A/N: I honestly have no excuse for almost leaving this little thing in the dust, but with life finally getting back to the way I want it, I want to see it through! I lost my way with writing for a little while, with moving a few times, and working my way through my job, but I'm finally starting to feel those itching fingers again! The last chapter was a filler, and I'm sorry to have left you on that one…. This one, I feel like you're going to like. If you're still reading this, anyway!
Chapter 10: Rule Number One
I was never one to be at a party on time, much less a little early, but with Sugar texting me in a panic about not having enough alcohol, it was easier to help the girl out rather than suffer her constant and annoying bothering. It only took Puck and myself an hour to drive to the liquor store and use our fake IDs and Sugar's credit card to fill the back of my truck with crates of bottles.
Thanks to her rich dad and his use of money instead of love.
It was rare that I was already at a house when people started to arrive, but there I was, drinking beer with Joe and Puck in the sunroom while Sugar welcomed people through her front door. I wasn't really one for pleasantries, but I could afford to give the occasional nod to people who filtered through who apparently knew me. I had a little bit of a reputation in Lima, be it my bad attitude or my motocross hobby. Either way, I still wasn't exactly going to be the most social butterfly.
"I can't believe you got Lezpez to party again,"
Puck's amused outburst dragged me away from my thoughts as a reminder of how much I was weirdly looking forward to the night. I knew I had to tell Puck that I invited her along, or he would have made somewhat of a scene in front of everyone about it like the idiot he was. Luckily, he seemed to think it was still part of the little bet that he had. As long as he found it amusing, I knew he wouldn't act like a fool and ruin the night for everyone.
After all, I couldn't tell him I invited her because I wanted to spend time with her.
I don't even think I understood that myself.
"Yeah well, it wasn't hard to get her to agree. She thinks I'm the shit," I smirked, finishing my beer and throwing the empty bottle to the side before grabbing another and opening the top with my teeth. "Unlike you, I suppose I'm likable,"
I'm not sure I had ever heard Puckerman laugh so hard and I couldn't help but roll my eyes, but as soon as I opened my mouth to respond, Joe reached into his backpack and pulled out a bong I recognized as the one he had built himself in woodshop. The finished product seemed well worth the after school detention he had gotten himself into for not following the instructions of making a bird house. Seriously, though.. Who even uses a bird house anymore? In my opinion, this was a far better use of precious time and materials.
"Tonight's the night to test drive the Monster," Joe piped up, a lazy smile on his lips as he arranged it in front of himself to start packing it. It was certainly enough to stop Puck laughing like an idiot. Joe, even though he didn't talk too much and didn't involve himself in the things Puck and I got involved in, always knew just what to do or say to steer things in the right direction. By the way he looked at me with kind eyes and a smile, it was as though he knew I wanted Puck to shut up.
"I think it's righteous you got Little Lopez to come. Everyone deserves a friend," Joe added, pulling a bag of weed from his pocket. Apparently, with the promise of drugs, Puck didn't have anything to say to make him look like an asshole.
"She's alright," I shrugged, avoiding meeting eyes with Puckerman. He knew me better than anyone else. He would be tell if something was out of the ordinary. I don't know if I was happy or not, that he was in a playful mood.
"Are you making friends, Britt? How sweet of you," He smirked, leaning back on one hand while he sipped on his beer. "Very progressive,"
"Fuck off," I could only grumble in return, watching Joe light up the bong.
As though he could sense how uncomfortable I was, Joe handed the equipment to me as soon as he finished his first hit. Lighting the bowl, I was quick to place the funnel over my lips, breathing in the sweet, thick smoke. It took just an instant, pulling away and letting the smoke trickle from my lips, to forget how much Puck was bugging me. My whole body relaxed, and a lazy smile pulled at my mouth as I went for a second hit.
"Hey Britt, your gal pal is here,"
And just like that, Puck managed to ruin my slight hint at a good mood. At least I now knew that Santana had finally shown up – on time like I predicted. Having to be around all these people I couldn't give two shits about might be a little more bearable.
I shot her a small smile, and Santana returned it instantly, the tentative worried look that was previously plastered all over her face completely fell away with the look of comforted familiarity. It was honestly a new experience to have that effect on someone, but it wasn't entirely unwelcome.
