A/N: So this was a double post, remember? Just make sure you read chapter nine before continuing!
-B
November, 2020:
"Ms. Pierce?"
You look up from your students sheet and nod to the other freshman holding his hand up, before returning your gaze to the paper. You finish up explaining one of the questions in the booklet and give the girl a smile before heading over to the boy.
"What's up?" you ask, putting your hand on your hip as you look over his shoulder at his paper.
"I don't really get how you calculate the distance from the planets and everything." He mumbles quietly and you nod in understanding, holding your hand out for his pen.
"That's okay, it can be difficult wrapping your head around it at first." You give him an encouraging smile and crouch down, pulling the paper closer. "Okay so first you draw the lines to give you a visual representation…" the boy, Kenny, nods slowly, accepting the pencil back from you and draws out the lines before following your further instructions to label the measurements that were given in the question.
You nod and point down at the paper, "Okay, now you divide…" you glance up and do a double take, your lips parting in surprise and slight awe. You clear your throat, "Um, excuse me for a second."
Kenny looks up at you and you give a smile telling him that he's on the right track and to continue, before you look back at the door, your brows furrowing at the empty doorway. You walk over, and step out into the hall, swallowing as you look over Santana standing in the hall, looking over her shoulder.
Your eyes drop to quickly run over the red and white uniform, clinging to the brunette in all the right places, and lift them when Santana turns around, jumping slightly.
"Oh, hey!" she smiles widely and you clear your throat with a smile.
"Hey," you chuckle and nod towards her, "You're a Cheerio?"
Santana looks down at her uniform and nods, tilting her head as she looks back at you with a warm smile, "I am."
"Since when?" you arch a brow, crossing your arms before glancing around the empty hall.
"Since the beginning of the year."
"Wait, why didn't I know that?"
"You never asked." You catch that smirk and Santana's eyes twinkle knowingly before you scoff and look around. "Anyway, I don't usually wear the uniform in school, unless it's mandatory that day. My title makes people act fake around me and I don't have time for that."
"Which would be what?"
"Co-captain." She shrugs and you smile.
"Seriously? Copycat."
"Whatever." She chuckles, looking at the floor.
"Is there a reason you're standing outside my door or…"
"We have a competition at 3:00 and coach Sue-"
"That woman." You scrunch your nose at the mention of the she devil. How and why she is still coaching, and at McKinley no less, will always be mystery to you.
"She wants us to get there a few hours earlier to practice and then rest before it starts, and to do that…" she trails off, glancing up at you while biting her lip nervously.
You let out a sigh and ignore the flutter from the look you're receiving, "You need to miss my class. You have a test."
Santana nods slowly and holds her binder closer to her body while taking a small step forwards, "I know it's totally inconvenient and I feel really bad for even having to ask-"
"You can take the test tomorrow, Santana." You say gently after taking a breath. She looks at you with wide eyes and you shrug, uncrossing your arms to run a hand through your wavy hair before resting both hands on your hips. "I'm assuming I should excuse Lora and Denise as well."
"Yeah, sorry." She winces and you wave it off.
"It's fine, I vividly remember how intense Sue Sylvester can be when it comes to competitions. That woman is all kinds of crazy…" you mumble with furrowed brows as you think back. A shiver runs down your spine and Santana cracks a grin and lets out a quiet giggle bringing you back. "You can take it during lunch or spare."
"If I say spare will you be supervising?" she asks with a tilt of her head and you arch a suspicious brow with a faint smile.
"Of course. It's my test."
She nods, glancing around while biting her lip to keep her smile from growing and glances back at you, "And if I give up my lunch?"
You snort and shift your weight onto your left leg, crossing your arms again, "Still me." She nods thoughtfully and you roll your eyes fondly, straightening, "I do have a class I should be supervising; you realize that, yes?"
Santana clicks her tongue and leans forwards, forcing less distance between the two of you as you swallow, "Let's do lunch." She says softly, looking between your eyes with her head tilted slightly to the left; a soft smile plastered across her face.
"Lunch?" you repeat to make sure, while wetting your lips.
Santana's lips twitch and she nods before leaning back and straightening her back, "Lunch."
"Okay." You nod after clearing your throat, silently praying your face isn't burning beet red.
"Okay." She mimics while preforming one of those captivating slow turns, her eyes still locked onto yours, "See you tomorrow, Ms. Pierce."
