Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or these characters. I'm just taking them out for a spin and will return them when I'm done, safe and satisfied and probably in mint condition (or not).

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, they're very much appreciated. I'll try to update faster next time but, sadly, I do have this pesky little thing called real life (read: work) to deal with, and it often interferes with the important things in life.

A/N 2: Fair warning: not much going on in this chapter, but it has some things that I felt I needed to take care of before I can get this slow-moving train rolling towards its final destination. I'd love to wrap this up within the next 2 or 3 chapters, but since this was originally supposed to be a one-shot, I guess you (and I) shouldn't really trust in that. But you could wish me luck and discipline ... maybe it would help. ;-)

Oh, the girls' mothers show up again and there's a minuscule bit of drama. Nothing too serious, though.


Chapter 7

When Quinn and Santana made it back downstairs, everyone seemed pretty drunk and involved in a raucous game of spin the bottle, if the uncomfortable peck Puck and Kurt shared was any indication. Everyone except for Brittany, Santana realized. She looked around and spotted her girlfriend standing to the side by the bar, just watching their friends drunkenly cheering on the two boys. She nodded once to Quinn, who sat down between Blaine and Mercedes to join the game, and walked over to her girlfriend.

Brittany's eyes lit up when she spotted Santana. "I thought you were never coming back inside," she whispered after a short kiss. "Everything okay with you and Quinn?"

Santana just grinned at her. "Yeah, we're good. We had a lot to talk about and clear the air a bit between us. I think we're friends again now, though."

Brittany clapped her hands. "That's so great, I missed being friends with her. The Unholy Trinity should never be apart."

"I missed her, too," Santana admitted. "So, why aren't you playing? I thought you loved kissing games."

"Not interested," Brittany replied with a shrug. "Why would I want to play when the only person I ever want to kiss is you? I really don't want to kiss any of the others."

Santana's breath caught in her throat. Brittany could be so damn romantic in the most unexpected ways. She leaned over to kiss Brittany. "I love you," she said as she pulled away. It was almost embarrassing how often she was saying those three words these days, but she just couldn't help herself. They just kept tumbling out of her mouth again and again. She looked around the room and back at Brittany. "Do you think anyone would notice if we got out of here?"

Brittany smiled and shook her head.

"Let's go then." Santana took Brittany's hand and pulled her towards the stairs. She looked back at her friends one last time and the last thing she saw was a blushing Rachel leaning over to kiss Quinn.

She smiled all the way up the stairs. Make it count, Quinn. Make it count.


The Pierce residence was brightly lit when they got home. No wonder, Santana thought. I don't think we ever made it home from a party mostly sober and before midnight. She chuckled.

"What?" Brittany asked.

"Have we ever been home this early after a party?"

Brittany thought for a moment. "I don't think so … I mean even my parents are still up."

"Yeah, it's a good thing we're not drunk."

"San, isn't that your mom's car over there?" Brittany pointed to a black Mercedes a few yards down the street.

"Yeah, it is … do you think something happened? I mean I know it's not that late, but …"

"Santana," Brittany interrupted gently. "They probably just had dinner together, that's all. Remember, they're friends."

"Yeah … sorry, it's just weird actually seeing that, you know?"

Brittany didn't say anything as they got out of the car. It wasn't as weird for her as it was for Santana because she had actually known their mothers were friends. At least they were talking on the phone all the time. Brittany took Santana's hand and walked to the door.

"I'm so glad we're pretty sober," Santana repeated as Brittany opened the front door.

They walked in quietly but as soon as they closed the door behind them two heads looked at them over the top of the living room couch. "Hey, girls," Annie greeted them. "You're home early. Boring party?"

"Hey, mom," Brittany said, walking over to her mom to hug her, dragging Santana along by their joined hands. "Nah, the party was fine, we just …"

"We just … felt like coming home," Santana cut in, nodding at both women in greeting. "Hey."

Maria Lopez was having none of that. She got up and wrapped her daughter in a hug. "Hello, mija."

Santana closed her arms around her mother. "Hi, mom." She smiled as she breathed in her mother's distinctive perfume, a smell she had grown up with and always identified as being comfortable.