"Dang.. She cleans up kinda nicely," Puck whispered to me with a nudge of his shoulder. Though I responded with a light elbow to his ribs, he did have somewhat of a point. Maybe it was because I'd never (and probably the whole student body of McKinley High), hadn't seen her wear a dress before, but she didn't look too bad. Sure, it was a knee length number with a high collar and no exposed skin – much like the school uniform from some kind of fancy boarding school, but it sure was an improvement on the baggy jeans and vests. Her hair was down an lightly curled in dark waves, and I couldn't help but think that she must have gone out of her way to ask for someone's help to get ready for the night.
"Come join us, kiddo," Joe smiled, shifting up a little and patting the space between himself and me on the couch after I passed him back the bong. Though Santana looked a little shaken at the invitation at first, she didn't waste much time before moving into position. Joe was perhaps one of the least threatening people I knew – at least once you got to know him. I wasn't really all that surprised that he would have been the first to open up his arms in friendship to anyone.
"Sorry about my brownies doing a number on you. Here.. You'll like this better. Take a hit.. Enjoy the chill. We're all friends here," He smiled lazily, offering the huge bong to Santana the instant she had gotten herself comfortable.
"I.. uh.. Thank you, Joe," She stuttered out, taking the rather alien looking object into her hands. Clearing her throat a little, she turned to me with eyes like a doe stuck in the headlights of a huge truck. Smirking, I pulled a lighter out of my pocket.
"It's alright. It won't kill ya. Just take a deep breath through the top," I instructed, sparking up the bowl and waiting for her to do as I instructed. Though I only half expected her to do it, I was actually a little impressed that she did.
When she pulled away, Santana heaved as she started to cough up the thick smoke. Puck snorted to the other side of me, and Joe clapped before taking back his bong – as usual just blissfully happy to have someone to enjoy his gear.
"Atta girl," I smirked, when Santana had finally finished her little coughing fit.
"Yeah, you did better than B on her first hit. I see why you keep her around. Nerd has balls,"
Though she looked a little confused at first, Santana soon smiled softly at the realization that she wasn't being instantly rejected by Puck, a light flush of color on her cheeks.
"Thank you.. Noah,"
"Please. All my ladies call me Puck… Or Daddy,"
"No one calls you that, idiot," I sighed with a roll of my eyes. Of course he was going to try flirting with her. He was Puck, and Santana didn't look like a Mormon with bad fashion taste for once. I usually didn't really give a second thought about who he tried to poorly hit on, but something about it being Santana irked me. He was teasing me about her following me around like a little lost puppy, and now he was being that cocky idiot version of himself. It was just annoying, more than anything.
"Shame you're not her type, huh?" I responded, after seeing the way Santana's mouth moved to hand open a little, any comments that she had were just lost somewhere in between her brain and her voice box.
"Can't knock it till you try it, Lopez?" He suggested with a wiggle of his brow.
"Um.. No thank you?"
I snorted. Always the polite one. It was actually rather comical.
"See. Go sniff yourself out a ripe cheerleader and get her to make some regretful life choices," I chuckled, nodding towards a flock of girls that had found their way into Sugar's house.. Actually wearing their obnoxious red and white uniforms. Serious, why was that even a thing that people did? They weren't even sexy.
"Cool, cool.. Catch ya later," He agreed haphazardly with a wolfish grin as he set his eyes on the girls and quickly rose from the circle, leaving the sun room. He was so predictable, it was almost charming. But I wouldn't ever go quite that far.
Noticing that Joe was handing me back the Monster (as he called it), I finished off my bottle of beer and gratefully took the bong back for a hit. Though my fingers were tingling a little and all the usually wound up muscles in my body were nicely relaxed, I still felt far too sober to be dealing with over half the people that were now filling Sugar's house. I truly had no idea how the little wannabe skank did it, seeing as she was probably off mingling with everyone and talking constantly about herself and how cool she was.. Or whatever she did. I had to give it to her. She must have something good going for her considering she could deal with it all.
"Hey, B.. I gotta go see a dog about a bone," Joe spoke up after checking his phone. He reached into his pocket to pull out a baggy of weed, a lopsided smile on his face. He was perhaps the least subtle drug dealer I had ever met, but he was just so damn likable, it seemed to work for him. Impressive.
