As much as I would like to own them, all the characters of Glee belong to Fox – I own nothing. All the characters of The Fast and the Furious belong to Universal Studios, I'm just borrowing some of them. All writing belongs to me.
IMPORTANT: I forgot to mention last week in the A/N that I've changed the time Santana was away from 5 to 8 years. I realized I had to change it in order for the time-line to work when explaining the crew's history. Anyway I've gone back and adjusted the previous chapters where necessary and I just wanted to let you know so it doesn't confuse you in new updates. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Also, to the 'guest' who wrote me a rather long review and then took it down soon after, I have a copy of it and if you would like to discuss the many points you had about nearly everything in my story, I would love to answer them. But, because you were kind enough to be anonymous I can't, so I would appreciate it if you PM'd me and we can talk. Me and my co-author would be more than happy to explain our choices to you. If you don't, that's fine, but let me give you this for future reference:
Next time, if you're coming back to check up on this story, maybe wait until the end when everything has progressed. A story takes time and although I understand we all want Brittana and whatnot, I will not bend to people's wills telling me what to do. This story will come out the way I want it to, when I want it to. Secondly, if you write a review like that again, don't do it anonymously. Next time I won't be so nice. Neither will my co-author, my brother. Oh, and if I didn't mention it before, we go by a saying here on ffnet: 'if you don't like it, don't read it.'. So, if you didn't like it the first time, why read it again?
Anyway, to all my other reviewers and people who are alerting and faving this story, thank you for sticking around, I promise you that I will keep up the good work :D Sorry I had to answer that partly in the author's note, I had no other way. Thank you for bearing with me.
"You don't show up I'll kill you and give Brittany to Rory"
The last thing Jake had said to her before hanging up. It was eating at her inside and she didn't know what to do. Now she was caught between lying not only to her crew but her handler as well. Nobody else could know or things may go down the wrong road and her girlfriend may be hurt. She couldn't tell anyone, it just wouldn't end well.
So, that evening she was glad to have opted to stay at her motel. She had lied and said she needed time to think but it really meant that she needed to be on her own so that no one saw her leave and started asking questions. Now, as she looked at her watch she knew her meeting time was fast approaching and by how serious Jake sounded over the phone she was pretty sure that she didn't want to be even a minute late.
She stood up from the end of her bed and grabbed her hooded leather jacket, pocketed her phone and grabbed her car keys before heading out the door and downstairs to her Supra. It wasn't long before she was firing it up and peeling out of the parking lot, heading for the place Jake had asked her to meet him at.
As she drove she couldn't help but feel butterflies forming in her stomach. She didn't know what was going to happen but she just hoped that it ran smoothly. Jake was a loose cannon, that much she knew was true, but she had to hold it together. If not for herself but for Brittany. That was the only reason she was doing this. Yes, her life had been threatened but the risk that someone could get hurt because of her and Cassandra's operation was far greater. Despite what Cassandra had said about everybody being disposable she had better morales. She wasn't about to let someone she cared for deeply get caught in the crossfire. If that meant lying to them now for a better outcome in the long run she was willing to run whatever risk that was about to be thrown at her.
However, as soon as she saw Jake leaning up against his charcoal coloured Shelby with a smug look on his face any nervousness or fear dissolved in her gut. Her calm façade was falling into place just when she needed it and she knew that she had to do this whatever the risks or costs might be. Pulling up next to the Shelby he walked over and stopped her from getting out, signalling that she lower the window.
"Follow me"
And with that he made his was over to his car, got in and sped out onto the road. Santana immediately followed behind him and soon they were making their way to the city outskirts not far from the richer neighbourhood. These roads were twisting and deserted at this time of night, perfect for a race you didn't want anybody to know about, crew and cops alike. When he had stopped she pulled up next to him and unrolled her other window, looking over at him.
A few moments of silence passed by before he spoke, his gaze never leaving the road in front of him. "Nice to know you decided to show up. Shows you got balls but the real test begins when you go up against me. You win I'll tell everyone to back off, including my brother, but if you lose I'll make your life a living hell and by the end of next week you'll be dead along with that pretty car of yours. Oh, and Rory will finally get his way with Brittany. We wouldn't want that now would we?" The last part he laughed, glancing over at Santana on purpose. He knew that had hit a nerve and he could tell by the look on her face she wasn't about to let him get his way, him or Rory.
