Miami, Florida
White knuckles gripped the leather steering wheel as Santana stared down the small shop with a look of absolute irritation. She had been all over Florida searching through the best and worst bridal shops the state had to offer and of course nothing suited her taste. For a while she had considered just having a designer come to her house and make one for her, but not only would that cost an arm and a leg on such short notice, the only designs she could think of were variations of the one in the tiny shop she was currently staring down.
Resigned, she threw her car into park and marched up to the building trying not to look as sour as she felt. A mild consolation was that she honestly had looked for something else and if her mother asked, she could just lie and say she hadn't had time to do any more real searching. It would allow her to keep the dress and keep up the instance that there was a more appropriate dress at a different shop that she merely hadn't had time to get to.
Once inside she made a beeline for the rack the dress had been on, but after several minutes of searching she couldn't find it. She looked on the nearby racks and even in different sections wondering if it had been misplaced but saw nothing. Desperate, she went to the counter where the elderly owners stood talking quietly. Seeing her approach they gave her a welcoming smile.
"Hello, I was here a few days ago and there was a dress here…"
The woman was nodding from the moment she started talking, "Yes, it was one of my favorites to make, did you like it?"
"I did, I wanted to buy it actually, but I don't see it here and I was wondering if you had another like it."
The woman gave her a confused look and the man shook his head, "We don't make duplicates, that is if we can help it, sometimes the memory goes and the same design comes up twice." He laughed.
"Oh, well do you do you remember if you sold it?"
At this the woman's frown deepened, "We did but to the woman who was with you. She said you'd need it for your wedding."
Santana felt her heart skip a beat, "You mean the blonde one right?" Please let it be Brittany, I can deal with that.
"The brunette, I thought she was your mother, was I mistaken?"
Her face fell, "Ugh… no… that was my mother." She sighed and turned to the door, "Thanks for your help." She said over her shoulder, returning to her car before the couple could respond.
It was with a deep frown that she sat back in the driver's seat, however she couldn't help but let out a small laugh as she drove away.
Well played mother, well played. She thought, partially amused but mostly pissed.
Santana started by trying to call Carla, thinking that pride swallowing was easiest over the phone but the woman was obnoxiously not answering. After half an hour of driving around to avoid her mother's hotel she finally went only to find the woman wasn't in. Irritated beyond reason, she gave up and decided to return home knowing her mother would make her power play in due time.
The sight of her house gave her a warming comfort, knowing Brittany was inside waiting for her never failed to make her want to bound up the stairs and get inside as soon as possible. As she did just that she wondered if that would change for her, it apparently had for her other self or else she wouldn't have done what she did. That made her pause at the door, what if that happened? What if she managed to somehow become enough of an idiot to compound the mistake she made in this world with the pain she had caused in the other. Worry started to fill her, but then she remembered the other Brittany, the woman from Ohio who had cried heartbrokenly into her arms and been so deeply wounded by her counterpart's actions. There was no way she could do that to her Brittany, to have to go through that once was bad enough, it had tried her emotionally and she hadn't even done anything, furthermore it was a first offense. If she shredded the blonde's heart once and then came back only to do it again and then some… there would be no returning from that. There was no way it was happening and that was that.
Shaking her head with amusement at the sheer insanity of the thought she opened the door, her eyes searching for familiar blue eyes and instead finding three sets of familiar brown ones. On the couch were Puck, Mike and Carla all drinking and talking animatedly until she stepped in the door, all conversations stopped and the focus was shifted to her exclusively.
"Oh look who it is. Miss Forgets Her Best Friend At The Airport." Puck said giving her a stern look.
Before Santana could apologize Brittany waltzed in from the kitchen carrying several beers, "I prefer Miss Hands Under The Shirt." She said giving the now blushing brunette a wink.
"Crap, Puck I'm sorry I got caught up trying to…" Santana hazarded a look at her mother and then back to him, "Do stuff."
