Hello!
Whew, sorry this has been a long time coming. It has been done for a few days but haven't had the internet to upload it. But to make up for that this is the longest chapter yet :)
So this is the first chapter dealing with episode 6-Mash-off. Like the last chapter I'm going to put a note at the end explaining some stuff but I really hope you like it. I deal with the more serious stuff in the next chapter.
I just want to tell all you guys that I am so grateful for the influx of reviews for the last chapter. I'm so glad that you guys liked my interpretation of Sancedes :P. It means a lot to me that I have people enjoying what I write and sharing that with me. It is one of the greatest things about writing and I never get sick of anyones opinion, new ideas or suggestions so please keep them coming.
Anyway, here you go! :)
Ch 11: Be Nice
Santana could never understand how Mr Pierce got his hedges looking so freakishly perfect. He wasn't one of those weird guys that watched them grow with binoculars from his front window or anything. He just really liked his hedges.
He'd clipped them in neat squares, with diamond points on each corner and they were always uniformly straight. Whenever Santana was waiting in her car to pick Brittany up she'd become inexplicably enthralled by them.
She was so preoccupied with those freaking hedges that she jumped a foot when Brittany opened the passenger door and slid onto the seat.
"Oh Jesus you scared me!"
"Sorry! I wasn't even trying that time. Do I open car doors like a serial killer?"
"Something like that," Santana shook her head and started the car.
"Hey."
Santana, about to put the car in gear, looked up at Brittany. She was pouting.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Huh?" Santana frowned. Brittany drew a finger across her still pouted lips.
"Oh!" Santana shot a quick look back at the hedges, wondering if Britt's dad was sneaky enough to hide security cameras in those diamonds. But Brittany leant over and pressed herself against Santana, using her hands on the back of Santana's neck to tug her face closer and then her lips were softly coaxing Santana's mouth open. She tasted like candy and toothpaste.
All of a sudden Santana wasn't sure if she'd even care if Britt's whole family saw them, so long as she could keep the taste of Brittany on her tongue.
Then a car drove past and tooted its horn and Santana sprang away from Brittany like she'd been tasered. Britt leant back in her seat, looking slightly out of breath. She wiped her mouth and then turned to look at the car that had just driven past.
"It's no one from my family but it could be the FBI so we better take the long way to school."
As Santana put the car in gear and accelerated away from the curb Brittany slung one hand across one of Santana's thighs and settled back in her seat, pulling out a box of Dots from her bag and plopping several in her mouth.
"Ohh, did you hear that Blaine and Kurt did it after the closing night of the musical?" She asked, chewing.
Santana nodded. "Yeah, Mercedes told me. Rachel and Finn did it too."
Brittany's face screwed up. "That doesn't turn me on anywhere near as much as Blaine and Kurt doing it does."
Santana laughed, shaking her head. "Finn and Rachel having sex would be like a buffalo trying to mount a meerkat."
Brittany was digging around in the box for more Dots. "Uhuh. Timon and Pumba sex."
"Urgh okay. Let's get away from that topic. Do you have any ideas for our mash-up?"
Brittany chewed thoughtfully. "Mmm, well Sugar text me last night suggesting we do Stars Are Blind and Sexy Bitch and I was all for it until she called dibs on doing Akon's part. So now I don't know. What about you?"
"I'm not sure. All I know is that I want to beat the others. I mean, I'd prefer to do it physically, but singing won't get me expelled so I'll just settle for that. Finn needs to get what's coming to him and I plan to make sure we kick his ass so badly that it bleeds when he…"
"San," Brittany interrupted, pointing up head. The lights had phased red and Santana had to slam on her brakes to stop them running through the intersection.
"Shit, sorry sorry. I just get so pissed when I think about him and Potato Sack. I can't believe they are deemed evolved enough to function in our society."
"They aren't that bad."
Santana snapped her head around. "While you may of forgotten the shit they were saying to you at the fitting last week, I have it burned pretty freaking brightly in my mind."
"It wasn't really them though. They were just laughing. It was the football guys."
Santana was rapidly losing her cool. As the lights went green she revved her car through, jostling them in their seats.
"Anything less than sticking up for you is what I consider assholery at its finest. Buloo the bear is always creaming his pants over being all buddy-buddy and sticking by glee club members, maybe he should take his own advice."
