So, this is a bit of a slow chapter. It's setting up some of the stuff to come, but bear with me, cause everything happens for a reason. Chekov's Gun and all that. #obvious #an #isobvious Anyway, thanks for reviewing and reading! Your words really mean a lot to me. :)


A few days later, Brittany wanted to surprise Santana, so she came over right after breakfast (skillfully avoiding both Sam and Mercedes), and brought with her Santana's favorite bagels from the bakery down the street. Afterwards they laid on the couch, sprawled across each other, watching Sesame Street, and arguing over whether or not the Count was a real vampire.

"I'm telling you, San-"

"And I'm telling you, Britt, he's way too friendly with those kids. If I was living on Sesame Street, none of them would have made it out with all their jugulars intact." She laughed evilly.

Brittany had her head in Santana's lap, but also, her arms wrapped around Santana's waist and giggled, nuzzling her head further.

"Britt?"

"Yeah, Santana?"

"Do you?"

Brittany turned her head slightly, raising an eyebrow.

"Do I what?"

"Have you ever… I mean… Would you.. I mean…"

Brittany sat up and crossed her legs. She reached her hands out and grabbed Santana's, looking her carefully in the eye.

"You want to ask if I've had human blood before. If I've fed on a human?"

Santana nodded.

"Well, yeah, sure I have."

Santana tried her best not to look shocked, but failed miserably. "What was it like?"

"Well, it wasn't bad. It was strange. You've got to understand a few things about the way we survive."

"O-okay."

"Firstly, we can go a long time without eating. Months, in fact. It's not like we need to feed everyday, but feeding is important. It ramps up our abilities, makes us more able to heal ourselves if we're injured, and makes us generally more agreeable."

"It's that important, huh?"

"Well, yes and no. We need it to survive, but we can live without it. For a short time at least. But feeding comes at a price."

Santana grimaced, urging her to continue.

"Well, it's like this. Basically, whenever we feed on a human being, it causes us to go a sort of haywire. We, well, we sort of absorb that person a little bit, even if we don't drain them dry. Our thoughts become their thoughts and vice versa. Our memories, theirs. Stuff like that. It can be an intense experience."

"It sounds incredible."

"Oh, it can be! Sue has a really amazing collection of blood from all over. She uses this strange concoction to keep it fresh. Blood from various points in history. Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc. The list goes on and on."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, you drink even a small sip, and you're in that person's head. You're privy to all their thoughts and memories. Their skills. It's amazing!"

"Wow." Santana had a wistful look in her eye. "That is pretty cool. Have you tried it?"

Brittany looked a little embarrassed. "Once or twice, a long time ago. But then I got on Sue's bad side, and I learned I could live without it. I've already got enough stuff going on in my own head, you know?"

Santana smiled, leaning her forehead against Brittany's. "Yeah, I know."

"So, I haven't done it in years. Decades, probably. Just like I haven't had human blood in a long time."

Santana looked shocked once again.

"You haven't?"

"Nope. I haven't bothered. We don't have to drain a person dry, but except for having Quinn rummaging around there occasionally, I've gotten used to my voice being the only one I hear in my head. Plus, I try not to hurt people unless I absolutely have to."

"So, how do you, you know, survive?"

"Animal blood. It's just as good, though there is a small side effect."

Santana nudged Brittany with her shoulder. "What is it?"

Brittany groaned, and buried her face in her hands.

"Tell me." Santana whined. "C'mon, please."

Brittany peeked at Santana through the spaces in her fingers.

"You promise not to laugh?"

Santana held up her right hand. "Cross my heart."

"So, um, how can I put this delicately. Um, basically after feeding on animals, we get, some stomach issues."

"Like an upset stomach?"

"Like, um, farting. Really, really bad farts."

Santana slapped a hand over her mouth, covering the fit of giggles before they fully erupted.

"Hey! You promised not to laugh!"

Brittany smiled, in spite of herself, and lunged for Santana, tickling her across her stomach.

"I'm sorry, Britt, but that's just so gross!" Santana managed to choke out between full on belly laughter and gasps. "I can't believe it. I can't even imagine you farting, you're just the prettiest princess. Well, when you're not gorging yourself on pancakes."

Brittany didn't let up, tickling Santana across her stomach, under her arms, and behind her knees in a secret spot that she had been told about in confidence.

"Briiiiittttt…" Santana whined, between giggles.

Brittany relented, and just wrapped her arms around Santana, pinning her to the couch beneath her. Santana wasn't complaining, but put her own arms around Brittany, and kissed her cheek.

"You're still my prettiest princess even when you're farting."

Brittany sighed. Her smile faltering just a bit after their excitement.

"What's wrong, babe?" Santana asked, using her free hand to brush a few blonde locks out of Brittany's face.

