"Did you guys see that?" Rachel exclaims, clasping her hands together.
"Yeah, you got one pin down." I answer monotonously.
"Rachel you are so good at bowling," Brittany giggles, covering her mouth with her hand as she leans her head against my shoulder.
"Not everyone can be as good as you, Brittany," Rachel scoffs.
Brittany is wining, but she isn't doing all that great either. Compared to Rachel, however, you would think Brittany was a pro. When we walked through the doors of the Incredible Pizza Place, Rachel had the look of a child who was told she could have anything she wanted at the toy store.
"Your turn San," Brittany slaps my ass as I go grab my bright yellow bowling ball. I turn and give her a wink before winding up and throwing the ball straight into the gutter.
I shrug and walk back over to Brittany where I sit down in her lap.
"You know," Rachel starts over a bite of her cheese pizza. "I have this theory that gay people can't bowl."
"What?" I laugh out.
"You know, cause you can't do anything straight. Including throwing a ball. It's just a theory," she waves it off. "Are we gonna play laser tag?" Rachel asks excitedly.
You would swear she is a kid by the way she is acting in here.
I look to Brittany and shrug.
"Sure, Rachel," Brittany answers.
I get distracted by the group of girls who are sitting in the lane next to us while Brittany and Rachel keep talking. They keep looking over here and giving us a dirty look.
I grab Brittany's face and give her a kiss, pulling her out of her conversation.
When I pull away, one girl scrunches up her face at me before looking away and Brittany follows my lips, before pulling me back into a kiss.
"Where did Rachel go?" I mumble into Brittany's lips.
"Bathroom," she answers shortly.
"Babe," I push away from Brittany when she keeps kissing me. "We have an audience," I point to the group of girls next to us and Brittany turns her head, giving them a little wave. We are at the lane at the very end and it's pretty dark in this place, so it doesn't feel so weird kissing Brittany here, but apparently this girl finds Brittany and I more appealing than her group of friends.
"I think we're scaring them," Brittany laughs, burying her face in the crook of my neck.
"Good," I say flatly. "Damn teenagers," I grumble.
/
As we are standing in a dark room, listening to an over enthused adult give us directions as if we have never played a game of laser tag in our lives, I notice that the group of girls from earlier are in our company.
Brittany and Rachel are eagerly listening to the directions as I stand, back against the wall and hands folded across my chest, watching the girls whisper and giggle to each other. It kind of reminds me of what me and my friends did in high school. They better not be up to anything because I am not in the mood to deal with anyone's shit tonight.
"San," Brittany's voice pulls me out of my stupor. "Get over here," she grabs the sleeve of my shirt, effectively pulling me next to her side. "Hold this," she positions my hands on Rachel's vest until she clicks the buckle in place. "Does it fit now?" She asks Rachel.
Rachel pulls on the vest and then turns around to nod at Brittany.
"Thanks," she smiles brightly.
Finally the instructor finishes with the directions and lets everyone into the arena.
"Uh-uh," I tug on Brittany's vest. "Where do you think you're going?"
"We're on opposite teams Santana," she points to the blue dot on my vest. "We're enemies."
"So," I sputter out. "Aren't you supposed to keep your enemies close? Cause I like mine super close," I smirk, inching toward Brittany. "And super naked," I lean in close to her ear. I place a kiss on her cheek, before pointing my gun to her chest. Her vest lights up, flashing green into the dark. "Love ya babe," I turn and scurry in the opposite direction.
"You bitch!" I faintly hear Brittany scream.
I keep walking (because we can't run) as fast as I can, turning corners left and right until I am sure that I lost her. Of course I get shot about fifteen times along the way, but who cares. I stop to take a rest, my back to the padded walls of the neon lit area.
"Hands up!" A voice sounds from behind me. "Turn around slowly," I turn around to find Brittany crouching down behind a ramp. "Now walk," she tells me. I smirk to myself, swaying my hips back and forth as I make my way to Brittany. "Stop doing that," Brittany mutters and I can see the visible gulp she takes.
"Doing what?" I feign innocence, puffing out my chest because I wore a low cut shirt today and I know how much Brittany likes that.
"I hate you," Brittany all but whispers when I crouch down to her level.
"You love me," I bite back, leaning up to capture Brittany's lips in mine. "Tag team Rachel?" I pull back with a smirk.
"Traitor!" Rachel screams as she flies out from behind a wall.