"Kay, but I'm keeping this," I stated, tapping at the wooden object in my lap.
"Sure thing. She's all yours. Still glad you're here, little dude," Joe smiled as he patted his hand gently against Santana's shoulder before he stood up. I followed him with my eyes as he moved out of the sun room, and towards where I could have sworn I could recognize Mercedes. Though, my mind as probably playing tricks on me. Joe was pretty chummy with everyone, but she was Rachel's right hand bitch. Not to mention, she didn't seem like the type to touch drugs with a ten foot pole. Especially not since I beat her ass.
It took Santana shifting a little nervously next to be to drag my attention back. It was just the two of us now, but at least things were significantly less awkward between the two of us than they used to be.
Bringing my lips to the bong, I lit, and took a deep huff of the smoke. I could see the way that Santana was watching me behind her thick rimmed glasses. Though her staring wasn't exactly something I wasn't getting used to at this point, it still peaked my attention span. I knew I was interesting to look at, but still.
"Want a hit?" I offered, holding out the bong to Santana.
"Oh.. No thank you," She replied, "My throat still hurts a little,"
I couldn't help but smirk. I still remember, clear as day, when I had my first round of it. Even already having smoked cigarettes for a while, weed still made me cough and splutter as I got used to the feel of it. I never really managed to take it down properly until a few tries of some of the older guys giving me blowbacks.
It was almost like a lightbulb sparked above my head.
"Wanna try a blowback?" I asked, lips still curled in an impish smirk.
"What's that?"
Quite honestly, I must have had more to smoke and possibly drink than I thought I did. Why else would I have wanted to get so close to Santana in that kind of a way? But then again, Puckerman wasn't anywhere to be seen, so without anyone making inappropriate, pig-headed comments, who really gave a shit? The cheerleading team were always holding hands and rubbing up on each other like some kind of awful teenage boy fantasy, and no one shouted about that being gay. Why did I care so much?
Turning my body on the couch to face Santana a little more, I let my lips cover the mouth of the bong and started to intake the smoke. After I was satisfied I had gotten a lungful, I dropped the bong back down into my lap, holding my breath as I caught Santana's eyes with my own. She looked so confused about what I was doing, and probably my lack of a response to her question – this was going to be fun.
Reaching across to cup her jaw with my hand, I could feel Santana gasp a little in surprise before she gave in to the way I was pulling her towards me. He was putty in my hands, and I wouldn't lie and say that it didn't give my ego a little bit of a boost.
The closer I pulled Santana's face towards my own, the more hyperaware I became about what I was actually doing. Santana's plump and slowly parting lips were less than an inch away from my own, and I could feel the heat radiating from her face. My eyes flickered shut just as our lips grazed one another, the dryness from smoking making each fraction of my skin all the more hypersensitive to how it scraped against the other pair. Though my heart was beating wildly to the extent that I could feel it banging against my ribcage, I didn't feel as though I wanted to push the nerd off me and leave. Joe wasn't lying when he said he brought the good stuff.
It took me a good few seconds until my lungs started to ache, and I hastily remembered that I had a task at hand. Ever so slowly, as to not spook the other girl, I exhaled the thick smoke into Santana's mouth. With the hand on her jaw, I could feel the moment she realized what I was doing and sucked in what I had to give her. With no coughing, Santana took it all, blowing it all back out of herself when I finally sat back.
"Better, huh?" I smiled wolfishly, taking note on how Santana almost looked as though she had just realized she missed some kind of huge exam. Her face was red, lips parted as her shoulders heaved with how hard she was breathing.
"I.. um… Y-yeah.."
Her response was all the answer I needed. Rolling my eyes at how easily she was to fluster beyond being able to function properly, I dropped the bong down onto the couch before standing up.
"Come on. I wanna grab a drink, and dance or something,"
I wasn't exactly sure how many gulps of the bottle of Jack Daniels I had actually gotten through, but Sugar's party was suddenly all the more interesting. Not even having to see red and white cheerleading uniforms flash by me pissed me off. Perhaps that was the reason Sugar often told me that I was her favorite version of myself when I was at a party. I suppose I was easier to impress that way.
"C'mon.. Another one," I encouraged, handing the bottle over to Santana, who was quite honestly starting to struggle being able to stay still on her own two feet.
"Britt.."
