AN: Thanks for reading! Sorry that the last chapter was kinda crap. I was just trying to get something out for you guys. So to make up for it here is a better, longer chapter! Also, over 200 followers?! That's AMAZING! Thank you for all of the support! Any mistakes are mine. Sorry :)
Chapter 8: I Love the Zoo
Sadly Santana wasn't able to see Brittany after their mini slumber party on the couch. Brittany had to take over Mike's dance classes at the studio they co-owned because it was his anniversary. Santana threw a rage fit when she found out that Asian Sensation was keeping her from her women…wait her friend. Then they couldn't even see each other the next day because Santana had to be in the studio to work on her album. Santana was starting to get frustrated by the lack of Brittany in her life and she needed to see the blond again, soon.
Ever since their little sleepover, Santana had not been able to stop thinking of the blond dancer. There was something magical about Brittany that she couldn't quit put her finger on. Was it the way Brittany's smile lit up the entire room? Or was it the grace that flowed through her body as she moved? Perhaps it was her laugh that sounded like music to Santana's ears. Or maybe even the way the light caught her golden hair and made her look like something from a fantasy novel. But it wasn't just one thing that made Brittany so special but rather it was a combination of everything. No matter how hard anyone tried, they would never be able to live up to the perfection that was Brittany S. Pierce.
Santana now laid face down on the living room couch, her favorite position, and stared intently at her phone. She and Brittany had been texting all day and even though they were technically in contact with each other, Santana still really wanted and needed to see the blond in person.
Normally Santana would have been stoked to be lying on her couch and not have to worry about anything. But now Santana was lying around because she didn't need to be in the studio and Brittany was working. She was so bored. Santana had considered hanging out with Rachel, but her roommate was at some convention in LA so the Latina was left completely alone and extremely bored.
That is how the Latina found herself, bored and alone, lying on her couch. She looked up at her phone as if it held all of the secrets to the universe. In actuality she was just trying to use Jedi mind tricks to get Brittany to respond sooner because it had been 27 minutes since the last message. Santana believed that by holding the phone above her face she would be able to strengthen her mind tricks by sending her brain waves directly up to receive a faster reply. It wasn't working.
Santana let out a huff and decided that she should be trying to do something more productive rather than wallowing in her own solitude. She was beginning to ponder on what to do when her stomach started to rumble. She had forgotten to eat anything all day because she was too worried about Brittany texting her back. Eating seemed productive but eating pizza seemed even better.
The Latina looked back up at her phone. No new messages. She sighed and started to type in the number of her favorite Pizzeria, yes she had it memorized and yes she was a little ashamed of it. Santana was about to push the call button when there was a sudden knocking on the front door, causing her to drop her phone on her face.
"Ow fuck," she mumbled to herself as she scooped the phone off her face. The Latina wondered who could possibly be at her door. Was it her pizza? Holy crap that was fast! Wait, it couldn't possibly be the pizza, Santana reasoned with herself. She hadn't even gotten to order yet but then again hunger and solitary make the mind think crazy things.
Santana glared at the door. She was really comfy and didn't want to get up but more persistent knocking made her get up and head towards the door. The knocking didn't stop. Whoever was at the door was about to get verbally slapped by an angry Latina if they didn't stop the ridiculous knocking.
Santana aggressively flung her door open, not bothering to look through the peep hole, to give the knocker a piece of her mind.
"What the hell," Santana started to yell. Well at least that was until she saw who was at the threshold of her apartment. "Oh, Brittany," the Latina said, a little shocked. She hadn't expected Brittany to be at her door nor had she expected her to look so damn cute. Brittany was wearing denim cut-off shorts, a gray Mickey Mouse t-shirt, and a pair of rainbow high-top convers. Her hair was in a delicate fish braid that hung to the side of her head and she wore a cute pair of yellow duck earrings. Brittany was absolutely adorable.
