Doing It Right: Chapter 10
by Creedog VanDrey
Category: Glee
Genre: Romance/Drama
Rating: T
Language: English
Summary: Santana has been given the opportunity to correct her past mistakes with Brittany, so she can't help but take it. It's Sectionals and Santana sees her hard work pay off.
Spoilers: 2x09 "Special Education"
A/N: I wanted to thank you all for all the reviews and story alert subscriptions and the favorite story marking. They compel me to keep going.
Chapter 10: Victories
With one victory under her belt, Santana decided to go for another the next day. And her opponent was the fight Artie and Brittany had over her alleged "adultery." True, it had put a wedge between the couple for a few days, but in the end it had led to them getting closer, and more importantly, to that stomach-churning kiss backstage. If Santana had enough faith in the finesse of her plans, she would have swooped in during the middle of the fight, but past overconfidence had taught her not to be cocky.
Her opportunity arose when she saw Tina stomping down the halls in a black cheerleader outfit emblazoned with "GC", "Glee Club" she assumed. Pretending to be the fashion police, she walked in stride with the Asian girl, commenting, "So, like the new outfit. It's very Wednesday Addams meets Bring It On."
"You can tease me later. I need to talk to Artie."
"Normally, I wouldn't say anything. You and Artie are allowed to be friends, and I'm sure Mike trusts you enough to not get superjealous every time you have a conversation with him… anymore… but your special attire and rather aggressive attitude makes me assume the worst. Don't seduce Artie."
"I'm not seducing Artie!" She stopped and looked around to make sure no one in the hallway was listening. "I wouldn't be telling you this except for Brittany told me how you got Mike to sing that duet for me. I appreciate all your hard work getting us back together, so that's why I want to tell you that it might have been in vain. Mike and Brittany are having an affair."
"Doubtful." This would be so much easier if I could tell her I've lived this all out before.
"They used to date, you know."
"Yes, I know. She's been my best friend for years now. I'm the one who told her to go after him. But she and Mike were never serious, and that was on purpose. What makes you think they're involved in the first place?"
"They've been spending a lot of time together, alone, dancing."
Santana waited for the weakness of the argument to settle in. "Well, to be fair, we did saddle them with two dance numbers for Sectionals."
"Exactly. Dancing is such a sensuous activity. I can't tell you the number of times Mike and I…"
Santana quickly interrupted, "If you really can't tell me, then don't."
"Plus, she's so tall and blonde and…"
"…gorgeous. I know."
Tina turned her head. "You really are gay, aren't you?"
"Don't spread the news around."
"The news has been spread. The whole school knows."
"The whole school thinks. Listen, you know how I know Mike is not cheating on you with Brittany? Because Brittany adores you two together, and she would never intentionally be the other woman. Perhaps by accident, but I'm sure by now she's figured out the rules. If you're so worried, they practice during lunch. If you want to know for sure, let's go surprise them."
And surprise them, they did. One time jump later and Santana was waiting outside the choir room as Tina rushed inside, where Mike and Brittany were standing close, their heads turned toward the invading girl. "Time of My Life" was playing on the stereo.
With my body and soul
I want you more than you'll ever know
So we'll just let it go,
Don't be afraid to lose control
Yes I know what's on your mind
When you say,
"Stay with me tonight"
While Tina hurled accusations, Santana shut off the music, but the arguments had already begun before she could intercede.
Mike was screaming now, too. "I can't believe you don't trust me! That's just how the dance goes!"
Brittany had moved away toward Santana and the piano, tears already welling up in her eyes as she watched the two Asians' relationship crumble.
Santana called out, "Okay, everyone calm down. Seriously, if Santana Lopez has to be the rational one, something is wrong. How 'bout we find a quiet way to resolve this." Her eyes jumped to the doorway, hoping they hadn't attracted too much attention.
"You are not doing that routine with her!" Tina screamed.
Mike defended loudly, "It's for the show. It doesn't mean anything."
Santana jumped in before Tina could yell again. "It obviously means something to Tina."
Tina finally lowered her voice. "She's right. Mike, I love that movie, but watching you dance to that song with her…"
Knowing Brittany was too kind to take offense, Santana cried, "Hey!"
Tina turned to Brittany and apologized evenly, "I'm sorry, Brittany; I didn't mean that. I would be mad if it were anybody. Mike, I always thought that that dance to be our dance."
"It still can be. Britt and I are just doing it for the show."
Santana scooted up to Mike's siding, leaning in to advise, "Maybe avoid the nicknames; doesn't help your case. Okay, keep going. You're doing great." She gave them a wink and a thumbs-up.
