A/N: No update tomorrow so you get a longish one today. Thanks for reading! :)
Santana followed Sam and Mercedes as they walked the long walkway to the front door.
"Jesus," Santana said, as she admired the Spanish style mansion, "This is what my tax dollars are paying for?"
"No," Sam said with a chuckle, "The house the city pays for is no where near this big. Judy actually lets a woman's charity use the mayor's house. This one is just one of Judy's homes."
The reality of how much money the Fabrays had suddenly hit Santana, "Wow."
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "Wow."
They reached the front door and rang the bell. Santana was surprised to see Quinn open the door and not a butler.
"Hello!" Quinn greeted happily, "So glad you could make it. Please, come in."
Quinn looked stunning in a beige color short dress.
Santana passed through the front door onto the marble floor. In front of her a large staircase that lead upstairs. To Santana this placed looked more like a luxury hotel than a home.
"Obscene isn't it?" Quinn asked Santana.
"What?"
"The amount of money this house reeks," Quinn said.
Sam and Mercedes had gone ahead to the living room while Santana and Quinn stayed back.
"You don't seem to be a fan of being rich," Santana said.
"It has its perks," Quinn said, "I am grateful for all the opportunities it has given me, but…you know, there are more important things than money."
Santana was impressed with Quinn. She could have easily grown up to be some snobby, entitled heiress, but instead Quinn turned out to be as down to earth as the next person.
"Yes there are," Santana agreed.
"Come on," Quinn said, starting to walk, "Everyone is here already. Including Brittany."
"Why would I care if Brittany was already here?" Santana asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Oh please, honey,' Quinn said, rolling her eyes, "Everyone knows."
Santana couldn't help but smile.
Quinn lead her through a long hallway into a very spacious living room. Santana felt like she was in a museum instead of a home. The place looked packed. Santana had thought that this would be a small dinner, but looking around the room, Santana figured there must have been 30 people.
"I thought you said this wasn't a fundraiser," Santana asked Quinn.
"It's not," Quinn said, "Just a few close friends and colleagues."
"A few?" Santana asked, bewildered.
"I'll get you a drink," Quinn said and walked away.
Santana continued to scan the room. She spotted Will and Emma near the fireplace and went to talk to them.
"Hi,"
"Santana, sweetie," Emma said, giving her a hug, "Don't you look lovely."
"Thanks, so do you," Santana said, "I'm glad to see you guys. I didn't think you'd make it."
"And miss a chance to party in a mansion," Will said, "No way."
"I myself just came for the free food and booze," Santana joked.
"Me too," Emma said, "Hey Santana, it's been ages since you've been over to our house. How about dinner next week?"
"That sounds great," Santana said, "Count me in. OK, I'm going to go mingle. I'll catch you later."
Santana left Will and Emma and began to scan the room again. At the far end of the room, she spotted Brittany talking to a woman Santana recognized as one of the mayor's assistants.
Santana's heart rate seemed to go into overdrive. Brittany was wearing an elegant black dress that made her look gorgeous. Santana watched Brittany laugh at something which caused Santana to smile.
She began walking towards the two women when Brittany turned.
Brittany was listening to Rachel talk about a new musical she was writing. Aside from being the mayor's assistant, Rachel was also an aspiring playwright. While Rachel was finishing telling her about the plot, Brittany sensed someone looking at her. She turned and saw Santana approaching.
Dressed in purple, her hair down, Santana looked elegant and beautiful. Brittany took in a breath.
"Good evening," Santana said with a smile.
"Hello," Rachel said.
"Hi," Brittany said, smiling, her heart beating faster than it should.
"I know you," Rachel said to Santana, "You were at headquarters the other day."
"Yes," Santana said, "I was there. You're...Rachel, right?"
"That's right," Rachel said, "I'm one of the mayor's assistants. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Santana. Santana Lopez."
"You're a cop?"
"I am," Santana said.
"You look too posh to be a cop," Rachel observed.
