AU. When this started it wasn't. But now… it is. Also, feel free to check out my tumblr at hufflepuffandpass . tumblr . com
"You need to tell her," Brittany says as she doodles on Sam's arm for the millionth time this summer. Luckily the drawings are strictly PG because they're babysitting Stacy and Stevie and his mom wouldn't be too happy if his siblings were subjected to such graphic images just yet. "You know I can't keep a secret and she keeps asking why you're avoiding her. You should be spending as much time with her as you can. She likes you. And by that I mean she hasn't tried to stab you with a knife recently. You're her best friend besides me and Lord Tubbington."
"But Britt," Sam protests, "what if she kidnaps me so she can keep me here forever?"
Brittany laughs. "Well at least her basement is full of exercise equipment. They also have a tanning bed, which never really made sense to me. I bet if you asked real nice you could probably swim in the pool every once in a while, but you know, like, on a leash so you couldn't escape."
"Has anyone ever told you that you have a very vivid imagination?" Sam asks.
"Lord Tubbington says that all the time," she says as she scoops Stacy up into a hug. "Isn't that right, Stace?"
"Britt-Britt, I wanna go swimming," Stacy says, obviously not caring what her big brother and his friend were talking about. "I heard you say something about the pool. Let's go," she whines.
"Yeah, plus we haven't seen Tana in a days," Stevie adds.
"You love her," Stacy teases. "I don't know why though, she's never said two words to you."
"Sorry, guys," Sam says. "Last night someone broke into Santana's house and stole her pool."
They're too old to fall for it, but their faces still fall slightly. Considering it's an in ground pool, that would be a pretty spectacular feat.
"Did not," Stevie accuses.
"Don't let him pull your leg," Brittany tells them. "Besides, I just texted her and she said it was cool."
Stacy and Stevie rejoice and begin to rummage through their suitcases to find their bathing suits.
Brittany turns to Sam. "You'll thank me later," she says sweetly when she notices his scowl.
Sam and Stevie make their way to the car while Brittany trails after them, holding his Stacy's hand.
A man, presumably staying at the motel, comments, "You're a little young to have kids, aren't you? And no wedding rings, I see."
He's creepy and the lady with him has too much makeup.
"Oh no," Sam starts to say. "We're not-"
"I have a girlfriend, actually," Brittany tells him. "She just doesn't know it yet."
The stranger looks appalled. "The Bible –"
"I read that once," Brittany says, cutting him off. "To see why everyone is always fighting over it. It's kinda boring. But I do remember that it said something about how we are made in God's image and I'm pretty sure that makes Him bisexual."
"What's she talking about?" Stevie whispers to Sam.
Sam puts a hand on his shoulder. "Let's just say you've got some competition."
"You're taking that all out of context," the man argues.
"Um… so?" Brittany says. "That lady with you is a prostitute. I don't think you're supposed to do that either."
The man storms off with his 'friend' trailing behind. Brittany smirks at Sam.
"That's why you should never doubt the genius that is Brittany S. Pierce," he tells Stevie.
Sam doesn't pay attention to anything but the road on the way from the motel to Santana's house. He even picked the music for the short trip to Lima Heights, but his thoughts drown it out. She's not going to react well to the news.
So he'll let Brittany put her in a good mood first. Brittany always puts her in a good mood. And surprisingly she's waiting for them in the yard, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Santanaaa," Brittany half yells half sings as she leaps from the car the second Sam puts it in park. "Guess who I ran into today?"
"Umm, someone with bigger lips than Sam?" Santana guesses as they head inside.
"Nooo," Brittany says, wrapping Santana in a hug. "Try again."
Santana smiles. "I don't know."
"Remember that hooker we met?"
"Citrus Delight?" Santana asks, perking up slightly. "Really?"
"Really."
"Not to uh, pry or anything, but why do you two know a hooker?" Sam asks. Thankfully Stevie and Stacy are already playing out by the pool under the watchful eye of Santana's nanny.
"Picked my mom up one night at the station for disorderly conduct," Santana says with a shrug. "My dad was out of town so she was on a date. Must not have been a very good one because she was still drunk as a skunk by the time we got there."
"Citrus was waiting on her pimp to bail her out. She was super friendly and gave me some free advice," Brittany adds. "She told me to always get the money upfront."
"Oh geez," Sam mutters.