The Latina was so caught up in her staring that it took a very loud cough from Brittany to get her to stop. Santana's eyes quickly snapped back up to blue eyes. She let out an awkward giggle and tried to hide the fact that she had been staring at Brittany for far too long.
"Um hi Santana," Brittany said shyly. Santana swooned a little. "I…uh…didn't know if you were busy or anything. Well actually I knew you weren't busy, unless you lied when you said that you were dying of boredom. Anyways I probably should have called before I just randomly showed up at your apartment. Yeah this was a bad idea. Well then I guess I will see you later." Brittany said all of that as she awkwardly stared down at her feet.
Santana was floored momentarily. Why would Brittany think that coming over was a bad idea? That's when it occurred to Santana; she still hadn't said anything to the blond and she hadn't even invited her inside yet. Stupid. Brittany was turning to walk away from the door but Santana reached out to grab her wrist, preventing her from leaving.
"No Britt, wait," Santana said as she twisted Brittany around to face her again. "It is absolutely fine that you came over. I was just a little shocked, that's all. Please come in." Santana released Brittany's wrist and moved aside so the dancer could make her way through the door. Brittany quietly made her way over to the couch and sat down. She patiently waited for Santana to close the door and take a seat next to her.
"I thought you were working until 7 tonight? So what are you doing here?" Santana asked as she looked at the wall clock. It was only 11:30, way too early for Brittany to be done at work. "Wait that sounded rude. I am very excited to see you. I was just wondering why I am being graced with your presence so early in the day."
Brittany giggled at Santana. She understood what the brunette had meant but she liked hearing her correct herself.
"Well since I covered for Mike on the day of his anniversary, he said that he owed me one and I decided that he should cover the rest of my classes today," Brittany stated. She had a slight blush to her cheeks and Santana couldn't figure out why.
"So you had him cover your classes so you could come hang out with me?" Santana questioned. Brittany simply nodded and Santana's mind erupted into happy, prancing unicorns. Brittany would rather spend time with her than dancing and that made the Latina extremely happy. "Well then, what would you like to do? We could watch a movie. Or we could go shopping. There's no football game today but I'm sure we could find another sport to watch. We could go to lunch and get ice cream for dessert. Hide and Seek in the Mall? Kite flying? We could go people watching or we could even make origami." Santana realized that she was rambling but she just couldn't help it. She wanted to do everything with the blond and yes, she really did mean everything.
"Well actually Santana, I was wondering if I could maybe take you out on a date," Brittany trailed off uncertainly.
Santana was frozen. She wasn't sure if she heard Brittany correctly. It sounded like Brittany had just asked her out on a date. A date. With Brittany. That sounded like every one of the Latina's dreams were coming true. Santana's mind immediately jumped to a vision of her and Brittany enjoying a romantic, candle lit dinner on a secluded beach. They were feeding each other chocolate strawberries and then they danced while gazing deeply into each other eyes. Well at least that was what Santana imagined whenever she thought of going on a date with the blond.
"A date?" Santana croaked out nervously. She cursed herself for sounding like a frog going through puberty.
"Yup, a date." Brittany confirmed with a quick nod. "I really like you Santana and I realize that I'm super damaged but I really want to give us a try. We sort of did things backwards because we already kissed and slept together," she added with a wink and Santana let out a short laugh. "But I also want to get to know you better and I want us to move closer towards an us. Does that make sense?"
It made perfect sense to the Latina. Brittany liked her and was willing to work through her own issues in order to get to a solid relationship started together. It made Santana's heart swell with joy and pride when she realized how brave Brittany was being.
"Yes." Santana stated simply but she felt the need to expand her answer. "Yes, I would really like to go on a date with you."
Brittany smiled widely at the Latina and scooped her into a big hug.
"Great! Then let's get going!" Brittany released the Latina and jumped off the couch. She was already at the door when she turned around and noticed that Santana was still sitting, a little baffled, on the couch. "Are you coming?" Brittany questioned Santana with big eyes.