Brittany chuckled, "Don't let her looks fool you. She's tough."
"Hmm," Rachel said, doubtful.
"This is quite the dinner," Santana said, looking at Brittany.
"This place is like a museum," Brittany said.
"I like museums," Rachel said.
Both Santana and Brittany had temporarily forgotten Rachel was even there.
"Rachel," Brittany said, "Was just telling me about her new musical."
"Oh," Santana said, "You're a writer too?"
"Yes," Rachel said, "Playwright to be exact. It's my true passion. That and singing. The mayor has been very supportive."
"That's great," Santana said, trying to sound interested. In truth, she wanted this woman gone but didn't want to be rude.
"I was talking to Sugar, you know the reporter, earlier," Brittany said, "And she was interested in your musical."
"Really?" Rachel asked, curious.
"Yeah," Brittany said, "She's around here somewhere. You should definitely talk to her."
Brittany had talked to Sugar about Rachel being a playwright and, truthfully, Sugar wasn't that interested in Rachel's writing but Brittany wanted Rachel to leave.
"You should definitely talk to her," Santana agreed, catching on to what Brittany was doing.
"I could use the insight of another writer," Rachel said, thinking.
Without saying another work, Rachel walked away.
Santana turned her attention to Brittany, "She's a strange one."
"She is," Brittany said, smiling, "But she's a good person."
Santana looked at Brittany, admiring her dress, "You look very nice."
"So do you," Brittany said, looking Santana over, "I'm glad you came."
"Wouldn't miss it," Santana said.
Brittany smiled. That warm feeling she had felt when they had exchanged numbers had returned. It amazed Brittany that not that long ago, she had found Santana incredibly annoying.
"My friends know," Brittany said, snapping out of her daze, "About us..the date."
"Ah," Santana said, "Well, my friends know too."
"We're no doubt being watched," Brittany whispered, playfully.
"I'm sure we are," Santana whispered back.
Brittany looked around the room carefully trying to see if anyone was indeed looking. The living room was filled with people, all engrossed in their own conversation. Brittany saw Tina, Mike and Puck at the far end laughing at a story being told by Kurt. She saw that Rachel had found Sugar and both were talking.
"What do you see?" Santana asked, playing along.
"Surprisingly, we are not being watched," Brittany said.
"For now," Santana said, smiling, "I hate an audience."
Brittany looked into Santana's eyes, "Did I already tell you that you look great."
Santana let out an embarrassed chuckle, "I think you did."
Brittany's smile turned into a grin when she saw that Santana had turned a little red, "You're blushing."
"I am not!" Santana protested, "I do not blush."
"Who's blushing?" Quinn said, suddenly appearing, drinks in hand.
"Uh, no one," Santana said quickly.
"Here you go," Quinn said, giving Santana her drink. She turned to Brittany, "Sweetie, where's your drink? I thought I saw you with one."
"I'm pacing myself," Brittany said. Although she loved her friend, right now she didn't like Quinn all that much for interrupting.
"Are you guys planning your date?" Quinn asked, teasing.
"No," Brittany said, "We were talking about how packed this place is."
"Yeah," Santana agreed. She took a sip of her wine.
Quinn looked back and forth between Santana and Brittany, "Why not? Everyone is dying to see what develops here."
"Nothing is developing," Brittany said quickly, "This is none of your business. Don't you have some shmoozing to do?"
"A little defensive are we?" Quinn asked, smiling, "Alright, alright. I just came to give Santana her drink. I'll leave you to discuss how many people fit in this room."
"I'm thinking 50," Santana said, playing along.
Quinn just smiled and left.
"I'm thinking 75," Brittany said.
"I thought you were going to stay away from me," Santana said, "You know to avoid suspicion."
"Hey, you're the one that came to me," Brittany said.
"I just wanted to say hi," Santana said coyly, " I didn't want to be rude."
Before Brittany could say anything, Sugar had shown up.
"Well if it isn't the lovebirds," Sugar said.