"It's just that all this talk of blood has got me thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"Sue brought the relic back. She says she needs one more thing before she can start the ceremony. And before you ask, I still have no idea what the ceremony is supposed to accomplish, other than making us 'whole', whatever that means. I don't know if I even trust her."

The question forming on Santana's lips died, and she moved her hand to Brittany's back, where she stroked up and down.

"She said we need the 'blood of an elder' to activate it. She said she brought it to the city. But now it's missing, and she doesn't know where. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that one would just leave lying around, does it?"

"Honestly, Britt, I don't even know what the 'blood of an elder' could be."

"That's the thing! I don't know either. Nobody does. We just know that we're expected to find it, so Sue can activate the relic. This whole thing stinks, Santana."

"Yeah." Santana continued her soothing motions on Brittany's back. "It sounds awful. I can't even imagine."

"And now Quinn is having to clean up after me again. I've got to find this blood before anyone else. Maybe I can piece this whole thing together."

"Aw, I'm sure Quinn doesn't think of it that way. Honestly, what happened at Will's was just a freak show."

"Well, Sue certainly thinks that which makes me the head freak."

"So what? You're my freak."

"I am, huh?"

Brittany got that cloudy look in her eyes, and leaned forward, covering more of Santana's body with her own. Santana's breath hitched in her throat. Brittany's lips ghosted over her neck, and she rolled her body upward for more contact. Brittany responded back, her hips pressing downward into Santana's. The movement caused Santana to gasp, and she lifted her chin. She moaned at the feel of Brittany's lips on her skin.

Just a touch from the other woman made her tingle in so many ways. She felt almost drunk on it. She knew Brittany felt the same way. If her moans were any indication.

Brittany's hand snaked under her shirt, and smoothed over her stomach, and she moved a knee in between Santana's. Santana gave a soft sigh and reached her hands behind Brittany's head, pulling at her shirt until Brittany got the hint, and shrugged it off.

Santana stared.

"Oh my god, your boobs are amazing."

She reached up and cupped Brittany's breasts, squeezing firmly and earning Santana a strangled moan in response.

"Oh Santana." Brittany shivered.

Santana stopped, looking up at Brittany with innocent eyes.

"Yes, Britt?" She smiled, devilishly.

Santana looked up at Brittany, panting shallow breaths and gave her as cross a look as she can muster. Instead of answering, Brittany flopped down on Santana, and pressed her lips back against her neck, nipping lightly on her way down.

"Shut up, San." Brittany mumbled into her neck.

The feeling made Santana shudder again. "Yes, ma'am."

A few hours later, they still lay on the couch. Still wrapped around each other, but with decidedly less clothes. Brittany had slid her boy shorts back on, and Santana was tangled up in a blanket. They were watching a rerun of Jeopardy, and Santana was getting spanked.

Not literally. Well, not anymore.

"What is the English Channel?!"

"Wrong, Santana, the Rhine might squiggle through that part of Europe but it actually starts at the North Sea."

"What is the North Sea?"

Santana frowned, flopping an arm across Brittany's chest.

"It's not fair if you were there when it was formed."

Brittany laughed. "I wasn't born that long ago. I mean, around 1785, which I guess is long for you, but for a vampire-"

"Still! I call shenanigans!"

"Fine, fine. I won't answer any more. You can take a guess if you want."

Brittany put on her best fake pout, and Santana had to only take one look before she melted, scooting up Brittany's body and placing a small kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry, babe. Of course I want to hear your answers. And, you're not that old. Not even old at all. You don't look a day over 200."

Santana stuck her tongue out at Brittany, which caused Brittany to turn and tackle her. Leading to a tickle fight, which led to a make out session. They forgot about the show, and finding much more interest in each other.

Santana squirmed off of Brittany.

"I've gotta pee. I'll be back."

She hopped off the couch, and down the hall, leaving Brittany to her own devices. Brittany, who was seriously trying to distract herself from listening to Santana pee least she be a huge pervert, walked to the kitchen counter, and fiddled with the random odds and ends that had been left there over the past weeks. Her fingers found a box of paperclips, and she was struck with the memory of Santana holding the box, and practically threatening her with it one of the last times she'd been at the apartment. She gripped the box carefully.

" I think you've probably seen every episode of Jeopardy anyway, so if they've repeated the question, you're probably the only person in existence who'd know it-"

Santana stopped, eyeing Brittany and the box she still clutched in her hand.

"What are you doing with that, Britt?"

"I want to try something."

