"Santana," I giggled as she slumped into me. She had snaked her arms around my ribcage and was resting most of her weight against my body as I stumbled into the elevator of our apartment complex. It was difficult to move around with Santana latched onto my body while I was trying to drag our suitcase behind me.

"I'm so tired," Santana murmured, nuzzling her nose against the crook of my neck. I smiled, releasing my hold on the suitcase handle and stretching as best I could to hit the button for the third floor. Once the doors closed, I pressed a kiss on her forehead and wrapped my arms around her. She shifted slightly so that her body was facing me directly and shuffled closer. I smiled as she let out a content hum.

"I had a lot of fun today," I said, running my hand through her hair.

"Me too," Santana said quietly. "I'm really, really glad we're home, though."

"Yeah? But the beach was so nice," I said, squeezing her tighter. "I wish we would have spent more time there. I still look like an albino polar bear."

"Brittany," Santana said, sliding her face up against my neck and then leaning back a little. I held my arms steady; otherwise I think she would have fallen backwards.

"Polar bears are already white," Santana smiled, raising a brow at me as best she could. It was cute, because it looked kind of like she could barely keep her eyes open.

"Polar bears actually have black skin, though," I said. "They have to in order to absorb heat. Black body masses are better for that. White reflects it back, so a polar bear's fur reflects sunlight back and contains the heat."

"Why do you know that?" Santana laughed.

"I like animals."

"I can tell," Santana smiled. "So are you saying you didn't catch any sun?"

"I don't think so," I said, glancing down at myself. Santana rose her brow and smirked as she leaned forward.

"I could check for a tan line," she whispered softly. I felt her fingers tickle down my back and play with the bottom of her hoodie I was wearing. I giggled and shook my head, because the door to the elevator opened. Her head drooped and she pressed her forehead against my shoulder.

"Move your butt before the door closes," I laughed as I shuffled forward, inching her towards the door. She moaned a protest, but when the door started beeping at us for preventing it from closing, she hopped back and helped me pull the suitcase. We giggled, wrestling with the handle and pulling it in different directions until we arrived at our apartment. As I fumbled with the keys, she leaned her side to mine, swaying shyly back and forth.

"You're making it really difficult to do anything," I grinned.

"That's because I don't want you to do anything but pay attention to me," Santana mumbled as she poked her finger at my stomach playfully.

"I'm always paying attention to you," I said as I managed to insert my key into the lock. I looked up at her as I opened the door. She stepped aside for me to pull the suitcase forward, but she was staring at the ground, blushing. I picked the bag up and dropped it inside and turned to grab both her hands as I walked backwards into our apartment.

"You're right, I'm glad we're home," I said once I had pulled her inside. The door fell closed behind her as I tugged her into my arms. I pressed my forehead against hers and wrinkled my nose.

"Why's that?" Santana whispered.

"Because we've got the whole apartment to ourselves," I smiled. "And I've got you all to myself."

"Mm," Santana hummed. "My thoughts exactly."

"Why did we go to the beach again?" I murmured softly, pecking her lightly on the lips.

"No idea," Santana sighed, letting her arms wrap around my neck. Again, she leaned her weight on me, so I wrapped my arms around her back and clasped my hands together at the small of her back.

"Are you tired?" I asked quietly. I don't know why we were being so quiet. We were home alone. Maybe it was because neither of us had turned on the lights and we were standing in the middle of the dark living room.

"Mm." Santana leaned forward pressed her lips lightly to mine. I smiled and kissed her back. I could tell she was sleepy, because she was having trouble keeping up with my lips. I laughed and pressed them to her cheek before hugging her tightly.

"Come on, sleepy butt," I said, loosening my hold around her waist and patting her butt lightly as I tried to pry myself out of her grasp. For someone that couldn't even keep up with a lazy kiss, she was able to resist well enough that I couldn't back up more than an inch from her.

"Santana," I giggled as she snuggled back into me. "Don't make me carry you."

She stopped snuggling me for a second. I thought maybe she was going to let go, but then she squeezed me tighter. I grinned and twisted a bit, swooping my arm and bending down to catch her behind her knees and scooped her up in my arms. She let out a gasp and her grip around my neck tightened. I readjusted my hold on her and smiled as she curled into me.

"Why aren't you tired?" Santana muttered against my neck. I started up the stairs.

"I am," I said softly. "But you're more tired."

"Ugh, I am," Santana sighed. "I don't know why. I slept so much in the car."

I reached the top of the stairs and continued down the hallway towards Santana's room.

"You've had a lot going on," I said quietly as I paused at her door, unsure how I was going to open it with her in my arms. She let one hand slip away from my neck and twisted the door hand before quickly slapping her hand back to it's previous position. I pushed the door open and made my way to the bed and gently laid her down. She hung onto my neck so I couldn't stand back up straight - not that I was going to - so I crawled into bed with her.

Santana finally released her hold on me when I was looming above her. I knelt down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She sighed sleepily, and I smiled against her lips as I tickled my fingers down her stomach to her waistband.

"Britt, I don't think... I mean, I want to, but ugh, I'm so sleepy," Santana murmured and I laughed.

"Babe, you can't sleep in jeans," I said. She looked up at me and exhaled a quiet laugh as I started to unbutton her pants. She helped by wiggling a bit as I pulled them down and peeled them off her legs. She giggled when I twisted to face her again, sliding my fingers up her thighs and to her shirt. She sat up a little as I removed it, falling back into the covers the moment she was free of her exterior layer of clothes. I quickly made away with my own exterior layer of clothes before her hands reached up and pulled me down into a hug.

"Better?" I said before a kiss. Santana nodded and I rolled onto my side. We shuffled and struggled with the blanket for a second, but the moment we were under the covers, Santana snuggled into me and sighed sleepily. I wrapped my arm around her and closed my eyes.

"...I didn't check on Lord Tubbington," I said moments later, as my eyes snapped open.

"He's fine. You left out enough food for a horse," Santana murmured.

"But he's not used to just dry cat food," I said, shifting a little. Her grip on me tightened and I was pulled back down to the bed.

"Whether or not he ate it, I think he's fine. Besides, he could stand to lose a little weight," Santana said.

"He's not fat, he's big boned," I said as she nuzzled her nose against my neck.

"Whatever, just stay here," Santana sighed. I felt her lips press weakly against my neck. Santana was really cute when she was sleepy. I don't think I could have denied her request if I wanted to.

"Mm," I nodded, resting my chin on the top of her head. I closed my eyes again and exhaled softly, letting my hand rub up and down her arm. Santana made me feel so warm and happy and fuzzy-

"Shoot, I left Jeremy in the car," I said, snapping awake again.

"Brittany," Santana whined softly, peeling away from my neck to look up at me. I smiled weakly when she frowned and wrinkled her nose at me.

"I'll get him tomorrow?" I said cautiously.

"Good," Santana said, leaning forward and kissing me on the lips. She held there for a moment, and I felt my eyes flutter closed. She slipped her hand up to run her fingers delicately along my jawline. I think she was kissing me to stop me from talking, or maybe to help me fall asleep. Whatever the case, it was working.

"Go to sleep, baby," Santana murmured after she broke from the kiss. I nodded lazily and soon enough, I was out like a light.


A light layer of pecks and sweet, soft lady kisses woke me up. Santana was laying half on top of me, her arm extended by my side to hold herself up. I blinked sleepily as she lowered her head to press a kiss to my nose, and I tilted my head up a little so that she missed and found my lips instead. She huffed out a small laugh, but continued to move her lips against mine. My hand found its way up and grazed past her ear to sift through her hair. It wasn't long until we were fully making out. She shifted, moving her leg to straddle me as she wrestled her tongue against mine. I tried to sit up a little, but she pressed further down, effectively pinning me down without really trying. I didn't protest, mostly because I was still kind of waking up. But what a way to wake up. I felt tingles all along my spine. It was shocking that she had that effect on me.

