A/N: Sorry this took a little while! I hit a bit of writers block after a really hard week in terms of personal life. Things are onwards and upwards now, which should mean I'll be back on track! This chapter is a little bit of a filler, but it's all needed in due course, my lovelies! Also.. Please let me know if you like the review responses? I don't want to spam y'all with it but I like saying something.. So lemme know if you like this or you'd prefer just a generic thing to cover them all?
Reviews –
Guest #1: You'll know when the kisses happen, trust me ;)
Guest #2: I'm glad you loved it! Hopefully there will be many more you love too!
Nellebm: That part will definitely be worth it.. and that's all im gonna say :P
reesepuff: If only she saw herself as that good of a person! But omg, I know.. I posted that at like 2am and didn't read though it like the idiot I am. This is what happens when you write two different stories at once with two different person perspectives. Sigh! Thank you!
Jaminica: Ding ding ding! Brittany is a grumpy asshole but Santana is adorable.
rg521: I'm glad you like it! It will gradually get more and more Brittana heavy as going on.
rainbowglitterfairy: Thank you! I heart your username!
angy7: What lovely compliments! Thank you, sweetheart and hello to Italy!
alamoSAuRuS99: Ty ty! X
StephaniieC: Brittany is definitely a little more whipped than I planned this early on ;)
Zubes: Just like ice, baby!
OkayBlueJay: Hello lovely! It'll happen.. And I ain't saying it's not gonna hurt!
Chapter 6: All That You Rely On
"B, did you hear me?"
Just like that, Puck's obnoxious voice dragged me kicking and screaming out of my tail of thought. Trust him to pull me back into the awful reality that was school. I hated math. Aside from having to listen to Mr. Schuesters damn annoying spiel in homeroom, it was my least favorite class I was forced to attend. I wished I skipped, but having skipped out on just about everything else that day, I had to show my face at least once or it would have been yet another call into the principal's office for a metaphorical slap on the risk.
It wasn't that I cared that much, but like hell would I give up my free periods to be there.
"No, I ain't," I sighed in response to the boy next to be, who was bumping my shoulder with his own. Seriously, the one thing that was more annoying that Puckerman, was a bored Puckerman. I liked the dude just fine, but I sometimes would have liked him better unconscious.
Sue me.
"You've gotten pretty damn cocky since you went through with the dare. Seriously, fucking awesome," He smirked, and I forced a smile onto my face.
Of course, Puck was pretty over the moon when he saw me dancing with Santana at the party over the weekend. All day, he hadn't wasted a moment before bringing it up. I swear, he seemed to have some kind of kink about getting nerds wasted, already planning on how to target the Asian chick from homeroom next.
I hadn't been able to stop thinking about it either.
Not necessarily the party, but more so the day that followed.. And even more because I didn't hate hanging out with Santana. She was irritating, asked far too many questions and seemed to find the need to apologize of just about anything, but she was alright.
It was rare that I felt calmer around another person. Even with Puckerman, I had a feeling of burning rage just under the surface of my skin. I had been that way for as long as I could remember, and being angry was just a normal every day motion. When I was alone, I was a little less irritable than normal, so I liked it that way. Others would prefer to spend a weekend with their friends, but when I wasn't working, I liked to just hang out by myself – either working on my bike or in my apartment.
With Santana, it felt different. Though she was irritating as hell without even trying to be, I didn't have that feeling of wanting to punch something just to let off a little steam. Even when she was clinging onto me.. And hugging me, I didn't have a feed to hit her. Even Superman had a kryptonite, and the world was honestly giving me a huge middle finger for giving me a person for mine.
Fuck you, universe.
"Shame you missed last period," Puck sneered. As if I would ever regret missing out on homeroom.
"Are you high?" I scoffed, pushing back in my seat to lounge. Sat at the back of the class, the math teacher never even bothered to check if we were listening or not anymore. Both awful at math and not caring in the slightest, we were kind of hopeless causes.