"Are we gonna do this or not?" She asked, her tone clearly irritated as she breathed heavily. Her anger was wearing thin with this guy and she hadn't even known him very long.
Jake laughed and revved his engine. "Of course. First to the bottom wins"
As soon as she saw his car lurch forward the race began, the Latina already shifting up a gear as she put her foot down on the pedal to catch up with him. Knowing she had the advantage on this course she also knew that he had the advantage when it came to speed, even if it was only a little more than her own. She had never raced him before but she knew that if he was Puck's brother and he had this certain car, an icon, it had to have some serious mods under the hood. Many more that the rest of his crew for sure. That being said he probably didn't have the skills needed to tackle these tight corners and she couldn't think for the life of her why he would ever pick a course like this if he wanted to beat her. Unless he thought he could win with the complexity but that just meant he certainly underestimated her skills behind the wheel. Whatever his intentions were she just knew she had to win. For both her and Brittany.
As they came across the next corner she thanked God that her and Brittany had been driving together, her drifting having certainly improved since she had started dating the blonde. Whenever they hadn't been working they had been out driving together, the blonde helping her to refine her skills. She easily transitioned the back end of the car into a semi drift and kept her speed as she handled it easily, shifting it up a gear as soon as she had snapped back into a forward position to catch up with her opponent who was risking crashing at high speed just to keep ahead of her.
They pushed forward and handled another few turns before they reached a sort of straight, Santana taking this opportunity to catch up. Jake was surprised when he looked up in his rearview mirror to see her gone but when he faced back forwards he caught something out of the corner of his eye and just as he glanced to his left she was already pulling forward, the blue Supra accelerating ahead into first place.
He snarled as he shifted up a gear but before he could even think of overtaking her they were thrown into another turn, the guy in the Shelby snarling as he was forced to slow down in order not to crash. Looking up in her rearview mirror Santana smiled as she pulled out of said turn, her powerful engine helping her put some space in between them.
Jake was determined not to give up though and mashed his pedal to the mettle, his own powerful muscle engine helping him keep the pressure on the woman who had claimed first place. As they continued around a few more turns Santana didn't really know where she was going, just that she had to make it to the bottom. Using what memories she had of the area before she had left eight years prior she knew she was close, she just had to keep it together so that Jake didn't get his way and pass her before it was too late.
She knew she could protect Brittany and the rest of the crew would protect her against Jake but she wasn't about to see what would happen if Jake actually won. It was just something she wasn't ready to face, if ever at all.
She had just pulled around another corner when Jake pushed up alongside of her, the dark skinned man smirking over at her as they drove alongside of each other in a battle to gain first place.
What caught him was not the fact that Santana had caused it, but his focus had been turned away from the road at the most critical moment. Being on a small narrow road side by side with not much room to manoeuvre meant that he had no way to dodge the thing that was sticking out into the road directly ahead of him.
Santana slowed down as he seemed to hit something, probably an out-sticking branch from the untamed foliage alongside the road, and flipped over in front of her. As soon as he was thrown into the air she slammed on the brakes, her car sliding until the side was facing him. She immediately got out of the Supra to make her way towards the turned over Shelby but stopped dead in her tracks as an explosion rocked the surrounding area.
She shielded her face from the blast of hot light and shrapnel but as soon as she looked back at the car she could see Jake crawling out of the broken and crushed window. Despite the fact that he had threatened her life and her girlfriend she wasn't about to let someone die. It just wasn't in her nature, even if she did hate him and think he was arrogant. She didn't want someone else's blood on her hands because she decided not to help.
"Jake!" She ran towards him but another small explosion rocked the car, the expensive vehicle quickly going up in flames in front of her with Jake still inside.