"What?" Brittany says. "It's not like I took that to heart. I let Santana run up a tab," she jokes as she plays with Santana's hair. The way the two are laying on the couch just looks so comfortable and right and Sam really doesn't have the heart to break it to Santana when she seems so damn happy. But it needs to be done. Waiting until the last minute will only piss her off more.
"Hey, uh, Santana?" he says, gathering all of the courage he can muster. "I have something to tell you."
Santana rolls her eyes. "If you're coming out to me, I suspected–"
"NO!" Sam responds quickly. "Not that. It will never be that."
"Fine. What is it?" she asks. When he doesn't say anything, she adds, "Really, Sam, whatever it is you can tell me. I… it's just that we're close now, you know? And I tell you everything – well, almost everything – that's going on with me. So I'd appreciate it if you'd return the favor."
"I'm moving at the end of the summer," he admits.
"You're – what? Why?" she asks, startled. She sinks into the couch, visibly upset.
"Dad's old job in Tennessee. I'm so sorry, Santana."
She looks at Brittany. "You knew," she states simply.
"Yeah," Brittany says. "He declined my offer to come on Fondue for Two."
Honestly, Santana's non-reaction scares Sam the most. She sits there for the rest of the afternoon while they watch tv. She doesn't say anything. Brittany and Sam swim for a bit and come back inside. She hasn't moved. Her mother comes home and pesters her, but the words go in one ear and out the other. Brittany tries to cheer her up. It doesn't work.
In fact nothing seems to faze her until the doorbell rings. Sam's a little surprised when she chooses to answer it, but it's probably the pizzas Adriana ordered for them and he suspects she's hungry.
"That'll be $23.97, babe," he hears. Considering her mom left the money on the kitchen table and she made a beeline for the door, he knows she'll need it. He swings by there to pick it up only to see a guy he used to work with trying to flirt with Santana.
"Hey Chad," Sam says as he walks over.
"Sam? Dude! It's been a while. Everyone at work still talks about that prank you pulled," Chad says. "You know, where you put pepperonis in the shape of a -"
"How much was it again, Chandler?" she asks, clearly disinterested. "Because Sam and I need our pizza so we can eat it in bed while watching Pulp Fiction. That is if we make it through the whole movie."
Chad's face lights up when he hears it, not even caring that she's called him by the wrong name. "23.97," he repeats happily. "Sam, I just gotta tell you this, man, you were my hero before, but now you're like… a legend."
Santana snatches the pizzas out of Chad's hands and marches into the kitchen.
"Don't you ever get tired of pretending?" Sam asks her after he's done paying the kid.
"I'm not talking to you."
"Come on, Santana. Don't be like that."
"Oh, so it's okay for you to ignore me for days, but I can't be mad at you for two seconds? That's a little hypocritical, Fish."
"Summer's almost over."
She laughs darkly. "Yeah and you'll have to give up your cushy, freeloader job. I doubt you'll find anything this good in Bumfuck, Tennessee."
"I won't find a friend like you there, that's for sure," he tells her. "That's why I was afraid to tell you. I hate upsetting you. You and Britt are my best friends, oddly enough. So now that you know, can we please just spend the rest of the summer together doing what we do best – having fun?"
She's about to respond when Brittany walks in. "Hey Tana," Brittany says. "I was dancing in your room with Stevie and Stacy and I forgot all about dinner. Lucky for us your mom came and banged on the door. She said something about how she was going to bed early because she's planning on drinking tequila sunrises at sunrise and if we wanted any pizza, we needed to come get it before you scarfed it all down."
"Typical," Santana mutters.
"Maybe I should've left that second part out," Brittany says with a frown. "So did you two make up?"
"Yeah, Britt. We did," Santana tells her.
Brittany smiles. "You can totally thank me later for giving you guys some space."
The three of them spend the rest of the night watching movies with Sam's brother and sister. They goof off and throw popcorn and laugh and it feels perfect.
He'll miss this, he thinks.
He'll miss spending time with Brittany and Santana – together and individually. Before he moved to Lima, he had no idea how to talk to girls. Quinn taught him that. Then Santana taught him how to talk to girls and not sound like a complete idiot. Then – although he's still a little bitter about their sudden breakup – Mercedes taught him how to see a person for who they truly are. Lastly, Brittany taught him how to be friends with girls; something he knew nothing of at his old school. Brittany's the one who made them see past their differences. If it weren't for Brittany, Santana probably would've stabbed Sam a long time ago. So yeah, he really does need to thank her.