"I'm not wearing that wig!" Quinn exclaimed.
"Oh, come on, Fabray, just wear it." Santana begged. "Please, for me?" She asked with doe eyes.
"I don't understand how being in a disguise is necessary. In fact, I think it will hurt the mission. Don't you guys think?"
"No, no… I'm with Santana. I think the wig is a must." Kurt said with a devilish smile.
Santana high-dived him. "See. It's essential."
Quinn looked to Mercedes to be the voice of reason. "You know this is unnecessary and ridiculous, right?"
Mercedes paused and then said, "If by ridiculous you mean 'It's a ridiculously awesome idea then hell to the yes!"
"Ugh, you guys are impossible." Quinn said pulling the curly black wig onto her head. Her three friends started giggling. "No, laughing, jerks!"
"We'll try," Santana said snapping a picture with her phone.
"What's her story gonna be, Kurt?" Mercedes asked.
"I'm not sure yet. I haven't really thought that far yet."
"Well you better think of something. This was your brilliant idea." Quinn rolled her eyes.
"You look awesome, Q!" Santana smiled with a laugh.
"Thanks," Quinn replied sarcastically.
Mercedes and Kurt discussed possible scenarios for Quinn to use as her story.
"You guys, the thing is… I can't dance. They are gonna turn me away and kick me out as soon as I start dancing. And what if we haven't found Mike by then?"
"I didn't think about that." Kurt admitted.
"Yeah, you have a point, Quinn." Mercedes said from the driver's seat looking at Quinn in her rear view.
Santana had an idea. "Unless…" she started. She thought more about it for a moment. "Oh this is perfect."
"What is?" Kurt turned around in his seat looking at Santana. Quinn's eyes were on her too.
"You can pretend to be my sister! There's no way they will turn you away no matter how bad you are. Especially not if I am with you." She smiled slyly. She winked at Quinn, "how 'bout it, sis?"
"It won't work." Quinn insisted.
"Why not?" Mercedes asked.
"We look nothing alike."
"Technicality." Kurt called from the front seat. "You were adopted. Or maybe you have different dads. Or different moms."
"You're an only child."
"They don't know that, Fabray."
Quinn rolled her eyes. She let out a sigh. "Well, I hope this works."
"Lighten up, will ya? We will all be with you." Santana assured her.
"I'm going to make an ass out of myself."
"And I will be sure to record it." Santana smiled broadly.
"I don't doubt it," Quinn said as she made sure her wig was snugly in place. "So what's my name?"
"How about Chiquita Lopez?" Santana suggested with a smirk.
"Ooh! I like that Kurt," smiled.
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Come on you guys, I don't look like a Chiquita."
"Well, we're here… so Chiquita it is," Mercedes said as she pulled up to the gate at CBS Studios. She rolled down her window and smiled at the security guard.
"Do you have an appointment ma'am?"
Kurt leaned across Mercedes, "Hi, Yes we do. Kurt Hummel," he said handing his ID to the guard. "I'm bringing my client, Chiquita Lopez, in for an audition for So You think You Can Dance," he said gesturing the Quinn in the backseat.
Quinn smiled and waved.
He looked over the list on his clipboard and said,"I need to see ID from the other guests in the car."
Mercedes and Santana handed him their licenses. Quinn was reluctant to hand hers over.
"Just give him your ID." Santana whispered.
"But, it says Quinn Fabray on it." She said through her teeth.
"Chiquita is your stage name, duh." Santana teased.
After scanning all of the IDs he handed them back, "Ok, Mr. Hummel. You are you guested are cleared to go in. "Good Luck, Chiquita." He smiled and Mercedes pulled into the studio lot. She parked the car and everyone got out.
"I look ridiculous." Quinn said catching a glimpse of herself in the reflection of the car door.
"Ridiculously hot," Mercedes smiled.
"Ok, let's get this over with." Quinn said walking toward the entrance of the building where auditions were being held.
When they entered the building they followed the signs leading them to where auditions were being held. At the end of the long hallway there was a desk with a man and a woman seated behind it. There were lists laid out on the table in front of them. Kurt introduced himself and Quinn (as Chiquita) and the woman started checking the list for her name.
"I'm sorry, sir, your clients name isn't on the list for today's auditions. Maybe you're on the list for tomorrow. Eric, could you pull out tomorrow's audition list and check for Chiquita Lopez. Thanks," she in a stale tone. Kurt looked back at Santana with wide eyes. Obviously the name "Chiquita" wasn't going to be on any list.
The man pulled the list out of the binder and flipped through the pages and when he got to the end of the "L"s he shook his head, indicating he didn't find her name.