He had just freed his top half when she started running towards him again but this time she couldn't help him. A massive explosion engulfed the car as the leaking liquid Nitrous Oxide from the Nos bottle caught alight, Santana just catching the sweet smell of the liquid before being blown back just in front of her car. She groaned as she sat up and felt the heat of the fire wash over her even though she was a good way back from where Jake had rolled to a stop.
When the adrenaline wore off she started panicking. Her opponent had just blow up along with his car and she didn't have much time before the fire department and cops showed up to investigate the scene. Standing up she gasped at the pain in her left leg and grabbed hold of her scarred arm, knowing she must have hit the ground pretty hard when she had been flung back by the force of the explosion.
Her mind running a mile a minute the only thing that seemed to stick out in all the chaos was the urge to run before she was caught and charged for something she hadn't caused. Had she? No matter what had happened she knew she had to get out of there fast.
She immediately made her way around to the drivers side and jumped into the car, firing it up and speeding back the way she came. Despite being in pain she gritted her teeth through it and made sure to get as far away from there as possible. Being part of an undercover operation she didn't want to get taken in and cause problems for Cassandra. She was in just as deep as her handler wanted her and if she got caught now all those months of their hard work would go down the drain for nothing.
She slowed down as she passed a few cops rushing to the scene and as soon as she was back in the city she knew she couldn't go back to the house or the motel. Puck and his crew would look in both places and right now, although she didn't really know what to do, she knew she had to stay away from everyone, her crew and Cassandra alike, just long enough to figure out what her next move was.
Running a frantic hand through her hair Santana hissed. "Fuck!"
3 Hours Later...
It was completely quiet in the house as the crew slept. They had headed to bed a few hours ago and since Mia had fallen asleep in her girlfriend's arms. She had just snuggled closer into Letty's arms, her nose resting on the Latina's wifebeater-clad chest when she heard something. Mumbling she opened her eyes and heard the sound of an engine get louder and louder until it came to a stop outside of the house. She listened for a few moments longer before everything went quiet.
She felt that something was off so instead of going back to sleep she pulled away from Letty to look up at the older woman.
"Letty" She whispered hoarsely, her voice thick with sleep.
"Mmm..."
"Let, baby"
The woman in question cracked open a sleepy eye, looking down at at the woman still in her arms. "What?"
"I heard a car"
"And? It was probably just someone passing by. Let's go back to sleep." She had just closed her eyes, her last thought wondering why her girlfriend would mention something so trivial when she felt the brunette press a kiss to her lips. The only way Mia knew how to get her attention when she was being stubborn and not listening to her. "Babe, are you ok?"
"No. They stopped outside the house"
Sighing Letty now knew that she would have to get out of bed and investigate. She pulled away from her girlfriend and rolled onto her back, rubbing her eyes as Mia slipped out of the bed, the younger woman picking up her girlfriend's long-sleeved garage shirt and slipping it on over her tank top-clad torso. Letty then got up and joined her at the window, standing behind her girlfriend and looking down at the street outside their house. Sighing she knew exactly what was coming. Then they both heard a loud knocking on the front door downstairs.
"Fuck. He can't just give us a break can he?"
Mia sent a sympathetic look up at her girlfriend before pressing a comforting kiss to her jaw. She then watched as Letty pulled on a pair of sweats over her boxers and made her way over to the door to their bedroom. Looking around the room she spotted a pair of Letty's basketball shorts folded on the dresser and as soon as she had pulled them on she rushed out of the room and rushed down the stairs behind her girlfriend.
The others in the house, including not only Rachel and Quinn, Brittany, Dani but also Kitty, joined their crew leader as she opened the front door only to jump back as Puck grabbed hold of her by the shirt and pushed her in until she hit the small end table by the stairs.
"Where is she?!"
Letty frowned, using her strength to push Puck from her. Smoothing out her shirt as he stepped back she raised an eyebrow. "Where's who?"
"Santana!"
"Not here. Why? It's half one in the morning"
Puck took in her face, seeing that she was telling the truth before stepping back. "When she shows that ugly ass face of hers here again I'm gonna kill her!"
For a few moments the Latina studied his face, seeing the way that it was mixed with anger and pain. It was the exact same way he had looked just after Finn died. Deciding not to push it she fell into protector mode, puffing up her chest as she took a step closer to her rival.
