Santana truly didn't know what she should do or how to answer the girl, Brittany, who was clearly being more than friendly towards her. Santana did know that she couldn't do what the girl wanted her to do. She lived here, she knew people here. Unlike the girl, Santana was not just visiting for a quick vacation, she had some family that lived here and she couldn't just go wild. She couldn't have a short fling, forget about it and move on, people would see. Although, the Lopez family as a whole had a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy; she didn't want to be talked about or have anyone distancing themselves from her. She didn't need that here. Brittany could possibly cost her everything and in the long run she wouldn't have anything.
Besides, Santana was straight. Maybe? She sometimes noticed other girls and gave them a once over but everyone can appreciate a nice body when they see one, gay or straight. Right? 'I only kissed that girl at camp once. It doesn't even really count, it was on her cheek. I have kissed way many more guys.' She didn't hate gay people, maybe she made fun of them or was being bitchy towards them but she was like that to everyone.
Brittany obviously didn't have a problem showing any affection to girls, or at least to Santana. She wasn't going to make any assumptions about Brittany but she didn't want to be trapped in her net of ambiguous sexuality. So, Santana was trying to decline in the easiest, and nicest way possible, by acting like nothing happened.
"You're welcome." Santana said it with a nice neutral smile on her face. Brittany waiting a few moments for Santana to continue but Santana didn't have anything else to add to what she said. Which caused the girl to move back into the passenger seat with a huff.
Brittany gave a look like she was unhappy either about Santana not giving her an answer or that she had even asked at all. Santana didn't like to see Brittany unhappy but there was nothing that she could really do to fix it besides to accept the offer for dinner, which was out of the question. However, she was concerned about how Brittany felt, for whatever reason, because she genuinely did not want to hurt her. "Brittany, are you ok?" Santana tried to show the concern that she felt for Brittany.
The girl looked over at Santana after she had expressed her concern for her. She didn't have a clear expression on her face and it made Santana a little nervous because she couldn't tell what Brittany was thinking. "I'm fine. I just wanted to have dinner with you to thank you. Sorry if I was too forward with you." Brittany eyes turned down and her mouth sported a grimace in regret as she sat in the passenger seat.
Santana reached over and squeezed Brittany's shoulder to reassure her and to get her attention. Once Brittany felt the pressure on her shoulder she snapped her head up to meet Santana's gaze. "You were fine. Everything is fine. You seem like a very nice person but I can't go to dinner with you, if you think I want to be romantically involved with you. I'm sorry." She spoke to Brittany in a soft but honestly firm voice so that Brittany could get that she could never be with her but that she didn't hate her.
Her eyes perked up as she met Santana's gaze before she managed to ask her a question that Santana had not thought that she would ask. "So, would you go out with a friend? Or someone that could be a friend?" By the end of the last sentence Brittany had a bright smile back on her face.
The last thing that Santana wanted to do was dim down Brittany's smile and she didn't see the harm in having a dinner with someone who could be a future friend. Santana knew that she should take every opportunity that she could to gain a friend since she didn't have a lot back home and none in Puerto Plata. "Yeah." 'I seriously hope that I made the right choice.'
Brittany kept smiling at her as she asked her another question. "So...would you like to...umm...go to dinner with me? As a friend?" Santana knew that she would have to agree since she pretty much already did but she didn't want to make it easy for Brittany. 'Why not make it harder for her? She's making it hard for me to not go and she knows that I have to now.'
"Uhh...I'm not sure that we should." Santana said it with an apprehensive look on her face so that Brittany would think that she was hesitant to accept.
"Well, a couple of my friends could come with us if you want. I came here with them. Would that be better?" 'That's actually not too bad of an idea. They most likely would keep her in check.' The idea Brittany had brought up had surprised Santana to say the least.
"Sure, sure." Santana had readily agreed. It would be a nice change to actually be around other people, even if it's only for a few hours, and not just see them from a distance. Maybe she would even have some fun.
Brittany had practically been bouncing in her seat since Santana had accepted her proposal for dinner, even if it would be with friends. "Meet me back here at eight! We can eat here at the resort and then go out, if you want, for drinks. Ok?" Brittany rambled off pretty fast and Santana had to try to keep up with her. Before she knew it, or had a chance to react, Brittany leaned back across Santana, kissed her cheek, and then hopped out of the car. She could hear her giggling as she made her way in the resort. Santana needed to get herself together and fall out of the state of shock that she was in. Santana had known one thing for sure though. 'Tonight is going to be a long night.'
