Of Coffee Shops and Comic Books

Ch. 10: If We Never Met

"I love you."

Wait.

Dark mocha eyes widened at the realization of words that had escaped her mouth.

Shit.

Did she just... say that? Out loud?

Those brown eyes hesitantly moved up to lock with blue ones that were waiting and piercing back at hers. They would normally be gazing back with warmth, even playfulness, but all that was evident in them was shock. The "deer caught in headlights" sort. She was pretty sure that she mirrored the exact same expression on her face.

Fuck.

She totally did confess that out loud.

This was not how Santana imagined it to be- as to how she would finally say those words to Brittany.

No.

It was supposed to be at a romantic place... like at some fancy ass restaurant, or the beach, or at the top of some high rooftop where there was a beautiful skyline view, or where ever else people confess these things to their significant others. They were in LA, after all. Also preferably after a nice night out where the two of them were dressed up and Santana would have spent a bunch of money, but wouldn't mind at all because it was all for Brittany.

They had their first kiss and official girlfriend relationship status solidified under the event of one of the most known meteor showers. She was supposed to "one-up" herself.

She didn't picture it as this.

Nope.

Not when she was sitting (wearing her habitual black rimmed glasses, hair up in a regular ponytail, dark blue jeans and a Superman shirt) at her usual seat in Pinky's Coffee House, while simply watching her girlfriend (who was still just as stunning as ever with her blue button up shirt and khaki shorts, hidden under that tattered, stained, and old black work apron, and her golden blonde hair, up in a messy bun, with her black visor just covering her eyes at this angle, but with a few strands framing her flawless visage) wipe down and clean up the remaining few tables (and do a few random, carefree dance moves in beat with the turned up volume of the background music) at nearly 11PM on her last day of work before they started the new school year.

And especially not with Kurt (who -thank dear god above- was the only other living soul in their immediate vicinity, and who was just a second ago closing up around his area while humming some Les Miserables tune) watching them intently from his spot at the cashier counter.

Well, at least it wasn't Quinn or Rachel in the same room. That would have been a disastrous nightmare.

But still...

It seemed as if she had pressed the pause button and the world just stopped everything in it's tracks at that moment.

The sound of something metallic clattered to the floor. That broke the spell and Santana blinked a few times before breaking eye contact and looking down at the ground. The sound of the music through the coffee shop speakers came back into her hearing. Brittany had dropped one of the spoons she had in her hand. Santana flicked her eyes back up and watched as Brittany straighten up, from her previously hunched over posture, and draped the white washcloth (that she was wiping the table down with) over one of the chairs. She began to pick nervously at her fingernails before she spoke up.

"What... did you say?" She asked in a slow, tentative manner. Her gaze was fixated on Santana, the initial surprise ebbed away, and curiosity was evident in her tone and eyes.

"I'm... uhh- I'll be in the back..." Kurt stated quickly as his glance shifted between the two girls. He carefully put down whatever he was holding, whipped out his phone, scurried and disappeared behind a curtained area with a squeal.

"Great, he's about to tell everyone that I just spilled out my heart unintentionally in the most unromantic way possible," Santana thought as she sighed to herself with a purse of her lips.

Brittany cleared her throat, causing Santana to focus her attention back. She was waiting for an answer.

Santana Lopez. You're the biggest fool in the world for blabbing that out.

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose before feebly muttering out,

"Holy fucking fish sticks, Batman."

One of Brittany's eyebrows quirked up in response, obviously not satisfied with Santana's reply. Santana gave her a weak smile to accompany it, but Brittany's expression didn't change.

It was now or never.

Santana sighed heavily, looked Brittany directly in the eye, and quietly repeated her first statement... but in a more defiant and confident tone.

"I love you."

One Week Earlier

The airport wasn't as busy as Santana thought it would be. There were still people were bustling around her trying to get to wherever they were going. Rachel rolled along two, rather large, luggage bags (which were probably filled mainly with various NYADA/ New York/ Broadway items that were unnecessary for the trip but that were bought along to LA anyway) to check in. She was dressed in an outfit that was liken to a flight attendant's attire (in Santana's opinion... and any other sane person's opinion). They had all (Rachel, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Sam, Mike and Tina) arrived at the airport two hours before Rachel's flight would depart, here in LAX. This had all been at Rachel's assistance, of course, and Santana was about to have a snarky remark about that, if it wasn't for that warm, familiar hand that slipped between hers.

It was as if Brittany read her mind. She intertwined their fingers and gave Santana a look that said, "Remember, be nice," when their eyes met each other. Santana shook her head slightly but responded back with a light squeeze and a relented smile.

