Things That Go Bump in the Basement (part 7)
"We couldn't live down here forever, Britt," Santana declared lightheartedly, her breathing heavy as she recovered from her intense orgasm, still feeling residual tingles in her groin as the blood flow returned to normal.
"Sure we could," Brittany said with determination as she relaxed on top of Santana, "Just you and me. That's all we need, right?"
Santana chuckled at the minimalism in Brittany's vision even though it lacked any realistic potential. "We can't live on sex and kisses alone," she reminded her, "We need food and water…and a toilet. At least the basics, Britt."
The blonde frowned, her chin resting on her forearm which was draped casually across Santana's chest. "I suppose you're right," she conceded sadly, tracing the outline of Santana's jawline with the tip of her index finger.
"Hey, don't be sad," Santana reached up and caressed Brittany's cheek against the knuckles of her right hand, "We'll get out of here at some point tonight. Once they get your ankle treated, we can order a giant pepperoni pizza and watch any movie you want to watch, ok?"
The taller girl grimaced and looked down.
Santana adjusted herself on the beanbag chair by moving up so she could look more directly at Brittany, "What's wrong?"
"This is never going to happen again…is it?"
"What do you mean?" Santana narrowed her eyes.
"This. You and me."
"You and me happens all the time, Britt," Santana replied, "We're together every day. Like we said earlier, that won't ever change."
Tears suddenly appeared in Brittany's blue eyes, and she moved quickly to turn her body in order to hide them, grimacing more when she felt fresh pain in her swollen ankle.
"Are you okay?" Santana asked, reading Brittany's face, "You look like you're in a lot of pain." The Latina saw the tears too but chose not to point them out.
Brittany reached down and rubbed the lower part of her right leg. The cold air in the basement had actually helped minimize the swelling she would have otherwise had by this point, but she could still feel the tightness in the skin and underlying tendons around her ankle bone.
She adjusted some more, pushing part of the blanket up under her butt as best she could so she wasn't sitting directly on the cold concrete without clothes.
She wasn't purposefully ignoring Santana's question as she moved around gingerly. She simply did not know how to respond. Yes, I'm in pain, San…was her first thought. No, it's not so much my foot right now, you hardheaded dope…was her second thought.
"Brittany?" Santana sat up behind her, her legs still parted by Brittany's naked body. She tenderly rubbed the lower part of the blonde's back and leaned further into her, repeating softer, "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," she lied, stretching to the side to pick up her black hoodie and put it on, adding dismissively, "It's really not hurting that much anymore."
"Do you want your shirt back?" the brunette asked, uncertain as to what specifically changed the mood between the now-lovers.
Brittany reached to the other side of the blanket to grab her underwear then extended her arms to put one leg through a hole before lifting her hurt leg carefully to slowly push it through the other hole, finally responding, "Keep it."
Santana sat quietly for a moment. She knew there was something more to Brittany's current demeanor. Typically, Santana wouldn't give a crap about other people's feelings, telling herself that it was their problem and they needed to get over it! With Brittany though, she did care. She cared a lot actually, and she never wanted to see gloom on her best friend's beautiful face.
The Latina sighed heavily and reached over for her cotton panties, standing up and pulling them on. She also collected all four socks, turning a couple of them right side out again, then kneeled at Brittany's feet.
"Here…let's put these back on you. I don't want your toes to get cold," Santana said sweetly as she pulled both of Brittany's socks over her long feet, "You could get frostbite and then they'd fall off."
The blonde looked up at Santana with extreme concern on her face, responding, "Really?"
Santana laughed. It was not a judgmental laugh but rather one that was filled with affectionate amusement, and she clarified, "No, Britt…I'm just kidding."
"Oh," Brittany forced a small smile, pulling the blanket over her bare legs and scooting back up against the beanbag chair.
Santana put her own socks on then pulled on her red track pants to ward off the dampness in the basement. She could already feel a chill move through her slender body as she looked around, realizing it was definitely dark outside now.
"It's got to be after seven o'clock by now," she commented, "You'd think our parents don't care a thing about us."
"My mom's busy with getting the house ready for company," Brittany surmised, "She probably doesn't even realize what time it is or that she hasn't seen us in a while."
"True…and when's the last time either of my parents gave a shit where I was," she retorted over her shoulder, walking back up the wobbly staircase to the basement door.
She turned the knob again. It was still locked. "Fucking Christ," she mumbled, rolling her big brown eyes and shaking the doorknob several times out of frustration.
With that, she heard something fall to the wood floor just outside the basement door, making a small ping sound when it hit the ground. No way, Santana thought…was that the key?