Brittany squeezed Santana's thigh. "But look at what came out of it," she said softly. "Sure I got laughed at and confused but like...the difference between washing machines and dishwashers confuses me so it's not that big of a deal. But you, Santana, it made you brave enough to tell Mercedes."
"Mercedes already knew." Santana pointed out cooly.
"Yeah, but you didn't deny it. You faced it and that's why I don't care about what those guys said."
Santana fell silent, her eyes on the road. She didn't want to have a deep and meaningful when they were only two minutes away from school. She'd had so many emotional break downs at that place in the last few weeks she was surprised she hadn't been called up to Miss Pillsbury's office and given a "Do You Hoard Your Mother's Sleeping Pills?" pamphlet. She'd made a resolution to herself that it would stop and that she'd go back to her usual steely self.
Santana pulled the car into the school parking lot, slotting it in between a silver pickup and a black, shining Audi.
Surprised to see such a flash car, she peered through her side window into the Audi and saw Sugar in the driver's seat, applying lipstick in the rear vision mirror. She caught Santana looking and waved, clipping the lid on her lipstick and opening her car door. Rolling her eyes, Santana grabbed her bag from the back seat and got out too. Mercedes had wandered over from her car too, looking the Audi up and down.
"Hey my sexual kittens," Sugar twinkled her bedazzled nails at them.
"Hey Sugar," Mercedes sounded resigned to the impending encounter.
"Do we have a Troubletones practise today? Oh, no thanks Beebee," Sugar shook her head at the Dots box Britt was holding out to her. "Those things give you kidney stones."
Brittany's eyes widened in shock and she peered disconcertedly into the box. Santana moved to stand beside her, brushing a hand down her back.
"They don't Britt, I promise." For good measure she reached in and took a red one, popping it in her mouth. Brittany nervously watched her chew but brightened when Santana swallowed and grinned at her, appearing unharmed.
"We don't have practise today no," Mercedes was saying. "Miss Corcoran is substituting so she doesn't have time."
"She's teaching our geography class!" Britt turned excitedly to Santana, threading her arm around her back and leaning against her shoulder. "Maybe she can show us a map of where she keeps the rest of her demon spawn." Santana stiffened at the contact, sliding her eyes wearily over Sugar and Mercedes. Mercedes didn't look phased and Sugar was grinning at them.
"You guys are like, nothing like what I thought lesbian couples were like. You guys are adorbs!" Santana felt Brittany grinning against her shoulder but she wheeled to glare at Mercedes.
"You did not."
Mercedes grimaced and shrugged. "Sorry Santana. She called me last night and started singing her mash-up ideas and I had to change the subject."
Santana bristled. "Oh and you couldn't think of anything else worth talking about?"
"You guys are like...Pretty much the only thing we discuss." Sugar said, examining her cuticles. "It's no big deal. I just thought you'd both have like...thumb rings and lots of bracelets and one of you would go all manly and wear fake chest hair."
Santana stared back and forth between her and Mercedes, horror rising in her throat. Brittany disentangled herself and took a step away.
"You'd look hot if you did that," she announced, looking Santana up and down.
Santana blinked, dumbfounded.
Mercedes was the first to start giggling and then Brittany began to chuckle. Sugar was next, covering her hand and simpering like a chihuahua. Santana fought the rise of laughter in her own chest as best she could, but as Mercedes doubled over, leaning on the boot of the Audi, Santana began to laugh too. Then Sugar went and snorted and set them into fresh hysterics until Brittany's face was bright red, Santana was gasping and Mercedes had tears streaming down her cheeks.
/
After second period English Santana decided to stay behind in class and wait with Puck while he tried to convince their teacher to accept his three week late essay.
"Eh, it was worth a try," Puck said as they obeyed Mr Holt's frustrated banishment. "Why are you being so supportive Lopez? Don't tell me you want sexual favors."
Santana rolled her eyes. "No you douche. I actually have a bone to pick with you." She spun on her heel into his face, making him draw back, alarmed.
"Why the hell were you and the football guys being such assholes to Britt last week at the fitting? Sorry I'm only just getting around to destroying you about it but I've been trying work myself up to handling your stench long enough to have this conversation. So. Explanation."