"Y-yeah." You gulp, watching the brunette turn the corner of the hallway, and jump when the bell rings.
You walk out of your classroom, turning the lights off as you go, and fix the collar of your coat like all the other teachers and students leaving the building. It's finally time to head home and you couldn't be more thankful. When it came time for your senior class, you were beyond exhausted. It just hit you out of the blue. No warnings. No yawning, tired eyes beforehand. It was like your power switch was flipped and you were immediately drained.
But now you can go home and just sleep.
You huff and cross your arms over your chest as you step outside into the cold.
You make it to your truck quickly and slide in, turning the vehicle on before cranking the heat and pulling out your phone to check your messages.
New Message From: Kieran
Are you coming over after school? We're watching Santana's cheerleading competition with dinner.
A long, tired groan passes your lips and you let your head fall forwards until your forehead is resting against the steering wheel. Looks like you won't be getting the nap after all.
"Coffee."
"What?" Kieran frowns as you step inside the house. "And why'd you knock?" he chuckles. You glance at him as he walks by, and pull your coat off, hanging it in the closet before going to the kitchen to place your bag near the table.
You pull the sleeve of your sweater and turn around, giving your nephew a forced smile as he looks at you while pulling a mug down.
"What kind?"
"That Italian roast, please." You mumble while sitting on a stool. He nods and turns on the coffee machine, eyeing you as you cross your arms on the counter and rest your chin on your folded arms.
"Are you not feeling well?"
"I'm just extremely tired." You mumble and let your eyes close for the first time since they opened this morning. Your shoulders slump and you let out a yawn before sighing contently.
Kieran chuckles and you hear him bring out the creamer and pour you a cup of coffee before a steaming cup is placed on the island counter in front of you.
"You're my favorite nephew." You mumbles tiredly.
"I'm your only nephew." He corrects and you hum, wrapping your hands around the cup. Basking in the warmth it gives off, you roll your shoulders and open your eyes, blinking slowly at the blond boy in front of you wearing an amused grin.
"How are we supposed to watch the competition? It was live, wasn't it?"
"We have it recorded." He states obviously and you roll your eyes while the two of you head for the hall. "We're watching it in the basement." He says and you stop, furrowing your brows.
"We only use that TV for the big games and movie marathons."
"Yeah well." He shrugs and lifts his hand to run it through his hair after shaking it out. You and Kieran look at the door when it opens and Derek walks in, pausing when he sees the two of you staring.
"Can I help you?" he asks slowly and you just take a long sip of your coffee and head down to the basement.
You hear Kieran and Derek talking above you and flick on the lights in the basement, stepping off the stairs. The carpet is soft beneath your feet, that really fluffy carpet that you could just sleep on without a mattress. It's tempting too. Then you look at the couch.
"Thank god." You pert near moan at the sight and walk to the couch pressed up against the far wall, directly across from the fifty inch flat screen. You slip through the space between the coffee table and the love seat, placing your cup on a coaster before dropping down onto the couch.
Letting out a long sigh, you pull one of the couch pillows under your head, and relax, closing your eyes before drifting off.
You hear a click and peek your eyes open, frowning at the phone held in front of your face. It's pulled back as you blink and stretch out, pushing yourself up on one arm as Santana settles back on her knees on the floor.
"Did you just take a picture of me sleeping?"
"A snapchat pic, but yes." She nods, tapping away on her phone, "Kieran and Derek sent me down to get you to come up and get your food." She says, "I sent Kieran the pic asking if I should wake you." You lift your hand to cover your mouth as you let a small yawn slip, and Santana looks at you with a smile, "He said to let you sleep."
"Well I'm up now." You mumble and Santana snorts in amusement, moving to the couch. You pull your feet back, sitting properly and Santana grabs her plate of pizza from the table, pulling her legs under her. "Pizza?"
"Yup." She looks at you with a knowing smile and you shift, glancing at the stairs, "I can text Kieran to bring you a plate." She chuckles and you smirk.
"You should absolutely do that."
She shakes her head with a smile and puts her pizza down, looking at her hands before nodding to her phone on the table, "My hands are greasy."
You arch a brow and snatch her phone, sliding your finger across her screen, "What's the passcode."
"Seven, six, four, nine." she tells you easily before taking a bite of her food.
"Just like that?"
"When will you ever have my phone again?"