"I'm sorry, she's not on either list. I'm afraid she won't be able to audition today." The woman said as she folded her hands in front of her on the table.
Santana stepped up to the desk, pulling Mercedes up along with her, removing her sunglasses and placing them on the table. "Hi." She said flashing her beautiful smile.
The man froze in his tracks, "You're…"
"…Santana Lopez, that's right. And this is my good friend Mercedes Jones." She said with an even bigger smile.
The woman looked up at her with star struck eyes. "Mercedes Jones, I'm in love with you." She continued to stare at Mercedes, without blinking.
Mercedes nervously waved ,"Hi." She looked at Santana with concerned eyes.
"Focus people!" She said trying to get their attention back to her. "Listen, this is my sister, Chiquita. Her poor excuse for a manager over here may have forgotten to call ahead and put her on your list but don't punish her for his lackluster effort in doing his job. She is a kick-ass dancer and she needs to be on this show. She has some of the most original moves you'll ever see and it would be wrong to deprive the good American people of such a bitchin' top-notch dancer just because her manager is incompetent. Don't you agree?"
The man nodded, unable to speak.
The woman, still gawking at Mercedes, pulled a red pass out of a box on the floor and handed it to Santana. "That's for your sister." The woman then reached into another box pulling out three blue passes. "These are for the three of you. Wear them at all times." She was still gawking at Mercedes.
"Thanks," Santana said accepting the other passes. She handed everyone a pass.
"Go straight down that hall and make a left. It will be the first door on the right." The woman said, pointing them in the direction of the auditions.
Santana smiled, "Thanks, Joan." She said glancing at her name tag.
They began walking in the direction they were pointed in when Santana heard, "Santana, I mean, Miss Lopez, you forgot these."
She turned to see the man from behind the table was holding her sunglasses in her hand. "Oh, jeez. Thank you. I would've been so upset if I lost those." She smiled and winked at him and turned to leave.
"Would you mind taking a picture with me?" He asked.
She turned to see Quinn and Kurt hadn't stopped to wait for her but Mercedes had been stopped by a group of women, a few feet away from her, and was signing autographs and taking pictures with them as well. "All in a day's work," she thought. "Absolutely, no problem," she replied.
He took out his phone and tried to hand it at Joan but she was still staring at Mercedes.
"You just take it. Selfies are better anyway." Santana winked.
He turned the camera to face them and snapped a few shots.
"Thank you, thank you so much. You're so hot."
"Thanks," she laughed. "It was nice meeting you, Eric." She noticed his name tag.
There were hundreds of dancers crowded in the warehouse-esque space. At the far end of the room there was a door with a red light above it. There was a sign next to it that read DO NOT ENTER WHEN LIGHT IS LIT. Audition in progress.
"Ok, so what's the plan?" Santana said as her and Mercedes approached Kurt and Quinn.
"I'd say we fan out and try to find Mike." Kurt suggested.
"So I'm not really gonna have to audition, right?" Quinn questioned.
"Hopefully not, if we can find Mike before your name gets called." Mercedes replied.
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard. I'm the last to arrive so I'm sure I will be last dancer called."
Santana chuckled. "I LOVE that you just referred to yourself as a dancer! That's classic."
Quinn rolled her eyes and shoved Santana's shoulder. "Oh, shut up."
Just then a man stepped up onto a platform with a microphone in his hand. "Welcome everyone. I am so impressed with the turnout we have here today." Everyone clapped. "I just wanted to give you all a heads up of how this works. We will be calling names at random. So just because you showed up first doesn't mean you will be taking the stage first. Also, all auditions will be recorded so just be aware." Another man handed him a paper. "Ok," he continued, "so we will be getting the ball rolling with our first audition of the day in about five minutes. And I have just been given the name of our first contestant. So up first is Chiquita Lopez."
Quinn felt her face to red. She looked at her friends who were all staring at her wide-eyed and open-mouthed in disbelief.
"Hope you are all stretched and warmed up!" Santana joked.
"We have to find Mike, now!" Quinn exclaimed.
The four friends split up and started searching the crowd for Mike. About two minutes later Santana took the microphone from the man saying, "I just need to borrow this real quick," and he politely agreed to let her use it. She stepped up onto the platform and announced. "Hi, I'm Santana Lopez and I'm looking for a dancer… named Mike." She heard a bunch of guys cheer. "An Asian dancer, named Mike… who is friends with another dancer named Brittany." The crowd grew quiet and all eyes were on Santana. "So um, if you are here could you please come speak with me. I'll be at the other end of the room. In the back. I have something I need to ask you. It's very important. Thanks." She stepped down off of the platform and handed the man his microphone back.
