a/n: Chapter 2 is made up of two parts. Both have some plot, but most of 2B is shut. The beginning and end of that chapter contain plot. Stay Merry and, if you so choose, gift yourself with some NSFW fanfiction.
Chapter 2A: Wreaths and Worries
"Okay, we'll start slow" Brittany says, setting aside her mug which was almost entirely empty anyway. "First, let's figure out something we can agree on so you don't worry about me when I go out exploring the city."
"You could just not explore." Santana offers and Brittany sighs. "Or wait to do it together?"
"I think I can agree to keep my bigger and further adventures for our weekends and dates." Brittany says "But you know I hate being stuck inside, and the studio isn't always busy."
"You could still stay there." Santana shrugs.
"San" Brittany says "If I asked you to stay on campus a minute longer then you had to, what would you say?"
"Fair point. Well, is it really so bad to come home?" Santana isn't really compromising.
"Baby, I'm not an introvert like you. And coming home to an empty apartment is depressing." Brittany explains.
"I just want you safe." Santana says "It's safe here."
"I'm always home before sundown, I never walk down unlit alleyways, I try not to be in shady areas." Brittany looks at Santana "I can take care of myself."
"I don't want you walking the streets of New York alone." Santana grunts and crosses her arms.
"That's unavoidable. Why do you worry so much about me?" Brittany questions.
"Do you remember what happened to Kurt?" Santana asks and Brittany nods "Tell me, would you try and be a hero like him?"
"In a heartbeat" Brittany says without realizing she's justifying Santana's fears "But San…"
"Don't tell me you could realistically hold your own. I know you're strong, but those men were stronger and will be stronger. We both know it." Santana looks at Brittany, trying to show this is all out of love "What if you were the one who needed a hero?"
"What?" Brittany squeaks.
"What if you were attacked?" Santana asks again.
"It's not gonna happen." Brittany shakes her head "Why would it?"
"It could. Someone thinks you have money, or doesn't like that you're bi." Santana shrugs.
"You can't protect me from the entire world. I'm gonna get hurt. I'm gonna be in scary situations. It happens." Brittany looks at Santana "I'm gonna walk around during the day alone. It's not something that's gonna change. So what's a solution so you'll stop worrying?"
"There isn't one. Not if you don't want the watch." Santana huffs.
"Tell me what you do when you're worried about me." Brittany presents.
"I check Find My IPhone and if you don't move I text you. If you don't answer I will call you." Santana says.
"What if I could tell you I'm okay with just one tap, no phone needed?" Brittany says.
"Hence the watch?" Santana grins.
"No, look" Brittany pulls out her phone "I was thinking of getting these for Christmas. There are these long distance tap bracelets. Anytime either of us taps, the other person will get a buzz on theirs. Then they can respond with a tap."
"So anytime I'm worried I'd just tap?" Santana says "And if you tapped back I'd know you're alright?"
"Exactly. Easy and I'm totally okay with it. What do you say?" Brittany waits patiently while Santana thinks.
"We can try." Santana agrees.
"Good. Now stay right here, we're not done, but I need some water. Do you need anything?" Brittany asks.
"More alcohol." Santana groans.
"Anything else?" Brittany criticizes.
"No." Santana frowns. Brittany brings Santana a bottle of water anyway.
"Alright, now we need to talk about you sparing my feelings at the expense of your own. How often do you do that? Brittany asks and Santana chews her lip in thought.
"I guess anytime you're feeling bad I try to feel good or at least pretend. Or hide my bad day so yours takes precedent. That way I can take care of you." Santana admits.
"You can't do that. Your emotions matter too." Brittany reminds.
"But what if I make you feel worse?" Santana says.
"It happens. Tell me, how are you feeling now?" Brittany quizzes.
"Annoyed, exasperated, tired, sad, angry, confused, stressed and overwhelmed." Santana is nonchalant.
"That's a lot to bottle up," Brittany says. "Aren't you worried it'll blow up?