But it was Brittany who came up with a solution. "Then it can be your dance. You're an awesome dancer, Tina. You should do the Dirty Dancing with Mike."
Unnecessarily, Santana pointed out, "I think she means the movie." But now that she had the floor, she added, "But, Brittany, I really want you to dance for my song."
Brittany's eyes softened. "I'd love to, Santana. If Tina doesn't mind."
Mike pointed out, helping their case, "It's a high-energy song, nothing but flips and twirls. There's hardly any sexual undertones."
"Except for the one I'll be putting out," Santana bragged, winking at Brittany.
Tina was overly amenable. "No, no, that's fine. Do the routine for Santana, Brittany. She deserves it. I'll do the other dance with Mike, okay? I'll go tell Mr. Schue about the switch." She turned back to Mike. "I'm really excited. Brittany, you can have him before school and during lunch. We'll take the afternoons. Okay?"
"Yeah," Brittany remarked, grabbing Santana's hand as Tina and Mike kissed before pulling it away like it was a hot pan. "Sorry," she whispered to Santana.
Santana looked down at her hand. She lied, "It's okay. We fixed this. That's just as good."
Brittany put out her hand for a high-five experimentally. Santana reciprocated, high-fiving back.
: : :
By the time Saturday rolled around, Santana was exhausted. She hadn't had any trouble sleeping, she assumed, since the time between her head hitting the pillow and the alarm waking her up the next morning disappeared. But between homework, Cheerios, extra glee practices, and her own meddling to keep the glee drama to a dull roar, it had hardly been what she would call a relaxing week.
Her attempts to drive a wedge between Artie and Brittany were not as successful as she would have liked.
She was pleased by some things. They seemed far more casual at this point than Santana remembered from the first time she'd lived through these events, so she was happy that she was at least slowing the progression of their relationship. Brittany still rolled him around the hallways, but they weren't engaging in any public displays of affection. Artie still seemed to be putting a lot of effort into planning their dates, meaning they were still in the wooing and getting-to-know-each-other phase of their relationship. Brittany had to cancel on every last one of their dates for the past week due to dance practice. But Artie had taken it in stride. Santana couldn't deny that they were certainly still together, if only officially. Tina had been remarking frequently how cute they looked together. It's an empty compliment, Santana thought each time, you're just glad Artie's not pining after you anymore and now you can feel less guilty about all but cheating on him over the summer with Mike, your demographic counterpart. Even if I do work hard to keep you two together. Santana was biased, but to her Artie and Brittany looked comically mismatched.
Best of all, her friendship was Brittany was doing well. Though it seemed like Brittany was wilting from not being able to touch her, she seemed constantly in awe of her ever since the blowup between Mike and Tina in the classroom. The glee room was filled with happy couples and Brittany was constantly wondering if Santana had influenced every loving gesture between any one of the couple. When she asked if Santana had been helping her and Artie, Santana didn't even hide her frowns. "No, if Artie wants an awesome babe like you, he's got to earn every moment of it. After how he treated Tina…" She always tapered off, letting Brittany's overactive imagination fill in the details. On Thursday, Artie had wheeled himself around school, looking grouchy, and Brittany had guiltily admitted to Santana that she'd confronted him about why he and Tina broke up, but they'd resolved their issues by the next day.
She got plenty of one-on-one time with Brittany, though the blonde spent most of it testing her clairvoyance, after Santana had explained to her what "psychic" really meant. It was tricky, though. Minor, concrete details were the ones that were most likely to have been changed from her meddling. The one time she'd been right about something, it was who was going to be kicked off America's Next Top Model that week, and it just so happened to be Brittany's favorite contestant. She'd assumed that Santana had made her preferred girl lose and was mad for a whole two and a half hours, a record for her.
As the club arrived at Frankel High School in Springfield at 9 AM sharp, Brittany couldn't have been more excited. For the entire bus ride, she'd been bouncing in her seat next to Santana—Artie was of course stuck in the handicapped spot near the lift—preventing the Latina from getting a few extra hours of sleep. They changed into their costumes in the "dressing rooms", small practice rooms for the orchestra, and Santana let herself get caught watching Brittany change. She blushed; Brittany blushed; Tina gave her a warning look; Quinn quirked her eyebrow suspiciously; Mercedes rolled her eyes; Rachel seemed unaware she wasn't alone in the room and starting warming up her voice.
