A/N: Hello! Thank you again for all of your reviews and follows! Thank you so much for reading! Also, a big thank you to my Beta and also to my wifey for brainstorming with me. Enjoy!
"Mmm, Britt. You're very good at waking me up."
"Well, I like to make sure to set the mood for the rest of the day," you reply with a grin tightening your arm around her.
Santana chuckles softly from her position pressed against your side, running her fingers up and down your bare chest. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. It's been about 2 months since you moved in together and it's been amazing, it's like you've always been here. The fall semester has just started up and even with that added stress, there haven't been any awkward "learning to live together" moments. It's just been happiness and love and everything you're still trying to accept that you have.
"Hey, you still in there?"
You lean down mischievously and whisper hotly into her ear, "Yep, just thinking about how gorgeous you are when you're coming around my fingers."
You feel the shiver roll through her body and hear the hitch in her breathing.
"Britttttt," she whines.
You giggle at her reaction and press a kiss to the shell of her ear.
"I'm sorry, baby, I couldn't resist. But I promise I'll make it up to you when you get out of class this afternoon."
"You better. I'm going to jump in the shower."
She presses a kiss to your lips and climbs out of bed, you prop yourself up on your elbow and watch her saunter to the bathroom. She looks over her shoulder with a smirk, "You coming? We're on a time limit you know."
You roll out of the bed and she squeals as you chase her into the bathroom.
Luckily, you don't have class today, you were able to work it out so that your schedule matched up pretty closely with Santana's this semester, with this class being the exception. You're sitting in the living room on your laptop trying to plan out your next date night when you hear a knock at the door. You smirk and get up to answer the door.
"Back already, San? Did you reconsider my idea of skipping out of class early in exchange for round 3?" you call out. You unlock the door and open it to reveal an unimpressed and mildly upset woman.
"Uh, hello. Can I help you?"
"I'm looking for my daughter, Santana Lopez. This is her address, who are you and why are you in her apartment?"
You step back a little flabbergasted at her words and her demeanor.
"Um, hello Mrs. Lopez, it's nice to meet you. I'm Brittany Pierce, Santana's girlfriend and I live here too…?"
She blinks back at you blankly, and you clear your throat, "Would you like to come in?"
She brushes past you and you take a deep breath. Shit.
"Um, Santana is in class right now, but she should be back in about 10 minutes. Can I get you something to drink?"
"No, thank you."
You look around the apartment and a sudden wave of embarrassment hits you when you notice the state of it. You blush and walk over to the couch, swiping a pair of panties off of the cushion and put them in your pocket for the moment. You haven't had much time to clean with school starting back up, and you're noticing it now. Santana's mother is also noticing if the look of disgust on her face is anything to go by.
"So, who's in charge of cleaning the apartment?" she asks with a bit of a grimace on her face as she takes in the mountain of dishes in the sink.
"Um, we both are. We've been busy with the semester starting and haven't really had time."
"Hmm..."
"I'll be right back… make yourself at home."
You pull out your phone and call Santana while walking back towards your bedroom.
"Hey babe, I just got out of class, so I was thinking maybe…"
"Santana."
"Yeah?... Britt? Are you there?"
"Your mom is here."
There's silence over the line for about 10 seconds before she responds.
"My what?"
"Your mom is here, right now. Walking around our living room…"
"Oh my god," she breathes out.
"She didn't know I lived here…" you don't mean it to sound as quiet as it comes out.
"Baby, I don't talk to my mom like… hardly ever. We aren't that close and I definitely didn't know she was going to spring a visit on me. I wasn't trying to hide it, I just haven't talked to her recently. And to be honest, I didn't want her opinion on it either."
"I'm pretty sure she hates me. She keeps giving me the evil eye, San."
"She doesn't hate you, she's just weird. I'll be home in like 2 minutes, okay?"
It makes sense that she might not know about your living arrangements, you know that Santana and her mom aren't that close because her mom is always working. Being a surgeon is pretty demanding and according to Santana, "much more important than spending time with your only child."
"I'll see you in a minute, B. I love you."
"I love you too."
