A/N: Your reviews and support are outstanding! The Mama Lopez love I'm getting from you all just blows me away. Thanks to my beta slayhue for making sure this all makes sense for you fine readers. She rocks. Hey gleeeeeeee89: Happy now? Vero: you continue to rock, as usual. Thank you all my precious unicorns. Hopefully this takes some of the sting out of hiatus. Thanks again for reading!
Brittany brought her hamper into the laundry room and set it down next to Santana's. Maribel was helping Santana sort her lights and darks into piles on a table next to the utility sink.
Brittany stood by and watched as the left strap of Santana's overalls slipped down her arm. Santana absentmindedly returned it to her shoulder three times.
"Why do you still wear those if they don't fit you?" Maribel asked.
Santana shrugged.
"Do you want me to adjust the straps?" Maribel asked, turning to see if she could tighten them.
"They're as tight as they'll go Mama," Santana waved her off.
"Then why are you still wearing them? You have all these clothes, yet you won't get rid of those dumpy old overalls," Maribel shook her head.
"I just like them. They're comfy," Santana shrugged again.
"Need help?" Brittany asked.
"Yes, come over here Brittany," Maribel smiled. "Help Santana get through all these clothes. For the life of me, I don't know how you go through all these in a week," she said picking up a pair of lace panties.
Santana quickly snatched last night's underwear from her mother's hands and put it in a sorted pile.
"Santana, those go in the lingerie bag. That lace is delicate," Maribel said, making a move to take them back.
Santana clutched them to her chest, "I'll do it," she offered quickly.
Maribel raised an eyebrow at her and let out an exasperated breath. "You think I've never done your laundry before," Maribel shook her head and walked out.
'Why is she all nosy all of a sudden?" Santana muttered under her breath, sorting her clothes.
"Why are you so self-conscious all of a sudden?" Brittany asked, picking up last night's underwear.
Santana bit her lip and grabbed them back from Brittany. "I'm not," Santana lied.
"Your mom has been doing your laundry for ever. She knows about us. She's known about us for ages. So what is it now that's making you freak out?" Brittany asked.
"I'm not freaking out. It just feels like Mama's getting all up in my business," Santana said dismissively. She bunched up a fist full of socks and tossed them into the "lights" pile.
Brittany started collecting her bras and re-hooking them. She finished three and stopped. Brittany turned to Santana with the realization.
"It's not about the underwear or your mom. It's about what happened in that underwear, and after, not being in that underwear," Brittany stated, with the enthusiasm of figuring out a puzzle.
Santana felt her ears burn. She sorted laundry and kept her eyes focused on the piles and shook her head.
"You're self-conscious about it," Brittany said, with a quieter tone. "You're embarrassed," Brittany said, searching for the word that will get Santana to respond. "You know, just because your mom held that pair of underwear, doesn't mean she can magically know what we did last night," Brittany smirked.
"I know that Britt," Santana rolled her eyes with a huff. "Can we just drop it?"
"Okay! We ready to wash some clothes?" Maribel asked as she returned to the laundry room.
"For now," Brittany whispered in Santana's ear. "Just for now."
Mrs. Lopez gave Santana and Brittany a simple lesson on how not to ruin their clothes when washing and drying them. Santana came away wiser and convinced that a dryer sheet would be just as good as liquid fabric softener, no matter what her mother said.
Brittany left to do chores at her house, while Santana whittled down her piles of laundry. After Santana's last load went into the dryer, she started on Brittany's.
Dr. Lopez came into the kitchen with a dirty rag and even dirtier hands.
"How's the grill coming?" Maribel asked as she washed the dishes.
"Pretty good. Though I wish I wasn't gone for a month. Still needs work," Dr. Lopez sighed and went to wash his hands in Maribel's dishwater.
"Oh no you don't!" she chided, pushing his hands away. "You're filthy. Use the sink in the laundry room," she demanded.
Dr. Lopez saluted and winked, "Yes ma'am."
Dr. Lopez walked through the kitchen and to the doorway of the laundry room. There he saw Santana putting Brittany's laundry into the washing machine. She paused and ran the material of Brittany's Superman underwear through her fingers and smiled. Dr. Lopez coughed.
