Welcome to You and Me

Ch. 14: Because Reasons

Brittany's lips were really, really soft... and warm... and really, really nice to feel on mine. But it was totally unexpected (duh) and although it was wonderful, I pulled away after about five... or ten seconds. When my rational side kicked in and began to freak out. Internally, of course.

I stared at Brittany and her eyes were fixated behind me, but after a quick second she gazed back at me and bit her lip. That had just been melded with mine. It felt like an eternity as our eyes bore into each others. Instinctively I touched my mouth lightly with my fingertips of my left hand and sucked in a breath of air.

I could feel the heat rise up to my cheeks at that moment of realization that Brittany had just kissed me. In public. A very public place, in fact. And with our friends around the table nonetheless.

"Santana..." She said quietly, her eyes pleading. She reached out to place a hand on my arm. My breaths began to get rapid and I immediately jumped up and out of my seat. The noise of my chair quickly scrapping the floor caught the attention of the others. Their heads turned to my direction and questioning looks met my flustered appearance.

"You alright there, Santana?" Puck asked, apparently he didn't notice what had happened. The confused expressions of the rest of the group indicated that no one else seemed to witness what had just transpired. I gulped some air down my dry throat and nodded furiously.

"Yeah," My voice cracked and I cleared my throat, "Just, uh... gotta go to the bathroom," My eyes darted to everyone but Brittany's. I couldn't even handle looking at her at that moment. I flashed a quick smile and scurried over to the restroom across the floor as fast as I could without looking suspicious.

I opened, entered and closed the door and headed over to one of sinks inside. My fingers grasped the sides and I looked down at the white porcelain and took a few deep breaths. Slowly, I turned my gaze up at my reflection in the mirror in front of me. I looked like I had just ran a mile or something, with the amount of color on my face and the sweat that covered my forehead. Well, I did rush over to that bathroom pretty fast. My heartbeat was still pretty rapid and thumping in my chest. What had just happened replayed in my mind.

Quinn and I arrived a little late. I sat down next to Brittany. We were talking and... kinda flirting? I don't know. I looked down to see the time on my phone. And I looked back up to find Brittany waaaay up in my personal space and the next second she was kissing me.

What?

How?

And most importantly...

Why?

I whipped out my phone and texted Dani.

SHE KISSED ME. SOS. HELP.

I didn't want to risk anyone overhearing our conversation if I called her. Besides, she was probably working and wouldn't be able to answer my call. Text was also a good solution. As I waited for her reply I bent down to check if anyone else was inside.

No one else seemed to be there and I sighed out in relief. A buzz from my pocket told me I got a message and I quickly opened it.

Dani: R U SERIOUS?! OMG. THIS GIRL HAS SOME GOOD GAME. DAMN.

I. Am. Freaking. Out. I ran out and I'm hiding in the bathroom.

Dani: What?! Go back out there and kiss her some more.

You're not helping.

It was in front of everyone at the table! But idk if anyone saw.

No one else seemed to see us. Or so I thought. The door opened and I glanced at the mirror to see who it was.

Blonde hair.

My heart seemed to skip a beat. But then I met those eyes.

Hazel.

That stared back at me with inspection and a knowing look.

Quinn took a few steps inside and let the door close shut behind her. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. I straightened up (hah), placed my phone back in my pocket and smoothed out my clothing.

"I saw what happened,"

Shit. I froze up but quickly regained my composure.

"What do you mean?" I tried to play off as I turned on the faucet and let the water run. Quinn rolled her eyes at me when I let the cool water pour over my hands.

"Don't act like that. I saw you and Brittany."

Fuck.

I turned the faucet off and set a hard stare at Quinn in the reflection. Her expression didn't change. I ripped off a paper towel piece to dry my hands and I turned around to face her.

With a heavy sigh I asked, "Did anyone else see?"

Quinn's stare didn't let up. She had that pointed look still poised on me.

"I was the only one at the angle to see what really happened. It looked like Brittany leaned in really close to your face to the others,"

"Thank God," I let out in relief.

