A/N: This is the next half of homecoming week! Cute asks, Faberry and Brittana. Grammatical and spelling errors are my fault, I do apologize. There's 3 songs in this chapter, I don't own them. I don't own glee, but I do own Ali, Diego, Asher, and Brittany's family. Enjoy!
Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy
Chapter 12: Dance, Dance
The pep rally was Friday and the dance was Saturday. had added mandatory morning meetings until their performance was over. Along with that, you were to be constantly practicing. By the end of their morning meeting, Santana was groaning from the pain in her fingers and wrists. Taking notes didn't seem very likely that day. She was managing to scribble down every other word in biology when Quinn slipped into the empty seat next to her.
"You look tired. You can copy my notes later." she whispered while the teacher repeated the formula for glucose to Finn.
"Thanks. Are you ready to sing today?" Santana asked, the teacher droning on about sugar breaking down into energy.
"Yeah. Will you play piano so it's as acoustic as possible?" Quinn watched as the Latina stretched her sore finger, cracking each knuckle diligently.
"I can, but why are we doing Stronger acoustic style. I'm pretty sure Brittany wanted to jump around and stuff." Santana sighed at the thought.
"Oh. Maybe you're right. Let's do that instead. I feel so silly." Quinn rolled her eyes, copying down a chemical formula from the board.
"Don't freak out so much Q. That's your problem. You're too in your head. If you want my help with your ask, let me know. I love playing piano." Santana smiled.
"Cool. Just remind me about these notes in Glee okay?" Quinn got up to go back to her seat.
"Yup." Santana waved her off as she lay her head on the desk to listen to the rest of the lecture.
Santana arrived to Glee club to see almost everyone already warming up. was in his office having a heated discussion with someone. When she saw two heads of blonde hair, he knew he must be angry about their request to do anything but work on the performance She marched into the office glaring at the curly haired man.
"Stop yelling at them!" she slammed the door open.
"Santana, we need to spend all our time preparing for the pep rally, The fact that you took time to practice anything else is outrageous.
"We can do what we want with our freetime need this. If you don't let us perform, I will make sure you have no piano or guitar at the pep rally. Maybe no lead singer." Santana spit.
"FINE. Sing your song. But make it ." the man followed them out of the office, getting everyone in their seats as they gave the band the sheet music. sat down angrily in his corner.
"You know the bed feels warmer, sleeping here alone"
"You know I dream in color, and do the things I want"
"You think you got the best of me, think you had the last laugh, bet you think that everything good is gone."
"Think you left me broken, think that I'd come running back"
"Baby you don't know me cause you're dead wrong"
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller, doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone. What doesn't kill you makes a fighter, footsteps even lighter, doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone"
The girls continue to sing the chorus together and switch around the next verse, choosing the lyrics that fit them the best. After singing the second chorus, they punch their word in with the bridge.
"Thanks to you I got a new thing started"
"Thanks to you I'm not the broken-hearted."
"Thanks to you I'm finally thinking bout me."
They finish out the rest of the song together. Even joins in the standing ovation, Rachel smiling happily at Quinn, knowing she's finally making amends. When all three girls hug, there's a collective gasp. The smiling faces when they pull away have the rest of the Glee club surrounding them in a massive group hug. After the sentimental moment dies out, relaxes a bit, still having them rehearse, but not to the point of near exhaustion. After Glee ends for the afternoon, Quinn approaches Santana.
"Hey Q." the Latina says, swinging her backpack over one shoulder, one eye on Brittany practicing a dance move with Mike.
"Hey,so I was hoping to take you up on your author to help me with my ask for Rachel?" the short blonde nervously twiddles her thumbs.
"What did you have in mind?" Santana asks, not willing to waste her talents on just any song.
"So you probably hate this song, and I'm so glad I didn't try to sing it to you but, Sorry by Justin Bieber." the ex-cheerio bites her lip anxiously.
"I suppose that'll work. I don't hate the song. Not my style but if you think Rachel will like it, who am I to judge?" Santana notices Brittany is finished and moves toward her continuing the conversation.
