A/N Much thanks to my beta NayNay1963 for kicking ass all the time.
Santana hums while throwing laundry into the washer but stops when she finds a stiff, crusty, tube sock.
"What the fuck is Dom doing with these things?" She whispers to herself as Quinn comes in with her laundry and plops the basket down on the floor before separating it.
Santana continues quietly until she finds another gross sock.
"Do you have any idea what's going on with these?" Santana asks turning to Quinn and handing her the sock.
Quinn, being weird and gross, sniffs it and scratches her nail on the stiff substance. She shrugs, "For all I know he could've been doing some magic trick."
Meanwhile, Brittany walks in and her eyes bug out of her head when she sees Quinn curiously bending the stiff sock and turning it over in her hands.
"Gross, Q! Don't touch that!" Britt yells as she slaps the sock out of Quinn's hands and onto the floor.
Santana and Quinn quirk their brows at Brittany, confused by her reaction.
"You two really have no clue what that is, do you?" Brittany questions slightly giggling.
Quinn, getting cranky, snipes, "What's so funny?"
Brittany, unable to contain her laughter, explodes into a fit of giggles, "It's…" She pauses restraining her laughter, "It's jizz!"
"Jizz? What the fuck are you talkin' about babe?" Santana questions.
Brittany clears her throat and gets a little more serious. "Well…Dom's turning 13 soon…and well…you know…body changes…"
A light bulb goes of in San and Q's heads and both of their faces turn pale.
"No…" Q shakes her head protesting as she scrubs her hands in the sink, "He's not…He's not…"
"Not what? A boy?" Brittany laughs hysterically getting her fill of amusement.
She finds it hilarious how this topic has turned two of the most open people into complete squares.
"H-how do you even know what that is?" Santana questions screwing up her face in disgust just thinking about those socks.
"I've spent months with guys in the Army, San, they'll jerk off into anything…" Brittany pauses and starts listing things she's found on clean up duty in the barracks. "Gatorade bottles, socks-"
Quinn holds her hand up stopping her. "Ok. We get it."
Dom walks into the laundry room humming with an apple in his hand and grabs a clean racing suit off of the dryer. San and Q's eyes follow him like he's something they've never seen before.
Brittany stifles her laughter as Dom leaves completely unaware of the awkward situation he just walked into.
"Come on guys, it's not that crazy. Think about what you were doing at his age." Brittany reasons but this seems to do more harm than good as a collective gasp is heard from across the room.
xxxx
Santana and Quinn, still not entirely convinced by Britt's revelations, decide to take Dom with them grocery shopping to analyze his behavior.
While talking to him the women notice he's just nodding his head and not really paying attention.
They follow his line of sight to the ass of a teenage girl at the deli counter.
Santana scoffs and playfully smacks him in the back of the head.
"Ouch, what the fuck?" Dom cries as he rubs his head.
"Watch your mouth." Quinn scolds feeling like an old lady the more Dom grows up.
Santana butts in. "And stop staring at that girl. You're gonna set her ass on fire."
Dom snickers. "Oh, that body is already on fire without my help." He grins and this time Q chokes on the free sample she picked up as they were walking. She swears she's heard that same thing come out of Santana's mouth when they were younger.
"Jesus. I've never seen you two so uptight. What's going on?"
San and Q answer at the same time grumbling, "Boys!"
The three return home with loads of grocery bags on their arms. Britt gets up to help and can't hold in her snicker when she notices the grimace on the two sister's faces that's obviously not from the weight of the groceries.
She grabs a few bags from San and Quinn. "Well? Was I right?" She smiles mischievously, already knowing the answer.
She doesn't get a reply though. They both just scoff and stalk off into the kitchen to put the food away.
xxxx
"Um…Well Dom. As you know, when you get older certain things change…" Santana starts awkwardly as her, Quinn, and Dom are sat in the living room.
If Q's face was any redder they'd consider calling an ambulance.
"Yea..?" He urges. And honestly Dom has no idea what's going on. For all he knows someone died.
"Sometimes that stuff can be confusing…" Quinn alludes and starts fanning herself because, fuck, when did it get so hot in here?
"…You don't look so good Q." Dom states quirking an eyebrow at the blonde.
Santana waves it off and gets Dom's attention back. "We…uh…we found…" Santana starts but Quinn picks that moment to pass out and take a header into the floor even though she was sitting down.