Once they moved into the auditorium, Santana informally directed people into their seats. She wasn't like Rachel, who tried to create seating charts last year, but she did find an arrangement that was suitable to all. They were lined up so that Finn and Rachel were together, next to Kurt, herself, then Brittany, and Artie on the end. She'd rather not share her blond beloved, but this guaranteed that Brittany, now stuck between her best friend and her boyfriend, wouldn't be willing to swap seats for anything.
The old people's choir went first, and while they put on a very nice collection of songs—Santana had to remind herself that old people could sing, too—they did indeed just stand there with their canes and walkers and wheelchairs. She felt bad about how badly they were outclassed.
The Warblers were up next. The fifteen-man troupe assembled on stage in their identical navy-and-scarlet blazers, and front-and-center was Blaine Anderson. As expected, he took lead on their first song, Train's "Soul Sister", which he sang lead on. Her mind had rewritten their dance moves to be a little more stilted, so it was a slight fear that they were a little more loose, synchronized, and charismatic than she remembered. Kurt seemed to agree. Santana leaned over and whispered to him, "So, is that your one true love? Mr. Personality?"
I knew when we collided
You're the one I have decided
Who's one of my kind
Kurt's blush, even in the dark, gave him away. She phrased the question right before the "So gangster/I'm so thug" line, and Blaine was making faces so comical Santana wondered how anyone could find him sexually desirable, but Kurt was grinning so widely he was probably hurting his mouth.
She teased, "He hogs the solos and his growth has been stunted by Stepford smiling. If you were straight, you'd have it bad for Rachel, wouldn't you?"
Rachel, who was seated on the other side of Kurt, leaned in to listen.
Kurt surveyed Rachel with utter disinterest. "Don't even tease."
Rachel nudged him with her shoulder. "You're just saying that because you know you'd be on the losing end of a brotherly feud."
"Finn can have you," Kurt whispered back, alerting Finn to the conversation. Kurt turned back to Santana, "So, let's discuss who you'd want… if you were straight." He'd made sure the last part was whispered more quietly. Luckily, Finn and Rachel were now distracted with grinning at each other. Santana glared at her new friend to get him to shut up.
Unfortunately, Brittany had heard enough of the conversation to pique her curiosity. "What?"
Santana effortlessly distracted her. "Kurt's in love with gay-boy-Rachel on stage."
Brittany's eyes jumped to the stage where the Warblers had started Queen's "Under Pressure". A bleach blonde with emo bangs had taken the high part, but Blaine was still prominent enough that she could tell that Brittany's eyes had fallen on the right guy.
"He's super-yummy, Kurt. You should totally tap that."
It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Kurt just sank into his seat.
One row down, Puck, Sam, Quinn, Mercedes, Tina, and Mike were seated in a row. Mike turned to Tina, who was tightly holding his hand. "Babe, you okay? I need this hand to be uninjured."
"Sorry, just nervous. I mean, just like in the movie, I'm still not secure about that final lift. Brittany would have killed it. Her stomach muscles are stronger."
"It's true," Brittany whispered from the row behind, "I sometimes do crunches in my sleep."
Mike gave her the cut-in gesture. "Babe, you've been nailing it all week. Plus, I rearranged my hand placement to make it easier on you."
"Oh, I thought you were just trying to steal second and third base. Now that I find out you're going to be doing that on stage, I'm a little more nervous."
Mike sighed in the defeat.
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
Under pressure
Pressure
Mercedes turned to Quinn. "If this goes on any longer, I'm gonna ask to switch seats."
"I might just take you up on that offer. Sam has been singing along the entire time, with motions."
Mercedes peeked around Quinn, seeing that Sam was dramatically mouthing the words, swaying along, his hands barely less animated than the Warblers'. He finally calmed down when the Warblers moved to their third song, Bon Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone", however Puck began to air-guitar and bop along, ignorant of a glare from Mr. Schue.
Mercedes smirked. "Great taste in men you've got there."
"Shut up. At least I didn't fall for a gay guy."
"I'm never gonna live that down. Plus, Jones is totally jonesin' for that fine piece of meat on stage."
"Will Smith or Corbin Bleu?"
"Must you assume it's one of the black guys?" Sheepishly, she added, "Corbin Bleu. It's the hair. Lord forgive me, but I was obsessed with The Beautiful Life."
: : :
Santana briefly feared that without their typical last-minute backstage drama, New Directions would be unable to perform. She asked Kurt if she should flirt with Sam to press Quinn's hair-trigger jealousy button, but he dissuaded her from doing so.
"Any reason why you'd pick Sam to put the moves on? Besides the fact he's a tall blonde with abdominals that you could just lick?"