"Ok, Chiquita Lopez. Chiquita Lopez we are ready for you to come show us your moves." He repeated, "Chiquita Lopez."
Santana made her way to the back of the room and shortly after Mercedes, Kurt and Quinn, having ditched her Chiquita wig, met her there.
"Hopefully he is here," Mercedes stated.
Santana nodded.
"I think he's here," assured Quinn. "I have q good feeling all of a sudden."
Santana was standing with her back to the rest of the room, only looking at her friends. "Ya know, even if he isn't here, thank you guys. Like seriously, thank you. It means a lot that you would all drop whatever it is you were gonna be doing today to come here and stalk Jackie Chan just so I could maybe hopefully get Brittany's number from him." She saw the look of surprise on all of their faces. "Ok guys, seriously? The Jackie Chan thing bothered you? I wasn't being racist I just-" she was interrupted.
"It's Mike Chang, actually," a familiar voice said, approaching from behind.
"We're gonna go wait outside" Kurt said with a smile. He moved to the hall with Quinn and Mercedes following his lead.
It was Brittany. She didn't was so happy to hear her voice but she wasn't sure if that was the proper emotion for her to be feeling. After all, the last time they saw each other Brittany had made it pretty clear she didn't care if she saw Santana again. "We are practically strangers. Let's keep it that way." The words echoed in Santana's mind, taunting her.
"Brittany, hey, what uh-what are you doing here?" Santana asked.
"I'm a dancer. Remember? This is tryouts for a dancing competition."
"Right." Obviously. Santana continued, "You just didn't mention anything about trying out last night." Santana looked down at her feet.
"Well, we didn't really get to talk much last night. The night was cut short." Brittany's eyes were bloodshot and puffy. She looked like she hadn't slept and had been crying all night.
"Her cat." Santana remembered. "Hey, so I'm sorry about your cat."
"Yeah, I'm still really sad about it. I'd prefer not to talk about it if you don't mind." Brittany said shifting her weight to her right side. "So what did you want to talk to Mike about anyway? He's in the bathroom right now. He always gets really nervous before a big audition and winds up making himself sick, which is pretty gross, but it seriously happens every time. And he usually does really well during his audition. I just look at it as part of his process." She shrugged.
"Whatever works, I suppose." Santana smiled nervously.
"Mhmm. So, Mike? What did you want? You can just tell me if you'd like and then I can pass it on to him when I see him in a few minutes after he is finished puking his guts up."
"Oh, yeah, well about that. First of all, I'm sorry you heard that Jackie Chan comment," Santana nervously tucked a strand of hair that had fallen in her face back behind her ear.
"Oh please, you don't have to apologize about that. I just tend to think he's more of a Bruce Lee type than a Jackie Chan. Because Jackie Chan is funny and Mike isn't very funny. He doesn't even think he's funny. Ask him. So sometimes I call him Brucey Lee. Or B Lee, or Bruce, or BL. I think that's my favorite."
Santana chuckled, "Yeah, BL. I like that."
Brittany waited for Santana to answer her initial question.
"Right, what did I want to talk to Mike about? Um, it was actually… I wanted to talk to him about you." Santana confessed.
"Last call for Chiquita Lopez. Last call, Chiquita Lopez," a man's voice called out over the sound system.
"Me? What about me?" Brittany crossed her arms in front of her and tilted her head slightly to the left with a confused look on her face.
"It was nothing bad, nothing like that. I just, I realized I didn't have your phone number. I wanted to call you to apologize for the way last night ended but I didn't have your number. And Mercedes had remembered Mike said he had an audition here today so we figured that was our best chance at finding you, well, Mike anyway, and getting your phone number. I mean, I don't even know your last night so I couldn't even try to find you on Facebook or Twitter or anything."
Brittany smiled and that put Santana a bit at ease. "You don't know my last name?"
Santana shook her head, "Nope."
"And you don't have my number."
Santana shook her head again.
"So you stalked my friend to try to get him to give it to you? After we had that huge fight and I said I'd rather us just be strangers."
Santana felt a lump form in her throat when Brittany said that last sentence and she was right back on edge again. "I… uh-"
"That's pretty creepy," she said with a blank face.
Santana was mortified. She didn't know what to say in her defense. "Well, anyway, I just wanted to send my condolences about your cat." She looked away. She was didn't know what else to say. Brittany really didn't want anything to do with her. And it was her own fault. Her stomach was in knots.
Brittany smiled and reached or Santana's shoulder. She rubbed it gently, "I'm totally kidding." She laughed softly. "I mean, was a tad creepy, but was also really really sweet."
