Title: Where the Wild Things Are

Author: Rigby8

Pairing: Santana / Brittany

Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events is made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.

Rating: M (General rating not chapter specific)

Summery: Written from POV of Santana. She is at college in New York but after a bad break-up she is persuaded by her High School friend Quinn to go on a camping holiday. Quinn's new friends from college (who are characters from Glee) take Santana into their friendship group without hesitation and Santana finds herself being unexpectedly drawn to Quinn's quirky friend Brittany.

RIP Maurice Sendak

A/N: As always, thanks for your comments and alerts. The positive inspire me to write more and the critical motivate me to write better.

Chapter Fourteen

Breadstix was really busy. It was filled with other couples and groups of friends. It made me nervous; it felt as though everyone's eyes were on us. As soon as someone's eye caught mine I glared back at them and felt my heart race. I knew that it was ridiculous, there was no way that people would look at us and assume we were on a date but I couldn't stop myself from thinking it.

"Santana… are you okay?"

Brittany had placed her menu flat on the table in front of her and rested her hands gently on top of it, clasping her fingers together and trying to peer over the menu I had held up in front of me.

"Yeh, I'm good."

I carried on looking around me, daring someone to give us one of those looks.

"Are you sure? Because you've had the menu held up in front of you for the past ten minutes and I'm yet to see you actually look at it…"

She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the top edge of my menu and flattened it onto the table.

"Santana… you seem really distracted, is there something wrong?"

Finally I focused on her and I realised that the concern that I had heard in her voice was also written all over her face.

"Sorry, I'm just… look this whole public thing is new and it feels a little like we're on show." I was trying to be as honest with her as possible, but I kind of regretted it when I saw her face fall.

"I see. Well, nobody is going to guess anything Santana. We're just two girls out at dinner together. You must have done it hundreds of times with your female friends right? Did you ever feel weird then?" I could hear the sadness in her voice but I decided not to delve deeper yet.

"I know. It's because I know that we're more than two female friends having a platonic dinner." I edged my hands towards hers stopping only inches away from her fingers.

"But they don't know that… but they do know that you're acting weird and starring at them. Which is only going to make them stare more and wonder what it is you're trying to hide." She closed the gap a little further and I was torn between wanting our fingers to touch for the comfort and not wanting them to touch because I was paranoid enough already.

"I know." She had paused her movements a centimetre away and she was about to reach out her index finger to brush against mine when the waitress appeared in my peripheral vision and caused me to jump back in my seat and press my hands between my thighs to secure them there.

"What can I get you girls?"

Brittany didn't look up at the waitress, she was too busy focusing her attention on me, waiting for an explanation as to why I moved.

"Umm…" I looked between Britt and the waitress, my head pulsing as the silence dragged on.

"I'll come back." She turned away and headed to the table next to us.

"Are you really that worried about people finding out?" She placed her hands flat on the table and was invading into my half of the table. So much so that I was starting to feel cornered. I pressed my back into the seat. I needed some distance to arrange my thoughts before I let her get close me to again.

"Yes" I almost whispered it and I saw her look down at the menu in front of her for a second before she retracted her hands and placed them out of sight under the table.

"Okay."

There was an awkward moment, where I studied Brittany's face. She was looking down at the menu but I could tell she wasn't actually reading it. She was processing the situation.

"What are you going to have?" She suddenly perked up and waited for my response, it was like she had flipped a switch. However, I still felt so guilty for rejecting her that I couldn't cope with the change of conversation topic to reply quickly enough.

"I think I'm going to order the… um… shrimp to start and then some seafood pasta for main. I love seafood. Yum. Do you always get the same thing?"

She was trying to carry on as though nothing had happened and I respected her so much for it, but I didn't want to leave it like that, without being able to make sure she wasn't mad at me. That she wasn't going to bring it up again later on and cause us to have another argument.

