A/N:

TW: There will be minor mentions of a former Brittany/Artie relationship at the start of this chapter but they/Artie won't be a major part of the story in any way, it'll be Brittana all the way so if you're squeamish about Bartie there's no need to worry.

Let me know what you think :)

ao3: sarcasticscully

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or anything associated with it

"Hey Brittany!" Brittany looked up at the sound of a familiar voice and realized who was calling her over. Her ex boyfriend Artie Abrams. She was surprised to see him back in town after he had left to attend film school in New York a year or so ago.

"Hi Artie, long time no see!"

Artie grinned. "It's great to see you, Brittany. In case you're wondering, I'm just visiting for a few days before I go back to NY again. I see you're as beautiful as ever."

Brittany just shook her head with a forced laugh, trying to lead him off of that track before he started to go down that road with her again. "You're so nice. Compliments will get you nowhere, Robot Boy."

"Can't hurt to try." Artie grinned smugly, making no effort to hide the fact that he was leering at her in her short dress. Brittany just rolled her eyes, pulling down the hem of her dress when Artie turned back to talk to his friends while she waited to take their orders.

She sighed, frowning as Artie continued to try to put the moves on her for the next twenty minutes, not taking the hint that she wasn't interested. She continued to do her job, plastering on a polite smile as the small brown-haired man boasted about the student film he was in the process of creating. She couldn't very well be rude to a customer and she didn't want to hurt her old friend's feelings.

Artie and her had dated once for a short time during high school and the guy clearly thought he had another chance with her. Still, it was nice to rehash some old memories of McKinley High with him.

They were talking for so long and she hadn't realized how little attention she was giving to her usual favourite guests until she felt the eyes burning into her. When she finally went back to Santana's table to take her order, it was amusing to see that the woman and her little boy both had the same annoyed expression, looking at her expectantly as if to say, "Ahem! Where were you?!".

There was always a regal air about them, as if she was serving a queen and a prince. They were both dressed stylishly in leopard print and black leather this time.

"Sorry for the wait, you two. Lord Tubbington always says I'm a blabbermouth." She chuckled. To her surprise, Santana's eyes flashed with barely concealed irritation, completely losing her temper at the mention of that name.

"Who is this Lord Tubbington you talk about all the time? Is he your boyfriend?" She all but demanded, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms.

Brittany barely suppressed a laugh.

"Is it that scrawny nerd who's chatting you up over there? He didn't seem all that tubby." She hissed, rolling her eyes with some sassy head movements to get her point across as she sized up the short man in the glasses on the other side of the diner who was still talking animatedly with his friends.

"Don't be silly, Santana. Lord Tubbington is my cat so no, we're not romantically involved. I'm not his type at all - he's not into blondes," She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "He's kind of a playa when it comes to the feline ladies if you know what I mean. We're roommates so I know all his secrets." Brittany explained.

"Lord Tubbington is… a cat?" Santana visibly relaxed, deflating but still clearly puzzled by Brittany's explanation as she thought it over, drawing her brows together. Brittany just nodded.

"And that's just my old friend, Artie from high school over there. He's a sweet guy."

"He seems like a jerk."

"Don't be mean. You'd like him if you got to know him."

Santana just huffed in irritation, crossing her arms and frowning as Brittany talked some more about Artie. She refused to look at Brittany for the rest of breakfast, sulking the entire time as Brittany went back and forth between their two tables. It was such a childish display that Brittany couldn't help but giggle. Santana was so petulant. It was easy to imagine what she had been like as a moody teen girl.

Meanwhile, Artie's expression darkened whenever she would go back over to Santana and he tried his best to monopolize Brittany's attention, sharing icy glares with Santana. If looks could kill, the nerdy little man would be dead. It was like Brittany was stuck in an endless tug of war between the two and it was becoming rather exhausting.

"Can I get you a refill for your coffee? Some dessert maybe?"

Santana just shook her head and remained silent, not engaging in their usual banter. She continued to give Brittany the cold shoulder, pouting just like Kenai and they glowered at her whenever she chatted with Artie and his friends. Kenai just took his cues from Santana.

"Aw, is someone feeling a little jealous? I'm sorry you haven't seen much of me today, Ms. Lopez." Brittany whispered into her ear, moving away quickly before she could freak out on her. "Are you missing me?"

"Miss you? A-as if I would care," Santana sniffed, irritation lacing her voice. "This food as cold as usual and the toast is burnt. Your customer service is always terrible in this place!" She added the last part, gesturing in the direction of Tina who was blatantly ignoring some guests to talk loudly into her phone right in front of them and Rachel who was berating a group of teen boys who were making crass jokes and only became more entertained by the short bossy girl lecturing them. It was a typical scene in the diner.

