Author's Note: Chapter 9 got so many reviews that I'm slightly overwhelmed. This silly attempt at proving other characters are necessary for a well-rounded fanfic story has sort of come back to bite me in the arse, because you guys seem to really love this story. LOL

From all those reviews, I learned three things about my readers:

~ All of you guys are hopeless romantics, at least when it comes to Brittana;

~ Most of you guys are wanky little sex devils;

and

~ Some of you fancy yourselves as cell phone experts. ;)

Things That Go Bump in the Basement (part 10)

When Brittany registered Santana's words I'm going to make love to you, she was confused then she was confused as to why she felt confused. This was Santana, right? Santana Lopez? Brittany stared at the Latina's face. The girl across from her certainly looked like Santana, but surely, while Brittany was asleep for those few minutes, shape-shifting werewolves had not forced their way through the air shaft and slithered down inside the basement, overtaking her best friend's body.

She could feel the warmth of Santana's fingertips slide around her bare abdomen and up the small of her back, pulling Brittany's body toward her. The blonde continued to stare at the brunette. She definitely looks…and smells…like Santana, Brittany reassured herself before realizing her confusion was causing an awkward silence to stretch out the time between Santana's sweet words and their implementation.

"What's wrong?" Santana finally said, reading the unusual expression on Brittany's face and lowering her torso back into the softness of the beanbag chair.

Brittany swallowed before speaking which only made the awkwardness more obvious.

"You know what, maybe we shouldn't," Santana reacted hastily, sitting back up. What was I thinking? Good job, Lopez, she chastised herself internally.

"No…wait!" Brittany put her hand around Santana's slender arm before the Latina could move further away, "I'm sorry…I…I…."

"It's okay, Britt…I was just playing around," Santana cut her off in a defensive effort of self-preservation, reaching for her pants as she tried to slow her breathing, realizing her heart was pounding inside her chest for a different reason than five minutes ago and feeling a flush move up her neck and spread across her face.

Brittany shook her head, experiencing even more confusion now. "But I thought…we…," she trailed off.

Santana sat up on her knees as she pulled her phone from the pocket of her red pants, her hands shaking with a mixture of excessive anxiety and extreme disappointment. She paused to take a quivering breath of air then turned around to face Brittany, asking with her usual amount of detachment and curtness, "So guess what I discovered?"

Brittany sighed, knowing she had ruined the moment. It was a moment that was so unexpected but fragile nonetheless. She even witnessed the exact second when Santana's dark eyes veiled back over. Yes, looking at her now was a different Santana than a few minutes before; Brittany could see that now.

This was definitely the real Santana Lopez…the Santana Lopez who buried her feelings so deeply inside her that even she could not identify them most of the time. She had unmasked for one brief, delicate moment, and Brittany had unintentionally ruined it and would probably never get it back.

"What?" the blonde responded, her voice barely above a whisper.

Turning her phone back on, Santana held it to where Brittany could see the screen as it lit up. "My phone is working again," Santana said with convincing excitement, "What do you say we get the hell out of here?"

Almost as soon as she made the announcement, Santana's fingers went to pushing buttons on her phone.

"Wait!" Brittany reacted with much more urgency and determination this time, putting her hand solidly on Santana's phone.

Santana stopped dialing out of sheer alarm, asking, "Why?"

"I'm not ready yet," Brittany said before she thought twice about the words now coming more freely.

"Ready?" Santana laughed slightly, reminding her friend, "We've been trying to find a way out of here for hours."

"No…you've been trying to find a way out of here," Brittany clarified, unsure from where her sudden burst of openness was coming.

"You don't want out?" Santana was now the one with a look of utter confusion.

"Well, yes…eventually…but…," Brittany stumbled over her explanation, finally deciding to reveal all by pulling her cell phone from the back pocket of her jeans, still in a clump beside the chair, holding it up with an almost apologetic grimace, "I have a confession."

"Okay…," Santana said suspiciously.

Brittany flipped open her phone, causing the light to come on the cracked screen. She held it up and smiled uneasily.

"It works?" Santana asked Brittany, surprise in her voice.

"Um, yeah…surprise!" Brittany tried to force the amusement of the disclosure.

Santana had almost an accusatory tone when she replied, "You said it was broken."

"Technically, I assumed it was broken…and so did you."

"Well, it has a big crack in it…what is it, some Nokia 90s-hybrid that would survive the apocalypse?" Santana asked with an edge of aggravation, "When did you realize it worked?"

Brittany bit at her lower lip, feeling hesitant to reveal more. Santana's attitude could go either way, and though Brittany had never personally experienced the venom the Latina could spew, she certainly had witnessed Santana's full wrath being unleashed on others.

"Brittany?" Santana prodded.

"About an hour after we were down here…maybe less?"

"What?" Santana reacted harshly, "Why would you let us stay trapped, Britt?"

