Chapter 9

Puck, she's dating fucking Noah Puckerman. The same douchebag jock from high school, the guy who always used to think he ruled the school and owned every girl, including mine. Like I said, Santana was in the closet back then… or still is… Anyway, everyone had reputations to uphold in that shitty school and Santana's was that she was the head cheerleader, a bitch and on top of the school. Noah Puckerman being the 'badass' cock, who bedded every cheerleader and hot nerds willing thought that he could get with my girl.

I yawn as I walk through the hallways of McKinley High School, grimacing at the brightly coloured petitions on the board just outside my locker. Remembering my combo I unlock my locker and place my AP Chemistry and Math book inside, one thing I hate is carrying books around with me. I look at the picture of me and Santana on the inside of my locker door. Santana's in her cheerleading outfit of course and I'm wearing my letterman jacket, I have my left arm around her waist and my thumb is sticking up and my index finger is out straight on my right hand resembling a gun. Santana is pouting like a model and I sort of look like one of those twelve year olds in a picture of them partying, you know where they do those stupid things with their hands. I still love this photo though, this was when Santana got promoted to head cheerleader and she was so excited and so cute. Next to that is a drawing of my dog Charlie that Santana drew. It doesn't even resemble a dog, it kind of looks like mashed potato but I love it because Santana drew it for me. She was 12 at the time but still….

Hearing an annoyed sigh, I turn on my heel to freeze and frown when I take in the scene before me. Santana is at her locker minding her own business and Puck has his left arm resting on the locker next to her so he is shielding her away from everyone. I clench my jaw and feel my fists ball up at the sight of him flirting with MY girlfriend. He has this grimy smile on his face as he runs his eyes down Santana's body which is barely covered in that skimpy cheerleaders outfit. Anger is boiling deep in my system, it churns within making me want to beat the shit out of puck. The real thing that is getting me is Santana isn't walking away, or slashing him with her very vicious words. I narrow my eyes almost contemptuous like and slam my locker shut so hard that people in China would've heard it. Everyone in the hallway stops what they're doing and turn to look at me and the slamming of my locker. This breaks Puck out of his little 'game' with Santana and he turns to look at me, He's wearing a smirk and he raises one of his bushy eyebrows at me. I avert my death glare of him and look at Santana to see a stern but pleased look on her face. I growl a little and head over to the little twosome and paint a sarcastic smile on my face.

"How are we all over here?" I sneer and force a smile on my face as I look from that douche to Santana. Puck still hasn't removed his arm from the locker and his gaze from my girlfriend which make me growl. Santana hears it and turns her body so she is facing me, but all that does is give Puck a chance to look at her ass. I watch as he runs his eyes down to her plump backside and I think I lose it. I charge a head but before I can rip his head off Santana is wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me into a hug.

"I've missed you Britt" she says trying to distract me and avoid me causing a scene. I slowly wrap my arms around her small waist, God her hugs always make me feel better. Wait, is she doing this to distract me. I feel her warm breath hit my ear and my eyes flutter shut.

"I know what he's doing, ignore him" she whispers into my ear and my eyes fly open, she's actually telling me to just ignore the dickhead that is hitting on my girl? I glare at puck over Santana's shoulder and he meets my eyes. He has a smirk on his face and puffs out his chest at me, He's mocking me. Nobody knows that me and Santana are dating but everybody knows that we're are best friends. I'd do anything to protect Santana and Puck knows that, he's testing me.

"Pierce haven't you got to go see Coach?" He says with a Cynical smile and I tighten my hold around Santana's waist, letting her know that I'm not leaving her alone with him.

"Nope, saw her at lunch" I say through gritted teeth and he fake sighs, I can feel a growl ripple up my throat but I swallow it back down.

"Aw man, I thought I could get some alone time with this sexy piece of ass" he grins as his eyes return back to the spot on Santana's ass. This time I do growl and I growl loud, ripping myself from Santana's small frame and charging at Puck. Before he has time to register it I am grabbing him by his letterman jacket and pushing him up against the locker he was leaning up against. I glare darkly into his semi wide eyes and bare my teeth I am that angry.