You scoff and open her messages before looking at her with a pointed look, "The next time I catch you texting in my class."
"I don't-"
"You do realize that I invented hiding your phone behind your calculator cover?" you ask slowly and Santana's smile falters slightly at being caught. "Mhm…" you smirk and open her conversation with Kieran. "Should you be letting me do this? I'd rather not read your sexts with my nephew."
"As long as you don't scroll up you should be in the clear."
You slowly look at her and she tries hiding her smile by taking a large bite of pizza. You roll your eyes and make a new message.
New Message To: Kieran Pierce
Bring a plate down for Britt. Two pepperoni.
You scratch your head and pull one foot onto the couch, resting your elbow on top of it as you wait for him to reply.
New Message: Kieran Pierce
I thought she was sleeping?"
New Message To: Kieran Pierce
Hurry up.
"Are you making sure you sound like me?"
You furrow your brows and look at Santana as she chews her bite, watching you in amusement.
"What?"
"In the texts. Do you sound like me?"
"I don't know?" you laugh, "He's not cooperating."
"What'd you say?"
"I said, bring a plate down for Britt. Two pepperoni." You tell her and she smiles, nodding for you to continue, "Then he said that he thought I was sleeping. So I replied with hurry up."
"Okay, has he started typing yet?"
"He's typing now." You tell her as you watch the three dots blinking.
"Say 'just bring the damn food, idiot'." She nods and you eye her before doing so. Kieran's dots disappear and you shrug, putting her phone back on the table before checking your coffee and scrunching your nose at the cold temperature. She chuckles and you frown at her, putting the mug back on the table before leaning back in the couch and looking at her.
"So how was the competition?"
"You'll just have to watch, won't you?" she smirks playfully and you narrow your eyes at her. "Have the Cheerio's ever lost, Britt?"
"Good point." You nod before tilting your head, "You're calling me Britt now?" you smile and she flips her hair over her shoulder, shrugging.
"You obviously want me to." She motions towards her phone and you smile faintly, clearing your throat. You glance back at her and Santana wipes her hands with her napkin before scrunching it into a ball and putting the plate on the table.
"Bring a plate down for Brittany just didn't sound right." You mumble and she hums, nodding skeptically with a smile before the two of you look at the stairs; Derek and Kieran coming down.
"Babe, you were amazing!" Kieran gushes for the umpteenth time and you hold back an eye roll as you lean forwards on the island counter, looking at the teenagers while Derek puts the leftover pizza in the fridge.
"I wasn't amazing, I was good." Santana corrects and you look at her in disbelief, "I landed too hard on the last flip."
"That's ridiculous, you were perfect."
"Says the boy who doesn't consider cheerleading a sport." Santana gives him a pointed look and you scoff.
"I forgot about that." you glare harmlessly at Kieran and he holds his hands up in defense, running down to grab his phone. "Anyway, Santana, your landing was great, don't even try it."
"Be that as it may, I bet yours would have been better." She says, spinning slowly on the stool. You watch her and nod slowly.
"That's true."
"Britt!" Derek laughs, throwing a hand towel at you. You open your eyes with a frown and toss it back at him.
"What? I was such a badass cheerio. One of the best."
"Actually coach Sue often pulls out tapes of you and your squad performing. You and Ms. Fabray are undoubtedly her favorites." She rolls her eyes and you grin proudly, taking a sip of your water. You give Derek a smug look and he shakes his head with a faint smile, excusing himself to his office after giving Santana a fatherly one armed hug which she returns easily.
You watch him leave and look back at Santana. The both of you smile secretively before starting to laugh and Santana pulls her hair over her right shoulder, shaking her head.
"Really though, you were amazing." You tell her honestly and Santana shrugs.
"I practice a lot."
"That's good." You nod, looking at your glass as you lift it.
"I'm serious, Sue literally forced me to sit in her office and with older tapes and watch you throughout the routines."
You pause from taking a drink and glance towards the stairs, waiting for Kieran to come up, and look over to Santana staring at her phone as she chews lightly on her bottom lip.
"Well that's…" you clear your throat and Santana glances at you, "Good. Learn from the best, right?" you wink teasingly and Santana huffs, glaring at you.
A/N: Alright! So let me know what you all thought. Some more of the Pierce family in this one. Ouuu and the next ones coming up are pretty fun so that's exciting.
Next update: Thursday.
-B