"Hey Sugar," Santana greeted, trying not to sound annoyed at the interruption.
"Did Rachel talk to you about her play?" Brittany asked.
"Yeah," Sugar said, "It sounds interesting. She's going to let me read it. So...does the squad let officers date?"
"Don't you have other things to talk about?" Santana asked.
"Not really," Sugar said, "I'm just keeping my ears open. Lots of political dirt in this room."
"Are your sources here?" Brittany asked.
"Nope," Sugar said, smiling, "You're not going to get any info out of me...Oh! There's that city council member who picked up that prostitute!"
With that Sugar left.
"She's exhausting," Brittany said, "But in a good way."
"Don't tell her this,' Santana begin, "But she's a fantastic reporter."
"Why wouldn't I tell her that?" Brittany asked.
"Because her ego would explode," Santana joked.
Brittany laughed.
The room seemed to suddenly come a live. The mayor had arrived.
"Hello everyone," Judy Fabray said, "Thank you all for coming. I am sorry my husband couldn't be here. His business trip to Rome was unexpectedly extended. He sends his apology. I know it'll be hard, but let's try not to talk politics tonight. Let's just have a good dinner. Thank you all for coming."
The room erupted in applause.
A man dressed in black and white instructed the crowd to go into the dinning room.
"So there is a butler," Santana said shaking her head.
"Yup," Brittany answered with a smile.
Both women followed the crowd into the living room, meeting up with Tina, Mike, Puck and Kurt along the way.
"You guys picked a crappy place for a first date," Kurt said.
"It's not a date!" Brittany and Santana said at the same time.
Kurt laughed.
Once seated, Brittany and Santana found that they had been assigned to sit at opposite ends of the very long dinner table. While disappointed, both figured it was probably for the best. To keep away from the prying eyes of their friends.
Santana sat between Kurt and Sam.
"You want me to switch seats with Tina?" Kurt asked.
Santana looked down the table and saw that Tina was sitting next to Brittany.
"No," Santana said, "You stay here."
On the other side of the table, Brittany was getting the same offer from Tina.
"No thanks," Brittany said, "Let's just all sit were we're supposed to sit."
The actual dinner lasted for almost two hours and both Santana and Brittany enjoyed the company of their table neighbors and put each other's presence in the back of their minds.
"That was delicious," Brittany said as she got up.
Everyone had begun to clear the table and were now headed back to the living room for drinks.
"I'm so stuffed," Tina said, "That is one talented chef."
Once back in the living room, people began to mingle.
Brittany looked around the room and saw that Santana was already on the other side, talking to Sam and another woman.
Santana turned and caught Brittany looking. She smiled. Brittany smiled back.
"Go talk to her," Sam said.
Santana snapped out of her stare and looked at Sam, "She's busy."
"Well," Sam said, smiling, "I'd like to meet her."
"You sound like my dad," Santana said.
"If your dad were here, he'd would have already invited her to the house," Sam said, "Now come on, let's go over there."
Santana knew there was no use in fighting Sam, "Let's go."
Brittany saw Santana and the two people she had been talking to walk toward her and she suddenly felt like a huge spotlight had begun to shine on her.
"What's wrong?" Tina asked. Tina turned around, "Oh, here comes Santana with the Evans'.
"Hi," Santana said when they reached Brittany and Tina, "Are you guys having a good time?"
"The dinner was delicious," Tina said, "Hey Sam. Mercedes."
"Hi Tina," Sam said.
"Hi," Mercedes said.
"Have you guys met Brittany?" Tina asked, coyly.
"No we haven't," Sam said, "Hi, I'm Sam Evans and this is my wife Mercedes."
"Hello," Brittany said, shaking both their hands, "It's nice to meet you both."
Santana watched the exchange and smiled. It felt important that Brittany and her adopted family got along.
"Nice to meet you too," Sam said, "I've heard a lot about you."
"You have?" Brittany asked surprised.
"No he hasn't," Santana said.