"Speak about Santana again? Go on I fucking dare you!" I punctuate venomously and the vein in my forehead is ready to burst. He goes to push me off him but I put all my strength and keep him pushed up against the locker with his jacket and top bunched up in my fists. Santana is on us, trying to pry my hands from the dickhead. After three attempts she pry's me off him and he glares at me as he smooth's out his now wrinkled clothes.

"Wrong move Pierce" He spits angrily and I am so ready to throw down with this motherfucker. I am aware that everyone in the hallway is staring, I'm pretty sure people have come out of classes to watch. Everyone's eyes are on me and Puck and I clench my fists so hard that the skin is turning white. Santana comes into my vision and looks into my dark angry blue eyes.

"Britt! Leave it!" she warns me, but she has a worried tone. She doesn't want me to get in trouble for beating his ass. I look into her eyes and see that there is desperation and I sigh, I nod slightly then return my angry glare to Puck.

"Watch your back Puckerman" I threaten before walking away angrily. Everybody's eyes follow me as I push through crowds and down into the bleachers. I throw my bag at the wall making all the contents inside fall out and sprawl all over the floor. I don't care, I'm so pissed at how Puck thinks he can talk about Santana like that. I walk over to the ratted black leather sofa that some of the jocks stole from a garage sale and plonk my ass down. My fingers can't stop shaking so I put my head in my hands trying to block out the thought of smashing Puck's head against the wall multiple times.

"Britt…" Santana softly says before running her eyes over my things on the floor. She walks over to me and take a seat next to me, I love the perfume that she wears, and it's like a mixture of exotic fruits. Ugh she smells so good.

"San, I don't want to talk" I mutter with my head still in my hands and she sighs before running her hand over my back in a soothing matter. She always does this when I'm angry or worked up about something, I love it, and I love her.

"Look at me" she coos and I lift my head to look into her dark brown eyes swirling with pride, lust and softness. I lick my lips and she smiles softly at me. "Thank you" she says and I frown a little.

"For what?" I ask and she moves closer to me so our faces are closer to each other.

"Sticking up for me in front of Puck" she smiles and I smile back, I will always stick up for her.

"He's a dick!" I growl and look ahead but she just looks at me. I feel her finger on my chin and she brings my face around to hers before connecting our lips together. My eyes shut on instinct as soon as our lips touch and I kiss her back. The kiss is soft and meaningful, like she's really saying thank you for defending her. She moves her lips against mine like we are in sync and I move my head to the side to deepen the kiss. Her hand creeps up to my cheek and caresses it with her thumb and I melt into her. I slowly pull away, not really wanting to disconnect our lips, but I need air. We pull away and I rest my forehead against her. A smile graces my lips and I hum as I lick my lips, tasting Santana's cherry lip-gloss. I look into her eyes and notice that they look darker but I'm guessing it's the lighting down here, it's not exactly the best.

"I love your kisses" I grin softly and spend a moment studying her face. Santana blushes under my scrutiny and I my grin widens. We gaze at each other lovingly, our eyes softening with tenderness before sparking with something else.

"You know, I thought you was going to hit him" she smiles and I suck in a breath and grin as she runs her fingertip over my cheek down to my jawline.

"I was close… But you stopped me" I say softly and she looks in my eyes with a smile. Puck can think what he likes about her, I've got her, that's one thing he hasn't got. Santana is mine and she always will be for eternity.

Fucking puck! I find myself laughing bitterly to myself at the thought of Santana with him. Why? Why couldn't she have found anyone else, I clench my fists as I can imagine Puck taking his chance as soon as I was gone. I shake my head and jump off my bed, I need to do something otherwise I'll get all willed up. After the news about Puck the whole dinner turned shit for me, even though we was in pudding I didn't enjoy my last spoonful of cheese cake. However me and Martin exchanged numbers, he said if I was ever bored or wanted to hang out with him to give him a call. I chuckle to myself because we sound like a bunch of 11 year olds. Hanging out, lol.