Puck was frowning down at her.
"W-what are you on Santana? I wasn't even at Artie's last week. I have other stuff to deal with."
Santana scowled at him and he took a step back, raising his hands.
"You know that if I'd have been there I wouldn't have let that shit go down. Where was Finn? He's usually pretty onto it when it comes to sticking up for people."
"Finn was laughing along with the rest of them."
Puck's frown deepened into a scowl.
"No effing way? Where the hell does Rachel keep his balls these days?"
"Same place Shelby keeps yours? Hey!" Santana struck upon an idea. "Seeing as you'll be like…Finn's Step-Dad-in-law or something maybe you could give him the hard word."
"Huh. I wish." Puck looked glum.
"Still making you beg for treats is she?"
"We haven't done anything since that one kiss. But I told her in first period that I like wanted to take things to the next level."
Santana raised her eyebrows and nudged him suggestively. "Second base huh?"
Puck huffed a sigh. "I wanna be serious with her. Like I really like her. I want to try and be a proper family."
"A family?" Santana said the words like she'd forgotten what they'd meant. Surely out of Puck's lips they didn't signify the usual definition.
"Weird I know but," He shrugged. "Guess that's just what love does."
"So they say," Santana agreed faintly. She was trying to remember exactly how they'd both moved so far from where they once had been.
Noah Puckerman had been the boy that did gross stuff like pick his nose and chase you with it still on his finger. He was the boy that got in trouble for laying under the monkey bars beneath the girls wearing skirts. He was the boy that none of the girls wanted to hold hands with.
That was until 10th grade when suddenly his unwashed boy smell became tinged with a musky aftershave, and his arms ballooned like pumped tires.
Santana, like every other girl in McKinley, had pricked up her ears at the sound of his suddenly shattered voice box.
She'd calculated her movements towards him like a chess player. A sideways glance in class one day. Her laughter slightly raised at one of his jokes. Her number given casually, like a passing sweep of her hand down his back.
And then they were at the same party, and he was pouring her vodka and orange and she was so drunk she slipped on the kitchen tiles and went down sharply and his hands were curled under her armpits, strong and sure. They lifted her not back to her feet but up, up until her butt connected gently with the counter-top. And then his hands were down around her waist, anchoring her against him.
He didn't kiss like the other boys who acted like they were only interested in tasting her tonsils. Puck kissed her like her actually cared that she'd picked her Chanel lip gloss to wear that night. He kissed her like he wanted to pick apart the tastes on her tongue with his own.
When he drew away, a smile, faded like an old photograph, drifted across his face.
He called her the next day and took her to Breadstix. And the whole night he followed on the tail of every smart quip she made with his own- until he made her laugh so hard she snorted coke across the table and he'd laughed till he had tears in his eyes.
Then, in the back seat of his truck, with the mood lighting of a streetlamp, he kissed her like he had the night before, and his hands were less like anchors and more like sails. And the wind picked up and they were rocking far too fast but she didn't tell him to stop.
And then she was walking crookedly to Brittany's front door where she asked him to drop her off and Brittany was waiting at the threshold wearing her fluffy green monster paw slippers. And they went up to her bedroom and cuddled and Santana whispered to Brittany every detail, feeling an incomprehensible relief in the fact that she'd lost it before Brittany.
And then, late in the night, when the sky had been oddly tinted by the day somewhere else in the world, Santana pressed her face into Brittany's back and cried quietly so that she would not wake her up.
"You want me to rough him up now?" Puck was nodding over her shoulder. Santana glanced backwards to see Finn's head sticking above the crowd of students. Beside him trailed his little Irish weed. Santana narrowed her gaze.
"No, no. I got this."
She left Puck leaning against the lockers and trained her eyes on Finn and Rory, heading towards them mulling insults on her tongue. They were her favourite taste.
/
"Remind me again how you got us into this mess?" Mercedes approached Santana, clutching a red ball and puffing. Sugar came up beside her, holding another ball gingerly by her fingertips.
"I thought there was no Troubletones practise today," she grumbled.
"I've already told you both we're at dodge ball practise. And Mercedes, Finn challenged us. And there is no way in hell I'm going to give up the opportunity to see his man-boobs smack him in the face when he runs."