Santana face palms herself and shakes her head. "Fuck…"
Who knew a talk about puberty would be one of the hardest they've ever had.
xxxx
Santana and Quinn sit nervously on the floor in the hallway outside of Dom's room biting their nails.
After the fainting incident they thought it was best for Britt to have this conversation with him.
"It's been a while…" Quinn whispers right before Dom's door opens and the two whip their heads towards the sound.
First they hear Brittany's giggle and then they see her and Dom perform some sort of handshake they've never seen before.
Santana shakes her head with a smile and thinks, "Only Brittany."
Dom retreats back into his room and Brittany saunters over to them with a smile.
"So… How did it go?" Quinn urges anxiously.
"Well…" Brittany laughs, "I didn't pass out."
Quinn punches her in the arm. "Ok. I deserved that." Brittany grimaces as she rubs her arm and Santana and Quinn shake their heads yes. "We just talked. He's learned basically everything from health class and Ky."
"Ky! Oh I'm gonna kick his ass! They shouldn't be having sex!" Santana fumes and Brittany throws her hands up.
"Whoa, whoa! Not like that! If that were the case he'd be flying out of his bedroom window." Brittany explains.
"Then, how?" Quinn urges again.
"Us Pierce's are very open. And Ky's very curious. She asks questions, we answer them. Ky just answered his questions." Britt shrugs. Nothing is taboo in her family.
"Isn't that, like, awkward?" Santana cringes. Then her thoughts travel to Dom bringing home a pregnant chick that's double his age and she shakes her head to get rid of such images.
But if he's anything like her, she knows he's gonna like girls a little too much.
Brittany shrugs. "Only as awkward as you let it be. We all do it eventually."
Santana looks at her fiancé and thanks the fates for the millionth time for putting Brittany in her life.
Quinn, on the other hand, looks like she might faint again.
xxxx
Santana walks into the bedroom after returning home from the gym as Brittany is bent over completely naked towel drying her hair.
Water runs from her hair down her back as she stands up straight and reaches for a Lima PD t-shirt.
Santana watches her move so fluidly even though the blonde is performing a mundane task.
She sees muscles flex underneath the deep scarring of Brittany's back and just as the blonde is about to put her shirt on Santana stills her hand and wraps her arms around Brittany from behind before lovingly kissing her shoulder.
Brittany turns around in her arms and captures Santana's lips with hers. "Hey there."
Santana buries her face into Brittany's chest and hums contently. "Hey."
Everyday Santana tries to breathe in as much of Brittany as she can. She never wants to feel how she felt when Jake told her she was dead. She never wants to forget anything about her blonde.
"Mm." Brittany hums as Santana trails kisses down her chest. "I can't be late for work San."
Santana huffs and places a couple more kisses on Brittany's chest before resting her head against it and wrapping her arms around the blonde tighter.
"You're not allowed to leave." Santana whispers.
Brittany boops her nose. "Well someone has to pay for the wedding we've been putting off." She jokes but Santana doesn't take it that way.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Santana snaps and crosses her arms over her chest defensively.
"I was just kidding San, I'm-"
"No. What? Now that I can't fight anymore I'm useless?"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to Brittany." Santana snaps again and starts to undress to get into the shower.
Brittany grabs her arm and gently turns Santana to face her. "You know I didn't mean it like that."
Santana's eyes turn icy. "Do you know what it's like to be in that gym day in and day out with nothing to work towards? Having to watch those kids with all their dreams sprouting when mine has just come to an end."
Santana turns away again and grabs a towel leaving Brittany to get dressed for work in a dumbfounded silence because, yes, she does know how it feels to have her life snatched away but she never wanted to find that common bond with Santana.
Brittany knows that being at the gym helps more than hurts Santana but the Latina has nothing to really sink her teeth into. She needs a challenge. Something that's her own.
xxxx
Santana's feet pound the pavement as she goes for her second run today. She has all this energy she can't get out and in turn she's yelling at people more often.
As she turns the corner she sees a car cut off another and send it careening into a telephone pole causing it to flip on it's side as the pole crashes on top of it.
Santana's stunned to a stop until she hears the cries of a baby coming from the now flaming car. Without thinking she races towards the car and climbs on top of it.
The driver is outside of the car screaming for someone to help her baby but Santana is too focused on the task at hand to hear much of anything.