Brittany let out a chuckle, "Well," Brittany told Sam, "I've definitely heard a lot about you. Your work with the No More Homeless Pets shelter is amazing. I volunteered at the Glendale office last year."
"Thank you," Sam said, sounding impressed, "We could use all the help we can get."
"It's a great cause," Brittany said.
"You know," Mercedes began, "We're having a fundraiser next week. You should come."
"I'd love to," Brittany said.
"I'm sure Santana will give you all the details," Mercedes said with a teasing tone in his voice.
"I will," Santana said, now desperately wanting her friends away from Brittany, "Sam, Mercedes, don't you guys have to mingle with the other guests?"
"Alright," Sam said, taking the hint, "Yes, we should. Brittany, it was great to meet you and I"m sure we'll meet again."
"I hope so," Brittany said looking at from Sam to Mercedes.
Once Sam and Mercedes were gone, Tina spoke.
"I guess I should go too," she said, "I'm going to go look for the group."
When Tina was gone, Santana let out a breath, "Why do I feel so on edge?" she asked Brittany.
"Same reason I do," Brittany said, "We're under constant surveillance."
Brittany motioned for Santana to turn around.
Santana saw that their friends were pretending not to be looking at them.
"God, could they be more obvious?" Santana said, sounding a little annoyed.
"I hope they never go undercover," Brittany said, "They suck."
Santana laughed.
The room was filled with people, each engrossed in their own conversation. A small group of people suddenly walked in front of Santana and Brittany's friends. Blocking their view.
"Brittany, come with me," Santana said, "I want to introduce you to my Uncle Will and Aunt Emma."
"You mean Lieutenant Schuester?" Brittany asked.
"No," Santana said, "Right now he's just Uncle Will and his wife, Emma. He was my father's partner and I consider him family."
"Oh," Brittany said, both scared and touched Santana wanted her to meet such an important person in her life.
"I figure since you already met Sam and Mercedes, who I consider family, you might as well met the rest," Santana explained, hoping she wasn't scaring Brittany off.
"I'd love to," Brittany said.
Santana lead Brittany to Will and Emma and was glad to see them getting along. Santana wasn't sure why she wanted Brittany to get along with the most important people in her life. But she did. So much.
After a few minutes, Will was called over to talk to one of the city council members. He and Emma excused themselves, leaving Brittany and Santana alone.
Santana got an idea.
"Come on," Santana said quickly, taking Brittany's hand, "Let's go."
Brittany smiled and let Santana lead her out of the room.
Santana wasn't thinking. All she knew was that she wanted to get Brittany out of that room filled with people. Once they got out to the hallway she stopped.
"Where are we going?" Brittany asked, laughter in her voice.
"Umm, I have no idea," Santana admitted.
Brittany smiled and gently pulled Santana down the hallway, "Come on, let's go to the library."
"Of course this place has a library," Santana said.
Brittany lead them up the hallway and turned left into another hallway.
"This place is like a fucking maze," Santana said, amazed.
Brittany and Santana walked up to the large double doors at the end of the hallway.
"You've been here before, I take it," Santana said.
"A few times," Brittany said as they stopped right in front of the doors, "Mayor Fabray has a lot of dinners and Quinn hates coming to them alone so Puck and I come too."
"Doesn't it get boring?" Santana asked, very much aware she was still holding Brittany's hand.
"Sometimes, but the amazing food makes up for it," Brittany said as she opened one of the doors, "Come on."
Brittany went in first followed by Santana.
"Holy shit!" Santana exclaimed.
Santana looked around the room that must have had thousands of books shelved all along the wall from floor to ceiling.
"Nice right?" Brittany asked, closing the door.
"This place may actually be bigger than the city library," Santana said, "You think the mayor has the Harry Potter books?"
"She does actually," Brittany said, "I think they're first editions."
"Of course," Santana said, letting go of Brittany's hand.
Santana spotted a large black leather sofa right in the center of the room and walked over to sit down. Brittany followed.