"His dancing makes Finn look like Justin Timberlake. That's a dealbreaker. He's not the whole package."
"Speak for yourself."
"Hey, what happened to Warbler Blim?"
"Blaine; and I'm allowed to have more than one crush. I'm sure there's a straight girl whose skirt you might like to get under."
"We're finishing this conversation later. How's an hour from never?"
: : :
Santana's fears were unfounded. New Directions killed it. The Flaxen Twins out-sugared Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes while Mike and Tina executed the routine to perfection. Brittany could have done it better, but at that last moment, when Sam and Quinn looked into each other's eyes, and Mike and Tina did the same, the number was injected with real honesty.
'Cause I've had the time of my life
And I've searched though every open door
Till I found the truth
And I owe it all to you...
Her solo had gone well. Brittany was just as handsy last time, smacking her on the ass to start her off. Mike's and her routine was just as epic as she remembered it, and she didn't have to change a single come-hither gesture. She meant it just as much now as she had then.
Won't you come on over
Stop makin' a fool out of me
Why don't you come on over Valerie?
Valerie… Valerie… Valerie…
For "Singin' in the Rain/Umbrella", they might have lost a few points due to the delay of getting their costumes and props prepared. Also, Finn dropped his hat and Rachel her umbrella. If I ever repeat the past again, I'll make sure we buy her a kiddie-sized one that's not taller than her. But the pair's vocals didn't leave anything to be desired.
You have my heart, and we'll never be worlds apart
Maybe in magazines, but you'll still be my star
'Cause I-I'm singin' in the rain (We'll shine together)
Just singin' in the rain (Be here forever)
What a glorious feeling (Be a friend)
I'm happy again (Stick it out 'till the end)
The applause was uproarious and Blaine even dragged his teammates to their feet for a standing ovation. The club was herded off-stage, throwing compliments back and forth in a flurry so fast Santana didn't even bother to act like she didn't appreciate the ones thrown in her direction. Brittany had relegated herself to wheelchair duty, so Santana didn't get to chance to thank her for the dance until the judges' deliberation intermission.
Eventually, the three teams were gathered on stage for the final results. The Warblers all stood with their hands in front of their groins like some ROTC squadron with permanent smiles. Tina clung to Mike's arm with trepidation. Sam and Quinn stood with hands interlaced, sneaking peeks at each other but not once catching the other's eye. Rachel stood with her arm linked to Finn's beauty pageant-waving at the crowd. Mr. Schue looked moments from barfing from nervousness. Brittany's hand was fully extended so Artie could reach up to hold it; she had two, so Santana felt no shame in grabbing the other.
The head judge was some DMV manager, and in appropriate fashion, talked slowly, filibustering with a poorly-written speech about drunk driving or something. He finally announced third place, the Hipsters. No surprise there.
"And in second place, the Dalton Academy Warblers, making the 2010 West-Central Ohio Sectional champions the William McKinley High New Directions!" So drolly did he speak that no one caught on that they'd won until he'd finished announcing.
Won. Not tied. Won.
Maybe it was because Dalton didn't have Kurt, even if he wouldn't have had any solos. Maybe Kurt would have influenced their performance somehow. Maybe without Zizes shaking the stage, New Directions' footwork was more secure. Maybe the judges appreciated the more classic "Singin' in the Rain" more than the modern "Empire State of Mind," which also could have come off as pretentious, like they were fully expecting to go to New York. Santana spent very little time speculating, joining her teammates in bouncing up and down; she hugged Brittany (it was worth it) and Kurt and Puck and (God help her) Tina and Rachel.
They later found out Dalton lost by a single point.
New Directions celebrated outside in the lobby with coffees bought for them by Mr. Schue. Coach Beiste smacked the backs of each of her football players, enough to make them spill part of their coffee. "You guys were as rockin' as a roadrunner with hard candy in its beak!"
The next surprise of the day was a screaming blonde woman racing toward Mr. Schue, screaming, "You did our song!" Ms. Holliday crashed into him, giving him a crushing hug. His drink splattered to the floor and neither seemed to notice. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to do that?" she screeched, without lowering her voice. Beiste just watched the proceedings with a grin on her face.
"I-I didn't know you were going to be here!" he replied with equal excitement. "Why didn't you let me know you were planning to come?"
"I wanted to surprise you."
"But how did you get down here from Dublin? I thought you were on assignment."
"It's Saturday, Ricosuave. I wouldn't last a week if a girl didn't get to play on the weekend."