Without another word, Brittany opened the box, spilling the paper clips all over the floor. The moment they hit the carpet, a loud buzzing sounded in her ears. It was the same kind of sound that went through her head whenever she felt her compulsion. When she had been focusing on some faraway object for too long, or listening beyond a doorway non stop. It was the sound that clouded her thoughts and made her eyes muddy after she'd eaten any garlic. The same buzzing that came in waves, harder and louder until she couldn't take it anymore, and went to feed. It was so loud in her head, she could almost feel her teeth rattle. She tried to keep her eyes on Santana, but they were dragged to the floor, and all she could see was the pile of scattered paperclips. The tiny items taunted her. They would take about 330 seconds to pick up, and that's if she counted them all. Brittany leaned slightly to bend over when Santana took a small step forward.

"Brittany?"

Like before in the hidden room under the basement, like behind the diner after they'd landed, Santana's voice cut through the buzzing like nothing ever had before. The concern that laid hidden beneath her words was almost palpable. Brittany was able to drag her eyes away.

"Brittany, what are you trying to do?"

Santana took another step forward, reaching out a hand to Brittany.

"You were right that night, you know."

"Right about what?"

"If you'd thrown this box down, I would have had to stay, I would have had to count them. It's my other weakness. It's like I have to do it. It's like I don't have a choice."

"Then why would you-?" Santana had carefully placed Brittany's hand in her own, and was now rubbing the back of Brittany's hand with her thumb.

"Because of you, Santana. Since I met you, I'm able to do something I've never been able to do before."

Brittany's eyes darted back and forth between the pile at her feet, and Santana's eyes. With each passing, she was able to hold Santana's gaze a moment or two longer. After a few seconds, she was keeping eye contact with Santana, with only a stray gaze back to the floor.

"What's that, Brittany?"

Brittany waited a moment, before pulling Santana close and wrapping her up in her arms.

"Ignore it."

Santana laughed. "I'm glad I have that effect on you."

"I've heard of vampires doing it before, but it was always through self study, and decades of meditation. I've never heard of a human doing it for you before." Brittany's voice was still serious.

Santana looked up, meeting Brittany's eyes with her own. She was speechless. She felt like Brittany was telling her something very important. The moment wasn't lost on her. But she slowly gathered the words to respond.

"Brittany, I-"

"Hey Santana, you're not still asleep, are you? I brought your favorite-"

Sam burst through the door, arms laden with bags. With a shout, he dropped all but one, bringing his hands over his eyes.

"Will you two put on some clothes, please? This isn't some all you can look peep show!"

Brittany laughed, and chuckled more when she saw the embarrassed look on Santana's face as she dragged them both to her bedroom. She put the shirt that Santana tossed at her without much fuss, though it was about four inches too short, and left her stomach exposed. She laughed again, and walked up behind Santana who was leaned over her dresser, grumbling and shuffling trying to find a suitable pair of pants.

"That's not good." Brittany said, bending over to kiss the back of Santana's neck.

"Yeah, not great. I'm not going to hear the end of it tonight when Mercedes gets word of it."

Santana sighed and stood up, leaning back into Brittany's arms.

"I just want everything to go smoothly with them, you know? And they'd like you so much, Britt, they did. Well, they do! It's just complicated, you know."

Santana trailed off, and let her head fall beside Brittany's.

"It's okay, Santana. They'll come around. they just need time. They did like me, I know. It's okay."

"Yeah." she didn't sound convinced.

"C'mon. Sam went back out, probably to the bodega down the street. I'm going to go pick up those paper clips and you can watch me."

Santana nodded softly, not questioning how Brittany knew all that. She watched as Brittany crouched over the pile and quickly gathered them, mumbling numbers under her breath.

"Do you have to count them?" She asked, leaned over to get a closer look.

"Yeah, it's kind of part of the whole thing. Hon, can you back up a little, I can't concentrate on this, and keep an ear out for Sam with you so close."

"I'm sorry that I threatened you with dropping it before, Britt. That was wrong and manipulative of me. I shouldn't even have said I'd do something like that."

She ran her fingers through her hair as Brittany finished picking up the last of the paper clips, and laid the full box on the counter. Then sighed as Brittany took her back in her arms.

"Santana, you didn't go through with it. And I trust you. I know you wouldn't have. It's okay."

She rubbed Santana's back and pulled her tighter. She took a deep breath and spoke quickly before she changed her mind.

"I want us to go to dinner."

"O-okay, Britt." Santana balked at the sudden change of subject. "When? I have meetings tonight, but maybe tomorrow-"

Brittany spun Santana around effortlessly, and took both of her hands.

"No, I mean, like a proper date. Next Monday. And I want you to bring Rachel."

"Rachel? Why would I want to do that?"

"I want to make a good impression, and I'm bringing Quinn because she can talk me down when I'm getting weird, and I mainly just want to get to know Rachel."

"That's sweet, Brittany, but why would you even want to get to know Rachel? Trust me. I know her. You're not missing out on much."