"What's up?" Brittany asked after all the necessary greetings and hugs had been dispensed. "Where's dad?"

"Dad's in his office," Annie replied. "Mari and I are just catching up."

"Right," Santana drawled. Something was telling her that catching up wasn't all that was going on here. "No, really … did something happen?"

Annie and Maria looked at each other for a moment, then settled back into the couch and told the girls to take a seat as well. Brittany gracefully plopped down into the closest armchair, pulling Santana on top of her. "Okay, we're sitting," she said, settling Santana's body half next to her, half on top of her, twining their legs.

Santana felt her mother's eyes on her and blushed, feeling a little uncomfortable with the public display in front of her, but any attempt to put some distance between her and Brittany was thwarted by Brittany's strong arms and legs. In the end, she gave up and shot her mother a grin and was surprised to see an indulgent smile in return.

"What's up?" Brittany asked again.

"Well, right now we're watching you trying to twist your bodies into a pretzel, honey," Annie said. She and Maria laughed at the faces of their daughters.

Santana's blush got impossibly darker and she huffed, but Brittany didn't let go. Instead she grinned at her mother. "I just don't want to let her go," she said brightly, tightening her arms around Santana.

"You do realize that Santana is dying of embarrassment right about now, don't you?" Maria snorted through her laughter, not above making fun of her obviously mortified offspring. She picked up her glass of red wine and took a sip. Santana noticed the almost empty bottle on the coffee table.

Brittany's smile faltered a little and her arms loosened their hold. She leaned close to Santana's ear and whispered, "Are you really? Is this too much? Do you want to go sit in the other chair?"

Santana wanted to slap herself when she heard the insecurity in her girlfriend's voice. She deserves this after all the crap I put her through over the years. Besides, they must know we do more than just hold hands. She turned her head and pressed her lips against Brittany's cheek for a small peck. "It's fine, Britt," she whispered and linked her hand with Brittany's, pulling the hands tighter against her stomach, completely missing the blinding smile on Brittany's face.

"Do you want us to ask you again or are you going to tell us what's going on, mom?" Santana asked, putting a slight hint of exasperation into her voice.

Annie and Maria shared a look and nodded at each other, making Santana's spidey senses tingle.

"Mari and I were talking about your situation."

Brittany wasn't surprised that her mother was the one to start talking. She usually was.

"Yes," Maria confirmed. "A few things have happened today that we needed to talk about … and that we need to talk to you two about."

"Dios mio, mom, what is it?" Santana was getting impatient and the build-up was making her very nervous.

"First off, Coach Sylvester called me today," Maria continued, her voice business-like. "The injunction against that ad that's outing you has been repealed. It aired or the first time tonight. I'm so sorry, mija."

Santana swallowed. She had managed to put the ad from her mind when it hadn't aired the past few days, but now everything was coming back. Her body tensed as if preparing to run and her throat constricted.

Brittany felt the tension in Santana's body and moved her hand in slow, soothing circles on Santana's stomach, trying to calm her down. She knew that Santana was close to just jumping up and running, even if there was nowhere to really run to. "It's okay, Santana," she said close to Santana's ear and felt the body in her arms relax a little. "It's going to be okay."

"Brittany's right," Maria said, "it is going to be okay." She walked over to the armchair and kneeled before her daughter, gently stroking her hair. "Everyone who matters already knows, mija, and we all love you."

"Abuela doesn't," Santana replied flatly. "She thinks I'm an abomination, and so will half of Ohio, I bet."

"What do you care about half of Ohio, though?" Annie asked. "The only people in Ohio who matter are here, and we all love you. Well, except for your—"

Maria shot her friend a glare that stopped her mid-sentence. "Mija," she turned back to Santana. "If you want me to I can sue them, on behalf of you. You know we take on cases like that. There are so many things wrong with that ad that we'd stand a pretty good chance, I think. But …" She trailed off.

"But it would only give it more publicity and make things worse," Santana finished her sentence for her. "Thanks, mamí, but I think we should just leave it be, no matter how much it sucks." The last thing she needed was for the ad to make it on the national news, which would probably happen if the ACLU got involved.