She lowers herself into the sideways car careful not to step on the crying child and gets to work on the car seat straps. She gets them off and cradles the baby in her arms as she hoists them up and out of the burning car.
Once her feet are on the ground she sprints away from the car protecting the baby's face as it explodes behind them.
Santana sits down and rocks the crying child. "Shh. It's ok. You're alright now."
The mother comes running over and thanks Santana profusely before the paramedics come and take the baby away to get checked out.
One of them comes over and checks Santana for any injuries. "That was incredibly brave. But also incredibly stupid." He snickers as he places a bandage on Santana's arm. "You should come by the fire house. We need more brave dumbasses like yourself."
"Well with a pitch like that how could I say no?" Santana laughs at the man as he hands her a new shirt with the firehouse 50 logo on it.
Santana walks through the door and awaits the barrage of questions to come.
She walks into the kitchen to be greeted by two blondes with their arms crossed over their chests, smirking nonetheless.
"Well if it isn't Santana 'baby saving' Lopez." Quinn starts.
"Or how about Santana 'who we saw on TV jumping into a flaming car' Lopez?" Brittany continues. "You could've been seriously hurt!"
Santana brushes them both off and retrieves a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "I'm fine."
Quinn grabs her arm and turns Santana around. "You're not fine and you know it."
Santana huffs. "When I heard that baby cry a fire lit inside of me. A fire that hasn't been there since the fight." Santana looks down and ghosts her fingers over the scar on her cheek. "I didn't feel weak, or fragile, in that moment. I felt strong again. And no matter how much you two bitch at me I'm not gonna regret it."
Brittany steps forward. "San no one's mad at you for saving a baby, which was really hot to watch, by the way, but we need you here. I need you here."
"I'll always be here Britt, but I refuse to live the rest of my life in a bubble." Santana says as she kisses Britt's cheek before walking upstairs to clean up.
Brittany leans against the counter and pinches the bridge of her nose. Quinn comes up behind her and rubs her back.
"I don't know how to make her happy Q." Brittany cries and Quinn wraps her arms around the taller blonde. "Tell me what to do, Quinn."
"I feel like I had this same conversation with San when you were going through shit. You know as well as I do that we can't do anything for her until she finds her own way." Quinn encourages.
"But what if she's really lost this time?"
xxxx
Santana walks into firehouse 50 early Monday morning. She smiles at the firemen as she makes her way to the paramedic she met before.
He turns his head at the sound of footsteps and smiles as he walks over to the Latina.
He sticks his hand out to shake hers, "Well if it isn't the baby saver herself. I thought I'd see you around here. I'm Ryan Conboy by the way. I didn't get your name in all the chaos."
Santana shakes his hand. "Santana Lopez."
Ryan's eyes light up in recognition of the name. "UFC Santana Lopez?" He questions and Santana reluctantly nods. "Man my sister idolizes you. Some crazy skills you had…"
He trails off and Santana tries not to cringe at the past tense.
"So…" She coughs to relieve the tension. "I wanted to know what it takes to do all this…"
"Well there's physical training which you should have no problem with and first aid stuff, emergency protocol… Then a bunch of other stuff and then you should be ready to volunteer."
"Volunteer…" Santana repeats. She doesn't know if she can put in all that time to something that doesn't pay. She's never done that before in her life.
"Yup… but you can always be brought on full time if it works out that way. Let me just get you the application and I'll be right back." Ryan says and jogs off into the office.
Santana looks around the firehouse and is delighted that nothing about this place reminds her of what she's left behind.
xxxx
"Quinn, stop rocking the fucking boat." Brittany grumbles as she lowers her fishing rod into the lake.
"Calm down. I'm trying to get this gum off my shoe." Quinn says as she picks at the dried gum with a fishhook.
"Here…" Brittany says reaching for Q's shoe. "Let me help."
Quinn trustingly hands over the shoe and Brittany quickly throws it behind her back and into the water. "Problem solved."
"What the fuck, Brittany?" Quinn yells but Brittany pays her no mind.
"Shh. You're scaring the fish." Is all Brittany says.
Quinn, fed up, and naturally short fused, pushes Brittany hard and into the water.
Brittany flails trying to get her bearings as Quinn lets loose on her.
"Do not project your issues on to me. Don't act like Santana. Use your words for crying out loud!" Quinn yells as she paces the floor of the small boat. "Or, ya know, here's an idea. Talk to Santana!"