Can you imagine how awkward it was when me and Martin exchanged numbers but Santana was just sitting there opposite me watching. I'm meant to be getting hers not her pops. Although I think the dinner went quite well, me and Santana actually had a conversation that lasted more than 4 seconds, and it wasn't awkward.

I take out my phone and scroll down my contacts to find Martin's name and click on it before putting the phone to my ear. It rings in my ear and I wait for him to pick up, I pace slowly around my room until I hear a firm male voice on the line.

"Hey Martin, its Brittany" I say with a smile even though he can't see it.

"Brittany, Hi. How are you?" He asks and I can hear the chirpiness in his voice, not many people are that chirpy at half 9 in the morning.

"I'm good thank you, and yourself"

"Great thank you. So what's up?" he asks and I clear my throat a little. Is it weird that I want to hang out with my ex-girlfriends pop? Eh.

"I was wondering if you were doing anything today?" I say coolly and he hums like he's thinking.

"I need to go over to the hardware store to collect some tools for a project that I'm doing, would you like to come?" he asks and I shrug, realising that he can't see it.

"Sure, do you need picking up?" I ask and he tells me he does. After a little chit chat I realise that I need to get ready. "Okay, well I'll be there in about 20 minutes is that okay?"

"That's great, thank you bud" after goodbye I hang up and go to my closet, I pick out some jean shorts that stop mid-thigh and a red plaid shirt. I complete the outfit with one of my many pairs of vans and putting my hair in a high ponytails. Deciding that I'm ready I grab my keys and go down stairs to see a note on the side. I walk over to it and pick it up, letting my eyes scan over it.

Britt

Had to go to work, the company messed up a couple of dates. Won't be home till late make sure you have dinner.

Pa xx

I set the note down and refill Charlie's water bowl before hopping into my car and driving over to the Lopez residence. I turn on the radio and grin as the old rock classic 'Barracuda' starts playing. Now feeling like a total badass leaning back into the red leather seat with the windows rolled down and one hand on the steering wheel with Barracuda blasting. I can't help but sing along, this is one of my favourite songs.

So this ain't the end, I saw you again, today

I had to turn my heart away

Smiled like the sun, kisses for everyone

And tales, it never fails

I nod my head to the rock beat and tap my fingers against the wheel punctuating every lyric I sing.

If the real thing don't do the trick

You better make up something quick

You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn to the wick

Oooo, Barracuda, oh yeah

I blast out and my voice goes a little squeaky as I squint my eyes to make it high at the end but I don't care, before I know it I'm already pulled up outside the Lopez house. Should I go in or should I just beep my horn? But that sounds rude if I beep, but then again it's rude if I just turn up unannounced. What if Santana opens the door? Or worse Maria! I'm about to get out of the car until I see Martin come out of the house and waving at me. He's wearing some light jeans with paint stains on them, a plain grey top and some brown timberland boots. I turn down the radio a tad and smile at him when he gets in.

"All set?" I ask and he nods his head with a smile as he puts on the seat belt. He looks around my car and then to me with a smirk.

"Nice car you got here! BMW M5." He exclaims and I laugh as I pull out and set ahead to the hardware store. "If only Maria will let me have a car like this. It would probably kill me" He laughs and I chuckle as I can imagine the old guy doing 60/70 mph on a little road. A song comes on the radio and I have to resist the urge to reach over and turn it up full volume. I hear Martin gasp and nod his head.

"I love this song" He exclaims and I grin at him.

"This is why I like you, we got the same Song sense" I laugh before turning it up and letting Fleetwood Mac fill up the silence in the car. I tap my fingers on the wheel and out of the corner of my eye I can see that Martin is pretending to the air guitar and I laugh.

