A/N: I'm back and super excited to continue with this story.

I wanted to be really careful with this one, it was a little difficult to write.

Hope you enjoy this one, guys!

Please Review. Thanks!

Chapter Nine: Drunk

While Santana stood there in Brittany's arms, she couldn't focus on anything else. The whole building could have been on fire and she literally would have been none the wiser.

When the two girls finally broke apart, they glanced over at the group, who were looking at them as if they were the cutest things they'd ever seen.

Maybe they were.

"Oh." Brittany bent down, picking up a gift bag by her feet. "This is for you. Happy birthday, San." She smiled widely at her.

Santana gave her a you shouldn't have look before pulling out her present from the bag.

She nearly burst into tears on the spot.

There, in her hands, was a blue hoodie, with a picture, that Brittany must have screen captured, of them video chatting, Brittany smiling cheesily and Santana, unaware of the photo being taken, in the middle of a sentence.

She looked atrocious, but she couldn't have cared less.

Santana immediately grabbed Brittany and embraced her again, this time earning 'awes' from the Geography Club group.

"You know," a voice started. Santana looked over and saw Blaine was smirking at her, his hand resting on Kurt's back. "We haven't met either, Santana."

Santana smiled back, and went over to hug him, then proceeding to greet everyone present.

Once pleasantries were out of the way, they all walked into the café, Santana right beside Brittany the whole time, stealing glances at each other and smiling bashfully and blushing when they caught each other.

"Seriously," Dave laughed, as they waited in line. "Get a room."

This, of course, caused further blushing.

Once everyone was in their seat, Santana and Brittany beside each other, they talked about their journey to Indianapolis.

"Travelling from Chicago wasn't easy," Unique commented, taking a bite out of her bagel. "But it was worth it to meet all of you."

Kurt started getting hyper and animated. "After we left McDonalds while on the freeway, the worst traffic jam was in front of us. You should have seen Santana, she was going crazy." He laughed hysterically.

"In my defence," Santana snapped. "I was pretty nervous and stressed out to meet this one." She pointed at the girl beside her.

The feeling of Brittany's pinkie finger brushing her own sent a shock wave down her body, and she linked them, smiling widely at Santana. "I was nervous to see you too," Brittany whispered, after somehow managing to gravitate towards Santana's ear without her noticing.

Sebastian made a small laughing noise. "Santana and Brittany: the power couple of the group."

"Santittany," Blaine smiled.

"I thought we agreed on Brittana," Kurt argued. "I like that better."

Santana frowned. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. When were you all discussing this?"

Marley deadpanned. "We've been discussing it since we noticed the electricity going on between you two. We could pick it up, even over Facebook."

"We actually have a second group chat called Geography Club 2 with all of us except you two, just so we can talk about it." Blaine shrugged casually.

Santana turned to face Kurt, grinding her teeth. "Well, this is something you've failed to mention to me."

Kurt looked sideways at her, before jumping up, almost tripping over the table to get away. "Who wants a coffee refill?"

"This conversation isn't over," Santana shouted over to him as he all but sprinted to the cash register.

The two girls sat there, their faces burning, their eyes cast downward and their pinkies linked, resting on Santana's knee.

Dave laughed, finding their embarrassment amusing. "And you think that you guys aren't something to talk about?"

Santana stuck her tongue out at him, but chuckled all the same.

They spent about an hour in the café, chatting about everything and nothing. It was out of character for Santana, but she couldn't help but feel lucky that she knew all of these amazing people. They were all so interesting in person.

Although, she did find it hard to concentrate on what they were saying with Brittany's thigh touching her own.

Santana found it strange; she had been talking to this girl over social media, heard her voice and watched her move on camera. But the once thing that was amazing her was the fact that she could touch Brittany. Not in that way, but that she was a physical thing she could now touch, as she was sitting right beside her. For the first time since she began talking to Brittany, she was able to hug Brittany, touch her cheek, and hold her hand.

And frankly, as well as exciting her, it also spooked Santana a little bit. But she was trying not to let it get in the way.

Before Santana knew it, it was almost 10pm, and the whole crowd were practically skipping towards a gay bar they found, with Brittany practically dragging an annoyed Santana along.

But for Brittany, she didn't put up much of a fight.

Although the two girls didn't get much alone time throughout the day, when they did get a chance to whisper something to each other, or smile at each other, or squeeze the others' hand, it was very special.

Sauntering towards the bar Santana was being hauled towards, she craned her neck upwards to get a look at the sign above it. 'Shots'. Santana snorted. Big surprise as to what the bar would be serving.

Once everyone showed their fake IDs, they made their way inside and right up to the bar. The bar was like every club in existence. Too bright and too dark at the same time, a sticky, damp air hung there that made Santana's clothes cling uncomfortably to her body, the loud, thumping beat hitting her right in the chest, making her ears ring straight away.