"Britt, I'm so sorry. I want to, really I do; but I'm not ready and I'm so scared of what people will think!" I said it in an urgent whisper so that the couple on the table next to us couldn't hear.

"I know. I'm not going to push you into anything your uncomfortable with. I wish I could hold your hands across the table and talk all romantically, but if you can't do that then I respect that. I want to spend time with you. I love spending time with you, so, what are you going to order?"

I could feel my eyes starting to burn. I wanted all of those things too; I only wished that I could be as brave as Brittany. I wished that I didn't care and that I could show all the affection for Britt that I wanted to, that I was dying to, but there was this barrier stopping me that I couldn't quite pull myself over.

"I usually get garlic bread to start and spaghetti bolognaise for main." My burning eyes got worse and I could feel tears running down my cheeks. I wiped them away quickly with my thumps and continued to pretend I was perusing the menu so that I didn't have to look at Brittany.

"Santana… please look at me." She was pleading with me. It took me a few seconds but eventually I was able to look up at her. She looked so concerned and I could tell she was itching to comfort me, but was somehow managing to stay on her side of the booth.

"Really I'm fine. I'm being silly." I wiped the remaining tears from my cheeks and grabbed my bag from the seat next to me.

"Do you want to go?"

"No. Hundred-times no. Will you order me an iced-tea and my food? I need to freshen up in the restroom. I'll be back in a moment."

"Sure." She sounded uncertain but let me get up.

"I promise that I'm coming back."

She let out a small laugh, "Okay, you better."

The tension broke a little with her laughter and I gave her a reassuring smile before heading towards the restroom. I held my head up high and walked quickly, making sure I didn't look towards anybody as I went.

I locked myself into a stall and sat down on the toilet. I didn't actually need a pee but I did need a time out in a place that nobody could interrupt me. I got my phone out of my bag and there was a message from Quinn.

Enjoy your date! Britt was texting me about it all afternoon to get feedback on what she should wear. I'm pretty sure Mike's house is full of her outfits – she's hilarious. Anyway, enjoy the romance xxx

I felt sick as I read it. Quinn was right, I should have been enjoying it and I was so excited about it after Britt and I had talked in the car, but now everything was awkward and I was hiding out in a restroom before we had even ordered. I needed to pull myself together. Britt was gorgeous, funny, intelligent, and if I didn't get my act together I was going to lose her. I had no reason to be afraid. I needed to grow a pair of metaphorical balls and get with it. Brittany deserved romance and handholding and a romantic post dinner kiss. She's already missed out on getting that when she had picked me up and now here I was denying it from her again. I didn't even live in Lima anymore, she was the one that lived near here and had her reputation to think about and she didn't care. She wanted to show me off, she wanted people to know that we were together.

I wiped my eyes and cheeks with some toilet tissue and unlocked the stall so that I could freshen myself up in the mirror above the sink. It was time to get romantic.

I walked out of the restroom and made a beeline for our table, making sure I didn't look at anyone else. Tonight it was just Britt and I.

However, when I got to the table it was empty and the table had been reset. I looked around, my eyes wide with fright and when the waitress approached me I knew she was going to tell me that Brittany had left.

"Excuse me dear." She held my elbow and I nodded to her in reply, I was worried that if I spoke my eyes would start to water again. "Your friend" she said the word with caution, "asked if you could move to the corner." She pointed out towards a small two-seated table in the far back right of the restaurant. Brittany gave me a cute little wave. I noticed that she was even facing outwards to the restaurant, which meant that I could sit with my back to everyone. I wouldn't be able to see if people were looking and no one would know it was me. I felt awash with relief.

"Thanks." I said it to the waitress but by that point I was already halfway towards our new table. We were so out of the way, you would barely even notice we were there at all.

"Hey" Britt stood up, walked towards me and kissed my cheek. Before she pulled away she whispered in my ear, "we're starting this again." I held her closer to me. She really was amazing and showed how understanding she was willing to be so that we could give us a real shot.