"Um yeah Britt but I'm not even dressed yet." Santana looked down at her clothes and realized what she had been wearing. She was sporting pajama pants, a loose baseball t-shirt, and her hair was in a messy bun. Crap. How had she forgotten that she wasn't even dressed yet? It was probably because she was so distracted by how cute Brittany was that she hadn't noticed that she looked like a total bum.
"You look cute," Brittany cut into her fretting. Santana blushed as she looked down at her pants. "But I don't think pj's are appropriate for where we are going. You should probably put on some jeans and a t-shirt. You know, casual clothing."
"Where exactly are we going?" Santana asked as she got off the couch.
"It's a surprise!" Brittany said excitedly as she quietly bounced on the balls of her feet. She looked excited and, again, extremely cute. "Now go and get dressed."
"Ugh fine," Santana said as she playfully rolled her eyes and made her way towards her bedroom to change.
"And make it snappy," she heard Brittany call from the living room. Santana just laughed and started sifting through her clothes. She needed to find casual clothing while still looking super-hot. That was going to be a challenge.
Xxx
"The Zoo?" Santana asked incredulously as she stared at the entrance to the Bronx Zoo.
Once she had gotten dressed and went back to the living room, she found Brittany on the phone ordering a cab. Brittany apparently had already told them the address because she didn't need to give it to the cabby as they left the Latina's apartment. Santana had no clue where they were going until they arrived there.
Santana looked around at the all of the families pushing large, bulky strollers with screaming toddlers and slightly older children clinging onto their parents. She also noticed about 60 kids in matching t-shirts. It must have been a field trip day for the younglings. Santana must have let out an audible grimace because Brittany looked over at her sadly.
"You don't like it?" she asked with a small pout that just about broke the Latina's heart.
"No Britt, I do like it," Santana said as she reached out a hand to hold one of Brittany's hands. "I just haven't been to the Zoo in ages and the last time I was here a gorilla threw poop at me," she admitted with a small shudder. The memories of that horrid event were coming back to her.
Santana was pulled from the memory when she heard a small giggle next to her. "Oh you think that's funny?" Brittany just nodded. Santana pulled her hand away from Brittany and crossed her arms snuggly over her chest; she tried to ignore the cold, empty feeling from her hand at the loss of contact. "Fine," she huffed and took a step away from the blond. Santana was wearing her best pout but it was nowhere near as effective as Brittany's.
"Awe Sanny, did I hurt your feelings?" Brittany asked with a baby voice, mocking the Latina. Santana just silently nodded but refused to look Brittany in the eyes because if she did she knew that she would crack. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean too." Brittany batted her eyes at the brunette and jutted out her bottom lip into a pout.
Shit, Santana made the mistake of looking over at the blond. Damn, that pout did wild things to Santana's heart. Santana sighed and released her arms from her chest and turned fully to the blond.
"Fine," Santana sighed out. "I forgive you." Santana tried to still look upset but she just couldn't help but smile at the dancer.
Brittany jumped in excitement and wrapped her arms Santana's waist, pulling her into a hug. Santana immediately relaxed into the hug and got lost in everything that was Brittany. She was close to forgetting where she was but Santana could still hear the faint sounds of screaming kids and could smell the pungent scent of the animals. Brittany placed a delicate kiss to Santana's cheek before she pulled away and grabbed one of Santana's hands.
"We should probably go in the Zoo rather than just stand around outside of it," Brittany said as she started to pull Santana towards the ticket booth.
"I wouldn't mind standing around outside of a Zoo as long as I was with you," Santana said. She actually hadn't meant to say that out loud but the blush that crept over Brittany's face was totally worth making an ass of herself.
"That rhymed," Brittany giggled out. Santana hadn't even realized that. Great, now she sounded twice as cheesy.
"Huh, I guess it did," Santana said as she tried to play it off.
