Chapter 10

"...and that is why, even if she did ever run for the nomination, Sarah Palin will never be the president of the United States"

She paused, with a smile around her 11th grade class

"And thank God for that..."

The students laughed as the bell rang overhead, signalling the end of the school day

"Ok, I want you all to have a look at chapter 4 in your handbooks before next lesson. We will be doing one of the essay questions in class, so make sure you read the whole chapter properly, and maybe plan a few of the questions out so you're prepared"

She went over to the door and held it open as the students packed their things and began to leave.

"Apart from that, everyone have a good weekend and I'll see you all monday"

They filed past her smiling, thanking her for the lesson and wishing her a nice weekend, each student secretly hoping for some kind of individual attention from their new favourite teacher. With the arrival of Santana, Government classes had suddenly become a whole lot more popular. Kids in the hallways were actually talking about how good their politics lessons were, despite it previously being the most hated subject next to maths.

With the exception of Karofsky and Azimio, Santana's students were attentive and hard working, hanging off her every word, laughing at all her jokes. And for the first time in its history, the debate club actually had a waiting list, students were clamouring to give up one lunchtime a week, just to be in the same room as the most talked about teacher at McKinley.

And although Santana was aware that the interest in her classes didn't have all that much to do with a sudden passion for democracy, she was just pleased that the kids were getting more involved. Whatever the reason, she was happy to be responsible for the unexpected rise in Government student attendance and the A grade papers that went with it.

So she was friendly and gracious as she said goodbye to the class, closing the door with a smile when the last student had finished fawning over her. She collected up the textbooks from the tables and piled them onto a shelf at the back, shivering slightly as she walked back to her desk.

She had a stack of finished assignments on affirmative action from her seniors to mark and she sat down, starting straight away so she could finish quickly and go home.

She read through them critically, immediately failing Karofsky and Azimio, whose joint project consisted only of a printed out picture of Barack Obama, with the word 'comunist' inked crudely across his forehead. She did however give them 2 points, as opposed to the usual 0, due to their ability to not only recognise the president of the USA, but also for almost spelling 'communist' correctly. She used her biro to write out the right spelling underneath, laughing quietly as she added a small note at the bottom 'Another brave attempt boys, you keep up such great work and you might just be on Fox News one day - Good Job'.

Feeling another slight shiver, she reached behind her to pull her jacket off the chair, draping it around her shoulders as she continued to read.

Next was Puck and Quinn's piece, a surprisingly good essay on the pros and cons of the system, starting with the history of the civil rights movement and even mentioning relevant supreme court cases to emphasise their points. She gave them a high pass and wrote out an enthusiastic 'well done' on a sticky note which she pasted over the front sheet.

After skimming over pieces from the rest of the class, all better than she expected them to be, her eyes fell on a submission resting at the bottom of the pile. It was an A3 poster, detailed with careful illustrations and bits of paper stuck down that unfolded to reveal blocks of well researched information, neatly written out on brightly coloured paper. Santana smiled, not needing to look at the name on the back to know it belonged to Brittany, and peeled off another sticky note.

'This is amazing Brittany, well done' She wrote, sticking it down firmly at the top of the poster, hesitating before uncapping her pen again and adding a small smiley face in the corner. The cheerleader's work was consistently brilliant, but this piece was her best, and Santana made a mental note to ask the girl if she could put it on display with the other posters on the back wall.

Finally finished, she tidied the work away and got up, noting again just how cold her classroom felt. She walked over to the radiators and pressed her hand to the metal, frowning when she realised they weren't even vaguely warm. She checked her watch, it was only 4.40pm, the heaters didn't usually get turned off this early. There were still after school clubs going at this time, and lots of teachers tended to stay behind for a few hours after the bell to catch up on marking, so they wouldn't automatically go off. Most nights the radiators stayed on until the caretaker left to go home, around 6.00pm, so they should definitely still have been running.

