A/N

Hi guys. so, quick update. i'm gonna update again on sunday. for the ones who asked, no Brittany won't get with Sam. he's just there for entertainment's sake. The girls are very much in love with eachother already. so don't worry. hope you guys enjoy. also i'm looking for a beta. hit me up if .

By the time the reception was over, Brittany was so tired and so full of champagne that Santana had to carry her over the threshold, and as hard as she tried to convince herself it wasn't because of tradition and simply because the blonde couldn't walk, she couldn't stop the pounding of her heart when Brittany wrapped her arms around her neck and snuggled closer to her. She carefully carried the blonde all the way to the master room and put her on the bed. She removed her wife's shoes and tucked her in securely. She stared at the sleeping blonde for a minute. The only thought in Santana's mind was how much the blonde resembled an angel. She smiled to herself and kissed the blonde's forehead. "Good night wife". Brittany heard the soft greeting as she felt Santana's soft lips on her skin. She opened her eyes and smiled and reached for the retreating latina's hand. "Where are you going San? Stay with me". "I need to change out of this dress Britt. I'll be right back" Santana smiled at her as she walked away. When she came back to bed, the blonde was softly snoring. She turned off the lights and got under the covers. Brittany woke due to the movement and reached for her in her sleepy state and cuddled in to the brunette. Santana held her breath for a minute before relaxing in to the blonde's hold. She kissed her temple and held her tighter. "You smell nice San. I like cuddling with you. Good Night" Brittany said sleepily while practically climbing on top of her. Santana just held the blonde without replying and spent a sleepless night enjoying the feel of having Brittany in her arms and wondering how and when she fell in love with this girl who was her extreme opposite. In the morning, when Brittany woke up, she was alone in bed. She frowned as she remembered the night before. She couldn't believe she was drunk at her own wedding. And she hoped that Santana didn't mind how needy she was when she was drunk. Then she remembered how gentle the latina was with her, even in the privacy of their bedroom without any audience. Maybe she isn't so cold. I wonder if Dr. Lopez actually loves_ No britt. Stop it. She was just being nice. After all she needs me for her story. And that's all this is. Her story. But as hard as she tried, she couldn't convince herself that it meant nothing to her. She was falling for the latina, even if the feelings weren't mutual.

When she came down, she found Santana at the breakfast bar and a plate fixed for her as well. "You made breakfast?" Brittany was surprised at the gesture and Santana just smiled at her. They ate their breakfast in silence, lost in their thoughts. They didn't mention the wedding kiss or the night they shared in each other's arms, and after breakfast they both went to work on their own projects. Santana noticed that Brittany was trying to rearrange the new furniture, but mostly she worked on her classes, her tutoring, and, wonder of wonders, her book. They spent the day barely talking to each other but sharing glances and small smiles often.

"You know," she told Brittany two days after the wedding, "I wasn't happy that you'd moved all my furniture upstairs, but you were right. That front room makes a nice study. I'm getting a lot done."

"Good. But I think you spend too much time in there. I, I miss you at times." Brittany looked down shyly while wondering if she said too much.

She misses me? Probably not in the way you think Lopez. She looks so cute. Say something, idiot. Tell her you miss her too.

She smiled at the blonde who was still avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry Britt. I was just engrossed in finishing my book. But I can take a break for a while. You need any help with the decorating?"

Brittany smiled back at her with a look in her eyes, Santana couldn't define. "Yeah San, I'd actually love your help. Do you have any objections to a blue dining room?"

"No. I can paint it for you if you want. Or maybe hire some painters. Kids at the school are looking for odd jobs to make cash. I can ask them if you want." "No. I like painting. And if you help, we can finish it quicker. How about a peach living room?"

"Ok B. I'll help." She smiled as she looked in to her blue eyes that made her feel like she was melting. She'd give the blonde anything she asks for as long as she looks at her like that. "We can paint in any color you want B. You decide and I'll do anything you ask. I'm hungry now though. What's in the pot on the stove?"

"Chicken soup. Bread's in the bread box."

"Oh great. I love chicken soup. Can I take some soup upstairs while I work?" she said and noticed the sad expression Brittany was sporting at her words and changed her mind. "Or you set the table and I'll get bread and we can have dinner together?" the smile Brittany gave her was well worth putting off working on her book. Brittany rushed to get the plates and Santana chuckled and followed to get the bread. She opened the bread box and rummaged to get under the two baked rounds of sourdough and wheat bread Brittany had brought home from the bakery. Brittany was already in the dining room, setting the table for two. "Britt, don't we have any real bread?" she called to her.

"That is real bread," she called back. "The packaged stuff you eat is the fake kind." Santana frowned at the bread in her hand. "This stuff isn't even sliced B."

"You tear it San. Sliced bread is for people with no imagination."

"That's me." She carried the bread through the door. "I have no imagination". Brittany smiled back at her. "We both know that's not true. If you didn't, we won't be here now San"

Santana just smiled back as she held a chair for Brittany before sitting down. They ate in silence enjoying the comfortable silence between them.

"Oh I forgot to ask, When you meet with your students, will you be using the dining room?"

"I'll be using my office at school."