"You look beautiful."

I flushed at her words and sat down, watching her walk around to her side of the table; being sure to take in the gorgeous contours of her body before she sat down and they were hidden.

"Thank you." I mimed the words and she winked at me, handing me a menu before looking down at her own.

"I think I'm going to have the shrimp and the seafood pasta… with a sparkling water."

We started the date all over again, repeating our orders from before, but I felt a thousand-times more comfortable in her company. The conversation flowed and we shared information that we hadn't managed to talk about yet. Like about our childhoods, our pets, where we saw ourselves in ten years time. She was so graceful when she spoke that it made my heart flutter with excitement. I had never felt so woozy on a date before.

There was a natural break in the conversation and we both took a sip from our drinks, looking at each other over the glasses, which reminded me of when we both drank our coffees in her tent when we were camping. Her eyes were sparking and her cheeks were glowing red like the conversation and the environment was making her flushed. I placed my glass down first, and she mirrored me, we had locked eyes and I kept my had fixed on the glass where it was and even though I could see her finger reaching towards mine this time I didn't flinch or move away. I watched it in slow motion and I could tell she was testing the waters to see if I was going to freak out by taking her time and making sure I knew it was happening before she made contact. He index finger brushed the back of my hand and I closed my eyes and sighed at the contact. It was such a small thing, so minute is terms of how we had touched before, but for me it was a huge step. I felt the barrier begin to lower. After a few strokes she moved her hand away and straightened her cutlery, obviously needing something to do with her hands that wasn't touching me. I glanced over my left shoulder to see if anyone was looking, but I realised that they were all too wrapped up in their own conversation to even notice.

When I looked back to our table, Brittany was grinning at me like the Cheshire cat. She was bubbling over with wanting to say something but somehow she managed to keep in inside. Neither of us said anything after that, we were too busy taking part in a stalemate of smiles, until the waitress brought over our main course and we had something to distract us from looking at each other.

"Do you want to try some of my pasta?"

Brittany held her fork out towards me and I was about to take the handle from her when she evaded my hand and moved the fork in front my lips. I glanced to my left again, increasingly aware that people might construe something, but Brittany brought me back to looking only at her by murmuring my name. When I looked into her eyes, it did feel like it was only the two of us in the room and I didn't care anymore. I placed my lips over the fork and made an approving moan as the food entered my mouth. It really was tasty but I caught Britt looking at my lips and I knew what she was thinking because I felt the same way when I concentrated on her mouth.

However, a small grin spread across her mouth and she began to chuckle at me.

"What!" I asked, really trying hard not to speak with my mouth full but she didn't give me much choice.

"You have pasta sauce on your face."

I swallowed my mouthful and stuck my tongue out to try and get the offending sauce of my face, which only seemed to make Britt laugh harder. Eventually she picked up her napkin and leaned over the table to wipe my chin. She froze for a moment, and whispered so that nobody else could hear her, "if we were alone I wouldn't have used my napkin." She snaked her tongue out and ran it over her bottom lip. I felt my lower abdomen pull at the thought of what her tongue was capable of doing to me.

She sat down and placed her cutlery on he plate ready for the waitress to take it away as if she hadn't said anything out of the ordinary. However, my body felt on fire. All I could think about was doing sensual and naughty things with her.

"Santana… you look a little red?" She asked it so innocently but she knew full well the effect that her little stunt had on me.

I decided it wasn't fair for me to feel all hot and bothered for the rest of the meal, whilst she acted as though she was completely unaffected. I moved my right leg, which was next to the wall so it was hidden from view and placed my foot next to her left leg.

He eyebrows rose and she let out a weak cough as my calf connected with hers.

She kept her eyes fixed on me as the waitress came and cleared our plates and asked if we wanted to see the desert menu.

'Yes please" I answered because Britt was still too busy staring at me.