Santana pulled away from my lips and started kissing down my neck to my collarbone. I giggled when strands of her hair tickled along my bare skin and twisted to look up at Santana's headboard. My brow furrowed when I found her alarm clock. It was hard enough to concentrate on it because I was trying to read the numbers upside-down, but Santana kept nipping at me and causing me to fidget.

"Stop fidgeting," Santana laughed. "I'm trying to get my sweet lady kisses on."

"You want more than kisses," I laughed, twisting up a little.

"True." She tried to keep me down, but I found the strength to sit up. I turned properly to the clock again and my smile dropped.

"Crap, I have to go to work," I frowned when I finally was able to read the time properly.

"Nooo," Santana whined. I turned back to look at her and she ran her fingers up my stomach, over my bra, and pressed her palms down lightly as she leaned in to go back to kissing me. I let her for all of four-seconds before I tore away again.

"Santana, work," I insisted. "You have work, too."

"I hate work," she groaned, sitting up a little. I let my hands fall down to hold her by her waist and smiled up at her.

"You love your job," I said.

"Mm, well I hate it now," Santana said, grinning at me. "I'd much rather spend my day with my girlfriend."

"Oh?" I said, raising a brow. "Girlfriend?"

"Mm-hmm," Santana said, shifting to lower herself towards me.

"Who is she?" I said, narrowing my eyes. "I don't want any competition."

"She's this amazing dancer," Santana murmured, lowering to press her lips to my cheek.

"With a rockin' body," she continued, running her hand down over my stomach as she pressed another kiss to my other cheek.

"Blonde. With eyes like the ocean," she paused, staring down at me. I gazed up at her, watching her eyes search mine.

"She's funny, and sweet, and just the right amount of cute," Santana said as her lips spread into a smile.

"How will I ever compete with someone that sounds so awesome?" I said, puffing out my lower lip in a pout.

"I don't know," Santana shook her head lightly as she inched closer to me. She hung above me, suspended with barely any space between our lips. "Maybe this girl should kiss me and let me know she wants me to be her girlfr-"

I closed the distance between our lips by craning my neck forward, wrapping my arm around her neck and pulling her into me. I twisted and rolled her onto her back, pulling away just to peck at her lips again, over and over.

"Yes," I gasped happily. "Yes, a million times yes."

"Does that mean you'll stay home from work?" Santana smiled as she cupped my cheek.

"I wish," I murmured softly and nuzzled against her palm. "We've both missed enough work as it is."

"Fine," Santana sighed as I moved away from her and twisted to get out of bed.

"It's only a few hours," I laughed as I bent down to scoop up my clothes from the floor. Santana had her head propped up by her hand as she laid on the bed, looking up at me. She looked so sexy and alluring, it really took everything in me to not crawl back in bed and tear off what little clothing she had left.

"Then I would like to take my girlfriend out for ice cream when we get off work," Santana said, swirling the index finger of her free hand along the creases in the blanket where I had been laying.

"I think that sounds like an awesome idea," I said, bending down to kiss her on the lips lightly. "Girlfriend."

Santana smiled and her cheeks got a little rosy.


"-Mike!" I laughed as I was twirled in the air. He had come up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist unexpectedly.

"How was your class?" Mike said once he had set me firmly back on the ground. I stumbled forward and turned around, giving him a cheerful smile.

"Good," I said. I didn't normally teach salsa classes, but it was a lot of fun. I thought I would have been rustier at it, but my body just reacted instinctively to the music, as usual. I stepped forward and grabbed Mike's hands to pull him to the middle of the floor. My iPod was still playing, so I swayed back and forth as I tugged on his hands. He laughed and nodded, twirling me around again, properly this time.

"Someone's happy," Mike said.

"Why do you say that?" I said, grinning.

"You're all smiles," Mike laughed. "I bet that was infectious in your class."

"Probably," I nodded.

"Any reason for it?" Mike said. He started to step backwards as he pulled me along to our dance. It was fun to be able to dance and talk at the same time. Most people I danced with in my classes would be too focused on making sure their steps were right to concentrate on anything else.

"I'm happy," I shrugged. Mike laughed as he shifted and pulled me along so that we were both moving sideways. I laughed and he twirled me around again and when he caught me, he bent me back so that I was looking up at him.

"Happy why?" Mike rose a brow. "Something to do with Santana?"

"Everything to do with Santana," I grinned. He let me up and I curtsied a little. "You're now speaking to the proud girlfriend of Santana Lopez."

"Aw," Mike cooed and wrapped me in a hug when I stood back up straight. I laughed, wrapping my arms around him and tried to whirl him around like he had when he first walked in, but he was a little too tall for me to do so.

"Official and everything, huh?" Mike said when we broke apart. I nodded vigorously. I spun around and took long, playful steps towards my bag at the back of the room, swaying from side to side as I moved.

"Excuse me? Sorry, I have a girlfriend," I said to an invisible stranger, waving my hand in the air. "What was that? Yes, I am in a relationship, thank you for asking."

"You're adorkable," Mike said, shaking his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. I smiled back at him as I slung the strap of my bag over my shoulder. He didn't look scary or intimidating like Quinn or Tina or even Santana did when they crossed their arms over their chests. He just looked calm, and maybe a little satisfied.

"I don't care," I shrugged and spun around again.

"I have a girlfriend. I'm Santana's girlfriend." I didn't want to stop saying it. It made my heart flutter with excitement. It was the first time I'd been anyone's anything. I wanted to be the best girlfriend ever. Maybe I would go home and do something romantic for Santana when she got back from work. Wait, we were going to go get ice cream. Maybe afterwards. I could get candles or something.

"Well, does Santana's girlfriend want to go with me to Lucky Charms?" Mike said as he stepped towards me.

"Yes!" I cheered. A surprise visit at work. That was definitely something significant others did.

"Alright," Mike said. "But we have to take the subway. Tina took my car to work today."

"Tina's working too?"

"Why else would I want to go to Lucky Charms? To see your girlfriend?" Mike laughed. My smile got impossibly wider. I couldn't help it. I was glad he kept saying girlfriend.

"I guess that would be silly," I nodded as he escorted me to the door.

Mike and I chatted a lot as we walked down the street towards the subway station. It was really easy to talk to Mike about almost everything. He had this really relaxed demeanor like nothing I said would be wrong or if it came out wrong, he wouldn't judge me for it. His favorite topic was food, but we managed to jump between talking about a chili dog vendor we passed and what kind of toppings were best on hot dogs to dance classes both at the studio and at our schools.

"Oh, don't let me forget," Mike said as he punched the buttons on the ticket machine for the subway. "Tina has Jeremy. Lil' guy stowed away in the back of our car last night."

"Phew! I was worried about him," I said as he handed me my ticket.

"Don't worry, we let him sleep inside," Mike said.

"Yeah? Good," I nodded. "He gets cold easily."


A purple fuzzy face popped out of nowhere as Santana was lowering one of the chairs from the table. She hopped back in surprise, and Tina lowered Jeremy from her face and smiled brightly at the Latina.

"Hey, chickadee," Tina said cheerfully. Santana rolled her eyes and set the chair down, but her lips remained curled in a smile.

"I think you mean chica," Santana said, walking to the next table. Tina set Jeremy down and pulled off one of the chairs to help her.

"No, it's a bird," Tina said. "A songbird to be exact. What were you singing just now?"

"Nothing," Santana said, averting her gaze.