"Seriously. Everyone was talking about how that Lopez chick had a freak out in gym,"
That was enough to peak my interest.
"What?"
"Yeah, everyone in her gym class was talking about how she was like.. freaking the fuck out. Made a big freaking deal about it and then ran out. She wasn't in homeroom," Puck chuckled, "Good she wasn't though. Everyone was peeing laughing about it,"
All of a sudden, I felt a cold angry soar through my veins, the hair on the back of my neck standing on edge. The memory of Santana going through a panic attack while in my bedroom was fresh in my mind and although I acted aloof, it kind of terrified me. No matter how lame she was, that attack seemed awful. I had taken every sort of beating and had been in a bad state after one to many fights – but I'd pick those over what Santana had.
"Hilarious," I deadpanned, pulling my phone out of my pocket to mindlessly browse the internet, seemingly uninterested in what Puck had to say. I wanted to kick him for being a nasty idiot, but I didn't care about Santana Lopez.
I shouldn't care about her.
She wasn't anything to me.
"Just thought you'd wanna know," Puck shrugged, rocking back on his chair.
"I'm not,"
It was more than obvious that I burst his bubble.
I had always hated Mondays out of principal, but today seemed just that little bit worse than usual. The only class I had shown up in, Puckerman pissed me off and that left a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the day.
Deciding to skip last period to head home and shower had been needed. After the cool water cleansed my skin, I felt a little less groggy and irritable, which put me in the right frame of mind for driving to work. I made a mental note to do it more often.
As I turned my truck around the corner, my eyes fell on a figure riding a bicycle along the side of the street. Letting out a low sigh, I knew exactly who t was without having to see her face.
Slowing down beside her, I smirked as I registered the way she jumped at the thought of a car moving to the wrong side of the road to get closer to her. Even so, I saw the way her brain registered it was me before I even rolled my window down.
"Need a ride?" My smirk only widening as I took in the blush forming on Santana's cheeks. Far too easy.
"Are… Are you sure?" Santana asked me, grinding to a halt. Dark eyes flickered around the street uneasily, as though she was looking for tell-tail signs of a hidden camera prank or something.
"Do I look like the kinda chick who offers shit if I don't wanna?" I raised my pierced brow at her. "The answer to that is no, Lopez. Get in."
Being truthful with myself, I didn't know why I was so adamant in giving her a ride. Ever since Puck told me about her panic attack, she had been hard to get off her mind. Every time I tried, I could only think back to when I had to comfort her. Even being the bitch that I am, I didn't laugh at her at the time. Those girls in her gym class were assholes.
I guess I just wanted to see she was okay.
Maybe.
After offering me a small, shy smile, Santana hopped off her bike and glanced at the back of my truck. I knew that she was weighing up how she could get the bike into the pickup, and I rolled my eyes before cutting the engine to head out and help her.
"I got it," I sighed, walking around to Santana to pick up her bike and place it in the back of my truck. It wasn't heavy for me, but Santana was thin and short. If she tried, she could have probably toppled over or something.
With the bicycle secure, I jumped back into the driving seat and waited for Santana to get situated before roaring the tuck back to life. Though we hadn't exchanged any words as of yet, I could see her staring at me out of the corner of my eye. It was a little obvious that this kind of thing didn't happen to her very often.. And it was probably especially unexpected to come from me.
"Thank you," She finally whispered.
"Don't mention it," I replied, tearing my eyes off the road for just a moment to glance across at her. She really did look freaking tiny in my huge truck.
"I heard about what happened today," I continued, my eyes narrowing as I concentrated on driving. "Puck told me,"
"Oh…" She replied, her voice small. Flicking my eyes back to her, I found her slouched, her vision fixated on the hands she was wringing in her lap.
"You're okay right?"
"Yeah, I guess.." Her voice was small and I wasn't entirely convinced. But, after all, it wasn't really my business. It wasn't like she was my friend or anything.
