Chapter 2: Brittana's 2nd Year

They decide to turn their Hawaiian vacation into an anniversary tradition. And even more so they decide to make it a point to continue renting the same little cottage they fall more in love in. It's something to look forward to, starting each year with a bang. Or more like many bangs, actually.

This year was a little tricky, though. They had to find a way to work around their crazy work and school schedules but they somehow managed to do it.

With Mercedes not on tour anymore, the past year has been quite hectic. Getting back into the swing of everyday life for the two of them meant a year filled with catching up on college credits, a lot of auditions, and a few booked gigs here and there, but nothing too promising. And they supported each other. Sometimes Brittany more so. Other times Santana. They had each other and that's all that mattered. It was a year of finding their place in the world. Both as individuals and together.

They had to dip into their savings a little this trip but they both agreed that it would be worth it. After last year's trip that was jam packed of every touristy excursion they could think of, they wanted to go back and recreate their very first visit of mostly relaxing on the beach.

Because even though they loved visiting and exploring Waikiki and Haleiwa, there's just nothing quite like the westside. It's a different kind of aloha spirit that the westside embodies that just feels more… genuine.

Not that Waikiki, or even Haleiwa for that matter, isn't genuine… it just feels more like they have to be nice to tourists. Like it's expected. Whereas, on the westside, it's all about respect and as long as they don't step on anyone's toes -like disrespect the land or act like they deserve special treatment- people won't care that they're visitors.

And Santana kind of likes that. She likes that the people there aren't afraid to call anyone out on their shit. Which is something that they learned first hand during their last trip when Santana almost got into a fist fight with one of the locals for yelling at Brittany.

After the incident, they sat down with Aunty Lin and Uncle Alika and had a long conversation about the culture in Hawaii. Turns out, they had unknowingly hiked past a KAPU sign and by the time they realized they were off-trail, it was too late; they were trespassing on someone's property.

And thanks to Uncle Alika's suggestions, they returned the next day to offer an apology in the form of a jar of li hing pickled mango 'from Uncle Terry three doors down' and a six pack of Heineken beer.

Which is how they learned that Hawaii is mostly full of forgiving and understanding people. People who just want to be recognized and respected. People, who for some odd unknown reason, really love Heineken beer.

Before heading to the cottage, they go out of their way to pick up two boxes of coco puffs from Liliha Bakery. One for Aunty Lin and Uncle Alika, and one for themselves because if Santana's being honest, she really really loved that Hawaiian chantilly frosting last time.

"Honey?" Brittany turns to Santana once their back in their rental car, "I know you're exhausted from the flight, but can we go the scenic route?"

Santana feels Brittany's hands on her thigh and she narrows her eyes, "By 'scenic' you mean?"

"Drive around the island."

"Babe, that's like a 4 hour drive..."Her eyes widen. She would've been fine with a little detour somewhere, but driving around the island is anything but a little detour.

"There's traffic heading west right now, anyways. What's a few more hours added by going the long way? I just want to roll down the windows and smell the ocean."

"You can smell the ocean from the bed." Santana says pointedly but then immediately regrets her words when Brittany looks at her, clearly unamused.

"It's our anniversary."

"Britt-"

"It's our anniversary, Santana. And I know this whole week is to celebrate that, but I for one would like to at least do something special today."

Santana sighs, knowing that there's no arguing with that. Flying on their actual anniversary day wasn't the most ideal but they were both relieved when their work schedules cleared enough for them to even make it into Hawaii on the day of and not any later. She looks at her wife, her eyebrows still perfectly arched like she's waiting for Santana to challenge her.

"Fine." Santana gives in with a huff.

"Yay!"

"But we aren't making any stops."

They end up making more than a few stops in town and really, Santana should've known better. She'll give her wife whatever she wants today even if that adds even more time to their travel time.

After going through their own box of coco puffs -which Santana was not too happy about because she had plans for that frosting, okay- they stopped at the nearest convenience store for a couple bottles of water. Brittany, seemingly sealing her own fate, drank an entire bottle like she'd just been travelling through a desert for the past three days.

Which, in hindsight, was a mistake.