"Sounded pretty. You and me... between sheets, was it?" Tina said, singing the bits of the song she managed to remember.

"It just doesn't get better than this," Santana sang back softly, her cheeks flushing as she continued to remove chairs from the table tops. Tina's smile grew impossibly brighter as she followed Santana, nodding at her to continue singing. The Latina turned her back shyly, but her voice trailed softly after her as she skirted around the tables.

"The many windswept yellow stickies of my mind," Santana continued quietly. "Are the molten, emotional front line... I couldn't care less, I'm transfixed in this absolute bliss." She continued along, humming the rest of the song. After she pulled the last chair down, she spun lightly on her feet around Rory as he passed. He stopped and stared after her as she made her way to the bar before looking up at Tina.

"She's unusually happy," Rory said in surprise. "I though' she hated day shifts."

"I know, right?" Tina wrinkled her nose and ruffled his hair before walking to the bar after Santana. Rory sighed and shook his head.

"No one tells me anythin'," he murmured and started to wipe down the tables Santana and Tina just finished uncovering.

"You're scaring Rory," Tina said, sliding into a stool at the bar. Santana looked up from the glass she was washing, raising a brow quizzically.

"I'm not allowed to be happy?"

"You are, you are," Tina laughed. "It's nice to see you so bubbly. How come you never sing and dance because of me?"

"Because you're not my girlfriend," Santana said quietly and narrowed her eyes, but her nose wrinkled slightly as a small laugh escaped her lips.

"Yeah? And Brittany is?" Tina asked. Santana nodded timidly as she set the cleaned glass on top of a small stack of them.

"You're so cute," Tina sighed, resting her chin in her palm. "I don't think I've ever seen you so enamored before."

"Heh," Santana exhaled. "Maybe not."

"And I thought you said you didn't have a heart," Tina winked. Santana straightened a little.

"Don't go thinking I've gone soft on you," Santana said, furrowing her brow.

"There's the scowl I know and love," Tina grinned. Santana rolled her eyes and busied herself with more cleaning as Tina stretched forward and grabbed a glass and filled it with soda.

"I'm glad you're happy, though, Santana," Tina said quietly.

"Why the sad tone?" Santana said, glancing up at her.

"What?"

"You said you're glad, but you frowned," Santana said, tilting the soapy glass in her hand towards the Asian.

"Oh," Tina looked down at her own glass and rotated it slowly in her hands. "I'm not sad, I'm... I don't know."

"Are you jealous?" Santana said. When Tina looked up, she snapped back a little in surprise. Santana was leaning in front of her, a soft smile on her lips.

"Of Brittany? What, no," Tina shook her head. "I'm glad you have her. It's just... You're my best friend, Santana. I'm happy for you, but..."

"But you are sad," Santana said. "Because you don't know what this means for you and me."

Tina was silent, swirling her finger gently over the rim of her glass. After a while, she nodded.

"Just because I have Brittany doesn't mean you and I are going to stop being friends," Santana said, placing her hand on top of Tina's glass and dragging it away. Tina looked back up at Santana.

"I know that," Tina shrugged.

"You don't sound very convincing," Santana said. "Look, Tina, you're my best friend, too. You deal with all my bullshit, and as much as you can overdo it sometimes with trying to help steer me in the right direction, you know I appreciate it, right? Where would I be if it weren't for you?"

"Probably still living in on-campus housing, hating your roommate?" Tina said quietly.

"Exactly," Santana nodded. "And yes, things are going to be different. But I hope you'll still be there for me when I need you."

"Of course," Tina nodded.

"Good," Santana lifted her hand and tapped Tina gently on the nose. "Also, no more hiding things from me. I don't want to find out three years after the fact that I slept with someone and didn't remember it."

"I didn't sleep with you," Tina frowned, wrinkling her nose as she sat back.

"I know," Santana shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure."

"I'm sorry for not telling you about it," Tina murmured.

"You bet your ass you're sorry," Santana said. "But I hope it's not because I'm a bad kisser."

"Er," Tina flushed, averting her gaze and suddenly finding the empty stool next to her extremely fascinating.

"I knew it," Santana pumped her fist into the air. "You liked kissing me. Admit it."

"-I did not!" Tina snapped back, stretching forward and shoving her hand into Santana's shoulder. Santana caught her hand and grinned slyly, leaning closely to Tina's face as she pulled her close. The Asian gulped, and after a long pause, Santana let her go.

"I'm kidding," Santana said, flicking her hand in the air. She glanced up and saw Rory staring at them from the other end of the room. "Payback for yelling at me in Myrtle Beach."

"I didn't mean to-"

"Water under the bridge," Santana said. "But you butt into things with me and Brittany again or make her uncomfortable, and friends or not, I will beat the shit out of you."

"Duly noted," Tina said, nodding quickly.

"And you know I'm good for that," Santana said, pointing her finger at Tina seriously. Tina's eyes flicked up to the healing cut on Santana's eyebrow. Santana dropped her gaze and went back to washing the glasses. Tina sipped silently on her soda for a while, until she found the courage to speak again.

"...Santana, have you thought about how you're going to talk to Quinn and Rachel about this?"

"I don't know," Santana shrugged. "It's a conversation I should probably have with Brittany first."

"That's sweet," Tina nodded. "Yeah, I think the both of you need to sit down and kind of establish some things."

"Tina, we're going to move at whatever pace we feel like," Santana said, looking up at her. "I'll tell them when I'm ready to - when we are ready to."

"I just don't want you to have to sneak around anymore," Tina sighed. "Or a repeat of how Mike and I found out."

"If you're suggesting Brittany and I sleep in separate beds again, I swear to god-"

"I just think you need to be careful," Tina said quietly. "You have the apartment to yourselves until Saturday, but then what, Santana?"

Santana's shoulders dropped slightly as she leaned away from the sink and shook her head.

"I don't know," Santana said. "Yeah, maybe Brittany and I should come up with a game plan. We'll figure it out. Until then, you're not going to say anything, right?"

"I wouldn't do that to you." Tina's brow furrowed.

"I want you to put an end to Operation Lady Pants," Santana said sternly. "And fork over any and all photos you two have of us."

"That's fair," Tina nodded.

"Honestly, you and Quinn are a pain in the ass sometimes," Santana grumbled.


Mike and I made our way down to the subway we needed to take and shuffled inside. It was really crowded, so we had to stand, but luckily we managed to get ahold of a pair of handles. Sometimes there were so many people it was hard to find anything to hold on to. The train jolted and I lurched to the side. It kind of hurt my arm a bit, but I managed to straighten up. I twisted and apologized to the man I bumped into.

"Not a problem, dollface," the man winked. He kept his eyes trained on me, looking me up and down. I felt my own eyes widened a little and I held my mouth open a little as I averted my gaze. I suddenly felt really exposed, because I was still wearing my dance clothes, which consisted mostly of a skin tight tank top and shorts today. Even though I wasn't looking directly at the man, I could still feel his gaze on me, and he wasn't looking at my face. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I was suddenly pulled back. I looked up and saw Mike's expression harden as he stared sternly back at the stranger.

"Back off, she's taken," Mike said. He nudged me and shuffled to switch places with me before wrapping his arm protectively over my shoulders. I huddled as close as I could to him, hoping that maybe I could use his body as a shield to cover myself up a little. I wished I had worn my jacket to work, but it was really warm today.

"C'mon," Mike said, when the train stopped again. I was so glad we to get off the subway, and Mike kept his hold on me so that we didn't get separated when we were pushed and shoved out into the station. When we managed to get through the crowd, he gave me a tight squeeze.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"I hate guys like that," Mike said.

"I should have worn a jacket, or told him off," I shrugged.