"She's important to you, San. Even if you don't want to admit it." She shushed Santana's protests. "And while I'm worming my way back into Mercedes' and Sam's good graces, I want to get a head start on Rachel. Plus, you haven't spent any time with Quinn, and she's important to me, so I'd like you to get to know her."

She gave her best pout to Santana, biting a smile when she caved almost immediately.

"Okay."

"Now, I'm going to find my pants, and let you get ready for tonight's show."

"Aw." Santana took the chance and hopped on Brittany's back while she was shuffling around, searching for her pants. "So soon?"

Brittany hoisted her higher, causing Santana to giggle. "I'm afraid so, my love. Sue's got us running around for this blood, and I want to be back in plenty of time to hear the show. It's live tonight, no?"

Though Brittany could hear Santana tense up slightly at the liberal use of the "L word", she continued moving around the living room, stopping every few moments to bend down and shift some piece of clothing.

"Um, yeah, it's live. We're taking calls. It's usually wild." She cleared her throat nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I've listened to a few of them. They sound great, I can't wait to hear it."

She plopped Santana down on the ground, and then bent to pull her pants over her feet, and up her hips. She slipped on bright yellow Converse, and a loose fitting jacket (keeping on the tank top that Santana loaned her earlier).

"Remember, don't forget to ask Rachel." She killed Santana full on the lips.

It started as an innocent peck, but as Santana's tongue darted out, and slid across Brittany's bottom lip, she forgot that she was supposed to be leaving, and gathered Santana up in her arms.

Minutes later, Santana thoroughly kissed, Brittany gave her a wink, and opened the door.

"Monday night."

Santana nodded dumbly, and leaned against the door frame.

"Monday."

"See you later, Santana."

"See you, Brittany."

Brittany reveled in the sound of Santana's racing heartbeat as she made her way down the hall, down the stairs, and out of the front door.

\

"And if you think this is the first time that lizards have gotten cheeky with the President, you'd better think again. The signs are all there."

"Frank, Frank, I'm going to have to cut you off there, you're making some really fascinating points, though, and I'm sure the listeners would love to hear about them-"

"Berry, Frank would be making a good point if he were on Mars, but unfortunately, he's on Earth, and those rules don't apply here."

"Santana!"

"I can tell you for a fact, Frank, a fact, that any experiments that were started by Project Blue Book were disbanded by 1958, and furthermore-"

Santana ignored the look on Rachel's face.

"Furthermore, and Elliot Scott talks about this in his book Lizard People and the Quest for the One Truth, that if there hadn't been a lizard person sitting as Commander-in-Chief in 1965 the Civil Rights Act would have never been passed, and you can take that to the bank."

Jane piped up from her place at the broadcast table. "User BBBeliever is supporting that point of view. He's posted a full page transcript of a secret recording of Lyndon B. Johnson, and his lizard captain."

"And that really just goes to show you that the lizard people aren't, as too many of you like to think, backwards troglodytes. Any civilization that is advanced enough to conquer space travel has gone past our petty need for division within ourselves. They are above that. Beyond it. You can count on that, trust me."

"I've posted a poll, and almost 75.7% of our listening audience agree with you." Jane said, holding up a graph on her tablet.

"But, of course, here on SLINN, there's always room for debate. What do you think, listeners? Was Frank onto something, or was he full of hot air? You're joining us for our late night live call in show, where no topic is off limits, and we depend on input directly from you, the listener. What's been keeping you up at night? Ghosts, werewolves, aliens? We'll cover it all, but first a word from our faithful sponsors. "

Santana gestured to Artie, who nodded, and gave her a thumbs up. She slid the headphones off her ears, and took a sip of coffee.

"We're back in five." Artie said, leaning over his computer.

"Great. Jane, get some more of those comments, and we'll read them right on the air. Mostly people who agree with me, but sprinkle in a few that agree with Frank, just to make it seem the least bit balanced."

Jane nodded, and hunched down over her computer keyboard.

"I don't see why you had to be so mean to poor Frank, Santana. He was just voicing his opinion. It's our god given right to do that, you know, it's in the Constitution. I think it was Ben Franklin who said-"

"Well, if you must know, dwarf, his opinion is wrong. And I don't care if he gets his feelings hurt or not. Here on SLINN we deal in facts. Even when most of those facts are made up on the spot."

Rachel rolled her eyes, and brought one cup of her headphones to her ear.

Santana's phone buzzed.

Live shows are exciting!

She smiled. She knew that Brittany would make good on her threat of listening in on the show tonight.. In fact, Brittany had become almost a rabid fan SLINN. She bought an executive pass, and had been listening to archived episodes for the past few weeks.