Blaine ordered at the bar, whispering something to the punk-looking barman while he was at it. While he was speaking to the dude with far too many piercings and tattoos for Santana to be entirely comfortable with, she watched Kurt smile dreamily at Blaine.

Santana smiled warmly, glad her friend was clearly still as enthralled with Blaine after meeting him as he was before.

Santana was shaken from her thoughts when she felt a hand squeeze her own.

Brittany had to shout over the blaring music. "They're cute."

"What?" Santana yelled back, leaning towards the blonde.

"Kurt and Blaine. They're getting on well."

"We're cuter," Santana winked, hoping she wasn't crossing any lines.

Judging by Brittany's smile after she said that, she hadn't.

Blaine returned, handing each person a glass, filled with a light green liquid, while leading everyone to a free table with eight stools. "This," he explained, once everyone was seated. "Is a 'Special Shots Shot.' Not too much alcohol in it, so we'll be fine to drive."

Sebastian counted down from three, and after everyone had taken their shot, all of their faces were contorted in disgust, especially Santana's, who coughed and spluttered.

"What's in this?" she croaked, taking a large gulp out of the bottle of water in her bag.

Blaine smirked. "Let's just say, I asked for a special, special shot for the birthday girl."

Oh no.

Santana began to panic. She hadn't planned on getting drunk that night. She was such a lightweight, and so much as three shots may cause her to do some incredibly stupid things. God knows how many shots were in that toxic waste she just downed.

Plus, she really, really couldn't be drunk around Brittany.

Kurt, knowing exactly why the brunette looked so worried, pulled her arm so he could lean up to her ear. "I'll make sure you do nothing stupid," he assured, nodding towards Brittany, who was still gagging over her shot.

How adorable.

Two hours later, Santana found herself, lightheaded and dizzy, and far too cheery, dancing with Brittany on the floor. The song was incredibly fast and jumpy, but Santana had her arms encircled around Brittany's neck as if they were dancing to Careless Whisper.

Brittany's hands were resting on the small of her back, occasionally rubbing up and down, slowly, the feeling soothing to Santana.

Santana, earlier in the night, was trying to avoid eye contact with Brittany, in fear of it making things awkward, but since Santana was incredibly drunk by then, she locked eyes with Brittany and didn't move them, swaying on the spot with the blonde.

Brittany leaned in, smiling softly at Santana. "Can we get out of here?"

Santana's eyes bulged. She was drunk, but she wasn't that drunk. She had the presence of mind as to what was stupid and what wasn't.

"Oh, no," Brittany flushed. "Not in that way! I'm just feeling a little too hot, it's boiling in here."

Santana mouthed oh, and smiled, allowing Brittany to lead her to the exit. She looked over her shoulder to see Kurt dancing rather grossly with Blaine.

She scoffed. So much for him watching her so she did nothing stupid.

Santana felt a huge relief once the cool, summer night air hit her hot skin. She finally felt like she could breathe. She also felt a little more sober. "Where are we gonna go?" she asked.

Nobody was around, not even a single car on the road, so Brittany just shrugged. "Want to sit on the curb and just talk?"

Santana nodded, pleased to finally have a chance to talk to the girl on their own.

Sitting side by side, the only sound being the music erupting from the doors of the club behind them, the girls smiled at each other.

"What do you think of everyone?" Brittany asked.

Santana grinned. "They're great. So great. I wasn't expecting them to be this great." Maybe she wasn't as sober as she thought.

"Really?" Brittany raised an eyebrow. "How un-Santana-like."

Santana slapped the blonde's knee playfully. "Shut up," she laughed. "I can be nice, when I want to."

"So can everyone," Brittany shot back. "But you don't give yourself enough credit." She paused, her smile widening, taking her Dr Pepper out of her bag. "Want to play Never Have I Ever?"

"Yeah." Santana shifted so she was facing Brittany, and twisted the cap off her bottle of water. "You start."

"Never have I ever had a drunken hook up."

Both girls took a swig.

"Do we have to follow it with a story?" Santana questioned.

Brittany shrugged happily. "You don't have to. It may be interesting, though." She wiggled her eyebrows at Santana, who groaned.

"Fine," she laughed. "I'll go. Um, I've had a few of them, to be honest. But, uh, the funniest time was when I was at a party at my friend Puck's house, and Kurt walked in. He was mentally scarred and couldn't even look at me for a whole week. It was hilarious."

Brittany laughed. "I don't have a story. It just happened."

"Okay, my go." Santana thought about it for a second, before smirking. "Never have I ever been in a proper relationship."

Neither girl drank.

"I had dated a few people," Brittany said. "I never really clicked with them, though." Her head was bowed, looking up at Santana through her eyelashes, shyly.

Santana gulped. "Me neither."

A long, tension filled silence invaded the air between them, both girls trying to look anywhere but each other.

Santana decided to cut the silence. "Is it just me, or are Dave and Sebastian a little too friendly tonight?"

Brittany burst out laughing. "You noticed it too? I wouldn't be surprised if something happens between them tonight."