"Well, the election is in a couple of days anyway, so the storm should blow over soon," Annie said quietly.

Brittany watched Santana closely, trying to get a grip on what was going on in her mind. She suddenly wished they'd stayed at the party, gotten trashed and were still playing silly party games. She pulled Santana even closer against her, wanting nothing more than to protect her from the world. It was a strange feeling, equally bad and good, and she wondered if that was what Santana was feeling a lot of the time when she was protecting her. The urge to go upstairs and lock the two of them in her bedroom, never to leave again, was strong and she actually tensed her thigh muscles in preparation of getting them both up and out of the chair.

Santana felt the changes in Brittany's body language. She turned her head to look at Brittany and saw the worry on her face. She cupped Brittany cheek with one, pulling her head up so she could look into blue eyes. "You're right, Britt," she whispered, "it's going to be okay … I'm going to be okay." She leaned in closer. "I have you, right?" She repeated the question until she felt Brittany's nod against her own head.

Santana turned to her mother. "Is this going to affect you and dad somehow?"

Maria looked surprised. "No, mija, why would it? It's not like they used your name in the ad, and even if they had, we're proud to be your parents, no matter what."

Santana disentangled herself from Brittany's grip to hug her mom. "Thank you," she murmured.

Her mother hugged her hard for a few moments and Santana realized that they hadn't hugged like that in years. She wondered when she had lost that part of her relationship with her mother and vowed to work on getting it back.

Maria leaned back after a few moments, but kept her hands on her daughter's thighs. "Unfortunately, that's not all that's been going on, but that was the worst part."

Santana groaned. "What else can there be?" She snuggled back into Brittany's side, now totally unconcerned with her mother's presence.

"After your short but eventful visit to pick up your guitar, your abuela has decided to become sick and stay in bed," Maria explained.

"So is she like really sick or is it something else?" Brittany asked.

"Something else if you ask me," Maria replied. "I don't believe for a second she's really sick."

"Apart from in the head maybe," Annie added under her breath but everyone heard it anyway.

"What does that mean?" Brittany asked.

"It means going home would be hell because even if she's not really sick, dad won't make her move out." Santana shared a look with her mother. "Right?"

"I'm afraid so." Maria was clearly uncomfortable. "I'm so sorry."

"So?" Brittany shrugged. "That just means you'll get to stay here with me, right?" She grinned at Santana. "Why would you want to leave anyway? I want you to stay."

"That's what we've been talking about tonight, kleintje," Annie said gently. "Trying to figure out what this means for all of us."

"You mean you don't want her to stay?" Brittany's voice was suddenly very upset.

"No, honey, that's not what your mother is saying at all." Maria put a soothing hand on Brittany's forearm, still kneeling next to the armchair.

"What are you saying then?" Santana finally decided to re-join the discussion.

"Well, there are two options," Annie replied. "You could of course stay here with us."

"Or you could take the small apartment that I managed to find for your abuela today … before she decided to play the dying swan," Maria continued. "I could sign a six-month lease. It's only a few months until you graduate and then you're going to move to God knows where anyway."

My own apartment … Santana's thoughts were racing. Living alone, no parents, nobody to tell her what to do, just her and Brittany. Wait … "Brittany could move into the apartment with me, right?" She looked at Annie, seeing the response on her face before she even finished the question.

"No, honey," Annie confirmed Santana's suspicions. "Brittany is going to stay right here. Her father would kill me."

"No." Brittany's voice was adamant. "I'm going to be wherever Santana is."

"You're not moving out for no good reason, kleintje," Annie said.

"Being with Santana is a really good reason though," Brittany countered. "The best reason."

Santana smiled and nodded. "And you would have some more space here, you know," she added. "I mean, Rory has taken over your spare bedroom …"

"Nice try, Santana," Annie said with a smirk and Maria nodded. "But it's still a no."

"So my choice is to move out on my own or stay here with Brittany?" Santana asked.

Both mothers nodded. "Actually, I think we'd both prefer you to stay here," Annie added.

