Valentine's Engagement

As the afternoon had slowly become the evening, Santana had begun to feel her stress levels rise. She still managed to assist with the customers in her usual polite manner; she managed to help Michelle co-ordinate the kitchen and the front of house; to see that the service was swift and the clean up afterwards was just as fast. She could however feel herself becoming more and more tetchy. She felt that she had hidden that well, until she heard Sebastian of all people turn round to Dave and whisper "Look out - Auntie Snixx is back!" That was enough for her to decide that she needed to take a break, and so she grabbed her coat and headed outside to stand on the sidewalk as she had done so many times, standing apart from the handful of people smoking outside. It was a dreadful habit, but she supposed that it gave them more of a reason than her to be standing outside the diner on a night that was growing increasingly cold. She stood and watched as inside her friends - her colleagues now she realised - went about inside serving and singing, all of them happy. Brittany in particular seemed not to have a care in the world as she paused to whisper something in Artie's ear….

It hit her then - why Artie had looked so tired and stressed for much of this week. They had both been using him to assist them with their proposals. "Darn wheels, you are just too nice! You could quite easily have said no to one of us - unless of course I was the one to ask first, because Brittany would never have understood why you said no to her…" The young man in question suddenly looked up and blushed as he realised she was staring at him through the window. He stared at her for a moment, then gave her a quick thumbs up, before he moved away to help serve another customer.

"At least you know that she won't say no," said a voice behind her, and she spun round to find Blaine standing there. "I didn't know with Kurt - I mean, when I asked him to marry me at Dalton, we had barely just agreed to become boyfriends again. He could quite easily have slapped me, dumped me, and stormed out…"

"Trust me, he was never going to do that. I lived with him whilst the two of you were apart, remember. He pined for you every single day, even when he was with Adam. I could see in his eyes that he wasn't really happy; that however nice the British guy was, he would far rather have been with you…"

"And I can see that Brittany would never dream of saying no to you either. Together the two of you are an absolute joy to watch. When she didn't have you, senior year at McKinley, she was so sad most of the time; the whole thing she had with Sam, well that was just to give her somebody to keep her company when she felt sad and alone. It could just as easily have been me that she latched on to, but after she found out that I had cheated on Kurt… well, she never really forgave me for cheating on her dolphin at the time."

"Now that much I know to be true. I don't think that she truly forgave you until we got her back to McKinley at the end of that year, and she saw for herself that the two of you were happy again."

"Right, enough of this. Now it is time for you to go and do what you have wanted to do for a very long time. What she has been ready for you to so since her junior year…"

"It's scary, ok…"

"I know, but in the end, it will be so worth it. The day that I finally married Kurt was the happiest day of my afterlife…"

Santana looked at him, and then burst out laughing.

"I know, I know," Blaine said with a grin, "but doesn't that statement give you all the more impetus to go and do this now? Stop stalling! It is time! Get back in there right now, because I know that both Quinn and Artie are more than ready."

Santana drew in a deep breath, and strode back into the diner with purpose. She took off her coat and flung it at a confused Beats, once again stationed at the door. She kept walking, ignoring his protests about not being a cloakroom attendant as she did so. Puck however instinctively knew what was about to happen, and quickly darted over to whisper in his ear - and having done so, all of the former Warbler's protests stopped. Sure enough, Santana nodded to Quinn, and signalled to Artie. Brittany found herself being propelled towards the stage by Quinn, the tray of drinks that she had been carrying passed without ceremony to Mike, who after a moment of confusion, realised as Puck had done what was about to unfold. He glanced over at the stage where Santana was now standing, and gave her a thumbs up and a big smile. She for her part smiled right back, all the time watching as the woman she loved and adored was manoeuvred through the room towards the bottom of the stage steps by Quinn. This was it. The moment had finally arrived. She had planned to sing, but no, she wouldn't. All she would do was get down on one knee and speak to her from the bottom of her heart.

The only problem that she faced was the noise. The diner was exceptionally busy after all, and she did not wish to start shouting at the customers so early in their tenure as owners. Then again, she didn't want to be quiet about things either. She tried to get everyone's attention by clearing her throat, and even just by simply tapping hard on the microphone, but such was the volume of the chatter that it was all to no avail. Brittany was by now at her side, looking beautiful as always, if slightly bewildered as to what was going on. Sitting by the counter, however, was one person that noticed her plight. They also had the solution in their pocket. They pulled it out, with a grin. By their side, an angel suddenly appeared, and with a broad smile on his face said "Let him rip!" Suddenly, a loud report of wood on wood was heard, as Thad banged on the diner's counter with a gavel that was oh so familiar to all of the Warblers. The sound of Mr Bangy was still enough to silence all of them at once; the New Directions realised what it was, saw Wes, and also fell silent. It did not work as well on the general public, and it took Thad four loud bangs on the counter to finally quiet the last person in the room. That they fell silent more out of shock than anything else did not matter. With a curt nod, Thad bowed to Santana, as Wes stood by his side, giving her a massive smile and a thumbs up.