Once they arrived at the security check line, Rachel began her round of goodbye hugs and last bits of advice, since they couldn't go any further with her to the gates.

"Thank you, everyone for showing me such hospitality, especially Santana and Quinn for letting me stay at your apartment on such short notice." Rachel held a grateful smile on her face as she nodded to the two other girls. Quinn smiled back while Santana rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"Mike and Tina, it's always a pleasure to meet new people who I would consider as my friends. Especially those of a different ethnicity." The two Asians were over taken by a simultaneous hug from her. Mike awkwardly patted her back and Tina laughed as she returned the embrace. Rachel then turned to Sam.

"Sam, I'll be sure to send you some packs of chapstick because they have better quality ones on the East Coast. The weather there is more harsh." Sam chuckled and nodded gratefully as Rachel wrapped her arms around him next.

"Brittany, what a delight it's been to finally meet the girl who has seemingly stolen Santana's breath away. Which was rather surprising, as well as heartwarming. I'm very glad that you and Santana have found one another and your sapphic romance has boosted my hopes for love now as I return back to New York. Although, I don't expect to find a relationship quite as similar as yours." Brittany smiled and immediately embraced Rachel before she could do it and even lifted her up from the ground a little bit. Once Brittany placed her back down, Rachel smoothed out her outfit and walked to Quinn and Santana.

"Thank you so much, again Quinn. It's always a pleasure. I look forward to my future visits to Los Angeles."

"We'll see you soon, Rach." Quinn tightly hugged her and they shared a knowing smile before Rachel turned to the last one in their group. Instead of saying something before her hugs as with the previous people, she went straight to engulf Santana in an unexpectedly warm embrace.

"Don't be afraid to convey your love, Santana. Brittany's special. I can see that." Rachel said quietly to her so that no one else could hear. Santana was taken aback a little by surprise from both her words and hug but she returned it and sighed in a content manner.

"Yeah..." She breathed out just as softly as her eyes drifted to the girl they were talking about. They separated and Rachel took Santana's hands in hers.

"And don't forget our planned skype sessions!" She announced a little more loudly.

"Wouldn't dare to miss one, Berry. You're gonna text us before you call anyway." Santana smirked with a shrug.

"You can never be too careful," Rachel told her pointedly. She dropped her hands, then turned to everyone else and gave an exuberant wave.

"Goodbye, everyone!"

"Have a safe trip," Santana replied back as the rest said something related to the sort. With that, Rachel Berry turned her heel and left to catch her flight back to New York City.

"You're gonna miss her," Brittany said suddenly as they were waiting for Tina, Quinn, Sam and Mike return from the bathroom. The two were both leaning on a wall as airport people passed them by.

"What are you talking about?" Santana looked over at her with a questioning expression.

"I see now how she fit into your group in high school," Brittany's tone was nonchalant and a hint of a smile played on her lips.

"Who would miss her obnoxious, spontaneous singing and that annoying voice?"

"You,"

"Great Scott. What? You want me to say that I'm going to miss Rachel Berry terribly and that I love her oh so much?" Santana scoffed, sarcasm was evident in her words.

"Up to a certain extent, yes. Just as long as you're not in love with her, I'm good." Brittany's smile turned into a smirk and Santana froze again at the "L" word.

"I-" She began, but was cut off.

"Let's go lovebirds!" a voice called out to them, interrupting Santana's reply.

Saved by Quinn. Santana looked over and saw that the rest of their friends were waiting on them a few yards away. She let out a relieved sigh.

"Yeah, we're coming,"

Brittany giggled and pulled Santana along to catch up with the rest of their group.

Rachel's words had once again stuck in Santana's mind and echoed in her brain repeatedly.

Present

"I love you, Brittany." Santana stated, after a moment she cleared her throat before continuing on.

"Miraculously enough, I've fallen in love with you, in the short amount of time that we've actually been together. And I want to be in love with you for many years to come. Forever if that's possible- If you'd let me... You can make me feel as invincible as Superman and at the same time be my Blue Kryptonite. As conflicting as that ridiculous statement sounds. This has been plaguing my mind for quite sometime and I guess because of some Freudian slip or something, it just happened to come out now. You're incredible. I wasn't even looking for someone to fall in love with and yet, you made me realize that it was you who I was trying to find. And to keep on rolling with how cheesy I sound, if we never met, I'd probably never feel what I feel when I'm with you in all my life. You're like the Robin to my Batman, the Lois Lane to my Superman/ Clark Kent, or as I said earlier, the Blue Kryptonite to my Superpowers. I can stand independently on my own, but with you it's an infinitely better. And yeah... I love you," She finished lamely.