"No, you shouldn't have to," Mike said. "You should be able to feel comfortable in your own skin no matter where you are. You're lucky Santana wasn't here. She would have been on him faster than you can say, 'Lima Heights Adjacent.'"

I laughed and knocked into him. "I'm glad she didn't, I don't like her getting into fights. Not for my sake."

"Whether or not she got into a fight, she would have been there for you," Mike said. "And when she's not, me and Tina, and Quinn and Rachel too, we're here for you too."

"Thanks," I murmured sheepishly. It was embarrassing for some reason. I knew that. That they were there for me. Didn't I? It sounded weird to have to be told.

"Do you wanna see if we can sneak in the back entrance so you can surprise Santana?" Mike said, giving me another, more playful squeeze. I brightened significantly.

"Yes," I grinned. "Let's do that! How will we do that though? Are you a ninja?"

"No," Mike laughed. "I'll text Tina, hold on."

"Tell her to get Jeremy, too," I said, leaning over to look at the screen of his phone after he unwrapped his arm from around me to text her. The last message from Tina was displayed partially on the screen.

"...of course, but I still think they're scared. Not necessarily in a bad way. I'm trying to talk to Santana about it, but I think she's still on cloud nine."

"Talk to Santana about what?" I asked.

"Oh," Mike finished sending the text and put his phone away. "Um, you two and your relationship. Tina's still a little concerned-"

"She doesn't have to be, Santana and I are fine," I said, huffing lightly as I leaned back a little.

"I know that," Mike smiled. "Tina just means that as exciting as a new relationship is, it's also kind of scary, right?"

"...I guess," I nodded, letting my hands unfold from across my chest.

"I know we talked yesterday about it," Mike said quietly. "With it all feeling surreal. Is there anything else you want to talk about? I'm happy to help in any way I can."

"Hm," I hummed. I knew from the expression Mike had that he wasn't just asking because Tina asked him to. He was nice and sincere. It showed in not just his words, but his actions too. I was glad I got to work with someone like him, even more so now that we were becoming friends.

I wondered what sort of things I could talk to him about. I didn't have to hide anything from him, now that he knew about me and Santana. And I was really excited about being Santana's girlfriend. Mike had been dating Tina forever, right? He knew exactly how to be a good boyfriend. I saw enough of them together to know that. I wondered if when he kissed Tina if he got all tingly and wanted to melt. Or maybe that was just because everything with Santana and I was new and fresh. Or maybe it was just what kissing girls felt like. But Santana wasn't the first girl I'd kissed, so that didn't make sense. I furrowed my brow.

"If you think of anything, let me know," Mike said. We were just getting to Lucky Charms, but we had to wrap around the back. "No pressure."

"Oh, wait," I said, catching his arm. "I don't know if you can answer this, but, like... When you have sex with a girl-"

"I'm not sure I want to talk to you about that," Mike said, blushing. "I mean, if it's really something you want to know about, we can talk, but, I mean... It's Santana- I've known her forever, and, it's just-"

I laughed and looped my arm in his, dragging him forward towards the back entrance.

"It's okay, I've got it pretty much figured out," I shrugged. "But if you have any tips-"

"I, uh, well, um-" Mike's eyes widened nervously. The door to the back entrance shot open a second later, and Tina's head poked out.

"Oh, good, I thought that was you two," Tina smiled.

"Tinathankgod," Mike said, pulling away from me and enveloping her in a tight hug. Tina gave me a bewildered look as I snuck past her.


Santana was inside, turned towards the mirrored shelf that held all the bottles of alcohol behind the bar, busy mixing a drink. I pressed my index finger to my lips as Rory caught sight of me from the opposite end of the room and crept towards her, keeping low as I moved along the exterior of the bar. I slipped into the seat just behind her and rested my chin in my palm. She was humming softly to herself and there was a subtle sway to her hips. I grinned as my gaze fell on her butt. I shook my head lightly and looked back up to the mirror so I could see her face. She was focused, but her lips had a hint of a smile on them as she worked.

"Hey," I said quietly. I meant to say something sexy or even cheesy, but it was the only thing that escaped my throat. She looked up and caught my gaze in the mirror. She spun around quickly, abandoning the drink she'd been mixing, and smiled brightly at me.

"Brittany!" she exclaimed, rushing towards me, stopped only because there was a bar between us. She leaned forward, but caught herself inches before kissing me. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck, and I had to stretch over the counter to return the hug.

"When did you come in?" Santana said once she had settled back on her side of the bar.

"Just now," I said, pointing to towards the back entrance. Mike and Tina were walking towards us, hand in hand, and Mike waved with his free hand.

"I was about to text you," Santana said as she waved back at Mike. "Oh, wait, hold on."

She knelt down, and I strained to see what she was doing as she reached beneath the bar. When she reappeared into my view, she was holding Jeremy. She wiggled him forward and bopped me on the forehead with his horn before lowering his muzzle to my nose.

"I'll keep him behind the bar until I get off, okay?" Santana said, tossing him back under the bar. "Not really the time or place for purple unicorns."

"Or sweet lady kisses," I whispered with a small frown. Santana glanced around the bar, and I turned to look around too. They had just opened, so there weren't really anyone except us around, but I think Santana was more concerned about Rory. She grabbed my hand and gestured for me to stand up.

"Come here," Santana said, walking with my hand in hers as she led me down the bar. She opened the hatch to let me inside, raising her brow at Rory to make sure it was okay as she pulled me forward. He shrugged and went back to sweeping.

"Maybe I still need time to adjust to this," Santana murmured. "But I'm glad you came to visit."

"Me too," I smiled. I was happy to be with her. I did want to kiss her, but I always wanted to kiss her, so I reasoned I just had to be patient. I'd rather be able to spend time with her as much as possible without kisses than force her to feel uncomfortable.

"Am I allowed to be back here?" I said, glancing at Rory again.

"As long as you don't touch the alcohol and Rory keeps his mouth shut," Santana said a little louder.

"I don' know what yer talkin' 'bout, Santana," Rory said, as he walked past us on the outside of the bar with the broom in hand towards the back.

"Good," Santana said as she turned back to me.

"How much longer do you have work?" I asked, stepping closer to her. I could still hug her, right?

"A few hours," Santana said, raising her hand and ruffling my hair. I wrinkled my nose as Santana leaned forward and whispered, "Hopefully, I can keep my hands off you."

"Would it be better if I left?" I asked sheepishly.

"No, I want you to stay," Santana said, quickly grabbing my hand and swinging it lightly back and forth. "Please stay. This way I don't have to drive all the way home to take you to get ice cream."

"Haha, okay," I laughed and nodded. Santana pulled me down the bar back to where she had been making a drink.

"I suddenly know why Tina asked me to make this," Santana said as her brow furrowed. "I was wondering, since there aren't any customers right now, except that old guy that's always here."

"Do you have to throw it away? Whatever it is?"

"It's an amaretto sour," Santana nodded. "You want it?"

"Is it good?"

"It's sweet," Santana said. "But also a little tangy too."

"Yum," I grinned. She handed me the glass and I took it with both hands. "Can you show me how that works?" I nodded at the soda dispenser thing as I took a sip of the drink. It was tangy, but I liked it.

"It works how you think it would," Santana said, raising her brow. "You press a button, soda comes out."

"Can I try?" I asked.

"Okay," Santana laughed. "Sure. Since I made a drink for you, you can make one for me." Santana stepped forward and grabbed a glass from a stack of them and held it up for me.

"What kind of soda do you like?" I asked as I took the glass.

