Title: You Found Me
Rating: PG-13 for language, definitely to change in the future.
Author's Note: I haven't started the next chapter yet because I'm having trouble with figuring out how to write about Santana's "friend", so let me know if you have any ideas! It might be a while before I post the next chapter, I hope you enjoy this one, and let me know what you think please!
You Found Me: Chapter Two
The next morning, or afternoon again I suppose, I woke up to a text message asking to reschedule the lunch I missed for Sunday, the following day. I yawned and replied with a yes. Then I remembered why I was so tired.
Brittany had found me. I didn't know how she found me, I took extra measure to make sure nobody would find me, but I knew I would have some explaining to do.
I spent my entire time in the shower thinking about how the hell she could have found me. I deleted my Facebook account, and all other accounts for that matter. I got a new bank account. I changed my email address. I got a new car. I moved to one of the biggest and most populated cities in the country. I even changed my fucking name. Legally, I was no longer Santana Lopez, I was Anita Perez.
And yet she still somehow found me. But last night, she looked almost as surprised as I was. There's no way that was a random coincidence though. No fucking way.
I sighed as I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair. A nice, hot shower was all I ever needed to calm down and collect my thoughts, but I still had no idea what I was going to do. "Fuck," I said aloud, and rested my forehead against the wall. I stayed in the shower until the water started to get cold.
It was another busy night at work, but it was all a blur for me. I was behind the bar again, getting people drinks every second. I almost didn't notice when Brittany walked in at 2:30 AM, even if things had started to slow down a little. She just sat at the bar and waited.
People started trickling out, my fellow employees had left, and eventually I had no other choice but to talk to her. "Can I get you anything?" I asked her.
"I'll just have some water, please."
I poured her a glass of water and sat down across the bar from her, waiting for the inevitable interrogation. After a few minutes of silence, the last customer had left. It was just me and Brittany. She spoke first.
"How are you?"
"I—what?" That was the last thing I had expected her to say.
"How are you? I haven't seen you in five years and I'd like to know how you've been doing." After five years she was still the only person who cared enough to ask how I was.
"I… I'm good," I said cautiously. "How are you?"
She didn't answer my question. "What have you been doing here?"
I thought about it. What have I been doing here? Nothing significant, that's for sure. "Nothing really. Just living, I guess."
"How long have you been working here?" she asked. I guess my answers were too vague.
"This was the first job I got when I moved out here," I said. Then, after a moment, I added, "It's nice here, and the pay is decent. I like it."
Brittany smiled a little. "That's good." It was silent for a few minutes. Brittany kept staring at me, and I felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, so I never looked up at her or met her eyes. It made me feel bad about leaving, but just for a moment before I remembered why I had left. Finally she spoke up again. "Look, San, I don't want to take up too much of your time tonight, I know you must be tired."
"It's not Santana," I reluctantly mumbled. I had forgotten how much I loved it when she called me San.
"What?" She didn't seem to understand what I was saying. She was always pretty slow at catching onto things. I guess that was one thing that hadn't changed about her. I almost smiled.
"My name. It's not Santana anymore. I changed it. Legally." After I said this, she looked…I don't know how to describe how she looked with one word, but it wasn't happy, that's for sure. I knew that she loved my name. She told me that multiple times. One comment she made that I particularly remember was, "I love saying your name during sex, it just feels right." My heart clenched when I thought of the distant memory.
"What is it now? Your name," she said.
I finally looked up and met her gaze. "Anita," I said. "Anita Perez." Even though I had said it countless times in the last five years, the name felt foreign in my mouth when I was around Brittany.
"Anita? Why Anita?" she questioned.
I looked away again. "Maybe I enjoyed being in West Side Story a little more than I thought…" She giggled. It was a heavenly sound that I hadn't heard in far too long. I looked back up and saw her smile, so I pursed my lips to fight back my own smile that was threatening to show.
"San—I mean Anita—can we meet sometime? We have a lot to talk about." I nodded and she continued. "I'm off tomorrow, do you want to get lunch?"
I was about to agree before I remembered I already had plans for lunch tomorrow. With my girlfriend—no, my friend. We had never made anything official. But I did like her. But not as much as I still liked the girl in front of me now. I shook that from my head. No, not anymore, I wouldn't give her another chance. But she did still seem to care about me… But it was her fault I left in the first place.
As I was arguing with myself, I didn't realize I hadn't answered yet. "Um… Santana?" Brittany said, snapping me out of my internal dialogue.
"Oh, um, I can't do lunch, I'm busy," I quickly replied. I didn't bother correcting her on my name, it sounded better like that anyway.
She looked down, disappointed. "Oh, okay, sorry." She sounded heartbroken.
I tried to bite my tongue back, but I couldn't. "I'm free for dinner, though!" I was going to kill myself for that later. I just hated seeing her sad. But I did want to talk to her. I had forgotten how much I loved talking to her. But no, I had to get her back out of my life.
She immediately perked up again. "Really?" she said, with a bright smile.
I closed my eyes, both cursing and praising myself mentally. "Yes, really," I said. "We can meet at Miceli's at seven, it's this great Italian place I know."
"That's awesome, thank you, Santana! I'll see you tomorrow, then! Or I guess it would be tonight." She giggled. Before leaving, she leaned over the counter and gave me a peck on the cheek. I knew she had always been this affectionate, but I was still shocked. My cheeks burned, especially where her lips had touched, and this time, I couldn't hold back the smile that crept onto my lips. It was small, but it was the first time I had smiled in five years.