"Get her Britt!"
Brittany tries to pop up quickly, but ends up falling backwards first. When Brittany gains her footing, we turn the corner Rachel just did, but she's gone. Brittany and I look to each other with confused expressions. She literally just went this way.
"Haha!" We hear the sound of the gun fire twice and both of our vest light up.
"How did she do that?" I ask confused, only seeing a flash of brown hair disappear behind another corner.
This keeps happening. We hear Rachel, but never see her, until the lights come up at the end of our time. Then it was like she had never left, an annoying stich in both of our sides.
/
"You going to Santana's?" Rachel questions when we reach the foot of the staircase leading up to their apartment.
Brittany looks to me as if I have the answer.
"You wanna?" I inquire, shrugging my shoulder lightly.
"I miss pip," Brittany looks down at her hands, wringing the material of her coat in her fingers.
Rachel nods to herself like she already knew that was going to be Brittany's answer. "See you later," she waves as she ascends into the building.
"Shall we?" I hold out my elbow for Brittany to grab and we begin walking back to my place.
"Did you have fun?" Brittany say eventually as we walk slowly on the sidewalk, watching as the cars pass us by in the street.
"No," I say shortly, but the way my mouth turns up at the sides lets Brittany know I'm just kidding.
"Me too," Brittany replies without missing a beat. "Hey, let's go get some coffee," she tugs on my arm, pulling me toward the coffee shop that's just across the street.
I shrug, not really caring what we do.
The warm air is much welcomed when we enter the small space and so is the smell of coffee. There are only a few people here right now, seeing as it's so late in the evening. An elderly couple is sitting on one of the sofas toward the back of the building and a young man is sitting alone in a chair, his laptop out and the light of the screen illuminating his face.
"You sit," Brittany points to a small table by the window. "I'll be right back."
I go take a seat, shrugging off my coat and draping it across the windowsill. It's actually a really beautiful night out tonight. The air is sharp and chilled, but the sky is crystal clear and beautiful.
I get lost in the movement of the cars that are passing by on the street, some getting blurred by their speed and others stopping to let people out.
"Here," Brittany places the cup in front of me, pulling me from my daze.
I place my hands on either side, loving the way the steam is rising from the top and the way my fingers are starting to regain their feeling through the thin material of my gloves.
Brittany brings her cup up to her mouth, just placing her lips atop its edge, not yet taking a sip because it's still too hot. She does that for a few moments, blowing air into the top making a whistling noise that causes me to giggle.
"Are you gonna tell me about your plans for Valentine's Day?" I ask, rolling the cup back and forth in my hands. Brittany shakes her head, a smile creeping across her face. "There's no way to get anything out of you?"
Brittany shakes her head again.
"Nope," she smiles, her teeth showing. "So just stop while you're ahead," Brittany sticks her tongue out at me.
"You better not be up all night," I point to Brittany's coffee.
"I won't be. This is hot chocolate," she winks. I shake my head at her, finally taking a sip of my drink.
Brittany's eyes trace over my face and something changes in her expression. It's warmer and softer suddenly and it causes something to bloom inside my chest. I have no idea what it is, but here we are, sitting in a coffee shop and all she is doing is looking at me and she is making my heart flutter inside my chest.
"Stop it," I say after a few more seconds under her gaze.
"Stop staring at my gorgeous girlfriend?" She places her hand against her heart as if she was struck by my words, her face turning up the slightest bit as the soft glow of the coffee shop lights hit her eyes in a way that causes them to sparkle.
I smile at her, the heat from the coffee and from Brittany's attention spreading all throughout my body and down to my toes.
"You're a dork," I shake my head and take another sip just to have something to distract my mind.
"Maybe," she shrugs. "You like that?" she gives a nod down to my cup.
"Yeah?" I respond carefully. "Why?" my head tilts to the side.
"Notice anything different about it?" she asks me.
I bring the cup up to my lips again, taking another sip, but this time letting in sit on my tongue a little longer before I finally swallow it. I do notice a little difference but I can't put my finger on it.
"I don't know," my eyebrows scrunch together as if I am trying to solve a mystery.
"it's soy milk," Brittany smiles.
"Ew," I push the cup away from me. "Britt!" I frown over to her.
"You didn't even notice," she retorts, "and you wouldn't have if I didn't tell you."
"I know now," I fold my arms across my chest.
