Apologies again for the delay! I've just been so busy lately! Return of the angst in this chapter! ;) Happy reading! :)
Chapter 6
Brittany bounded over to the Christmas tree, dropping down onto the floor beside it. The tree was beautifully decorated with multicoloured lights and simple baubles. The fresh smell of pine needles was practically dripping off the tree and permeating the room.
Brittany looked like a six year old again as she pulled her enormous stack of presents from various family members towards her, eyes growing wide as saucers as she admired the monstrous pile.
Santana felt a bit awkward as she dragged herself over to the tree and sat beside Brittany. She, after all, would be getting no presents and she felt a little disappointed as she saw the amount that Brittany had gotten and couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. That jealousy was quickly replaced by surprise as Brittany reached out and grabbed two more presents from under the tree and handed them to Santana.
Santana glanced at the labels on the presents and couldn't contain the grin that took over here face as she looked towards Brittany.
"What?" The blonde asked, stopping midway through unwrapping a present as she noticed the Latina staring at her, smirking.
"You could have just written your own name," Santana chuckled light-heartedly, hitting her girlfriend lightly on the arm as she gestured to one of the presents, with a label saying:
To Santana
From Lord Tubbington
"San that's mean" Brittany said simply, frowning slightly before turning back to her own presents. Santana was thoroughly confused with the answer she had been given, but just shook her head and got on with unwrapping her presents. She started with the one that was supposedly from Lord Tubbington and pulled off the wrapping to reveal a framed photo of the two girls lying on Santana's bed just staring straight at each other, hands linked between them. Strangely the photo seemed to have been taken from close to ground level and Santana didn't remember Brittany setting up a camera at any point.
Despite her confusion, Santana couldn't help but love the photo and couldn't stop looking at it. Well, looking at Brittany in it, more precisely. Eventually she managed to tear her gaze away and, gently placing the picture on the floor beside her, moved onto her other present. The label indicated that it was from Mrs Pierce. She was touched that Susan would think to give her a present after everything she was already giving her.
The Latina unwrapped it to find a brand new Letterman jacket. It wasn't unlike the jackets that she had seen the Cheerios wearing, other than it was blue and white, rather than red and white. She turned the jacket around and grinned even wider than she previously had been when she spotted 'Santana' written in gold writing on the back. She turned to Brittany to show off her jacket and immediately saw the blonde holding an identical one, with 'Brittany' printed on the back. They had matching jackets. Santana's heart swelled and she couldn't wait to thank Susan for the present.
Both girls simultaneously pulled on their respective jackets and then reached under the tree and both pulled out another present each. They smiled shyly before handing each other the items and mumbling a 'Happy Christmas' in unison. Santana gave Brittany a slight nudge, silently telling her to open her present first. The blonde girl complied and began removing the wrapping paper. She squealed in delight as a 'Make your own candy floss' machine popped out. Candy floss was her absolute favourite food.
She then noticed the other item, a small box. She opened it to reveal a silver charm bracelet with a single charm on it. It was 'S and B' engraved in the middle of a small heart. Brittany was struck by the meaning of those two little letters.
"I love it, S" she whispered, not taking her eyes from the metal as she fastened it onto her wrist, "I'll never take it off." This time she looked up at Santana, giving her a soft smile and leaning in to place a gentle kiss on her lips. As she pulled away, an enormous grin engulfed her face. "Your turn!"
Santana smiled and turned to her, considerably smaller, present. She didn't mind the size though, all that mattered was she was actually being remembered on an occasion. As she pulled off the wrapping paper, she discovered that it was in fact an envelope. As she began to open it, she felt Brittany's hand on her own and looked up to meet her eyes.
"I know it should be romantic, and stuff," Brittany began, looking slightly nervous, "But I wanted you to know that I got these ages ago, before we were together or anything, so I still hope you like it." Santana smiled reassuringly, before returning to the envelope.
Her eyes grew wide as she pulled out the contents of the envelope. In her hand were two tickets to see Adele in Cleveland. Santana almost screamed, but instead settled for ambushing her girlfriend, leaping at her and holding her in a vice-like embrace and gushing out thank you's. Brittany could only laugh at here girlfriend's excitement. She had hoped the Latina would react like this, she needed some joy in her life at the moment.