"Surprise me," Santana said, leaning against the counter. I picked up the nozzle or gun or remote, I wasn't really sure what to call it. It had a nozzle on it but it also had buttons. They had little labels on them with the different types of flavors. I held the nozzle over the glass and pressed the button. I was surprised by the pressure and let out a little squeak of excitement when carbonated liquid shot into the glass and immediately released the button. The soda fizzed and bubbled at the bottom of the glass, barely filling it an inch.

"Oh my gosh, that's so cool," I said, holding the glass up to Santana. "You get paid to do this?"

"Yes...?" Santana laughed. Her eyes were squinted a little because she was smiling so big as she shook her head. "It's not that exciting, is it?"

"It is, look at this!" I said selecting another button and squirting more soda into the glass. It was a different flavor and mixed together a weird color.

"I'm not drinking that," Santana shook her head.

"But you said to surprise you," I pouted.

"You just mixed grape soda with coca cola," Santana said, furrowing her brow. I pressed another button, and a weird pale yellowish green color came out.

"And lime," Santana winced. "That's going to taste totally gross."

I pressed all the other buttons until it was full. Each time I did, Santana protested a little louder, and in the end, we were giggling at how gross it looked.

"Please don't make me drink this," Santana said, picking the glass up.

"I bet a cherry will make it taste better," I said, stretching forward and grabbing a cherry out of a cup that was sitting next to the machine. I plopped in the glass and grinned. Santana stared at the cherry as it bobbed up and down in the dark, almost purple-ish brown soda. Her nose was wrinkled slightly and she was trying her best not to grimace.

"I'll try it if you do," I said.

"That's your bargain?" Santana said. "I'm not drinking it, even if you have to."

"I'll give you ...a kiss?" I whispered the last bit as I stepped a little closer to her. She giggled and flushed.

"You're going to kiss me anyway," Santana whispered back, scratching her finger playfully at my stomach.

"I'll withhold kisses if you don't at least try it," I said, wiggling my eyebrows. For a moment, Santana looked shocked, but within a second she recovered and straightened a little.

"I don't think you could," Santana said boldly as she rose a brow at me. I grinned sheepishly, because she called my bluff.

"I'll try it first, then," I said, grabbing the glass and taking a gulp. It was weird. Like, definitely sweet because all the flavors of soda that were in it were sweet and sugary, but it was also really hard to pinpoint what it actually was. I think the coke and the root beer made it strange. Maybe the grape, too.

"...what does it taste like?" Santana whispered.

"I have no idea," I said, wrinkling my nose a little as I laughed. I tried to pass the drink back to her.

"No, no, if you don't like it, I won't," Santana said, waving her hands at the glass as I shoved it towards her.

"Come on, it's not so bad," I said. "Just weird!"

"Ugh, fine," Santana groaned. She slowly raised the glass, holding it a few inches under her nose as she stared at it with a grossed out expression on her face.

"You don't really have to," I murmured. She smiled weakly and then took a small sip from the glass.

"Tastes...like...cough syrup," she coughed, and grimaced again as she set down the glass. I fished the cherry out and popped it in my mouth. I wiggled the stem against my lips and my eyebrows at Santana.

"Cherry's still good," I said, crushing it as I spoke. "Can this do anything else?"

"The soda dispenser?" Santana asked, averting her gaze from my face as I held it up. "No, it just dispenses soda."

"This one shoots out water, right?" I said, pointing to the button that was labeled 'water.'

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering," I said, before pointing it at her and pressing the button. She shrieked and jumped back, but I still hit her with the short burst of water. It quickly soaked through her tank top, but luckily it was black and didn't show too much.

"Brittany!" Santana said, lashing her hand at the gun nozzle thing, but I stepped back and held it up threateningly. She tensed and held her hands in the air, but I could tell by the way she was standing that she wasn't giving up quite yet. I grinned and pressed the button again, but this time she sprang to the side and caught my hand.

"Give me the nozzle," She growled as she caught me in a bear hug. I struggled, trying to twist my hand so that the nozzle was pointing at her, and when I did, I held the button down. She cried out as we both got splashed with water.

"Brittany!"


"Well, fuck," Santana said, holding her hand out to hold the door open with Jeremy tucked under her other arm as she peered out the back entrance to Lucky Charms. I was huddled next to her and we were standing in the doorway as we stared out at the alleyway. It was pouring.

"Does this mean we're not getting ice cream anymore?" I said quietly. Santana's brow furrowed for a split second and she smiled sympathetically at me.

"Do you still want to go get ice cream?" she asked.

"I think hot cocoa would be more suitable," I said, extending my hand to feel the rain. It was cool, despite how warm it had been earlier in the day.

"Then let's go home, make some cocoa, snuggle up on the couch-"

"And watch a movie?" I said brightly.

"-I was going to say get our sweet lady kisses on," Santana murmured. "But we can do whatever you want."

"I like your plan," I leaned closer to her, bumping my shoulder against hers. She smiled and stepped back from the door letting it swing closed as she handed me Jeremy.

"What are you doing?" I stared at her as she took of her jacket and lifted it to the side and over my shoulders.

"Santana, you'll be cold," I protested quietly. She stepped closer to me as she tugged the collar together and then patted my arms.

"You're hardly wearing pants," Santana smiled. "Come on. On three, we'll run for it."

"How far is your car?"

"Down the block," Santana said, grasping my hand. I wiggled my fingers around to intertwine with hers and took in a breath and held it as she counted.

"-Three!" she shouted, throwing the door open and tugging me forward. Even as fast as we were running, it only took a few seconds for the downpour to completely drench us. I squealed and shouted as we jumped over a puddle. I hugged Jeremy tightly to my chest and had to crane over him a bit to keep him from getting wet, but I don't think it helped. The headlights of Santana's car lit up as she unlocked it before we reached it.

Santana let go of my hand so I could run to my side, but I caught her fingers before she pulled away completely and tugged her back to me. She definitely wasn't expecting it, because she spun around and nearly crashed into me as I leaned forward to collide my lips with hers. It was wet and she was cold, but I didn't care. I let go of her hand because I still had to hold Jeremy and ran my free hand up to the back of her head, gripping tightly through her wet hair to pull her closer as I sucked on her lips. Even though she was surprised, she didn't waste any time in her recovery. She lifted her hands to cup my cheeks, letting out a little huff as she kissed me back. She only broke away to gasp for breath, because somehow our kissing became desperate and urgent. I held her close to me, realizing we were both shivering a little from the cold. But she just looked so sexy. I stared down at her with my wet forehead pressed to hers, and we started giggling.

"You're s-so fucking hot," Santana chattered.

"I th-think you m-mean c-cold," I tried to laugh. She tilted her head towards her car and I nodded. We broke apart to scramble into her car, but the moment I tossed Jeremy in the back seat and we were free from the freezing rain, she had reattached her lips to mine. I slid my hands up and down her arms to try to warm her up and her hands fell to my bare legs as she pressed further into me.

"Santana," I murmured between when I broke contact for a second to gasp for breath. Santana was right. I definitely would not be able to withhold kisses from her.


It was hard not to just jump Santana and tear her clothes off the moment we got inside, but we were both still so cold. We separated momentarily to change in our own rooms, because I didn't have any clean clothes in Santana's room. I think maybe I should just leave clothes in there, or just borrow some of hers in the future. By the time I'd finished changing, Santana was already in the kitchen, bustling with the stove. I ruffled my hair in a towel and draped it over my shoulders before I tiptoed up behind her and enveloped her in a hug.

"Hey, baby," I cooed, pressing my lips to her ear. She let out a soft laugh and turned her head to kiss me softly. Her body was warmer than mine, so I snuggled into her.

"Still cold?" she said, leaning back against me.

"Mm," I hummed.