Santana squeezed Brittany's hand and looked at Annie and Maria. "Could we talk for a minute … alone?"

"Sure," both mothers said and walked off towards the kitchen.

Santana turned fully into Brittany, who still looked upset, eyes wet with unshed tears. "Hey, Britt," she cooed. "Don't cry, it's okay."

"But it's unfair! It would be so awesome to have an apartment together, just the two of us."

"I know, baby." Santana kissed Brittany's forehead. "But did you really think our parents would go for that? I'm surprised my mom even mentioned it."

"I think she's trying to make up for your grandma and your dad, but she probably really wants you to stay here … or go home with her." Brittany shook her head with a sigh and snuggled closer into Santana. "It sucks, though."

Santana smiled against Brittany's hair. "You know I love you, Britt," she whispered. And here were those three little words again. "And we're going to be living together soon enough." She had her eyes closed and missed the wide-eyed look on Brittany's face. "So for now I'd say we stay here … unless you want to start sneaking around behind your parents' back?"

Brittany thought about that for a moment. "Sounds tempting, but I just want to be with you all the time, so here's good, I guess."

"Definitely." Santana smiled. As tempting as living on her own and sneaking around did indeed sound, she mostly liked living with the Pierces, and she loved being able to sleep with Brittany every night. "I love waking up in your arms," she said softly. "I never want to wake up any other way ever again."

Brittany wondered if Santana knew what she was saying. She thought about the plans she had made as a five-year-old, plans that had wavered a little sometimes but had never really changed. She remembered asking her mother how old "old enough" was to get married. Maybe we are old enough. You don't have to be like really old when you get married, right? Mom and dad got married when they were really young, too. She looked at Santana who was watching her with a steady gaze and all she could think of to do was lean in and kiss those wonderful lips while her mind shouted yes.

Santana loved watching Brittany think. There was a lot going on behind those blue eyes, things that most people couldn't or didn't want to see. She imagined she could see the thoughts chasing each other across the expanse of blue until Brittany seemed to come to a conclusion. She was sure that Brittany didn't even realize that she usually gave the slightest of nods when she was done thinking, which Santana found incredibly adorable.

The nod came and then, suddenly, Brittany was kissing her, steadily, gently, but just hard enough to drive all thoughts from Santana's mind and rendering her breathless. She pulled out of the kiss with a small moan. "Britt, wait," she tried to stop Brittany from kissing her again. "Wait … please."

"What?"

"We can't … our mothers … please, you can't kiss me like that when they're just … there." The look in Brittany's eyes made it difficult for Santana to think.

"Why?" Brittany's voice was a little husky but still much too innocent for the look in her eyes, and she chased after Santana's mouth for another kiss.

"Because … Britt … if you keep looking at me and kissing me like that, it's really hard for me remain … cool." Santana's eyes rolled when Brittany's teeth found her earlobe. "Please, Britt … let's just talk to our moms … and then go upstairs?"

Brittany stopped nibbling. "Okay," she breathed. "But we need to make it quick."

Santana deemed it safer to get up and talk to their mothers in the kitchen so she untangled herself from Brittany's hold and got onto her feet, pulling Brittany along. "Let's go."


Annie and Maria were standing in the kitchen, mostly out of earshot of their daughters. They only had to crane their necks a little to see the living room, however, and that's where Maria was currently looking while Annie poured them each some more wine from a fresh bottle.

"I can't believe I never saw how in love they are." Maria shook her head sadly as she accepted her wine from her friend.

"I guess I've seen it more than you have," Annie said quietly. "But honestly? It's only really become this visible since the summer."

"Really?" Maria sounded relieved.

"Yeah. Before then, I could see it, mostly in Britt because she's never been good at hiding her feelings, but Santana was much more guarded." She took a sip of her wine. "And then one morning this summer, they came downstairs for breakfast and I could just tell something had changed."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain." Annie shrugged. "Santana couldn't keep her eyes off of Brittany, which wasn't all that unusual, but she had this small smile that she couldn't stop. It was pretty damn adorable, really."