Kenai copied his mom's dramatic mannerisms, including the sassy neck rolls, mimicking her when she said "Terrible!".

"Then why do you keep coming back here, Ms. Grumpy?" Brittany asked, raising an eyebrow. The question caught Santana off guard completely and her lips parted but she couldn't find anything to say. Brittany smiled at her slyly while Santana just grunted in irritation.

"I think you like me… " The blonde sang under her breath, batting her eyelashes coyly and fixing the collar of Santana's button down shirt. "Don't you?"

Brittany wondered whether she had broken her completely this time as Santana just made a choking sound, attempting to glare at her viciously but still didn't push her away. "You look cute like that but you shouldn't frown so much. It'll put wrinkles on your pretty face."

Thinking she had done enough to completely turn Santana's world upside down for the day, she turned to pouty Kenai instead while his mother was still struggling to respond.

"Hi Sweetheart, no smiles for me today?" Brittany tried, leaning over to reach the little guy's level. He couldn't seem to resist laughing as Brittany tickled him, unable to keep up the grumpy expression. "I'll be right back, Cutie."

Kenai practically threw a tantrum, grabbing onto her dress and holding on for dear life. "No, Mommy stay!" He shrieked in a familiar whiny tone. Uh oh… sounds like crocodile tears are coming , Brittany thought warily.

Brittany sighed, eventually managing to detach his little hand and giving him an apologetic pat on the head as she moved away, even though it hurt her heart to think of Kenai being sad. She tried her best to ignore it as Kenai burst into a fresh round of tears and Santana rolled her eyes at Brittany going to Artie again.

The Lopezes certainly were moody but their cuteness somehow made up for it.

Artie never did come back to the diner, much to her relief as she was sure a catfight would break out between him and Santana if he ever got within five feet of the raven-haired woman at this rate. Gradually, Santana started spending more time at the diner and on most days she'd bring her laptop to work while she was there or be talking to - more accurately arguing with - someone on her phone in harsh tones that made Tina and the other waitresses wince whenever she was around.

It was one of those mornings that were occurring more frequently now where Santana showed way more interest in Brittany than whatever work she was doing on her laptop.

Her stare was appreciative and seemed to linger on Brittany's long, toned legs. The blonde could feel those dark eyes on her from across the room and it took a lot of effort to wait until she had finished serving some other customers before finally making her way over, being sure to sashay her hips and push out her chest.

Brittany wondered when the reserved woman would get the guts to say what she was thinking but her son eventually did it for her.

"You're really pretty!" Kenai squealed, his eyes never leaving Brittany. He was always a talkative little kid and became easily excited about everything. "You're pretty like a princess. Don't you think she's pretty, Mami? Isn't she pretty?"

"Kenai…"

"Aw thank you, Sweetie," Brittany chirped, grinning at the kid while Santana practically buried her head in her arms in embarrassment, groaning. "You're so charming."

"The little rascal can be really cute…" Santana eventually laughed, affectionately ruffling his curly dark hair. She followed Brittany's gaze to Kenai who was giggling again. Both mother and son had the cutest, identical laugh.

Brittany's heart sped up, realizing that she had finally won a laugh from Grumpy Cat and just as she suspected, Santana had the same adorable, scrunchy face as her little one. First her smile, then her laugh. She was totally winning Grumpy Cat over.

"I think he gets that from his Mami." Brittany took a chance and whispered in a more flirtatious tone, fixing her sultry gaze on Santana and biting her lower lip.

The woman definitely blushed this time and avoided Brittany's gaze, fumbling with her hands and practically melting before her eyes. She squirmed and almost knocked her laptop off the table in her flustered state.

Hook, line and sinker… Brittany thought proudly.

Even though Santana seemed very confident most of the time, she didn't seem to know what to do whenever Brittany was a little bolder with her advances and the waitress thought that was so cute. She didn't understand how everyone else in the town could be so terrified of Santana.

Brittany approached Santana when she was on her way back from washing her hands, the two women keeping a close eye on Kenai who was colouring at the table with Tina beside him, chatting to her as she watched over him while Santana had stepped away for a few seconds.

She noticed once again that there was no ring on Santana's finger - hey, you couldn't blame her for checking something like that - and the dark-haired woman had never mentioned anything about a boyfriend… or girlfriend for that matter.

"So what does Kenai's father do?" Brittany asked. Santana stiffened, becoming visibly uncomfortable.

"I don't know. He's no father to anyone, that's for sure." Santana muttered, her smile disappearing as she grimaced, lowering her voice. "That bitch is probably in jail or ruining someone else's life."