"You're very brave all of a sudden." She said it with confidence until I slipped my foot out of my shoe and trailed it up the inside of her calf to her knee.

I saw her visibly gulp and her fingers tensed and dug into the table.

"Santana" she said through gritted teeth as the waitress arrived back again with the menus and left.

"What should we get for desert?" I spoke as though there was nothing out of the ordinary going on, when really my foot had now reached her knee and began to stroke the lower part of her inner thigh. In response she stretched her leg out so that her foot was under my chair and parted her legs slightly wider to give my foot more space.

"Do we have to get desert?" She was breathing quite heavily now and I loved the effect I was having on her, even if it was in a public place. I was being so sneaky and I was revelling in the fact that nobody was able to see what I was doing. I loved that I could show Brittany how much I wanted her, without having to worry about my debilitating insecurities.

"Yes. Do you want to cut the date short of something?" I gave her puppy-dog eyes and she relented and looked at the menu.

I took her silence as an opportunity to edge my foot slightly further, resting it on the front edge of her seat. She took in a sharp breath and slammed the menu down on the table, calling the waitress over with her hand.

I tried to protest, but before I had the chance to tell her I'd stop the waitress was beside us and I didn't want to move my leg in case it drew attention to it.

"Hi, um" She looked over at me and I was certain she was going to ask for the bill.

"We'll share a sundae, thanks." She handed the menu back to the waitress and grinned at me as my jaw dropped. She was getting her revenge.

"If you feel confident enough to play footsy with me under the table, then you are going to share a damn desert with me Santana Lopez." She stared hard at me and I felt as though I wanted to protest, but she was right. I needed to push myself out of my comfort zone. It was getting late so the restaurant was starting to empty anyway. I could do this for Brittany.

"Okay. But I get to have the cherry from the top."

She laughed and I saw her shoulders relax back to their normal position.

"You can have the cherry Santana."

The sundae arrived pretty quickly and we both tucked in. Britt pulled the cherry off the top by the stem and held it out to me.

"You want the cherry?" She said cheekily and I nodded. "Well here to go then." She held it out in front of me and I was about to grab it with my fingers when she moved it out of my reach. "Na ah." She mused, "No hands."

I leaned my head to the side and bit down on my lip whilst I thought it through.

"Come on Santana. You can do this." She said it mockingly, like the physical action of getting the cherry was some tough feat I had to accomplish, however, I knew she was actually talking about me getting over my fear of showing that we might be more than friends in a public place.

"Please." She wiggled the cherry invitingly and I with her cute facial expression I couldn't help but comply.

I leaned over and took the cherry with my tongue and hooked it into my mouth. She didn't let go of the stem so I had to secure the fruit behind my front teeth and pull backwards until the two parts became separated.

"Taste good?" She picked up her spoon and tucked back into the sundae.

"Mmmm" I mumbled back whilst chewing.

We both fell into a comfortable silence whilst we ate, every now and again she would fight my spoon for a piece of brownie or some extra chocolate sauce, which made me feel so relaxed and fuzzy inside. I had stopped teasing her with my foot by this point. Instead, I leaned my knee against hers and felt giddy when she moved her leg so that our calves were nestled against one another's.

"You've got the last piece of brownie on your spoon!" She whined, pushing her bottom lip out and resting her spoon in the glass.

"Britt, you've had almost all the brownie and there is loads of ice cream left."

She shrugged her shoulders and played with her hands, "I know, but I'm finished with eating ice cream, I feel like I'm going to get brain freeze if I eat anymore and I really like brownie. Like reeeeealllly like it."

I tried to ignore her but when my spoon was inches from my lips she widened her eyes and murmured, "please can I have it." Her voice sounded so small and I knew I couldn't eat it. I was such a sucker.

"Fine. You can have it." I stated.

Her face instantly changed into a grin and then she opened her mouth wide and leaned forward.

