hello:)
i present to you chapter21. enjoy and tell me what you think:)
The apartment is quiet, as it usually is this early in the morning, light is streaming in from the window in the kitchen and the twinkling lights on the Barbie tree are still sparkling. The television is streaming the menu screen for Jawbreaker asking whether or not to start the movie judging from the blinking 'play' words in yellow. Santana is peacefully sleeping off copious amount of alcohol she and Quinn took part in the night prior. The assortment of bottles strewn across the couch makes it look as though they hosted a small get together, but not, it was just them. She's nestled comfortably underneath the coffee table with her and Brittany's blanket along with her girlfriend's stuffed elephant tucked under her arm.
She would have probably continued to be in the wonderful land of sleep and dreams of her blonde girlfriend if it were not for the other blonde she lives with.
Above her, in a similar state, is Quinn. Her pillow placed perfectly under her head with the throw blanket that normally covers the bed she shares with Rachel, tossed on her body that is currently sprawled out on the top of the coffee table. Her hazel eyes blink open, her vision foggy from the alcohol still coursing through her veins and the sleep her body seems to be fighting. She closes them again, tightly, trying to fight off the blinding light that is piercing her eyes and she groans out in pain because waking up so early after a late night of drinking hurts.
When she finally regains her power of sight, she yawns and glances at her fist that is in the front of her face. She loosens her fingers, spreads them out and curiously furrows her brow and jerks her head back. Hazel eyes widen, her body sitting up regardless of the achy feeling of sleeping on a wooden table would cause because there is no way this is what it is. She sits up completely and stares at her hand in horror.
"Ah!" Quinn screams at the top of her lungs.
Santana's eyes pop open and her body instinctively jumps up, her head immediately comes in contact with the underside of the coffee table forcing her back down to her pillow.
"Oh fucking, fuck, fuck!" Santana cries, her hands come up to cradle her now heavily pounding head. "Shit, fucking… what the fuck?" She yells, curling her fingers into her palm and slams her fist into the wood above her.
"Oh my God, oh my God." Quinn says over and over again as she runs her fingers through her hair in fright. "No, no, no." Tears form in her eyes and she sits Indian style on top of the table spotting locks of blonde hair on the floor. Santana crawls out from underneath the table and slowly moves her body up from the floor and stands to find out what is going on. Her eyes widen, her hand flies up to her mouth and she cannot at all stifle the laugh that pops from her lips.
"Holy shit." Santana mutters, her legs start moving and she's walking around her friend. "What happened?" She asks, while Quinn gathers the blonde hair around her together and places it in her lap.
"I don't know!" She shouts, her eyes glistening with tears. "Oh my God! What did I do?" Her gaze falls to her lap at all of her blonde hair that used to be connected to her head. Santana shakes her head from side to side, her hand finally falling down and she takes a seat on the couch.
"Oh." Santana lets out with a quirked eyebrow and nervousness laced in her voice as she leans over and lifts up a pair of scissors to show her friend. "Whoops." She laughs awkwardly, because the scissors were perfectly placed right beside Tuna, Brittany's stuffed elephant. For a moment she throws Tuna an inquisitive glare, Brittany's accused him of some questionable mischief before, but then she shakes her head realizing what she's thinking.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Quinn yells and lunges at Santana who drops the sheers to the ground with a thump and hops over the back of the couch.
"It wasn't me, it was Tuna!" The Latina hollers over her shoulder, a desperate attempt by a desperate woman in need of staying alive, at least until her girlfriend returns. "He thinks he's a hairdresser." She blurts out, because sometimes being obnoxiously sarcastic can confuse the hell out of Quinn and make her forget the havoc she is about to cause.
"Stop laughing." Quinn tells her sternly, her hands within reach of her friend but her fingers keep coming up short of yanking at her long dark hair. "I am going to shave your head in your sleep!" She threatens, the alcohol in her stomach making her body slow down to the point she has to lean against the wall and give up on her Santana chase.
Santana, who is also feeling the effects of their late night in, falls back first against the wall and slides down holding her hands up in surrender. She wraps her arms around her stomach and grumbles, her lower lip juts out in disapproval of the feelings in her tummy. Her head tilts to the side as she regards Quinn's current hair style, or whatever it's called, and shrugs her shoulders.
"I could fix it." Santana offers only to have to think fast and let her body fall to the ground when Quinn grabs something to throw at her. "Whoa, okay never mind." She chuckles, pushing herself back into a sitting position. "Well, I think this is a good thing. You need a change." She exclaims with certainty, hoping that if she puts a positive spin on this random hair cutting deal then the blonde will be less likely to try and kill her in her sleep. "I'm sure we can find someone to fix that shit." Santana motions towards the uneven and choppy pieces of blonde hair framing Quinn's face. The taller girl squints at her friend, still sitting on the floor not doing a very good job at hiding her smirk of amusement. "Merry Christmas?"