It had been almost three since Santana had found out about Brittany's 'true nature', and though it had taken a little while for things to get back to normal (if they'd even been normal in the first place), Santana finally felt some semblance of familiarity in their relationship. She had never felt afraid, or worried, but just generally out of sorts. But now they spent time together, and laughed, and Brittany even seemed ready to come back over for another dinner (sans garlic, of course). But Mercedes still wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing, and Santana didn't know how much to tell her. Her sister was very protective, after all, and Santana wasn't quite sure how to bring up the whole, 'my girlfriend is a vampire' conversation. Though, she guessed they weren't technically girlfriends. Though they were dating. Maybe. All very confusing.

Santana typed out a quick response.

If by exciting, you mean shit show, I agree. But what can I say?. I'm very proud. :P

"I'm sending you about 15 quotes now, Santana. They're all ranked by the number of upvotes, and also an interesting illustration that might be interesting to the listeners. You can tweet it out with a link to the original post."

Santana scrolled through a screen on her laptop.

"Yeah, that's perfect Jane, send it out. I'll read through the comments, and pick a handful. CC Berry so we can get her take, though she's probably wrong."

Rachel opened her mouth, but thought better of it, taking a sip of her herbal tea instead. As Santana was reading through an interesting comment about how lizard people might have been persecuted during the Spanish Inquisition, her phone vibrated again.

You should be proud. I'm proud, too. I always feel very interesting things when I hear your voice, San.

Santana bit her lip with a smile.

Oh?

Yep, I'll tell you all about it later.

I can't wait.

Santana shivered. She was thinking about the last time Brittany had made a promise to show her something later. It had been well worth the wait. It was being reminded of that time, lounging on Santana's couch easier that day, a romantic afterglow still coloring her cheeks, that reminded Santana of something else.

"Two minutes until we're back." Said Artie.

"Hey, um, Rachel. I need to ask you something."

The room's other three occupants looked at Santana with wide eyes. Perhaps she should haven't laid it on so thick with the insults earlier.

"What?" Santana said, sharply.

Jane was the first to speak up. "Well, uh, I don't think that I've ever heard you call her Rachel before."

Santana laughed a little too loudly. "Of course I have, Jane, don't be ridiculous."

Jane shrugged, but like Artie and Rachel, didn't look away from Santana.

"Anyway, if you three weirdos would stop being weird for a second…" She let her voice trail off.

With that, Jane went back to looking at her computer, and Artie adjusted some knobs on his mixing board.

Rachel crossed her hands in her lap, and the combination of her perfect posture, and the smug look on her face when she knew that Santana was about to ask her for a favor made Santana want to throw up. She barrelled ahead regardless.

"So, do you remember Brittany's friend, Quinn?"

Rachel seemed to think for a second, but Santana knew that she remembered Quinn. She was pretty sure that Rachel remembered every person she'd ever met. She had this weird thing about how a person might never know where the next opportunity to get discovered might come from, so it paid to make all possible connections, as quickly as one could.

It was more likely that Rachel wanted to get more information out of her before she'd agree to anything. Santana would have told her to go to hell, but Brittany had this idea in her head and it all hinged on Santana playing nice, so she couldn't very well mess this up.

"Anyway, Brittany wants to spend time with you, because she knows that we're friends, or whatever, so she wanted to invite you to dinner with us, and she's bringing along Quinn because Quinn is basically her best friends or whatever, and she wants our best friends to get along, I guess, and she asked me to ask you to come along."

The sentence came out in one breath, almost without punctuation. Santana had to keep herself from burying her face in her hands afterwards.

Rachel seemed to think a moment more. "Oh Quinn! Of course, I remember her after our interesting little altercation at Will's place."

"Yeah." Santana said, tonelessly. "That's her."

"Thirty seconds, ladies."

"Well, isn't that nice of Brittany and her friend to extend such a lovely invitation. Very polite Santana, and you could certainly learn a thing or two from these ladies who are obviously so thoughtful about the feelings of others. And while we're at it-"

"Can it, hobbit, we don't have all day while you wax poetical about how manners are a 'long standing tradition that have been cast aside in our harried modern cultural landscape'."

"Well, I still think that's true, and if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times-"

"Fifteen seconds."

Rachel glared at Artie.

"Look, Rachel, are you going or not?"

Rachel seemed to take another moment mulling it over. "Lucky for you, I really like Brittany. I'll go."

"Thank god. Don't screw this up for me, Berry."

The self satisfied look on Rachel's face didn't let up, as she adjusted her headphones. She gave Santana a thumbs up.

Santana gave her a scowl in return, rolling her eyes for good measure.

"And we're back with the live, call in episode of Santana Lopez is Not Normal. I'm Santana Lopez. We've got Artie in the booth, taking your calls and keeping us on the air, Jane is here making sure that all you nerds mind your Ps and Qs on the message boards, and that ever present thorn in my side, Rachel Berry. Queen of being more annoying than you at everything."