"Well, thank you Thad and Mr Bangy, for getting everybody' attention for me at last. Now that I have it, I am not going to take up too much of your time. Firstly, I would like to welcome all of you here this evening on behalf of myself and all of the Spotlight Partners. This is our first night in charge, and it just so happens to have coincided with Valentine's Day. Whether you are here as a regular, or as a first timer, I hope that all of you are enjoying yourself, and that tonight will be the first of many on which we can welcome you. Anyway, moving on… I'd like to tell you all the reason that I am up here with this beautiful, wonderful young woman. For those of you that have not had the pleasure to have met her, this is Brittany. I met her in high school, where we were both cheerleaders. She is enchanting, if a bit eccentric, but that trait is what makes her so special to all those of us that have the pleasure of really knowing her. To me though, if I am honest, well she is the love of my life. Each and every single day she surprises me; she delights me; she makes me love her all the more. So today, I am going to do something that I should have done a long time ago, but first the Hobbit and Porcelain got there - and trust me, that was completely off the scale, thanks to Blaine. Then Nick and Jeff - aka Niff - jumped in. Since then, two more pairs of guys have taken the big step, and said those four little words. Notice the fact that all of the people in question are guys… Anyway, I have it on good authority that she is going to ask me those words herself in about an hours time. She still can, and I am looking forward to it, but as anyone that knows me will tell you, I like to get in first…." With that, Santana got down on one knee. "Brittany Susan Pierce, will you make me the happiest woman in the entire universe, and agree to be my wife? In other words, will you marry me?"

The room fell silent. The couple's friends held their breath in anticipation; the diners sat and waited, even those that had come to the place to avoid the general soppiness of the day. Then, Brittany spoke. "What would you do if I said no, Santana?"

"I would cry, if I am honest… My heart would be broken, but I would understand, as long as you stayed in my life."

"Well, when have I ever said no to you? So yes, I will marry you, but on two conditions…"

"Name them, my love."

"I get to propose to you at nine. And we don't swap rings until then."

"It's a deal - anything for the future Mrs Pierce-Lopez. So, as you were ladies and gentlemen - next proposal at nine; so, that would be in about 50 minutes time." With those words, Santana wrapped her arm around Brittany's shoulder, and escorted her off the stage, across the diner, and into the office, to the delight of all of their friends. The noise started up again, and normality was resumed. Once again, food and drink was being consumed to and from the tables; Tina grabbed her chance, and dragged Mike up onto the stage to sing with her.

At the bar, Thad sat in silence, something that Wes immediately noticed. "You wish that it had been you and me up there, don't you?" he said quietly. "It should have been, could have been if I had come to my senses and told you how I felt earlier. I do want to marry you, and one day, probably long after all the others have married, we will…"

"Likewise Wes. I can wait a lifetime for you. I have the promise of eternity with you, and that is more than enough for me…"

So it was that as nine o'clock came around, the atmosphere in the diner moved to one of expectation. Jeff had disappeared along with Artie and Nick about ten minutes beforehand, no doubt to get ready to help with whatever Brittany had planned. The young lady in question had, however, not reappeared from the office since Santana had taken her there after her own proposal; and as could only be expected, numerous suggestions and a fair deal of innuendo had been made about what the two of them were doing in there. No-one guessed accurately though. The two of them were looking at details of wedding venues online. They did not want to get married at the Spotlight, as after all, who wants to get married at their place of work? They also rejected the New Yorker hotel - the place would be too full of memories of what had happened there after Niff had tied the knot for pretty much everyone. They also deemed that just going to City Hall was far too boring. It turned out that there were a lot of very interesting places that you could get married in the city, and they both agreed that the whole thing need further investigation at their leisure. After all, along engagement was not an issue for them; they felt no need to rush things. They were so engrossed in their search that they did not notice the time, and it was only when Kurt appeared, tapping his finger on his watch, that they realised that there was somewhere else that they were supposed to be, and that they had a very expectant audience waiting.