"I think you should meet them here at the house. The other profs do. I asked Julie."

Santana stopped eating and looked up at the blonde. Brittany was staring at her with a pleading gaze, daring her to agree. Her suggestion seemed out of the blue for Santana because she didn't realize how much the blonde enjoyed having her around. But it also didn't seem like a good idea; the last thing she needed was her professional life slopping over into her messed up personal life. But she still found it hard to deny Brittany anything. She smiled at the blonde as she replied, "I'll think about it Britt."

Brittany spent the eight days after her wedding working on the house, making slipcovers and curtains. Santana kept her word and painted the walls in the colors she asked for. The brunette went to sleep around 11 at night while she worked until two or three in the morning because she liked working at night, usually getting up at eleven the next morning, two hours after Santana had left for campus. Santana got up at six and ran for an hour, and then came back and worked in the quiet on her book before she left at nine. She was back by five and helped Brittany with the house work. They made it a point to have dinner together every night, while Brittany told Santana random stories, some real and some made up. They both enjoyed each other's company more than they were willing to admit, and the fake wedding started to feel more and more like a real marriage with each passing day. This scared them both as they were unaware of each other's feelings.

After dinner, Brittany showed Santana her finished paintings that the movers had stacked behind the couch. Brittany leaned a landscape with a girl dressed in peach against the wall in the living room and put a large blue still life in the dining room with Santana's approval. The house was starting to look more like a mixture of both of them. They painted the living room pale peach, the hall pale yellow, and the dining room pale blue. While Santana painted the walls, Brittany stenciled pale pink and yellow cabbage roses along the ceiling in the living room, and pink cabbage roses along the staircase wall in the hall. Then, she painted pale blue daisies among the living room roses and white daisies in the hall. The whole effect was colorful and bright, yet classy and muted to match Santana's taste. When the walls were done, Santana hung flowered draperies from rings on natural wood rods while Brittany painted a triple row of white checks along the edge of the ceiling to pick up the blue and white checked tablecloth in her big still life, in the dining room. She hung the still life and hung blue and white checked curtains at the front windows. The curtains were all lined with white, so the house looked fine from the outside. Brittany was really proud of the linings; a month ago she wouldn't have thought of it, and the house would have looked like a crazy quilt from the street.

Their life was coming together, Brittany thought on Monday night as she wandered through the rooms they finished. The cats had settled in, and Jupiter was coming home the next day—she winced as she realized she still hadn't told Santana—and the house had turned into a home.

"Look," she said to Santana when she came down later looking for food. She pulled her out of the kitchen and into the dining room. "It's all finished."

"It's nice." She looked around, not really seeing anything new. "Let's eat, I'm tired."

Santana had been working too hard lately. She worked at the university all day and then helped Brittany with the decorating and painting the house as well as working on her book whenever possible. She looked exhausted, and Brittany wanted to hold her, just go up and put her arms around her and comfort her. Maybe give her a kiss or two to take her mind off all her troubles. Stop it, she told herself. She patted her arm. "Now that we finished the house, We should do more things together. Maybe. I mean if you want to"

The latina brightened noticeably at the thought. "Run with me tomorrow."

"Run?" Brittany said, appalled.

Santana nodded, suddenly enthusiastic. "You don't get enough exercise. It'll be good for you. Come on, we'll go get you shoes and sweats now. The stores don't close until nine." She was practically bursting with happiness while she grabbed her coat.

"Run?" Brittany tried to stall. "I don't know, Santana—"

She was too late in responding and Santana was already out the door. "Come on Britt. Hurry up" Santana looked so happy that she followed her out to the car without protest. She'd been thinking more of going to the movies or out for pizza, but she should have known the brunette would think of something that involved pain and suffering for a good cause. There was a lot of martyr in Santana.

There was a lot of martyr in me too, Brittany thought as she dragged her body out of bed the next morning after only four hours of sleep. The things I do for my wife. Fake wife. ugh

Santana showed her how to warm up and then set off with her at a gentle jog. They fell into a pace in which the latina would run down a side street, across a block and up the next street to meet Brittany so that she was still getting the workout she was used to but the blonde could keep up. Brittany slowed to a walk every time Santana got out of sight, trying to keep her heart from exploding. It was on one of these blocks that she met Sam coming out of his house to pick up his paper.

"Hey Brittany. What are you doing?" he asked. "Your face looks like a tomato."

Brittany stopped and tried to breathe. "Jogging. My wife's trying to keep me healthy."

Sam frowned. "Does she have a lot of insurance on you? It looks more like she's trying to kill you."

"No, no." Brittany leaned on him for a moment to rest. "This is good for me." She looked up and saw Santana jogging toward them. "Oh, no. I have to run again."

She meant it as a joke, but Sam stiffened as he watched Santana run toward them, and she saw Santana through Sam's eyes, a small but tough looking, frowning, latina in black sweats.

"She's really nice," she said unable to help the smile that crossed her features when she saw the latina, and then Santana came up and said "Wimp" to her.

Brittany nodded. "I am. You'll just have to accept it. Baby, this is Sam Evans, the vet." She instantly blushed at the term of endearment so easily slipping out but neither Santana nor Sam seemed to notice.