"Britt, I don't know how long it'll be until the next public restroom." Santana glances at her wife who won't stop squirming in her seat. They passed numerous restrooms as they drove through Hawaii Kai but it wasn't until they passed Hanauma Bay that Brittany really started to feel the effects of drinking that much water at once.

"Then stop at the next beach. I'll go in the water if I have to."

"Ew, babe no. You don't even have a swimsuit on."

"I'm serious!" Brittany whines, "I feel like I'm going to explode."

Santana drives as fast as the car in front of her allows, which for her, is incredibly slow. Everyone always slows down when they drive past a scenic lookout. Why? Why is that a thing? Just fucking pull over and stop if you want to look so bad.

"Overtake these tourist, San."

"Excuse you, we are also tourists." Santana scoffs, "And also, how exactly do you expect me to do that? Drive off the cliff? Or drive into oncoming traffic? Or maybe I can drive along the side of the mountain?"

"Don't get smart with me, Santana, or I swear I'll pee in this damn rental car."

"I'm just saying there's no escape." Santana glances in her rearview mirror and sees the line of cars following behind them, "It'd be too dangerous to turn around on this road. You're just going to have to hold it."

Eventually, they make it to Sandy's beach in record time and Brittany practically jumps out as the car is still rolling. Thankfully, this beach has facilities so she doesn't have to go in the ocean. By the time Brittany's walking back, Santana's leaning on the hood of their rental car with her sunglasses on and her smirk on full display.

"Don't start with me." Brittany rolls her eyes.

"It's a good thing there were restrooms here," Santana smiles and juts her chin towards the ocean, "You might've died in there."

Brittany turns around and they both watch multiple people struggle to just get into the water, having to time it perfectly between the waves rolling in. It's mostly the locals who seem to be the most experienced in navigating the strong current, but even then, it looks like it really hurts when they get slammed down into the sand near the shoreline.

"You two aren't planning on going in are you?" A local asks them as he steps up to the truck parked beside them.

Santana shakes her head, "It looks dangerous."

"It is." He laughs, "Today's more rough than usual. Definitely not the place for a relaxing swim."

"Maybe we could just dip our feet in?" Brittany looks at Santana with the most adorable look, making it hard for her to find the words to turn her down.

He looks at the two of them once he's finished securing his board to the bed of his truck, "Well good luck. And remember, if you do get pulled in, don't panic if the ocean holds you down."

Brittany's eyes widen and Santana is thankful for his warning, "On second thought, maybe we're good just looking at it."

"Smart girl. She's a keeper." He smiles, winking at Santana before calling over his shoulder as he steps into his truck, "Stay safe girls."

After a small detour through Kailua, they find themselves in Laie, looking for a grocery store to pick up some essentials. At first they only wanted to stop to buy more water but Santana figured they could kill two birds with one stone and pick up most of their food list items now.

Since there's not too many eating options near their cottage in Makaha, they've come to really rely on their own cooking for a majority of their meals during their vacations. Which in all honesty works out well for their wallets and keeps their trip budget in check.

Eventually, they pull up to a Foodland and Santana smiles softly at her adventurous wife curiously looking at their new surroundings. They've never been to this side of the island before and even though Santana's been in a mood, she's doing her very best to keep herself from ruining their 'Anniversary Road Trip' as Brittany's officially dubbed it.

"Do you have your list?" Santana pulls Brittany's attention back to her and she nods enthusiastically. "Just like we agreed, okay? In and out, only getting what's on the list, no stopping for randoms."

Brittany frowns, "You take all the fun out of road tripping, San."

"Road tripping isn't supposed to be fun."

"Literally no one's ever said that. Ever"

"Remember to not grab any cold items," Santana ignores her, "They won't last the drive. We'll just have to drive to the store tomorrow to pick those up. It's not what we had planned but we'll just have to make it work."

"You know, if you really didn't want to do this, you could've just said no."

Santana stops looking at the list on her phone and finds sad blue eyes staring back at her. She softens, knowing that Brittany's just trying to make the most out of their anniversary day and she's ruining it for her. And yeah, technically she could've said no, but how could she? How could she deny her wife's wishes on their anniversary?

All Brittany wanted was to spend time together doing something fun and different.

"I'm sorry baby." Santana sighs, "I promise from here on out I'll try to have more fun."

Brittany eyes her cautiously, "You won't be grumpy?"