"Hey baby, Merry Christmas." Brittany says into the phone, her smile and mood extra chipper than either girl really expected.
"Merry Christmas honey." Santana greets in return, elbowing Quinn in the arm each time the blonde walks into her. "Stop it Q!" The Latina hisses, doing her best to keep the mouth piece away from her as she scolds her friend. Brittany's airy giggle draws her back to the phone and she smiles once more.
"What are you guys doing up so early? I was banking on catching you yawning and hearing that cute sleepy voice." The blonde asks with a smirk, and she pulls her knees to her chest and picks at the fabric of her pajama pants as she listens to the background noises of the city. Santana chuckles throatily but suppresses it when she receives a cold stare from Quinn.
"Umm, Quinn had an accident." Santana starts, smirking as she speaks and avoids eye contact with the blonde walking beside her.
"Oh my God, is she okay?" Brittany sits up straighter in bed, nervously tugging at her pillowcase, the giggle her girlfriend breathes out does nothing to wean her worry.
"Yeah, she's fine, just a hair situation." She vaguely explains with a wave of her hand which gets slapped by Quinn.
"Hair situation?" The tall blonde questions in confusion.
"She kind of woke up with some of her hair chopped off." The Latina relays, eyeing Quinn's uneven mane from the corner of her eye that is peeking out from the wool hat she's using to cover the mess. "I found the scissors next to Tuna."
"Oh my God, Tuna cut Quinn's hair in her sleep?" Brittany gasps, her hand comes up to cover her mouth in shock. "I knew I shouldn't have gotten him that my size Barbie when we were nine." She shakes her head at herself in disappointment. Santana's head jerks back and she pulls the phone from her ear to give it a good stare.
"Uh, yeah." Santana shakes her head, smirking at her girlfriend's thought process and how she had the same one's this morning. "Anyway, I'm taking her to get it fixed up because we have work at ten." She explains further as to why they are up so early.
"Oh, well that's good at least." Brittany sighs in relief and leans back into her pillow propped against the headboard of her bed. "Wait, are places open on Christmas?" Santana shrugs because that part she hasn't thought through, figuring they can just roll up to some beauty place and fix her friend's maimed hair in the name of Christmas spirit.
"We're about to find out." The Latina mutters only meant for her and her girlfriend to hear and she rolls her eyes at the way Quinn is walking all mopey beside her. "Hey, so what was your big gift this year?" She changes the subject back to presents on Christmas morning which always brings a bright smile to Brittany's face and therefore her own. On the other end of the call, Brittany bites her lower lip and grins, glancing over on her nightstand where the gift Santana is referring to sits perfectly beside her iPod.
"My parents actually gave it to me last night." The blonde says after spending a few seconds debating on how to answer the question. Santana's brow furrows and her head jerks back.
"What? Why? They always love making a big production out of presents, no matter what the holiday is." Santana points out wondering what it could be to make the Pierce's not follow tradition. Brittany giggles and stretches her legs across her bed and watches as her toes wiggle beneath her new Christmas socks.
"I know, but it's kind of for the both of us so…" She vaguely replies and Santana quirks an eyebrow in curiosity.
"It better not be something sexual because that would be extremely awkward." Santana tells her and this is when Quinn finally snaps out of her stupor and shoots a questioning stare at her friend. The Latina shrugs and waves her off to stop eavesdropping. "I mean, if it is though, it better be good." She adds as an afterthought getting a chuckle from the girl on the other side of the phone.
"It can be sexual, but, I don't think that's what they had in mind when they gave it to me." Brittany comments, her eyes flickering over to the gift and she smiles. "But I know you're gonna love it. I already do." She says in a whisper and turns onto her side to look out the window where some snow sits on the sill.
"Well, what is it?" The dark haired girl urges as she and Quinn stop at a corner and wait for lights to change before crossing the street.
"I'll tell you later." Santana smirks because she knows by the sound of Brittany's voice that the blonde is grinning slyly from ear to ear. So, she nods her head and grins into the phone and follows Quinn across the street when the lights finally change. "Go have fun with Quinn and make lots of money today."
"I will, well, I'll try." She playfully slaps Quinn's arm and receives an elbow to the side in return. "I love you."
"Love you too cutie." Brittany replies before hanging up and placing the phone beside her on the bed. She sighs out, letting her hand come over to the side of the bed that Santana always lays on and she closes her eyes.
With a deep breath in she lets it come out slowly through her nose and imagines that the bed is half empty because Santana is downstairs talking with her family while sitting by the tree. She can picture her mom and her girlfriend drinking coffee and talking about the gifts that they received and how much they love them. In her mind she can see Santana's dimples perfectly as she laughs because Jaime, Brittany's little sister, is wrapped up in all of the wrapping paper from the presents.