"Well good to know it wasn't for no reason, lucky for you Brittany knows how to answer her phone." He said indignantly though she knew it was purely for show.
Sighing at his antics Santana walked in and took one of the beers from Brittany in exchange for a brief but loving kiss, "What brings you two here?" she asked Mike and Carla.
Mike shrugged, "We were rehearsing when Puck called and decided to just call it a day and go pick him up together, I kept Britt company on the ride down. Besides Puck and I didn't see much of each other last time he was here."
"That's because it was Lady Thrillin time." Puck said.
Santana turned to Carla who raised her eyebrows as she twisted the top off her beer, "I don't recall needing to have a prepared explanation as to why I am visiting my soon to be daughter-in-law."
"Since you won't let me throw a slammin' party we picked up some drinks on the way here. I figured we could at least have a little get together." Puck said shrugging, "Oh! And I brought goodies!" he then bolted out of his seat and started to rummage through the enormous travel bag by his feet.
Brittany pulled Santana down next to her on the couch and waited eagerly for Puck's surprise, Santana just gave her mother suspicious eyes, a look the other woman totally ignored, until he reemerged with a DVD case in his hands.
It wouldn't have sparked Santana's interest if the whole thing hadn't been bedazzled, with the word CONGRATULATIONS written in gold glitter paint across the front, "What the hell is that?"
"A DVD." Brittany answered looking proud that she got the answer before Santana.
"Yeah, but what is it of?"
Puck grinned, "You can't guess?" he asked tapping his finger on one of the many stars plastered across the front of the case.
Santana didn't know if she was more shocked or appalled, "You're kidding."
"I ran into Rachel at a wrap up party from my last movie. She started asking if I kept up with any of the old crew and of course I told her about you two." He said still smiling.
"If that's an hour and a half of her singing you can put it in the trash now." Santana grumbled leaning away from the offered gift.
"Don't be mean." Brittany chided taking the DVD and moving to the television at the other end of the living room.
Feeling a headache coming on, Santana took a swig of beer and started to rub her temples, "I don't think we have to watch it now or anything." She tried but Brittany had already pressed play and was returning to curl up at her side.
The screen flickered to life and a menu screen featuring the most obnoxious teenager now adult Santana had ever known filled the screen, thankfully the background music was bereft of singing. Brittany selected the first Play All option before she could scan through all the horror in store for her and the screen flickered to a shot of Rachel sitting demurely backstage at some set or another with her trademark smile on her face. In all the years since she had seen the other woman a lot had changed, her hair was much shorter, her style was actually in fashion and it seemed she had grown an inch or two. However her grating talking voice, run-on sentences and grand hand gestures were all the same.
"Brittany and Santana, greetings and felicitations! As soon as I heard of your upcoming nuptials I panicked because unfortunately for the next few weeks I will be in Philadelphia performing and promoting a play by yours truly." She said it with an air of self pride that made Santana roll her eyes, she was going to comment, but Brittany predicted that and gave her arm a small pinch to keep her quiet, "But then I thought that if there is no way for me to be there physically, I could be there through film! But why should I be the only one to wish you well? So this is one of my gifts to the two of you! A Very Special Reminiscence of Brittany and Santana Glee Style!" shouted the over excited brunette.
The video cut immediately to Rachel once again sitting in what looked like her home bedroom looking calm and reflective, she rolled her eyes up to the ceiling in thought and sighed, "When I think back on Brittany and Santana in high school I think of two people who always walked with the red string of fate tying them together. It had never occurred to me to think of one without the other in any capacity. Once it was obvious that they had found love with one another I knew that marriage was inevitable at some point. Their romance reminds me of a similar occurrence in my new stage play A Passion of Crime." At that point she lifted a thick script and began to read, "Act three part one, Narrator, There is little to be said for their love because what more could be said? It spoke for itself louder than any words that could be spoken by the human mouth…"
Santana turned her most pleading pout on Brittany who didn't even have to look at her to get the message and clicked the next button. The image changed to a shot of Lauren looking like time had just forgotten about her, she looked as bored and haughty as she always had. As she folded a piece of paper she adjusted the camera absently and suddenly a confused expression crossed her face.
