Of Coffee Shops and Comic Books

Ch. 8: Blue Kryptonite

"Faster Santana," Brittany panted in between ragged breaths.

"I'm-" Santana grunted, "Oh, Hera give me strength..."

They had just become official and now here they were, the two of them in the dead of the night. It was a very... well, let's say... an intimate situation. It surprised Santana at just how fast they were taking this.

Also, Brittany really knew how to set a pace here, that's for sure. It had begun with them getting the feel of everything, slower, and it gradually built up to where they were now, with Santana using every last bit of her strength. Heat radiated off their bodies as they continued on with their... activity. They've been going at it nonstop for nearly an hour now and Santana was trying her best to keep up.

But Brittany... Damn, that girl had incredible endurance. It was definitely because of that dance talent and background which probably helped out. Sure, Santana was physically fit as well... She went to the gym on a daily basis and was proud of her toned, physical appearance. But honestly, it was nothing in comparison to her girlfriend's natural form. Which was combined with the insane amount of energy she had hidden inside of her.

Santana could see the flushed cheeks and the layer of sweat along Brittany's body glistening in the moonlight. A few strands of blonde hair stuck to her forehead. Santana was sure that despite her darker skin, she was in the same state as Brittany.

"Push harder," Brittany instructed, trying to keep her breathing under control.

Santana only groaned audibly as a reply.

"I promise... you're going to feel really good after this," Brittany husked out. Santana gave a single, short laugh, because that was all she could manage but kept a smile on her face.

Santana felt all her muscles tighten in response to the fatigue, but this was going to be worth it. She had read up all about the physiological explanations of their current physical activity:

All the blood rushes to the muscles that were in use.
There was a flustered appearance because of the blood flow as well as perspiration on the body to try and cool it down.
Increased intake of breathe and increased heart rate to supply more oxygen to the body.
Endorphins also released in the brain and caused the euphoric sense of state.

"Britt..." Santana said breathlessly, "I-"

"Almost there, San,"

The two were breathing heavily, chests heaving, with their skin slick with sweat. Brittany leaned closer, causing the both of them to slow down, and set her lips closer to Santana's ear.

"Come on, I'll race ya," She said to her with a wink.

Santana's jaw dropped.

What?

Wait...

Was she serious?

Before Santana could answer back she only saw a flash of blonde hair whip around. Brittany had already broken out into an all out sprint, leaving her behind.

When Brittany had suggested that they go for a run that evening, Santana didn't expect it to be a six mile one. She watched for a few seconds as those cream-colored, lengthy legs darted out in front of her, getting farther away with each step. She groaned again before following suit and pushed her body to catch up with her girlfriend.

"Come on, you can do this," Santana told herself as she closed in the gap between herself and Brittany, "It's just a 50 yard dash to the end,"

"Damn her long legs," She seethed out as every millisecond that passed seemed like an hour. After a few seconds they both passed a lamp post that served as the finish line for their run.

Brittany let out a shout of achievement and threw her hands up in the air. She jogged around in a few circles, clearly still having some energy left in her.

Santana on the other hand, hunched over with her head down and placed her hands on her knees, tried to catch her breath.

"Don't you feel amazing?!" Brittany placed her hands behind her head as she inhaled deeply.

"Get back to me in five minutes. If I'm still alive, that is," Santana kept her head bowed down, attempting to slow down her heart rate by taking in big gulps of air.

Brittany smirked and then mauled an unsuspecting Santana into a huge bear hug before lifting her up and spinning her around. She let out a small yelp as Brittany began to laugh.

"Britt!" Santana squeaked out in surprise, but Brittany tightened her hold. Eventually she placed her back down on the ground after a few more spins.

"Six miles, San! You did it!" Brittany clapped her hands together while the other girl pouted slightly.

"Tell that to my aching calves," Santana winced as she tried to extend her right leg out. Brittany just giggled in response.

"Well... Maybe later... a massage is all you need," Brittany told her suggestively when Santana looked back up to her blue eyes.

Santana opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she nodded dumbly as a reply which caused a round of giddy laughter from Brittany.

The two walked over to a bench and began their cool down stretches.