"I can handle it." Santana refuses to answer.
"You have to let them out." Brittany sees Santana's eye twitch. "Let them out baby."
"You want me to let them out?!" Santana stands up angrily. '"YOU WANT ME TO GET ANGRY? FINE! I'm pissed Brittany. I hate my boss, I hate that this world isn't safe, I hate that I'll never be good enough for you. I'm so tired of trying to prove myself to everyone and never getting anywhere. It's too much and I can't take it. I'm so tired, and I just want to protect you from that. Can't you see?" Santana sits right next to Brittany "I'll take it all on so you don't have to."
"Cry, baby. Just cry." Brittany says and she catches Santana as she falls forward in a flurry of tears. Brittany strokes her back until the tears dry up. She helps her sit back up and sip some water as she gently wipes her eyes. "Feel better?"
"How can I take care of you if I'm like this?" Santana whispers.
"We take care of each other. That's what marriage is about." Brittany says.
"But what if I hurt you?" Santana says "What if I get so angry that I just snap?"
"Bottling up your emotions guarantees that." Brittany says.
"I'm sorry." Santana curls in on herself. "I was so worried about hurting you, that I almost did. I'm an idiot." Santana doesn't catch her word fast enough. "Wait Britt, I'm sorry I mean"
"No" Brittany says calmly "It's okay, I'm okay. I know it was a slip of the tongue. Look up at me." Santana does as she's told "Can you stop hiding from me?"
"I don't know" Santana looks away again. Brittany grabs her chin and turns her head back towards her. "I can try." Santana says quietly.
"Good girl." Brittany says "Go lay down in bed. I'm gonna clean up our mugs."
"Britt?" Santana whispers.
"Hmm?" Brittany asks.
"I love you." Santana reminds
"I love you too" Brittany taps a tan nose and Santana goes to lay down. Brittany joins her a few minutes later and sees that Santana is looking at the quilt again.
"I can't believe it took us this long to look at it." Santana smiles, "It's so perfect."
"It is." Brittany smiles "Just like you."
"Me?" Santana shakes her head "I'm far from perfect."
"You're perfect for me." Brittany assures. "Honey, you said earlier that you didn't think you'd ever be good enough for me."
"I…" Santana promised to try not to hide anymore "After what happened when we broke up, I worried that I really messed up. That I'd never fix us."
"You don't need to fix anything. We have always been perfect together. You're the only one for me. You're more than good enough." Brittany kisses her forehead.
"So I assume I said some other stuff- I hate my boss, but I love my job. I wish I could make this world safer. And I want to prove myself." Santana sighs "It's just so hard."
"I know, but you're on the fast track to graduation, and you're going to change the world. I know it." Brittany smiles, "You don't have to prove it to me."
"Thanks." Santana blushes "So I seem to remember a promise of torture…
"Not tonight baby." Brittany says "Let's just order some Chinese and cuddle."
"Can I ask why not tonight?" Santana asks.
"Well, one, you need your rest after l that emotional exhaustion. And, two, I need time to prepare everything. Which means I need you to go to work tomorrow." Brittany explains "I promise it'll be worth it."
"Okay, okay." Santana says "But I'm picking the movie."
"It better be Christmas." Brittany says.
"Seriously?" Santana groans "Fine, you're lucky I love you."
"I'm lucky I won the bet after Thanksgiving that meant we'd watch only Christmas movies in December." Brittany smirks.
"Yeah yeah, I know, I spent more on Black Friday weekend." Santana sighs. Brittany kisses her pouting face and goes to call in the order. Santana queues up Nightmare Before Christmas, much to Brittany's pleasure. It's a good night, and Santana feels lighter as Brittany massages the tension out of her shoulders. All the worry she'd been holding, she finally let it go. Brittany smiled as Santana relaxed into her touch for the first time in months. She needed to be relaxed before what Brittnay had planned.
