Santana Lopez was never a morning person. Everyone knew that. Once, Rachel Berry tried to wake her up to rehearse for Nationals, but because of the wrath that was Santana, all that they had accomplished that day was a dance routine that was good for only a quarter of their performance. The rest of the day was spent listening to Santana shout at the shorter brunette in a language no one could understand but could feel as the intensity of the Latina's voice earned fearful looks from the rest of the club. Since then, nobody dared to even touch a single strand of dark hair from the sleeping brunette, terrified of experiencing pandemonium early in the morning. And though high school was already a far cry from the present, nothing has changed in Santana's list of do's and don'ts.
Ten knocks. She heard them all, but threw a pillow on the fifth knock, hoping the intruder would understand and just walk away. Unfortunately for both of the people on opposite sides of the door, the knocks continued, and Santana stood up ready to give the fool a piece of her mind.
"What the fu—"
"Hey, San! I'm glad you're finally awake. I brought you some food!" Brittany greeted cheerily gesturing with her lips the tray she was holding. "I know you hate waking up in the morning, but technically it's exactly twelve in the afternoon, I made sure of that, so you can't get mad at me," the blonde continued, a little nervous about how Santana would react.
Normally, Santana couldn't care less at whatever excuse people have for waking her up, but this was Brittany, and she would always be an exception. She fully opened the door, motioning for the blonde to come in, to which she jovially obliged. Brittany laid down the tray on the messy bed, and patted the space across from her for Santana to sit on. The Latina did so, as the taller girl gave her a plate with bread, eggs, and bacon.
"Breakfast in bed!" Brittany cheered, watching happily as Santana took a bite of the bread.
"It's already twelve in the afternoon. You said so yourself," the brunette playfully replied, earning a smack on the arm from the blonde. Brittany paused, protruding her lips into a pout as if thinking deeply, and after some time just mumbled a "whatever" while grabbing the fork and getting some bacon for herself.
"Hey!" This time it was Santana's turn to slap Brittany's arm away. "This is mine!"
"Fine!" The blonde replied, crossing her arms in defeat. "But if you want some more, you're not getting any!" She stuck her tongue out, Santana mirroring the expression moments later, both of them ending up in laughs and fun conversations. This exchange of stories was paired with stolen glances, a few touches from time to time, and the ever famous butterflies in the stomach. By the time they had finished their fun chat, the food was long gone and Santana was ready to go, not wanting to overstay.
"Thank you," Santana started, earning a confused look from the woman in front of her, "for last night and today." They smiled in unison as the Latina continued, "I have to go now Britts, I still have a lot of things to do." The blonde's smile faltered only for a second, but Santana noticed it. "Let's do this again some other time?"
"Of course." Brittany nodded, standing up and pulling Santana to her. She wrapped her arms on the brunette's waist, inhaling the scent of the person she had missed so much. Her grip tightened, not willing to let go, afraid that if she did, history will repeat itself and Santana would run away again without as much as a goodbye. She buried her head into the Latina's locks, closing her eyes and just letting the silence linger in the air. "Take care, San, okay? Text me when you get home."
"I will." Santana answered, her arms locked around Brittany's neck and her face inches from the blonde's jaw. She fought the urge to kiss it, though she strongly felt the need to. She had just gotten Brittany back, and although they were just friends for now, she would settle for that. The last thing she needed was Brittany having trouble in paradise just because she couldn't control her stupid hormones.
It had been two days since Brittany saw Santana last. Two and a half, to be exact. They were both too busy with their lives – Brittany with the sudden boom in her dance studio and Santana with taking care of her parents and doing a little work on the side to catch up with work in New York – that the closest they got to each other would be the occasional text asking how their day was going.
To say that Brittany was happy was an understatement; ecstatic wasn't even enough of a description. Her heart burst in felicity thinking about the other night. It had been more than forty-eight hours since their last meeting, but never had the memories of the delicious dinner and the making of it, their dancing in the rain, and the "breakfast" – Brittany was still convinced it wasn't lunch because of the eggs – in bed escaped her mind since the brunette left her house.
Her body moved effortlessly to the beat of the music coming out of the stereo. Her last class had just ended, and Brittany, not yet exhausted, told her employee to get some rest and that she would be the one to close up the studio that day. She needed some alone time, and so there she was: The speakers blasted an energizing song as the blonde lost herself in the music. She never felt more alive than when she was dancing, swaying her hips in tune with the rhythm, moving her hands graciously in the air as if she were flying, a free bird exploring the world for the very first time. She was too caught up in her own movements that she didn't hear the door opening. She just continued on with her dancing, isolating herself from everything else that could have been happening around her. She poured all her emotions on her whole body as she ran, glided, jumped, and ended the song with a final twirl. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling loudly. It was then that she heard the door open and close once again, and this time she took notice of it and ran to the small receptionist area, trying to figure out who had tried to snoop around while she was in the middle of a performance. She was anticipating a small scuffle to take place since she already held on to a flashlight, the first blunt object she had gotten her hands on to. Instead she was met by an empty lobby with nothing but a rose on the table. She dropped her flashlight and took the flower, smelling it before reading the note and grinning like an idiot at the message written:
Hey Britts! Sorry, I couldn't talk much these days. Promise I'll make it up to you! Tomorrow night? Let me know. xx Santana
Five sentences from a certain brunette had already made Brittany's day. She felt like a high school girl being asked out by the most popular guy in school, and it made her heart beat fast again, like she was doing another impromptu performance like a while ago. She was about to fold the note and put it in her pocket when she noticed another message written at the back. The handwriting was still Santana's, although a little messier that the letters were more like lines connected to each other.
After all these years, you're still the most amazing dancer I have ever met.