Santana had just made it to the front of the resort, for the second time that day, when she saw Brittany waiting. When Brittany noticed her driving around, her face lit up with a huge smile. Santana smiled back at Brittany while she was thinking, 'What have I agreed to?'
Once parked Brittany came over to Santana's car. She barely had time to undo her seat belt before Brittany opened her door for her with her hand held out for Santana to take with hers, she did. It didn't bother her as much as she thought it should have, since she was holding hands with a girl. 'Friends hold hands. I think they do. Her hands! They are so soft but firm. Wow!' Santana had been smiling at Brittany while she was thinking to herself as they were making their way into the resort, hand in hand.
They walked through the courtyard with Brittany dragging her along to where ever they were headed to. This gave Santana a small but significant amount of time to take in what Brittany was wearing, a thin but tight grey cami under an over-sized red and blue striped dress and black thong sandals. Santana thought that Brittany looked great and couldn't stop taking in small glances over towards Brittany in between looking around the resort during the whole walk to one of the building closer to the beach front, that Santana figured was where they were having dinner.
They rounded the corner of the building towards the table and chairs on the tiled slab underneath palm trees that opened up onto the beach. Brittany was leading them towards a table with four chairs, two of them were already occupied though. One seat was taken by a guy with a white button down shirt with a few buttons undone at the top, long khaki shorts, black thong flip-flops, and an expertly styled pompadour. The other was a girl with a short colorful dress, white thong sandals, and long brown hair. Neither of them had noticed Santana or Brittany as they were approaching them.
Brittany still had Santana's hand entwined with hers when they arrived at the table, Santana tried to yank her hand away from Brittany's but she had a tight grip on Santana, and Brittany spoke to them, "Hey guys!" They both lightly waved at Santana and Brittany with broad smiles. Brittany motioned towards the chairs as if to say 'You can take that seat' while not saying anything or letting go of her hand. Santana took the seat to the right and Brittany took the one next to it. Their hands were swinging between the two of them with light smiles on their faces and this time Santana didn't even bother trying to remove her hand from Brittany's.
The other two at the table, Brittany's friends, were looking at them with weird smiles on their faces. The guy was the first to speak up, "So...uhm...Santana, thanks for getting Brittany back to us. She tends to wander off without telling anyone."
Before Santana could even give a response Brittany had spoken. "Sorry. It's a bad habit."
The only thing that Santana could think about was what the guy had said to her. 'How did he know my name? Did she tell him? She could have brought it up. What else could she have said...oh my god, she probably told them about what happened in the car! The weird faces, oh no...oh god.' While Santana was lost in her thoughts for a brief moment, a range of expressions had played across her face and ended up with her trying her best not to blush at the thoughts running through her head.
"Santana, are you ok?" Brittany had whispered her concern to Santana and was giving her a worried look.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Santana looked at Brittany and gave her a bright smile, while she was trying to rid herself of the thoughts. 'God, I need to stop thinking.'
"Good! I forgot to introduce my friends!" Brittany pointed at the guy and then to the girl while she spoke. "This is Chris and that is Roxy."
Santana waved her hand at them as if to say 'hey' and was waiting for Brittany to introduce her to her friends. It didn't happen. Santana was waiting in silence until she realized that an introduction wasn't going to happen. So Santana decided to take it into her own hands. "I'm Santana." She had said it with a smile directed towards Brittany's friends, Chris and Roxy, and they seemed more than satisfied with the introduction that Santana had made for herself.
Brittany squeezed Santana's hand to give her reassurance that she had done well. Santana smiled to herself while Brittany was smiling at her. 'This has been the weirdest day of my life.' Just then Brittany decided to break the eternal silence. "Why don't we all go get some dinner?"
Apparently, Brittany and her friends had decided, before she even showed up, where they were going to go for dinner. Not one word was uttered between them about dinner but they kept chatting with each other while they continued to walk. 'Don't I get to choose?'