"Well, I'm going to have fun with it. I'm going to tuck my hair into a hat to look like the original Bieber hair. If she doesn't like the ask, at least I'll see her smile from laughing right?" Quinn laughs a bit at the mental image, Santana chuckling along.
"What's so funny?" Brittany asks, wiping some sweat from her brow.
"Quinn as Justin Bieber." Santana gently kisses the dancers pink cheek.
"You have got to be joking. Total blackmail data, I hope Berry likes cheese Quinn." Brittany jokes "Better make sure it's vegan."
"Don't be mean Britt. I'm sure Rachel will love it because it's you. Now, if you excuse us, I have to take Brittany home for our own ask." Santana pats Quinns shoulder, pulling Brittany to the car. When they get to her house, Santana leads Brittany to the back lawn immediately. Sitting obediently is Asher in a bow tie. Tied to it is a little note.
"Take me to the place where you first played guitar for me." Brittany reads aloud, Santana smiles as Brittany scoops up Asher and runs to the car, Santana on her tail, grabbing a leash. They climb up to the treehouse and taped to her guitar case is another note.
"Take me to the place where you first fed me." Brittany chuckles, taking them to the diner. The matrie'd hands her a to go order. On the back of the receipt it says "Take me to the place where we adopted our son." Brittany sighs, driving them to the pound. Shes handed a dog tag. Inscribed "Take me back to the STARt." Brittany laughs, She's been sent on a wild goose chase. Out in Santana's back yard, clipped to the string lights Brittay calls cloudy night stars is another note. "Take me to the sight of our first kiss." Brittany runs inside to the couch. Written on the back of Santana's sheet music for Missing You "Take me to the place where you learned everything about me. Brittany goes up the stairs to Santana's room. Open on the girls bed is the scrapbook. One page has the first embroidery Brittany did tucked into it, a piece of slushie stained notebook paper and a picture of Brittany in her blue stained Cheerios uniform, standing in front of Santana. "When I Met You"
"It's a screen capture from JBI's blog." Santana groans. The page next to it is a picture of the Big and little dipper, Brittany holding her guitar, their ice cream selfie and a picture of the ducks. It's labeled "Our First Date". Brittany turns the page. There's a picture of her family with Santana and she wipes a tear at the thought of her parents. There's a picture of Santana and LIv at the zoo and a picture of Ali and Brittany baking cookies. "You're Part of my Family". The page next to it holds one slip of paper "Check Yes, Juliet" Brittany looks up and Santana turns on her radio and sings.
"Check yes Juliet are you with me?" Santana smiles as she dances with Brittany, singing the song. After the last "You and me" she gets down on one knee and cheesily sings "Will you go to homecoming with me?" Brittany nods happily and pulls Santana into a strong kiss. They seperate after a few passionate moments.
"You planned all this for me?" Brittany asks.
"Of course I did. Now check the yes!" Santana laughs. Brittany does as she's told. Santana smiles brightly, pleased with her success.
"I get to ask next time." Brittany insists.
"Yes ma'am" Santana salutes. They both laugh before smiles falter.
"What are we gonna wear San?" Brittany asks, subconsciously rubbing her thighs.
"Well Britt, it's a semi-formal, so we'd be expected to wear knee length dresses. But you know I don't wear dresses anymore. Maybe when we go to prom in a few years I'll be ready for a dress." Santana runs a hand through her hair "I'm wearing slacks, a button-up and a tie."
"I guess I can do a knee length dress. I have a few at home." Brittany slumps "But that requires GOING home."
"I think your parents would really like to see you and apologize babe. I know what they did is wrong, nearly unforgivable. But aren't you glad he can't hurt anyone else? The guy who hurt me is walking free, in the same state. And there is nothing I can do to change that." Santana looks at Brittany, who is clearly conflicted.
"I AM glad San. I just know there was another way. If they would've just asked. I would still be terrified, but at least I wouldn't feel betrayed by my own parents." Brittany sighs.
