This week has gone by in a total blur. I can't believe it's already Friday.

I was ready for school earlier than usual, and decided to write in my journal again.

Dear Me,

I actually haven't been able to see Santana much this week. When the teachers found out we skipped, they were so, so mad. Since I haven't been in trouble much before, I mainly just got verbally assaulted in every class. But Santana wasn't so lucky. She had what could only be described as "lengthy" record of delinquent behavior at McKinley High and was sent to three days of in school suspension. This meant that I haven't gotten to see her at all during the school day. Plus, my parents have decided to become more like the Brady Bunch with each passing day, and have had instituted a "no friends, family bonding" type week where we've watched a movie or played a game after dinner. It's been nice to hang out with my little sister more, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about Santana. The only times I've had with her are the car rides to and from school, which are painfully short. Though, it's been a good… no great, way to start my day. There haven't really been any close calls like in the locker room when she practically climbed on top of me. But, there have been plenty of times where I have caught her staring at me, and we've held hand for almost all of every car ride. Her hand feels nice in mine. It's so much softer than boys' hands, and it fits in mine so well. I really like it.

I never pictured myself having feelings for a girl. It's not like I have a problem with it. I've been good friends with Kurt for a while now, and I think he and Blaine are so perfect for each other. And Santana had kind of told me she was attracted to girls before. But I guess I never allowed myself to consider that the intense friendship the two of us have could be something more. Ever since our day on the pier though, I've become more and more comfortable with the idea of it.

I can't wait for tonight. I can't wait for our date.

"Brittany! Dinner tonight at 6:30, mom suggested that you all invite a friend over. So you want to call Santana and have her over before you two go to BreadStix?"

I smiled to myself and called back to him, "Yeah, Dad! Sounds great!"

Okay, Me, you've got to get ready for tonight.

Hugs and Unicorns,

~Me

I grabbed my phone and flipped it open, typing her a quick text message.

*Hey QT. Dinner w the Pierces? Here 630.*

Almost immediately, she replied. *Sounds Gr8. More time w u. ;-)*

I looked at the clock, 4:15. I decided to take a quick beauty nap before getting ready.

The doorbell rang, and I glanced back at the clock: 6:12.

Damnit, Santana. You're early and I'm NOT ready yet!

I heard my mom let her in and ran to the door to listen in on their conversation while I struggled into the tight jean skirt I'd be wearing for the night.

"Hey Mrs. P, thanks for inviting me to dinner. I always love your cooking!"

"No problem, Santana. I know you don't get much of this at home."

"Much? I don't think my mom even knows where the kitchen is in our house!"

They both laughed and I heard my mom tell her I was in my room. I was glad my mom liked Santana. Her parents aren't around much, so I think, in some ways, she thinks of my parents as surrogates.

I heard the a soft set of footsteps heading up the stairs and closer to my room. I panicked, and did the first thing I could think of. I locked the door.

She does NOT get to see me before I'm ready.

She jiggled the door handle. "Oh, c'mon Britt, let me in!"

"Nope, I don't think so! You're early. I'm not ready! Go back downstairs and watch TV with my dad or something until I'm ready. I'll be down in a minute."

She fake huffed behind the door, "Fine, but hurry up!"

I could feel her smiling through the door, liking that I cared about how I look for her. She sighed loudly again and I heard her go back downstairs. I went back to the mirror and looked at my outfit. I laughed a little bit, having deja vu from the week before. I had a tight jean skirt on with a hot pink spaghetti strap top. Wavy hair and fairly natural make up. Now for the shoes.

How do I have over forty pairs of shoes and none that seem to go with this outfit?

After careful consideration, I picked a pair of black sparkly flats. I didn't want to be too tall, since I already have a few inches on Santana.

"Brittany! Dinner is ready, get your butt down here!" my dad yelled.

I mumbled to myself, "Well, here goes nothing." As I walked down the stairs, I realized that I had a pit in my stomach that was churning uncontrollably. I was a wreck. I was about to have dinner with Santana with my family. No biggie. She's eaten over here dozens of times before.