"Even the sofa is fancy," Santana said running her hand across the leather.
"Would you like a drink?" Brittany asked motioning to the table in front of them that had a four glasses and a crystal bottle, "It's Cognac."
"Sure," Santana said, "I'm sure that Cognac costs more than my car."
Brittany laughed and poured the drinks.
"I should warn you," Brittany said giving Santana her drink, "It's super strong. You might not be able to handle it."
"Are you questioning my ability to drink?" Santana asked.
"I'm just warning you," Brittany said with a smile.
Santana playfully rolled her eyes and took a sip at the same time Brittany did.
Santana felt like her lips, tongue and throat were on fire.
"Foooohaaa!" was all Santana could say as she tried not to cough.
"Told you," Brittany said, her voice a bit strained. She had had this liquor before and knew what to expect.
"Gaahh...umm, are you sure that's not lighter fluid in there?" Santana asked putting down her glass, "Jesus."
"If it makes you feel better, I couldn't stop coughing for a good minute the first time I drank this," Brittany said putting down her glass.
"I thought expensive things were supposed to taste good," Santana said, turning to face Brittany on the sofa.
Brittany turned to face Santana, one arm on top of the sofa.
The two women forgot the burning in their throats and just stared at each other.
Santana let her gaze travel down the length of Brittany's arm and land on the silver bracelet she had seen Brittany wear at the bar.
"Do you miss him?" Santana asked reaching to gently touch the bracelet.
"I did," Brittany admitted, "For a long time I did. I don't anymore."
"What happened?" Santana asked despite getting a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach just thinking of Brittany and her ex.
"That sounds like a date question," Brittany said, "I thought we said this wasn't a date."
"Let's call this a pre-date," Santana said, "That was a pre-date question."
"Ah OK," Brittany said, "Well, he got a job in Florida, we broke up and he left."
"He picked his job over you?"
"He asked me to go with him," Brittany admitted, "But...I couldn't. My life is here. I would have to start all over in Florida and I couldn't do that."
"So you don't regret not going?" Santana asked.
"Jesse was great," Brittany said, "And I did love him. I thought we were going to get married, have some kids and do the whole happily ever after thing. But, when he asked me to go with him, I couldn't. I realized I was more in love with the idea of him and our future life than I was with just him. Does that make sense?"
"Complete sense," Santana assured, "I know what you mean."
"Do you miss Dani?" Brittany asked.
"How...how did you know about Dani?" Santana asked, surprised.
"Tina kinda of let it slip out," Brittany said.
"I swear that girl is the biggest gossip," Santana siad shaking her head.
"I'm sorry," Brittany said, "You don't have to answer if it's too hard for you to talk about her."
"Oh no," Santana assured, "It's not hard to talk about her at all. I'm over her. I was a long time ago. I did care about her, but, like you said, I was more in love with the idea of her than I was with her."
"What happened?"
"Dani loved her job." Santana said, "Loved it more than me and more often than I care to remember, she'd chose her job over our relationship. In her life I always came in second. Sometimes third. But I thought I was in love with her and just put up with it. Then one day she just broke up with me and moved to Canada."
Brittany looked at Santana and looked for the sadness in her eyes at remembering her ex. There wasn't any. She smiled.
"This is some pretty heavy stuff for a pre-date," Brittany joked.
"No kidding," Santana said smiling, "Maybe we should head back? I'm sure everyone's heads are exploding with curiosity about where we are."
"One last lighter fluid drink for the road?" Brittany teased.
"Uh, pass on that," Santana said getting up.
"Wuss," Brittany teased also getting up.
They walked out of the library and started down the hallway when they heard someone approaching around the corner.
"...I can't now! I'm two men down but don't worry neither are talking..."
On instinct, Brittany opened the door to a small cleaning closet just to their left, and shoved her Santana in, closing the door behind them.
"Britt...what..."