"So what... are you two a thing?" She asked, slowly. Her tone wasn't degrading or accusing, rather it was that of more curiosity than anything.

"No!" I said a little too quickly, and took a deep breath, "I don't know," I shook my head and scoffed, "I have no idea what's going on,"

"Damn, Santana." Her eyes softened as she took a few steps towards me. She exhaled before her next words, "I was meaning to ask you if you liked Brittany,"

"Is that why you were acting kinda weird today?" I said as my arms fell to my sides.

"I didn't know how to bring it up," Quinn shrugged. "I noticed how... you two were last night, especially when it got to your room,"

"To answer your question, I think I do like her," I admitted, for the first time out loud.

"You think?"

"I don't know." Those three words seemed to be my go-to phrase, "The only people who have an idea of what's really been happening are Dani and Puck...
sorta," I gave Quinn a half smile. I felt my phone vibrate and pulled it out from my pocket.

Dani: Well shit.

That's all I got?

I grunted and showed Quinn my texts with Dani. After a few moments and a smile, Quinn handed my phone back to me.

"Dani just wants you to get some lady lovin'" She joked.

"I'm in some dire need of advice and she's the only lady loving friend I have!" The exasperation in my tone was evident.

"That's not true," Quinn replied back to me.

"What?" I looked at her with a confused expression.

"You have Puck too," She cracked another smile and I scowled at her.

"I'd rather not get advice from him," I deadpanned with a frown.

"Yeah, I guess that's probably for the best," Quinn said back with a nonchalant shrug. The glint of teasing in her eyes made me roll mine. I turned my attention back down to my phone and replied back to Dani.

Quinn just cornered me in here and now she knows

Dani: She knows about your inconclusive feelings for a certain friend whose name starts with B and ends with rittany?

If you weren't so far away I would swim across the ocean just to smack you in the face right now

"Well, I think our drinks should be here by now and we should head back out," Quinn told me as I looked up from my phone, "God knows I'm ready for some alcohol,"

"Just, give me a couple minutes to gather my thoughts,"

"You're lucky most of our friends out there are pretty tipsy already,"

"Yeah..." I said quietly. Quinn then pulled me into a hug and I accepted it whole heartedly.

"I'm here for you, you know that," She said in a reassuring fashion.

"Yeah, Quinn. I do. Thanks," We pulled away from each other and I gave her a grateful smile. She nodded and walked out, leaving me alone in the bathroom.

I ran a hand through my dark hair and leaned my weight on a sink behind me. I gazed down at the ground and took in a deep breath.

"You can do this, just go back out there and..." I began to peptalk with myself.

The sound of a creak from the door caught my attention and my eyes snapped up.

In stepped Brittany.

The door shut behind her and she wrung her hands nervously in front of her. I stayed in my position and she took a few meek steps closer to me. I gulped and tried to swallow the nervous lump in my throat. Her eyes were locked with mine and we were enveloped in silence for what seemed to last forever.

"Santana," She said softly.

"Hi," I breathed out, not knowing what else to say.

"Let me start off by saying no, I'm not drunk," She said to me. "I did have a couple drinks, but I'm still very coherent,"

"Okay," I replied back hesitantly. Her eyes darted down and she sucked her lips in then exhaled and looked back up.

"I'm sorry, I owe you an explanation," She then blurted out quickly. My silence encouraged her to continue on. "Before you and Quinn arrived, there was this really annoying guy hitting on me,"

"It wasn't Artie, was it?" I interrupted with a half smile to try to ease the tension in the room. Brittany paused and gave a light laugh in response.

"No, some random guy at the bar," She told me, her demeanor more relaxed.

"Okay, just checking," I nodded.

"Anyway, he wouldn't stop bothering me for like thirty minutes and-" I felt my body stiffen up as my mind imagined some disgusting and arrogant guy all over her.

"Wait, hold on. Where the hell was Puck or the other guys when this was happening?" I chimed in again, stopping her in mid sentence.