Smoothly, Santana tapped the ball from between Sugars fingers and balanced it easily on her palm. There was a squeak on the lino of the gym as Brittany and the other Cheerios members they'd recruited twirled passed, practicing their acrobatic flip and throws. Santana smirked proudly at them.
"Walk with me," she said to Mercedes and Sugar, turning on her heel and approaching the bin where the red dodge balls were kept. "When I was a kid my tío Terry made up a game for us cousins. See, we had a big family and limited hot water so sometimes we'd have to double up when all the family stayed at his place. And he had this massive grapefruit tree in his back yard so one day he decided that he'd pick a bunch of the most rotten ones and make us kids stand in a line while he threw them at us. Whoever was the messiest by the time he'd run out would have to take a shower with my bisabuela. And let me tell you right now, my bisabuela was a large lady." Santana picked up another ball from the crate and swung around.
Quick as lightening, she flexed her arm and shot it at Mercedes. It smacked into her face with a dull thud, jiggling her features around. Sugar snorted but it abruptly turned into a shriek as the second ball connected with her own face.
"So," Santana continued, ignoring their looks of resentment, "sheer terror has made me the best dodge ball player in this school. And while I understand that you will never measure up to me I still expect you to be able to beat lumberjack Jim and his rag-tag band of inbreeds."
"B-but dodge ball is so…" Sugar wiggled the bridge of her nose gingerly where the ball had connected. "It's so hard core. I mean I know you're a lesbian so you like smashing balls but…"
"Look Malibu Barbie," Santana hurriedly cut across her. "Just be grateful that dodge ball is all we're doing. Finn's fist suggestion was for us all to come down to his barn for some potato moonshine and a rootn' tootn' game of Spin the Cousin."
Brittany came jogging over, flushed and out of breath. Santana trailed her eyes over her rapidly moving chest, smiling just a little.
"The New Directions are here," she panted, nodding over her shoulder. Santana frowned as she caught sight of Rachel, Finn and the rest of her old glee club file into the far end of the gym and begin stretching. Blaine called Brittany's name and waved. Santana tugged Britt's hand back before she could reciprocate.
"Come on, let's huddle and talk tactics!" She called to her team, leading them away from the New Directions.
When their heads were all bent down around hers she cleared her throat.
"Everyone good with what we're doing?"
The Cheerios and Brittany nodded their heads in unison. Sugar and Mercedes were the only ones still looking hesitant. Santana rolled her eyes.
"Sugar. I can guarantee that every one of those losers behind us has called you an Asperger's freak at least once this week," She lied. "You should want to kick their asses as much as I do. And Cedes…" She turned her eyes to the girl she now held so much respect for. "There is a reason you're standing on this side of the gym. You've been kicked around and ignored and left wither in Berry's shadow for two years now. I know you're sick of it and I know that there is no going back for you. So please, please help me go all Rosa Parks on their asses."
Slowly, Mercedes nodded. "Let's do this" She said. Santana smirked, already feeling the adrenalin sparking in her muscles.
"Yes, lets."
/
It was the evening of the day after the dodge ball match and Santana still was gleaning pleasure from Finn's expression when the ball she'd hurled whacked him straight in the face.
She had to bask quietly to herself though, because she'd promised Brittany and the other Troubletones that she'd be nicer to them from now on and concentrate on the upcoming Adele number for the Mash-off. Still, as she sat on the floor beside Brittany's bed watching Mercedes, Britt and Sugar bickering over what Adele songs they liked the most, Santana let a small smile of satisfaction creep across her cheeks.
She loved winning. And seeing Rory cowering on the ground blubbering like he was Finn's whale calf was really the icing on the cake.
Santana was startled out of her memory as Brittany bounced down on and flopped on the carpet beside her. She threaded her hands between Santana's and snuggled against her, edging her nose into the crook of Santana's neck.
Despite the fact that they had nothing to hide around Sugar and Mercedes, Santana stiffened automatically. When she saw the Mercedes and Sugar hadn't even batted an eyelash in their direction, too caught up in arguing about their own vocal likeness to Adele, Santana let herself loosen, curving closer to Brittany. She turned and kissed the top of Brittany's head, taking in the milk and honey scent of her shampoo.