"Shhh"
Santana didn't know what was happening. One minute she's walking down the hallway with Brittany and the next she is pressed up to her ex-partner in a small closet. They were so close and because of their shoes, they were finally the same height making Santana acutely aware that their lips were perfectly aligned.
"Listen," Brittany whispered, trying to ignore the scent of Santana's perfume washing over her.
"...No I said to wait. You've already complicated things when you went over board with those three people. I can't afford for this to turn into an even bigger mess than it already is...please, the mayor is clueless... just get the job done..."
"The robberies?" Santana whispered.
"I think so," Brittany whispered back.
God she smells good, Brittany thought.
Santana in turn was trying to ignore the craving she had to lean in and nuzzle Brittany's neck.
"...no, no no...I can't afford any more setbacks..."
"He sounds English," Santana whispered.
"...look I can't talk now...I have to go..."
Once Brittany and Santana was sure the man had gone, they stepped out of the cleaning closet.
"Did you hear that?" Brittany asked, "It's one of the robbers! It has to be."
"I think you're right," Santana said, "He may even be the main guy. But what was that accent? English right?"
"I think so," Brittany said, "I really bad with accents."
"Come on," Santana said grabbing Brittany's hand, "Let's get back to the party and see if we can find him."
Both women practically ran back to the room with the guests and immediately spotted Puck, Quinn, Kurt and Tina.
"Well look who has finally reappeared," Kurt teased.
"We heard something," Brittany said, a bit out of breath and letting go of Santana's hand.
"The trumpets of loooove," Tina sang.
"What? No," Santana said shaking her head, "Listen, Brittany and I think one of the men involved in the robberies is here."
"What?" all four said at once.
"Yeah," Brittany continued, "Santana and I were out in the hallway and we overheard a man with an accent on the phone talking about being two men down and the mayor not knowing anything and everything being a big mess and..."
Brittany was interrupted as Quinn and Sugar joined the group.
"What's going on?" Quinn asked.
"Brittany and Santana think one of the robbers is here," Puck said.
"Seriously?" Sugar asked, now excited.
"Maybe," Santana said and went on to fill in Quinn and Sugar.
"What did he look like?" Quinn asked.
"We didn't actually see him," Santana explained, "We only heard him. He sounded English."
"English?" Quinn asked, "No one here is English, I don't think."
"Yeah," Kurt said, "I've been the social butterfly all evening and I haven't heard any English accents at all."
"Artie and I endured Rachel attempting a German accent," Sugar said, "Something about her play. But that's it. As far as I can tell only American accents at this thing."
"Shit," Brittany said.
"Look let's do a little sweep," Santana said, "Everyone spread out and talk to any male guests and see if any of them sound English."
The group spread out and went looking for the mysterious English man with no luck. About 20 minutes later they all regrouped and no one had any leads.
"Damn it!" Santana said, "He probably left."
"We need to tell Jerry," Brittany said, "He did say these robberies may be connected to the mayor..."
"Wait, what?" Quinn asked.
"Uh..."
"You knew that this was all connected to my mom and you didn't tell me?" Quinn asked getting angry.
"Quinn I'm sorry," Brittany said, "But Jerry wanted to make sure before she worried you or your mom."
"You should have told me!" Quinn insisted, "This guy was in my mom's house! Her life could be in danger!"
"Hey!" Santana spoke up, "Brittany was just following orders. No one knew anything for sure."
Brittany watched as Quinn face flushed with a mix of anger and fear. She hated keeping this from her best friend and knew she should have said something.
"I'm so sorry Quinn," Brittany said again, "But you're mom is fine. She's surrounded by bodyguards."
"She is," Tina added, "She has some of the best cops looking out for her."
"I asked Jerry to put a protective detail on her," Brittany said.
"Your mom is fine Quinn," Santana said, "Now that we know that there is a guy out there probably targeting your mom, her security will get even tighter."
Santana understood Quinn's anger but hated that it was directed at Brittany.
"I'm just," Quinn began taking a deep breath, "I'm just worried. Britt, I'm sorry I got angry."