"Hi, everyone! Welcome back. We were talking about lizard people. Have they reached the upper echelons of our government? Are they creating help or havoc? Jane as scoured the message boards, and here are some overriding opinions..."

\

With another episode in the bag, Santana, Rachel Artie and Jane talked for a few moments about the next day's show, and began to pack up their things. Asking Berry to go out with them had been annoying as hell, during every break she was practically peeing, she was gloating so much, but Santana was convinced it was a good idea. In fact, Brittany had convinced her. Her eyes had done most of the heavy lifting. Well, not just her eyes. Her lips. Her hands, also were very convincing.

While Jane and Artie discussed some of the logistics of upcoming shows, Rachel sidled up to Santana, grinning like an idiot.

"So, Santana. When will our little excursion be taking place?"

"Oh my god, Berry, you're really making me regret letting Brittany talk me into letting you go."

"Fine." She huffed. "But, I just want to know what I'm getting into."

"Nothing. It's dinner, and we're going to go there and act like we're normal people, and then we're going to go home."

"Have you figured the whole Samcedes trusting Brittany situation, yet?"

"No. Sam is fine I guess, but Mercedes is still a little wary. You know how she is."

"Well, if I didn't trust you implicitly, Santana, I might be a little worried that you were dating an actual vampire."

Santana put her hands up to shush Rachel. "Geez, Troll, just tell everybody, why don't you?"

"Sorry, I didn't realize it was under wraps! Jane's certainly got to have an idea after what happened at Will's, and Artie was there too, even though he wasn't quite able to see everything."

"Not the point. I just mean, let's not use the v-word if we can avoid it. You don't get it, Rachel, there's a lot of bad stuff going on, and I don't want Brittany to get hurt."

Rachel's face grew more serious. "Of course, Santana, I understand. I won't mention it again."

Santana nodded gratefully, and finished putting her laptop into her bag.

"But, Santana, if you don't mind me asking. What's going on? What bad stuff are you so afraid of?"

Santana sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "If you must know, Berry, the relic that they found wasn't enough for their leader, Sue's ceremony. They need some sort of elder's blood to activate it. I don't know what it means, and Brittany doesn't either, but whatever is happening won't settle down until it's found. And once it's found Sue can use it. And no one knows yet what will happen because of that."

"Does Brittany seem to be worried at all?"

"Well, no, not exactly-"

"Then, I don't think you should worry either. She's got way more experience than you do with everything having to do with vampires, and if she's fine, then that's probably a good sign."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Rachel awkwardly patted Santana's shoulder, before the devilish grin returned to her face.

"Now, I'm wondering what I should wear. I have a perfectly quaint, mauve carousel pony sweater that will really be the perfect accent to anything from my fall collection…"

"I swear to god, Rachel, if you wear anything that makes you look like a British toddler, I will murder you and they will never find the body."

Rachel chuckled. "Fair enough, but I still have plenty of ideas."

"Oh, and I get final veto decision of all of your outfits."

"Now, Santana-"

"Not negotiable."

She strapped on her messenger bag in a huff, and storming out, waved to Artie and Jane.

In fact, it was Santana who needed three outfit changes before she was ready to go. Rachel had arrived at her apartment an hour or so before, because she wanted to, in her words, "get a full picture into what she'd signed herself up for." Now Rachel was lying across Santana's bed, watching attentively as she stressed out in front of her closet mirror. Santana had to give it to her. Rachel looked downright cute. She was wearing a body hugging mini dress, but with warm looking leggings underneath, and fur lined boots. The whole ensemble made Santana feel over dressed, and then underdressed, and then over dressed when she changed outfits again.

"Santana, I doubt this is worth all of this stress. It's simply Brittany. I happen to know for a fact that you've eaten dinner together before, and you've met Quinn so-"

"Obviously, we've eaten dinner together before. But this is the first time I've really had to sit down and talk to Quinn. What if she hates me? What if I hate her? What if we end up hating each other? What if I say something ridiculous and she laughs at me, and I go all Lima Heights on her ass, and she ends up inevitably kicking my ass and then Brittany has to pull her off of me? I can't deal with this."

Santana pulled another top out of the drawer before considering it closely and finally discarding it. Rachel walked up to where she stood in the middle of her room, gently closing the drawer, and holding up the dress that Santana had originally been wearing.

"I don't know what will happen, Santana. But I do happen to know that the more you worry about trivial matters such as these, the less likely you will be to react in a positive way if things do go a little sour. Furthermore, you can't do anything about it at the moment, because it's only a few minutes until they're due to arrive, and you're still not dressed."