"Oh…" Brittany sighed, feeling guilty for making Santana upset by bringing up a topic that obviously bothered her a lot. "Sorry… I shouldn't have. It isn't any of my business."

"Look, before you ask… I'm… I don't date guys. Or have anything to do with guys in that kind of way," Santana explained, running a hand through her hair awkwardly. Then she stuttered, "I-I mean just to make that clear. I'm gay all the way. This was a one time thing when I was a stupid teenager who made a dumb mistake and didn't know better but I love my son and I wouldn't trade him for the world anyway."

"What about a girlfriend?" Brittany asked, looking up at her through her eyelashes and biting her lip again. "I mean there's no way someone like you could be single, right?"

"I - I … I'm on the market," Santana puffed out her chest, crossing her arms as she pointedly ignored Brittany's behavior. "If the right woman were to come along…"

"Is that so?" Brittany leaned in slightly and she was sure Santana got a glimpse straight down the front of her shirt, judging by the way she did a double take and became even more flustered.

"Um, I really should be going now!" Santana's voice cracked as she practically ran back to her table then made a show of packing up her things and slipping on her jacket while she avoided Brittany's knowing gaze. "Kenai needs to get to his boxing class."

"Right." Brittany teased. She didn't know what Santana was so afraid of but she was dying to know more about the woman even if it probably wasn't a good idea to shamelessly flirt with a customer. Even if this particular customer was the sexiest person in the whole of Lima.

Brittany got her first real demonstration of the villainous "Diabla Lopez" several days later when a commotion started in the diner.

"What's going on?" Brittany asked Tina and Rachel as she rushed into work a few minutes late for once, regretful to have probably missed her chance to see Santana that morning.

"It's your lover girl …" Tina told her pointedly in a flat voice as if to say, I told you so and Rachel looked equally annoyed, crossing her arms and frowning as she stood beside Tina, observing the scene. "She's picking fights out there."

Brittany glanced across at Santana's usual table. The Latina was being held back by two burly men as she hurled abuse at a group who Brittany recognized as the snobby Sebastian Smythe and his cronies. She didn't seem like the same Santana who was harmless around Brittany and her son. There was fire in her eyes and her voice rose to an angry pitch as the vicious words kept flowing from her lips.

"Don't you ever say that to me or my son again, you asshole! If my kid weren't here, I'd really show you a little Lima Heights hospitality"

"Santana, calm the Hell down…" The man with the mohawk who was struggling to hold her back told her, grimacing as Santana kept trying to lunge at Sebastian with all of that fury in her eyes.

"I'll say whatever I want and it's the truth. Everyone should know this conniving witch is nothing but a disgrace to this town. She tried to ruin my best friend's life with her lies and schemes!"

"Shut the hell up, Rat Face. You don't know what you're talking about." Santana clenched her fists, not backing down.

"Oh you're gonna hit me, are you? Ready to join your relatives in prison?" Sebastian taunted.

This time Santana managed to pull out of her friends' hold and lunged forward, punching Sebastian right in the face without missing a beat. Sebastian shrieked girlishly and crumpled over as if in agony.

Brittany rushed over before the situation could get worse. Santana was irritable but she had never actually seen her fight with another guest at the diner before. There had to be more to the story. "Santana, what's going on?"

"Did you see what this bitch did to me?! I'm gonna press charges. You'll be hearing from my lawyers!" He screamed as he lay on the floor pathetically whimpering.

"Oh you ain't seen nothing yet, Rat. I'll give you something to really cry about!" Santana yelled.

Brittany put a hand on Santana's shoulder, trying to calm her down and before anything else could happen, Rachel walked purposely over, blocking Santana from getting any closer to her enemy.

"Excuse me, Miss, I'm sorry but if you don't calm down we'll have to call the police." Rachel stepped in between them, nearly tripping over Sebastian's writhing form on the floor and told her harshly. Santana met the brunette's stern, disapproving expression with a menacing glare.

"So now it's my fault?! He was the one who started harassing me!"

"Miss Lopez, don't make us have to ask you to leave." Rachel told her firmly, leaving no room for discussion.

"Santana…" Brittany whispered, gesturing toward Kenai who was watching from the booth and beginning to bawl at the sound of his mother's furious voice.

That seemed to spark something in the dark-haired woman and she finally unclenched her fists, walking away from the scene. She grabbed Kenai, scowling at the judgmental faces of all the other guests at the diner and left a wad of cash on her table then turned around to leave.

"Fine, I'm leaving. Good riddance," She grunted at Rachel and Tina who scowled at her in return. "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"Santana!" Brittany called as she followed her outside, running to keep up with her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." She walked faster but Brittany kept pace with her. The Latina was visibly furious and looked on the verge of tears but she maintained a steely expression, refusing to show any vulnerability. Kenai continued to whimper into her chest.