"Me? Grumpy? Never." Santana feigns a soft gasp that earns her a smile from the blonde, followed by an eye roll, making the both of them laugh.

"Okay grumpy gills," Brittany leans in and gives Santana a quick kiss, "Let's tackle this super unfun list of yours."

Once they get inside, Brittany pushes the cart along Santana's side, keeping up with her as she pulls various items off the shelves and into their cart. Aisle for aisle as items go in, Brittany checks them off the list and it's not long before there's only one thing left to get.

"Tequila?" Brittany quirks an eyebrow, "What kind of week are we trying to have?"

Santana laughs, "We're getting margarita mix to go with it. Alls I wants to do is to sip margaritas on the beach whiles I watch my girl swim."

She giggles, rolling her eyes at her wife, "Well, I didn't see the alcohol section earlier. You?"

"Now that I think about it…"

Brittany looks up at the stores signage, "There's not even a sign for it, hun."

At that Santana takes off in search for the nearest stock boy. When she finally finds one, a young kid that's probably barely an adult, she asks him where the alcohol section is.

"You're not from here, are you?" He laughs, and Santana looks at him like she's slightly offended. "Sorry, I didn't mean that in a bad way."

"Just point us in the right direction, kid." Her patience wearing thin now.

"That's what I was getting to," He looks apologetic, "This is a dry town."

Santana stares blankly back at him, "What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You're in the middle of Mormon country. No alcohol. We do have coffee though."

"You're kidding." Brittany steps up and quickly grabs hold of Santana's arm. Santana, due to the small the gesture, is reminded that attacking a small unknowing barely adult mormon boy in the middle of a grocery store on their anniversary, is not part of the plan.

"I'm sorry, aunty." He looks at Santana and her eyes widen in horror.

"Did you just-" She shakes her head in disbelief, "We're practically the same age!" The grip on her arm tightens as her voice gets louder and she turns to her wife, "Get me away from him, right now."

It's all Santana needs to say before Brittany whisks her away and towards the check out line. She's fuming as Brittany takes the lead, completing the transaction and eventually loading up the car.

"Sit here," Brittany guides her to the passenger seat, "I think maybe it's time we switch."

"Because it's dark now and you can't sight see anymore?"

"No," Brittany laughs, "Because you're a grumpy gills again, and I don't want to hear you complain the rest of the way."

Santana doesn't argue with her. Truth be told, she's too tired and exhausted, and they've been on the road for three hours now so the thought of having to drive another two more hours really doesn't sound appealing to her.

It takes her more than a few minutes to realize that Brittany's been gone for a quite some time for her to be just putting back their cart. But before she gets too worried, Brittany reappears, jumping into the driver's seat and handing Santana a bowl.

"Where'd you go?"

"Back inside." Brittany hands her a pair of chopsticks, "Poke bowls for dinner. This should make you a little less grumpy. Also I might have mentioned to the stock boy that I basically saved his life."

"We're practically the same age." Santana grumbles again.

"I know, honey." Brittany grins, "I know."

The amount of traffic they run into trying to leave the north shore can only be described as ungodly. It's something they knew would happen but being stuck in one spot for 15 minutes and only moving about 30 feet has even begun to seriously affect Brittany.

"Why did you let me go through Haleiwa?" Brittany sighs as she rests her chin on her knuckles, her hands holding the top of the steering wheel.

"Hey, I was perfectly fine with skipping it and staying on the highway. Besides, we're nearly to the end. Probably another hour or so more."

"That's not funny, Santana."

Santana laughs and looks at the passing stores as they reach the end of Haleiwa and finally make it back onto the highway. Thankfully, traffic starts moving at a much more reasonable pace, however, Santana can't help but feel like making a little bit trouble.

She sticks her hand out the window to feel the air, "You know what would make this even better?"

Brittany glances at her, eyeing her carefully like she must know where Santana is going with this.

"I mean, the sky did look a bit cloudy today. And the air does feel a little wet." Santana continues.

"Stop it. If we get stuck in even more traffic you'll be sorry you jinxed it."

"I don't know... I think it's this passenger seat. It's got me embracing this whole road trip thing. You were right, it is kind of fun."