Santana looked quickly at the clock before cursing, snatching the dress from Rachel's hands and shimmying it down her hips. She smoothed the sides, and looked at herself in the mirror.

"What do you think?"

"I think you look like a million bucks."

"Do you think she'll like it?"

"She'll love it. You're going to knock her dead."

Santana regarded her reflection a few moments more, and then eyed Rachel.

"What?" Rachel said, accusingly.

"I-I just…"

Santana trailed off, and turned towards Rachel, fussing with the hem of her dress.

"You know that I, well." She paused. "Thanks, Rachel."

There were a lot of things Santana wanted to say in just those few words. She was reminded of dark nights, and dark days back at home in Ohio. Mercedes was there for her, and Sam too, but Rachel was the person who rounded out her little family. And as annoying as Rachel could be sometimes, she knew that she would always look out for her. Just like Santana would do the same.

Rachel walked over, and placed a gentle hand on Santana's arm. "I love you too, Santana."

Santana waited a beat before shaking the arm off with a shrug.

"I didn't say all that, Hobbit."

"You didn't have to."

Rachel's smile lingered for a moment longer but her eyes grew wide as they both heard the knock at the door.

"Shit! Stall them, Berry, I haven't even curled my hair yet."

Santana shoved Rachel out of the bedroom door, closing it, and turning back towards the mess of her bedroom. She plugged in her curling iron and waited patiently for it to heat up. She didn't know why she was so nervous. The first time she had met Quinn, she hadn't thought twice about lobbing insults at her, and generally being a nuisance. And now she wasn't even sure if she'd be able to sit in the same room as Quinn without acting like a complete spaz.

Crossing to her door, she heard the three women chatting in the front room. Even from behind the door she could make out Brittany's voice, lilting pleasantly, as her laughter faded in and out. Santana sighed, leaning her head against the door. She had seen Brittany only a couple of days before, and had been texting almost constantly when they weren't together. Sometimes it was something simple like a cool rock Brittany had seen, or Santana complaining about all the ways Blaine had annoyed her that day, but she still missed Brittany when they were apart. It was like an ache in her chest that never properly went away.

"You've got it bad, Lopez." She said to herself, walking back over to her vanity, and sitting down. She picked up the curling iron and quickly went to work, setting the curls in her hair.

It wasn't just her nervousness about Quinn, or Brittany's worry about Mercedes and Sam. There were a lot of things about their relationship, if one could call it that, that was confusing for Santana. She tried not to think about it, but their worlds were very different. Even though Santana had spent most of her time recently steeped in the paranormal, and Brittany was actually paranormal there was a lot she didn't understand. And the more she thought about it, the more worried she became, and the more she fretted about what was happening between the two of them.

She shook her curls out and let them bounce around her shoulders. She wasn't supposed to be thinking of all that tonight, she was supposed to be having a good time, enjoying herself, and taking bets on who would jump over the table and try to strangle each other first, Rachel or Quinn.

Anyway, she knew that she like Brittany, and Brittany liked her. She had told her fears to Brittany, who had, in her usual fashion, listened with a concerned look on her face, and then insisted that they would figure it out some how. Santana wished she had Brittany's certainty.

She was applying some mascara, and curling her eyelashes when she heard the door open behind her.

"Berry, you've got to stay out there and keep them entertained until I come out-"

One look behind her in the mirror told her it wasn't Rachel coming into her room. She started, and was careful to put the curler down before she ripped all her eyelashes out.

"Brittany!" Santana stood up, spinning around, and rushing across the room, stopping just short of where Brittany stood leaned up against her closed bedroom door.

Brittany stood for a moment, hands behind her back, pushed up against the door, looking Santana up and down.

"Well, what do you think?" Santana said, twirling a bit, and shaking her curls so Brittany could take her in fully.

Brittany swallowed a few times, and when she finally spoke her voice was thick with emotion.

"You look amazing, babe."

Santana hadn't realized the effect she might have on Brittany. She closed the distance between them, and put her hands on the sides of Santana's hips.

"What's wrong, Britt?"

Brittany carefully cupped Santana's cheeks, placing a kiss on each of them, and then on her eyes and forehead.

"Nothing at all is wrong. You just look so great. I appreciate you putting in so much effort for my friend."

"Well, I know how much it means to you, I mean, she's Quinn. You talk about her all the time."

Brittany chuckled, clearing her throat. "Yeah, well, still. If I didn't know you only had eyes for me, I'd be totally jealous right now."

"Oh, would you?"

Santana pressed her breasts (which were being held up perfectly by her favorite bra), into Brittany, delighting at the gasp she heard from the other woman. Brittany couldn't reply, but just let out a strangled moan that sounded like an affirmative.