"It's fine," Brittany said, "I totally deserve it."
"No, no," Quinn said, "You don't."
Brittany watched as Quinn stepped closer and brought her into a hug.
"You're not mad?" Brittany asked.
"I'm still mad," Quinn said as she separated herself from Brittany, "But not at you. At Jerry Fox for making you keep this a secret."
"This is going to be an epic story!" Sugar said, clasping her hands.
"You!" Santana said, "You better not write anything about this and fuck up this investigation."
"Calm your tits Santana," Sugar said, "You think I'm going to ruin my reputation and write something I haven't investigated myself. I'm not. Look, I know you think I'm working against the department by writing all these articles but I'm not. I want you to catch these guys but the public does have a right to know too."
"If this is in tomorrow's news..." Santana began.
"It won't!" Sugar said, "I'm not some tabloid reporter Santana. I verify everything I write."
"OK, OK," Puck said, "Everyone relax. Let's all just take a deep breath and calm down."
"Puck's right," Tina said, "We can't do anything tonight. Santana and Brittany will talk to Jerry about what they heard and he'll take it from there."
"Well," Kurt said, "This has been sufficiently exciting and nerve racking for me. I'm going to go to the dessert table and stuff my pockets with some of those mini creme brulees and go home."
"Me too," Tina said, "I'll be your look out."
When Tina and Kurt left, Sugar announced she had had it for the night.
"Sugar," Santana said, "I know you're not some tabloid reporter. You're actually very good."
"Thank you," Sugar said.
"I trust you won't do anything that will derail this investigation," Santana said.
"I won't," Sugar said.
Santana just nodded and Sugar left.
"Well, I'm going to go be with my mom," Quinn said, "I'm going to tell her what happened and then figure out a way to tear Jerry Fox a new one for keeping this from us."
"That should be fun," Brittany said.
"You want me to have the limo take you home?" Quinn offered.
"Yes please," Brittany said, "I have an early shift tomorrow and want to get some sleep."
"OK," Quinn said, "How about you Puck?"
"I'm good," he said, "My shift is later and I want to hang out a bit."
"OK, just let me know," Quinn said, "I'll see you guys later."
Santana took a deep breath and looked at Brittany. She really wanted to reach over and take her hand.
"Well," Pucks said, "I have to pee so I'll see you two ladies later. Keep me posted on what happens."
"Bye Puck," Brittany said.
Santana turned to Brittany and gently squeezed her arm.
"You OK?"
"Fine," Brittany said softly, "I just want to go home."
"Me too," Santana said.
"I do have a limo waiting," Brittany said smiling, "I can give you a ride."
"I thought you were saving the limo for our date?" Santana asked returning the smile.
"You might get one then too," Brittany said.
"I'd love a ride," Santana said, wanting to spend as much time with Brittany as possible, "Let me go tell Sam and Mercedes that I got a better offer for the ride home."
"I'll go with you," Brittany said.
###
After saying their goodbyes to their friends, Santana and Brittany stepped out into the cool night air to the waiting limo.
"Hi Phil," Brittany greeted the driver, "Change of plans, we're talking Officer Lopez home first."
"No problem, Ms. Pierce," Phil said.
"Phil?"
"Sorry, sorry, " Phil said, "I mean Brittany. No problem, Brittany."
"Much better!" Brittany said with a smile.
Santana let out an amused laugh.
"Where do you live Officer Lopez," Phil asked.
"First, please call me Santana," she said, "And second, I live at 12456 Lillian Ave near 3rd street."
"Very well, Santana, " Phil said as he opened the back door, "Ladies, if you will..."
Brittany and Santana stepped into the limo and made themselves comfortable. Phil closed the door and they soon heard him get into the driver's seat and start the limo.
"I gotta stick with you Officer Pierce," Santana said, "Nothing but luxury."
"I got all the cool hook ups!" Brittany said.