Brittany shrugged. It all made perfect sense in her head at the time, but granted, things that made sense to Brittany rarely made sense to anyone else. It was still daylight then, and she was enjoying looking at her grandparents' photo albums, pictures she had not seen in years, and thinking of her grandfather, and missing him.

Ok, and if she were honest, she simply wanted Santana to learn to relax a little. It was true, her foot had been throbbing at the time, but she was comfortable enough so that when her pocket suddenly buzzed and she saw a text from her mom, asking if they found the pan, she thought for a nanosecond then replied yes, adding that they were just hanging out there for a while and would be home later.

It seemed harmless enough at the moment, and of course, she planned to tell Santana…but then…well, later became even later once there was kissing which was so very unexpected then, yeah well, the whole sex thing happened. I totally did not see that coming, Brittany internally rationalized.

Brittany took a deep breath, recognizing that Santana was glaring at her and waiting for an answer that made sense, but she had none so she made a quick decision to try the truth however hard it was for the two of them.

"I wanted to spend time with you," she confessed softly, the words harder to push out than she anticipated at the start of the sentence.

"But…your foot," Santana's tone softened too though she added with controlled exasperation, "I've been worried about you this whole time, Britt."

"I know. I'm sorry," Brittany apologized, because that was never her intention, "It feels okay…really." She reached out and touched Santana's skin, running the tips of her fingers gently over the back of the brunette's hand, telling her, "Thank you for taking care of me."

Santana nodded, looking down at Brittany's hand as it draped across her own, then she looked up and smiled. "I'm glad."

"We can call my parents now," Brittany relented, starting to pull her hand back.

"No," Santana responded quickly, grasping immediately for Brittany's hand before she could retract it, "No, let's wait a minute."

Brittany looked down at Santana's hand which was holding so tightly around Brittany's that the blonde thought Santana might squeeze it off. "Okay."

Neither said anything for a minute, perhaps two.

"What are we doing, Brittany?" Santana finally asked.

Brittany could hear a crack in Santana's voice. The vulnerable Santana was back for a moment, and Brittany could not let this opportunity pass. Not this time, she silently encouraged herself. "I don't know what's going on…but I really like it," she confessed timidly, "I was hoping maybe if we spent more time together…alone time…then you'd like it too?"

Santana sat all the way to the floor, crossing her legs, still holding Brittany's hand in hers. She rubbed the pad of her thumb over Brittany's knuckles. She inspected it. Brittany's fingers were so long and thin. Those fingers had been inside her. Another flush engulfed her, and she looked up at her best friend, admitting, "I do like it, Britt…a lot actually."

"I can tell you're nervous, San," Brittany tried to soothe the brunette, "I'm nervous too."

Santana nodded and swallowed. If she was going to say anything then this would be when she should say it. Tell her, Santana, she internally pushed herself. "Britt…," she started, "I…um…I think that…I um…."

Before she could say the rest of her sentence, the phone in Brittany's hand buzzed. It was not a text this time, but a phone call.

After the second buzz, Brittany grimaced and said, "My mom."

"Answer it," Santana relented.

"Hi, Mom," Brittany said flatly. There was a small pause then she responded, "Yeah, I guess."

Brittany covered the speaker on the phone and mouthed toward Santana, "She asked if we're coming home soon."

Santana sighed heavily, regret filling her inside, and she responded, "Tell her yes."

Brittany knew it was for the best. Her foot was still quite sore, she was hungry, and she really needed to pee. "Mom…we need some help though," Brittany frowned, "We got locked in the basement."

There was another pause.

"Yeah, I know, but the cat…and well, Santana…it's a long story," Brittany stopped mid-attempt, "Can you just send Dad to get us? Please?"

After another pause during which Brittany rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly, the blonde finally shook her head and said simply, "Ok, Mom…thanks."

Santana watched Brittany click her phone back into place then reached around to the side of the chair to pick up her jeans. Part of Santana wanted to lean over and kiss Brittany so hard she'd see stars and never forget their time together no matter how many of those brainless boys Brittany kissed in the future, and another part of her wanted to toss Brittany over her shoulder and run off as fast as she could to some deserted island where the two of them could continue living together without anyone else's opinion to taint their feelings for each other, even though she knew both options were impractical and some what juvenile.

The Latina finally caved and prompted, "Well?"

Brittany gave her best friend a half-hearted smile, replying, "She said give him twenty minutes."

Author's Note: Something you guys learned about me after this chapter? I'm a tease. Cue evil laughter. Just kidding.

I'm not sure you should fret yet though, because any of you who have learned about me and my writing style through my stories or my tumblr blog should know I'm also a hopeless romantic, especially when it comes to Brittana.

Edit: Okay, let me be more clear. This is not the last chapter, and this is not how I envision ending this story. There's still 20 mins left before Britt's dad gets there, right? There will be at least one more, but...

I'm contemplating how this should all end. I may decide to see what might happen after the basement. I think I do owe you guys at least one more sexy moment, right? ;)

Please leave me your thoughts if you want to encourage me…even you guys without an account profile. As always, I have my anon opened.