Hey guys! I've had a rough week but I'm taking some time to myself at the library and updating! I hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoy the update!

Chapter 8

Brittany struggled to keep steady as she moved through the pack. She'd been stuck back there the whole race and she needed to push forward, and soon. Otherwise she would lose. Santana and James watched anxiously from the crowd as the racers neared the last stretch of the race. Brittany moved up through to 5th place, her eyes glued to Dylan, who was in 1st place. She had to catch him…she had to.

"C'mon…" She muttered to herself. She looked left and right, seeing the 3rd and 4th place racers on either side and the 2nd place racer in front of her. She couldn't get around them.

"Go Britt!" Santana shouted as they rounded a corner. Brittany swung out too wide and was passed by two more racers, putting her in 7th. The last turn was coming up. She could feel her grip on the race slipping away and she knew she wouldn't win. Still, she revved forward and chased the bikes ahead of her.

"Shit…" James mumbled to himself. Santana glanced quickly at the concerned father before looking back to the race track. What if James blamed Santana for distracting Brittany?

"C'mon Brittany!" Santana shouted again.

Brittany moved to the inside as they approached the last turn and she cut it perfectly, dirt flying. She moved up as the finish line neared and she stole 4th place just as she hit the jump. She had lost. A sudden feeling of shame overcame her as she pulled off the track and stopped her motor and pulled off her helmet. She felt tears coming on when she saw her dad and Santana hurrying over.

"Brittany! Hey, you had a really great race," Santana put a hand on her sweat laden back.

Brittany sniffled and nodded, looking down in a failing attempt to hide her tears. She could see the look of disappointment on James' face as he spoke, "It's okay sweetie…" He was trying to sound unbothered, but she knew he was. "You'll just have to pull out a win in the finals. You can do it."

Santana lifted the blonde's face with her hands and wiped her tears away, "Hey, look at me…"

Brittany's teary eyes looked into Santana's and she found herself tearing up more.

"Don't cry…You were amazing. You're doing to be amazing in the finals. You rode an awesome race," Santana encouraged, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

"Ouch Pierce…must hurt," Came a cocky voice from behind James. He turned in anger and glared at the woman who stood there next to Dylan, who wore a smirk on his face as he wore the 1st place medal around his neck.

"Sylvester, we'll beat your team once, we can do it again," James snarled. The older blonde woman straightened her green and black track suit.

"We'll see about that. Maybe your daughter will have the right sense of mind to just drop out," she smirked back.

"Why, Sue? So you won't have any real competition?" James asked.

"Real competition," Sue chuckled, "The only real competition we have is the heat wave that's rolling through. Nobody here is real competition."

"We'll see about that when we beat you tonight and you can take your factory team back to where you came from," James nodded.

"I will destroy you, James Pierce. Get the hell out of my sight," Sue glared.

"Gladly! Come on girls, let's go," James ushered them away with one last glance in Sue and Dylan's direction.

"So that was the coach of Larsen racing, huh? What a bitch," Santana joked.

"One of the coaches. But she thinks she's the best," James nodded as they approached the trailer. Santana helped Brittany push the bike into the open rear end of the trailer so she could work on it later.

Brittany, who was still crying, went inside the trailer and slumped onto the small love seat, burying her face in her hands. Santana followed her inside and kneeled in front of her, placing her hands on Brittany's dirt laden knees.

"Baby…listen to me. Don't cry, you raced your best," Santana assured her. Brittany looked up and sniffled.

"I should have won," Brittany pouted.

Santana smiled, "You can still beat him, tonight at the finals."

"I just feel like my dad is going to blame you for distracting me and I don't want that because then he won't let me be with you..." Brittany trailed off.

"He understands, okay? I know it," Santana said. "Just chin up. 4th place is great, Britt, and I'm proud of you."

"Yeah?" Brittany asked.

"Definitely," Santana leaned up and kissed Brittany soundly on the lips. Brittany kissed her back and they smiled into the kiss. They were interrupted by a cough from the door of the trailer.

"Sorry to uh…interrupt, but Brittany, your mom is on the phone, she wants to talk to you," Her dad smiled softly. Both girls blushed and Brittany stood up to retrieve the cell phone in her father's hand. Santana shifted to sit on the love seat. As Brittany answered.

"Mom?"

"Hi, sweetie. Your dad told me all about your big win yesterday and fourth place today. Me and Braden are so happy for you!" Her mom said excitedly.

"Thanks mom," Brittany half smiled.

"He also told me all about a little something going on between you and a Miss Santana…" Susan hinted teasingly.