You can go your own way

Go your own way

You can call it

Another lonely day

You can go your own way

Go your own way

I laugh as he has the window down and his neatly combed and parted hair is blowing all over the place. Martin reminds me of my pop, his personality and his demeanour. I think that's why I get on so well with him, and we have the same music taste. That's not hard, I love all music except classical. I literally listen to everything, Pop, Rap, Rock, Jazz on the little radios on bases and camps which usually makes the guys and gals groan and beg me to turn it off. I never do, nobody can beat Kanye west or some Guns N Roses.

I Indicate to the right and drive into the carpark of Daario Hardware store and park my car in an empty space in front of the entrance. Martin is out of the car and I realise that I haven't even asked him what his project is. See Martin is a builder, he deals in the construction business which I think is pretty cool.

"So what's this project you're working on then?" I ask as I walk besides him grabbing a blue trolley as he asked.

"Maria want's a newly transformed garden by summer" he laughs with a roll of his eyes. He jokes about her being demanding but I can tell he loves it, women are bossy and demanding. I raise my eyebrows and hum.

"What have you got in mind? Or no what has she got in mind?" I chuckle changing my sentence because no doubt he even has a say, Maria seems like one of those women, the ones who are controlling but that's just my opinion I don't really know her that well… Well enough to know that she's a bitch... He laughs and pushes the trolley around the wood smelling store.

"A new fence to be put around the basis of it. She'll be doing her gardening so she want's wooden boxes to put her flowers in. I need to deck a large proportion of it as she only wants some grass, on that decking she wants a long L shaped bay window seat." He explains and my eyes widen a little, damn that's a lot. That's like a whole new renovation. He laughs at my expression and I grin.

"That's a lot!"

"Did I tell you that I also have to install the hot tub that she's ordered?" He laughs and I shake my head with a baffled look. We go around the store and Martin is doing measurements and asking the workers to get him the correct pieces of wood at the lengths and width he ordered. In the mean time we go around to the paint section.

"What is the colour scheme you're going for?" I ask looking at the array of paints and all the different colours, he looks at me like he has no clue. I grin and look down to the piece of paper in his hands and take a look. "Light grey paint, chestnut coloured wood for the decking. You'll need some wood varnish as well" I say and he nods scanning the shelves. After we collect the paint and extra bits he needs like extra super glue, paintbrushes of various sizes and some varnish then we go over to the tools section. There's so many massive tools, like a saw and hammers on the walls, there's a chainsaw and some other tools.

"I have quite a few tools but I need a better hammer, some specific nails and a new blade for my electric saw." He tells me and I look around not really knowing what I'm looking for. All of a sudden there's a large bang and I freeze. They're invading, they're here! I quickly reach for my gun to realise that it is not there, I panic. I can feel my heart hammering in my chest and I take cover behind one of the shelves covered with paint. I'm going to have to take this son of a bitch out with my bare hands. Screams and Bangs are all I hear and I squeeze my eyes shut trying to focus on my task. I feel someone touch my shoulder and my instincts kick in and I grab their hand as I turn around and lock their arm behind their back and force them against the shelve I was behind. I can hear my name being called and I blink a couple of times before realising that Martin is pressed up against the shelves and I'm holding him. Shit.

I quickly back away and put my hands behind my back, what just happened? I try to calm my breathing but I can't, my heart is hammering away in my chest and everything is so silent and a little blurry.

"Brittany"

"Brittany are you alright?"

Martin is in front of me and he hesitantly puts his hand on my arm and rubs it gently as he looks in my eyes repeating little sentences to me. The world comes back to life, I can see clearly again and my heart starts to beat normally again. I blink a couple of times before looking into the eyes of the man in front of me and I frown in confusion.

"Huh?"

He is startled but looking at me with worry and confusion, I just forced Santana's pop against the shelves.

"It's okay, you're okay" He coos and I'm so confused. They were here I swear, the screams and the bangs.

"I… I thought…" I drift off but I think he already understands. He shakes his head softly and looks at me with a small kind smile.