"It's good for you though," Brittany tries to reason.
"It has a weird aftertaste," I tell her, like I have told her numerous times before when I stay over at her place and she tries to get me to drink soy milk. I tried it once and that was enough. I had the taste in my mouth all day and I couldn't get it out. I don't even like regular milk that much, I don't know why she would think I would like soy milk.
"I've been putting it in your coffee at home," Brittany informs me and I feel my jaw drop onto the table. "See!" she smiles brightly at me. "You didn't even notice."
"You will pay for this," my eyes narrow and my voice lowers. I finish the rest of my coffee with a scowl on my face, but it doesn't deter Brittany's mood one bit. She just continues to run her foot along the inside of my calf until a smile breaks across my face.
/
"She's getting so big," Brittany coos when we enter the apartment and, of course, she goes right over to Pip. "Has Santana been feeding you too much," she wiggles the cats paws before placing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Can we go to bed?" I groan, flopping down next to Brittany on the floor and resting my head in her lap. "Today was exhausting." Brittany combs through my hair while she hold Pip in her other arm. "You can bring the fur ball," I tell her, hoping she will take the bait.
"Yes!" She breathes out. "Did you hear that Pip? You get to sleep in the bed tonight."
"Not yet though," I mumble, not wanting the sensation of Brittany's fingers on my scalp to stop. It feels too good. "In a few minutes," my eyes fall shut when Brittany hits a particular spot.
"I don't think you'll make it a few minutes," Brittany smirks. "I don't know how you're tired when you just drank coffee," she pats my shoulder before rolling me over so that I fall to the floor. I don't even mind though, I just lay there. "Come on babe," Brittany pulls on my arm to get me to stand up. I comply, peeling myself off the ground.
I change into my pajamas quickly and get snuggled into bed, watching as Pip stands at the end of the mattress waiting for Brittany to return. When she does, she crawls under the blanket, sitting back up to make a pile of sheets at the end of the bed for Pip to lay in. Pip curls up into a ball and Brittany curls up into my side. She kisses my shoulder and then my neck, stopping just below my ear before she whispers a sweet 'I love you' and rests her head in the space next to mine.
I toy with the tips of her fingers, both of us smiling when we hear Pip let out a tiny meow.
"So," Brittany draws out, breaking the silence between us. "We didn't really finish our girlfriend Q&A earlier."
"No," I shake my head. "We didn't." Brittany doesn't say anything else, just keeps on looking at me. She brings one hand up to brush a strand of hair off the side of my face. I turn my head to kiss her palm. I know what she wants to know. "I do," I whisper softly, feeling the way my heart flutters at the words. At the meaning of the words because I know the significance of them.
"You do?" Brittany questions, it comes out airy, almost as if she thinks she misheard.
"Yeah," I smile at her. "I mean-" I pause to think about what I'm gonna say next. "I never really gave it much thought before you, but yeah."
Brittany leans forward and captures my lips in hers, kissing my softly and deeply all at once. It takes my breath away. I have never been kissed as gently and carefully as I have when Brittany kisses me and it's a feeling I don't think I will ever get used to.
Brittany pulls away slowly, a soft smile playing at the corners of her lips as she pulls my body closer to her where she gently rests my head against her chest. My ear presses against her body and I can hear the way her heart mirrors my own as it beats slow and steady.
I turn my head slightly to place a kiss to her chest before I let myself drift off into sleep.
/
"Mmm," my body stretches out as I slowly roll over onto my back. I feel the bed shift and something on top of me the next instant. I blink open my eyes to find a golden blond covering my face and warm lips attached to my neck.
My body stretches again, but this time for a different reason as my hands shoot up to tangle in Brittany's locks without me even thinking about it.
Brittany kisses down my abs, stopping just above the waist of my pajama pants. She smiles up at me and I can see the way that my chest is rising and falling. Brittany kisses back up my chest and over the valley of my breasts before she moves to my lips.
"Good morning," I husk out between our lips. "Ah, fuck!" I half yell as Brittany's hand enters my panties.
"Not quite yet," Brittany nips at my bottom lip, running her fingers through my folds.
"Mmm," the moan is ripped straight from my throat, forcing its way out into the air around us. My body is still just barley responding, sensitive from just being woken up, but also sluggish for the same reason.
Brittany's fingers delicately work between my legs as the feeling intensifies slowly. I wrap my legs around her torso before pulling her body closer to mine. I must pull too hard because the next thing I know is Brittany laughing into my neck.