Brittany bent down, keeping her legs straight, reached out her arms and went to touching her toes. Actually, she went well past her toes and pressed her palms completely to the floor. Meanwhile, Santana had one arm behind her head while she pushed it down with her other hand to stretch out her triceps. She was looking straight forward before her eyes began to drift slightly towards Brittany's current stance. More specifically on the backside of her in those bright orange Nike running shorts.

Unconsciously Santana relaxed her arms and turned her head a little to the side to get a better view. The thin material that constituted to Brittany's white athletic shirt clung onto her pale skin, which was visibly seen from the perspiration all over her body. A small portion of the small of her back was exposed and Santana was unashamedly leering.

"I know you're staring at my ass," Brittany stated smugly after a few seconds. Santana immediately snapped her head up and drew her eyes back to focus on whatever was in front of her.

"N-no I wasn't!" Damn, that stutter definitely gave her away.

"You're terrible at lying," Brittany slowly rolled back up to her full height and looked over her shoulder. Santana coughed in an awkward fashion and diverted her eyes towards the other way, pretending to pay attention to her stretching. Brittany smirked again before taking a couple steps towards Santana and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"So terrible," Brittany emphasized as she pulled away. Santana grinned back sheepishly along with a small shrug.

"Apparently I suck at the things I usually am proficient at when I'm with you... speaking and thinking coherently, self-control, lying and such..." Santana listed and counted off with her fingers. "Those could be equivalent to my superpowers,"

"Am I your weakness?" Brittany asked, her eyes glistening with playfulness.

"Actually, you're more like my own personal kryptonite." Santana paused as Brittany quirked up an eyebrow in confusion and quickly added, "In a good way, of course. Like... my blue kryptonite"

"Didn't that make Clark more... umm... human in Smallville?" Brittany questioned. She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to remember her TV show trivia.

"Yeah. It suppressed his superhuman powers and essentially made him a normal human being," Santana explained and Brittany nodded.

"I make you a normal human being, then?" The hint of a mischievous grin graced Brittany's lips.

"You definitely inhibit my usual powers," Santana answered back with a tone of lighthearted banter, she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she spoke. Brittany hummed thoughtfully as a response.

"How did your glasses stay on your face the whole time?" She took notice of the lenses, which were slightly fogged up.

"Well... that's one of my other superpowers," A smirk appeared as Santana's face as she adjusted the left side of her glasses.

Santana cringed suddenly, her face showing signs of immediate pain.

"Gorramit," She hissed as she shot down and set her hands around her left calf.

"Santana, what's wrong?!" Brittany asked worriedly, she held a concerned expression as she tried to help the other girl out.

"Leg... cramp," Santana groaned out as she clenched her jaw and sucked in air through her teeth.

"Sit down," Brittany instructed while she took her arm for guidance. Santana began the breath heavily to cover up how much pain she was in. She spread out her legs on the floor and placed her forearms on the ground behind her to support her upper body. She threw her head back and squeezed her eyes shut, her face still contorted with discomfort from the muscle spasm.

Brittany was seated across from Santana. She swiftly lifted and held up Santana's left leg with her right hand massaging the flexed muscle. Her left hand pushed Santana's foot back to counter act the flexed state.

Santana let out a relieved sigh as the initial shocks of pain subsided and the dull ache of soreness settled in. She lifted her head up and peeked an eye over at Brittany, who's full concentration was on her leg.

"I used to get leg cramps all the time when I was younger. The dancing thing..." Brittany said, her fingers working on kneading the strained muscle. She gazed over at Santana and gave her a small smile.

"Thanks, Britt. Santana's voice was laced with gratitude despite the fact that she was still hurting physically.

"Somebody has to take care of you when you're at your weakest," Santana felt her face heat up from Brittany's words. She blinked a few times before she shyly looked away. Brittany seemed to take notice of Santana's shift of emotions and breathed out a chuckle before she continued.

"Also... If you weren't so fixated on checking me out, maybe you wouldn't have gotten distracted and not remember to stretch out your leg muscles after a long run," She stated teasingly. Santana set her eyes back on her and scoffed.

