A/N: Hello readers! You are all fabulous! Love you comments and private messages and quiet alerting and favorite-ing. A big thank you!
Mrs. Lopez got ready for work in the quiet of the early morning. She stopped at Santana's door on her way down the hall, and paused to listen to her snore. Maribel then poked her head in Brittany's ajar door across from Santana's and smiled. Brittany was splayed out on her stomach, hands above her head, her hair and the bedding was everywhere. She was greeted in the kitchen by Lord Tubbington, meowing at his empty food dish. She filled his bowls, then poured her coffee and made breakfast. Maribel enjoyed the silence of the morning, interrupted occasionally by the crunching of Lord Tubbington and his cat food.
Brittany awoke to the sound of the front door shutting. Mrs. Lopez was gone for the day. Brittany smiled to herself, then looked at the clock.
"Shit," she slid out of bed and quickly put on her old jeans, a faded Cheerios t-shirt and her old running sneakers. She took the stairs, two at a time, and grabbed a cup of coffee from Maribel's leftover pot. She snatched her keys off the hook near the front door and jogged to her car, putting her hair in a sloppy ponytail along the way.
About an hour later, Santana stirred and looked at the clock through sleepy eyes. It was Monday morning, her mother was gone and she had Brittany all to herself. She got up and walked across the hall to Brittany's room, only to find a very messy and very empty bed. Santana frowned. She checked the bathroom and found that empty. She walked downstairs and nearly tripped over Lord Tubbington, who wound his way through her legs as a morning greeting.
"Jesus Tubbs!" Santana scolded him as she steadied herself on the counter. "You're going to kill me one of these days."
Santana went room to room, looking for Brittany, but she soon realized it was just she and the cat this morning. Santana returned to the kitchen and made herself coffee and breakfast. As Santana slowly woke up, she ran all the possibilities of where Brittany was through her mind. She came up blank. Santana sighed and resigned herself to get dressed and figure out what to do with her day. Santana picked up her laptop and retuned to her job search. 20 emails, 10 phone calls and one stubbed toe later, Santana gave up and sank into the living room couch. She flipped between reality shows and talk shows, but not even Jerry Springer guests could make her feel better about herself or her New York City employment prospects.
Brittany opened the front door of the Lopez home and saw Santana sitting on the couch with and ice pack wrapped around her propped up foot.
"What happened?" Brittany asked, rushing to Santana's side.
"I may or may not have kicked my desk in job search frustration," Santana admitted with a weak smile. "It's totally my fault, so…oh my god Britt, you stink!" Santana covered her nose and recoiled from Brittany's side.
"You know I volunteer at the Humane Society twice a week," Brittany pouted at Santana's reaction. "I told you I was doing it in the mornings this week, before Summer School started, since I won't be able to do it once school starts."
Santana thought for a moment. Yes, there was a hazy memory of Brittany detailing her schedule plans last month. She thinks. Maybe. Probably.
"I'm sorry Britt," Santana said, moving her hand from her nose. "I forgot." Santana added an apologetic smile. "What were you doing today? I mean, you smell like a combination of wet dog, litter boxes and sour milk," Santana tried to hide her grimace.
"Let see," Brittany looked up at the ceiling, gathering her thoughts. "I scooped all the litter boxes, fed all the cats, got the dogs out of their cages to the outdoor runs, gave two dogs a bath and fed four kittens formula, because they don't have a mama cat to take care of them."
"Wow B. You did all that in what…three hours?" Santana was impressed.
Brittany nodded with a proud smile. "But now I really do have to take a shower, because you're right, I stink," Brittany said, giving Santana a kiss on the nose and getting up from the couch.
Brittany went into the laundry room and stripped off her clothes and put them in the washer and started the machine. Santana was removing the ice pack from her foot when she saw Brittany walk out of the laundry room and up the stairs completely naked. Santana sat, ice pack dripping in her hand, as she watched Brittany walk through the house. She never got tired of seeing her girlfriend nude, but now she had a new appreciation for it. There was something about how casually Brittany just walked through the kitchen, living room and up the stairs, completely ignoring her that Santana found surprisingly sexy.
"I can't wait to have our own apartment," Santana thought. She also hoped it would have stairs, because watching Brittany walk up them without a stitch of clothing on, was Santana's new favorite thing.
Brittany had just applied shampoo to her wet hair when she heard the bathroom door open and close. She felt Santana step in the shower behind her and wrap her arms around her waist.
"I'm surprised it took you this long to join me," Brittany teased.
"What? I have some restraint," Santana smirked. "Actually, I was just imagining all the ways you can be naked in our own apartment in New York."
Brittany chuckled, then sighed relief as Santana took over washing Brittany's hair.
Brittany sat on her bed, towel-dried, warm, clean and still very naked. Santana soon followed and pushed her back, so they could both lie down on the bed. Santana started kissing Brittany's neck and running her hand over Brittany's hip and side.