"Hey Papi," Santana smiled and tossed the underwear and the rest of the load in the washing machine.
"Your mother kicked me out of the kitchen," he said, holding up his dirty hands.
Santana grimaced and stuck her tongue out at his grimy hands. "Guess you're stuck with me then," she said and made room for her father to use the sink. Santana started folding her clean laundry.
"Did you get the interview lined up for next week?" Dr. Lopez asked.
"Yeah, I heard back from the guy yesterday. Thursday afternoon, at the theater," Santana replied.
"What's his name?" her father asked.
"Tre Winslow," Santana replied.
"And what does he do, exactly?" her father pressed.
"He manages small, off-Broadway theaters. This job is as his assistant at a theater he just bought. He's gutting it and renovating it. So I'll be helping him out," Santana answered with a smile.
"How much does it pay?"
"April wasn't sure. She guessed $10 an hour, since that's what a lot of college kids make, but I'm hoping for more."
"What makes you think you'll get more?" Dr. Lopez asked with a hint of teasing.
"Well, I've been helping with the bookstore renovations, I've been involved in theater. I'm good with blueprints and plans, and I'm organized," Santana said matter-of-factly.
"Organized? That doesn't apply to your room or your car apparently," her father scoffed.
Santana threw a balled up pair of socks at him. "I'm organized where it counts Papi," she corrected him.
"Is Brittany all set for her interviews?" Dr. Lopez asked, tossing the socks softly back into Santana's hands.
"Yep. She's got the school at 10 am and the animal shelter at noon," Santana proudly smiled, and set aside her underwear to fold.
"Do you really need that many…um…that kind of underwear?" Dr. Lopez asked, nodding toward the thong Santana was folding.
Santana rolled her eyes. "Papi, it's just so I don't get panty lines with my dresses and skirts. It's no big deal," Santana said shaking her head.
"Maybe you shouldn't wear such form-fitting dresses then?" her father reasoned. "You know, you could have more overalls. I like those," he suggested.
Santana chuckled, "I'm glad you like them, because Mama wants me to get rid of them. She said they're too baggy."
"I'll talk to your mother. I'll buy you 10 more of those too if you want," Dr. Lopez grinned and waited for Santana to agree.
"Thanks Papi, but I don't need 10 pairs of overalls. I'm happy with these and the other pair I have. Two is enough. Honest."
"Okay, then how about getting rid of some of those too tight dresses, hmm?"
"Papi. It's the underwear isn't it? Forget about them, okay? They go under the clothes. No one will see them. That's the point. Now go. If I want fashion advice I'll go to Kurt, not you," Santana said with a mockingly stern face.
"How is Kurt?" Dr. Lopez asked, stopping as he walked out of the laundry room.
"Good. He got a job at a theater, or a costume shop. Something. Anyway, he'll be sewing costumes for some off-off-Broadway theater. Or show," Santana stumbled through her explanation. "He'll be in New York next week too."
"Invite him to dinner," Dr. Lopez suggested.
"You haven't been around Kurt that much Papi. He can be a bit…much," Santana warned.
"I've talked to him at the tire shop. He's fine," Dr. Lopez smiled. "He's different. But it's a good different," Dr. Lopez said, as he left Santana to fold the rest of her clothes.
Santana finished her laundry and some of Brittany's, before she decided to go check on how she was doing with the Pierce house chores.
Santana pulled up to the Pierce's house and went inside to look for Brittany. Brittany was sitting in the living room with her feet up drinking a glass of ice water.
"Lawn looks good," Santana complimented, as she sat down next to Brittany.
"Thanks. I was wondering how long it would take you to get over here."
"It's a lot of laundry Britt," Santana explained.
"You didn't have that much," Brittany teased.
"I did most of yours too," Santana confessed.
"Honey, you shouldn't have," Brittany said sweetly and kissed Santana as a thank you.
"I don't mind. You know that. Anything for you," Santana replied.
"Anything?" Brittany teased.
"Anything," Santana nodded.
"So about last night," Brittany began.
"Okay, not anything, anything," Santana squirmed.
"Come on, you got all weird about it earlier. Didn't you like it?" Brittany pressed.