"It's not my fault that my girlfriend has a rockin' bod. Also, see? You're my Blue Kryptonite. I haven't gotten a leg cramp like this in a really long time," Santana sat up and crossed her arms over her chest. Brittany smirked and relaxed the grip, allowing Santana to move around a little.

"Is it better now?" Brittany asked, her hand was stroking her leg softly.

"Yeah," Santana slightly flexed and extended her left calf and winced at how tender it was still.

"What was that you said earlier?" Brittany questioned, remembering Santana's cry before she bent down.

"Gorramit. It's an altered version of god damn it" Santana replied back as she rubbed the back of her neck timidly.

"Gorramit?" Brittany was still confused, but waited patiently for Santana to continue.

"Sorry, I- umm... it's a reference from Firefly," She clarified with a smile.

"Firefly?" Brittany's thoughts wandered to the small insects that illuminated the night with their butts.

"It's this brilliantly written, futuristic, sci-fi, western show created by Joss Whedon that was cut way before it should have been. The fan base support grew so much that they made a low budget, yet amazing follow up movie called Serenity. It's like one of the nerdiest things ever, but for some reason whenever I experience physical pain I started to say, 'Gorramit'," Santana finished, she knew how lame she must have sounded as she averted her eyes away and nervously bit her lip. Brittany watched her curiously and clearly read how Santana was starting to feel self-conscious.

"Interesting, well... we should watch that soon," Brittany said softly as she leaned over to wrap her arm around Santana to help her up, "Come on, let's get you home,"

Brittany hooked her arm around Santana's waist as Santana held a firm grip on her shoulder. She limped a little as they began to walk towards Brittany's car due to the soreness but Brittany easily supported Santana's weight on her and didn't seem to be affected with the burden. Once they got to the passenger side, Brittany unlocked the doors and opened it for her.

She helped Santana get seated inside and was about to close the door for her when Santana tugged on her hand, making her stop. Brittany shot Santana a quizzical look and was met with a slight shake of a head and grin on Santana's face. Santana pulled on her hand again, silently asking Brittany to bend down closer to her again.

Brittany complied and raised an eyebrow, uncertain of Santana's intentions. She watched as Santana ran her tongue over her lips before crashing them upon hers. Brittany willingly went along with it and placed her hand gently on Santana's cheek before pulling away after a minute... or so...

"You know you don't have to be ashamed about anything with me. No matter how nerdy it seems. Remember, it's all part of your charm." She reassured her with an eskimo kiss. Santana sighed in content and slightly nodded, the corners of her lips curved up.

"And I find it so hot," Brittany whispered as another playful smirk appeared while Santana laughed and wrinkled her nose at her. She gave Santana another peck before she shut the door and walked to the driver side.

Brittany drove them to Santana and Quinn's apartment, her hand interlaced with Santana's the entire ride there.

"Do you want me to stay over?" Brittany looked over to Santana once she parked, her eyes were filled with genuine concern.

"Yes," Santana automatically replied, "Uhh- please... I don't think I can walk to the door alone. Plus it's late already," She realized that she might have sounded too eager and amended it with a one-sided smile.

"Alright. But only because you said, 'please'," Brittany told her as she got out of the car, her tone evident with amusement.

Santana moved to get out of the passenger seat when Brittany abruptly scooped her up into her arms bridal style with ease.

Santana squeaked out in surprise but innately wrapped her arms securely around Brittany's neck. She could feel the bubbly laugh erupt and vibrate from Brittany's body to hers.

"Britt... you do know that I can walk, right?"

"I know. I just want to make sure nothing else happens to you since I make you practically powerless," Her blue eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Because you're my Blue Kryptonite," Santana stated with another scoff and rolled her eyes playfully as she tried to hide her smile. Brittany winked back at her as she shut the car door with her foot and carried Santana to the front door of her apartment.

"I guess Quinn and Rachel went to bed already..." Santana said once they stepped inside, the only light on was the one illuminating the hallway.