Santana went over to the window to pull up the blinds that had been down for most of the day. She had been using the projector in her lessons and she had shut all of them earlier, blocking any natural light from casting a glare on the screen and simply forgetting to lift them once she had finished. She opened them now and grimaced when she saw the snow falling in earnest outside, the football field already invisible under an ivory blanket.

She had known there was a bit of snow earlier as the kids had come in red faced and shivering to her lessons, excitedly planning snowball fights after school. But she hadn't expected it to be so heavy. When she had gone down to the teachers lounge at break time she had only seen a thin layer of ice on the ground, light, fluttery snow falling, but melting as soon as it landed. The sky had been a dark, gloomy grey but she hadn't payed much attention, the weather had been awful all week so it didn't feel like anything to worry about.

But now she wondered if she had been stupid leaving late. The only exit out of the school car park, was a small, sharp slope, which had been almost too icy to drive down that morning. It would be even worse now. And although the caretaker had been gritting the car park every day for the past month, the snow had built up so quickly in the last few hours that Santana doubted he would have had time to manage it this afternoon.

She turned from the window, grabbing her bag and coat and walking quickly out of the room and down the hall, trying to remember the last time she got her tires changed. She wasn't sure, but she knew it hadn't been in the last 2 years. Definitely not recent enough to attempt driving out if the ground was really slippery.

As she hurried down the stairs and towards the double doors, she threw her coat on and pulled her scarf out of her bag, praying that she wouldn't be stranded at the school overnight.

"Santana?"

She span round to see Will, wearing a black overcoat and hat, coming towards her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked "I thought everyone had gone"

"I was just finishing up some work in my classroom. And then I opened my blinds" She gestured outside "And I saw the snow. So I thought I better leave before it gets worse."

"You only just saw the snow?...It's been like this for at least an hour"

"Well what are you still doing here?"

"I had to stay behind to watch some of the Glee kids run through a number for sectionals, and then when the snow got really bad I tried to leave, but my piece of crap car couldn't get up the slope in the car park"

"Does that mean I wont be able to get out either?"

He pulled a face

"Probably not, most of the teachers left as soon as school was over but it's practically impossible to get out of the car park now"

"What? Are you kidding? I have to get home. Is there no way I can get out of there?"

He shook his head apologetically

"Not really, not right now anyway, the driveway is like a sheet of ice. And the buses don't run this way after 4.00 in the winter"

She sighed in frustration

"Well what am I supposed to do Will? I can't stay here all night."

"Look, don't worry, it shouldn't take more than a few hours to clear. It probably wont take us that long to put the grit down, it's just the snow that keeps falling on top that's the problem"

"Right...well...I could help, if you need me to?" She offered halfheartedly, not really wanting to but feeling like she should at least offer

But Will shook his head, glancing down at her 4 inch heels

"No, it's fine."

She tutted impatiently and pointed at her feet

"I'm hardly going to do it in these, Will. I have a pair of hunters in the car"

He smiled, but continued to refuse her help

"No, seriously it's fine. I'm sure you could do it, but 2 people is enough. And I know how much you hate the cold."

She gave in, glad that she wouldn't have to stand out in the snow, pouring salt on the ground.

"Ok, well I think I'll go and wait in my car. My classroom is freezing"

He nodded

"Yeah, the heaters have broken so that's probably a good idea"

He stopped and looked back towards his choir room

"Hey, do you mind taking Brittany with you?"

"Huh?" She asked. Was Brittany here? She thought all the students had gone home.

"She was one of the Glee kids who stayed behind to run through the dance, you know for sectionals, and now, obviously she can't leave. All the other kids left pretty quickly but she wanted to stay to get it right. She said her parents are at work, so I was going to give her a lift when we can get up the driveway"

He jerked his thumb to the hallway behind him

"But I don't really want to leave her in there, it's getting pretty cold and she's probably bored. So...would you mind if she sat with you till we get out?"

Santana stopped for a second, her mouth opening slightly as she considered what a bad idea that was, before nodding her head, trying to keep her tone light as she answered him.

"Yeah that's fine. I don't mind"

"Great. Thanks Santana. I'll just get her" he said, walking back towards the choir room and reappearing a minute later with the cheerleader.