Maria sighed. "I love you dearly, you know that, but right now I hate that you know my daughter so much better than I do." There were tears in her eyes. "It feels like I missed so many important things in her life while I was busy being successful and building a career and—"

"Stop right there, Mari." Annie pulled her friend into a hug. "You love Santana more than anything, I know that and she knows that, and you're handling the situation really well right now. And I know that Santana loves you very much."

"Does she?" Maria swallowed. "Does she know how much I love her? I wonder if she knows how important she is to me and to Tonio."

"Tell her," Annie said. "Tell her and show her. Be there for her when she needs you and let her be who she needs to be. She's almost all grown up, Mari, they both are. So much so that it scares me sometimes. I wish they were still running around half naked and playing in the sandbox, you know?"

Maria nodded and wiped at her eyes. "I guess we should be happy then that we at least get along so well with the respective in-laws, huh?"

Annie chuckled. "Oh, yeah." She hesitated. "Did you see that look on Brittany's face when Santana mentioned living together?"

"Hard to miss."

"Santana missed it, though."

"Well, apparently my daughter sometimes has trouble seeing the obvious from what I've heard." Maria chuckled lightly and leaned into her friend. "I think I'm a little drunk."

"A little?" Annie snorted. "Yeah, me too. You should stay over tonight."

Maria nodded. "What do you think they'll choose?"

"Ten bucks say they're going to stay here."

"You think? I bet Santana would love her own apartment."

"I still can't believe you offered that, Mari." Annie shook her head. "If Santana goes for that option I'm looking at a lot of nights of staying up and waiting for my daughter to come home." She sighed. "I should kill you for even bringing that up. I don't want them to sneak around behind my back."

"Sorry," Maria said. "I know it wasn't the brightest idea I've had, but …"

"But you wanted to make it up to Santana for having to leave your house because of your monster-in-law, and you were going a little overboard. Just like you did on her sixteenth birthday when you just had to get her that brand new car."

"That car that your daughter gets a ride to school in every morning, you mean?"

"Yup, that's the one."

They looked at each other over the rim of their wine glasses and suddenly burst out laughing, which is how Santana and Brittany found them when they came into the kitchen.

"Hey," Brittany said with a laugh. "You two look happy."

Santana grinned. "That, and a little drunk, I think."

"We're just a little tipsy, young lady," Maria admonished her daughter. "Can't two old friends just laugh together?" She giggled and Santana stifled a laugh at the sound. She couldn't remember ever hearing her mother giggle like that.

"So, ladies," Annie chimed in. "Have you come to a conclusion?" She reached over and removed a bit of smudged lip gloss from Brittany's cheek. "Or did you just use the time to make out? No sex in the living room, that's a new rule in this house."

"Mom!" Brittany squealed and Santana blushed a bright red, feeling totally embarrassed. "That's totally inopportune."

"Inappropriate," Annie and Santana said simultaneously. "Yeah, maybe," Annie added with a shrug. "It's true, though, isn't it? You did make out."

Santana groaned. Where's that hole in the ground when you need it?

"Anyway, moving on," Maria tried to get the conversation back on track.

Santana inwardly thanked her mother. "I'm going to stay here, if it's okay with you," she said, looking at Annie.

Annie smirked and held out her hand towards Maria. "You owe me ten bucks, Mari."


"I don't think I've ever seen my mother drunk," Santana said as she and Brittany walked into their bedroom.

"My mom doesn't get drunk often either." Brittany closed the door behind them. "I think they were just having a good time."

"Your mother sure loved torturing us just now," Santana grumbled. Her mood had visibly changed somewhere between the armchair and the bedroom.

Brittany walked over to her. "Everything okay?"

Santana avoided Brittany's eyes. She hated being teased and feeling embarrassed, even or maybe especially in front of Brittany and her family. Logically, she knew there was nothing to be really mad about, but there was a part of her that was just a little angry with Brittany for kissing her like that when their mothers could see or hear them and for putting her in this position.

For a second she keenly felt the downside of basically living in one room with Brittany with nowhere else to go. Normally, she'd just go home to regroup and get her equilibrium back, and she resented not having that option. She couldn't even go into another room with the Tiny Irish hogging the spare room, even if he was probably hanging out with Finn the Orca again. The more she thought about the situation, the moodier she became, but the biggest problem was that no matter how mad she was, her body she still pulled her towards Brittany. Traitor.