"What's so funny?" I breathe out, wondering why she has stopped moving her hand between my legs.
"Nothing," she whispers sweetly as she plants open mouthed kisses along the underside of my jaw.
Brittany presses the palm of her hand harder against me and my body shutters at the feeling. I arch up into her touch, needing more. Before I know it, I am grinding into her as she lets me dictate the pace. The heat is rising quickly between our bodies. Brittany reaches up with her free hand, quickly fining my and tangles our fingers together.
I start to push Brittany's t-shirt up with the heels of my feet, a little frustrated that she is still fully clothed, but that thought quickly fades as Brittany hand takes over, applying more pressure than before. A jolt of pleasure flashes behind my eyes each time the heel of her hand comes in contact with me. My body just keeps getting wound up, waiting to fall over the blissful edge.
Brittany rests her forehead against mine changing the pace from her palm to the tips of her fingers, drawing tighter and faster circles. My breath gets caught in my throat. I arch my back and grab a fistful of sheets as I finally fall over the edge. I let out a sigh of relief as my whole body relaxes.
Brittany kisses my chin before rolling off of me and laying back down on the bed.
"Good fucking morning to me," I say, still a little winded. I turn over to lay on my side to find Brittany smiling over at me. Instead of saying anything, I just lean in and kiss her. Brittany hums into my mouth as my tongue pushes past her lips. "I love you so fucking much," I mumble between kisses.
"Love you too," she laughs, before detaching from my lips and rolling out of bed.
I quickly grab a hold of her hand before she makes it too far.
"Where are you going?" I frown as I try to pull her back.
"I'm hungry," she tells me.
"Wait for me," I smile, throwing my feet over the edge of the bed before I tackle Brittany from behind in a bear hug.
Brittany stumbles forward, but regains her footing. She turns around in my arms, placing sweet kisses across my face.
Those sweet kisses turn to deeper kisses when I push Brittany up against the edge of my desk. Brittany's arms fall behind her as she settles herself against the desk. I palm Brittany's breasts above the material of her shirt, but then Brittany's fingers are wrapping themselves around my wrists and gently pushing them away from her body.
"Food first," she states, her eyes still closed and cheeks tinged pink.
"Fine," I grumble, disconnecting our bodies to create some space.
Brittany and I walk into the kitchen only to be greeted by a house full of guest. Both of us awkwardly clear our throats at the unexpected presence in the room, while I wonder if they heard what was going on in the other room.
"Ladies," Kurt greets us and I have just enough time to spot Blaine in the living room rolling around in a wheel chair.
"Why is bow tie wheeling around?" I ask, raising my eyebrows. "Didn't he just break his toe?"
"He's in a lot of pain Santana," Kurt tells me.
"Wow," I shake my head, spotting a plate of pancakes by the stove that have my name on it.
I make a plate of Brittany and I and we both sit down at the table.
"Why are you guys here?" I ask carefully, noticing how their eyes followed me though the room.
"We have something for you," Blaine wheels up to the space next to me. "Kurt and I," I says, giving Kurt a sickeningly lovey dovey look.
"It's more of a request really," Kurt corrects him.
"We want you to sing karaoke," Kurt clasps his hands together as they wait for my answer.
I look over to Quinn who has her hands raised up in defense like she had nothing to do with this idea and Brittany is focusing in her pancakes.
"No," I shake my head. "Sorry, I don't do karaoke," I tell them, deciding to follow Brittany's lead and pretend like my food is more important.
"Please Satan?" Kurt begs. "It'll be everyone. Just like old times. Quinn and I-"
"No," I say more firmly.
"Pleas-"
"No!" I slam my palms down on the table, causing Kurt to fall silent. "I'm sorry," I say a little softer. "I just-" I take a deep breath to calm myself down. "You guys can do it. I'll go with you, if you want, but I'm not going to sing."
There is an awkward silence that fills the room when I finish talking, but it's interrupted by Pip coming into the kitchen and rubbing against my calf.
I bend down to pick her up and kiss the side of her head without even thinking about it. I hand her over to Brittany and Pip immediately settles into her lap. Then I look around the table and find all eyes on me again, an amused glint to everyone's eyes.
"What?" I try to play off the fact that I just kissed a cat, but nobody says anything. They all just sit there with that look.