Brittany had let go of Santana's hand when they had gotten up from the outside table. Santana had liked the feeling of holding Brittany's hand, even if now she had more freedom to move around. Now, they were walking side by side behind Chris and Roxy towards where ever they leading her to. Their hands would graze past each other as they were walking, giving Santana small tingles in her hand each time she felt Brittany against her. She had felt an uncontrollable urge to hold her hand again but lacked the courage. So, when Brittany's hand grazed her again she grabbed her pinky with her own and swung their hands back and forth as they were walking.
After another couple of minutes they finally made it to the restaurant called 'Michelangelo'. It looked semi-formal with the tables and employees dressed up for the luxury of the customers. It had reminded Santana of Breadstix, back home, in Ohio. 'Does she know that I like Italian food? No, she couldn't. Stop being so paranoid!' Santana was surprised that they had picked an Italian restaurant to have dinner at. She even had planned to make spaghetti for that dinner that night before she had decided to help Brittany back to the resort. She was wide-eyed as they sat waiting for the next available table to open up. Santana certainly didn't know what to make of Brittany.
They had waited for fifteen minutes before a host called their group for the table. Brittany didn't seem bothered that they had to wait as long as they did for a table, especially when the place had plenty of empty tables that were directly in their line of sight but her friends didn't seem as ok by it as she had though. Santana was pissed though, she couldn't believe that they had to even wait. 'Why would anyone bother coming here? The service is horrendous.'
The host was leading them further and further into the dinning area until they arrived at their table in the far corner, away from all the other customers. It was a medium sized rectangular table with two chairs to a side with plenty of space between them for each person to be situated comfortably. In the middle of the table was two bouquets worth of blood red roses in a vase and white rose petals on top of the blood red table cloth. No one seemed surprised except for Santana. 'What the hell is going on?' Chris and Roxy had taken the seats on the other side of the table, so the only seat left was the one next to Brittany. Santana saw that she didn't have a choice but to take the chair next to Brittany, however, she had enough space to move the chair away from Brittany before she sat down at the table. That is exactly what Santana did. Santana gathered, from the way the table was dressed and how far they were from the other customers, that even though Brittany had agreed that this was going to be a dinner between friends, that this was a display that she thought, or was hoping, that something more romantic would happen. As much as Santana had the urge to call her out, Santana felt guilty for leading her on with the hand holding that they had done and opening doors for her, but she couldn't because she didn't really want to. Later she was going to have to talk everything out with her.
"Brittany, this is so Beautiful. How were you able to pull this off?" Brittany blushed a soft pink color as Roxy asked her question, giving away that Brittany had been the one to plan this dinner. Santana thought that she looked cute but she really wanted to know how did this dinner.
"Before you give an answer, I would like to say thank you for inviting us to dinner with you and Santana. It was very generous of you. Especially with the lovely setting that conjured up for our enjoyment." Brittany had smiled back at Chris as he was smiling at her. It was like they were sharing an inside joke. Then out of nowhere Brittany had grabbed her hand, that was sitting in her lap under the table, and squeezed it. Santana had instantly perked up with wide eyes. Then she looked over at Brittany, who was giving her a shy smile and then winked before she turned her attention back to her friends.
Brittany still had Santana's hand in hers as she finally gave Roxy the answer she was looking for. "I...uhm...well..." Brittany looked from Roxy, to Santana, and then focused back on Roxy before she continued. "I talked to the manager and he was able to help me set this up. I had to pay him for helping me out and the expenses but obviously it was worth it." Brittany smiled as she turned back to Santana. "You like it don't you?"
Santana wasn't sure what she should say. It was beautiful but Brittany didn't even know her, there was no reason for her to have to go through all that for dinner. "Yeah, I like it. It's very beautiful. But why go through all the trouble for dinner?" Santana didn't come off as mean or indifferent but generally curious as to why Brittany would even bother.
Brittany's smile started to shake a little. "Go for a walk with me?" Santana nodded her head and pushed her chair back while Brittany did the same.
They made it out to the beach before Brittany spoke to Santana again. "I really like you. I think I should tell you something." Brittany was wringing her hands against each other. She looked more than nervous, maybe even a little scared, at what she had to tell Santana.
Santana stopped walking, turned towards Brittany and grabbed her hand before she spoke to her. "What do you have to tell me?" She tried to sound as concerned as she felt and put it as delicately as she could to Brittany.