Brittany bit down on her lip as her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She sniffled a little before answering.

"Didn't I tell you not to wait so long, next time?" She choked out a laugh that was filled with the emotion inside of her.

"What?"

"After I gave you my number, when you were a stuttering mess in trying to ask me out the first time... I told you 'Next time, don't wait so long," Brittany remembered, she was still trying to suppress her smile, but was failing.

"Oh... you did..." Santana couldn't stop the smile taking over her lips.

"I love you too, Santana. So much. I knew it the second I saw you. Love at first sight is so cliche and I always thought it wasn't true. But when I looked at you, I just knew there was something there. When we started hanging out and I got to know more about you, I knew that I was right." Brittany walked closer to her and practically sat in her lap before cupping Santana's face and bringing their lips together. Their kiss got more heated as the seconds ticked away and Santana soon found herself lying flat on her back on the couch with Brittany pressed directly on top of her.

"Britt," Santana said hesitantly as she broke their kiss when she felt a pair of hands find their way under her shirt. Brittany licked her lips and shot her a look of apology, but a second later it changed into that of a suggestive look.

"Come on, let's go." She told her as she immediately got up and stood to untie her apron.

"But what about cleaning up?" Santana asked, she slowly sat up.

"Kurt will finish it. Something more important just came up right now," Brittany placed her work attire on the table and let her hair down. There was a glint in her eye that Santana hadn't seen before, but she had a pretty good idea as to what was going on. Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and dragged her out of the shop without another word.

Quinn came home later that night and noticed an extra pair of shoes at the door when she entered the apartment.

"Probably Brittany's," She shrugged indifferently as she made her way to her room and heard the sound of muffled giggles where Santana's room was.

"Definitely Brittany." Quinn scoffed and smiled to herself.

She settled herself comfortably into her bed and began to read where she left off on her current book.

About twenty minutes later, Quinn was drawn out of her reading when she heard a noise. A rather peculiar one at that. Hazel eyes peered curiously at the slightly open door that lead down the hall to Santana's room.

"Was that a-...?"

She waited silently for a few seconds to hear it again.

"No, it couldn't have been,"

She shook her head and returned her attention to her book when nothing happened. But not more than a minute passed before she heard it again, or something similar to that, and this time louder in volume. Quinn immediately set down her book with a furrowed brow. She got up from her bed and walked cautiously down the hall to Santana's room.

She leaned an ear in, closer to the door and instantly jumped away with a gasp when her suspicions were seemingly correct.

"Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus. They're having SEX." Quinn's eyes went wide with shock and covered her mouth with a hand as this realization ran through her mind.

There was no mistaking it. Those noises that were heard earlier were definitely moans. The combination of that and tell-tale squeaks of a bed slightly moving was the give-away.

And Quinn didn't want to know anything more. She felt some weird secondhand embarrassment and before she could stop herself she banged on the door and yelled at them.

"Santana! Brittany! I know what's going on in there!"

A beat of silence passed and some slight shuffling from inside the room followed right after.

"Don't you dare open that door, Fabray. I have a bat-a-rang in my hand ready for you," Santana's voice threatened.

"Oh, did you want to join in too, Quinn?" Brittany's bubbly voice cut in questioningly.

"Britt!" Santana shrieked out in surprise.

"Oh my god, NO!" Quinn answered back from the other side of the door, horrified at the request. She could feel the heat of being flustered and embarrassed multiply.

"I was just being polite," Brittany explained after hearing Quinn's response and most likely after seeing Santana's expression.

"Why can't you guys do this when I'm not home?!" Quinn groaned out as she placed a hand over her eyes.

"You weren't home earlier!" Santana snapped at her.

"God! Put a sock on the door or use that bat signal or... I don't know, just something to warn me next time!"

"We'll be sure to keep that in mind," Brittany's light tone was a welcoming contrast to Santana's annoyed stance and Quinn's mixed emotions of shock, horror and embarrassment.

"Whatever. Can you like, go now, Quinn? You're being a literal cockblock right now," Santana told her after a few seconds.

"Fine, I'm going to stay over at Mercedes' place tonight. And don't even think about having sex in my room!" With that Quinn turned on her heel, grabbed her keys and headed out the apartment.

Brittany and Santana waited quietly until they heard the front door open and shut, quite quickly. Their labored breathing had slowed down a bit, but they both broke out into a fit of laughter once it was only the two of them alone in the apartment.