"Santana, can you do me a favor today?" Quinn breaks the silence.
"That depends," I say carefully.
"I just need you to be here all day."
"All day?"
"I have a package coming and I need someone to sign for it," she informs me.
"Fine," I complain. It's not like I had any big plans today, but knowing I have to be here make it less relaxing somehow.
After Quinn leaves for class, Brittany and I find ourselves sitting in the company of Kurt and Blaine, who, for whatever reason, are not leaving. I flip on the TV to dull out the sound of silence as Kurt tries to start a conversation between the four of us.
Even Brittany seems a little uncomfortable. She's picking at the skin on her fingernails and she only does that when she feels out of place.
"Santana," Kurt starts. "Mercedes will be there, you know."
"Be where?" I question absentmindedly while my finger hovers over the next channel button.
"At the karaoke bar."
"Kurt," I groan out, throwing my head back against the chair.
"I just don't see what the big deal is," he protests.
"Can you please just drop it," I say with a sort of desperation in my voice. "I already agreed to be there. Why isn't that enough and I don't want to talk about it. Not this early in the morning."
"Fine, but I'm not giving up," he says as he crosses his arms across his chest, settling in further to Blaine's side.
I roll my eyes because it really doesn't matter if he gives up or not, my mind won't be changed.
"Hey," Brittany taps my shoulder with her foot after a few minutes. "Don't you have work today?"
I think for a moment, my anxiety picking up at the prospect that I might have to be at work today, but then I settle down.
"Tomorrow," I remind Brittany.
She nods her head and goes right back into watching TV.
After their long, unwelcome stay, Kurt and Blaine finally leave, but not without Kurt dropping all sorts of hints about how 'awesome' karaoke night will be with everyone together.
I close the door behind them, dramatically turning the deadbolt and with a huff I make my way back into the living room to where Brittany is laying on the couch. She moves over when she sees me coming, scooting her body back so that I can lay down in front of her. Brittany wraps her arms around my body, pulling me gently to her chest. I take a deep breath and feel the way her scent makes me relax.
"Don't leave me," I sigh, my words muffled by Brittany's body.
Brittany lets out a throaty giggle, pressing me a little closer to her.
"I won't," she kisses the top of my head "but I have to do some editing today. My laptop is still here right?"
"Yeah," I push away from her body to look at her face. "Unless it got up and walked away," I smirk.
"Wouldn't be the first time," Brittany smirks back, leaning forward to place a kiss to the tip of my nose. "You wanna help me?" She wiggles her eyebrows.
"I don't know if I'll be any help," I laugh. "I don't know anything about photo editing."
"So. You have eyes. You can tell me if what I'm doing looks good," she shrugs.
"What you do always look good," I wink, moving in to kiss up and down Brittany's neck. My hands roam under Brittany's hoodie, as she arches her neck to give me more room. "I know we just ate," I hum into her skin, "but I'm still so hungry." My hand dips down to the hem of Brittany's pants and my finger lightly traces the top of it before I pull the material back and let it snap against Brittany's skin.
She lets out a low hiss that I quickly silence with my lips. I faintly hear a meow in the distance, but I pay no mind to it because what's in front of me is more important. But then it's happening again and it keeps getting louder and louder until Brittany is pushing me away from her and is trying to look over my shoulder to see what is going on.
"Babe, she's fine," I cup Brittany's cheek and pull her back to my lips, Brittany complies until there is a loud yacking sound comes from behind me that causes us both to turn our heads.
I see Pip staring up at us with a sad look in her eyes and a pile of vomit on the floor next to her.
"Aww, Pip," Brittany coos, getting up to scoop up the kitten. "Baby, you think she's sick?" Brittany turns to me with an equally sad look in her eye.
"I don't know Britt," I tell her, pushing off the couch myself and heading into the kitchen to find some cleaning supplies. Brittany is whispering calming words to the cat while I clean up the mess.
"Should we take her to the vet?" Brittany asks me.
"I don't know," I tell her again. "Aren't you the cat expert," I smile to her.
"We should," she nods her head defiantly. "I'll go call," and with that Brittany disappears into my bedroom to retrieve her phone.
She comes back a few minutes later saying that we probably don't need to bring her in unless she continues to vomit.
Pip settles onto the couch where she curls up against one of the sides and Brittany grabs her computer so she can start whatever it is that she is working on.