"No one's here, No one's going to hurt you. You don't have to hurt no one, it's okay" he adds onto the end of his sentence reassuringly and I exhale before giving him a small grateful smile. At the little scene everybody in the store is looking at us, which causes Martin to straighten his posture and glare at everyone. The Lopez's still have a reputation around Lima, I guess Martin has some rep. I chuckle as they all avert their eyes and get back to what they were doing. Rubbing my face, I look to the paint can that fell off the shelve, I presume when I pushed Martin up against it. Guilt washes over me and I swallow as I look at Martin.

"Martin… I am so sorry, I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what was going on and I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm really sorry" I apologise and Martin grins and lets a chuckle slip which makes me stop mid-way through my rant to look at him with questioning eyebrows.

"What?" I snap with a frown.

"You. Calm down Kid, I don't want you to burst something. Listen, I know you didn't mean to, I saw your face. Don't worry about it." He reassures me with a pat on the shoulder, my good one of course, and I nod with a smile. "So how about we get that wood and then I'll fix you up a snack back home?" He questions already walking to the counter to get the wood he requested. I walk after him and look at the guy behind the counter. I'd like to say I don't judge because I don't but this guy looks like he's high or something. His eyes are blood shot and all red, he could have really bad hay fever or he might not got a lot of sleep last night, but the way that he's swaying from side to side gives me an impression that this boy is indeed intoxicated.

"Is… That all for you… Sir?" He slurs as his eyes flutter shut and then widen open as he tries to focus his gaze on Martin. Martin clears his throat a little and shakes his head as he looks at the boy who looks no older than 17.

"I ordered some Chestnut Decking wood, 25 x 120mm x 1.8 m" He orders and the boy swallows and looks at the computer screen. He squints his eyes and struggles to read what's on there. Hmm maybe because he's fucking drunk. I start to get impatient and I can see that Martin isn't too thrilled either.

"Sorry… they're not in stock right now" he mutters whilst rubbing his already red eyes and I frown and narrow my eyes at the boy.

"Look here, why don't you go get someone else to fucking serve us because you obviously can't or do you want me to come over there and check my bloody self?" I spit and the boy swallows with fear evident in his eyes. He looks from me to Martin then back to me before stumbling away quickly. I inhale and see Martin looking at me with a smirk, I raise one eyebrow at him.

"You scared the shit out of that boy" He laughs and I stifle a laugh and roll my eyes playfully, he's exaggerating.

"Who turns up to work like that though?" I stress, I mean I would fire his sorry ass before he even made it through the doors. That just brings shame on the store and the company name in my opinion. Martin shakes his head with a deep chuckle and another man comes along, this one looks better. He smiles brightly at us and apologises.

"So sorry for the… inconvenience. What are you looking for?" He asks and Martin tells him all the measurements of certain woods he wants and what a surprise, they do have them. After everything is paid for I help carry all of the supplies to my car and load them. I walk around to my door and let out a sigh that could resemblance an old man's sigh as he's about to get up out of his chair. Martin looks to me and smiles.

On the way back to the Lopez's we start to chat about the project and how he is going to do it all.

"It's going to take a long time" he groans and rubs his face a little. I get an idea and look at him but then back to the road as I make a left.

"Well I'm free, I could always help you." I offer and he raises his eyebrows at me.

"Really? I mean you are on recovery discharge Brittany, I don't think you should be doing heavy work" he states and I shrug with a scoff. It's better than sitting around doing nothing all day, and hey I might get a chance to see Santana some more.

"Honestly I'll be fine, and it will build some strength in my shoulder" I reason and look at him with hope in my eyes. He sighs and playfully rolls his eyes before nodding in agreement. I grin because now I can be of some use to somebody, I'm not just useless and waiting for the days to pass before I can go back to Afghanistan or wherever I'm deployed.

5 minutes later I am pulling into the Lopez's driveway and pulling down the hand break just before turning off the engine. I go to help Martin with the supplies and grab 4 planks of wood and a paint can afore walking into the Lopez's house. Martin instructs me to place them outside in the garden and I follow him into a large sized garden but it's very plain. There was a gate of rough wood was as big as a cow and ivy cascaded over the fence, growing tendrils in every direction. The stone path was punctuated with weeds after every stone. The dishevelled, un-manicured lawn was more moss than grass and was over shadowed by huge weeping willow flowing down onto the dank and squishy ground.