"Oh look, a kid!" Brittany shouted and pointed at a small child from the school group.
"I wonder if is name is Sid?" Santana asked as she caught onto the game Brittany was playing.
"He sort of looks like a squid." Brittany giggled; glad that Santana was playing along.
"Then he better stay off the grid."
"He just lost his soda lid."
"Awe poor kid," Santana added with a small frown.
"You lose!" Brittany shouted excitedly. Santana looked at her with a questioning brow.
"How did I lose?" Santana asked defensively.
"We already used the word kid but you repeated it. Everyone knows that in a rhyme war you cannot repeat words," Brittany explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh, right. My bad," Santana said with a small roll of her eyes. If it had been anyone other than Brittany, Santana would have complained about not knowing the rules. But Brittany was just too cute to argue with so she let it go.
Once they had just about reached the ticket booth, Santana started to pull out her wallet to pay for the tickets but was quickly stopped by Brittany.
"Nope there will be no need for your money today ma'am," Brittany said as she slapped Santana's hand away from her wallet.
"Ow," Santana mumbled as she rubbed her hand. It didn't actually hurt but she wanted to make Brittany feel guilty. She carefully raised her hand to Brittany's face and pouted. "Kiss it, make it better."
Brittany simply laughed and did what she was told, laying a gentle kiss to the Latina's hand. Santana's heart beat sped up and her breath hitched. Holy crap, a simple kiss to the back of her hand was driving Santana crazy.
"There all better," Brittany said with a wink. Again, Santana's heart rate sped up. The things that Brittany did to her were soon going to be her demise and surprisingly, she was ok with that.
Brittany grabbed onto the hand she had just kissed and pulled Santana further in line towards the ticket booth. It was their turn. The blond just about skipped up to the little glass window and looked extremely excited that they were almost inside.
"Hello Blaine," Brittany said loudly startling the man behind the booth. He wore a blue button up shirt and a red bowtie. That was all that the Latina could see because the rest of his body was covered up by the counter. Blaine, or Mr. Bowtie according to Santana, shot his creepy, triangular eye brows up in surprise when he heard his name being called.
Santana just assumed that Brittany had read his name tag but learned that was not the case when Mr. Bowtie greeted Brittany just as loudly.
"Brittany! Oh my goodness, I haven't seen you in forever," Mr. Bowtie said in a sassy voice. It immediately reminded Santana of her stylist, Kurt.
"I know. We totally need to catch up soon," Brittany said with a smile. "Now I love seeing you and I would love to chat but I'm actually here to get some tickets," she said with a small grin.
"Oh of course," Blaine said as he started to rip off one ticket.
"Actually I need two today and two passes to the tanks," Brittany said quickly when she noticed that Blaine was just getting her one ticket as usual. Brittany liked to come to the Zoo a lot and rarely anyone wanted to go with her so she just went by herself.
Blaine looked up, confused. Brittany just pulled Santana, who was slightly behind her, up towards the booth and nodded her head at her.
"I need one for me and one for Santana," Brittany explained to her friend behind the glass.
Blaine's eyes shifted over to Santana's and he froze. He kept his eyes on the Latina and his jaw slowly dropped into an 'o'. Santana shifted uneasily. She was used to people gawking at her but normally they were further away and not just right in front of her. Blaine started to stutter and his face flushed red. Santana took a small step and prepared herself for the outburst. She knew what was coming. Blaine was about to fan girl to the max.
"Oh my, Santana Lopez?!" Blaine squealed out. He jumped a little and started to fan his flushed face. "I love your work! Naya is one of my favorite characters ever and I am absolutely dying to hear your new album!"
Santana just nodded her head awkwardly and mumbled a small thanks before she tried to hide behind Brittany. She noticed that other people were starting to look her way after the loud announcement from Mr. Bowtie. Brittany could sense the shift in Santana and looked back at Blaine.