/
Quinn's package arrives in the middle of the afternoon and it's a pretty huge box. I contemplate opening it to see what's inside, but decide against it because Quinn would probably kill me. I'll find out soon enough though.
What was supposed to be Brittany doing homework ending up as us taking a thousand and one pictures of Pip. Brittany made it all of ten minutes before she got out her camera and started snapping the photos and then it turned into Brittany and I laughing in front of her computer screen as she photo shopped Pip in a variety of locations.
"How about this?" Brittany giggles as she drops a hat onto Pip's head.
"No," I laugh back, nudging my shoulder into Brittany's. "You have to make it bigger." Brittany makes a few clicks with the mouse as I sit and watch the hat grow larger on Pip's head. "Okay that's good."
We both sit there, staring at the photo of Pip sitting in between the two of us and it's hard not to think about how it looks like a family photo.
Brittany minimizes the screen, drawing me out of daze and I get a quick glimpse of a folder with my name on it.
"What's that?" I point to the folder, but Brittany quickly covers it with her hand.
"Nothing," she fires out.
"Britt," I say slowly, smiling over to her. "What is that?"
"Nothing," Brittany says again, her cheeks turning beat red.
"Have you been snapping naked photos of me?"
"What? No!"
"Then what's in the folder?" I try to take the computer from her, but she pulls it away just in time.
"It's a surprise," Brittany grumbles as she stands up off the couch.
"Aww come on," I puff out my lower lip.
"Santana, no!" She shuts the laptop and throws it on the chair. Pip looks up from her spot at the end of the couch, but then closes her eyes again. "You're disturbing the cat," Brittany chastises me, but comes to sit back down in my lap.
"Is it apart of your super-secret Valentine's Day?" I ask her.
"You need to stop being so nosy," she flicks the end of my nose with her finger.
"Hey," my face scrunched up. "Maybe you need to stop being so secretive."
/
The week comes and goes so fast, mostly because it has been filled with work and school, both of which has taken up all my time.
Work has been interesting, I mostly just clean everything, but today I'm going to start working the register. It's not something I'm really looking forward too though, dealing with customers.
"Okay," Stephen starts, "so, I'm just gonna run you through the basics."
Stephen starts by explain how to greet the costumers, while I stand there and try to absorb all the information. My mind drifts in and out of what he is saying. I have already been here for three hours today and that is three hours too long. I only have an hour left, but the manager insisted that I learn the register today.
"Got it," Stephan pulls me from my thoughts.
"Hmm, yeah," I respond quickly.
"Okay, what's the first step?"
"First step," I repeat as I try to rack my brain for the information. "First step is to… greet the costumer?"
"And then…?"
"And then," I hesitate for a moment. "I ring in their stuff," i answer a bit more confidently this time.
"You ask them if they found everything they were looking for first," he reminds me.
"Right," I nod my head, "and then ring in their stuff?"
"Yep," he smiles.
"Then I thank them and tell them to have a great day," Stephen nods and I smile proudly at being able to remember even though I wasn't really listening to what h was saying.
The place really isn't all that busy again today, so when the two of us stop talking about what I need to do for my job, there is an uncomfortable silence. Stephan is picking at the skin on his nails as he shifts back and forth. It makes me cringe inside with how awkward he is being.
I decide to break the silence because I can't take it anymore.
"So, how long have you worked here?" I ask him.
His eyes snap up to mine as if he can't believe I just talked to him.
"Uh," he clears his throat, "like, eight months."
I nod my head slightly, not knowing where to take the conversation next.
"Go to school around here?"
"Yeah, Lakeview High," he smiles.
"Hmm," I hum out. I didn't realize that he was still in high school. "Senior?"
"Yep," he answers.
I see someone approaching the checkout line and silently let out a breath of relief because that was just all around awkward.
I check out the costumer with no problem and even plaster on a fake smile while I did it.
I call that a win for the day.
Just as I am about to leave for the day, I notice a familiar face in the parking lot.
"Hey," I greet Brian as he loads a few bags into his car.
He jumps a little when I tap on his shoulder, but a smile spreads across his face when he sees who it is.
"Santana," he exclaims, crushing me in a hug. "It's been so long!"
"I know," I tell him. "Didn't know you shopped here," I point to the backs in his trunk.
"Well, I don't usually. I was just in the area today," he informs me. "You work here?" he must notice my uniform.
"Yep, just started."