Chapter 2B: Tinsel and Torture
Santana was anticipating Brittany's plans all day, and it didn't help that Brittany's plan included the vibrating underwear she was wearing while she sat across from her boss. She'd told Brittany that she was going into that meeting, and luckily her wife agreed to not lose her job. But knowing that at any minute that might change was nerve-wracking.
"Ms.Lopez, we want to offer you a more permanent position." her boss said "And we want to cover your schooling to ensure you're getting the education you need to fill this position."
"Sir, all due respect, but I'm not sure I'm a good fit." Santana wishes it weren't true, but she wasn't passionate about the work she was doing.
"Tell me Ms.Lopez, why is that?" her boss takes a puff of his cigar.
"I'm just not passionate about the communities we're reaching out to right now. Sir, I fully think every group we help deserves it. I love helping people navigate medicine, but it's not my passion." Santana admits.
"I understand that. However, you may be interested in our new division." he smiles.
"A new division?" Santana's interest peaked.
"Well we've realized that a lot of LGBT people have been approaching us looking for medical help, and we're simply not equipped to help them the way they need and we want to." he looks at her "Am I right that you are passionate about this community of people?"
"Yes sir." Santana says.
"Our new division will be helping LGBT people get the treatment they deserve and advocate for their right to be treated under New York and federal statute." he puts down a paper in front of her "These are just a few of the services we'll be offering."
"Wow, this is really amazing. Sir, I'd love to work in this division." she looks up hopefully.
"Fantastic. Now, the office is going to be just down the street, so you needn't worry too much about location. You will have a bigger workload and be reporting to a different supervisor however. She is the only one who can give you final approval." he calls out to his secretary "Send Mrs.Thompson in please." There's a knock and a woman walks in. Santana stands to greet her.
"This is the candidate?" she looks straight past her to her boss, who nods solemnly "I already like her. I'm Stella Thompson, I don't believe Frank told me your name."
"Santana Lopez-Pierce ma'am." Santana shakes the woman's hand.
"Firm handshake, I like that. Frank, you want to let this one go?" Stella says as she takes the seat beside Santana.
"I mean she's great to look at" Frank says and coughs when Stella glares at him "I mean great to see how the new generation has passion" he pulls at his collar. Santana had never seen her boss nervous. She likes Mrs.Thompson. "But she's passionate about your work, not mine."
"I do like the passion in my employees. Very well. Ms- sorry, remind me your name again darling?" her new boss asks.
"Mrs. Santana Lopez-Pierce" she side-eyed her old boss who insisted on using Ms.Lopez even after she'd corrected him a hundred times.
"Ah, Mrs.Lopez-Pierce, welcome to the team. Why don't you follow me to my office? It's small right now, but I'd like to discuss your job further." Mrs.Thompson.
"Of course, could I just stop at my desk quickly? I'd like to tell my wife the news. I can, right?" Santana asks.
"You don't keep your phone on you?" Stella asks.
"He tells us not to." She looks at her boss.
"Go ahead and bring it with you and you can text her as soon as I've told you everything." Mrs.Thompson says.
"Yes ma'am," Santana says eagerly, stopping by her desk on their way to the only other enclosed office in the building. Stella gestures to the chair and Santana takes a seat.
"Alright, so first things first, you can call me Stella, and I'm gonna call you Santana." the older woman begins, surprising Santana noticeably. "I know, crazy. But I want everyone to feel human. All those last names and formalities are so stiff. Our clients want to be comfortable, and we should be too."
"I apologize if it takes me some time to get used to that." Santana says.
"It's no issue. Now, you're going to be working harder, but if you ever feel like it's becoming too much you just let me know. I don't want you to sacrifice your education or your family for work." Stella continues, pulling out contracts.
"It's just me and my wife. Our family is back in Ohio." Santana admits.
"Ohio?" Stella asks "It can't have been easy growing up there."
"I was featured in a smear campaign against my former cheer coach." Santana sighs.
"You were what?" Stella asks and Santana repeats herself "That was rhetorical. Do you have this video?"