This is going to take a while, but I bet the end result will look gorgeous. I can imagine them having Barbeques and a hot tub party, I'm actually a lil jealous. I set down the supplies on the patio and then walk back inside through the large glass doors. Martin gestures me to take a seat on one of the leather stools and I do so, leaning my arms against the cold marble counter top. Martin walks to the large two doored fridge and pulls out a medium sized brown glass bottle containing beer and pops off the lid before passing it too me. My warm hands cup the bottle and the cold sends a shiver up my arms. I bring the bottle to my lips and hum as the cold liquid runs down my throat, clenching my thirst.

"Do you like eggs?" Martin asks out of the blue and I raise an eyebrow as I lower my beer bottle to answer him with a lopsided smile.

"Uh… Yeah" I hesitate, confusion plastered on my face and he whips out a frying pan with a big smile. Is this where he beats me to death? A frying pan is not what I would've pegged him to choose but you know…

"Great! You'll like my famous Chilaquiles" He grins and I smile as he wizzes around the kitchen grabbing various foods, a saucepan as well as taking a swig of his beer. People say that men can't multi-task, well here's Marty!

He grabs a knife and starts chopping at some peppers, onion and tomatoes before plonking them in the saucepan. I watch intensely from my little spot at the counter at how he cooks with elegancy and such speed and you know there's me, the person who screws up pouring cereal into a bowl… No lie. My eyes draw in on the massive silver shinning knife that is speedily slicing through vegetables with ease and the noise it makes as it hits the cutting board. Hard but small pats, like a constant tapping. Knives, Knives are weird objects. They have so many different purposes, they're used to chop foods, open boxes, and decoration. They're used as a weapon. A weapon to kill or injure someone. In Iraq, the amount of knife fights that the soldiers were in were unbelievable. I remember having to dodge a knife that was about to plunge into my stomach by a 4 year old kid, or when thinking that the enemy is down to find them slicing at your ankle or trying to dig it into your neck from behind. Knives are scary things, the blade is always so cold and the black handle is there making it easy to grip so you can drive it with more force and power into the awaiting body.

As I'm so focused on the knives movement I don't hear the footsteps coming down the stairs and coming into the kitchen. It isn't until I hear a calling I break out of my daze.

"Papi" they call out and I tense a little, I know that voice. On cue the one and only Santana Lopez walks into her kitchen and I feel my eyes widen at the sight of her. She's wearing very short red silk pyjama shorts with a white vest showing off a lot of caramel flesh and a heck load of cleavage. I don't think she's noticed me because she rubs her eyes and walks straight up to her pop and gives him a hug before yawning and walking to the fridge. I try not to but my eyes follow her movement and the drop to her oh so beautiful ass which looks even better in those sexy silk shorts.

"You want some Chilaquiles?" Martin asks his daughter as he stirs some salsa and other stuff. My eyes haven't left Santana, and she nods her head rapidly as she pulls out some juice and begins to talk.

"Hell yes! I'm bloody Star-"she begins to say before turning around and shutting her mouth when she sees me sitting there. I send her a small smile as she looks surprised to see me here, well I guess I would be shocked if she was sitting in my kitchen as well. She composes herself and clears her throat a little before sending me a cute little smile.

"Hey Brittany" She pipes out and nervously rubs her legs together. The action makes my eyes fall from her flawless face down to those never ending smooth looking tanned legs and I swallow as my mouth goes dry at the sight. More beer, I need more beer. I flicker my eyes back to her face and see a faint blush on her cheeks and I smile at her.

"Morning" I mutter out and grab my beer bottle, taking a sip I hope that will moisten up my extremely dry throat. Santana walks to the cupboard and scans for a glass, she has to stand on her tip toes to reach one and as she does her calve muscles flex highlighting the muscle and again my eyes run up her legs to her ass…. Another sip of beer.