"I know you're upset but you shouldn't hit people." Brittany told her softly, touching her arm. Santana again didn't pull away or push her hand off but tensed up at her touch.

Then a look of hurt and betrayal flashed on her face that made Brittany almost regret her words.

"What, so you're on their side?!"

"That's not what I meant. Santana… of course not." Brittany whispered, frowning. She didn't know how Santana could even think Brittany wouldn't support her.

The moment was interrupted when Santana became distracted by her son. The toddler cried easily over most things but this time his wailing seemed more serious than normal as he continued to fuss in her arms. His mother became so overwhelmed and unsure about what to do as Kenai continued to cry miserably that Brittany eventually took pity on her.

She hoped she wasn't overstepping boundaries. "Why don't you let me take him for a little while?"

Santana hesitated for a moment but eventually passed Kenai over to Brittany when nothing she was doing seemed to be working. He stopped crying almost immediately as Brittany wrapped her arms around him, humming a song as she rocked back and forth with him and rubbed his back soothingly. The two adults walked over to a nearby park that was mostly empty, Brittany sitting on a bench with the toddler clinging to her.

Santana seemed beyond relieved and gazed at her gratefully, some of her previous anger diffusing as she watched Brittany with her son. "You're so good with him. I don't know how you do that."

Brittany smiled at her. "I've had a lot of practice with taking care of my cousins and my little sister. Not to mention Lord Tubbington's many children from his baby mamas." Santana frowned in confusion at her once again mentioning the Lord but didn't question it.

"You're a natural," Santana replied, the corners of her lips curving upward slightly. Then she frowned, looking away as if remembering something. "I'm making you take time away from your job, Brittany."

"It's alright, I can afford to take a ten minute break. Tina will cover for me, I do it for her all the time when she's gossiping with her friends on the phone." Brittany explained and Santana nodded, accepting this. The two sat in a mostly comfortable silence, though Santana still appeared to be lost in her thoughts, her body language showing that she was still tense and agitated from the fight.

"What really happened in there?" Brittany asked tentatively after a long moment. Santana had been pacing back and forth for the last five minutes and it was obvious that something was really bothering her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Santana snarled, her back rigid and she turned her real anger on Brittany for the first time. For once, Brittany got a sense of what the reckless and dangerous side to Santana was like, the one who struck fear into her enemies with her sharp tongue. However, even though she was lashing out, all Brittany saw when she looked into those soft dark eyes of Santana's was barely concealed fear and pain.

"Shh Santana, if you keep all of those feelings bottled up inside, it's not good for you." Brittany set Kenai down on the bench carefully for a moment and stood up just inches away from Santana, who flinched away from her as if terrified.

The blonde leaned in closer undeterred, carefully cradling her face like she was holding a wounded bird and the woman shivered under her touch, even leaning into it despite her scowl. Brittany fleetingly wondered when last anyone had touched Santana with affection as she seemed so starved for it. "You can talk to me."

"What do you know about what's good for me?" Santana argued.

"I know that I like you. A lot. But you can't keep pushing everyone away just because you're scared of letting anyone get too close." Brittany told her firmly but calmly.

Santana just panted, glaring at her menacingly and for a second Brittany thought she was just going to fly into another one of her rages. Brittany stared back into her eyes boldly, refusing to back down no matter how much fury Santana tried to put into her glare to scare her off. Dark eyes drifted between Brittany's clear blue ones and her small lips.

Then before she knew what was happening…

Santana kissed her.

It was just a hesitant brushing of the lips but Brittany gasped into it, her eyes widening. She didn't hesitate to kiss Santana back once she realized this was really happening. It was too good to be true. It was fast and Santana swept over her like a storm, pulling her into her body forcefully like if she couldn't get enough of her but then once she realized what she was doing she stiffened and pulled back too soon as if she was burned.

Santana gasped, touching her fingers to her lips and looked ashamed at herself.

Brittany's momentary elation began to turn to sadness as she watched Santana clam up again, that same prickly anger coming over her worse than before as her expression turned cold.

"Y-you don't know anything about me or my son." She declared in a hoarse voice.

She carefully took Kenai back into her arms and Brittany flinched as she walked away, the toddler resuming his crying and fussing into her shoulder as he looked longingly in Brittany's direction with his big, soft brown eyes. It broke Brittany's heart to see both of them in such a state.

The blonde waitress sighed, her heart plummeting as she watched Santana's retreating form. She would have given anything to get closer to Santana but had no idea what she could do to get the woman to ever open up to her.