"Just try it"
Puck didn't respond but huffed before storming out of the house and back over to his car. Just as Mia closed the door Quinn spoke up.
"What the hell was all that about?"
Letty shook her head. "I don't know but if Santana has something to do with his mood she has some serious explaining to do"
"Should we call her?" Rachel asked, leaning into Quinn for some warmth.
Mia nodded. "Let's try"
"I will" Brittany offered, running upstairs to get her phone as quickly as possible. A few moments later she was coming back down dialling Santana's number. She frowned when it went to voice mail. "It went to her voice mail. She must have it turned off."
Letty nodded, thinking for a few moments before speaking. "Keep trying. She's probably ok but just keep checking. It's unlike Santana not to pick up"
"Argh! This is useless! She should have picked up by now!"
Mia watched as her girlfriend restlessly paced the living room, her temper rising the longer they went without contact from Santana.
"She's probably just handling some stuff Let."
Mia knew she had to be the strong one but even she could admit that she was a little worried about their newest crew member. They hadn't been able to get through her all night. It was now lunch time the next day and they still hadn't heard from her.
"Yeah but she would have told us"
The next thing the younger woman knew Letty was heading towards the back door and to the shed/garage. "Fuck this!"
"Letty, what are you doing?"
The Latina slid open the door to the garage and entered, Mia watching as she made her way to the back. "Something I should have done last night"
"Let..."
When Letty found what she was looking for she turned around and Mia noticed the shotgun in her hands.
"Letty, don't do something stupid"
"I'm not, I'm just gonna teach Puckerman a lesson. No one fucks with my crew. I'm gonna go and look for her and if I can't find her Puckerman is gonna answer to the end of this gun"
Mia couldn't stop her as she made her way determinedly to the end of the driveway, just about to jump into her Plymouth. She was stopped when she heard the roar of an engine and Santana's Supra came to a stop in front of the driveway. It was then that Santana stepped out, obviously sleep deprived and in desperate need of a shower.
"Letty"
"Santana" She threw the shotgun down onto the lawn to her right. "What are you doing man?"
By now everybody had exited the house, now also joined by Holly and Shelby. They had come right over the moment Mia had called them and told them what had happened. Brittany saw the sight of her distraught girlfriend and was about to run to her when Santana spoke.
"I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing Letty. I'm so confused"
"What does Puck want with you?"
Before the younger Latina could reply they heard the sound of a muscle engine fast approaching and when they looked to their right they could all see Puck heading up his crew, all of them coming to a stop in the middle of the road. As soon as the rival crew leader saw Santana he was overtaken by rage.
Santana stood frozen as he approached and not knowing what to do she just let him come towards her. As he walked Brody handed Puck a metal baseball bat and before the rest of her crew could react he had hit her square in the neck, the Latina doubling over in pain. Falling to the floor she was defenceless as Puck let his rage out on her with the metal weapon.
Letty jumped into action and ran towards Puck, deciding that it was better to use fists than her gun and punched him in the face, drawing the attention away from her newest driver. Santana groaned as she clutched her stomach but before she could get away Brody placed a perfect hit to the center of her stomach, making her roll over onto her back. He then kicked her again before Quinn hooked her arms under his and pulled him back, the lieutenant struggling to break free as the blonde pulled him away from her best friend.
Just as he was pulled back Rory made to take his chance at getting his own back on the Latina but he was stopped too, this time by a hard punch to the middle of his face by Dani. As he stumbled back she kicked him in the leg and he stumbled backwards until he fell over. She'd fought dirty before and if there was one thing she knew you never fought someone who couldn't defend themselves and right now Santana was completely defenceless curled up in a foetal position in the middle of the road. As soon as the threat was clear the blonde immediately hauled Santana up onto her feet.
"Come on" Santana groaned in pain at the extra movement and pressure the other woman was putting on her midsection. "I know it hurts but we've gotta get you outta here"
Dani wrapped one of the Latina's arms around her neck and then wrapped one of her own around her waist before half dragging-half carrying her to where Brittany was waiting at the end of the lawn. As soon as she was safely in her girlfriends arms Dani turned around just in time to see Holly holding back Puck who was desperately trying to break free of the blonde's hold.