"They were already drunk or something, I was by myself," I felt anger boil up inside for some reason. I clamped my mouth shut and my expression hardened. One of those dumbasses should have been with her! Considering how they fawn over her every freaking time we all hang out. Ridiculous.

"Are you fucking serious?" I spat out, clearly upset, "I'm gonna-" This time I was interrupted in my almost rant. Brittany had moved closer to me and grasped my hands in hers.

"Hey, stop. I'm fine." She looked me straight in the eye, "Let me finish explaining to you, okay?" Her voice calmed me down, my mouth was slightly open and all I could do was nod as I felt her rub my hands in a reassuring way.

She smiled at me, not a full one, but it still reached her eyes to show it was genuine. I set my gaze back down to the floor in embarrassment, my temper could get the best of me sometimes.

"So, as I was saying..." She started up again, "I got so fed up with this guy and the fact that he couldn't take a hint. I tried to be nice about it and then I finally I told him I was with someone,"

I slowly took a glance back up at her.

"I told him I had a girlfriend and that she wouldn't be very pleased with him at that moment. I went back to the table and then you and Quinn walked in. Right after you sat next to me and we started talking, I saw him behind you and I could tell he was gonna come up to us. I wasn't thinking clearly and I did it on an impulse. I thought kissing you would get him to back off."

"Oh," I blinked a couple of times to process the story she had just told me, "B-but why didn't you just tell me that in the first place?"

"As I said, it was an impulse and I had to act quickly." She reiterated, as her words sunk in, it made sense, "I'm sorry if I made everything awkward now." She paused for a second, "You're one of my closest friends, Santana. I'd even consider you one of my best friends,"

"I- You're my best friend too," I stammered out, "I just... you totally caught me off guard there," I scratched the back of my neck and gave her a sheepish smile.

"I know," She sighed, her shoulders slumped down along with it. Her words made sense and I felt more at ease with the answer, yet something else was nagging in the back of my mind.

"So, that's it? Nothing more?" I tried to clear the dejection out of my tone but she seemed to detect it.

"Well..." Brittany's eyes lit up and locked with mine, "It might be half of the whole truth,"

"What?" I asked, my tone higher than my normal pitch. She giggled and linked our pinkies together. Instead of elaborating her statement, she changed the subject.

"Are we okay?" Her expression quickly changed again after a few moments passed.

"Of course we are," I told her with a squeeze of reassurance. She then bit her lip and was contemplating something else on her mind.

"Will... you be willing to be my fake girlfriend for the rest of the night? You don't have to if you don't want to," She finally said to me, her eyes pleading, "It's just... I don't want to get hit on again and I just want to enjoy the night with everyone -"

"No!" I said a little too quickly, Brittany raised her eyebrows, slightly taken aback with my response. I cleared my throat, "I mean, of course I'll do it. I'm the perfect one for the job since those idiots out there didn't even notice that guy bothering you,"

Brittany laughed lightly and beamed at me. "Besides, you did kiss me already, anyway," I chuckled along.

She squealed in delight and engulfed me in a tight hug.

"Thank you! I promise I'll make it up to you," She said into my ear, her tone grateful. I hummed and felt the corners of my mouth twitch up into a smile as we pulled away.

Her cheery mega watt smile met my eyes and I took her hand in mine.

"I think I've spent enough time in this bathroom. They might be thinking we're doing... something else," I said with a smirk and all Brittany did was wink back at me before she dragged me out the door, back to our table.

And to think that night was only the beginning.

A/N: Well, I got some interesting reviews from that last chapter. You're welcome. I wasn't that evil, was I? No, I just wanted to have a little fun haha. Hopefully this chapter made sense, if not I can clarify if you PM me or something.

Sam Smith is on repeat at the moment so I have many feelings (on top of the feelings I have already). A definite recommendation if you're in need of some new music.

Well, I'm off to have dinner with friends and possibly my inspiration for Brittany... heh.

Hope you enjoyed.

-Perseids