She immediately turned to Finn and Rachel, hugging them both. "You guys were awesome, just as smoldering as me and your director," she sing-songed. Next, she grabbed Sam and Quinn in a double hug, repeating the sentiment, "I lost my virginity to that song. You two brought back so many memories." She moved to Mike and Tina, putting a hand on each of their cheeks, "That goes double for you. That dance… oh, that dance… Prom night, that's all I'm gonna say." Another tight hug and she moved to Artie, kneeling over. "You nail the 'Umbrella' rap every time. Seriously, that song is nothing without Jay-Z's sexy voice." Her hug for Brittany was met halfway and quickly turned into a squeezing competition. "Your dance… it awakens things inside of me. And that flip. In heels. Girl, what your legs can do." Santana spilled her coffee and jumped up. "Oh, Sweet Cheeks, I didn't forget about you. You were ripping it up out there." She fanned herself. "Made me wish I was Valerie." She winked; Santana blushed; and before there was time to respond, her head turned and she called out, "Puckerman! I heard you croonin' above the other guys on that last song. You're trying out for a solo for Regionals, right?"
Kurt, with the damn smarmiest grin on his face, asked, "So, that straight girl crush. You've got a type then?"
"Shut up." She smacked him with a program, before looking over his shoulder. "Oh, no, if Puck tries to tap that, I'm gonna have castrate him." But Ms. Holliday had moved on to Mercedes, praising her grace notes. Of Kurt's amused look, she spat, "Not for me, Lance Bass. I need Schue on top of that. Don't ask; I have my reasons."
Kurt was saved by Ms. Holliday calling out to him, "My baby boy, that goes double for you!"
"Oh, Miss H, you can count on a solo from me at Regionals."
A bit of fear in his eyes at the blonde's loose tongue, Mr. Schue came up behind her. "I bought all the kids coffee. Can I get you something?"
"Oh, thank you," she replied before walking up to the counter and ordering one of the pricier drinks on the menu. Will, just then realizing he'd apparently misplaced his own cup, ordered, "Make that two."
Tilting her head toward the teachers, Brittany gave Santana a knowing look from her seat next to Artie at the table they were sharing with Mike and Tina. The latter was playing with her iPhone before she called out, "Oh my god, Miss Pillsbury just changed her relationship status to 'engaged'."
Santana's head jerked to where Mr. Schue and Ms. Holliday were standing. He looked like he'd been punched in the gut. Santana's brain whirled, Oh, God, no, just… anything. He nodded to himself. "I'm happy for her. Carl is a really good guy." Ms. Holliday rubbed his arm. "Really," he repeated, more defeated, "no one likes to hear their ex-girlfriend is getting engaged." She smiled like she believed him. Beiste slugged him the arm for good measure.
When Santana turned back, Kurt had lost interest in the engagement and was staring at the Warblers. Blaine and an officious-looking Asian boy were giving the team a pep talk.
"You should go talk to him," Santana suggested.
"Maybe you should talk to Brittany."
"Make you a deal: I'll talk to her if you get Hairspray's number."
"You'll tell her how you feel?"
"In so many words." Kurt didn't look impressed. "Hey, I came out. That's arguably that's a bigger step."
"You did not come out; you are just not denying it."
"Oh, you're one to talk. I'm taking baby steps," she defended proudly.
"Your baby steps are losing to a guy who can't walk."
Santana was taken aback. "That was mean. I thought you and Artie were friends."
"We are. I'm an advocate for true love, though. While I admit I had my doubts at first that your heart even beat, it's pretty obvious that it beats for her."
"What about Artie?"
"Tina's his true love. It pains me to see that he seems to have forgotten that."
"She's happy with Mike."
"And Brittany's happy with Artie. Doesn't mean they belong together."
Santana playfully accused him, "Don't think I don't know what you're doing. The Warblers' pep talk is over. Get over there before you miss your chance. Or I am going over there myself, and I'll do it with all the subtly one expects from Santana Lopez. I'm thinking… I walk up to Blim, pull a strip of condoms from my clutch, and point in your direction. There could even be raunchy signing."
Terrified, Kurt jumped up with surprising agility and headed over, stopping after a few feet. "Artie's in the bathroom. Talk to her. We have a deal."
Santana obediently got up from her seat and took one step towards Brittany when time skipped. She was sitting in Coach Sylvester's office.
"You're out, Wobbles."
A/N: Ha ha, Creedog needs to stop making musical selections. But he's going to keep writing, because he keeps coming up with awesome things he wants to share. Like the next chapter has the scene I've been working on since Day 1, so it's definitely getting published no matter what.