"So, where are we headed?" Brittany jumped up and down on her seat. She couldn't hide the excitement in her. Santana was driving her a little outside of Lima, and she was curious as to where the Latina had thought of going to.
"You've asked that five times already, Britt-Britt."
"And in those five times, you never answered me. So where are we headed?" Brittany faced the brunette, her mega-watt smile showing. When Santana stole a glance her way, she couldn't help but look again just to see the face that could light up the whole world.
"You'll see." Santana tightened her grip on the wheel. They were near. Brittany felt the road elevating as they went further into a small forest. The car ascended for a short while until Santana finally stopped the engine and got out. Brittany did the same and followed Santana.
"Are we there yet?" The blonde asked, now a little confused more than excited. Santana didn't respond and instead walked more quickly until they reached the top of a small hill.
"We're here." Santana stated, smiling widely at the scene that was Brittany's amazement.
The hill wasn't that much work to climb, but you could see a part of Lima from there. Brittany watched in awe at the sight. There were still a lot of lights on in different buildings high and low. She spotted some children playing although they were a bit miniscule. Cars were still seen at every corner as they zoomed past houses and into their desired destinations. Everyone was living their lives, and from the position Brittany and Santana were in, they were a part of those lives all at the same time.
"San, this is…" Brittany trailed on, not finding the words that could describe the perfect scenery in front of her.
"Amazing. I know." Santana said while sitting down on the grass and pulling Brittany down beside her.
"How did you find out about this place?"
"When we were in high school, I always go here to think. I never really told anyone about this. I just wanted to have my own place, you know? Where I could think about teenage shit and pour my heart out to inanimate objects while watching lives of many people pass by." Santana patted the grass between them. "This place is one I also call my home. This has seen a lot of sides of me. I just thought that it would be nice to share this with you." She smiled, resting her hands on one of Brittany's hands and lacing their fingers together.
"Thank you, Santana." Brittany's eyes met with Santana's while she continued. "For trusting me."
"Always." It was just one word, and yet so powerful.
Brushing off the sudden tension, both girls started talking about lighter topics, just like in every other conversation they've had. Brittany told her stories about her clients in the dance studio, making the Latina laugh at her descriptions of each one. Santana, on the other hand, shared that her parents were still unconscious, but according to "the doctor", as Santana had referred Spencer, they were showing good signs and would hopefully wake up within the week. Again, they felt comfortable in each other and eventually ended up sitting so close with Brittany laying her head on the brunette's shoulder. Once silence fell on them, Santana took hold of Brittany's hand as she spoke rather anxiously.
"I'm sorry I left."
This got the attention of the blonde, who was already starting to fall asleep on the Latina's shoulder. She didn't move from her position, though, not wanting the comfort of being in Santana's arms gone.
"What?"
"After graduation. I'm sorry I left you."
Brittany squeezed Santana's hand in reply, urging her to continue.
"I'm sorry I never said goodbye… I don't know what got into me, Britt. I shouldn't have left you. You were my best friend. I should've known better. It's just that… We wanted different things. I wanted to go to New York; you wanted to stay here in Lima. I told myself that I would just be in New York to study, and go back to you once I graduated, but then I heard how great you were doing here, that you were finally reaching your dreams, with performances and teaching dance lessons. I just thought that if I came back and asked you to go with me to New York, you'd be giving up a lot." This time, Brittany shifted her position so she was now facing Santana. "If I asked you to come with me, you'd just be miserable, Britt. I didn't want that. I would never want that."
"San…"
"I'm sorry."
Tears were threatening to fall down the brunette's eyes, and so Brittany lifted Santana's chin up to gain her attention. "San." She repeated, this time more firmly. "It's alright. I forgive you." Brittany was about to cry as well, but she opted to remain calm and strong for both of them. She smiled a little at the Latina, to which Santana reciprocated. She then wrapped her arms around the shorter girl and held her like that for a long time.
After a few moments of stillness, Santana got out of the embrace and smiled at Brittany. Here she was, at the place she could express her every emotion on, and that she did. She was genuinely happy that she had finally told Brittany the truth. A feeling of relief mixed with tranquillity washed over her as she felt a heavy weight lifted off her chest. They went back to their original positions, Brittany leaning against Santana's shoulder, and both of them fell again in a comfortable silence.
Brittany was already about to fall asleep as Santana spoke up.
"Hey Britt?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it too late?"
"For what?"
Santana paused for a while, gathering her thoughts. This was too much in one night, but she knew she had to get it all out. She was about to proceed when she felt Brittany's breath evening. She chanced a quick look into the blonde and realized that Brittany had fallen asleep on her shoulder. She smiled, moving into a more convenient position so that she could hold Brittany in her arms. She pushed back some blonde locks on the girl's ear when she continued on with her question.
"Is it too late to get you back?"
A/N: Hello everyone! I am very sorry for the long wait for an update! I've been too busy with a lot of stuff these past few weeks and I only got the chance now to write a new chapter. Anyway, thank you be human, OTHangels, mynameischarla, HauntedByYou31, GL, genetic, asdf, JohnDo, Didine, and TinyFi311 for the reviews! I appreciate them all. Also thanks to those who have included this story in their Story Alerts and Favorites! I hope I don't disappoint on this one. Also, I may have to say sorry in advance if I fail to write a chapter soon. In a few hours I will be on an airplane to Los Angeles for a vacation and who knows when I would have the time to spend a lot of hours in front of a computer. Just because I want to share this with you guys, I will be taking a tour on Paramount Studios and since it's their last week on set, I really wish I would be able to see them! Include me in your prayers! Haha. Again, thanks everyone! I hope you continue to read this story.