"I think you sound most like Adele," She mumbled against the collar of Santana's cheerio jacket. Santana's reply was interrupted by Mercedes raised voice.
"Well it's going to be a Santana-Mercedes duet anyway," Mercedes snapped at Sugar. "So it's really no concern of yours what songs we sing."
Sugar opened her mouth to object, looking highly affronted, but Brittany untangled herself from Santana and stood up, rearranging her Cheerios skirt which had ridden up. She hopped over to the bed and tugged Sugar up by the hand.
"Sugar is my dancing buddy though right? Those two sing," She nodded at Santana and Mercedes, "and we dance around them making them sound better. You'll help me with the choreography right?"
Sugar looked thoroughly appeased and nodded enthusiastically. "Holy shit yes. Did you know, I once auditioned to be Beyoncé's backup dancer but they said I upstaged her and she went all Sasha Fierce when she saw my audition tape." She flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I'm the hottest bitch out to be honest. I mean you're good but…" She gestured up and down her own body. "Not this good."
Santana rolled her eyes and pushed up off the floor.
"The premixed Rum 'n' coke I brought should be chilled by now. Imma go get it so that all this," she gestured in a circle around at the others, "is easier to deal with."
"I put it in the fridge by the garage so my parents wouldn't drink it when they come home San!" Britt called to her as Santana walked down the hall.
Santana went via the kitchen to grab cups and then to the garage. She picked her way past some stray boxes to the spare fridge and grabbed the large coke bottle from one of the shelves inside the door.
It was then that she heard an engine pull into the dive way. When it didn't pull into the garage, Santana tiptoed closer and peaked around the edge of the open garage door.
"Hey Finn! I'm just getting my costume finished and then we can head to practice. Come in!" Santana almost lost her grip on the coke and cups as Rory's voice sounded from Britt's front door right on the other side of where she was standing.
"Alright, cool." She watched Finn get out of his car and lope across the driveway towards the door and disappear inside.
Her curiosity was twigged. If she could somehow find out what songs the New Directions were going to butcher she could help the Troubletones chances at winning. She crept back to the garage side door and into the downstairs hallway, following the sounds of their voices as they receded down to Rory's room at the end. She set the glasses and coke on the bottom of the stairs and snuck along the hall, expertly skipping every floor board that she remembered creaked.
Rory had left his bedroom door open and Santana crouched beside it, not daring to look inside but straining her ears to pick up every word.
"Wow this is awesome Rory, it's exactly like the others we've got back at mine. Nice work buddy."
"Yeah, thanks. I tried to ask Brittany for help yesterday but she said she was scared of sewing machines so I asked Mrs Pierce instead."
"Three guesses why Brittany said that."
"Yeah, she's definitely been avoiding me lately. That mean girl who made my nose bleed at dodge ball, she's always with her an' I know she doesn't like me. They're all upstairs now in Britt's room, didn't say a word to me."
"Mmm, I wouldn't take it personally. That's Santana's default setting." Finn replied. "I don't get why Brittany even has the time of day for her. She was so much better with Artie. These days it seems like she's...I don't know. Constantly holding her tongue and doing what Santana says."
"Aren't they like...A couple or somethin'?" Rory asked.
There was a pause. Santana pressed closer to the door.
"Mmmm….I think that Santana wants them to be but I don't see Britt being as serious about it. She pretty much just goes where the tide pulls her."
Rory's voice was wistful. "I wish it would pull her to me."
"Well, you know...We probably could get that to happen if we tried hard enough. And, hey," Finn's voice rose in excitement, "if you and Britt got together maybe she'd come back to the New Directions. I know Rachel and Tina get so worried about her, they'd be so on board with trying to get her back. "
Santana was ridged against the wall- her body and muscles marble smooth and turned to stone by anger. The blood surging in her ear drums meant she nearly missed what came next.
"I'd really like that Finn. She's so smokn'."
"Well Buddy you'll have your chance when you get your solo in our mash-up. I'm sure Britt's keen, we just need to show her that you have some attitude too."
"Well then we better get to practice and start thinkn' up some dance moves that'll woo her."
Finn laughed. "Yeah, are you all done here?"
"Yup. Just gotta grab my shoes…" There was a bang as Rory clattered open his wardrobe door.