"So, tell me about the job search," Brittany asked, as she stopped Santana's hand from reaching her breast.
"You have got to be kidding me Britt," Santana scolded. "You're naked. I'm naked. We have the house to ourselves. You are not asking me about my job search."
"Yes I am," Brittany said, sitting up and pulling Santana into her chest. "Talk to me, or no sweet lady anything for you."
"Brittany!" Santana was shocked. "That's not fair!" Santana sat up and put some space between them.
"So is you not talking to me," Brittany explained.
Santana huffed, and grumbled and bit her bottom lip in thought.
"Fine. I don't have a job in New York yet," Santana confessed, her arms crossed in defiance and disappointment. "They all said they're only hiring local. So I don't have any job opportunities until I get there, so I have to job search all over again, and I'm trying to not tap into the money Mama gave me, unless it's rent, you know?"
Brittany squeezed her hand in sympathy and understanding.
"And I haven't found an apartment yet. They're all so damn expensive, and the ones that are close to our price range are way out in bum fuck Staten Island or New Jersey," Santana continued. "And I promised your Mom I'd take care of you and listen to you and be there for you and I want everything to be perfect and set for you, because you're working really hard to get there. And you already have two jobs lined up, so you have to have a place to live, and…"
Brittany cut her off with a kiss and pulled Santana tight into her body.
"Hey, relax, okay? Breathe. We're going to work it out. But you have to stop trying to do everything yourself. Rachel has been apartment hunting with her Dads, so maybe we can talk to her about neighborhoods and price ranges, hmmm?" Brittany looked to meet Santana's gaze and gauge her reaction.
"Then we'll talk to Mr. Shue and find out where April Rhodes is. She was successful on Broadway, so maybe she knows of some part-time jobs in theater or music or…something performance related? Okay?"
Santana smiled at the thought of April Rhodes, then pursed her lips at the thought of asking Rachel Berry for help.
"Santana, if you want this as much as I do - you and me and New York City - you're going to have to ask for help," Brittany reasoned.
"It's not the asking for help part," Santana replied. "It's admitting that I don't know what I'm doing," Santana confessed, rubbing her thumbs in to her palms.
Brittany smoothed her hands down Santana's damp hair and over her arms.
"You're 18 and moving to New York City to pursue your dreams. You've signed up for classes, you even did research for me, and you've been job and apartment hunting. Santana, you know what you're doing; you're just not getting the results you want. That's why you need help."
Santana let a small smile play on her lips and she nodded with understanding.
Brittany pulled Santana into her and spooned her from behind. Brittany kissed the back of Santana's neck, though her hair.
"I could stay like this forever," Santana sighed, pressing herself back into Brittany even more.
"Me too, but Quinn's coming over in a half hour to start reviewing Chemistry."
"It's weird," Santana whispered. "But in a good way."
"Quinn coming over?" Brittany asked, rubbing her thumb over Santana's stomach.
"No, this. I mean, I don't think we've ever cuddled up naked without having sex first, and it's…"
"Nice," Brittany whispered, finishing Santana's thought. "It's comforting and sweet and…"
"Just right," Santana replied, pulling Brittany's arms around her tighter.
"Just right," Brittany smiled.
Brittany was laying out her notebook and pencils on the kitchen island when Quinn rang the doorbell.
"I'll get it Britt!" Santana called as she walked quickly to the door. Santana opened it and pushed Quinn back as she tried to step into the house. Santana shut the door behind her so she and Quinn could talk privately.
"Santana," Quinn rolled her eyes.
"I just want to talk to you about tutoring Britt. You need to be patient with her, and encourage her and not talk down to her, but don't come off as condescending, because she's smart, but not like you, so you need to give her real life examples, and…"
"Stop. Just stop," Quinn held up her hand to Santana's face. Santana grimaced.
"Who helped both of you pass Algebra and Geometry?" Quinn folded her arms waiting for an answer.
Santana huffed and rolled her eyes. "You," she mumbled.
"Who?"
"Okay, you did," Santana admitted.
"And didn't I do all the things you just rambled on about like you have diarrhea of the mouth?"
Santana frowned at the diarrhea comment, pursed her lips, and nodded. She hated it when Quinn was right, which was often lately.
"Then let me in the house so I can start reviewing with Britt. And no interruptions! I don't want you hovering," Quinn demanded. She arched her eyebrow, waiting for Santana to relent.
Santana simply opened the door and waved Quinn in.
"Thank you," Quinn smiled so sweetly it gave Santana a toothache as she clenched her jaw.
"Don't be so smug," Santana whispered.
"Don't be so wrong," Quinn whispered back.
Brittany greeted Quinn with a hug and they quickly got down to the business of reviewing all the chemistry Brittany remembered. Since Santana was banished from the kitchen, she continued reading MacBeth. Santana was determined that Brittany received a better grade in English Literature than she does in Chemistry. "Let's see how smug you are then," Santana thought.