I faltered for a moment. She wanted me to feed her this time. I knew she had done it to me earlier with her pasta and the cherry but now it was the other way around. However, she didn't close her mouth, so I couldn't leave her sitting there like an expectant sea lion for very long. My hand was shaking slightly as I quickly moved my arm towards her lips and watched as she closed them around the spoon. Her lips were mesmerising and not for the first time that evening, I was desperate to kiss them.

"Thank you." She looked at me sincerely and I nodded back.

"Are you girls done?"

"Mmmm yes thanks." I replied.

"Can I get you anything else?" She looked between the two of us and it dawned on me that our date was almost over. Shit.

"Just the bill please." Britt smiled politely at the waitress but I could tell she was thinking the same as me.

"I really enjoyed tonight." Brittany was playing with the wood in the middle of the table and I found myself watching her fingers.

"Me too."

The waitress arrived with our bill and Brittany grabbed it off the table before I had a chance to even see how much it cost.

"I'm buying."

"What! NO Britt, don't be crazy, I'm getting it…"

But it was too late Britt had her card out ready and was signalling to the waitress to get it from her.

"Thank you." I looked into her eyes just before the waitress returned and Brittany paid.

"Anytime."

I fidgeted whilst she sorted out all the receipts and a tip, and thanked the waitress. I found my hands had made their way onto the table and I wanted to take Brittany's hand. I wanted to but I wasn't sure that I could.

"You ready to go?"

She placed her hands flat on the table in front of her and looked straight at me.

"I…"

Her eyebrows raised and leaned forward to encourage me to continue.

Instead of speaking I shuffled my hand across the table, keeping my palms in contact with the wood, until our middle fingers were touching point to point. I looked up at her but she had her eyes fixed on our hands. They stayed like that for a few seconds, until Britt decided to make a move. She pushed forward and interlocked our fingers, so that our palms were still flat on the table.

"I love spending time like this with you Santana." She was still looking down at our hands and I breathed in a heavy sigh after she said it.

"Me too."

"What are you plans for the rest of the evening?" She asked tentatively and I felt her fingers twitch as she said it.

I had been so focussed on the date; I hadn't given any thought to what we were going to do afterwards.

"I guess I was going to go home."

She nodded.

"You?" I almost didn't want to ask in case she said she was driving back to her parents' house. I didn't like the idea of her being so far away.

"Mike said I could stay at his tonight, so I don't have to drive home." She bit her lip and this time it was my turn to nod.

There was an apprehensive pause and I think neither of us wanted to get up, because then we would only be a short car journey away from having to go our separate ways.

"I don't want to spend tonight without you San… I know it probably isn't possible, things are pretty confusing and I don't want to make you lie to your Mom again, but I miss sleeping next to you. I want you to be the last thing I see before I go to sleep."

I squeezed her fingers tightly underneath mine and it made her look up from the table to my face.

"Britt, I want that too." Right then I didn't care where we went, I just wanted to be able to spend alone time with Brittany, as we had been able to do so freely at the campsite.

"But where can we go?" She was almost pleading with me to find an answer.

"I don't know…"

We both fell into quiet contemplation until Brittany's broke the silence.

"Okay… come on let's go. We're only torturing ourselves by thinking about it." Britt got up from the table and broke apart our hands whilst she got her bag and smoothed down her outfit.

I followed her actions, racking my brain as to how I could make it work. Maybe we could both stay at Mike's? No, that wasn't fair, I barely knew Mike, and that would put him in a really tough position. I would let her stay at mine, but I was already feeling guilty about lying to my Mom. I didn't want to have Britt stay and then have her find out the truth afterwards and feel like I'd betrayed her. That was a step too far.

Then I had a brainwave, it was like one of those light bulb moments in cartoons.

"I need to make a call."

I brushed my fingers against her hands subtly, and hurried out of the restaurant.

"Santana?"

I heard her voice but I already had my phone out ready and was dialling. Maybe we could spend the night together after all.