Brittany looked up and Santana could tell that Brittany was hesitant to speak. "I...I didn't just meet you today. I actually first met you when we were eight at the junior cheer camp. We shared a bunk together for a month that summer."
Santana's eyes had widened as Brittany spoke. "That was you? That was so long ago! How did you even remember my name? Besides we look nothing like we did then, how did you recognize me? I wouldn't have and didn't recognize you."
"Well, that's the other thing, I moved to Lima right before I started high school and I saw you from time to time around town. The only reason why I knew it was you was because you still wore the bracelet that I made you at camp. I always regretted never going to talk to you. When my friends wanted to go to the Bahamas, I persuaded them to come here instead. So when I saw you on the beach I took my chances and went over to talk to you. I knew that this was the moment that I had been waiting for." Brittany had not paused to take a breath while she had been talking and had begun to turn a little red. Santana thought that she looked cute a little flushed and couldn't help giving her a smile.
"I'm glad you took that chance." Santana squeezed Brittany's hand and pulled her back towards the restaurant. "Lets get back to dinner." Brittany gave a slight smile before walking side by side with Santana. "Oh, by the way, you and your friends are staying with me. It's the least I can do for an old friend," Santana winked at Brittany before she continued on, "I promise you won't regret it." Santana winked at Brittany before she returned her face forward towards their destination.
Dinner had went well, the food was delicious, and they were all having a good time, despite the knot in Santana's stomach over having to tell them, Chris and Roxy, that they would be staying at her house for the rest of their vacation. There was never a good time to tell someone that you, a total stranger, was going to, maybe, ruin their vacation for them. That was the last thing that Santana wanted to do.
When they were about to leave, Santana felt, that at the moment, that she should tell them that they would have to stay elsewhere. "I've had a great dinner with all of you tonight. Unfortunately, I have some news, which might ruin the night." She had paused because she wanted it to sink in, for them, how serious this was. Brittany stopped smiling immediately and began playing with the cloth napkin on the table. Once both, Chris and Roxy, saw Brittany begin to fidget their dropped off their face. Santana then had their full attention, and felt that they knew how serious she was, and continued talking. "Brittany and I had a talk, she has decided that she wants to stay the rest of her vacation at my house. You two are more than welcome to stay, at my house, as well. If you do decide to come, you will have to pack up all of your things and leave the resort." They had looked at Santana with wide eyes while she sat there with a blank but serious face, meant to handle any outburst that they would have. However, they seemed dumbstruck as they had then looked at each other and then over at Brittany. Brittany had kept on fidgeting with the napkin, lost in her own world, while everything was happening. Since they hadn't blown up at her, or had said anything at all, she had decided to continue. "All of you will be reimbursed in some way for whatever time you are owed, I'll make sure of it. I'm sorry if this is a little sudden. I don't want to ruin your vacation in the slightest, so all of you can stay at my house from now until you have to leave. If you want to." Chris and Roxy looked a bit shocked and then their faces changed over to worrisome. Santana could understand that, she was a stranger that neither of them knew too well. "I have more than enough room in the house to accommodate the three of you as guests. I know that this might seem weird, so if you want to stay, that's fine too. You don't have to make a choice now. You can pack up your things and then we can go to my house before we go out and then you can decide." Chris and Roxy seemed to relax a bit after Santana had said that, which was a relief to Santana and she let out a bright smile. Santana turned to Brittany and spoke to her. "You were right earlier. This does seem like some weird horror movie. I promise it isn't. I won't hurt you."
Brittany had smiled back at Santana before she leaned over further towards Santana. "I know that." Then her smile dimmed a bit as she began to talk again. "Are you sure that we can stay at your house? Me and my friends won't be too much?"
Santana couldn't help herself and just chuckled a bit under her breath, which she had known that Brittany could hear, with a smile still on her face. Then she had shook her head as if to say 'no'. "You and your friends are welcome to stay as long as you want. There is more than enough room." Brittany just nodded back to Santana with a slight smirk on her face.
Since the breaking of the news neither Chris or Roxy had said anything out loud. Which had started to worry Santana. "So, what do you think?"