Santana looked down, properly noticing Brittany's outfit for the first time. It was the first time she hadn't seen Brittany in some mismatched outfit and a beanie, that she somehow made work. Tonight's outfit was sleek and stylish, still an outrageous blue, but it hung to Brittany's body in ways that made Santana weak in the knees. Her hair was up in a loose bun, golden tendrils falling down behind her ears and around her face, brushing against her neck, begging Santana to be brushed away so she would have no obstacles to kissing there.

"You don't look too bad yourself." She breathed, ghosting her lips along Brittany's neck. For her part, Brittany raised her head, giving Santana free reign.

She ran her hands over Brittany's sides and past the bottom of her dress, cupping the back of her thighs. With a grunt, she pulled Brittany towards her, placing a scorching kiss on her lips. Their lips met with fireworks, Santana could feel Brittany in every fiber of her being.

Santana pulled away abruptly with an evil grin. "Well, I'm still not completely ready, so I'll need a few more minutes. And now I need to reapply my lipstick."

"Aw, San." Brittany whined, pushing away from the door, and following behind Santana.

"No buts. Just a bit longer."

"Well, you already look good enough to eat." Brittany smiled, her face at Santana's shoulder.

Santana looked back at her from the mirror on the vanity she'd sat herself back down in front of.

"Very funny."

Brittany waggled her eyebrows.

Santana smirked, picked up her lipstick, and pursed her lips at herself in the mirror.

"How's it going out there with those two?"

Brittany stood at Santana's shoulder and watched her carefully apply her makeup.

"They're being surprisingly civil. I don't know how I thought it would go down, but at least they aren't yelling at each other."

Santana laughed. "Well, yeah, Rachel can be on her best behavior every once in a while. So, she's not talking Quinn's ear off?"

"Well, yeah, she is, but Quinn doesn't seem to mind. She actually looks like she's paying attention."

"Really?" Santana quirked an eyebrow.

"Yep. It's pretty weird, and this is coming from a person who likes talking to Rachel."

"Yeah, I never got your need to be nice to her."

"She's actually a nice person, San. And she loves you, and that's all I need to know."

Santana scoffed. "Nice? I think you might have her confused with someone else."

She smacked her lips a few times and watched lovingly as Brittany cocked her head to the side.

"It's sounds like they've stopped talking. I wonder what that's about."

Santana stared at her for another moment. Brittany had probably never looked more beautiful than she did at that moment, listening to something that Santana herself would never be able to hear. She smiled.

Brittany stopped, her eyes going wide.

"It sounds like-"

"Britt, Mercedes took Sam to some boring work party tonight and they're going to stay at some hotel and get their freak on probably. It's gross but it means that the house will be empty tonight."

Brittany's eyes zeroed back in on Santana, a small half smile lifting her lips.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. So, why don't we dump the losers and hang out here all night?"

Brittany placed a hand on Santana's arm.

"That sounds amazing, babe, but we said we were going to do this. I think our friends being friends is a worthy project."

Santana raised an eyebrow and turned to follow Brittany out the room.

"But when we dump then after the date, I'm going to have you all to myself."

Brittany purred, nibbling her ear. Santana shivered

"Uh huh." It was all Santana could muster.

"Now, let's get back out there before those two eat each other."

Santana didn't have time to respond before Brittany opened her bedroom door, and strode purposefully out of it.

"We're ready." Brittany announced loudly.

Rounding the corner to the living room, Santana saw Quinn standing beside Rachel who was sitting on the couch. Their eyes both wide in surprise.

"What are you looking so guilty for, Berry? I didn't expect you to play the host all evening. It's okay if you and Quinn ran out of stuff to talk about."

Brittany chuckled. "I dunno if that was the problem, babe-"

"Santana." Quinn interrupted, bowing her head slightly.

"Quinn." Santana returned stiffly.

"Well, now that greetings have been made, might I suggest we head out? Our reservation is at six, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yeah, of course, let's go." Brittany said, helping Santana into her coat.

Santana let Brittany take her hand, and lead her down the stairs, Rachel and Quinn on their heels.

"I got us a car for the evening."

"You didn't have to do that, Britt, but I'm glad you did, cause these heels were not made for walking."

Santana smiled, stepping back as a long, black town car pulled up the curb, and Brittany opened the door opened for her. She ducked in, and sat on the row behind the driver, frowning a bit when Rachel sat next to her.

"Rachel, there's plenty of room on the other side." She said, nodding towards the row opposite her.

"I know that, Santana. I just thought that Quinn might appreciate sitting next to her friend, and we can much more easily make conversation with these two fascinating ladies if we're sitting across from them. Besides that, we already know each other, Santana, why would be facing each other for the entire car ride-"

"I get it, I get it. Fine." She shook her head, but smiled when Brittany slid in across from her, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

"Comfortable?" Brittany smirked.

"Very."