Santana sighed in relief. "It was?"
"Oh my gosh, totally. You tracked my friend down to an audition just for the chance to maybe find him and maybe get him to give you my number. That's so adorable, Santana." She took her hand away from Santana's shoulder and smoothed the top of her hair, which was on top of her head in a messy bun.
Brittany was wearing a bright yellow zip-up t-shirt hoodie over a red tank top and black leggings. Her cobalt eyes seemed to pop against the yellow in her outfit and even though she looked like she looked tired and sad Santana couldn't help but to find her absolutely beautiful.
"Ya know, I just realized, you were looking for Mike, not for me, do you want me to tell him to come back here and talk to you? I can text him real quick," she said pulling out her phone.
Santana assumed she was kidding at first but quickly realized she was serious. "What? No. No, that's ok. I am glad you came to talk to me instead." She said pulling at the bottom of her shirt nervously.
"Are you sure? Cause I'm positive he's done throwing up now. Well, almost positive. He did have tacos this morning."
Santana made a disgusted face and laughed, "Gross."
Brittany responded with laughter as well. "Well ya know, I should get going. I don't know when they will be calling my name and I wanna be all stretched and limber." She winked at Santana.
"Wanky," Santana winked back.
Brittany smiled at the word. "Wanky," she repeated. "I like that." She looked at Santana with flirty eyes which made Santana blush."Give me your phone."
"What? My phone?" Santana asked, "What for?"
"So I can give you my number, duh."
"Oh, right." Santana laughed at herself. She felt silly not realizing what Brittany wanted with her phone. "Obviously. I mean it is what I came here for and all." She handed her phone to Brittany.
Brittany keyed her information into the phone and then turned the phone around to face her. She fixed her hair a bit and widened her eyes and looked at Santana for a moment before smiling at the phone and clicking the shutter button of the camera. She tapped the screen a few more times before handing it back to Santana.
"Text me later." She said as she turned and walked away.
Santana exited the building to find her three friends anxiously waiting for her. But as soon as they saw the giddy smile spread across her face they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"So I take it that went well, " Kurt said nudging against Santana.
She nodded, "it did." She looked at Quinn with a smirk, "Chiquita missed her last call."
"Bummer." Quinn said with a faux frown.
Mercedes intertwined her arm with Santana's and said, "Tell us everything."
The quartet walked back to Mercedes's car while Santana recounted every single detail she could remember from her conversation with Brittany, that smile never leaving her face.
Hey Santana, I just wanted you to know that I'm headed back to NY now. I'm not sure when I'll be back cos of the show picking back up and all. But I wanted you to know that I plan on talking to Jesses about everything when I get home. - Rachel
Good! - Santana
Good as in good riddance or good that I'm going to talk to Jesse? - Rachel
Both. ;) - Santana
Have a safe trip back - Santana
Thanks. - Rachel
It had been a few hours since Santana had seen Brittany. But she couldn't stop thinking about her. She tried to be productive when she got home and actually sat down in her office to try to write some lyrics to be set to music later, but her mind couldn't focus on anything other than Brittany. She needed to distract herself.
Puckerman. - Santana
Lopezzzz. - Puck
What are you up to? - Santana
About to go shoot some hoops with Finny Boy. - Puck
Lame. - Santana
Wanna go shoot some pool instead? - Santana
And ditch Finn? - Puck
Lol. No. Bring Finn - Santana
Word. Zeke's in 20? - Puck
See you there - Santana
When she arrived at the pool hall Finn and Puck were just pulling into a parking spot as well.
"Fancy meeting you here, Santana," Finn joked.
"Likewise." She said with a smile.
"Did you just have sex?" Puck asked her.
"What? No!" They walked into the building, Finn holding the door open for Santana, she smiled at him.
"Dude, you've got that after sex glow going on. Doesn't she bro?" He looked at Finn for backup.
"I hate to agree with him, trust me I do, but you do." He smiled awkwardly.
"Well, that's weird cos I definitely didn't have sex." She mumbled under her breath, "I wish I did though."
"Don't we all." Puck laughed.
"True. Ok tonight is on me since it was my idea." Santana walked up to the bar and gave the bartender her credit card to reserve a pool table and to run a tab for their drinks. She walked back over to wear Finn and Puck her standing.
"How are thing sight you and Quinn right now anyway," Finn asked racking the pool balls.
"Yeah, you guys are always so off and on. I never know at which point you are on or off," Santana added.
"Excuse me! We are never off. We have been on for a few years now solidly. That off and on stuff ended with college." Puck said as he was searching for a pool stick with a cool design.