Santana smiled

"Hi Brittany"

The blonde walked over to her happily

"Hey"

"Ok, let's go" said Will, walking over to the doors and holding them open politely

"Ladies first.."

Santana's car was parked at the back of the school and they trudged around the building, bracing themselves against the icy wind that blew drifts of snow into their faces. Will headed in the opposite direction, towards the exit, where the caretaker had already begun shovelling snow and piling it at the side of the road. He waved at them as he walked up to join the man and they continued round the side of the English block until they reached Santana's car.

She reached into her pocket for her keys, her frozen fingers fumbling with the button, but after a second, the headlights flashed and the car was unlocked.

They climbed in, momentarily silent as they both tried to think of something to say.

Santana spoke first.

"Jesus Christ...it's not even warmer in here"

Brittany smiled and Santana tried to think of something to follow that up with, when a thought struck her and she turned her head, looking over her shoulder

"Actually..I think I might have something in the back"

She climbed over the seat, careful not to kick Brittany and reached over into the trunk, finding a woollen blanket and dragging it back to the front.

As she clambered back into the drivers seat her tight skirt rode up slightly and Brittany tried not to stare, failing miserably as her eyes were drawn immediately to the black sheer stockings that ended halfway up Santana's thigh.

"Got it"

The older woman sat back down, throwing the blanket over both of their knees and leaning forward to put the car's heating on the highest setting.

"Ok, it should get a bit warmer soon. I just hope we aren't stuck in here for very long" She lied, turning to Brittany with a companionable smile and trying to think of a good conversation starter.

They began with the obvious, Santana asking Brittany how she was finding the Government class, how she was enjoying her senior year, where she wanted to go to college etc, but soon the conversation became more natural and Santana was surprised at how easy it was to chat freely to the younger girl. After talking a little about Brittany's cheerio's competition coming up and Coach Sue's rigorous work out schedule leading up to it, Santana found herself recounting to the blonde some of the meeting she'd had in the hallway with the woman the week before.

The car was now comfortabley warm and they both sat cross legged on their seats, facing each other, with their backs resting against the doors and the blanket spread between them. They were both laughing as Santana described what had happened.

"Her best one had to be..'Carmelita Tropicana'?...I don't even know what it means."

She paused, enjoying the sound of Brittany's laughter

"And then..when she called me 'Tex Mex'?"

"Are you even mexican?"

Another burst of laughter from the cheerleader as Santana shook her head, giggling helplessly, both of them surprised at how much they were enjoying themselves.

"No, not Mexican...I'm half Puerto Rican, with a little bit of African and German thrown in as well"

"Wow" Brittany seemed interested "I'm German too...well a quarter German anyway"

Santana nodded "I thought you might be"

Brittany smiled, feeling stupid when her stomach fluttered lightly. Ms. Lopez had been thinking about her? She looked down at her hands and carefully studied her nails.

"So, um, are you married or anything Ms. Lopez?"

Santana regarded the girl across from her closely. They both knew it was probably an inappropriate question, but sitting tucked up under a shared blanket, laughing and chatting together, it felt more like a conversation between friends than between a teacher and her student. So Santana kept her tone casual, answering honestly

"Nope, not married...and we're out of school, so you can call me Santana"

Brittany grinned and agreed shyly before continuing

"Do you have kids...Santana?"

"No, not yet"

Brittany looked up. She knew she was probably going too far, but Santana wasn't trying to change the subject, so she carried on.

"Do you want kids?"

Santana thought about it, realising that she had never really made a decision one way or the other but surprising herself when she still felt sure of her answer.

"I think I do...but definitley not yet. I'm only 26, and I think I'd probably want to wait, until I was about 30"

Brittany nodded, looking down again as she continued, a light blush spreading on her cheeks as she asked,

"Does your boyfriend want to have kids?"

A brief pause as Santana smiled to herself

"I don't have a boyfriend Brittany"

They both sat for a second, listening to the wind whistling outside, before Brittany spoke again.