Santana knew she had seconds to decide what she was going to do. She was fairly certain that she could take both of them, but probably not at the same time. If she burst in now she'd have the element of surprise, but that never lasted long. She looked around the empty hall way, contemplating potential weapons.
Through the haze of her anger she heard dull movement upstairs, the opening of a door, the rhythmic thud of footsteps.
Someone was coming to look for her. Silently, Santana slipped away from the door and picked her way back down the hall towards the bottom of the stairs.
She bent to pick up the coke and cups and realised her hands were shaking. Fumbling, she jumbled them all into her arms and started up the stairs just as Brittany appeared at the top of them.
"There you are!" She looked relieved. "I thought the goul who lives in the garage rafters had gotten you." She bounded down the stairs towards Santana.
It felt odd to twist her facial muscles into a smile, but Santana did it anyway. Brittany reached the step above her and relieved her of some of the glasses.
"Mercedes has got two songs she thinks go well together. She wants to sing one and you sing the other kind of. She keeps talking about all these letters of the alphabet that I'd never heard of before. Like...Did you know that C has a middle? And that F's could go below it? Is that some kind of adult alphabet? "
"She's meaning musical notes B," Santana murmured, feeling like her cheeks were stuffed with cotton wool. She couldn't tell Britt what she'd overheard because these things never upset her as much as they did Santana. And then Santana would get angry at Britt for not taking it seriously and then Britt would look at her with her cheeks red and her eyes smarting with tears and then Santana would have confirmation of what she feared the most was true- that she was bad for Brittany, like Finn had said.
That Brittany was unhappy but just too scared to say anything.
Santana's head and stomach were churning with truths and doubts and fears.
They were going to try and take Brittany from her. They'd talked so casually about it, knocking aside all the triumphs Santana had carefully stacked up against her and Brittany like they were nothing. How easy would it be?
The promise she'd made at Troubletones practise the day before to be nice to Finn seemed so petty and insignificant now, backlit by the things she'd just heard.
They arrived back at Brittany's room and Santana somehow made it through the rest of the evening on auto-pilot. If Brittany noticed her vacancy she didn't say anything. But when Mercedes and Sugar offered to take all the used cups and plates from their snack down to the kitchen, Brittany sidled up to Santana and tugged the lapels of her jacket.
"You like the number so far?"
"Uhuh, yeah. It's going to be great."
"Do you want to stay tonight?"
Brittany's closeness was overwhelming, her scent was everywhere, the soft skin on her neck just inches away. Santana could say yes and get lost in Brittany. She could say yes and try to drown out everything she'd heard earlier. She could try to fill her head with Brittany's voice, Brittany's quickened breathing, Brittany's moaning.
Santana could spend the night and try to chase away the doubts.
But they'd come for her. They'd fixed themselves on the scent of her fear. They'd echo in the back of her head when Brittany was curled against her, far away in sleep. They'd taint the taste of Brittany's skin. They'd fill their kisses with "what ifs".
Santana leant her head against Brittany's and shook it.
"Mom wants me home, sorry Britt Britt." Her voice wasn't her own.
"Oh. Okay. Are you sad?" Brittany peered into Santana's face. Santana dropped her eyes and squirmed away from Brittany, walking over to collect her stuff together.
"Of course I'm not sad silly. Just really freaking tired."
Brittany followed her across the room, her hands squeezed together up against her chest.
"Don't drive home. Stay here, please?"
Santana hesitated, biting her lip. She swept her eyes across the room she'd seen a million times. On Brittany's bed Lord Tubbington lay stretched out on Brittany's side amidst the crinkled blankets- immense and tabby and purring as loud as a bulldozer. His paws twitched slightly as he dreamt.
From somewhere a smile came to her face as she remembered all the nights she'd slept over at Brittany's- back when they just had sex and pretended they had no feelings. Some nights that cat would jump up and hog a whole side of the bed to himself. He'd push his paws into Brittany, kneading her with his claws until she would shift sleepily away from him and roll over to Santana's side.
On those nights, Santana had laid awake with Brittany draped across her and thanked god for that obese cat.
Santana zipped up her school bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"Sorry Britt," she mumbled. "Not tonight."