Looking up she crumpled the paper and tossed it over her shoulder, "Rachel has all these prepared questions and crap but I don't want to bother with all that. I guess she wants me to talk about you guys getting together and getting married and what not, but I'm going to be honest, I thought you already were. Like seriously. So, I dunno, congratulations on finally tying the knot. I do sincerely hope you have a happy life together. Peace." She said simply and the video cut to black.
The next image was of Sam, clearly recording off a laptop, holding a small boy that was either his son or a child he was watching that had been stung in the lips by a bee. They were sitting in what seemed to be a lavish living room that overlooked a skyline that was bit unusual.
"Hey guys! This is Evan." He said pointing to the child who waved enthusiastically.
"Only Sam would name his son Evan Evans…" Santana mumbled.
"I want to congratulate you on your engagement! Sorry I can't come down for the wedding but I am currently living in Italy with my family so we send our love instead. Um…" he looked down to a piece of paper that looked similar to what Lauren had been looking at, " 'When did you know Brittany and Santana were meant for each other?' " He looked up and grinned, "I don't know, it took me longer than anyone else to get how close you two were, but I always assumed you would at least be friends for life." Sam glanced down at the paper again and his mouth mimed the words on it and a small grin slid across his face, "Rachel wants me to share my favorite Brittany and Santana moment, but I got my little man here." He laughed. "Anyhow there is like a whole questionnaire here and I wasn't around long enough to answer even half of these questions. So I'll just say I may not have always known about what you shared but I'm glad you realized it. This is Sam and Evan sending you a heartfelt congratulations!"
Evan nodded, "Congra... congradjewlashuns." He said twisting his face with the effort.
Sam reached over and clicked off the camera turning the screen black before it came to life with an image of Kurt sitting in the same backstage area Rachel had been in. Santana found it oddly comforting to know those two still kept in touch. The flamboyant teen seemed to have only become more so with age… or he was in costume, it was hard to tell. She watched him straighten his immaculate hair and look down at the paper before him. After a moment he nodded and looked up at the camera.
"Kurt Hummel here wishing Santana and Brittany all the love and happiness the world can offer you. Finding the perfect someone in this world can be hard, but you two did it and that is no small feat. I know you both worked hard to get where you are and I cannot tell you how it makes my heart soar to know you're going to make it official. The moment I knew the two of you were meant to be together was almost right after I joined Glee club. I knew Santana as the coldest bitch to ever walk the earth and, let's be honest, at the time you were. At least to everyone but Brittany. When you were with her I could see a person who was not only caring and loving, but vulnerable and open, though that door shut the moment she wasn't the focus of your attention. And the longer you stayed together, the longer that door would stay open. I have to say Santana, marrying Brittany may be the smartest thing you ever do with your life. And Brittany, I don't know what made you stick it out that long, but I'm glad you did because I am sure Santana knows how lucky she is and will treat like you deserve to be treated; with the upmost love and respect." He said with a smile, one that vanished as he looked off screen where Rachel's distinct voice could be heard. "Oh." He added flatly, "I am to now recite something from Act one of A Passion of Crime." He said grabbing the script off the makeup table next to him.
Brittany hit next without having to be told, Mercedes was the next person up on screen and she looked fabulous in a sequined dress and diamond earrings. She, like Sam, was recording from a webcam and was dashing around her large bedroom as she spoke. It seemed like a lot had changed about her, but that could have been the fact that she had lost a lot of weight.