"Do you think you're going to go out with that guy from the museum?"

Santana laughed, surprised Brittany had even noticed the museum guy flirting with her

"No, I am most definitley not going to go out with him"

"Because he was kinda creepy?"

"Well Yeah, among other things"

"What other things?"

There was a silence as Santana smiled, unsure of how to reply. She had a feeling that Brittany was circling around a specific question that she felt uncomfortable asking, a question that Santana knew, she would feel equally uncomfortable answering, and so they were both hovering just over it, both too scared to be direct but unable to move on.

In a way, Santana was hoping she would just come right out and ask. Then she could answer honestly and they could move on from this awkward conversation. But would it make things more awkward she suddenly wondered? How would Brittany react? She felt her stomach clench as she imagined the cheerleader looking at her with disgust, scrambling out of the car to get herself away from the teacher she had once thought was normal. Santana desperately didn't want that to happen.

"He just wasn't my type" she said finally with a sigh

Brittany breathed in slowly, her heart hammering against her chest as she asked quietly

"What is your type?"

"Umm...well, funny I guess...sweet...confident..." She tailed off with a shrug "I don't know really, it's hard to say"

"What about looks...what would they look like?"

Santana swallowed nervously and looked out of the window

"God Brittany I don't know"

"Well, what do you prefer" asked Brittany simply "blonde hair or dark hair?"

"Uh..blonde I guess"

"Ok, tall or short?"

"Tall"

"Blue eyes or brown eyes?"

"..Blue"

Santana blushed when she realised she was basically describing the girl in front of her.

"Man or woman?"

"What?"

Santana snapped her head towards Brittany, her mouth dropping open. She couldn't believe the girl had just come right out with it.

Brittany considered backtracking but realised it was pointless, so she looked straight back at her teacher, shocked at her own boldness, and asked again.

"I just wondered...Man or woman?"

Santana floundered for a reply, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly. Should she deny it? Brittany didn't really seem freaked out by the idea. But should she really be discussing her sexual preference with an 18 year old student? She was pretty sure she knew the answer to that.

So she closed her mouth, took a deep breath and turned to the blonde, about to tell her that it was an inappropriate question that she wasn't going to answer, when the hot air blowing into the car was suddenly cut off with a loud metallic clang.

Santana turned to her dashboard, distracted as she looked for the source of the noise, quickly realising it was the heater. She tried to adjust the dials, frowning when the hot air didn't reappear.

"Is it broken?"

She turned to Brittany, their previous conversation forgotten for the time being.

"I don't know, it's never done this before"

She reached under to find the control switch, flicking it back and forth, letting out a noise of frustration when it made no difference. The car was rapidly cooling now and she pulled the blanket around her waist to stay warm.

In a last ditch attempt she got out her keys and started the engine, hoping that would kick start the heater back on. When it did nothing to help she threw her keys back in her bag, banging the steering wheel with the palm of her hand.

"Fuck"

She paused, looking guiltily at Brittany "...Sorry"

The blonde smiled "It's ok. And look, I'm sure the driveway will be clear really soon. We'll be ok"

"I don't know long that's going to take Brittany, and it's about to get really fucking cold in here"

She apologised for swearing again, but they both knew it was something she couldn't help.

"And I don't have any more blankets or anything"

Santana looked out of the window, the sky was getting darker but the snow continued to swirl around them. She cupped her hands to her mouth, blowing on her fingers.

"We don't even have gloves"

"Here.."

She turned to the cheerleader who was reaching towards her, gesturing for the brunette to do the same.

With a feeling of trepidation that she tried to ignore, Santana obliged, leaning forward to place her hands inside Brittany's and smiling when the blonde cupped them gently. Her hands were soft and warm, lightly rubbing Santana's to stop the cold.

"Better?..I have really warm hands"

Santana nodded, shifting closer so she could sit comfortably and blushing when her knee came into contact with Brittany's leg under the blanket. She murmured a quick 'Sorry' and sat still as Brittany also edged a little closer.