There was hardly room to stand at the top of the stairs so maneuvering around was difficult. Santana kneeled down, placing her face as flat as she could against the rough wood of the platform in order to look under the two-inch gap at the bottom of the basement door.
"What are you doing?" Brittany called up to her, leaning over to see Santana bent down to the ground.
The Latina did not answer at first, her face scrunched to see under the door. Unfortunately, it was dark inside the house, because the girls never turned on any lights before heading down to the basement in the daylight.
She pulled out her phone from the side pocket of her pants and lit the screen, trying to shine enough light under the door to see the hallway. Whether it was the angle or lack of brightness, the light from the phone didn't work as planned. She still could not see a thing.
Santana stood up and dusted off her pants at the knees then wiped her hands off on her narrow hips as she climbed back down the stairs with renewed energy.
"Britt…do you think your grandfather had any flashlights down here?"
"Probably…why?"
Santana passed up her best friend to walk toward the far side of the spacious basement, spotting an old tackle box on the floor underneath two fishing rods that hung in the corner. She opened the tackle box, finding all shapes and sizes of fishing lures but no flashlight.
She stood back up and continued to look around, finding a green kerosene lamp near an old sleeping bag that was rolled up and stuffed under a workbench.
"Do you know how these things work?" Santana stepped closer to Brittany, holding up the lamp with optimism.
"Yeah, sort of…but you need a match," the blonde told her, remembering some of the lessons her dad taught her when they all went camping, advising, "Even if you could find one, that thing is so old, San…it's probably out of fuel."
"Damn," the brunette turned and set the lamp back on the workbench, stooping to dig further underneath it.
"What do you need it for?" Brittany was completely confused at this point.
"YES!" she exclaimed suddenly, finding a long metal-handle flashlight and immediately pushing the switch to turn it on, but no light came on. "Fuck!"
"What?" Brittany asked again.
"The batteries are dead," Santana sounded exasperated, growling slightly.
"What size batteries?"
Santana unscrewed the end of the flashlight and dumped the two old batteries in her hand. Not recognizing the size, she held them up toward the light bulb that hung in the center of the basement ceiling, reading off the side, "C…? Do they even still make those?"
Brittany giggled at her friend's cluelessness about mechanical things. She knew a lot of her little sister's toys required C-batteries, retorting, "Yes, San…they still make them. Just look around…something else might have some that work."
As Santana continued looking for recognizable objects on the far side of the basement, Brittany pulled over one of the cardboard boxes. She opened the top to find Christmas decorations.
Having no luck on her hunt, Santana turned to see Brittany pulling out silver tinsel then red tinsel, discarding a large handful off to the side.
The next thing Brittany pulled out of the brown box was a musical Santa and Mrs. Claus, saying excitedly, "Aww, I love this thing!"
"What is that?" Santana grimaced slightly, seeing only a discolored, sad-looking couple with smooshed white hair and bent gold glasses perched on the ends of their noses.
"It's Mr. and Mrs. Santa! They sing Silver Bells while their hands go up and down and ring these little bells," Brittany explained with child-like enthusiasm, pointing to the tiny silver bell in the hands of both dolls, "My grandmother puts this in the front window every Christmas."
Brittany turned it on and giggled when it started playing loudly, the Clauses moving their heads and arms with animated charm. Silver Bells, Silver Bells…It's Christmastime in the city…Ring-a-ling, hear them ring…Soon it will be Christmas day.
"Okay," Santana shook her head and shrugged, "And…?"
"It's festive, Santana…geez," Brittany sometimes wished Santana wasn't so grouchy. She turned it off and flipped the large holiday display over to where the battery pack was located, opening the compartment and pulling out both batteries, confirming, "Here…two C batteries."
"Thank you," Santana responded with more civility, realizing she pissed off Brittany. She pushed in the working batteries and closed the end of the flashlight, successfully turning it on, saying, "Yay, it works!"
Santana practically ran up the steps to the top landing, leaning down and shining the flashlight through the gap under the door. She saw the key instantly and announced down to Brittany, "The key fell to the floor, Britt. I think I can reach it!"
Author's Note: See, I can give you guys more story, since y'all were so awesome to comment on the last chapter! But oh no, the key is right there…will she or won't she reach it? Hmm….
Oh, and thanks so much to those of you who started following me on tumblr. Come talk to me on any topic, and I'll definitely follow you back. :)
Please be sure to tell me your thoughts about this chapter! I really appreciate it when I get feedback. Thanks, Kim