"More like afternoon" Martin chimes mocking his daughter playfully which causes Santana to roll her eyes behind the rim of the glass of orange juice.

"Shut up" she murmurs sleep still evident in her voice as she sounds hoarse and… Sexy as fuck! I shake my head a little as I know I shouldn't be thinking like this, thinking of Santana my ex-girlfriend like this. I look to her and she's got both of her hands behind her with her palms resting on the counter and her right foot is crossed over her left. She seriously looks so pretty, I mean I don't nobody to pull of that look after waking up. I can tell she has still got some make up on but her hair is in a messy bun perched upon her head. She looks like she just come from a photoshoot.

I avert my eyes when she looks at me, having brief eye contact before I look at Marty who's plating the food that he cooked and it looks so good, not as good as Santana though. He grabs a spatula and presses lightly on each egg in the frying pan before laying one softly down on top of the mass of salsa, tortilla chips and little chicken bits. Then the same to his and Santana's plate. As he approaches me with my plate I hear my stomach let out a growl and I'm pretty sure he does too from the little chuckle he lets out. I thank him and stare at the food in front of me. Santana takes hers and my god she comes and takes up the stool next to me… NEXT TO ME. The smell of faint perfume invades my nose and I swallow resisting the urge to lean over and bury my head into her neck inhaling her smell.

After taking my first bite and let out a frown of pleasure and groan breathlessly. What is with the Lopez's feeding me this gorgeous food?

"My God!" I exclaim through a mouthful of everything and Martin laughs from his standing space. He is standing at the end of the counter as me and Santana are sitting on the stools. I take another bite and look at Martin when he talks.

"So why are you up so late mija?" He asks Santana before eating a forkful of egg. Santana chews her food and licks her plump lips before talking. My eyes follow the movement of her tongue on her lips but then I avert it when I realise what I'm doing.

"I had a hard and late night at work. Then I had to go and help puck with some… Things" she mutters the last part looking a little uncomfortable as she looks down to her plate of food and I don't know why but I clench my fingers a little tighter around my fork. The thought of Puck and Santana make me want to bring up my Chilaquiles. I wash down a little bit of my food with a gulp of beer, this is a little spicy.

Santana turns to look at me and as she does her knee brushes against my thigh, which might I add is bare and as our skin touches I freeze as I feel warm. Involuntary, I look down to where her knee is resting against my outer thigh and then quickly back up to her face to see that she is also looking down to our skins. I feel her move her knee quickly and then she looks up at my face, her eyes moving from one of my eyes to the other.

"Has my papi abducted you?" She jokes and I grin, I was only here like two days ago. I laugh and shake my head when I hear Martin scoff playfully.

"No, I actually rang him" She raises her eyebrows and hums, looking to her pop and glaring playfully in a threatening manner, but she looks so cute and not at all threatening. "We're working on a project, in that right Marty?" I grin and he nods glaring back at his daughter with the same amount of amusement hidden behind it.

"Your mother want's a new garden. So guess what I'll be doing?" He sighs dramatically which makes Santana mock him and fake sympathy. He looks to me and then puts up his index finger like he forgot to say something. "Me and Brittany will be doing" he corrects and shovels a forkful of egg and tortilla chip in his mouth. I see Santana stiffen a little but a smile appears on her face and she looks at me.

"He isn't forcing you to do this right?" She grins and I put down my beer bottle and swallow the drops of beer in my mouth.

"Totally, have you seen how scary he is?" I say sarcastically and smile at Santana as she laughs.

"I cook you brunch, I give you one of my beers, I jam out with you in the car and this is what I get?" he feigns hurt and takes his empty plate to the sink, keeping his back to me and Santana.

"Jam out?" Santana cringes and I laugh. I realise that I don't feel as nervous to be around Santana or in this house as I was Tuesday, that's when I realise that there is no mama bear around. I look at Santana with a frown.