Brittany's eyes follow the blond boxer as she paces back and forth before deciding it was time to climb back in.
As she places her hand on the side of the boat to pull herself up Quinn grabs it and flings her back into the water. "Nope. No boat until you figure your shit out."
"Come on Q, it's freezing." Brittany pouts.
"You should've thought about that before you decided to be an asshole. And while you're in there look for my shoe." Quinn huffs and sits down in the boat while giving Brittany a warning look.
"I'm sorry, ok?" Brittany pleads as she wades in the water. "I'm just so fucking frustrated."
"Well then, talk to her. Ya know for being soul mates your communication skills are greatly lacking." Quinn jokes and instantly regrets it when Brittany splashes her. "Keep that up and you're swimming home, Pierce!"
xxxx
Brittany and Quinn walk in that night soaking wet and cold. They see a light on in the kitchen and wander towards it with the hope that there's food in there too.
They are welcomed by the sight of a pot on the stove and Santana diligently filling out paper work at the kitchen table.
Brittany walks over to her and kisses her on the cheek. "Hey baby… What you got there?"
Santana stiffens at her touch as Quinn watches their interaction from the stove where she's spooning soup into bowls for herself and Brittany.
"An application…" Santana answers quietly and Brittany picks up a piece of paper with the Lima FD logo on it.
"San…" Brittany starts gently but Santana explodes.
"I'm not made of glass Brittany and I refuse to act like it or be treated like it."
"I know you're not but what if you hit your head…" Brittany reasons.
"I could hit my head doing laundry for all I know. I could slip and fall on ice and die but that doesn't stop me from going outside."
"She has a point Britt…" Quinn interrupts but Santana cuts her off assuming she's on the taller blonde's side.
"Quinn stay out- wait what?" Santana stutters in shock.
Brittany turns to Quinn wide eyed. "Yea, what?"
"Brittany. When you wanted to be a cop after all that shit happened in Iraq, what did Santana do?" Quinn questions.
"She supported me but also showed me other options." Brittany whispers.
"Exactly. She gave you love when you needed it but she also, despite her own fears, let you find your way again. And it's not just you. I've been trying to keep her in this glass box too because I'm scared something's gonna happen and she's not gonna wake up. But that's selfish of us. We're diminishing her quality of life by trying to extend the quantity of her life for our own selfish gain. And, yea, our fears are deeply founded on the dirty truth of it all, that one day something could happen. But if Santana sits in the house for the rest of her life, miserable, she might as well be dead already." Quinn finishes out of breath hoping she got everything out.
Santana, still in shock from having Quinn on her side, sits there in stunned silence.
Brittany on the other hand feels like the worst fiancé in the world.
Seeing this show on Brittany's face, Santana grabs her hand and kisses her knuckles. "You haven't done anything wrong, sweetie. I love that you love me so much but Quinn's right. I need this. I need you to let go and let me do this."
Brittany with tear filled eyes nods her head and captures Santana's lips with her own. "I'm gonna try, I promise, I'll try." She then smiles. "I don't know if we can get married now that you're going to be part of the gross firehouse and I'm part of the amazing police department. I can't be sleeping with the enemy."
Santana chuckles and stands up before kissing Brittany on the forehead. "You're more than welcome to sleep on the couch." She smirks and Brittany chases after her up the steps.
Quinn just shakes her head at the two as she blows on her hot soup. "What would these idiots do without me?"
Meanwhile, upstairs, Brittany gets ready to shower as Santana continues to fill out papers.
"I'm so sorry…" Santana whispers as tears flow down her face.
Brittany shocked at the turn of tone whips around and hurries to wrap her arms around Santana even though she smells like lake water. "No… I should be sorry. I'm so damn selfish. I've been keeping you locked up here thinking I was helping but I was making the person I love miserable."
Santana puts her finger on Brittany's lips to silence her. "How about we stop all this blaming shit. None of what happened is either of our fault. But what we do next is important Britt. I need to keep living or this is gonna swallow me whole."
Brittany nods and lazily looks over the information on the application. "Hey! You're so not 5 foot 7!"
Santana scoffs and pushes her smelly fiancé towards the shower. "A girl can dream, can't she?"
Brittany, for once, thinking about all she's blessed with instead of all the craziness whispers. "Who needs dreams?"