"What is it this time Puck? What problem have you got now?!" Shelby growled, not amused that he had started yet another fight.
"Let me at her! I'll fucking kill her for what she's done!"
Shelby glanced back to where Brittany was holding the woman in question with the help of Mia. When she turned back to Puck she raised an eyebrow. "What did she do?"
"She fucking killed my brother!"
Everybody went silent, not quite sure what to make of the new information. That was until Letty spoke up. "That's why you stormed over here this morning! What makes you think Santana had anything to do with it?"
"That bitch raced my brother without telling anyone! And he would have won too if she hadn't have flipped him over and blew his fucking car up! Then she ran like a fucking coward!"
Shelby absorbed what he had told them and quickly came up with a plan of action. "Whatever she may have done beating her up won't solve anything. We can talk things out when you've calmed down but for now I think you should leave until we're ready to talk. I know it hurts but you should leave before I lose my patience. I'm getting sick and tired of breaking up your fights"
Puck took one look at Santana and sneered. "Fine. When she's ready I'm gonna make her pay for killing my brother." He then spat as an insult before turning around. "Let's go guys"
As soon as they were gone they turned back to see Santana was barely awake. "What have you done now Lopez?" Letty mumbled, walking up to where Brittany was holding her up. Shaking her head she rubbed her temples feeling a headache coming on. "D, keep an eye on her car. I don't want Puck coming and fucking it up when we're not looking. The rest of you let's go inside and get her cleaned up. We need some answers"
When Santana woke up she found herself laying on Brittany's bed. She winced as she tried to sit up, feeling a hand immediately pushing her back down. When she glanced over to the other side of the bed she saw Brittany smiling sadly at her.
"Careful. You need to rest"
"Britt? What happened?"
"You passed out after Dani rescued you. How do you feel?"
Laying back down completely the Latina stared up at the ceiling. "I've been better"
Brittany wondered whether she should question her but decided not to, knowing that Letty had wanted to talk to her the moment she woke up. So instead she lent forward and pressed a kiss to her girlfriends head before standing up.
"I'm gonna go and get Letty. She wanted to talk to you"
With an acknowledging nod from Santana she stood up and exited her room, heading downstairs to the living room where Letty was waiting with the rest of the crew.
"She's awake"
That was all she needed to know, immediately getting up and heading upstairs with both Shelby and Holly in tow. As soon as they were all gone Rachel walked up to Brittany and wrapped her arms around the blonde, pulling her in for a comforting hug.
Back upstairs Letty kept her temper in check as the three of them entered Brittany's room. By now Santana was sat up on the bed and Shelby sat at the end whilst Holly stood behind her. Letty remained standing and crossed her arms over her chest in a pose that screamed all business.
"S, what's going on?"
"I raced Jake"
"We know. Did you kill him?"
"No. At least I don't think I did. One minute we were racing and the next he hit something and flipped over. I tried to save him but the car exploded before I could. I then just ran. I didn't know what to do"
"Why did you race him without telling us?" Shelby asked softly, attempting to be the voice of reason despite the fact that not too long ago she had nearly flown off the handle at Puck's pissed off attitude.
Santana sighed. "He threatened to kill me and kidnap Brittany if I didn't do what he said. He said that my car would go up in flames and he'd let Rory loose on her. I couldn't let that happen so that's why I didn't tell you. I just couldn't risk it and when his car went up in flames I ran. I'm sorry for disappointing you."
Shelby's expression softened at the downtrodden tone of voice and lent forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You didn't disappoint us Santana, you just worried us."
"Yeah, we didn't know where you were dude" Holly added, sending her a smile.
When Santana looked up at Letty there was nothing but the question of approval. When it came to something like this, despite the fact that both Shelby and Holly were legends Letty was still her crew leader and the one she ultimately looked up to in times like this.