"Okay so I have been on an insane schedule the last few days and will be for a while but I had to take the time to send you two my best wishes." She said as she finally took the time to pause and sit in front of her computer. "I have no idea what the hell Rachel wants me to say, there are like forty something questions on her sheet and I don't have that kind of time, but I can say I knew you two were meant to be together by sophomore year when we would sit in Glee and you two would send each other those looks. You know those loving puppy eyes that made anyone looking feel damn near embarrassed to be intruding on. I guess my favorite Santana Brittany moment was Landslide… you know until Rachel ruined it. Anyway I really have to go and I honestly wish I had time to fly down and say this in person, but be happy and don't ever forget the love you obviously have for each other." She said and dashed off.
The screen was filled with the image of the empty bedroom before a loud off screen 'Oh!' was heard followed by increasingly loud footsteps before a hand slipped into view and turned off the camera.
The next person to appear on screen was Finn, he was sitting in an office of some sort and to Santana's surprise it didn't seem to be the interior of a car garage. His hair slightly longer, but styled in a businesslike manner and he wore a well tailored suit.
"Hey, Finn here." He said in his usual goofy manner as if all the upgrades to his station did nothing to hide the Ohio boy living inside, "Rachel called me and said you two were getting married, and I have to say that I'm so relieved to hear it. I sort of thought things ended on a weird note with you two at the end of senior year and it's good to know I was wrong, I don't think the world would make much sense if people that were as made for each other as you two didn't get together at some point. I'm managing the whole Hummel Garage chain now so I'm a little bogged down, but if you ever need some work on your car we have Florida locations and it's on me." He looked down at the paper Rachel had sent and sighed, "Um… I don't know when I knew you two were meant to be together… by the time it was a question it wasn't even a question if you know what I mean." He stared at the paper again for a long moment and tossed it on his desk, "All I really want to say is congratulations and have a happy life together, because it was obviously meant to be." He gave his sideways smile, stood and shut off his camera.
Rachel reappeared on the screen still beaming, "The other members of glee were harder to track down and others didn't have a camera or some sort of recording device that could send you their best wishes. However I emailed all of them and Tina and Blaine send their love and best wishes. I would like to close this with a passage from Act two of A Passion of Crime…"
Brittany skipped again bringing them back to the main menu and Puck grinned at them, "Pretty awesome right?"
The blonde nodded, "That was super nice of Rachel to find everyone."
"Why did we skip the Passion of Crime parts?" Carla asked.
Santana rolled her eyes, "That was just Rachel's way of being Rachel, you have to ignore it if you don't plan to kill her."
"I think it's nice she wrote her own play." She replied.
"It's too bad she couldn't find everyone." Puck said standing to return the DVD to its case.
"Well Rory and Artie already sent me congratulations." Brittany said leaving Santana gaping.
"You still talk to them?"
She nodded, "Only through facebook since Rory is back in Ireland and Artie is living in Europe. He moves all around there so it's the only way anyone can really keep in contact with him." When Santana wrenched on her 'I'm not jealous' face, immediately showing that she totally was, Brittany leaned in and kissed her on the neck whispering, "Calm down we only chat occasionally online and he has been happily married for the past four years."
Santana wanted to protest and say she hadn't been at all threatened by Artie's continued presence in her life, but she was entirely too relieved by her fiancée's words to express that.
"I need a refill." Puck said shaking his empty beer bottle and jumping up to go to the kitchen.
Santana still had a half full bottle, but got up and followed him anyway to hide her obvious relief, saying a swift, 'Me too.' And vanishing before anyone could note that.
When she arrived, Puck was already inside the refrigerator, he came out with a Heineken instead of a Budweiser and started back to the living room until he spotted Santana and stopped, "What?"
"Did you know she still talked to Artie?" she asked keeping her voice low.
"No. Does it matter?"
"It doesn't but… I sort of thought they broke up over me."
"I don't want to be Finn and walk over to pet the elephant in the room that everyone is ignoring but you do know it is possible to break up with someone without… you know… breaking them."
"Yeah…" she said looking at the floor.
"Don't go getting emo on me here, you are not about to let the high school shit get to you again."
"I'm not." She said seriously, "Besides I have enough to worry about. The wedding is in five days and I'm pretty sure my mom is holding my dress hostage."