They were now only 30cm apart, both sitting on the very edge of their seats with only the handbrake between them.

"How long have we been in here?"

Santana twisted her wrist inside Brittany's hands to look at her watch

"About an hour and a half" She lifted her eyes to the blonde "Will your parents be worried?"

Brittany shook her head

"I told them I was staying late for Glee, and I usually go to Quinn's house for a few hours after anyway."

"Oh ok"

A brief pause as Brittany debated whether or not to ask her next question.

"Have you got anyone waiting for you?"

Santana cleared her throat. Great, they were back to this.

"Uh, no..no, there's no one waiting for me at home."

She tried to lighten the intensity of the conversation

"Unless the museum guy got hold of my address"

It was a weak joke but Brittany laughed anyway and Santana took the opportunity to change the subject.

"So, have you got any plans for this summer?"

Brittany had stopped rubbing Santana's fingers to warm them up now, and as the brunette looked down she realised they were essentially just holding hands. But she couldn't force herself to let go. She was cold, she reasoned, Brittany was just being helpful. There wasn't anything romantic about it.

Brittany shrugged "Not really. I might go down to Florida with some of the others from Glee, but I haven't really decided yet. You?"

"I'm not sure. I guess I'll probably be busy looking for another job"

Brittany was about to ask her if she would get another job as a substitute teacher when, through the window behind Santana, she saw Will approaching them with a shovel dangling over one shoulder.

"Mr Schuester"

"Huh?"

Brittany nodded to the window and Santana whipped round, dropping the cheerleader's hand immediately. They both pushed themselves back into the centre of their seats and shook the blanket from their legs, letting it pool on the floor at their feet.

Although they hadn't technically done anything wrong, they exchanged guilty looks as Will got closer and rapped sharply on the window.

Santana pressed the button to let the glass slide down and gave him a weak smile.

"All done?"

"Yeah..finally. Sorry it took awhile, were you two alright in here?"

Santana couldn't answer fast enough

"Yep fine, we were fine"

He poked his head in a little further so his curls brushed the ceiling

"It doesn't feel very warm in here"

"Yeah, the heater broke"

"Damn, you must of been cold"

Santana's cheeks went pink

"We were ok"

He nodded

"Good, well, we used up nearly all the grit so the driveway should be fine now. Come on Brittany, I'll take you home"

"I could..drive her home?" Santana offered "I mean, if it's easier"

"It's alright, Brittany only lives about 5 minutes from my place" Will answered, not noticing the cheerleader's crestfallen expression.

Santana kept her tone light "Oh, ok"

She turned the blonde who was getting out of the car, giving her a shy smile

"See you Brittany"

"Bye Ms. Lopez...thanks for letting me wait in your car"

"It's fine...I enjoyed our chat"

Brittany's heart gave a tiny clench

"Me too"

Will straightened up and went round to meet Brittany, taking her arm so she wouldn't slip in the snow.

"See you Santana, thanks again" he called

"Drive safe Will"

He nodded, giving her a wave as they started towards his car, Brittany glancing back briefly to shoot her one last smile before they disappeared into the snowy evening.

Santana leant back against her chair and ran a hand through her long black hair, hardly believing the last 2 hours to have been real. And as she reached into her bag to retrieve the keys she had carelessly thrown in earlier, she wondered with a heavy sigh if her meetings with Brittany would ever end with anything other than her watching the girl walk away, disappointment heavy in her chest.

...

As I think I have made evident in this chapter, I know nothing about the procedures of getting snowed in at school. I do know this whole situation was wildly unrealistic but let's be honest, so is Glee, so I'm not too worried.

I hope you liked the chapter, was it enough Brittana for you? I will start moving their relationship on a bit faster soon but I don't want to rush it, so bear with me.

Also, I apologise for using the word 'Jumper' so consistently throughout the last chapter, I've been told that the American word is 'Sweater' so I'll try and remember that.

Thank you so much for reviewing, I really really appreciate it, seriously I do.

Got this chapter up early, so you can probably expect the next one at the end of the week.

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