzzt. Bzzzzzt.
We both jumped, and suddenly reacting was easy again. She stepped forward and I stepped back. She looked towards the door and down at the stairs where the buzzer for the apartment was going off.
"I forgot we ordered chinese," she said. Her voice was thin, almost exasperated. I nodded and followed her downstairs. My mouth felt dry. I gulped, but it didn't help.
Author's Note: I intended this entire chapter to be happy and light, but it ended up taking a turn down the wrong way. I'm sorry for kinda throwing you into that, if it made you sad. All my other chapters so far have been really light and happy, so this was a bit more of a challenge to write. Of course, then I made you read that really vulgar rap. I'm not sorry for that, because I thought it was hilarious. A friend sent me that song earlier for irrelevant reasons, so when I remembered Santana was trying to get Brittany to rap, I thought it would be perfect. I had no idea what the actual lyrics were because it was so fast paced, so when I actually wrote out the lines, I was cracking up. I know it's vulgar, and you're all expecting sweet lady kisses, not dicks and dropping ass. Sorry. I would have used Nicki Minaj's bit, but I think that was even worse.
.com/watch?v=yq-XtWceWi0
But I think its suitable. Why? Because Brittany is a hot damn mess.
Also, sorry, I usually post faster than this. In fact, I finished writing this yesterday, but I was testing out having a Beta. I got super impatient though (sorry, WakingUpInWonderland, I know you're probably mad I didn't wait), and Laura read it over for me. It was good though, because she helped me fix a scene. It's a lot better now. :) I should keep posting at the rate I'm going, but I will be taking a break once Brittana week starts? Maybe? I would like to set aside time to finish some fanart.