"Good. Now I can have my way with you," Brittany kept a straight face as Santana let out a noise that sounded alike to a yelp from a puppy. Brittany broke out into a round of laughter and jokingly poked her tongue out at Santana. "I'm kidding," Brittany just loved to play the game of how many times she could get Santana all flustered in a night. Santana glowered back.

"You can put me down now, Britt," Santana told her pointedly, trying to mask how much she was enjoying being held. Instead Brittany tightened her hold.

"No. Not until we get to your room," She retorted back challengingly.

"So chivalrous," Santana relented with a faux tone of indifference.

Brittany hummed in agreement as they walked into Santana's room and finally placed her down carefully on her bed.

"This isn't going to be weird, is it?" Brittany looked over at Santana as she sat down next to her.

"Of course not. We can sleep in the same bed," Santana reasoned, with a glance behind her.

"Okay good,"

"Umm, I guess you have to borrow some of my clothes..."

"If you're worried about me needing extra underwear or a bra, don't be." Brittany said with a smirk, "I have clean ones in my bag,"

"Oh..." Santana was taken aback with surprise.

"I always come prepared for anything. Duh," Brittany wagged her eyebrows up and down teasingly.

"That's reassuring," Santana gave a small laugh.

"But I do need some sleepwear," Brittany informed her, that smirk never left her lips.

"I got it covered," Santana got up and hobbled over to her drawer and pulled out some clothes. She handed it over to her with a smile, "You can go shower first, you remember where the bathroom is, right?"

"Yeah,"

"There's a towel cabinet with a few inside right next to the bathroom, extra toothbrushes in the first drawer on the left under the sink and... yeah..." She finished lamely. Brittany giggled, Santana didn't think she'd ever get tired of hearing it. Let alone being the one who was able to make her laugh.

"Thanks San. I'll be back in twenty minutes," Brittany kissed her on the cheek before she padded out of her room.

While Brittany was in the shower, Santana took the time to clean up her room... or at least make it a little more presentable. This was the first time Brittany was staying over... with them being girlfriends and all. She wanted it to be as nice as possible. Even if she had a slight limp in her walk still.

"Your turn," Brittany walked back in the room in the clothes Santana had given her and her blonde hair wrapped up in a towel. Santana turned around with an "okay," and bumped her hip into Brittany's as she went out.

Another twenty minutes passed and Santana came back, fresh and clean in her sleeping clothes. She found Brittany lying on her stomach, with her feet swinging back and forth while in the air looking curiously through a random comic on her bed. Santana noticed that it was a Flash one as she got closer and climbed next to her. Brittany tore her eyes away from the pages and looked over at her.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you, what did you put in that one drink you gave me?" Santana began as she ran a hand through her recently blow-dried hair.

"Chemical X?"

"Yeah,"

"Hmm... It was a triple expresso shot with a pump of vanilla syrup, two pumps of mocha sauce, two pumps of toffee nut with whipped cream and salted caramel toppings plus some chocolate drizzle on top." Brittany recited as she looked up at the ceiling with a finger tapping on her chin.

"Whoa, that sounds like a complicated order," Santana said, clearly impressed with her ability to recall it all.

"Kurt and I like to play around and experiment with making drinks when we have downtime," Brittany explained with a shrug.

A small yawn escaped from Brittany's lips a moment later, Santana realized that it was late by now and they were both tired from today's activities.

She took the Flash comic,placed it on the table next to her bed and turned off the night. After that she rolled onto her back and pulled Brittany with her. They laid there on the bed face to face for a few seconds in silence just adoringly staring at one another.

"Hey stranger," Santana started to sing softly.

"Hi," A warm smile spread over Brittany's lips.

"I'd like to, I'd like to, know you better," Santana carried on quietly.

"Is that from a song?"

"Yeah," Santana breathed out. Brittany wrapped an arm around her waist and brought them closer together.

"I like it," Brittany brought her eyes up again to gaze at Santana's dark ones.

"I like you," Santana said back confidently.

"Sweet talker," Brittany laughed bashfully and sighed.

"Yep,"

"Those sweet words will probably make my dreams sweet too, huh?" Brittany uplifted a questioning brow.