Before Puck could respond, Mike dipped in grinning from ear to ear, "We're going to set up the karaoke machine up in Britt's studio so come on down when you're ready." He said and slipped back out.
Santana stared wide eyed at the space where he had been for a long moment before she turned to Puck, "Wait, who brought a karaoke machine?"
"I said I brought goodies. Plural. Karaoke is Rachel's other wedding gift to you two, but your fiancée couldn't wait until you got back to tear into the sparkly paper."
Santana wanted to put an end to any shenanigans that were bound to start when mixing alcohol, singing and dancing, but by the time she made it downstairs Brittany and Mike already had an iPod docked on top and were getting ready to sing Mr. Roboto.
Resigned, she sat on the floor by her mother who occupied one of the few chairs and watched the others dance expertly around the room while belting out the dated song.
"So Santana have you found a dress yet." Carla asked casually after a particularly impressive spin by Brittany.
She had been so wrapped up in watching the blonde move it took a moment for the question to sink in, when it did she cut her eyes to the side knowing full well where this was headed, "Not yet I was thinking about going naked." She was being defiant and they both knew it was pointless.
"Oh, well I have found this nice little lavender number." Carla said coyly bringing her beer to her lips and taking a long drag.
"Wouldn't be the one from the store we visited would it?"
Her mother frowned tapping a finger on her chin, "I don't know, we visited so many..."
"Look I know you bought the dress and I know you want me to admit you were right so yeah, okay, I want it."
"Want what? My dress? Surely not because, as you said, there was no way your dress was in that first shop."
"Mom." Santana warned.
"Just say the words 'Mommy you were right. I think the dress you picked was perfect and it would mean the world to me to wear it at my wedding.' "
"You're drunk."
"This is my third beer, I am not drunk, but you might be if you think you're getting off the hook so easily."
Seeing Puck working his way down the stairs with his bag serving as a temporary alcohol carrying case she knew that she had better swallow her pride now while everyone else was distracted rather than being forced later when Puck was all drunk and obnoxious. Plus later Mike and Brittany might be around to hear the groveling and that wouldn't do.
"Mommy you were right." She growled dangerously.
Carla frowned and leaned down a little, "Sorry what? I can't here you over the music, you need to speak up, and I don't think you said the whole thing just then."
Deciding to get it over in a rush Santana raised her voice just enough to keep it from totally overpowering the music, "Mommy you were right! I think the dress you picked was perfect and it would mean the world to me to wear it at my wedding!"
To her horror the music had stopped the moment she opened her mouth, a feeling made worse when she saw her mother was holding the remote for the karaoke machine, "Sorry, I couldn't hear Santana, please continue." She said sweetly to Mike and Brittany as she turned the music back on.
Mike had the decency to hide his amusement, but Puck almost dropped all the beer laughing so hard. Brittany gave her a pitying look, giggling nonetheless, and her mother burst out in a laugh to rival Puck's at the look on her face. Seeing that, Santana had no choice, but to laugh too.
Quite a few beers later Mike talked Carla into a dancing with him while Brittany and Santana sang Head Over Feet, a duet that nearly pushed pleasantly drunk Santana to weepy drunk Santana. However Brittany was able to whisper a few racy suggestions in her ear and the weepy part flew away. Three beers later Santana didn't feel like crying at all anymore, but she did need to sit down and she plopped down next to Puck who had earned a break after performing three back to back Creed songs, a choice she could only assume had been inspired by the alcohol.
"Know what?" he asked watching Brittany and Mike trying to show Carla how to Dougie.
"What?"
"Somethin's weird with Britt and this whole wedding."
Her attention totally refocused on him, his words sobering her slightly, "How?"
"I…" he shrugged and shook his head, "Okay seriously don't get all teary eyed and I don't want to start petting the elephant again, but when I said that to you 'bout Artie I started thinking about what happened and… I mean, and do not get weepy on me over this," he stressed again looking somewhat steadily at her, "but with her taking you back a year ago and the wedding being a month after the proposal… don't it seem a little… desperate?" He tiptoed around his words as if she would, despite his warnings, burst out into tears at any moment.