"It's on the internet…but I wouldn't Google my name." Santana scratches the back of her neck. They'd tried to wipe every copy of two girls and one cat off the internet, but they hadn't been successful.
"Something embarrassing you wouldn't want your boss to see?" Stella raises an eyebrow.
"Uh, yeah" Santana gulps "My wife sorta posted an um…intimate video of us back in high school. She cut it with videos of our cat. We deleted 100s of copies but it keeps resurfacing. I hope that doesn't change your impression of me."
"Are you kidding?" Stella laughs "Honey, we've all got our skeletons in the closet. But we might need to work harder on getting your name disconnected from that."
"We?" Santana asks.
"We can't have our clients finding that." Stella admits "I'll help, because I like you."
"After five embarrassing minutes?" Santana is shocked.
"You've got grit and passion. You seem like you can really empathize with our potential clients. I need someone like you on my team. Now let's discuss the details, and then you can show me that smear campaign video." Stella says and Santana nods. Once they finish going over the details, Santana pulls up the video that almost ruined her life and calls Brittany.
"Hey babe" Brittany says "Done with that meeting yet?" Santana feels the panties vibrate.
"Not quite, but I have great news." Santana smiles.
"Should I guess or are you going to tell me?" Brittany says "I certainly have a great way to make you tell me."
"Britt, I'm five feet away from my new boss." Santana warns.
"New boss? That idiot finally quit?" Brittany wonders.
"No, but they're starting a new division focused specifically on LGBTQ healthcare." Santana says excitedly "So I get a new boss and a permanent position!"
"Permanent?!" Brittany squeals "Oh now I've gotta make tonight even better. We need to celebrate!"
"Britt, I've gotta go, but I'll see you soon okay?" Santana says as she hears the video end.
"Love ya" Brittany says.
"Love you too." Santana hangs up and turns to Stella.
"So how's your wife?" Stella asks.
"She's great, planning a celebration of sorts apparently." Santana smiles.
"You deserve it. You're actually the first person to be invited to the new team, myself excluded." Stella explains "Frank may be a pig, but he saw potential in you."
"I guess I'm glad for that." Santana shifts nervously "So the video…"
"I can't imagine what that was like." Stella sighs "Is there a reason your wife wasn't also part of the smear campaign?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. She's bisexual, and she also wasn't the captain like I was. It's hard to know." Santana shrugs. They'd always wondered why Brittany had been ignored by everyone when it came to their truth as a couple coming to the light.
"Well, I think this video is what I want people to see when they look you up." Stella says "If you're comfortable with that."
"I'm not sure. I mean if you think it'll make clients find me more relatable, maybe?" Santana says.
"I do, but I don't want you to be uncomfortable." Stella makes it clear that Santana is a priority.
"I guess they'll find it anyway, and it's better than the other video." Santana admits.
"Don't you worry. I'll be getting it down in no time. People will have to look hard for it." Stella promises "Well, that's all I have for you today, so if you wanted to head home you could."
"I still have unfinished work on my desk…" Santana says "I should probably finish that."
"You don't need to worry about that. Head home to your wife." Stella encourages and Santana nods. She calls Brittany again.
"Hey" Brittany says "Done with that meeting now?"
"Yeah, but I'm actually able to leave for the day now." Santana says "I know that's early though."
"That's okay, I've got everything ready." Brittany promises.
"Oh" Santana feels the panties start vibrating "I'll be home really soon!" she says and quickly hails a cab home. She practically runs up the 10 flights of stairs to get to their apartment.
"Someone is panting already." Brittany says when she sees Santana burst through the door. "Have I ever told you how sexy you look in a pantsuit?" Brittany purrs.
"On occasion, but I'd love to hear it again." Santana grins as Brittany reaches behind her to lock the door. Brittany pushes Santana up against it and kisses her hard, running her hands up and down her side.
"You look absolutely delectable in this pantsuit." Brittany smirks "But real quick I wanna talk about consent today."