When Santana finally pulled away, she was breathless and couldn't bring herself to say anything more, so the two girls sat in comfortable silence, which was eventually broken by Mrs Pierce entering the living room, announcing that breakfast was ready.
xXx
Santana could feel her eyes drifting shut as she stared at the TV. It had been a long day. The two girls had spent the whole day checking out Brittany's presents, which included a karaoke machine, leading to both girls screaming their heads off to various chart-topping hits.
Dinner had been absolutely amazing. It had been a long time since Santana had even had company on Christmas, never mind a perfectly cooked dinner with an option for seconds and even thirds. Herself and Brittany had helped a little with the cooking, but most of the credit had to go to Susan.
In the evening they had played some board games with Susan, which led to a few heated debates between mother and daughter about the rules of 'Monopoly'. Santana had even had fake money thrown at her by daring to make a comment that seemed to favour one of the parties.
To top off the day, Susan had gone out for a drive, leaving the two girls alone, and Santana immediately attacked the liquor cabinet. The two shots of tequila managed to wash away any lingering hurt that Santana felt about her own life away from Brittany's seemingly perfect one. She could get used to that.
And now, here they were, curled up in front of the TV, watching 'It's A Wonderful Life', with Santana's head on Brittany's lap and a pale hand running through dark hair. Santana had never felt better and could feel herself drifting off, just as the doorbell rang. She vaguely registered Susan getting up to answer the door, but didn't even bother opening her eyes until she heard the visitor enter the living room and Brittany's hand stopped moving through her hair. Now, that was enough to get her to open her eyes.
Her gaze travelled to the person standing in the doorway. Short, tanned skin, dark brown eyes and wavy hair, it was the last person she wanted to see. She sat up quickly and glared at her mother, grabbing Brittany's hand and holding on as she did so.
"Hi S," her mother began meekly, staring at the floor in front of her, "I-I just wanted to say, um, Happy Christmas and I brought you this." She gestured to the small box she was carrying and handed to her daughter. Santana, however, made no effort to move, so she just placed it awkwardly on the couch next to her. Maria suddenly noticed the two girls' clasped hands and looked uncertain. Santana could see something else in her eyes that she couldn't quite place, as she spoke, "So are you two…?" Maria trailed off, clearly unable to finish the question, so Santana decided to do it for her.
"Yes we are! I love Brittany, she loves me and she is my girlfriend!" Santana spat, "I'm gay, Mom! And I don't care what you or anyone else says, because it's who I am and I'm not afraid any more!" Santana glared at her mother, feeling an enormous sense of relief after finally being able to say it out loud. And then Santana realised what she had seen in her mother's eyes. It was disgust. But then she realised it wasn't directed at her, it was Brittany. She thought Brittany was the disgusting one and this got to Santana more than anything her mother could ever say to her.
"Right, well," Maria pulled herself up to her full height and took a deep breath, "Well, just so you know, you're still welcome at home, dear," she completed ignored Brittany with this statement, staring directly at her daughter, "I hope you come to your senses soon," she said matter-of-factly, before turning swiftly and exiting without another word.
Santana was left speechless. Yet again, her mother had let her down and not supported her. Weren't parents supposed to love their children unconditionally? Santana had forever felt like second best, especially since her sister died. After the accident, both her mother and her father spent more time dwelling on their lost daughter than the one they still had, leaving Santana to fend for herself most of the time. All she wanted was to be loved and now that she had that with Brittany, they couldn't be happy for her. Instead her mother had pretended like she cared about her. It seemed like, if she couldn't have Santana, nobody could.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed Britt," Santana said wearily, looking sadly at her girlfriend, who just nodded in return, before hopping off the couch and switching off the TV. Susan came in to offer a quick goodnight before heading to bed herself.
Brittany switched off the light without a word and jumped into bed. Santana was happy with Brittany's silence. She didn't really feel like talking now.
Maria had ruined a perfectly good day, just by showing up. It was then that Santana realised that she could never go home. She didn't belong there. Home is where the heart is and her heart was with Brittany.
Thoughts? Reviews help me write faster! Please let me know what you thought!
Till next time! :)