Santana offered her hand. "Something wrong with Annie or Charity?"

"Annie and Charity?" Sam asked.

"Annie and Charity are our cats," Brittany said.

"No," Sam said. "I've got Jupiter."

"Jupiter?" Santana asked.

Brittany bit her lip. "You see San, that day when we picked up furniture and I was walking home alone I heard a squeal and when I turned I saw that a dog got hit by a car."

Santana closed her eyes. "Of course. You would."

"It's a very small dog." Brittany put her hand on the latina's arm, anxious about Jupiter's future. "He won't bother you San. Please can I keep him?"Santana made the mistake of looking at Brittany. The blonde had the most adorable pout on her face. And her baby blues looked so sad that had she asked for a hundred damaged dogs, Santana would agree in a heartbeat. Hell she'd even get the dogs their own house and a live in vet.

"Britt, you can have anything you want, including a damaged dog," Santana said, with a soft smile and Brittany squealed and hugged her tight. She noticed the vet, Stan was it? Watching them curiously and patted Brittany on her back awkwardly while reluctantly pulling away. "Can we finish this run now B? You really shouldn't stop in the middle of exercise."

"My heart was going to explode." Brittany grabbed her hand, panting a little. "I would have had a heart attack right here in the street. You would have had to pick up my stiffening body and carry me home, pretending to be grief-stricken, and then you would have had to listen to Julie, Pansy, and Gertrude fight over the flowers for the funeral and the color of my shroud. Quinn would have cracked corpse jokes, Evan would have said that I looked pretty good although, of course, I was dead, and Harper would have thought about necrophilia. I just did you a big favor by stopping."

Sam stared at the blonde, and Santana sighed. "She's not nuts," she said to Sam. "She just has these narrative fits where reality recedes."

"I know she's not nuts," Sam said shortly, and turned away from the brunette to talk to Brittany. "Keep coming to the clinic. You're really good at exercising the animals. They like you."

"Oh, good." Brittany beamed at him. "I have so much fun there."

She'd flashed her megawatt without thinking, and Sam smiled back, mesmerized. And then she noticed Santana scowling at Sam. The look Santana was giving Sam made her feel warm inside but also made her afraid for Sam's life so she grabbed her wife's arm and tugged her toward the street.

"I'll come by for Jupiter this afternoon," she said to Sam. "Come on, San. Your pulse rate's dropping."

"Who the hell is that guy?" Santana easily kept pace with her as they ran down the street.

"He's the vet." Brittany puffed hard as she ran. "You know, I think I'm getting the hang of this."

"I don't like the way he looks at you. Stop smiling at him."

"Hey." Brittany tried hard to hide her smile. So she is jealous. That means she does feel something for me. She quickly stopped smiling and frowned as hard as possible while panting her lungs out. "He's my friend."

Santana snorted. "He wants to be more than your friend."

Yep. Definitely Jealous. She stopped and waited for the latina to face her. When Santana looked at her curiously, she smirked. "What do you care?"

"pfft. I don't care, but we just got married four days ago. It looks bad."

"Wait a minute." She remembered suddenly. "I called the university Friday and you were out for lunch. With Caroline."

"So? Wait is that why you were grumpy all day, Friday?"

Brittany put her hands on her hips. Part of the Cinderella deal was that they played fair. "Don't change the subject. The point is, if you can have lunch with Caroline, I can exercise dogs with Sam."

Santana scowled. "It's not the same thing."

"Why not?"

"Because Sam wants to exercise a lot more than dogs with you."

"And Caroline doesn't with you?"

Santana waved that away. "That's different Britt."

"Why?"

"Because I'll say no."

"Will you?"

"Yes." The latina looked insulted and hurt. "Of course I'd say no Britt. We've only been married four days. I care about you. What kind of creep would I be if I cheated on you already?"

Already? For some reason this conversation was not turning out the way she'd planned. "So when are you planning on cheating? In June?"

Santana sighed and shook her head and turned away, "I don't know. never, I guess. Why are we having this dumb conversation?"

"Because you won't let me exercise the animals at Sam's."

"Fine, then go," she snapped. "I don't care what you do. Just stay away from Sam. At least while we're married"

Brittany felt bad for teasing the latina. She grabbed her hand and turned her towards her. Santana was still looking down and avoiding eye contact. Brittany lifted her chin and forced the stubborn latina to look into her eyes. "I'm sorry San. I'm just gonna exercise the dogs, and that's all. I'm not gonna cheat on you."Santana smiled shyly at her. "Yeah?" she replied softly. "Yeah. Besides I already have a hot wife. I don't know if you know but she is gorgeous but a little she keeps me occupied. I'm too busy to sleep with anyone else."Brittany smiled at the latina teasingly. And Santana pushed her away, blushing at her words.

"C'mon grumpy. Let's finish the run. I'll race you home" Brittany took off running down the street, and Santana watched her before she followed.

You might not want to sleep with him but what about what he wants, she thought as she steadily gained on Brittany. You're wrong B. I'm the one with the hot wife and if Stan as much as think about touching her, I'm breaking his fingers.