"It's an enthusiastic yes from me Britt." Santana groans "Come on baby."
"We're gonna do some pretty kinky stuff, and I just…I just wanna make sure you're okay with it. If you're not, I need you to say so right away. Or give me a thumbs down, shake your head." Brittany plays with Santana's hands.
"Okay, baby. But I trust you, and I don't think you would've chosen anything I'm not okay with." Santana says.
"Great, then we can get back to play time." Brittany pushes Santana you against the door again "You think you can get away with wearing that? Teasing everyone who sees you. You're mine." Brittany growls, gently choking Santana. The Latina moans- she definitely likes that. "Already moaning, what a bad girl." Brittany presses a bit harder. She sucks on Santana's sweet spot. "Now no one will question who you belong to." Brittany pulls Santana away from the door and towards their bedroom. She pushes the girl on the bed and closes the door. "What do I do with such a naughty girl?" Brittany smirks "well first that damned suit has got to go." Brittany carefully removes the pantsuit and sees that Santana has thoroughly soaked the vibrating panties. The Latina's chest rises and falls dramatically with each breath, and Brittany licks her lips.
"Well, well, well we better get rid of these too." Brittany pulls the panties off and tosses them aside. "And most importantly we need to set this gorgeous set of twins free. Now that's better." Brittany walks around the bed, drooling at the sight of Santana. "Someone is awfully squirmy, we'll have to do something about that." the blonde says, noticing Santana squirm, desperate to be touched.
"Oh God, please just touch me" Santana moans. Brittany smiles wide.
"Now, you're in no position to be making demands are you?" Brittany asks and Santana shakes her head "Right. Then be a good girl, spread out for me and shut up." Santana does as she's told and Brittany makes her way around the bed securing Santana's wrists to the headboard and her ankles to the headboard. "I guess I'm a little overdressed." Brittany shrugs off her shirt and bra, followed by shedding her pants and underwear, revealing that she has the harness for the strap-on on already. "Hmm where to start?" Santana cants her hips up as much as she can, signaling what she wants. "Oh now, good girls are patient, all in due time." Brittany grins and climbs on the bed, straddling Santana's stomach. She leans down and whispers in Santana's ear "are you still okay?".
"More than okay." Santana responds, her voice already hoarse. Hearing this, Brittany helps the girl drink some water before continuing.
"I think I'll start from the top and make my way down." Brittany says and hungrily kisses Santana. Santana meets her similarly, their tongues twisting erotically around each other's. Brittany grinds down on Santana's stomach, and Santana can't control her hips from jerking up. "Ooh I do like this. But I wouldn't want to miss out on everything else." Brittany traces kisses down Satana's neck and along her collar bone. She leaves a few well placed marks she knows will be easily concealed under the Latina's work attire before moving down to her breasts. Santana is breathing hard, and Brittany gently finds the girl's heart. She puts a hand over it as it hammers against the girl's ribcage. Brittany reaches above Santana's head and gently squeezes one of her hands. Of course she wants the girl to be excited, but she's worried by the rapid heartbeat she felt.
"I'm okay Britt Britt" Santana says, knowing full well that calling the blonde that, given the scene she'd set, would instill confidence. It was obviously not something she'd say in her submissive state, and Brittany would trust that so much more. The blonde takes a breath and returns to Santana's chest where, after a kiss to where she was feeling her heart, she takes a nipple into her mouth, sucking on it deftly. The Latina's back arches and Brittany hums around her nipple before giving her other breast the same treatment. She grins up at the Latina whose head is thrown back, hair amuck as she continues her path towards where she knows her wife wants her. If Santana could move her arm, she'd be pushing Brittany that way faster. She yanks against the restraint, maybe she'll be lucky and get free. No such luck. Brittany tsks, and Santana knows she probably just delayed her release more.