"Nice," he smiles. "Hey, you wanna get a coffee and catch up a bit? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."
I really just want to go home and shower, but I nod and smile telling him I will meet him at the coffee shop around the block. I start walking in that direction, but then he stops me.
"You want a ride?" he laughs.
I agree to it because a warm car is better than walking in the clod, even if it is only a few minutes away.
/
Brian opens the door to the coffee shop, holding it for me to enter. I give him a tight lipped smile as I walk through. We stand in line for a few minutes, Brian shifting back and forth on his feet.
I place my order and Brian reaches into his pocket pulling out a wad of cash. Before I have time to stop him, he is handing the cashier a twenty.
We sit at a table toward the back.
"How've you been?" I ask, breaking the tension in the room. "Still studying biology?" It's only been a few months since we have spoken to each other, but a lot can change. I'm living proof of that.
"Yeah," he ducks his head to his chest, smiling down at his lap. "What about you?"
"I've been good," I smile. "Really good actually," my smile grows as I think to a certain blonde who is probably just now getting home from work.
"Oh yeah?" Brian asks, taking a sip of his coffee. "Who's the guy?"
I pause for a moment, my smile faltering briefly, but then I let out a deep breath shaking my head. "No guy," I tell him.
"Liar," he points at me. "That's an 'I'm in love look'," he laughs. "And I have never seen you smile like that before."
"I am in love," I say calmly, "with Brittany."
Now Brian's smile falters.
"Brittany?" He says slowly, his head cocking to the side like he misheard me.
"Yeah, the one you met at my apartment. The blonde."
"You're gay?" He asks, his face turning up. The words rolling off his tongue as if he never wanted them there in the first place. The way it came out of his mouth makes something drop in my stomach.
I nod my head slightly.
Brian's face hardens before he is pushing out of his chair and grabbing his coat off of the back. "I gotta go," he half mumbles.
My mouth hangs open as I sit there frozen in my spot. I reach out to grab hold of his arm, but he shrinks away from my touch and I'm left siting there alone in the coffee shop. My heart beating wildly out of a mixture of hurt and anger.
I continue to sit there long after Brian leaves. My cup of coffee forgotten, but eventually my phone rings in my pocket. I pull it out to find Brittany's face smiling back at me.
I smile softy before pressing the phone to my ear.
"Hi," I answer softly, my voice slightly shaken.
"Hey," Brittany's voice is the complete opposite. She sounds like she is in public somewhere as people's voices fill the background. "You okay?"
"Um," I reach down to grab my purse off the floor, deciding that it's probably best to get out of here. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Really?" Brittany questions.
"Yes, really," I say in a more convincing voice. "Where are you anyway?" I laugh into the phone.
"I'm shopping. Don't even bother asking what for because you know the answer."
"Yeah, surprise. I know."
"You got off work next weekend right?"
"Yes baby," I laugh because this is the third time this week that she has asked.
"Just making sure. Are you busy right now?"
"Uh- just heading home. Why?"
"Can you make a pit stop?"
"Sure, why not?" I breathe out.
"Okay," Brittany says excitedly. "I need you to come by the mall."
"Alright, see you in a few."
I hang up the phone and decide to hail a cab instead of taking the train. It's just easier this way. Plus, I don't really feel like sitting with a bunch of strangers right now anyway. I let out a long sigh and rest my head against the window of the cab. I shrink back into my seat when the window becomes too cold against my head and before I know it I am getting out of the cab and heading into the mall to find Brittany.
My mood isn't completely ruined by Brian just leaving me at the coffee shop, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little hurt. I knew this would happen eventually though. Not everyone was going to be okay with the fact that I'm gay.
After wandering around the mall for about seven minutes, I finally find the store Brittany told me to meet her at. I walk in and am immediately greeted by my girlfriend.
Brittany comes skipping over to me holding to items in her hands. She holds them out for me to look at and I scrunch my face at her, confused to why she would be trying on swimming suits in the middle of winter.
"Blue," she hold up the blue swim suit to her body, "or red?" she does the same with the other one.
"Blue," I tell her right away.
"Alright," she smiles at me, "then you get the red."
"Did you really have me come all the way down here to ask me what color swimming suit you should get?"
"Yes, I did," her smile grows even bigger.
"And you're still not going to tell me why, are you?"
"No, I'm not. But, I would say that this is a pretty big clue," she winks at me.
Thanks for reading :)