"Blaine calm down," Brittany said as Santana hid her face in her back. "Yes, it's Santana. We would really like to go in now so could you please hurry up and give us some tickets," Brittany finished almost angrily.
Santana's eyes opened in surprise. She had never heard to blond talk like that and it was kind of a turn on. An angry Brittany was super hot.
"Oh right sorry," Blaine said as he finally took his eyes off of Santana and went to get the tickets. "And of course that will be no charge for you my dear. Have a wonderful time," he said as he handed Brittany her tickets through the small opening in the glass.
"Thanks Blaine, we will."
Once inside the gates of the Zoo, Santana seemed to relax a little. It wasn't that she couldn't handle being stared at or complimented. She was actually pretty used to it. But that was at certain times on certain days like the book signing where she first met Brittany. In those moments she was Santana Lopez, famous singer and actress. But in moments with Brittany she just wanted to be Santana and normally she felt like Santana. Brittany never brought up her fame unless she was wondering how a recording session went and it made Santana feel normal. She craved to feel normal and Blaine had reminded her that she simply isn't.
"Sorry about Blaine. He can be a bit eccentric," Brittany said apologetically. Santana just looked up at Brittany and smiled. She didn't want Brittany to feel bad when she did nothing wrong.
"Don't worry about it," Santana says with a dismissive flick of her hand. "That happens a lot." Brittany smiled back at the Latina and was relieved that Blaine hadn't ruined Santana's mood. "How long have you known him?" Santana asked.
"Probably about 5 years," Brittany answered. He was my first friend that I met here. But enough about Blaine," Brittany said. "Where would you like to go first?" she asked the Latina with a large smile.
"Hmm," Santana thought. "Where would you like to go first?" she asked, spinning the question around on the blond. Brittany just laughed and shook her head.
"Nope, you get to pick first," the blond replied. Brittany practically lived at that Zoo so she had already seen every exhibit about a thousand times. Plus Brittany was curious as to what Santana's favorite animal was.
"Fine," Santana huffed out, pretending to be annoyed. She actually found it extremely chivalrous of the blond to ask where she wanted to go. "Don't laugh but can we go see the monkeys?" Santana asked as she looked down at her feet. "I know it's lame but they are my favorite."
"Why would I laugh at that?" Brittany asked incredulously. "The monkeys are totally not lame and one of my favorites too."
"No, monkeys aren't lame. The reason why I like them is lame," Santana said, embarrassed.
"Well why do you like them? If you don't mind sharing," Brittany asked as she started off in the direction of the monkey exhibit with Santana following close behind.
"When I was younger I would climb everything. Literally everything: chairs, tables, trees, cars, hell I even climbed the shelves at the super market," Brittany smiled at the thought of a little Santana dangling from the things she climbed. "And because I climbed everything my mom would call me her little monkey so they became my favorite animal." Santana blushed at the end of her little story. She had never told that to anyone before but Brittany made her want to share everything. Santana didn't want to hide anything from Brittany.
"Awe that's cute," Brittany said. "I can totally imagine little Santana climbing on everything."
"Well then you should also imagine little Santana falling off of everything," Santana said with a small laugh. She had suffered many broken bones and cuts as result of her climbing just about anything she could.
Brittany simply laughed at the thought and continued to walk towards the monkeys. The date had already been amazing and Brittany couldn't wait for more. The blond sneakily stuck her hand out and laced her fingers with Santana's hand that had been swinging between them. Santana glanced over at Brittany, smiled and gave her hand a soft squeeze. The pair weaved through the crowds and happily strolled, without a care in the world, towards the monkeys.
Xxx
After their time at the Zoo, Santana was pleased that the gorilla didn't throw poop at her, the pair made their way to a little diner for some late lunch. The two talked about everything and nothing. Santana found herself opening up to the blond. She was telling her things that not even Rachel knew and that made Santana smile. She hadn't felt comfortable enough with someone to open up like this. It was refreshing.