"Now, we wouldn't be trying to escape would we?" Brittany asks, peppering kisses up from the Latina's stomach all the way to her ear. "I thought we were going to behave." Brittany nibbles gently on Santana's ear and loves the way the woman's entire body trembles as she does so. "We are going to behave, aren't we?" Brittany gently applies pressure to Santana's neck. Brown eyes snap open and meet blue eyes darkened with not just lust, but power. She nods, and gives a thumbs up. Brittany chuckles and removes her hand and Santana breathes in deeply. "Good. Girls who behave get rewarded, girls who don't get punished." Brittany gives a tug to Santana's hair and whispers in her ear "And trust me, punishment is not as enjoyable as what we are doing right now." Santana doesn't want to find out what that means so she makes sure to behave. "Now, since you're new to this I'm going to let that first attempt slide. Besides, this explanation has been punishment enough." Brittany makes quick work kissing her way back down Santana's body. She nestles herself between warm thighs. The girl is soaked and so are the sheets. She's glad that their mattress protector is tested after she spilled a ton of water on it. Brittany kisses tan inner thighs first, slowly kissing her way up. She gently kisses outer lips and hears Santana gasp. She hadn't told Santana to be quiet, and she doesn't want her to. Brittany loves the way she can make her wife scream. She licks up her slit and already the girl is writhing, but she's not struggling against the restraints. It's an involuntary response, Brittany knows this, and she's not going to be unfair. She dives her tongue inside to explore and immediately feels Santana's walls tighten around her tongue, but she doesn't let up. She feels her own wetness starting to form between her thighs, and she's going to lick her wife until she cums herself. It crosses her mind that some may be embarrassed that providing pleasure gives them pleasure themselves, but really Brittany thinks it should be an accomplishment. With some well timed thrusts of her tongue and some delicate circles around a sensitive clit all ending in a suck, Brittany falls apart right behind Santana. She hears the Latina grunting and can tell she's straining against the restraints. She wants, no, needs to hold Brittany, and she'll take whatever punishment is if she can just hold her wife. Brittany crawls up the girl's body and quickly releases her wrists. Arms immediately wrap around her and she lets Santana cling to her. It wasn't at all surprising to Brittany that Santana would need this freedom in this particular moment, but she has no qualms about leaving the girl's ankles secured.
"You did good, so good baby girl" Brittany whispers "You tasted so good you made me cum too. Now I want you to taste me." Santana nods, signaling she's ready, and Brittany positions herself above Santana mouth, holding onto the headboard, and lowers herself onto a waiting tongue. She lets Santana's hands hold her waist gently, helping to guide her to her next orgasm. Santana wastes no time, knowing that teasing is something she isn't permitted to do at that moment, so it isn't long before Brittany is falling apart on top of her. Santana licks her lips as Brittany moves off of her. The blonde pulls her into a kiss and they both taste themselves. It's so erotic after eating Brittnay out that Santana feels herself on the edge. Brittany sees that look of desperation on Santana's face and doesn't want her this close when they start the next part. She trails a hand down to Santana's center and quickly brings her toppling over the edge.
"Now I think you're ready for the grand finale. I'm gonna secure your hands again." Brittany says and Santana gives a thumbs up once they're secure. Brittnay stands and puts the dildo into the strap on harness and grins at Santana. It wasn't often that Santana was on the receiving end, she really enjoyed giving. Brittany enjoyed both equally, but she had been in a dominant mood recently, and as Santana knew this was one of her favorite ways to dominate. Brittany leans down to Santana's ear and puts some pressure on her neck "If you're really good, I have an extra special present for you." She wasn't lying. If Santana was exceptionally good, which so far hadn't been an issue, she was going to let the girl ravish her however she pleased or let the girl tell her what to do. Slowly, Brittany enters Santana, not wanting to move too fast. As the Latina relaxes she's able to get all the way in and build up a rhythm. It isn't long before her rhythm is fast and hard and she can see that Santana is fighting a scream. Maybe she thinks she's meant to be quiet. "Scream for me baby." Brittany instructs and the smaller girl stops holding back. Brittany watches as her wife falls apart and mentally pats herself on the back as she pulls out. She quickly undoes the restraints as Santana wraps around her like a koala. She hopes it was okay, she's not had Santana cling to her like this in a long time. She holds her until Santana lets go. She studies the girl and knows she's well satisfied. She'll offer her gift, but Santana doesn't have to take her up on it. She knows what they just did could be exhausting.