"Oh God, no. No, I loved it. A lot. Like, really a lot," Santana admitted quickly, then shrank back.
"So what's the problem?" Brittany asked, scooting closer on the couch. Their knees touched and Brittany held Santana's hand and rubbed her thumb over her knuckles.
Santana watched as Brittany stroked her hand. She let out a breath, trying to gather her thoughts.
"It's tough to explain," Santana said, still watching their hands. "Like, was it weird that I listened to you when you were…you know…"
"Masturbating?" Brittany finished for Santana.
Santana let out a nervous chuckle, "Um yeah, so did that freak you out?"
"I don't think it was weird that you listened. And no, not freaked out at all," Brittany replied gently.
Santana nodded. "So, then when you opened the door and saw that I was, um, really enjoying listening to you."
"Honey, I'm confused. Why would you think I'd think it was weird that you were getting off listening to me getting off thinking about you? Like, that doesn't make sense," Brittany said, trying to figure out what the real issue was.
"Can you like something too much?" Santana asked.
"How can I like you or us too much?" Brittany replied.
"I don't know. It's like there's was this separation…because I was listening and not with you, and then I was with you but watching you and…"
"You got turned on and not from me being with you, and now you feel all pervy. Is that it?" Brittany asked with a soft smile. She thought it was silly but completely adorable that Santana worried about it.
Santana's phone rang.
"It's my dad," Santana said, quickly reading the text. "Guess we need to hurry up with your chores. Dad's insisting we clean all of Lord Tubbington's hair off his favorite chair," Santana frowned.
Brittany sighed. "Fine, but we're not done talking about this," Brittany said, giving Santana a pointed look.
Santana rolled her eyes and huffed.
Brittany smirked. "Come on, flowers need to be watered."
Brittany and Santana walked in the front door giggling and shushing each other. Maribel was delicately straightening the throw on the back of the couch when she looked up and saw them.
"Oh hell no," Maribel declared.
"Is she friends with Mercedes?" Brittany whispered in Santana's ear.
"You're soaking wet! Get out. Go around back," Mrs. Lopez commanded, pointing her perfectly manicured finger at the girls dripping water onto the carpet.
Brittany squeaked out a "sorry" and grabbed Santana's hand, pulling her around the house to the back porch. They found Dr. Lopez working on round two with the grill.
"Hey girls!" Dr. Lopez greeted with a smile that soon turned to confusion. "Why are you all wet?"
"They can't seem to water Susan's flowers without getting into a water fight with the hose. Every Saturday," Maribel explained from the kitchen door.
Santana and Brittany both grinned and shrugged. Maribel tossed both of them a towel.
"Dry off first. Then you're allowed in the house," Maribel said, as she shut the door and returned to the kitchen.
Dr. Lopez returned to cleaning the grill. Brittany squeezed the extra water out of her t-shirt before toweling off. Santana tried to do the same with her tank top, but her overalls got in the way. Santana made sure the buttons were done at her hips and unclipped the straps, letting them fall off her shoulders. She wrung out her shirt and grabbed the towel to pat herself down.
Dr. Lopez looked up from the grill to see his daughter lean over, drying her hair upside down. Her overalls slipped off one hip to reveal the top of her thong. Dr. Lopez quickly averted his eyes, cursing the damned underwear; that apparently overalls can't even cover. His averted eyes went to Brittany who was busy checking out Santana's ass. Brittany licked her lips. Dr. Lopez threw his dirty grill rag, hitting her square in the face.
Brittany's startled look quickly turned sheepish when she saw Dr. Lopez's face. It was a cross between annoyed and disapproval. Mostly annoyed. Brittany grabbed her towel and quickly walked inside. Santana straightened up, towel firmly wrapped around her hair and head.
"Pull up your pants Santana," Dr. Lopez quietly grumbled.
Santana felt for her overalls and instead felt skin and the side of her thong at her hip. She fumbled to scoot her overalls back over her hip and turned to her father. He had his head down, cleaning a grill valve line very, very thoroughly.
"I'm gonna get changed," Santana said, and opened the door into the kitchen.
"Good idea," Dr. Lopez mumbled with a shake of his head.
Brittany dutifully cleaned Dr. Lopez's chair. She vacuumed it. Then used the lint roller, and then picked, by hand, hairs off the chair.