"Oh boy…what did he tell you?" Brittany glanced at James, who still stood at the bottom step of the doorway to the trailer. He chuckled, knowing what they must be talking about.

"He said it sort of caught him by surprise," Susan began, causing Brittany to frown a little. "But he said she seems to be really sweet and care a lot about you."

This time Brittany glanced at Santana, smiling, "Yeah, she's very sweet."

"So it's official between you two?"

"Yes mom, Santana is my girlfriend," Brittany smiled and rolled her eyes. Santana grinned at the word girlfriend.

"That's great honey! And I know you'll kick butt in the finals tonight! Braden and I will be thinking about you!" Susan said giddily.

"Thanks again, mom. I'll call you later," Brittany bid her goodbye.

"Okay honey. I love all of you, good luck!"

"Bye, mom." Brittany hung up and gave the phone back to her dad. "Dad, you just had to tell mom everything huh?" She joked.

"I'm your dad, it's my job. Why don't you get some rest for a bit. Go watch some other races. You've got about four hours to kill," James said, knowing Brittany was stressed out about the final race.

"Okay, dad," Brittany mumbled in reply as he went back towards the 250cc track to watch the race that was going on at the time. Brittany shut the door to the trailer and turned back to Santana, who still sat on the love seat, and grinned at her.

"My mom was happy to hear our news," Brittany giggled, moving to sit next to her. Santana smirked and leaned over to kiss Brittany on the lips.

"Then you won't mind if I do this," Santana husked, climbing onto Brittany's lap and kissing down her neck.

"Mmm, San…" Brittany moaned.

"Your dad said you should relax, so I'm going to help you relax," Santana nipped at Brittany's earlobe.

Brittany ran her hands up Santana's thighs, starting at the knees and squeezed when she reached the crook where leg met hip. Santana pressed into her and her hands un-tucked Brittany's jersey and slipped underneath, her fingers tickling Brittany's stomach. They kissed again and Brittany slid her hands around to Santana's ass, palming it with her hands.

Brittany left Santana's lips and leaned down to kiss atop Santana's cleavage that was showing from her overalls. Santana craned her head down to kiss the side of Brittany's head as she did so and moaned when Brittany sucked at her collar bone.

Of course, they were interrupted a second time. This time by Santana's phone ringing from her pocket. Both of them jumped and groaned to themselves as Santana pulled out her phone and looked at the screen.

"Can't it wait?" Brittany asked with a smirk. Santana's eyes were wide and staring at the screen.

"Uh…I have to take this," Santana jumped off Brittany's lap and stepped out of the trailer before picking up, and Brittany was left confused.

After about ten minutes, Santana returned, teary-eyed, and Brittany rushed to her side. "Santana…what's wrong?"

"Nothing…it's nothing, okay?" Santana wiped her eyes.

"Obviously it's not nothing San. Talk to me…who was on the phone?" Brittany pleaded, sitting with her on the love seat.

Santana looked up, "It was my older brother."

"I thought you didn't talk to your family," Brittany said, furrowing her brow.

"I haven't for a long time. My brother contacted me recently and told me that my mom…my mom has cancer," Santana explained. Brittany covered her mouth with her hands in shock.

"Santana…oh my god…I'm so sorry," Brittany wrapped her in a tight embrace. "What did your brother say?"

"She's gotten worse…they're not sure if she's going to last much longer…" Santana sobbed.

"Shhh, hey…you'll get through this. I'll be here with you," Brittany cooed, tearing up a little herself.

"I need to go see her," Santana said softly.

"I'll go with you," Brittany replied automatically.

"But…your training..."

"Can wait for a few days. We'll go on Monday, okay? We'll go and you'll tell your mom how much you love her, even after all this time," Brittany stated more as a command than an offer.

"Are you sure you want to come…I mean, you don't have to…" Santana trailed.

"Of course I want to. I want to support you, Santana," Brittany nodded, kissing her forehead. "C'mon, why don't we go work on the bike, get your mind off things?" She offered. Santana nodded.

"Yeah…okay," Santana agreed. Brittany stood and offered her hand, which Santana accepted and they walked out of the trailer and into the sun.

"I'm gonna win this for you, San, for your mom," Brittany was in her starting gate and Santana stood next to her five minutes before the race.

"Win for you, Britt. Win for your dad. Don't win because of me," Santana shook her head.

"I want to, San. I want to win for you, and I'm going to."

Santana could see that there was no arguing and nodded instead, "I know you can do it."