Her whine was accompanied with her gripping tighter to my leather jacket, obviously feeling rather comfortable in her dazed persona, pressed so close to me without so much as a single tremble. Impressive.
"Pleaseee?" I smirked, waggling the bottle between us. "For me? 'Cause you think I'm hot,"
She let out an exasperated groan as she took the bottle, her noise scrunching up as she looked down at it.
"That's not fair.." She almost pouted, though I could see the hint of a small smile on her lips when she looked back up at me.
"I'm not a fair person," I replied, and with a surprisingly sassy roll of her eye, Santana threw her head back as she took another swig of the drink.
"Disgusting!" She grimaced as soon as she swallowed. "I don't know how you like drinking that.."
The comment made me laugh, taking the bottle back and letting my free hand rest at her side – seeing as my movements were causing her to really sway a little too much. I don't know why I felt even the toniest bit surprised that Santana was a lightweight when it came to drinking. After all, she wasn't the party type what so ever. Not to mention she'd already had a little bit of weed in her system. Still.. She hadn't had nearly as much as I had to drink. Though, at this point, I wasn't entirely sure who was the most self-aware out of the two of us.
"C'mon, Lil' One. Let's dance,"
Without giving her so much as a say, I pulled Santana into the center of the room, where an unrecognizable amount of people were dancing. It was that time of the night where more people had already up – probably either from the community college, or whoever had caught wind of the tweets that I knew that Sugar always sent out. There wasn't a single flash of a face that I could pin point to someone I was aware existed in my life.. Not that I was paying too much attention, or sober enough to care.
Letting out a soft hum, I let my hands pull at Santana's hips, starting to sway to the heavy thump of music and dragging her along with me. With the alcohol taking a font seat in the other girl, it didn't take her very long at all to start moving alongside me, her arms looping clumsily around my neck.
"You're very pretty," She smiled up at me, tugging her lip slopping between her teeth to hide her grin, before she let her forehead fall forward onto my chest. She felt heavy, but seeing as the room was spinning around me, I really wasn't the one to judge.
"Hmm.. You're not bad either," I responded, letting my face fall against the top of Santana's head. Soft hair tickled against my face, my nose happily inhaling the warm, comfortable smell of the other woman. I hated being close to other people, but it wasn't unpleasant in the slightest.
"Really?" She asked, pulling away from my chest just enough to be able to look back up at my face. I wasn't sure when exactly she had stopped dancing.. or really started at all, but we were at a standstill amongst a sea of dancing and sweaty faceless bodies.
Furrowing my brow for just a moment, I let my eyes flicker over Santana's rose tinted face. He really had become familiar to me recently, even down to knowing all about how her nose crinkled ever so slightly when she was thinking too hard. Just like it was now. There was just something about her that somehow affected me so. She was, unlike everyone else I talked to, the epitome of niceness and innocence. How she put up with me, I really had no idea.
As if moving on its own accord, one of my hands left her hips, and instead, slipping against her cheek. Though the music was piercing, I could still hear the way she gasped ever so slightly. She was warm and soft under my calloused hand. It was just the constant reminded that I could break her so easily if I wanted to – but I couldn't think of anything worse. Santana was special. After all those years of bullying her and not even knowing her name, who'd have thought that I would actually care about her. And I did. That much, I had to admit.
It took my longer than a few second to catch that my eyes had flickered down to her lips. It was definitely the liquor talking, but they looked rather inviting. The thought of kissing another woman had always been the furthest away from my mind, but now – I couldn't shake it away.
"Britt.." Santana whimpered with a shake to her voice. She pushed her body closer to me, stepping completely into my space and flooding me with warmth. My stomach dropped. I had no idea what I was doing, my body just functioning on some kind of drunken autopilot. The only thing I was really all that aware of, was the way that my heart was painfully lurching against my sternum with every pump. Maybe I was going to die. This had to be close to how that felt.
Fuck it.
With my hand slipping back to tangle within the loose strands of the strands of hair at the back of Santana's head, I pulled her towards me at the same time as I pushed forwards. Hands twisted and gripped at the lapels of my leather jacket.
My eyes snapped shut, lips parting and closing around Santana's plump lower lip in a heated kiss.
A/N: Muse, I've missed you. Let me know if anyone is still out there and reading this!