"People at school suck, Lopez. Fuck 'em,"
"I suppose so.." I should see her shrug from the corner of my vision. "I though Rachel was my friend though. I tutored her last year,"
The scoff left my mouth before I could even stop it with my teeth.
"Rachel fucking Berry? No.. She ain't anyone's friend unless she gets something out of it. Fucking bitch, that's what she is."
Though Santana flinched at my foul language, she didn't say anything in response.
"You don't need that asshat. Friends are overrated anyway and Cheerios are fake as hell," I couldn't express how much I hated them, but I was pretty sure everyone at school was well aware.
"I liked it though.. When I tutored her, none of the Cheerios were mean to me,"
"That's 'cause the rest of the plastic idiots follow the head plastic Barbie bimbo. Like freaking sheep with boobs and a lot less body hair. Though I dunno.. Berry is letting that 'stache run wild. Maybe Hulk Hogan is fashionable this year."
Santana's light giggle didn't fail to put a smirk on my lips.
"I just wanted to be protected.." Santana whispered after a few moments of silence.
I wish I could have been numb to the way my heart ached. I had spent so long not giving a crap about anyone else, it was almost as though I nearly forgot when it felt like. Santana was so damn fragile, just the smallest thing seemed like it could break her. I had no idea how I used to throw her around like garbage. She was so.. Utterly harmless, it was almost pathetic. From her oversized sweater, to her tight pony tail to her thick, dorky glasses – she was no harm to anything. Hell, a fly could do more damage.
Maybe if I had someone to protect me when I was smaller, I wouldn't be what I turned into.
"If that bitch or anyone else has a problem with you, just come tell me," I finally spoke up, my eyes solidly focused on the street. "I'll sort 'em out,"
I could feel her eyes on me as soon as the words left my lips, and I wasn't sure if I regretted them or not. Santana was so hell-bent on calling me nice and assuming I was secretly different to how I came across, and offering to be some kind of protection wasn't helping my case at all. Hell, I wasn't even sure why I was offering myself, but I did. I wanted to, I guess.
At the end of the day, she didn't really know anything about me to assume anything.
Feeling a little uncomfortable with the quietness in the truck, I turned my head to find Santana smiling at me, her face bright.
"What?" I asked, my brow furrowing.
"Nothing," She grinned, averting her gaze and shaking her head bashfully. "Just.. Thank you."
"Don't mention it," I shrugged, turning back to the road. "Seriously.. Don't."
I hadn't really noticed how fast we were travelling until we pulled into Santana's driveway. This ride was a little less awkward than the last, and I didn't feel like bashing my head in with a rock this time around.
"Don't get used to the rides.. I just felt bad for you, Lopez," I assured as we pulled up, putting the truck into park but leaving the engine running as I turned to her, pursing her lips.
I wasn't sure what I expected, but it wasn't for Santana to still be smiling.
"Thank you anyway, Britt," Great, a nickname.
How quaint.
"Yeah, yeah.. Go away now before I get cranky." I waved her off, watching her unbuckle her seatbelt and step out of the car before she turned back around to face me, holding the door open.
"Have a good evening at work,"
Shooting her a quizzical look, my eyebrows creased in confusion. I definitely hadn't told her where I was going.. Was she stalking me now? "How in the fuck.." I started, only to be cut off by her smile.
"You're wearing overalls,"
Looking down at my own front, I mentally slapped myself in the forehead. Smart, Brittany… Real smart.
"Okay smartass, I'm leaving now," I grumbled, but I knew she could see right through me. I should probably be worried by that, but I had more important things to think about.
When she finally closed the door of my truck and fished her bicycle out of the back, I watched as she wheeled it to her garage, turning around and waving at me. Letting out a soft chuckle, I put the truck into reverse and continued on my way to work.
I was already fifteen minutes late.
This nerd was a little more trouble than she was worth and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
A/N: Thanks again everyone! Please read and review! .ox