Once they had finished their lunch and the bill was placed on the table, Santana tried to pay but her wallet was once again slapped away when Brittany insisted that she paid for the lunch.
"I should pay for lunch," Santana whined. She had plenty of money and wanted to treat the dancer. "You already took me to the Zoo, so I should pay for this."
"Those tickets were free," Brittany replied with a raised eye brow.
"Well you bought us those overpriced smoothies from a vendor, so lunch should be on me," Santana refused to give up.
"No Santana," Brittany said firmly as she paid the waitress who had showed up when Santana was complaining. "I asked you out today so that means that I am paying," she said in a tone that was final. Santana just sighed and leaned back into her chair.
"Fine, but next time I'm paying," Santana says with a small grin.
"What makes you think there will be a next time?" Brittany asks with a wicked glint in her eyes.
"Oh you know," Santana started. "Just the fact that I am extremely irresistible makes me think there will be a next time," she finishes with a small shrug. Brittany laughed at the nonchalant way Santana was speaking.
"And you are oh so humble," Brittany said with a mocking wink.
"See there it is. There will be a next time because I'm irresistible and humble," Santana finishes with a laugh and Brittany quickly joins in.
The pair stayed at the diner for a little while longer, and just enjoyed each other's company. Santana glanced up at the clock and noticed that it was almost 7 and remembered that Rachel would be home soon from LA. Rachel had requested that Santana be home so they could have dinner together and catch up.
"Sorry Britt but I have to go home soon. Rachel is coming back from a convention and wants me to have dinner with her," Santana says with a small frown. She really didn't want their day to end but it had to. Brittany nods her head and they get up to make their way out to hail a cab.
"Do you want to share it?" Santana asks in a hopeful voice. She wanted to spend more time with Brittany even if it was in a short cab ride.
"Actually I live down the block," Brittany said as she pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "I was just going to walk."
"Hmm well then can I borrow some chalk?" Santana asked with a small smile.
"I'm sorry but that's out of stock," Brittany replied with a mock frown.
"Well then the chalk maker is who I should stalk," Santana said with a serious face.
"You lose again," Brittany laughs out as she pulls Santana into her by her waist.
"No I don't," Santana said with a frown. "You said stock, s-t-o-c-k, while I said stalk, s-t-a-l-k. They are completely different," Santana replies as she loops her arms around Brittany's neck, bringing her in closer.
"Ok fair enough," the dancer as she inhaled Santana's scent that wafted off her hair. "You should probably get going if you want to make it home before Rachel," Brittany said reluctantly.
Santana sighed but nodded and pulled Brittany even closer. She moved back some blond hair that had fallen into Brittany's face and placed a soft, lingering kiss to her cheek before she pulled back.
"I had a lot of fun today," Santana said softly. "Hopefully we can do it again soon." Santana carefully open the cab door and climbed into the back seat. She gave Brittany one final wave and blew her a kiss before the cab took off towards her apartment.
Brittany stood frozen for a few seconds after the cab pulled away. She was still getting over the sensation of Santana's lips on her cheek. It took about a minute for her to realize that she never even said bye to the Latina before she left. Brittany mentally slapped herself and pulled out her phone.
To Sanny: I had an amazing day :) and yes we will differently do this again. soon. I hope you have a good night with Rachel xoxoxo
Brittany thought that maybe the hugs and kisses at the end were too much but she risked it anyways. It didn't take long for Santana to reply.
From Sanny: Today was perfect (: thanks again for everything and yes. Next time I will take you out (: have a wonderful night xoxo
After reading the text Brittany couldn't help but smile. She got hugs and kisses back. Brittany sighed happily into the sky, pocked her phone and started the short walk to her apartment, thinking of Santana the entire time.
AN: Thanks for reading. Fanfiction is being a wanker right now and won't let me see how many views this has gotten. Hopefully it will get fixed soon but until then please review because I have no idea how you are all responding to this update. Thanks again!