"That's the plan," Santana replied in a comical sense. Brittany smiled before she pressed her lips against Santana's. No matter how many times they kissed, Santana was one-hundred percent sure that she would always love this feeling. They pulled away and Santana brought up the covers over them.

"Goodnight, San," Brittany murmured with another yawn. She snuggled up to Santana comfortably. Santana reciprocated the action and watched as her eyes fluttered shut.

"Night, Britt," She whispered.

The next morning Santana awoke to a pair of crystal blue eyes staring right back at her.

"Morning," They said simultaneously.

"Were you watching me sleep?" Santana's voice was scratchy from just waking up.

"Maybe," Brittany told her elusively.

"Oh, that's nice." Santana teased. The two both laughed before Brittany sat up.

"Come on, let's get up!" Brittany tugged on Santana's hand. Santana huffed but gave in to being pulled out of bed. They walked hand-in-hand out of her room towards the kitchen and living room area. Brittany rubbed her bleary eyes and let Santana lead them down the hall.

"Shit," Santana breathed out once they turned the corner of the hallway. It was too late to quietly go back to the room inconspicuously.

"San?" Brittany looked down at her girlfriend before she noticed why she had stopped. Her eyes shifted to the kitchen and living room. Quinn and Rachel were sitting at the dining room table having some hot tea. Mercedes was standing by the counter, stirring some sugar and creamer in a cup of coffee. Puck and Sam were sitting on the couch, their focus on the television set. Quinn and Mercedes were the only two who noticed Santana and Brittany standing there.

"Good morning Santana..." Quinn greeted pleasantly, her hazel eyes glinted with mirth towards her roommate as she continued on and added, "Brittany," with a nod as she lifted her mug of hot tea to her lips. Puck, Sam and Rachel all turned around at Quinn's words.

"Morning Quinn," Brittany replied back brightly with a smile, "Hi guys," She directed towards the rest of the people in the room with a small wave.

"Brittany! I didn't know you stayed over last night!" Rachel exclaimed, her enormous broadway-like smile spread across her face.

"Yeah, it was sorta a last minute thing..." Brittany said modestly with a glance towards Santana.

"Why are you wearing Santana's clothes?" Sam questioned, noticing now that Santana was in her normal Superhero related pajamas (this time it was a Superman shirt and pants with the emblem patterned all over it) and Brittany in a matching Batman shirt and pajama pants. Everyone went silent for a moment.

"Alright, I'm going to ask the question that's in everyone's mind right now. Did you two finally sleep together?" Mercedes looked at the two in question with a hand on her hip.

"Of course no-" Santana began her explanation before someone interrupted.

"Yes," Brittany answered as if it were no big deal.

Quinn choked on the tea she was currently drinking. Rachel's eyes went comically wide with surprise. Sam's incredibly huge mouth dropped open. Puck had the biggest perverted grin on his face. Only god knows what was going on in his mind. Mercedes just shrugged and nodded, satisfied with the answer.

"Britt!" Santana shrieked out, horrified as she turned to look at her girlfriend. Brittany beamed back at her cheekily.

"Oh hell yeah, Lopez! Get it!" Puck wolf-whistled. Sam just looked at them with a blank stare.

"Holy nightmares, Batman," Santana held a hand over her eyes in embarrassment. This was the worst.

"Well... We didn't have sex... if that's what you were implying," Brittany continued with a tilt of her head.

A disappointed groan came from Puck. Everyone else gave each other wide-eyed looks, minus Santana and Brittany.

"But Santana's a cuddler,"

"Britt," Santana sighed and peeked out through her fingers.

"We just had a sleepover," Brittany finished with a smile, oblivious to everyone's reactions.

"Okay, we're gonna go get cleaned up in the bathroom now," Santana changed the subject to avoid any further awkwardness and motioned to Brittany to follow her.

"Do you guys need any help?" Puck chimed in suggestively.

"Bite me, fanboy," Santana snapped at him, her tone dangerously low. She and Brittany walked past the rest of them. Santana with a scowl on her face and Brittany with a small smile on hers.

"Hurry up, we're going to Santa Monica Pier in an hour to meet up with Kurt, Blaine, Tina and Mike!" Quinn called out as they turned the corner.