"Did I earn the surprise?" Santana rasps. Brittany nods "Can I have some water first?" Brittany hands her a water bottle. Sex was a thirsty activity. She always found that hilarious.
"So, your surprise is you can choose to ravish me however you like or tell me how to ravish you. Basically, tell me what you want and your wish will be granted." Brittany says. She's back to her usual self, her more dominant persona retired for the evening.
"Can we just…make love?" Santana finally proposes. Brittany knows what that means- slow, together, and beautiful. She nods, and together they get to one last orgasm. She can tell Santana is exhausted as the girl almost immediately falls asleep after that. Brittany kisses her forehead and fights her own exhaustion. She wants Santana to wake up to a romantic dinner, a celebration of her promotion. She was planning a nice dinner anyway, but she decides to step up her game and starts working on her homemade breadstick recipe. Santana was obsessed with the doughy delights, more so than the original Breadstix or any others they had tried. This was of course because Brittnay had borrowed every recipe in the book to perfect hers. It had taken her and, admittedly, her mom a lot of work to perfect but now it was one of the few things in Brittany's cooking arsenal. Admittedly, she still had trouble cooking, but Santana had been teaching her ever since they moved to New York, and over her second senior year she'd taken cooking again to try and improve. Her mom even started having her help in the kitchen, and she could do enough to get by. It was something that always made her nervous and she wished she could pick it up as easily as most people seemed to, but she couldn't and so this dinner had to be perfect. She'd recently learned to make Santana's favorite dish from breadstix, beside the bread of course, which was their fettuccine alfredo with chicken. She used to just use store-bought pasta and sauce, but as a surprise for Santana's birthday she'd learned how to make it from scratch. She had to bribe a cook at Breadstix back in Ohio to give her the recipe, but it had worked, and now she made it whenever she thought Santana really needed it or it was a celebration. This was only her third time making it, the first time being Santana's birthday and the second when Santana had been in a bad mood when they got home after Thanksgiving. She worked hard to perfect this dish as always, doing her best to not wake Santana. She knew that her wife would be ravenous when she woke up, and she didn't want her to spoil her dinner. She finished it up and went to wake Santana a couple hours later.
"You made my favorite?" Santana asked, slipping into a pair of sweats and Brittany's sweatshirt as she came into the living room.
"Of course! You got that big promotion, we need to celebrate." Brittany smiled "Why do you always wear my old Cheerios hoodie?"
"It smells like you." Santana blushed "And it feels like one of your hugs. It's so much better than wearing my own."
"But I'm right here to give you hugs now." Brittany pouted.
"It's a habit. If it makes you that unhappy I'll stop." Santana says, even though she really doesn't want to.
"No you can, I just kind of want to get you a new one to replace it." Brittany admits.
"Christmas is right around the corner baby, and I'll gladly retire this for a new Brittany scented, warm hug feeling sweatshirt." Santana promises, squeezing Brittany's hand across the table. As a joke, Brittnay covers it with a napkin, something they'd found funny with distance from that fateful day. Santana tucks into her meal as she tells Brittany more about the job. The blonde doesn't mind, she loves hearing about Santana's job.
"How are things at the studio?" Santana asks.
"Pretty good. The Winter Showcase is almost ready and if it goes well they said I might be promoted." Brittany smiles wide.
"Really? That's great Britt!" Santana says "What would the promotion mean?"
"More flexible hours, my choice of classes to teach and more large-scale choreographing opportunities." Brittany says "It's not a sure thing, the showcase needs to be exceptional."
"It will be, I know it." Santana promises. Brittany does her best to believe her.