"Well, it won't be fun if starts raining. You already hate how slow the driver's are here. Throw rain into the mix and suddenly everyone acts like they're driving on ice."

"Yeah, but I'm not the one driving so I don't really care."

"You're evil," Brittany looks at her, mouth slightly agape.

"No, babe." Santana smirks, "I think they call this karma."

And just like that, a light drizzle of rain begins to fall only to be followed not long after by a full downpour of rain.

They roll up their windows quickly and before Brittany can even attempt to pass at least a few cars, they're stuck behind what looks to be another never ending line of cars.

"Ugh! We were so close to getting out of this!"

Santana holds back a laugh, "Would another round of our Santittany Infinite Playlist cheer you up?"

"Are you mocking me?" Brittany turns to her wife, eyes narrowed.

"Never." Santana smirks, "I'm just having fun."

Santana's spent the last fifteen minutes trying to distract Brittany from the fact that she needs to use the restroom. But just over five hours since leaving the airport, they've finally made it to their beautiful little cottage, waiting for them with imaginary open arms.

The car is barely in park before Brittany is jumping out and rushing to the lockbox for the keys. Santana takes her time getting out of the car and before she can even open the trunk to grab the bags, a voice calls out from across the yard.

"I didn't realize you girls would be this late." Santana looks up and finds Aunty Lin, wearing a night robe, walking towards her. "Is Brittany okay?"

Santana looks back towards the cottage just in time to catch a small glimpse of her wife disappearing through the front door and she chuckles. "Small bladder. Not cut out for road tripping apparently."

"Road trip, huh?" The older woman smiles, "You should've texted me, I would have put the bottle on ice much later."

"No, it's okay, aunty. Thank you so much, though. We brought you and uncle a box coco puffs, but I think it's safe to say those probably aren't good anymore. They've been sitting for more than a few hours now."

"It's probably for the best. We're trying to cut back on the sweets." Aunty Lin chuckles, "I'm glad you made it here safely, though. We were starting to get worried." Something catches the older woman's eye and she looks up to the cottage, her smile widening and Santana already knows why.

"Looks like she found it." She whispers to Santana, "We'll talk more tomorrow. You two enjoy the rest of your night now."

They say their farewells and when Santana turns around, she's greeted with the image of her wife, standing in the doorway of their anniversary cottage, holding a bottle of champagne. It's probably room temperature by now but Brittany's face says it all. A combination of shock, confusion, and little bit of love mixed in for good measure.

By the time Santana's standing in front of her, Brittany's almost in tears.

"Did you do this?" Brittany opens the door further and Santana has to lean a little to get a peek inside their bedroom to see the full set up. She smiles, it's exactly how she imagined it.

"They're the lesbian of flowers," Santana explains with a shrug, reaching out to hold her wife at her waist, "I wanted to make today special."

"You should've said something…"

"I didn't want to ruin the surprise."

A happy tear rolls down Brittany's cheek and Santana reaches up to wipe it away. She was prepared for this reaction, it's just... a few hours later than originally planned.

"Thank you for entertaining my spontaneous behavior."

"Thank you for put up with my bitchy attitude."

"I'm serious." Brittany laughs, "I should've known you'd do something like this. I feel like I ruined your perfect plan."

"My perfect plan was to spend the day with my perfect wife. I'd call today a success."

"I love you so much."

"I love you too, Britt." Santana leans in and kisses her softly. "Now, come help me with our bags before we get too tired."

"Leave the bags. We'll worry about that later." Brittany grins and suddenly Santana can feel the energy change in the air around them. With dark eyes, Brittany leans in to whisper in Santana's ear, "You earned yourself a new position tonight."

Chills. "Oh, yeah?"

"Mhm. And would you look at that," Brittany nods her head toward the clock on the wall, "We still have a few more hours to celebrate."

"Enough time for a quickie?"

"Barely." Brittany smirks, pulling Santana into the cottage.

"Happy Anniversary, baby."

"Happy Anniversary, my love."

AN: I can confirm that every single one of my Hawaii friends can distinctly remember with horror the first time a grown ass adult stranger called them "Aunty". When it happened to me I was literally 23 and I nearly ripped the poor boy's head off.

Also, if you ever find yourself driving in Honolulu and it begins to rain, I sincerely apologize. To us, the world is ending.