"I know exactly how it feels to be betrayed by your parents B. Yours still want you. I'm begging you to give them another chance." Santana turns away.
"I'll make you a deal." Brittany offers.
"What?" Santana turns back around, arms crossed challengingly.
"You do Christmas Pierce style. The whole shabang. Santa Claus, cookies, reindeer all of it." Brittany is nearly begging and when she offers her signature pout, Santana folds.
"Fine. Let's go get ourselves invited to Christmas then." Santana leads Brittany down the stairs and to the car. Things were finally looking up. Pulling up to the Pierce house, Santana saw a head of blonde hair peeking through the curtains. As soon as she turned off the car, little feet came running out of the house. The little girl leapt into her arms as soon as she stepped out of the car.
"Tana!" Liv squealed, wrapping her arms around the girls neck, playing with the chain of her necklace. Brittany got out of the car and Liv smiled, waving at her sister from her place in Santana's secure arms. Brittany gently kissed the girls forehead, before turning her attention to the two figures in the doorway. Santana let Brittany lead the way, trailing behind a couple step.
"You want to hear something super cool?" she asked the girl whose face was cozily resting on her shoulder.
"Is it a secret?" Olivia asked seriously "Britt says sisters don't keep secrets from each other and that if I was ever afraid to tell Ma and Pa something I should tell her." Santana smiled, knowing Brittany was protecting her younger sister.
"Not a secret to Britt, no. I asked her to homecoming and she said yes." Santana smirked when Liv smiled brightly.
"Of course she did, you're like the prettiest girl ever. Maybe even prettier than Britty." Liv rolled her eyes " Course I'm prettiest of all. That's what Britty says and she says sisters don't tell lies."
"You're right. Your sister is pretty smart. Personally I think she's a genius." Santana said, setting the girl down in the foyer, watching Brittany talk to her parents at the dining table. She helped Liv take off her shoes and took her to wash her hands. They'd arrived just as the Pierce's were about to have dinner. She listened as best she could to the other room. She heard the unmistakable sound of Brittany choking out a sob. Olivia heard it too and raised an eyebrow at Santana.
"Ma and Pa haven't told me why Britt's been so sad. Do you know why?" the little girl asked, and Santana smiled at the innocent blue eyes that she recognized as the same as her girlfriends.
"You know Livvy" Santana set the girl on the counter "Your sister told me why she's sad. Cause we're girlfriends, and like sisters we don't keep secrets." Olivia nodded. "Well, Brittany's your big sister, so its her job to protect you. So sometimes she has to keep a secret from you to keep you safe."
"But she said sisters don't keep secrets." Liv crossed her arms.
"You're right. But that doesn't mean you always tell them right away. You should, but when you were little, you wouldn't have known what she was saying anyway. I bet if you ask her, she'll tell you now. I know she wants to, she just wanted you to be old enough to understand." Santana smiles and Olivia nods thoughtfully. They head to the dining room table where Daniel Pierce squeezes Brittany's hand.
"Britty, why are you sad?" Olivia climbs into her chair across from Brittany.
"Liv, I don't want you to be sad or scared okay?" Brittany looks to her dad to make sure she can tell her younger sister. After a small nod, she continues "Mr. Robert hurt me when we were kids. And when I saw him the other day I got scared that he was gonna hurt me or hurt you. I'm sorry I kept a secret Livvy."
"Tana said sometimes we keep secrets to protect the other person. S'okay you kept the secret, cause it is kinda scary. Are you okay now though?" Olivia looks at her big sister like she's a superhero.
"I'm perfect, as long as I've got you, Ma, Pa and Santana by my side." Brittany smiles.
The next day at school, Brittany can't help but to tell everyone how awesome her girlfriend is, and how her homecoming ask was so sweet, showing the pictures people had secretly captured of them all day. Santana just smiles bashfully, dutifully standing by Brittany's side. By the time they get to Glee club, Brittany has managed to tell the story more than a hundred times. Santana goes to Quinn, who glares.
"You totally showed me up! All I have is a cheesy song" Quinn says, stuffing her blonde hair up under a baseball cap. Santana shrugs and helps her fix her hair.