"The cocoa will warm you up," Santana said, shifting a bit so she could stir the warming milk. I rested my chin on her shoulder and watched as she added the ingredients.

"Do you still want to watch a movie?" Santana asked.

"What movie?" I mumbled.

"Well, we own like every Disney movie ever," Santana said, flicking the spoon up towards the living room. "Courtesy of one Rachel Berry. Although, I think Quinn provided a few of them."

"Yeah?"

"Mm, she likes the Fox and the Hound," Santana shrugged. "And those older Disney movies, like Robin Hood and 101 Dalmatians. Have you ever seen The Great Mouse Detective?"

"My sister loves that one," I said, nuzzling my nose into her neck.

"Anyway, what do you want to watch?" Santana asked.

"I don't care," I sighed. "Whatever you want to watch."

"Aladdin? Lion King? Hercules?"

"Hercules," I nodded, kissing her neck softly. I watched that one like a million times with my sister, so I figured it would be good to watch with Santana, because I wouldn't need to pay attention so much to know what was going on. She finished making the cocoa and turned the stove off, shrugging her shoulder against me lightly so that she could move to get us mugs. She told me to get a blanket so we could cuddle on the couch.

When I came back downstairs with my comforter, Santana was sitting on the couch with the movie and everything already set up. I hopped towards her and bounced onto the couch, quickly snuggling into her. She leaned forward and grabbed a mug for me before settling back and wrapping her arm around my shoulder as I spread the blanket over us.

"Sorry we didn't get to go get ice cream," Santana said, pressing her lips to my forehead. I looked up at her as I sipped the hot cocoa.

"I can eat ice cream whenever," I said quietly. "I was just really excited to spend more time with you. This is just as good." Santana snuggled into me, resting her head on top of mine because she was sitting up more than I was.

"Before we start the movie, can I ask you something?" Santana's voice was small, and I glanced up at her. From what I could see, her brow was furrowed and she looked a little worried. I twisted and kissed her cheek.

"You can ask me anything you want," I murmured and then kissed the same spot again. She smiled and set her own mug aside.

"Do... do you want to tell Quinn and Rachel about us?" Santana looked down at me cautiously.

"Like, right now?" I said, pulling my mug away from my lips. "Cause it's like, kind of late and we'd have to call them and I don't know if this is something we should tell them over the phone."

"No, no, Brittany," Santana smiled. "I mean... are you okay with us being open? I know before it felt like it was mostly me hiding us."

"You were scared," I said softly. "I know that."

"I know, but you also were worried about how it would affect everyone else, right?" Santana said. "I'm still a little scared. But Tina said she doesn't think it's good to put more pressure on us by hiding it and stressing ourselves out by being secret all the time."

"Santana," I murmured. That made sense, but we'd been fine sneaking around before. We had been moving at just the right pace, but I guess I was glad Santana had opened up and had asked me to be her girlfriend. I think I was more scared now, not because of anyone else, but because I wanted to do Santana right. Maybe it would be good to tell Quinn and Rachel, but the difference was... we lived with them.

"Do you think they'll be mad?" I asked quietly.

"What? No," Santana shook her head. "Absolutely not. Concerned and worried, probably even happy, but not mad. Well, Rachel will probably be shocked."

I let out a soft laugh and nodded my head.

"If you want to tell them, I think it's a good idea," I said. "It'll make things easier for you, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Santana furrowed her brow.

"You're scared of heights," I said, leaning forward and setting my mug down. "And yet you sneak across the fire escape every other night to be with me."

Santana's cheeks flushed.

"I guess I could always just sneak into your room from now on," I said, wrinkling my nose at her. She gave me a coy smile and leaned forward to kiss my forehead.

"I don't want either of us to have to sneak around anymore," Santana murmured. "I want to be able to kiss you whenever I want. But I still need time to figure out how to tell them. They might not like that we're sleeping in each other's rooms even if we tell them, though."

"Why?" I pouted.

"I don't know, I mean, everyone seems to think we're moving too fast," Santana said quietly.

"I don't," I said. "Had I known you were interested when you first bumped into me at the dance studio, I would have given you my number."

"All that wasted time," Santana groaned, lifting her hand in the air. I stretched forward and grabbed her hand and linked my pinkie in hers.

"No, it happened perfectly," I said, leaning forward to catch her lips. She tilted back and placed her free hand between our faces and I ended up kissing her fingers instead. I frowned as I drew back.

"What?" I said.

"I kind of did a bad thing," Santana whispered. My brow furrowed and she glanced to the side.

"I kind of promised Tina we would try to not sleep in each other's beds. So that, like, when Quinn and Rachel get here, we won't be all desperate and needy if they insist we separate. Or if we don't tell them, that we can survive not sneaking around."

"That's a terrible idea," I pouted. "I don't like sleeping without you..."

"We just need to try, baby," Santana said, kissing my forehead. "I don't like sleeping without you either, but I don't want a repeat of Myrtle Beach."

I drew back a little and nodded. I guess that made sense. I was so scared seeing Santana upset like that. I had no idea how Quinn and Rachel would react. It was probably better to be safe than sorry, but I wished Santana hadn't made a promise to Tina without letting me have a say.

"Let's start the movie, okay?" I said, reaching forward and grabbing the remote. Santana tensed a little as I turned the movie on, but she relaxed when I nestled back into her arms.

"I'm sorry," Santana mumbled. I shrugged lightly and turned to peck her lips quickly.

"It's okay," I said. "Just let me soak up as much girlfriend time as I can before bed, then."

"I'm yours, 24/7, Britt," Santana smiled and hugged me tightly. "You'll just have to close your eyes and find me in your dreams, okay?" I nodded and laid my head against her. I didn't say anything else, because truth be told, that was exactly what I was scared of.


Santana and I had lost focus on the movie around the time Hercules started singing about dreaming of far off places and people that loved him. I had twisted around so that I was laying on top of her, the covers falling down around my waist. She was laying on her back, one arm lazily resting behind her head, the other pressed against my back as I kissed her. It was soft and slow and unlike the urgency and insistent need we had to be close to each other when we were making out in the rain or in her car. I liked both, but right now I was in her arms, completely relaxed. I don't know how long we'd been kissing, but that wasn't important. All that was important to me at the moment was how soft and wet Santana's kisses were and that she was perfectly fine with my tongue dictating the position of hers.

Her hand slid from around my back and started to tickle the skin that was exposed because of how my shirt had ridden up. I smiled into my kiss as I drew back my tongue, pressing hard down on her lips as her fingers scratched up over my stomach and pushed underneath my shirt. I felt her shift a little and her other hand moved from behind her head to skate her fingers through my hair. I shuddered as her fingernails dragged down on the back of my scalp, and let my tongue find its way back into her mouth. When her hand moved beneath my shirt to cup my breast, I let out a soft moan and she giggled. The laugh distracted me from our kissing long enough for me to overhear the television again.

If there's a prize for rotten judgement... I guess I've already won that.

I usually really liked the song. It was probably my favorite part of the whole movie, but I suddenly felt myself tense against Santana. Suddenly I felt that sinking feeling my the pit of my stomach, and if I had any words I was going to say, they would have been caught by the knot that was forming in my throat. Maybe that wasn't a knot, I think it was my heart. Because it started pounding rapidly again. I tried to hide how nervous- was it nerves? I guess it was nerves. I tried to mask whatever it was by dipping down and kissing her again, but it was shaky and I ended up just resting my forehead to hers with my eyes clenched closed. An unsteady gasp escaped my lips when I felt her hand squeeze against my chest.