For a moment, Santana found herself alone in the middle of the diner as Brittany rushed away to get ready. She accepted the congratulations of her friends, and from total strangers. Then she made her way to the stage, unsure what she could expect to see. She had a feeling that it would be far more elaborate than the proposal that she had made just over an hour before. In that, she was to be proved right.

Brittany stepped onto the stage, with the three young men right behind her, and without a preamble, launched into her song - I only want to be with you by Dusty Springfield. She nailed it, naturally, every word aimed at a blushing Santana. The latter did not see the looks of approval from all around her, not just from her friends, but from all the customers, and most importantly Gunther. He had realised from the moment that he had first been introduced to Brittany that she and Santana had been made for each other. It was a feeling that was shared by all of the people gathered in the diner, all of whom were also trying hard not to laugh at the antics of the backing singers, particularly the faces that Nick and Jeff kept making at each other. Then the song was over, and Santana suddenly found herself being manhandled in the direction of the stage by Puck. She didn't understand why she was suddenly so scared to step up on the stage where she had been so many times before, but she was. That all ended the moment that she was up there, and wrapped up in Brittany's arms. Then, all of her fear faded, and she was back to her usual confident self.

"Santana, I remember the day that we first met properly, in freshman year, when we both went to try out for Cheerios. You were so strong and brave; so smart; so sassy - and me, I was the shy blonde, who people thought was a bit dumb, and slightly obsessed with her bizarrely named cat. Lord Tubbington does send his regards, by the way." She paused, as a ripple of laughter echoed throughout the room. "I'm still not sure exactly how you, me and Quinn came to rule the school, so to speak, but we did. And if we are bring honest, I think that we were total bitches whilst we did. Then we ended up joining Glee, and everything changed. Our lady kisses began to mean a lot more to me; they already meant so much to you, and I began to realise that you were far more to me than just my best friend - I guess just like Blaine realised that Kurt was more than his best friend too; and Nick and Jeff too, I guess. Anyway, I knew that I loved you, and I knew that you loved me too. Like all good things, it wasn't an easy road to get here. We have had our fair share of troubles, particularly when you were outed; then we split up when you went to college, and I was held back… I was so lonely and sad without you in my life; I tried to move on, and so did you, but in the end, we came back to each other. We are soulmates after all, meant to be together. So now, it is my turn; Santana, will you marry me?"

"Of course I will! I love you so much. Heck, I even love Lord Tubbington at the moment!" That set them both off laughing, and that laughter continued as they both slipped a ring on the others finger, the sound of it being drowned out by the cheers and applause from around the room.

It turned out, as it happened, that theirs would not be the only proposal to take place at the diner that evening. Two pairs of diners also left the premises having exchanged a ring. Meanwhile at the specially set up singletons tables, there were more than a few that left a little less single. As time went on, some of the invited guests left - Gunther and his wife departed with smiles all round, about to embark on the new adventure of retirement. Burt and Carole left just before eleven, stating that they weren't getting any younger, and they had to be up reasonably early in the morning to head back to Lima, where Burt had some constituents to meet. The others remained, although the crowds were thinning out, and fatigue was starting to tell. Finally, just before midnight, the time came to cash up the registers, and replace the floats with fresh ones for the night shift. The partners were still undecided about whether the diner should carry on being open all night - after all, it had only been started just after Hunter's trial, and the takings were not huge, except in the early hours of a Saturday and Sunday morning. That debate was for another day though - just now, all of them wanted to now exactly how much they had taken.

By now, the partners and their friends easily outnumbered the customers, so it was easy for all of them to find a seat as they waited. To speed things up, the registers were being tallied by three people instead of the usual one. Michelle and Santana had been joined by Nick, who had pointed out that Jeff was half asleep, liable as a result to miscount, and so it would be better if he did the work. Coins were weighed, bills counted, totals written and then double checked. When they emerged from the office with a sheet of paper, there was an air of nervous anticipation, which promptly gave way to happiness when Michelle read out the figure. It had been a magnificent start, and it seemed that the Spotlight was going to be a very profitable business for all of them. That was the cue for them to head home, although some of them decided to head out to a club to celebrate their success. For others, like Nick and Jeff, bed was calling loudly, and they hailed a cab to get home swiftly. After all, Jeff was due back at 8am at his own request, as Nick was due at the Law Library for a shift an hour later. When they arrived home, they just headed to bed, and fell asleep almost at once. The day had been good, but long; and before too long, they would have to do it all over again.