"Rachel has criticized me for not including anyone else all day. Trust me, she'll love this." Santana says. They'd cleared their performance with earlier, so they were quick to get ready to play. Quinn kept her head down and hoodie on as she walked to the front so no one would see her weird hairdo.
Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh
You gotta go and get angry at all of my honesty
You know I try but I don't do too well with apologies
I hope I don't run out of time, could someone call a referee?
'Cause I just need one more shot at forgiveness
I know you know that I made those mistakes maybe once or twice
By once or twice I mean maybe a couple of hundred times
So let me, oh let me redeem, oh redeem, oh myself tonight
'Cause I just need one more shot at second chances
Yeah, is it too late now to say sorry?
'Cause I'm missing more than just your body
Oh, is it too late now to say sorry?
Yeah, I know that I let you down
Is it too late to say I'm sorry now
Quinn sings the song all the way through, her eyes never leaving Rachel's. Santana can see Finn's massive eye roll from the other side of the room and scoffs. He knew what he did. Rachel hops up as soon as the performance is over, whispering that she's sorry too, and Santana really doesn't have the heart to care what for. She smiles when she sees Brittany write homecoming on the board. Rachel saying yes has most of the club cheering and whooping. They get back to their practice for the pep rally the following afternoon soon after, and Santana can't help but be in awe of the raw talent of the club.
Friday's performance could not have gone more perfectly. The entire school was up and dancing throughout, and even Sue gave a small clap of approval. It's all Santana can think about as she knots her tie for the fourth time. She gives in and walks down the stairs,her tie undone. Luckily, Diego is home again, this time because he got a concussion in the first football match of the season. He laughs at Santana's flustered look and easily ties the light blue tie. It matches Brittany's dress, all of which matches the blonde's eyes.
"You and you're senorita are going to be the hottest chichas in that joint prima" Diego says, looking over the girl. Santana groans, tucking her hair behind her ear to put in two blue diamond earrings. They were the only expensive jewelry she had left, wearing the night of her attempt. It was hard to see them, but she knew they looked perfect and she was stronger for wearing them.
" Oh Santanita, maravillosa sobrina" Ali says gently running a finger along the diamonds "Estas bien?" she asks.
"Si Tia, I'm okay. I feel strong with them. I'm proving them wrong." Santana says. The doorbell rings, and standing on the front porch is Brittany. Behind her is Quinn and Rachel in Rachel's car. Ali ushers the other two girls out, taking a few pictures in the backyard before they go. Asher, donning his little bow tie even poses for one. Santana rolls her eyes when Diego wolf whistles.
"My man Asher got 4 hot chicas. Damn!" Diego shouts.
"I'm your cousin!" Santana mimes puking as they head out the door. They head to the dance, and Santana can't help but to hate the blah Top 100 pop songs that play endlessly through the speakers. Brittany sneaks away, and Santana grabs a glass of punch.
"Hey Principal Sue." she says, seeing the vulture like woman hovering "I'm not going to spike the punch." Santana smirks as the woman approaches.
"Careful Lopez, you're on my good side but that can change easily." Sue reminds. Santana puts her hands up in surrender when a slim pair of arms wrap around her waist.
"Hey coach, hate to interrupt, but I need to steal my girl for a dance." Brittany pulls a reluctant Santana to the dance floor.
"There's no way I'm dancing to this trash outside of Glee." Santana groans, but Brittany hushes her.
"I put a request in. Just the one dance is all I ask." Brittany holds a hand out and Santana nods as she recognizes the opening notes. Brittany swings her around as the song continues, Santana singing along happily.
"Dance, dance
We're falling apart to halftime
Dance, dance
And these are the lives you love to lead
Dance, this is the way they'd love
If they knew how misery loved me"
Santana never dreamed her first high school dance would be like this. She once believed she'd never live to see it. But as she settles in Brittany's arms and allows her girlfriend to lead her in a waltz to the first slow song of the night, she thinks maybe her dreams are starting to come true.