"Oh yeah! I forgot that we were all hanging out," Brittany replied back excitedly.

Santana sighed. It was going to be a long day for her.

"So, Santana... I've heard quite a bit about how you were the popular type in high school. How is it that today that's not the case?"

"Kurt," Brittany chastised her co-worker with stern look.

"What? I'm just asking, Britt," He said back, his gaze set on her girlfriend. He was intrigued with Santana's past.

They (Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Rachel, Puck, Mercedes, Sam, Kurt, Blaine, Tina and Mike) were all seated in a restaurant at Santa Monica for lunch.

"No, it's cool. Umm, okay how do I start this?" She looked over to Quinn, who gave her a reassuring nod from her seat a couple of chairs away. All eyes and attention were set respectfully on Santana.

"Alright, so I was pretty much top dog in high school. Fighting this one over here..." Santana gestured towards her roommate, "for the hierarchy of social standing. I honestly don't remember how it all happened because my parents have been incredibly supportive of me and everything that I do- but I learned at a young age that if you're above everyone else, that gave you the entitlement to do whatever you wanted. Obviously if I let my inner nerd-geekasm out for the whole world to see that would have left me out of the running. So I kept it hidden starting from sixth to seventh grade. I told myself that this could sorta be like my alter-ego outside of school, the most significant influences being Clark Kent and Superman, Bruce Wayne and Batman, Peter Parker and Spiderman, etcetera."

"It was basically a game I had to play until I could get out of there. I did really well in school, was on the cheerleading squad and battled out head cheerleader for about half of the time I was in it. It wasn't until I joined Glee club my sophomore year that I realized that it was okay to be myself. These guys..." Santana nodded to her group of friends.

"Quinn, Rachel, Sam, Puck and Mercedes, were the only ones who knew about me being super nerdy. But on top of all that... I was also into girls. Now that freaked me out to a whole other level. I suppressed that way deeper than my comic obsession. Because being a nerd was one thing... but being a lesbian nerd? Complete social suicide. Lima, Ohio... was such a small-minded town. And I couldn't risk it, everything that I built up in my reputation. But I finally couldn't handle it anymore during my junior year. The first person I told was Quinn, then the rest of my friends and then my parents. Thank god they were all okay with it. Which allowed me to be okay with being attracted to girls, but I wasn't going to announce it to the world so I kept it on the down low for the rest of high school. But, I was happier with myself. It was... freeing. I got into UCLA, packed up my things, and never-looked back. Ever since I moved out here I just stopped giving a fuck and here we are now, three years later."

"Wow," Tina said in slight astonishment once Santana finished her story. Mike looked over to Santana and gave her a comforting smile.

Brittany shifted in her seat, took her hand on the table and squeezed it affectionately. Santana glanced at their hands and brought her eyes up to hers.

"I mean, there's more to it than that, but I gave you the cliff notes version. You get the gist of it all," She said aloud with her gaze still set on those blue eyes.

"And yes, I can be the hottest piece of ass you've ever seen. I just choose not to be most of the time," Santana added to break the serious tension. Light laughter scattered throughout the table. A smirk graced her lips as she eyed the rest of the group.

"You caught such a modest one there, Britt," Blaine chuckled with Kurt sporting a wide grin.

"What are you talking about? She is the hottest thing here," Brittany then intertwined their fingers together.

Santana felt weak in the knees as she felt the warmth from Brittany's hand spread over her, even though she was seated. She set her eyes back on Brittany, smirked and leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Blue Kryptonite,"

I just have so many feelings, okay?

To one of the anon reviewers: Yes, I am a huge Gabe Bondoc fan. If you've noticed, all my titles... besides this one... have been song titles by a few of my favorite youtube artists. I try to slip in a reference to one every chapter.
This time I had Santana sing part of "Stranger" by Richard Tranley.

Umm, so Brittana needs to get back together in canon, but I hope this chapter sufficed enough for everyone searching for some solace still.

Also, I saw Damian McGinty (Rory Flanagan) last weekend. I seriously cannot get away from Glee in any form whatsoever in my life apparently.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows!
You guys are the best.

-Perseids