Brittany watched the storm clouds chasing each other across Santana's face. She knew there was something going on, but she couldn't figure out what. She cupped Santana's face in both of her hands and gently pulled it upwards so she could look into dark eyes. The storm clouds were visible in them as well, she could see, once Santana gave up on trying to avoid her gaze.

"What?" Santana's voice was bordering on hostile.

"Wow, I haven't heard that voice in a while," Brittany said quietly. Especially not directed at me. "Okay, what did I do?"

Santana tried to look away, but found herself unable to when she saw the pleading look in Brittany's eyes. "Nothing," she sighed.

"Doesn't look like nothing to me."

"Let it go, Britt."

"If it's nothing what is there to let go of?" Brittany was not in the mood for evasive tactics. She had hoped they could continue where they had left off downstairs. "One minute we're making out and the next you're totally—" She stopped when she felt Santana's face tense at what she said. Of course … Santana felt bad about being teased by mom.

Brittany kept staring into Santana's eyes, trying to come up with something to say or do. Santana was getting a little worried despite herself when Brittany stayed quiet for what felt like minutes. "Britt?"

"You know," Brittany started, her voice shaking a little, "I love you, Santana." Her right thumb moved gently across Santana's cheekbone. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen and ever since we've started dating officially, I find you even more irreversible than before."

I'm irresistible? Santana wasn't sure where Brittany was going with this, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy hearing it. "I know—"

"Shh," Brittany interrupted gently. "Just listen to me. I know you're upset because my mom teased you about making out with me just now, and I'm so, so sorry that it made you uncomfortable." She sighed sadly. "I don't want our sweet lady kisses to make you feel bad. Like ever. And I don't think my mom wanted to make you feel bad either. She's just happy for us and she doesn't mind when we kiss and stuff … and I'm happy that we're together and that we have each other."

Santana felt every word deep inside, touching her heart. God, she regrets kissing me when all she wanted was to show me she loved me. I'm such an overly sensitive, selfish bitch. "Britt …"

"And when you said those things about living together soon, all I wanted was to kiss you," Brittany continued, ignoring Santana's interruption. "I just had to kiss you, no matter who was there or could see or hear because hearing that made me really, really happy. It made me happy because it's what I've been dreaming about since I was five. Please don't be mad at me for that."

"Oh God, Britt, no, I'm not mad at you," Santana whispered. At least not any more. How could I be? "I'm sorry I'm such a bitch. Kissing you is the best feeling in the world and I don't ever want you to feel bad about our sweet lady kisses. It was just that … your mom stepped over my teasing threshold, and I lost sight of the really important things for a moment."

"What things?"

Santana leaned closer and pressed light kisses on Brittany's forehead, eyes and nose, slowly working her way to her lips. Once their lips touched, she tried to pour all of her feelings into the kiss, her love, her anguish at making Brittany sad, her hopes for the future, everything.

They parted after a deliciously long moment. "I meant what I said downstairs," Santana squeezed out through a throat tightened by feelings. "I want to go to sleep with you every night and wake up in your arms every morning." Her eyes locked onto Brittany's, holding her gaze as if her life depended on it.

Brittany thought she could actually see all of Santana's feelings swirling in her eyes, now that the storm clouds were gone. The eyes were a deep chocolate brown and they spoke of love and devotion. In that moment, Brittany saw herself looking into these eyes in two years, ten years, fifty years.

Santana spoke again, her voice reaching out to Brittany's heart. "You're … you're my everything, Brittany. You're it for me."

Brittany threw her arms around Santana's neck and pulled her into a tight hug with a small sob. "You're my one, too, Santana. You're it for me, too," she whispered fiercely into Santana's ear. She felt safe and secure in Santana's tight hold, listening to Santana's whispered words of love, and she came to a decision. Tomorrow, she thought.

That was the last coherent thought she had before Santana crashed their mouths together in a heated kiss and they tumbled onto the bed in a tangled heap.

TBC