Chapter 9 – Knitting and tea

Brittany…

Time seemed to fly ever since she started working at the shop where aunt Patty was a cashier. Weeks passed, months passed… Brittany was glad whenever they gave her a shift to refill the shelves on weekends because that way they passed by quicker. Not that she didn't like staying up late on a Saturday night but she kind of preferred schooldays so she could be around her friends.

It was a first… she had never liked school in the past. She still wasn't good at it but it made a whole lot more fun to sit in geometry and laugh at Blaine's silly jokes whenever the teacher wasn't paying attention to them sitting in the backrow. Also he let her copy his homework all the time. That way they could spend more hours in Blaine's basement to play the piano and sing along. He had a wonderful voice and he was so talented. She could have listened to him all afternoon.

On the weekends Blaine often met up with this boy he knew from Glee club. Brittany wondered if maybe he liked him a little more than a friend. There was just something about the way Blaine talked about him in an almost secretive way but always a sparkle in his eye.

Brittany wanted to ask Blaine about it.

Him liking a boy the way he was supposed to like a girl according to his father. Or Quinn's father. Or pretty much everyone in this small town.

She never quite found the courage to ask him about that boy. Maybe if he brought it up himself one day, then Brittany could ask a bit more. But until then they continued to talk about all the other stuff. Like music, dancing, performing and movies, and new songs and everything of that matter.

But ever since he started being busy on the weekends and Quinn was grounded, there weren't that many options left to meet friends. Because Santana was either working at the bar or doing stuff at home like laundry and cleaning. Therefor Brittany learned to love both; taking a shift at the shop and going to school. Everyone was there. School became the centre of her life. Because she and Patty never really knew what to talk about at home.

It would have been nice to have someone to go to for advice. Just about anything… but she didn't have that anymore. She went to visit her mom in jail a couple weeks ago and it was good. But also not so good…

It was painful to see her change into someone Brittany didn't know anymore. She felt relieved when she drove back to the trailer park, back to her new home. Her friends were her family now. Dancing to the music in her ears was everything she needed to come down at the end of the day or when she got a bad grade.

It made her forget about the frustration quickly and look forward to the future instead. She knew she was going to give everything in order to make it big somewhere, someday.

It was what her mom always wanted to do but never achieved. Brittany promised her that at least one member of the Pierce family would go out there and make a living by performing on the big stage. To show the world what they had to offer. To dance for them, give them joy.

She couldn't wait to fulfill those dreams in the big city one day but she had to admit that she also kind of liked her new life. Being surrounded by friends, the freedom that came by living with her not so interested aunt… she never liked the amount of tourists in Las Vegas. Something about that small town life kind of suited Brittany. She never would have thought so.

Still… one day she was going to leave all of it behind and see what else life had to offer.

She'd miss Santana and Quinn… maybe even aunt Patty.

She'd take her friends with her in a heartbeat but Quinn was going to have a baby and Santana was always going to have her younger brothers to take care off.

When they were sitting in the truck a while ago and talking about running away together – Brittany could actually see it. Them leaving together. Celebrating New Year's Eve at Times Square. Cooking spaghetti at a crappy old apartment. Working at a Café until Brittany would finally get a call back from an audition.

She pictured it while wandering through the school's hallways, a smile forming on her face when she spotted Quinn and Santana standing by their lockers, laughing about something.

She approached them with a grin and soon enough Quinn grabbed her wrist to hook arms. When walking in the hallways Santana and Brittany took Quinn into their middle most of the times. She didn't know why. She always felt like protecting Quinn from whatever kids might do when walking by. Ever since Quinn wasn't allowed to be with Jake anymore, other students used every possibility to call her names or to make jokes about how she wasn't going to fit into her clothes real soon.

One day a girl from the cheerios said that Quinn was probably allowed to use the accessible ramp if she couldn't walk the stairs anymore.

It made Quinn very upset at first but the three of them laughed about it later on. The girl must have been very desperate to make such a joke.

"Do you guys want to come by the Schuester's later on? My brother Iker turns nine today and I promised him some ice cream." Santana suggested when they were just about to enter the lunchroom.

They always said goodbye to Quinn there because she was going to get picked up by her dad.

She gave Santana a sad smile.

"I'm still grounded. I'll try to talk to daddy to make an exception but I don't think he'll say yes."

Santana nodded understandingly and then glanced at Brittany.

"Oh… I'm sorry, too but I've got a shift at the shop." She explained and hoped that Santana wasn't going to ask any further.

"Ok, sure. You could come by later. I probably won't get off till six…"

Brittany bit her bottom lip when she saw the hope in Santana's eyes of not having to celebrate her brother's birthday alone.

"I kind of made plans with Blaine to work on a new song he came up with. He's going to help me study for an upcoming math exam in return."

Brittany could see the disappointment in the brunette's eyes but she quickly covered it up with a comment about how she was going to be all busy with customers anyways…

Later during lunch they didn't talk a lot. Santana had to read the last few pages in a book she was going to discuss in English class, so Brittany put on her earphones and listened to some new tapes. When Blaine came to pick Brittany up at their table to head to their next class, Santana gave Brittany a smile to say goodbye. Brittany could tell that it was a little forced and she almost stopped to ask why Santana was giving Blaine that weird look.