"It's ok S. We believe you when you say you didn't do anything. We trust you to tell us the truth. We'll get this sorted out. In the mean time rest and we'll come up with a plan for our situation with Puck"
When Brittany came back up to her room she found Santana laying back down staring at the ceiling. She smiled over at the Latina before joining her on the bed and looking down at her.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I've had worse"
"You have?"
Santana nodded, sitting up painfully and clutching at her waist. "Yeah. I grew up in Lima Heights. Trust me, I've had worse"
Downstairs Letty was sat in the living room with the rest of the crew discussing what they should do about Santana.
"Well, I think she's telling the truth. Why would Santana want to kill Jake? Sure, they had a fight but that's no reason to kill him"
Quinn nodded. "I have to agree with Rach. I think we know Santana well enough now to know she wouldn't kill someone 'cause she's mad at them"
"Yeah, do we really think she's capable of killing someone?" Marley asked.
"She's too good behind the wheel. It's just not like her" Dani added.
Letty nodded at her crew's comments. "Good point. I think Santana's too much of a good driver to slip up like this. She's too clean cut for this."
"Hmm, she's not one to play dirty. At least not to me" Mia added from her place beside the Latina.
"What do you think?" Tina asked, turning to the voices of reason; Shelby and Holly.
"Despite what Puck has said I think we all know Santana well enough by now to know she wouldn't cause this kind of disruption. At least not on purpose. Honesty I don't think she has it in her and whatever happened last night has changed things for good, even if it was bad. For now I think we should lay low until Puck's calmed down and then figure out where to go from there. Now he's going to be even more pissed and use the excuse of Santana 'killing' Jake as fire and ammunition to get back at us. He's going to be relentless but if we handle it right and stay calm we'll win this in the long run"
Mia nodded at Shelby's pep talk. "But what do we do right now?"
"Puck's expecting us to guard Santana at all times but I think the best thing for us is to get her somewhere safe that he doesn't know about. Any ideas?"
Santana was waiting for Brittany to exit the house. Groaning, she clutched at her side as she tried to make herself comfortable in the passenger seat of her RX8. She wasn't taking her Supra to keep Puck thinking that she was still there. He'd never suspect Brittany's car gone. She was in no shape to drive and despite Mia's worries she had denied getting her injuries checked out professionally. She had told her she'd be fine and then decided what to do. Now all she had to do was wait for her girlfriend to finish packing an overnight bag and exit the house. She sighed in relief when she saw Brittany exit and head for her car and as soon as the blonde was in the drivers seat and strapped in she looked over at her Latina girlfriend.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, I will be when I lay down again"
"I'm sure you can hang in there until we get to where we're going."
Santana managed a painful smile as she sat up. "Yeah, I just wish it was under better circumstances though. I hope they look after my baby" She said, glancing over to where her Supra was parked at the very top of the driveway, usually Letty's spot.
Brittany smiled and lent over the center console, pressing a kiss to the other woman's temple. "They will" She whispered before pressing one last kiss to the same spot and sitting back in the drivers seat properly. "Now, I'm gonna need some directions"
"I figured as much"
Brittany reached over and took her free hand into her own, smiling up at the Latina as she pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. "Lead the way"
Santana gulped as they pulled up outside of her grandmother's house. As much as she hated the idea of putting this kind of burden on her abuela she had no other choice. Her motel was an obvious place to look and Puck was expecting her to be at the house with the rest of her crew. Cassandra was definitely not an option either. It was a good job that he didn't know about this place. It was somewhere he wasn't expecting. That did nothing to ease the butterflies in her stomach though. This was the first time her abuela would be meeting Brittany. She just wished it was under better circumstances, in particular one that didn't involve a death threat on her head.
In any case she had no choice so she sucked it up and pulled herself painfully out of the blue RX8 that Brittany had parked in the small driveway nestled next to the small house.
"Are you sure my car is safe here?" Brittany asked, looking around at the surrounding area as she got out of the car.
Santana nodded from her place across the hood. "It's Lima Heights, Britt. People know not to mess with me or my abuela but if you wanna keep it safe let me open the garage and you can park it in there"
The blonde nodded so she made her way towards said garage and pulled out a set of keys from her pocket, unlocking the padlock and lifting just as she heard the sound of her girlfriend's engine fire up. She then stood back and as soon as Brittany was out of the car and she had pulled her duffel bag from the trunk she locked up the garage.