"At least she didn't walk in on us," Brittany said once their giggles subsided.

"I guess," Santana shrugged with a grin.

"We probably shouldn't tell her that we already had sex in her room, huh?" Brittany looked over at her. Santana wasn't wearing her glasses but her hair was a little messy (obviously from their previous activities). Brittany had no doubt that she probably looked similar. They were both on Santana's bed... with nothing but an Avengers blanket covering their bodies.

"What she doesn't know can't hurt her," Santana responded back with a raised eyebrow.

"Come on, let's have sex in her room, again." Brittany broke out into another playful smirk.

"But we already did that, babe" Santana shook her head with a laugh.

"Which is why I said, again, honey." Brittany explained to her as she shifted and rolled on her side, propping her head up with her elbow to look directly at Santana.

"I love the way you think," Santana followed suit and mirrored her girlfriend.

"I love you," Brittany told her again.

"I love you, too." Santana leaned forward and captured her lips, to which Brittany reciprocated. "Now let's go defile Quinn's bed, for a second time" Brittany nodded and they both jumped out of bed into another fit of giggles as they made their way to Quinn's room.

"We probably should have waited longer before going to Quinn's," Brittany laughed as she watched Santana make some breakfast in the kitchen the following morning.

"It wasn't my fault that she forgot something and happened to walk in on us just as we were getting it on..." Santana told her as she turned to look at Brittany, who was sitting on top of the counter, her feet dangling off the side and her legs swinging slightly.

"I feel kind of bad. She looked pretty angry, after her stunned look went away. I think we scarred her for life, babe." Brittany turned her head to the side and pouted.

"Oh, don't be. She got what was coming for her," Santana waved the spatula in her hand around and went back to the stove to flip over the pancakes in the pan.

"She said that you owe her no less than a million dollars in therapy support in addition to the money that she had already told you before she caught us in her room," Brittany added as she leaned forward and gripped the edge of the counter tighter.

"What doesn't kill her makes her stronger," Santana replied back as she finished flipping the food. She looked over her shoulder and Brittany and saw that her expression was still troubled. She sighed before continuing on.

"All will be well. Stop worrying. It's Quinn. She'll get over it... it just might take a while," Santana placed the spatula down and walked back to where Brittany was. She settled herself between her legs and kissed away the apprehension. Brittany slightly giggled and finally kissed back after a few moments.

"Okay," She relented as she snaked her hands around Santana's neck.

"Good. Now let's finish up these pancakes and meet up with them. I have no doubt that they all know about our consummation and I want to get this over with." Santana pecked at her lips once more before slipping out of Brittany's grasp to turn off the stove and place the food on plates.

"Remember to have a bat-a-rang on hand in case Puck says anything." Santana snorted at Brittany's words and pushed up her glasses.

"Oh, I know Puck will say something."

"Last day before classes start," Brittany piped up again after a few minutes into eating their breakfast.

"Yeah, but we'll be fine," Santana reassured her as she looked up from the comic book on the table.

"Can we have study sessions?" Brittany questioned cutely. Santana nodded back.

"Of course... every night if you want to," Santana smirked over to her.

"Is study session code for something else?" Brittany scoffed and rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

"Only if you want it to be. We just have to tell Quinn and/ or Tina if it is,"

"Sounds like a plan," Brittany agreed before focusing her attention back on the pancakes in front of her.

"I love you," Santana said again as she watched her take a bite. Brittany smiled at her, and looked a little like a chipmunk with her cheeks filled with pancakes and syrup.

"I love you, too," She said back once she swallowed and let out a short laugh.

"I'm never going to get tired of saying that," Santana told her as she scrunched up her face a little.

"And I'll never get tired of showing it," Brittany's sincerity came through in her tone. They just looked at each other silently for a few seconds.

"Holy crazy acrobatics, Batman," Santana sighed and Brittany cleared her throat before answering back in a deeper voice with,

"You said it, Robin," Brittany smirked at Santana's surprised look and the two began to laugh again.

My vacation on the East Coast was wonderful, despite the blistering cold. I absolutely fell in love with New York City and went to the Times Square red stairs and reenacted some of the Season 2 finale haha. That place is absolutely beautiful during Christmastime.

So, I know this is a little late, I'm sorry. I got sick and then I just started school this past week. I'm already so overwhelmed with everything but I'm so excited. I'm about halfway done with the epilogue so keep an eye out for that. I'm hoping it'll come around soon.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter (and unofficial end to Of Coffee Shops and Comic Books)

-Perseids