12

Brittany's POV

I woke up Christmas morning facing Santana who was still fast asleep. She was wearing the Christmas onesie I had offered her; it didn't fit her personality all that well, but it was cute, and I was happy that she was participating in one of my family traditions. I just wished I'd gotten her a Christmas present so she wouldn't be left out.

She mumbled in her sleep, probably deep in dreamland, so I got up without disturbing her to go to the bathroom. On my way there, I smelled Christmas breakfast being made.

Santana had woken up by the time I returned a few minutes later, but she was lacking excitement for Christmas morning.

"Keep the onesie on," I told her as she got out of bed. "Breakfast is almost ready."

I almost had to drag Santana to the kitchen, and when we got there, I saw we were the last ones to wake up.

"Why'd you take so long?" Jessica complained from her spot at the kitchen island.

"I forgot to set my alarm," I said sitting down beside her and motioning for Santana to sit beside me.

"Well, Mommy and Daddy said we couldn't eat until you were here, and I'm starving!" I knew she was over-exaggerating, and I knew she wasn't actually upset with me.

Mom set plates in front of Jessica, Santana, and me before she and Dad came to sit with us. Dad had to pull up an extra chair because of Santana. I was glad that he seemed to like her.

Christmas breakfast was the same every year, and every year I looked forward to it. It was pancakes and bacon, only the plate was arranged to make Santa pancakes.

"Do you do this every year?" Santana asked.

I nodded because my mouth was full of food.

After eating, Santana seemed to be in a better mood. "Thanks so much for breakfast," she said.

Mom asked Santana if her parents would be okay with her staying for the rest of the morning.

"I wish I could, but I have a family gathering today." Santana seemed disappointed in the fact that she couldn't stay.

"I can drive you home then," Mom offered.

I immediately volunteered to go with. I had missed Santana during the holidays and was sad that she had to leave.

"Is this family gathering with your abuela?" I asked while we drove to Santana's house.

"No," she replied. "Yesterday was with my dad's side of the family and today is with my mom's. My mom's mom isn't alive anymore, so I only have one abuela."

"Oh." I wasn't sure what to say.

"I never met her," she continued. "Today, we're going to my abuelo's with all my cousins. I wish I didn't have to go."

We pulled up to her house.

"Can I see you again during the holidays?" I asked.

"New Year's Eve if you're not busy," she said. "My parents won't mind if you'd like to come over. I'll text you."

"Okay. Bye, Santana."

"Bye. Thanks for the ride."

I watched Santana walk back up to her house. I noticed that there were no Christmas lights around her house. Her Christmas experience didn't seem to have a lot of joy in it, and I wished I could change that for her.

Back at home, the four of us settled in the living room to open presents. The tree that had had almost nothing under it the night before was now surrounded in gifts.

We always started with the gifts from my sister and me. Jessica gave gifts to Mom and Dad from her, and then she gave me a small gift bag. Inside, there were two identical bracelets.

"The bracelets are for you and Santana," she said. "They're friendship bracelets."

I said, "Thank you."

Then, I gave Mom and Dad their presents from me before handing Jessica hers. She loved unwrapping gifts and probably opened it in less than 30 seconds. She was excited to find a stuffed animal inside to add to her collection.

I received a lot of gifts that Christmas and wondered if Santana was getting as lucky. I had almost everything I wanted. Santana's family had money, that wasn't a question, but that didn't mean she would get gifts she wanted.

"Can I buy Santana a gift?" I asked once all the presents were open, and Mom was making lunch.

"The stores will be closed today," Mom said.

"I know. Can we go before New Year's Eve? I want to get her something."

"Okay."

Santana texted me as promised, and we planned for me to go to her house for night on New Year's Eve. She mentioned that her parents wouldn't be home because they had started going to her mom's friend's New Year's Eve party yearly once Santana was old enough to stay home alone. I felt bad for her; it must have been awful to be alone every New Year's.

When it was finally New Year's Eve, I packed a bag for the sleepover. I hadn't seen Santana since Christmas, and I missed spending time with her. She was my best friend; I had a lot to tell her after not seeing her for so long.

She had said I could come over after lunch sometime since her parents were leaving in the morning. So, as soon as I was done eating lunch, I asked Mom if she could take me to Santana's.