"How is it desperate?" Santana asked not following his logic well enough to even consider getting emotional over it.
"It's like she wants to marry you as soon as possible 'cause she thinks you'll bolt again if she waits."
She frowned, "Britt knows I wouldn't…" but her voice trailed off as she looked at the woman across the room from her. They both knew Brittany did have reservations about her.
"I know you're in it for real, but she's got to be a little worried."
"It doesn't matter, we're getting married in a few days and it'll fix any worries she has about us, if there even are any." There are and you know it.
"Will it?" the question seemed aimed more at himself than anything, "Look Santana, I want you two 't be happy more than anyone else okay? I am all aboard the wedding train and I ordered a tux for the special day right when I got home from my last visit, but if a thousand and one failed romances have taught me anything it's leaving stuff like this unresolved can only lead to more shit."
"We've talked about it, so don't worry your pretty little head about it."
"Really? You actually talked to her about what happened? You had a serious and real discussion about it?"
His words hit hard because she remembered a similar conversation with Quinn in a park in another world, "She told me how much I hurt her and I apologized but…"
"Then you need to nip it in the butt."
"What makes you so sure it's not enough?"
"Because I know I need to have the same talk with Quinn if we're going to be serious." He said and drained his bottle before opening another.
Not knowing what to say to that she looked back at Brittany, the blonde was choosing a new song and threw Santana a smile when she saw her staring, "She doesn't even like bringing it up, I mean it's something we're working past not dwelling on." she said feeling agitated with herself for managing to create this situation twice. That she needed to get through to Brittany and solve a hurt she didn't know how to heal all over again.
"You can't move on from something until you've dealt with it first Santana. It's like moving from Canada to the States if you've never been to Canada. Impossible."
Santana frowned at the analogy for a moment before she understood the truth of it, "So I should… what? Make her sit down and tell me all about how hurt she was?" She asked hoping he could offer more advice than Quinn had in Ohio.
Puck rolled his eyes, "That sounds awful. I think you should sit her down 'n get her to tell you what it is that is bothering her now. It can't be the exact same thing that was buggin' her then."
There was silence between them before Santana admitted, "She did say she trusted me in her heart but her head was saying something different."
"You need to get her to tell you exactly what's running around in her head."
Santana looked out at the others as Carla declined another offer to dance and plopped wearily back into her chair. Brittany laughed and for some reason that joy reminded her of all the sorrow she had caused and her eyes started to water, at least they did before her whole body was rocked by a hard punch to the arm.
"Son of a…" she yelped.
"I told you not to get weepy." Puck said pointing slightly off to the right of her.
"I'm over here you ape. It's a wonder you didn't kill me with your aim that off."
He nodded, "I was aiming for your boob."
A/N:
So to answer a question that has come up in a few pm's and a review or two: Q - Is Hailey's crush going to come up in the Florida timeline? A – Nope.
Mentioning it in the Ohio timeline was a way to let you know that there was a little something more behind Hailey's irritation at Santana without making it into one more thing for the poor woman to deal with. Besides I have a lot more in store for her that will be much more riveting. That leads me to say that soon we will start spending more time in the Florida timeline as there is more that needs to be covered there. A few people have requested I drop the Ohio one and some aren't all that interested in Florida but I do my best to keep both interesting (and have a few people admit to eventually liking both –made me super happy-) and I use each one to help tell the story of the other. I don't know if anyone's noticed, but Ohio has tons of foreshadowing… ANYWAY off to write the next chapter.
BTW as it turns out my laptop needs to go back in the shop however it should only be for a day or two and shouldn't really affect my update schedule. I hope…
Positive feedback lets me know what I'm doing right constructive criticism lets me know what I'm doing wrong. I listen to both :)