"Where's your Ma?" I ask and I swear to god I see Santana look down at my lips, no seriously it was quick but I saw them deep brown eyes flicker down and then back to my blue ones.

"She's at work, you remember what she does?" she enquires trying to see if I remember. Umm I know it's something to do in the medical field, that's how they can afford a massive ass house like this and the Mercedes S-class but I can't remember her role.

"I know she works down Lima Private Clinic" I state and Santana nods as she takes a sip of her orange juice.

"She's a doctor, it takes up most of her day" Santana states with a shrug and I hum and nod my head, I knew she was in the medical field. I always did wonder where her Ma was when we were watching movies, or making out… and other stuff.

"That's why she was never around when we used to mess-"I blurt out but quickly stop myself from saying the last bit of the sentence. I see Santana freeze like literally freeze, the fork she has is in mid-air just stopping from her mouth and I know my eyes are wide. Santana looks to me and I swallow, I quickly look to Martin whose back is to us and scrubbing the dishes whilst humming loudly.

"So what are you doing to the garden?" She asks not actually addressing the question to me or Martin, so I'm guessing she's asking both of us.

"Martin said something about decking, a window seat and a hot tub" I shrug and Santana raises her eyebrows and smiles probably thinking about the hot tub. Martin turns around and wipes his hands on a tea towel looking between me and Santana.

"So what are you going to do now mija?" he asks, I know what me and Martin will be doing. We have to take some measurement on the garden and certain parts for certain bits like the hot tub and patio. Santana shrugs and scratches her arm before yawning a little.

"Might go back to bed" she jokes and Martin mutters something along the lines of "Lazy Bitch" and she laughs.

"So I still don't know what you do for a job you know" I ask with a hint of a smirk and Santana rolls her eyes playfully with a small smile on her face as Martin looks at Santana with a grin then back to me.

"Santana is usually so modest when it comes to work. Being a lawyer in all, she's had to work her butt off and she's not afraid to tell no one" Martin explains and I look to Santana with raised eyebrows. Wow she's a lawyer, I bet she'd look good in a suit with high heels and a brief case.

"You're a lawyer? That's awesome" I chime and I watch as she bows her head but I can still see the bright smile plastered on her face from the praise. "You've totally got the mouth and attitude for a lawyer" I praise and she looks up at me with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

"I just remember in high school, you could argue for hours with the teachers" I grin and my heart skips a little at the sound of her laugh. "You're very vocal" I say not realising the meaning behind it until I meet Santana's eyes and watch as a faint blush spreads across her dark skin. When me and Santana used to have sex or make out she always used to be quite loud and wouldn't be afraid to do some dirty talking. There's a little vibration in Santana's vest and she reaches in and takes out her phone from her boob, she always used to do this in high school. I'd text her on purpose just so she would reach in and so she got a little pleasure from the vibrations. My gaze drops to Santana's vest or more importantly to her cleavage. It just looks so… ugh. Her boobs, her boobs are the definition of perfect. I realise how this must look, me staring down Santana's top so I look up and see that Santana is looking from her phone to me then back to her phone.

"Right… well I'm going to go and get dressed. I'm meeting puck, he needs help setting up the bar for the whole singles night" she gets out as she stands up. Fucking Puck. She goes to Martin and gives him a hug and as she pulls away she looks at me and gives me a smile, a genuine smile. "You should come along to the bar, the more people the better" she says casually and I purse my lips. Puck's bar, why the fuck would I want to go to puck's bar? But if Santana is going to be there, shit. I nods with a small smile.

"Sure. Have fun"

Martin looks to me after Santana leaves and sends me a smile.

"Let's get to work shall we?"

I feel like this one was really slow, i'm sorry if it was boring. However it was needed as now Brittany has a job to do and it's better as it is actually at Santana's place, also the next Chapter there will be an interaction between Puck and Brittany. Tell me what you want to go down, guys your ideas are important and I want to say thank you for all the reviews and the ideas you are giving me J Hopefully update Sunday or Monday.