When we got to her house, I took my bag out of the trunk and walked up to the front door to ring the doorbell.

The door opened.

"Hi, Brittany," Santana said. Her voice was flat.

"Hi," I replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Come in."

I kicked off my snowy shoes once I was inside Santana's house. Then, I hung up my jacket.

"What have you been up to lately?" I asked.

"Not much. The break's been boring," she said.

"Have you been working out at all?"

"I mean, I kind of have to, with Cheerios and all."

"Yeah. Do you want to go play outside?" I almost felt silly asking to play with Santana without Jessica there to give a reason, but I wanted her to have some fun during her Christmas break.

"And do what?" she asked.

"Anything," I replied. "Put on your jacket."

Once our shoes and jackets were on, I asked Santana if she had any gloves I could wear because I had left mine at home.

Santana opened the entrance closet and took out a black hat and pair of gloves. "You can use these."

"What about you?" I asked.

She put on a black scarf that matched the stuff she'd given me and wrapped it around her neck before putting on a pair of grey finger-mittens.

We went outside to Santana's backyard. It wasn't huge, but it was decently sized. There was a porch that was mostly snow-covered and a tire swing hanging from a tree.

I ran across the yard, the snow getting in my shoes and wetting my socks. Ignoring the cold, I got on the tire swing and pushed myself off the ground. I smiled thinking of a young Santana playing on this swing. She must have been a cute kid.

I felt something hit my back and turned around. Santana was standing behind me looking guilty; she had just hit me with a snowball.

"Oh, it's on!" I picked some snow off the ground and started making a snowball to throw at Santana.

I hit her legs and noticed that her jeans were getting wet from the snow. Laughing at her reaction to the snowball, I didn't see the next one coming. The force on my arm made me slip and fall into the snow. I was soaking but laughing too hard to care.

"Are you okay?" Santana asked, walking up to me.

Instead of getting up, I gathered some snow in my hands behind my back and threw it at Santana while she was close. She winced as it hit her face and started going inside her jacket.

"That's not fair!" Santana squealed. "It's freezing!"

She was laughing, so I knew she was having fun.

"I'm just better than you," I said, smiling.

Santana acted offended at my comment and tried to get some snow to go down the opening of my jacket, but I knocked her hand back at her. She was surprised and had even more snow in her hair than she had before.

I had very good practice when it came to snowball fights because my sister loved them. Santana obviously didn't get much practice in.

"Brittany!" she exclaimed as I pulled her down into the snow with me. "I'm already soaking!"

"I know," I replied.

"Can we go inside?" Santana asked.

"It's your house."

"Come on." She stood up from the snow and grabbed my arm to help me up too.

We were so close; our faces were almost touching. We were breathing hard from the snowball fight and all the laughing. Her smile was huge, and it made her even more beautiful than usual. I wanted to lean in and kiss her more than anything. I'd known for a while that I was attracted to her, but it was hard because I didn't want her to react wrongly and for it to ruin the rest of our time together. I leaned in a bit to test the waters and when she backed away, I did too.

Back inside Santana's house, we made hot chocolate to heat up our bodies. She let me pick the movie, and I picked Beauty and the Beast, one of my favorites. During the movie, I leaned against Santana's shoulders cautiously, hoping she wouldn't mind. I know she didn't, though, when I rearranged to be more comfortable, and she leaned on my shoulder.

Once the movie was over, I knew I had to talk with Santana about serious things. I had a lot of questions and I wanted answers.

"Santana," I said quietly, "do you like me?" The question was vague, but it would hopefully send her the message I was trying to show her.

"Of course; you're my friend," she replied, missing my point.

"Not like that and you know it," I continued. "I like you, Santana. That's why I kissed you. But I won't do it anymore if you don't like me."

"You're a girl," Santana said. "I don't like girls."

I had a feeling that she was lying or else the kiss wouldn't have been such a big deal to her, but I acted as though I believed her.

"Okay," I replied.

She saw that I was a little sad from her response. "How about this," she said, "we can link our pinkies together. Like our secret language, for anytime we want to say that we love each other, as friends."

She held out her pinkie and I reached mine out to grab it. The connection felt right.

"Thanks, Santana," I said. "You are my best friend."

"And you're mine too, Britt."