You're standing awkwardly in the living room while Santana's mom continues her perusal of your apartment when Santana comes bursting through the door.
"MOM. Hi, what are you doing here?" she asks before either of you can even turn to face her.
"Hello Santana, I thought I would drop in for a visit since you were too busy over the summer to come home."
Your eyes widen and you can see Santana stiffen at the words.
"I wasn't the one that was too busy, you were," she bites out shortly.
"Well, I'm here now. Would you like to introduce me to your roommate then?" she asks with a pointed look.
"She's not my roommate, this is Brittany, my girlfriend. I've told you about her."
"You're already living together? Aren't you two a little young to be playing house? How do you expect to keep up with your schoolwork and a relationship?"
"Okay, one? You don't pay for this apartment, my housing stipend does, so I can do what I want. And two? We aren't playing house, we are in a committed relationship and have been for quite a while, which you would know if you bothered to ask."
You're standing back a bit shell shocked that they are already arguing and you're not quite sure whether to quietly disappear into the bedroom or wait it out here. You're also kind of proud of Santana for standing up for your relationship though.
Maribel takes a deep breath before turning to face you, "How about we start over? Hello Brittany, my name is Maribel and I'm Santana's mother," she looks over your choice of sweat pants and a tank top critically, "Are you an art major?"
"Um, no I'm an astrophysics major. " You can't help but feel a little smug at her surprise. "It's nice to meet you. Even though we've kind of already met but I didn't know your name so… Hi."
You internally berate yourself for your rambling but you're really pretty nervous because it doesn't seem like your girlfriend's mother cares for you at all. Which totally sucks.
"Where are you staying, Mom, and how long are you going to be in town?" Santana asks.
"I'm staying at the hotel downtown for a couple of days," Maribel responds.
"Okay, well how about we go out for dinner and we can catch up."
"Yes, let's do that. I'm going back to the hotel to change clothes. There is a restaurant downstairs, I'll meet you there at 6 sharp."
Santana leads her mother towards the front door.
"Okay, see you there. Bye, mom."
"Goodbye, Santana. Brittany."
Santana closes the door behind her and slumps against it.
"Well, this should be fun," she comments with closed eyes, "She always expects me to drop what I'm doing and cater to her, but I've had to make appointments since I was 12 just to spend some time with her."
You smile sympathetically and pull her in for a tight hug. It's only two days, you can survive two days, right?
Both of you have calmed down a bit since the surprise meeting earlier and you're not feeling quite so flustered anymore. You pull up to the hotel restaurant and put the car in park, sparing a glance at Santana in the passenger seat.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I um… just don't let her get to you okay? She has a knack for making people feel like crap. Just ignore her."
"O…kay.."
"She just… we don't get along very well. She's never really been around because of work and she's trying to make up for it now. This is just another attempt to be my mother, when she doesn't really know me at all."
She gives you an apologetic smile before leaning over the console to give you a soft lingering kiss.
"I love you. Now let's go deal with my mother so we can get back home and resume our lives. "
You giggle and nod, getting out of the car to meet her around the side.
You walk into the restaurant and immediately see Maribel sitting a table checking her watch. You furrow your brows because you're pretty sure that you're early.
"Finally, there you are... Oh... I didn't realize Brittany would be joining us." Maribel comments.
Santana takes a deep breath besides you and pulls out your chair for you, urging you to take a seat. You sit down and put your hands in your lap. You've been here less than five minutes and it's already awkward and uncomfortable.
"Why wouldn't she be, we were all standing right there when we decided to meet for dinner."
"I just assumed you would want to spend time with your mother."
"…I am."
The waiter comes around to takes your orders and the table descends into silence.
"So, Santana, how are classes going?"
"Fine, we just started. I'm finally getting past the basics and into actual criminal justice classes. So it's a lot more interesting."
"Are you sure you still want to do that? Law?"
"Yes, mom. I'm positive. I want to help people. That's my passion. I'm not going to argue about this."
"I'm not arguing, honey. I'm just saying that medicine is very rewarding, I should know, I've helped thousands of people."