"Brittany," Maribel gently called. "I'm sure he appreciates you doing such a thorough job, but I think that's enough."
"Almost done," Brittany quietly replied, concentrating on picking out the few cat hairs hiding in the creases of the fabric.
Maribel cocked her head at Brittany kneeling into her husband's chair, a little confused and a little concerned at Brittany's new-found-meticulousness. She quickly shrugged it off. It's Brittany after all.
Santana and Brittany spent the afternoon doing their chores. After dinner, Brittany took her Lord of the Flies book outside and read in the hammock. Santana sat with her parents on the back porch. Her dad sat and scrutinized his handy work on the grill. Her mother stared at the tomato plant, as if willing it to ripen faster. Santana just sighed and watched Brittany read her book, stopping to highlight passages, or write a note in her composition book. Dr. Lopez looked across the yard at Brittany, then over to his daughter. He couldn't help but smile at her dreamy look.
"She's really taking summer school seriously," he commented.
Santana nodded.
"She's been like this all summer," Maribel replied. "She's been working really hard, and it's paying off. "
"I'm surprised she's studying on a Saturday night to be honest," Dr. Lopez remarked.
Santana shot her father an annoyed look. "She's working ahead. She's missing class Thursday and Friday to be in New York. Her teachers gave her the readings for the classes she'll miss, and she's taking the exams online next Friday. So we have to make sure we're in the hotel Friday morning so she can use the wi-fi."
"Are we apartment hunting after that?" Dr. Lopez asked.
"Yeah. I emailed all the places. We have four to look at," Santana replied scrolling through her phone, looking for the details.
Kurt walked into the bookstore during Santana and Quinn's lunch break Monday afternoon.
"Ladies," Kurt greeted with a smile. "Ooh, I love the new shelves," Kurt praised, as he ran his hand along the stained wood. "Very nice," he commented to himself more than Quinn or Santana.
"How are you Kurt?" Quinn asked, moving her foot off the chair next to her and offering him to sit.
"Prancy," Santana greeted with disinterest.
"Satan," Kurt replied. He continued to stare until a smirk cracked Santana's lips.
Quinn smiled at both of them. She loved that Kurt was more relaxed. He always spent so much time being serious or trying to be taken seriously, it covered up the playful side of him. And Santana. Quinn still got caught off guard when Santana was nice to anyone besides Brittany, even if it was hidden under a layer of snark. Everyone said Brittany tamed Santana. Quinn agreed that her best friend was whipped beyond belief, but she knew it wasn't Brittany, but Santana getting over herself and her big fears that brought out the real Santana. She missed her so much for most of high school. When she got her Santana back. The one she met freshman year, it felt like it was almost too late. They were running out of time. Going their separate ways in a month.
"So, what do your New York plans look like this week?" Kurt asked Santana.
"Fly there Wednesday night. Job interviews Thursday. Apartment hunting Friday. Fly back Saturday," Santana replied.
"Do you maybe want to get together for lunch or something?" Kurt offered.
"Friday night dinner Hummel. My dad's taking us all out," Santana replied.
Both Kurt and Quinn raised their eyebrows.
"Dad's idea," Santana added.
"Well I'd be honored to join you," Kurt smiled too graciously. Santana smacked his arm.
"Violence is not the answer Santana," Kurt admonished, rubbing his bicep.
Brittany walked into the bookstore just after 2pm. Quinn was busy with a customer, so she snuck by unseen and sought out Santana in the back of the store. Santana was reading the back of a book in the LGBTQ section. Brittany walked up behind her.
"So this is where I can pick up hot lesbians," Brittany whispered in her ear.
Santana slid the book back onto the shelf and turned around with a smile.
"You in the market, because I might know someone who'd be perfect for you," Santana purred.
"What book was it?" Brittany asked.
"Nothing. History book," Santana shrugged. "How did you do on your tests?"
Brittany reached around behind Santana and grabbed the book off the shelf.
"History of Lesbian Erotica," Brittany read aloud.
"Wrong book Britt," Santana said, pulling it out of her hand and putting it back.
"Uh huh, sure Santana," Brittany winked.