"Same with Kurt and Blaine," Santana pointed out.

"Agreed," Brittany nodded. She paused, before fixing her gaze on her shoes. "What about the others?" she asked, looking up and into Santana's eyes.

Santana didn't really notice that Brittany wasn't actually asking about the other people.

But she did notice Brittany leaning towards her slowly, her eyes fixed on Santana's lips, until they began to flutter closed.

Brittany was literally a centimetre away from kissing Santana, when Santana reached up, grabbing Brittany's shoulders and pushing her away gently.

When she saw Brittany's mouth open and eyes widen in realisation, she immediately regretted it.

"Brit," Santana started, but Brittany started rambling.

"I'm sorry," Brittany started, fiddling with her fingers, her face growing hot. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, like just because you're a lesbian and stuff doesn't mean you want to kiss me. I-I shouldn't have even-"

Santana cut her off. "Brittany, please."

"I like you," Brittany breathed, refusing to make eye contact with Santana, who just stared at Brittany, open mouthed. "That's what I'm trying to say, I guess," Brittany continued, cheeks red with humiliation. "I like you. And you don't have to say you like me back to make me feel better or anything."

Santana groaned, throwing her hands over her face. "This is so stupid. I'm so stupid."

Brittany frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I do like you," Santana confessed, practically yelling it out. She heard herself, and toned down the volume of her speech. "I really, really do. But, I'm stupidly drunk, because of Eyebrows, and I guess, I don't want my first time kissing you to be when I'm drunk. But I do want to kiss you. But not while I'm not 100% sober."

Brittany looked gob smacked, but eventually smiled. "Well," she started, grinning and standing up, offering Santana a hand up. "There's a twenty-four hour diner across the street. Want to go have a cup of strong coffee?"

Santana let Brittany pull her to her feet, and laughed. "You read my mind."

Finding a booth by the window to sit down, Santana settled back into the seat, while Brittany ordered the coffee. She let her eyes close and exhaled slowly.

The words she likes you must have been repeated in her head a thousand times by then, but each time, it just felt better and better to hear it.

It wasn't as if Santana hadn't already known, but she was so relieved to hear it come from Brittany herself.

When Brittany returned with a smile and two piping hot cups of Americano, she sat opposite Santana. "Should we continue our game?"

Santana shook her head, watching the steam rise out of her cup. "Drink's too hot."

Brittany nodded. "I've never asked you this, but what's your story?"

Santana's mouth tilted up to the side, taking a cautious tester taste of her steaming coffee. "I have plenty of stories."

"I meant the one when you realised who you were."

"Oh," Santana shrugged. "There's not much to tell. I kinda already knew all along, but it was only confirmed when I developed a crush on my best friend when I was 14."

"Who?" Brittany laughed.

"Quinn." Santana felt weird discussing this with someone. She had never told anyone about her past feelings for Quinn, even Kurt. "But don't worry, I left that back with 8th Grade me."

Brittany chucked. "I gotcha."

By then, Santana's coffee was cool enough to drink. "She was straight, still is, but it didn't affect me too much. I didn't really know what I was feeling when I was feeling it. I was only 14." She shrugged again. "That's really all. What about you?"

Brittany sipped her drink. "Pretty much the same. I always had a notion, but only really decided to act on the feelings when they started eating away at me. I was around 15 when I felt like I had to address them, otherwise I was going to explode." She took the lid off her cup and started blowing on the liquid to cool it. "So, I put all the feelings together and got gay as an answer."

That raised a laugh from Santana. "Brit?" she asked.

Brittany looked at her. "Mmm?"

"Can I hold your hand?"

Brittany beamed, before grabbing Santana's hand, which was resting on the table. "You're sobering up a little, I see," she commented, wiggling her eyebrows.

"You already know me so well," Santana smirked.

When the girls were leaving the diner, Santana felt fully aware, the effect of the alcohol was completely gone.

Which left her in a sticky situation.

"I guess I'll see you in the morning," Santana said, too shy to push anything further.

Brittany seemed a little disappointed. "Oh. Okay."

But the two girls stayed rooted to the spot, unable to figure out what to do next.

Suddenly, after getting a brief glimpse of Brittany rolling her eyes playfully, she felt hands on her cheeks, and then lips on her own.

And the world stopped spinning.

Santana placed her hands on Brittany's sides, as she other girl kissed her, hard yet soft, gentle yet rough. Santana couldn't decide which it was.

But she was sure of how soft Brittany's lips were.

It only lasted about fifteen seconds, but it was the most perfect fifteen seconds of Santana's life.

Once they pulled away, they rested their foreheads against each other's, their breathing laboured, but not from lack of breath. They smiled uncontrollably, both of them relieved to get the first kiss out of the way, but also in awe of how amazing it was, butterflies banging around in their stomachs, fluttering around madly.

Santana sighed and straightened up. "I'm not ready to say goodbye to you just yet," she smiled, and grabbed a giggling Brittany's hand.