"I know mother, but I want to protect people's rights. Fight discrimination."
"Well, I just know a lot of people at the hospital that could help you out when you graduate."
You can feel yourself getting irritated, does she really think that Santana can't get by on her own merit? Luckily the food arrives, putting a brief end to the current conversation. You put your hand on Santana's thigh underneath the table and squeeze, trying to offer a bit of comfort. She sends you a soft smile and rests her hand on top of yours.
The dinner continues on in virtual silence, the only interruptions coming from the waiter occasionally stopping by to refill drinks. By the time you're done eating, you're itching to get out of there, this was just as awkward as you assumed it would be.
"I took the liberty of having a cleaning service to come and clean your apartment while we've been at dinner. Judging by the state of your apartment earlier, you're both too busy to keep up a home."
You narrow your eyes at her comment, and Santana slams her silverware down on her plate, shocking everyone in the vicinity, yourself included.
"You know what? I realize that you're trying to overcompensate for not being around when I was a kid, but it's not going to work. I don't need you to take care of me. I'm an adult and I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."
"Santana, I'm just trying to help, which you obviously need," Maribel responds with a roll of her eyes.
"She doesn't need any help," you find yourself speaking up. Maribel whips her head to the side to face you.
"Excuse me?"
"She doesn't need any help. We've been together nearly a year and I have never seen her need help from anyone. She is so self-sufficient is kind of scary sometimes. She's handling everything beautifully, actually. Did you know that she's on the Dean's List? Or that she's Vice President of the Campus LGBT club? Or that she's an active member of the International Honor Society? She's brilliant and impressive and she is capable of handling herself just fine."
You catch Santana's eyes and she looks a little shocked at your comments but there's a tiny smile curling on her lips.
"And also, I'm not sure why you don't like me, but I'm not going anywhere so."
She's sitting back in her chair looking surprised that you said something to her at all.
"I think we're going to go, mom. As always, it was lovely to see you. Tell Daddy I love him."
"Santana..."
"Mom, please. Just… let's just let it go right now." Santana sighs out tiredly.
"Okay," she replies softly, looking down at her lap, "I'm sorry that I've upset you."
"Yeah, I'll call you sometime."
"Okay, I'm going to be heading back home tomorrow morning. I hope to see you soon, maybe for the holidays?"
"Yeah, we'll see. Thanks for coming to visit."
Santana stands up and you get up to follow her, shooting a tight smile to her mother before turning to walk out of the restaurant.
"Well that was a fucking mess. I'm sorry you had to witness that, Britt."
"No, I'm fine. Are you okay?"
She takes releases a deep breath, "Yeah, I'm fine. I've learned not to let her get to me."
"I'm sorry babe. How about we go home and finish our Netflix marathon?"
She grins at you and rests her head on your shoulder as you walk out to the car. You reach to open the door for her and she wraps her arms around your waist from the side.
"That sounds perfect. And Britt? Thanks for standing up for me. It means a lot."
You shrug your shoulders, "You did pretty well on your own. Besides, it was all true. I was just letting her know. "
She settles into the seat and you lean in to softly kiss her lips.
You walk into your apartment and it takes you a minute to remember that Maribel hired a cleaning service. You make your way to your bedroom, removing your shoes along the way. You both fall into a heap on the bed and tangle your limbs together, the comfort of being at home seeping into your bones.
"She's ridiculous," Santana comments with an eyeroll.
"Well hey, on the bright side, now we don't have to do it," you giggle.
"That is a very, very good point. I guess that leaves time for… other more exciting things then doesn't it?" she replies, rolling over on top of you.
"Why Miss Lopez, what exactly are you suggesting? And what about this Netflix marathon?"
"Netflix can wait, besides, I think you have some making up to do from this morning, don't you?"
You flip her over on the mattress so that you're on top and begin nipping along her jawline.
"Hmm, I guess I do. However can I make it up to you?"
She groans loudly at a well-placed bite to her neck, "I'm sure… you can... think of something..." she pants. Smirking into her neck, you slither down her body.
"I'll try my best," you reply sliding her jeans and panties down her thighs.