Santana furrowed her brows, "you sure about that?"
"Hell yes. I mean, we fight," he said, grabbing at one with orange and red flames at the end
"All the time," Finn interrupted. Placing the cue ball in front of the triangle of racked balls.
"Often," Puck retorted. "But we always make up quickly and then we do the whole makeup sex thing and we're all good." He said with a sky wink.
"Bleh, mental image please deleted yourself." Santana said with a grossed-out look on her face. She crossed her arms in front of her
Finn laughed, "Well, good for you guys. As long as you are happy."
"I was actually thinking about… ya know." Puck said with a hint of suggestion at the end.
"…getting a ring!?" Santana asked excitedly.
"You always know exactly what I'm thinking, Santana. It freaks me out, still, after all these years," he laughed. Then he got back to the point, "yes, a ring. I wanna ask Quinn to marry me."
"Dude, that's awesome," Finn said putting his fist out. Puck pounded his fist into Finn's and they both said "pound it."
"Ya know, you're not supposed to say 'pound it' when you do that." Santana teased.
"Says who?" Puck asked with disbelief.
"Everyone, loser." Santana laughed. Picking up a pool stick and chalking the tip. "So, do you know what kind of ring to get her?"
"Nope, but I bet you do."
"Sure do. When do you wanna go looking?"
"How about next weekend?"
"I'm so excited!" She responded. Puck just smiled.
After they played a few games of pool Santana was starting to get tired so she closed out their tab, got her credit card back and headed home. As soon as she walked in the door, Stella was waiting to greet her. "Hey my wittle Stella monster," she said picking her up. "Are you ready for bed? I bet you are!" She said in her little monster voice. Stella licked her face. "Oh you're so happy I'm home. Me too." Santana kicked her shoes off and headed upstairs to her bedroom. She plopped Stella down on the bed and began charging out of her clothes. She felt her phone vibrate in her jeans pocket.
Just wanted to check in. I love you Mija! - Maribel
Everything is good, mom. I met someone that I think I may actually like I love you too. - Santana
She thought about telling her mom about Brittany, but there wasn't really anything to say. So instead she sent Brittany a text.
How did your audition go? - Santana
Really well! They put me through to the next round. - Brittany
This is Santana btw - Santana
How about BL? - Santana
Oh, thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure if it was you are the other fly honey I gave my number to today :p - Brittany
LOL! Jackie Chan made it through too :) -Brittany
"Fly honey, eh?" Santana recognized the compliment camouflaged as a joke.
Give your number out to lots of girls? - Santana joked.
Nah, not just girls. Boys too. - Brittany teased.
Their texting seemed to come to a natural end at that point and Santana felt the disappointment creeping in. Then her phone buzzed.
Ask me something. - Brittany
What's your last name? - Santana
Santana tossed her phone onto the armchair and put a t shirt and sleep shorts on. She picked her phone back up and flopped onto her bed. It buzzed.
Lame. Pierce. - Brittany
Is that hyphenated? :p - Santana
Oooooh! Zing! Lol - Brittany
lol, your turn. - Santana
Anything? - Brittany
Anything. - Santana
Why did you invite me out with you and your friends the other night? - Brittany
Santana hesitated.
Because I think you're fun and I wanted to spend time with you… maybe get to know you better. - Santana
Why did you come? - Santana
Because I like you. - Brittany
Santana felt her stomach fill with butterflies.
What were you and your friends celebrating? Was it your birthday? If so, I owe you a present. - Brittany
It was my welcome back party. I had been out of the country for awhile - Santana
Santana knew what she wanted to ask. Especially since Brittany just admitted to "liking her". But she was hesitant. She didn't want to be presumptuous again. He took a deep breath and typed it out. She paused before hitting send.
I know you were upset for a legit reason, but I was wondering.. Was there even a tiny part of you that was jealous when you walked in on me and Kitty? - Santana
Every part of me. - Brittany
Santana felt the butterflies in her stomach begin to flutter like crazy. She read the text message over and over again. Imagining Brittany's voice saying the words that were on her screen.
Wanky. - Santana
I've got an early start tomorrow. Good night Santana :) - Brittany
Night, Brit :) - Santana
Santana burrowed down into her lush down-comforter with a smile on her face. She cuddle Stella into her and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep with images of Brittany's eyes and smile flickered on the insides of her eyelids.
Author's Notes:
There was a lot of Brittany and Brittany/Santana interaction opinion this chapter and I really enjoyed writing their flirtatious banter. I hope it read well for you guys. As always, let me know what you think of this chapter. I should be posting the next chapter Saturday at the latest. Enjoy!
-J Ambria