"Britt?" Santana murmured. I opened my eyes, slowly. I wanted to curse, because I was messing this up. This wonderful, perfect evening of us being home alone together and I should have been okay because we finally talked. And I was her girlfriend. She was mine. Why was my heart racing like I'd just finished running a marathon?

Santana's hand withdrew from my shirt and both her hands moved to cup my cheeks. I felt really guilty and closed my eyes again to avoid seeing the probably disappointed look on her face. She pressed a kiss to my lips as she pulled me forward and then let her one hand slip away to rest over my heart.

"What's wrong, baby?" Santana whispered softly. I shook my head and dipped down to try and kiss her again. She let out a soft laugh against my mouth and wrapped her arms around my back. She pulled me down, pressing me into her body as she tilted her head away from me so that I could rest my cheek against her neck. I could feel the soothing pace of her heart beating in contrast to my rapid, freaking out heart.

"Brittany-?"

"I-It's nothing," I shook my head. I shifted and tucked my arms tightly to her sides.

"Nothing has got your heart racing a million beats a second," Santana said, letting her fingers tickle through my hair. I stared out at the living room as she continued to stroke my head and her other hand moved to run up and down my arm. She was so sweet and kind and patient with me. I felt like I was repeating what happened when I wouldn't kiss her before. I was being stupid. So stupid.

"It's all a little overwhelming, huh?"

I blinked and slowly peeled my face away from her and looked up.

"As much as I can or you can say that we're okay," Santana said softly as she picked at a strand of my hair. "We still have to give ourselves time to adjust."

"I'm sorr-"

"For what?" Santana said, tilting her head down to look at me. "It's fine, Britt. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. You can take however long you need, as long as it's okay for me to wait with you."

"You're wonderful," I murmured, nuzzling my nose against her collarbone and burying my face into her skin. She was always soft and even though we'd been soaked by the rain earlier, she still smelt so good. She squeezed me lightly and I hummed out a soft sigh of gratitude.

"Britt, you asked me before what I was so afraid of," Santana said softly. "Maybe you don't even know. But you can tell me when you do."

"How did I get so lucky?" I murmured. She squeezed my arm and I sat up a little to look at her.

"You're an amazing girlfriend," I whispered. "You know exactly what to say to make me feel better."

"I doubt that," Santana smiled. "But I will try to do my best."

"Now you're just being modest," I smiled. She leaned forward and kissed my nose. I wrinkled it and my grin grew a little.

"I think you're the only person who would think that," Santana laughed. I wiggled up a little and pressed my lips to hers. She stopped giggling and hummed softly beneath my kiss.

"I see you for who you are," I murmured. "And you're my favorite person ever."

"Stop it, you're making me blush," Santana whispered.

"I like making your body react to things I say," I said slyly as I pulled away from her lips. "Or things I do..."

Santana inhaled sharply and I giggled this time before pressing another kiss to her lips.


The movie ended, and it was still raining outside. Hard. Like, cats and dogs hard, except I never knew why people said that. Lord Tubbington hated water. Maybe it had to do with the way dogs peed. That might make more sense. I turned to Santana to ask her, but then there was a bright flash of light and a loud clap after that made it feel like the whole room shook. It was just me, though, because I had jumped.

"Whoa," Santana said, grabbing her mug of cocoa from the coffee table as she looked across the room to the kitchen, where the window was. "I think the storm is moving closer."

I curled into her, gripping my mug with both hands. She smiled down at me and wrapped her arm over my shoulder to pull me closer to her. She pressed her lips on my forehead and I felt myself relax a little.

"Scared much?" she laughed. I nodded my head furiously and she quieted. She took the mug from my hands and placed both of ours on the table and helped me up. "C'mon."

"Wh-what are we doing?" I asked as she pulled me up the stairs.

"You'll see, hold on," Santana smiled and tugged me along. She was taking steps two at a time until I tripped. Then she helped me up and waited until I caught up to pull me along the rest of the stairs up to my room. She twirled me around and then hugged me as she let us both fall into my bed, nuzzling my neck with her nose. I giggled, but pressed my hands to her stomach to get her to stop.

"Santana, you promised Tina we'd stay in our own rooms. It's late," I warned, knowing that if she started doing anything more than cuddling me, we were definitely going to end up passing out - probably naked - in my bed.

"Screw Tina," Santana said, letting her lips press against my neck. She started to move up and over my jaw, but then there was another flash and clap of thunder. I squeaked and jumped, bumping my head against hers.

"Ow," she scowled. Her frown was brief, disappearing when she saw the scared look on my face. She sat up a little and helped me up.

"No way am I letting you sleep alone tonight," Santana said.

"But you promised. I don't want to break a promise, Santana."

She sighed and looked down at my mattress. A smile formed on her lips and she patted her hand against my thigh a few times to get me to stand up.

"What are you doing?" I giggled as she started to pull off my covers and then my bedsheets.

"I... promised," She said, moving around and starting to lift the mattress up. "That we would sleep in our own beds."

"Right," I nodded.

"Never said anything about our own rooms," Santana grinned as she pushed the mattress onto its side.

"But it'll never fit in your room, Santana," I laughed.

"It will if we make a mattress fort," Santana winked. "And technically, if the fort is composed of both our beds, we'll be sleeping in both our own beds."

"I like this plan," I smiled, moving around to help her.

It took a little bit of work to get the mattress down the hallway and into her room. We ended up having to slide partially into Quinn's room and then back out to get it into Santana's. I was worried about getting it back into my own room later, but I secretly hoped it would get stuck so I wouldn't have to sleep without Santana ever again.

We propped her mattress in the space between her bed and the wall, and then I ran back to my room to grab my sheets. We managed to make a sort of tent out of the two mattresses, and I insisted we take our time to decorate our new fort. I was surprised she caved in so easily.

She dragged me down the hallway to the closet where the air mattresses were stored and reached into the top shelf. She pulled out a box of white Christmas lights, and I beamed brightly. We spent a good twenty minutes untangling the lights and trying to figure out a way to hang them up. Santana ended up stealing a box of safety pins from Rachel's room, and we managed to spiderweb them along the tent and around the room. It was a good thing Santana didn't let Lord Tubbington in her room, because he probably would have gotten tangled.

"Alright, done," Santana said, placing her hands on her hips, looking proudly at our handiwork. She turned to me with an eager grin on her face, but I ducked beneath one of the string of lights and turned towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Santana said, her lips forming a small pout.

"Our castle needs to be guarded by a dragon," I said, disappearing down the hall. When I returned, I had Jeremy in my arms, and Santana rolled her eyes.

"He's a unicorn, not a dragon."

"Mythical creature, same difference," I laughed. "Jeremy can be anything he wants to be." I said, poking her twice in the stomach with Jeremy's horn as I spoke, ending by kissing her on the nose.

She smiled and pulled away from me as she placed Jeremy at the top of our fort, arranging him so that he was facing the door.

"Very intimidating," she said. Another clap of thunder made me jump, but luckily I managed to avoid tangling myself in the lights. Santana wrapped her arms around me and kissed my forehead.

"I think we should get inside before it gets worse," Santana said, looking up at her ceiling.

"We are inside," I giggled.

"No, it's wet and cold out here," Santana said, raising a hand up to try and shield us from imaginary rain. "Come on, quickly, or you'll get sick."

"O-okay," I giggled. She lifted up the flap to our tent and pulled me in. I fell on my back into her covers and she shuffled in next to me. She sat up enough to look down at me and I smiled.

"It's definitely a lot more cozy in here," I whispered softly as I lifted my hand to cup her cheek. She wrinkled her nose and dipped down to kiss my lips. I sighed and wrapped my arms around her neck. I couldn't even hear the rain anymore from inside the tent.

"I like our fort," I murmured between kisses. Santana sat up a little and smiled.