I hit the bottom step and see the back of Santana's head. I walk behind her and rest a hand on her shoulder, squeezing as I bent down and whispered in her ear, "Hey there, baby. You look stunning." Even though she was still sitting, I could see her smile and saw her face flush in embarrassment. I could tell what clothes she was wearing. Clothes I knew well: white cargo pants that were tight on her ass and loose everywhere else and a silver and black scoop neck halter. Her hair was down and curly and kind of wild, and she had dark eye shadow that highlighted her eyes perfectly. Her smell was intoxicating. She looked over her shoulder at me and her smile widened, standing up and walking over to the table with me. She had been blushing at my comment, and walked around and gave me a hug. It was hard not to notice the speed of both of our heartbeats, and as we walked to the kitchen table, I could feel her eyes looking me up and down from behind. She sat on my right with my dad on my left at dinner. We all took hands for the prayer, but I didn't hear a word my mother said. All I knew at that moment was the feeling of Santana's thumb lightly caressing my hand as she held it.

"Amen," everyone said in unison, jolting me back to reality. Reluctantly, we let go of each other's hands, and both looked at each other, letting the other know that neither of us wanted to let go. Everyone began serving themselves and the first half of the meal's conversation is relatively uneventful. After a short silence, my mom turned to Santana.

"So Santana, are you seeing anyone right now?"

Leave it to my mom to ask the awkward personal question. I eagerly glanced over to Santana to see how she would handle the situation. She uneasily shifted in her chair and started stuttering.

"Uh, me? Oh, um... I don't... No, I'm not." She kind of chuckled at the end of that sentence, but then she paused. I could tell she wanted to say something more. She took a deep breath and turned her head towards my mom. "No, Mrs. Pierce, I'm not with anyone right now. But there is someone, a fantastic and beautiful someone, who I can't wait to take out."

She smiled and looked down, and I could feel her hand on my knee as she finished that sentence. The fact that my family eats with their left hand under the table to be "proper," plus the table cloth, hid her hand. I liked it there, and Santana didn't move it for the rest of the meal. Every now and then I reached over with my left and ran my fingers briefly over hers. I caught her grinning in reaction one time, but my dad had just cracked a joke, so no one noticed.

Dinner ended, and I tried to help my mom clean up the dishes, but she insisted that I go ahead with Santana to BreadStix.

"If you're coming back here tonight, be back by midnight. But just let us know if you're going to stay over anywhere else."

I nodded and Santana and I walked out the front door towards her SUV. She walked with me to the passenger side and opened my door. I gave her a sideways glance with a goofy smile. "San, I can open my own car door!"

"I know, but I can open it for you, too." She winked at me and closed the door. When she got in the car I instantly took her hand in mine and interlocked our fingers.

"I've been wanting to do that since we first sat at the table."

She smiled a full smile at me and leaned over, brushing her lips on my chin giving me a lingering kiss on the cheek. When she pulled away she looked me in the eyes and softly said, "And I've been wanting to do that since you called me 'baby' again tonight. That pretty much makes me crazy."

She leaned back into her seat and started her car, and we drove to BreadStix listening to the radio and doing our best to sing along. When we got there, we walked over to the same table from the previous week. Rachel came over, and after losing a battle of wits with Santana, she went to get our drinks. Santana moved her chair closer to mine and put her arm over the back of my chair. I was suddenly aware of the fact that there are a lot of eyes on us.

"Santana, people are staring."

She looked at me, confused. "Of course they're staring. The two hottest girls here are here together. They're jealous," she said with a smirk.

"We're not together, Santana."

I realized as soon as it came out of my mouth that it sounded crueler than I intended. She retracted her arm from my shoulder and crossed it with the other one across her chest. "Sorry," she mumbled. Rachel walked up with our drinks, and before she even had the chance to walk to the next table, I told her to bring us our next round.

I looked over, and could see hurt in her eyes. "San, I didn't mean..."

"No, Brittany, look it's okay. You're right; we're not together. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. This is something new for us both. I was just doing what came naturally to me without thinking about whether it was something you would want. I don't want to rush you into anything you aren't ready for. I want everything to be perfect, because you're perfect. So you just have to promise me that if I do something, or say something that you can't handle that you'll just tell me so we can get this right."

I was completely floored by her honesty, and wasn't sure how to respond at first. But then I just laughed. When I looked up, she was just staring at me with her jaw dropped in confusion.

"Everything is fine, Santana. You'll know how I feel about things as we're together. I don't care about anyone else, really. It just surprised me that everyone was staring. I'm not used to that, either. But, I'm here with you because I want to be," and I took her hand in mine and placed our hands on my lap before pulling her to her feet.

"Now," I breathed into her ear, "come dance with me, baby."