"Grades Britt. What did you get?" Santana pressed.
Brittany pulled her exam papers out of her backpack. Santana snatched them out of her hand and looked at the top right corner.
"82," Santana read out, looking at her Chemistry test.
"80," Santana read out, when she flipped to the English test.
Santana looked at Brittany with a proud grin on her face. "Look at you B student. Practically a scholar," Santana beamed and gave Brittany a bear hug.
Brittany smiled into the hug. "Not as good as I wanted though," she sighed.
"Good enough," Santana whispered in her ear. "Good enough."
Santana stepped back, her arms gripping Brittany's. "You just have to pass Britt, and you're doing so much better than just passing. You're doing great."
Quinn snuck up behind Brittany and pulled the tests out of Santana's hands. She looked at the grades and flipped through the pages, to see where Brittany had gotten things right and where she got them wrong. Brittany turned around and eyed Quinn with nervousness.
"Sorry Quinn. I thought I did better," Brittany quietly apologized.
Quinn looked up at Brittany and smiled, "You did great Brittany. Really. I'm just looking to see where we need to review for the next one. Okay? Really. Congratulations."
"You two go study. I have to finish up here," Santana said, turning back to her work.
That evening, after Santana finished reviewing Lord of the Flies with Brittany, she started sorting out her clothes to pack for their New York trip. Brittany knocked on Santana's ajar door and pushed it open. She saw Lord Tubbington sitting in Santana's open suitcase.
"Is he coming with us?" Brittany asked.
"He seems to think so," Santana chuckled.
"Good day today, right?" Santana asked, as she pulled Brittany over to the bed and sat down with her.
"Yeah, not bad," Brittany smiled. "The stuff I got wrong on the chemistry test ended up being some silly math mistakes. Nothing I didn't know in the end. And MacBeth, I got a lot of partial credit. The teacher was just looking for some different interpretations."
"Well you're done with MacBeth and you already have most of this next book down. You're doing great," Santana smiled and squeezed Brittany's hand.
"So how are you doing?" Brittany asked.
"Fine," Santana replied with a little confusion. "Why?"
"Because last we talked, you were worried you were turning into a perv," Brittany smirked.
"Don't make fun Britt," Santana sighed and looked to her lap.
"I'm not. I'm not," Brittany straightened her posture and her expression. "I'm just trying to figure out how what I thought was a really fun and hot and intense and loving night turned you into thinking it wasn't."
"It's just. Okay, this is going to sound bad, but I don't know how else to put it," Santana said, looking up at Brittany.
"It's okay Santana. You can say whatever you want to me," Brittany smiled.
"So Friday night, listening to you and then when I was watching you…touch yourself and I was touching me and…it was hot. Like really can't stop thinking about it and…but…" Santana stopped to find her words.
"But?" Brittany coaxed. "It doesn't sound bad yet."
"This is the sounds bad part. See, it's like the listening and the watching, but not touching you, it felt like, kind of like porn. But like, personal porn. Like you're my personal porn," Santana confessed.
Brittany cheeks blushed and she bit her lip while a small smile formed.
"Why are you smiling?" Santana asked. "I was, like objectifying you, and I don't want us to be like porn. You're not porn Britt. You're not," Santana explained.
"Honey, shhh, no, don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong. Honest. You're good. We're good. I'm not offended at all," Brittany assured Santana and drew her into a hug.
Santana curled into Brittany's lap and held onto her. Brittany stroked Santana's hair and held her hand.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" Brittany quietly asked.
"God yes. You're gorgeous," Santana answered.
"Do you think I'm sexy?" Brittany asked with a little tease in her voice.
"Sexiest woman on the planet," Santana sighed.
"Do you respect me?"
"Of course," Santana replied.
"Do you love me?" Brittany asked.
"With everything that I am," Santana replied.
"Then last Friday wasn't dirty or wrong. You know me and respect me and love me. And I know you and respect you and love you. And everything we share, no matter how slow and soft or fast and hard, has got all that respect and love in it. It doesn't go away just because you just found out you like to watch," Brittany explained.
"And listen," Santana added.
Brittany chuckled and pulled Santana up to face her. "And listen," Brittany repeated, and kissed Santana firmly on the lips.