Just like in the library, both women positioned themselves to face each other. They made small talk about the party for a while and just enjoyed being with each other as the limo drove through the city streets.
"Wait," Brittany said, "You said you live on Lillian Ave?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I live on Mariposa Street near 3rd!" Brittany said.
"No kidding," Santana said, pleasantly surprised, "That's only like four streets apart."
"So this whole time," Brittany began as she took one of Santana's hands, "We've been going to the same cafe and living only like four streets apart and never met?"
"I guess so," Santana said, intertwining her fingers with Brittany's, "How is that even possible?"
"L.A. is crazy like that, I guess." Brittany said softly looking into Santana's eyes.
"I guess," Santana said.
Santana felt like she could stare at Brittany all day and night and never get tired. Every time she was near her she would get a warm senstation all over her body followed by goosbumps. She loved it. She loved the way Brittany made her feel and never wanted that feeling to go away.
Brittany couldn't tear her eyes away from Santana. She didn't want to. She just wanted to look at her and memorize every single feature on her face. Brittany's eyes traveled to Santana's plump lips and leaned forward and was happy when she saw Santana start to meet her halfway.
Santana was sure her heart was going to jump out of her chest. And was sure it was going to explode when Brittany's lips met hers.
Brittany felt like her body was on fire. She gently captured Santana's lower lip between hers as she brought her hand to cup Santana's cheek.
The kiss was shy at first, but quickly changed. Santana opened her mouth more to capture as much of Brittany's lips as she could. Brittany took that as an invitation and slowly thrust her tongue into Santana's mouth.
"Mmmm," Santana moaned, shuffling closer to Brittany.
Brittany didn't know how she was going to be able to stop kissing Santana because she was sure it was the best feeling in the world. And when Santana's tongue found hers, she was sure she had never tasted anything as sweet.
"Excuse me Brittany," Phil's voice came through the intercom.
Brittany and Santana parted, both out of breath.
"He didn't see us, did he?" Santana asked, worried her first kiss with Brittany had been witnessed by some stranger.
"No," Brittany assured, "The privacy window is up. It's just the intercom."
Brittany pressed the intercom button, "Yes Phil."
"We've arrived at Santana's house."
"Oh, OK. Give us a minute."
"Sure."
Santana only now noticed that the limo wasn't even moving and the engine was turned off.
"That was a fast ride," Santana said.
"Too fast," Brittany agreed.
Santana leaned forward and placed a small kiss on Brittany's lips.
"This was the best limo ride ever," Santana said.
"For sure!" Brittany agreed with a small laugh.
"Let's go out tomorrow night," Santana said, "We both have the night off."
"You know my schedule?" Brittany asked, liking that Santana knew.
"I may have checked," Santana said with a smile.
"I'll pick you up at eight," Brittany said.
"How about seven?"
"Even better," Brittany said leaning forward and kissing Santana again.
Brittany had meant to give Santana a light kiss but it quickly turned passionate.
"Mmm...nope," Santana said pulling back, "As much as I would love to make out with you in the back of this limo, I'm not too thrilled that there's some stranger sitting in the driver's seat."
"It's just Phil," Brittany said as she caressed Santana's cheek with her thumb, "He's seen a lot worse. This one time Quinn took the limo to Vegas and..."
"Britt," Santana interrupted, amusement in her voice, "I...I'm going to get out of this limo and go inside because I'm this close to kissing you again."
"Kiss me then," Brittany challenged.
Santana closed her eyes and used all her willpower to separate herself from Brittany and open the limo door. When she saw Brittany pout, Santana almost shut the door and kiss Brittany again.
"Don't do that," Santana said as she got out of the limo, "I'll see you tomorrow at seven."
"Fine," Brittany said, still pouting, "I'll talk to Jerry first thing and tell him what we heard."
"Thanks for the ride, Officer Pierce," Santana said, bitting her lower lip and tasting Brittany's lip gloss.
"Don't do that," Brittany said, softly.
Santana gave Brittany her best smirk and closed the door.
-tbc-