Brittany smiled as Santana kissed her cheek and moved away from the starting gates. Dylan pulled into the gate next to her and sneered over. "You're going down, Pierce…and when I win, I'm gonna steal your girl too."

Brittany stared straight ahead, shutting him out. She was in the game. She spotted her dad and Santana in their usual cheering place, waiting, and she took a deep breath as they announced for the riders to start their engines. Brittany revved her engine and looked out at the track. Her heart raced as the thirty second marker went up, then the fifteen, and then…

"GO!"

She took off, pulling out ahead early with Dylan a few meters ahead of her. She concentrated on the back of his bike, determined not to let it out of her sight. She stayed on his tail but was having trouble working around the other racers. In a bold move, she swung to the outside as they rode over some rapids and sped past the group as the second turn approached. She would have to cheat back inside if she wanted to make the turn. She veered sharply and felt a bump as her bike grazed another. The rider she had nudged had been sent tumbling to the ground but still she rode on, making a note to apologize later.

She was in 5th place now and saw Dylan in 3rd. She weaved past 4th place and came up on Dylan's left side as they hit a jump. In the air, Brittany looked for a moment at Dylan before they landed and she cut ahead in the next turn. Dylan approached with fury and made an attempt to knock her off balance. She swerved out of reach as the turned again and hit a straight away. She gunned it and advanced towards the next jump, chasing the 2nd and 1st place racers. She wheeled around a wide turn and over some small jumps before passing 2nd place. She looked over her shoulder and saw Dylan trailing behind. Smiling to herself, she rode up on the 1st place rider's right side and glanced over at him.

"Let's go!" He shouted through his helmet. Brittany just looked back at the course and matched his speed around the 2nd to last turn. This was it. They were riding uncomfortably close side by side and James feared they might crash. The last turn came in what felt like a lifetime. Now they were dead even on the straight away, literally dueling for the lead. And with the wave of the checkered flag, Brittany pulled ahead for the win.

She pumped a fist in the air in joy as she rode towards the winner's circle. She couldn't wipe the grin from her face as she was handed a huge trophy.

"Our new champion in the 125 pro division, Brittany Pierce!" The reporter said. James and Santana ran over and engulfed Brittany.

"You did it! You did it!" Santana squealed.

"I'm so, so proud baby girl!" James added. "How's that taste, Sue?" James smirked towards Sue Sylvester, who stood across the crowd that surrounded them.

"We're not done here, Pierce." She turned with a furious Dylan behind her, and stalked off.

"Brittany Pierce our first female champion here at the races…how's it feel?" The reporter asked.

"Amazing. I could not be more proud of my team," Brittany grinned.

"As I remember you guys are small, your dad and your mechanic, here, would you ever consider joining a factory sponsor?" He asked.

Brittany looked at her dad and at Santana and back to the reporter, "I don't think so. I wouldn't trade them for the world!" Brittany put her arm around Santana's shoulders.

"Well, congratulations, Brittany, great race today," the reporter nodded. Brittany watched them walk off and looked at Santana.

"I told you I'd win for you," Brittany grinned.

"Thank you, B. You were amazing," Santana smiled back.

Brittany, in full view of James, pulled Santana in for a kiss. James cleared his throat.

"Young lady," He teased, "I'm still here."

"I know, dad," Brittany pulled away and poked out her tongue.

"Don't get yourself in trouble!" He warned. They started back towards the trailer as evening fell. They loaded up the trailer and prepared to head back to the hotel.

When they got back, the three of them decided to go out for dinner to celebrate. They showered and changed into nicer clothes and found a nice Mexican restaurant.

"Order anything you like guys, on me," James smiled as they scanned their menus.

"San…what is this?" She pointed to a word on the menu and Santana leaned over to look at it. She said it in Spanish to herself and then explained to Brittany what it was. James smiled at the interaction and laid his menu on the table.

"Brittany, Santana," he began.

The girls looked up and listened.

"I know I was a bit skeptical about you two…but I've seen how you treat her Santana, and I would be happy to give you my blessing to date Brittany," James smiled approvingly.

"Really daddy?" Brittany asked excitedly.

"Really, B. Santana's a great girl," he nodded. Brittany jumped out of her seat and over to her father's side of the booth, crushing him with a hug and several kisses to the cheek.

"Thank you, thank you thank you!" She grinned.

Santana nodded and smiled, "Yeah, thanks, James. I'll take care of her."

"I wouldn't expect any less from you, Santana," He joked as Brittany returned to her place by Santana, lacing their fingers together under the table.

"Now, who's hungry?"

Okay! Got an update! Tell me what you think everyone, and thanks for reading!