They both had looked at each other uncertainly and then they both looked at Brittany who seemed to be happy. They turned toward each other and began whispering. After a few minutes they turned back around in their seats to face Santana and Brittany. "Can we think about it? That includes you too Brittany." When Roxy had finished speaking she had seemed to be less concerned.
Without really noticing each other, they both nodded their heads simultaneously. However, Santana was the only one who spoke. "Yeah, like I said, just take your time. You can get your stuff and we can leave it at my house while we get ready for the night. Then you can make your decision before we leave, so if you want to come back I can bring you back later on." Chris and Roxy smiled to each other and then nodded there heads up and down. "Well, how about you three go pack your things up and meet me by my car." They all got up and headed to their intended destinations.
Santana had been waiting in her car for about twenty minutes before Brittany, Chris and Roxy had come out of the resort with their luggage. Brittany only had a big duffle bag that she slung over her shoulder. Chris and Roxy both had luggage bags that they were wheeling behind themselves.
"All of you have all of your things?" Santana hadn't specifically to anyone of them but they all nodded their heads to say 'yes' to her question.
Santana had went over to the front passenger door and opened it for Brittany, who had made a bee line towards Santana. She had never felt this happy, or like she had wanted to be nice to someone, before. She wanted to be nice to Brittany and to do nice things for her. Santana had no idea why she had felt that way but she wasn't trying to stop and she didn't want to. When Brittany had reached the car door Santana had held out her hand for Brittany's bag but Brittany put her hand in Santana's instead. Santana just smiled at Brittany while she helped her into the car.
"I can take your bag and put into the trunk if you want?" Brittany just shrugged off the bag and handed it to Santana. She quickly threw the heavy bag into the back and made her way towards her seat.
Chris and Roxy took their time putting their luggage into the car. They both had smirks on their faces and were looking at Santana with knowing looks in their eyes. As soon as Santana saw the looks on their faces, her face dropped into a grimace. She waited for her friends to put their luggage into the back. Once they were into the rear passenger seats, Santana, who wad more than ready, took off towards her house.
At least, on this drive with Brittany, Santana didn't have to worry about filling in the silence. Chris and Roxy were in the back talking non-stop, Santana wasn't sure what about because she wasn't really paying attention to what they were talking about. She was too focused on trying to back to her house as fast as she could.
They were a little more than half-way to her house when Brittany finally spoke to her. "Are you sure it would be ok to stay at your house? I don't want to take all of your space or anything. I really don't want to be a sardine." Santana was confused at first but Brittany had a pouty look, when she was finished talking, that Santana thought was more than cute on Brittany.
Santana just smiled at Brittany. "Why would you be a Sardine? And I'm sure you can at my house. Like I said, more than enough room."
Santana turned off onto a road that ran up the hills towards the mountain, Brittany and her friends sat in silence for the next twelve minutes. She turned down another side road and then down a one lane road that lead up to her house. She knew that in moments they would be able to see the house. Brittany just sat in the seat like she had been during most of the drive, fidgeting but staring straight ahead, and being very quiet. And now that the house was in full view, all of their eyes had opened wide.
Her house was a big white washed Spanish style house. The garage matched the house with the clay tile roof and white washed exterior. The road led up to the garage and rounded back in on itself, there was also a walkway from the road to the houses main doors, starting next to the garage. There was large trees surrounding the buildings, even a few palm trees. The house was far and secluded from any neighbors.
Santana pulled up to the garage and clicked the button on the keypad that was clipped to her visor. The garage door rolled up into the garage to reveal an empty space for Santana to park her car. The garage had four retractable doors and slots for her family's vehicles. Santana pulled through and when she was parked she hopped out of the car to turn on a light, the switch was on a post on the back wall. When the overhead light flickered on they could see the expanse of the garage that contained two other cars, a truck, and a few motorcycles. One of the cars was a gray 1972 Pontiac Trans Am and the other was a red 2011 Lexus GS. The truck, that was parked at the very end, was a dark green 2011 Dodge Ram. Brittany, Chris and Roxy were still all in shock because none of them had been expecting this. None of them had thought that Santana had an overly well-to-do family. Apparently they were wrong.
Santana just rolled her eyes, grabbed Brittany's hand, and began walking towards the door. Chris and Roxy had no choice but to follow or be left behind.