/
Santana got no sleep that night. And she rose to the next day like a zombie, her throat dry and her eyes wide and strained by the lack of rest. In the shower she turned the hot water up and let it surge through her like a drum beat.
When she stepped out she swiped her hand down the misted mirror, clearing a jagged path so she could see her face. Concluding that covering the mess she saw blinking back at her with foundation and eyeliner would be about as effective as a band-aid for a bomb crater, she left the bathroom and went back to her bedroom.
Brittany was sitting on her bed.
"Your Mom let me in on her way to work," she shrugged at the surprise on Santana's face.
"Oh, okay. Well," Santana hesitated, clutching her towel around herself. "I have to get ready but there's breakfast stuff still on the counter if you want something?"
"Lord T and I shared a bagel." Brittany wiggled further back onto Santana's pillows and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them. "I'll just stay here."
"So I'm taking you to school I guess?"
Brittany's face faltered. "If that's okay?"
"Uhuh."
Santana turned away from her and got dressed.
When she was done she made her way over to her dresser and dropped down into her chair, looking hopelessly in her mirror at the botches and lack-of-sleep bruises under her eyes. Sighing, she reached for her foundation brush.
"The presidential debates tomorrow," Brittany said from the bed.
Santana felt a pang of guilt. She'd promised Brittany days ago that they would work on her speech together but it had completely slipped her mind. She grimaced and looked over at her bed.
"Sorry B, I know we were supposed to get it together. I'll come over tonight and we'll sort something out okay? But I wouldn't worry because you've got this in the bag already. The soul destroying lameness of the other threes speeches will actually work in your favour, I promise."
She could see Brittany's face was clouded.
"Everyone thinks I'm all confident and hot and stuff and I am when it comes to like, saying other people's words like in songs and stuff but I don't like saying serious words in front of a lot of people."
Brittany's voice cracked, and Santana could see her throat working to restrain the tears.
Santana had tried to stay away. After what she'd heard the night before it was like her eyes had been opened to everything that she hadn't wanted to see.
She loved too hard, she cared too much and Brittany was just Brittany, like Finn said. She went with the tide.
Santana could feel the impending avalanche of events- Finn and Rory's plan hovered just on the horizon, its gathering momentum rumbling like thunder in Santana's ears.
Yet, like the fool she was, she got off her chair and slid onto the bed, caving her arms around Brittany, squeezing their bodies together.
"It'll be perfect, just like you Britt."
/
They weren't late to school, which surprised Santana. And Britt somehow managed to manipulate the makeup well enough so Santana looked half-way presentable. They walked through the double doors swinging their hands linked by their pinkies.
Santana felt a little easier with Britt beside her, like her lungs were less full of lead.
Up ahead of them, Rory and Finn were walking, talking seriously. They were at the other end of the corridor.
Suddenly Santana could barely see straight. Anger almost winded her. She unlinked her and Britt's pinkies and lengthened her stride towards them.
"I'll meet you in class!" She called over her shoulder.
"San!"
Reluctantly Santana looked back.
Brittany was hugging her folder to her chest, worry creasing her forehead.
"Don't be mean to Finn and Rory. Remember you promised?"
Santana swung back around to glance at Rory and Finn's progress. They were one bay of lockers away.
She turned back to Brittany and looked flatly into her face.
"I won't Britt," she lied. "I promise."
Rambling Note of Explanation That You Can Feel Free to Ignore if You Want:
First off, the Rory-Finn plan to get Brittany back. I know this one is a little out of the blue, but I needed a reason for why Santana would promise Britt and the TTs that she'd be nice to Finn and then in the next scene be the biggest bitch she's ever been to them. I believed something had to of happened between those two scenes to make her change her mind because I don't think she'd go against Brittany lightly.
Secondly, the Santana becoming unsure about how Brittany feels about her. Santana is a person who I believe finds it very hard to love because she finds it very hard to trust. So the fact that Brittany may hurt her is at the back of her mind since she refused to break up with Artie. I put that in there because it connects to things I'm going to explore in the next chapter and it also echoes what Finn says when he outs Santana.
I want to make it clear that I totally thing Britt loves her back and Santana's fears are unfounded yet understandable.
Woo okay sorry for the mini novel of explanation I just felt like I needed to!