Brittany then clasped her free hand in her own before letting the Latina lead the way. They made their way towards the front door and after a few knocks it opened revealing Alma Lopez.
"Santana? I didn't know you were coming by"
"I know, I'm sorry to just barge in on you like this but I kinda need to lay low for a few days. Can I stay here?"
"Of course, stay as long as you need"
She watched as her grandmother's gaze turned to Brittany and realized that she had forgotten to mention Brittany was staying with her. "Oh, abuela this is Brittany, my girlfriend."
The older Latina smiled warmly at the blonde. "It's nice to finally meet you. Why don't you two come in? I was just cooking dinner."
They both nodded and Santana led her upstairs towards her bedroom, Alma smiling up at the two women. "I'll call to you when it's ready. In the mean time get settled in"
Santana nodded and the older woman took that as her cue to leave. Brittany turned to her girlfriend. "She seems nice"
"Yeah, she is" She replied, smiling fondly as she placed her duffel bag down by the bed.
"So, this is the place you grew up?" Brittany asked, taking a look around at the bedroom that was decorated with posters of cars, singers and bands.
"Yeah, my entire life. It's funny, when my mom found out she was pregnant my grandmother took her in and we never left. I never left. Even after she abandoned me I never left my grandmother. This house is all I've known. Leaving it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. It still has a special place in my heart though, even now. This is exactly the way I left it eight years ago."
Brittany nodded as she took in the room, listening to Santana at the same time. When she finished talking she saw that the Latina was sat on the end of the bed watching her. Smiling she walked towards her and stood in between her legs as she placed her arms over her shoulders.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, just remembering things"
It was then that Brittany lent forward ever so slowly, Santana feeling her place her lips gently on her forehead. Tender kisses were placed over the expanse of tanned skin and eventually made her way down the side of her face until they reached her lips. Connecting them together softly a few moments later she pulled away and then pulled Santana to her chest. The Latina happily complied and for the first time since the accident with Jake the night before she felt herself relax against Brittany, her head happily resting against her t-shirt-clad chest and hearing the sound of her steady heartbeat.
"Thank you"
Any quieter and Brittany would have missed it. "For what?"
"Being here with me"
Placing a kiss to the top of her head she smiled. "No problem"
"So, Santana tells me you are a bartender"
Brittany nodded, finishing her mouthful of food before replying. "Hmm, by night. I'm a mechanic during the day at the same garage as Santana"
"So you like cars?"
"Yes"
Alma smiled over at her granddaughter. "Finally Santana has found a woman who loves cars as much as she does"
"Oh?"
The old woman smiled. "Mmm, I swear this girl would choose an engine over anything"
Brittany smiled over at her girlfriend, reaching across the table and taking her free hand into her own. "That's probably true"
Santana blushed at the attention and for a moment it felt like everything was ok. She wasn't being threatened by Puck for doing something she was being falsely accused of and she wasn't undercover. She was herself again. Just a normal woman having dinner with her grandmother and girlfriend. She just hoped that after everything went down she could revisit this scene again without the pressure of pretending what her true intentions are.
Later that night she had gone out to get something from a small 24 hour market a block away from the house for her grandmother and after a while Brittany was curious as to why she hadn't returned. Heading downstairs she found Santana's grandmother in the living room watching TV.
"Mrs. Lopez?"
The old woman sat up and turned to see Brittany standing in the doorway. "Yes, Brittany? Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that Santana's been gone a while. Should it usually take this long?"
"No but I'm sure she'll be back in a while. Why don't you call her and ask where she is?"
The blonde nodded and left the room, heading upstairs and grabbing her phone off of her girlfriend's bed. Speed dialling her she waited for her to answer. When it picked up she was about to speak up when she heard heavy breathing.
"Santana? Are you ok?"
Heavy breathing. It was starting to make her panic until she heard a whisper, just loud enough for her to hear.
"Brittany..."
TBC