"I think you mean castle," she nuzzled her nose to mine. "I mean, it is guarded by a dragon."

"And you can see the stars," I said, tilting my head to the side and gesturing at the lights that shone brightly against the fabric of my sheets that draped at our side. Santana hummed quietly and leaned down to kiss my neck. I realized she wasn't just making a soft sound out of content, but she was actually humming a tune. I smiled and pressed my lips to her cheek when she moved up.

"Are you singing?" I giggled.

"Maybe," Santana laughed. "'Cause you're the one for me, for me. And I'm the one for you, for you." She pressed light kisses on my lips and I wrapped my arms around her neck.

"You take the both of us, of us, and we're the perfect two," she sang softly into my ear. It was silly, but it was sweet too. She didn't have to whisper or be quiet, but it was soothing. Just like how I didn't need to put Jeremy on the top of our 'castle' because no one else was home for him to protect us from. Just the rain, really.

"We're the perfect two," she repeated. "Baby, me and you."

"It's like I'm in my own Disney movie," I smiled and she smiled back.

"Don't know if I could ever be without you, 'cause girl you complete me," Santana murmured as her hands tickled down my arms and towards the base of my shirt. "And in time I know that we'll both see... that we're all we need."

I sat up a little to help her remove my shirt, catching her lips in mine once she had pulled it off me. As much as I liked hearing her sing, especially when she sang to me, I wanted her as close to me as possible. She smiled and continued to hum as she tickled her fingers to my back and fiddled with my bra. I realized I should be helping in the process of removing our clothes, but the way her lips vibrated against mine as she hummed tickled and made kissing her more tingly than ever. I managed to slide my hands down her back and start to bunch up her shirt, but that was about as much progress as I made. She forced me sit back a little to pull my bra off my arms. I think she realized I was being useless, because she quickly pulled off her own shirt and bra before leaning down into me.

"When her smile came back, and I didn't feel half as horrible," Santana murmured, pressing her lips to mine. She had changed songs, and I actually knew this one.

"She gave me a heart attack just because she looked so adorable," I tried to sing back, but she started tickling me as her hands lowered to my waist. I squirmed and laughed, probably being more of a hindrance than help in her efforts to remove my pants. She slipped my pajama pants and my underwear off together once she managed to get me still enough to slip them down my legs. I kicked them off so she didn't have to move away. Again, I tried to help, but she ended up just pulling down her own shorts and wiggled out of them herself.

"But she got a tan, and I got a sunburn," I giggled, tracing my fingers down a subtle line on her skin down to her breast as she crawled back on top of me. She dipped down and met my lips again as I pressed my palm up against her chest. Her kiss was sweet. Stern, but gentle, and when she pulled away, she looked at me with the warmest look in her eyes. I wondered if it was because they were brown, or if my eyes were looking back at her the way she looked at me.

"Is this okay?" Santana murmured softly, lifting her hand to brush the hair out of my face.

"Of course," I nodded. I felt like I was floating. I think it was because of the lights that hung against the tent and the softness of Santana's bed. Or maybe it was the way she was looking at me. Yes, definitely the way she was looking at me. I felt like her gaze was keeping me from falling.

"Santana..." I muttered, sitting up a little as I cupped her cheek with my hand, pulling her down into me. I closed my eyes as I kissed her, exhaling softly through my nose. I pushed away any scary thoughts I had before, because we were safe in our make believe castle. I felt warmth spread over me and I realized it was because Santana was flush up against me, running her hands down my arms and intertwining her fingers in my hands before spreading them out and up against the folds of her comforter.

"We can stop any time," Santana mumbled against my lips.

"Don't," I said, leaning up a little and ensuring our lips didn't part again.

Santana and I laid there like that, just kissing slowly, for a while. Eventually, I realized we were rocking together in a slow, steady rhythm. I squeezed my hands in hers as I drew away from her mouth to kiss at her jaw. She tilted her head a little to give me more access to her neck. I sucked on the skin there for a moment and then bit down softly. She let out a little moan and I continued to trail little nibbles and kisses down her neck.

Santana shifted, pressing her leg between mine as she rose a little from me. I looked up at her. She was letting out soft pants as she gazed back at me. She slipped her hand out of mine and cupped my cheek as she rested our foreheads together. My eyes widened a little at how closely she was looking at me, but I smiled and pressed my lips to hers again. Her hand slipped away from my face and slid down, over my stomach and tickling down my thigh.

"Santana," I murmured. She repositioned my leg so that she could press herself further into me and I moaned against her lips. My hips moved to rock into her as she parted her lips from mine to catch her breath. I stared up at her in wonder. The way the lights were hitting her skin and reflected in her eyes was stunning. As she rose and fell against me, it was like they were dancing across her face and I'm sure the rest of her body. This wasn't pretend or make believe, and Santana wasn't some prince or knight that was there to rescue me or sweep me off my feet. It was real, but it felt like all those other things. I felt my heart thump in my chest, pounding against hers because she was pressed so close to me.

It was like time stopped. This was a dream. It had to be a dream. I was going to wake up from this wonderful, magical place and find myself at my old apartment. My horrible, small apartment over in SoHo, never knowing Santana or these fantastic, terrifying and confusing feelings that were welling up inside my chest. I clenched my eyes closed. Maybe I could hold it together in my mind and it wouldn't fade away like trying to cup water in your hands like all my other dreams did. I needed this dream to be real, or else only my nightmare would remain.

"Brittany," Santana whispered. "Baby, look at me."

I opened my eyes at the sound of her voice and found her warm, soothing gaze again. Her brow was knit in concern, but she held a calm and gentle smile. I wrapped my arm around her neck, clinging onto her tightly. She had stopped rocking against me and held there as I leaned up and pressed my lips to hers. I slipped my other hand out from hers and held both hands to her face, craning forward to keep our foreheads touching. I shook my head, closing my eyes again.

"Please... be real," I murmured softly, as quietly as I could. Santana shifted, pulling me up a little off the bed and wrapping her arms beneath me.

"Britt," Santana said softly. "I'm here, okay? Don't be scared."

I shook my head and smiled weakly.

"I'm not, I'm just," I whispered, reconnecting our lips quickly. "I...just don't go anywhere, okay?"

"Never," Santana said. "I'll be the last thing you see when you close your eyes and the first thing when you wake up. Babe, look."

She pulled me to my side, and cupped my cheek again. I nuzzled her palm and slowly opened my eyes. She snuggled closer to me and pressed her lips on my forehead.

"I'm not letting you go," Santana murmured. "Not after I finally found you."


A/N: I didn't mean to wait so long to work on this, but I have studio art classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I usually don't write on those days. Tuesday was weird because I had this work thing to go to meet my co-workers for next year, so I didn't do any writing until Wednesday afternoon... and I got stuck with my outline. Once I talked to my beta, I managed to rough out the next like 5 chapters, so things are good again. But my finals are coming up, so I apologize that there will be longer breaks between chapters. Not by much, I hope, because this is the only thing keeping me sane, but I do have to make sure I get all my projects done in time for the end of the semester.

There are a lot of songs in this chapter.

Between Sheets by Imogen Heap (finally got to use one by her) - .com/watch?v=E9QLpU1zgeY

I won't say I'm in Love - .com/watch?v=Yl6Yyl7iZhs

Perfect Two by Auburn - .com/watch?v=GXxbC0B_74sb

Sunburn by Owl City - .com/watch?v=0ZC8uKzmh6c

This is my life by Edward Maya - .com/watch?v=n_TfedOGFJU

In the meantime, munkeyyy drew another wonderful picture -

tinyurl . com / ITYTDCH28Munkeyyysketch