Was she still worried that Brittany might have a crush on him? But before she could think about it any further, Blaine pulled her with him. When they left the lunchroom, already laughing about something new, Brittany forgot about it anyways.

/

It was a couple weeks later when it came up again. They were sitting in Quinn's living room since that was the only way they were allowed to see her after school. Quinn invited them to join her knitting session because she wanted to make some baby clothes. Winter was getting colder so Brittany thought it would be cool to use the opportunity to knit a scarf but it turned out that she wasn't very talented at it. She kept dropping stitches and Santana always had to fix it for her. Other than Brittany, the girl was super good at it.

Brittany wondered if there was a thing that Santana wasn't good at. She was great at math, she could cook delicious dinners, she was good at taking care of children, she could carry several glasses on a tray and she had a beautiful singing voice. Brittany had never heard her sing a whole song but sometimes she caught her humming a melody when she didn't think anyone was listening.

So she watched in awe when Santana took the beginning of her scarf that was barely even anything out of her hands and inspected it closely. They were sitting next to each other on a big couch while Quinn was seated in a chair opposite from them. She was babbling something about how her dad was finally thinking about inviting the Puckerman family over so they could discuss their situation. He could no longer pretend that Jake didn't exist.

Brittany had a hard time focussing though because she also tried to follow Santana's skilled moves. Within seconds she had corrected Brittany's little chaos and was now knitting several rows in order for the scarf to get somewhere. Brittany tried to watch closely so she could learn but Santana was too quick. Her fingers flew through that yarn.

"What?" She asked when she caught Brittany staring at her with wide eyes. "I've had practice. My mom and I used to knit whole blankets when I was younger."

Brittany nodded wordlessly. Quinn continued talking about the whole baby and Jake situation. Somehow Santana was better at doing two things at the same time. She knitted and talked to Quinn while Brittany just sat there and watched.

Only when Santana put the needles back in Brittany's hands and showed her how to do it better, she pulled herself together in order not to look like a complete fool. She felt like a child when her hands didn't do what she tried to navigate them to do. The yarn was way too tight around her fingers and another stitch dared to drop but Santana's gentle hands guided her to prevent another fail.

"That's better" She mumbled when Brittany finally got the hang of it. "Let me know when you're at the end of the row."

Brittany again only nodded without saying anything.

They had a great afternoon even though all they did was sit on the couch, knit and drink tea. They joked about how they were probably going to do this in sixty years on the porch of a nursing home.

At one point Brittany threw a look at her watch and realized that it was time for her to leave.

"What are you up to now? You sure you don't want to stay for dinner? My mom made her fancy casserole." Quinn teased when Brittany got up to stretch her back from all the sitting in the same position.

"That's really nice but I'm already invited to have dinner at Blaine's. His brother is back in town for a couple days and I'm really looking forward to meeting him. Apparently he starred in this tv commercial for denim pants. Have you guys ever met him?"

They both shook their heads but Quinn had a dreamy expression on her face.

"I know that he graduated high school a few years ago. I saw him a couple times in town and he's really… I mean really good looking." She giggled when Santana rolled her eyes at her. "Not better looking than Jake of course" She added with reddened cheeks but winked at Brittany.

"Maybe you can teach him some dance moves, Brittany. Doesn't he go to this dramatic arts academy?"

Brittany nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes exactly! That's why I'm so excited to talk to him. I bet he knows so much about the different styles of dance. I can't wait to ask him all kinds of questions."

Quinn made a funny face.

"Then maybe he can teach you some moves."

Brittany couldn't help but laugh at the way Quinn seemed jealous and a little flustered at the same time.

"I'll tell you everything on Monday" Brittany promised when Quinn asked if she could maybe draw a picture of him if she found the time. "I should really take off now. Blaine always gets impatient when I'm late and he doesn't have his muse to dance for him." She joked but apparently not everybody thought it was so funny.

"Well then you shouldn't let Mr. Anderson wait for too long" Santana said with a funny voice, her eyes trained on her tiny baby hat.

Brittany didn't know whether to laugh or not because Santana's voice was just a little too snappy to be only joking.

"What are you saying?" Brittany wanted to know when grabbing her bag and jacket. Santana shrugged and finally raised her eyes to look at Brittany.

"Nothing. I just think that you're spending so much time with him lately instead of us."

Brittany glanced at Quinn to see if the expression on the blonde's face would be approving or confused like Brittany's insides.

It was neither. She stared at Santana as if she had just misheard.

"I mean, I…" Brittany began but she had no idea what she wanted to say. Should she explain? Apologize? Well… no. She didn't have to explain to anyone who she wanted to spend time with. Especially not if someone tried to make her feel bad about it.

"Tell Blaine I said hi, ok?" Quinn said with a warm smile, trying to lighten up the sudden change of mood. Brittany reciprocated it before throwing another glance at Santana.

"I'll see you guys on Monday…" She muttered but Santana just gave her the "whatever" look in return.

Brittany clicked her tongue when she left the living room. What the hell was that all about? She didn't find the nerve to confront Santana about that remark but she probably should have…

On her way out she thanked Mrs. Fabray for the invitation and that she'd love to stay longer another time. When she stepped outside, she shook her head.

Great… this was not how she had planned to say goodbye to her two best friends for the weekend. But if Santana thought she could snap at Brittany then maybe this was going to be for the best.