She smiles to herself, eyes still closed, and remembers how Santana used to always come over after presents at her own house to eat whatever breakfast was left over because her family was heathens. The way she used to ask Brittany to try on every article of clothing for her, calling it the Christmas fashion show and telling her what looked good and what to return for cash or store credit.
All of the presents she got Santana are back in New York, hidden underneath Rachel's bed because she knows that Santana will not step foot in that room, except if there's intruders which she made very clear to the brunette. She wonders how Santana will react to her gifts and if she will tell the blonde that she loves them like she does every year and actually every time Brittany gets her anything.
With a thought, one that was probably always there but only hit her right now, she sits up straight in her bed and turns her head towards the door. She wears a look of thought and bites on her lower lip as she goes over it in her mind, then, with a nod she swings her legs over the edge of the bed and slips her Uggs on. On her way to her bedroom door she grabs her winter coat that is hanging on the back of her desk chair and slips it on as she walks down the hallway.
Her family is still sitting in the living room, cleaning up some messes Jaime made as well as her nephew and sipping coffee like she suspected. Her mother looks up from her new cook books and smiles as her daughter descends the stairs. Laurie turns her head to find Brittany heading her way and quirks an eyebrow at how her sister is prepared to weather the Lima winter air outside with her jacket zipped up all the way and her shiny mittens.
"Is the mall open?"
Quinn's leg is bouncing up and down as she flips furiously through Glamour magazine while Santana looks around the hair salon at its other occupants. She furrows her brow when she spots an uptown, diva, real housewife of New York spewing out a list of things she does not want done to her hair while the hair stylist walks slowly behind her.
The Latina inwardly cringes because she never understands people like this high society bitch fest, she has the same problems at her job. 'I don't want this, this, this or that on my sandwich'. Its like, 'well, do you want just bread and mayo because you just made your own goddamn sandwich'. Usually she just stops people halfway through their tirade of things they don't want and asks them what they do want. She so desperately wants to hop up from her seat and intervene, but she is pretty sure that opening her mouth so early in the morning would only bring on a slew of expletives and therefore get them banned from yet another place.
So, instead, she sits back and glances to the right at the magazine Quinn is rushing through. The girl at the desk comes over to tell them that in a few minutes she'll send Quinn to go over to the shampoo station and that they can soon get started. The blonde sighs in relief because it's getting pretty hot in the shop and she so badly wants to get this hat off of her head. Santana rolls her eyes, they've all had bad hair cuts before, albeit not too many drunken night bad hair cuts but still. Their silence is interrupted at Quinn's cell phone ringing from her coat pocket and when she fishes it out she sees a picture of Rachel on the screen and she half smiles.
"Hey." She answers, her voice soft and she spares a glance in Santana's direction while she sits back, letting the magazine fall completely to her lap. "Thanks hun." Her face softens and she smiles a little wider but as soon it changes into sweet and in love it turns into horrified and bewildered. "What?" Quinn nearly shouts, garnering a few strange looks from the shops other customers. "Are you fu… are serious?" She rephrases her words, not wanting to sound like a complete street urchin in the high end beauty salon, because of course the most expensive would be the only one open. She side eyes Santana, squinting and her lips pursing into something that tells the Latina she sure has a few choice words for her right now. "Let me call you back." She nods, lowers the phone from her ear and ends the call, all the while keeping her gaze fixed on Santana.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Santana inquires, her tone shakes nervously but she keeps her cool regardless. Quinn slaps on one of those sickeningly sweet fake smiles, the ones she used to use in high school when she was plotting and she begins to go through something on her phone.
"Rachel just asked me what the hell I was thinking letting you cut my hair." She explains evenly and shuffles in her seat until her shoulders are brushing up against Santana's.
"What?" Santana tilts her head, her voice goes up an octave and her hands grip the arm rests of her chair.
"Apparently," She glares at her friend. "We thought it'd be a swell idea to make a video last night." Quinn explains carefully as she places her phone in front of them and comes up to the video in question, on the screen is a close up of Santana's face. They both watch Quinn's thumb come up to the screen and press onto the big white sideways triangle to start the video.
"What are you doing?" Quinn asks, taking a seat on the coffee table just behind Santana who is fiddling with the camera in her hand.
"I'm trying to set this thing up against something so that I don't have to hold it. I mean, I can't cut your hair and video this." Santana explains with a roll of her eyes. "This is going to be so much fun." She mumbles to herself.
"What?" Quinn speaks up at her friend speaking but Santana only shakes her head, moves the camera a little more and then stands up and stares at it for a few seconds.
"Okay, perfect." She claps and then walks off screen with Quinn watching her every move. The blonde slowly brings a bottle of tequila up to her lips and takes a big swig and then Santana is back on screen with a pair of large scissors in her hand.
"Wait," Quinn sputters, lowering the bottle from her mouth. "Those aren't hair cutting scissors." She points at the sheers in Santana's hands with a questioning look on her face. Santana chuckles, shakes her head and places a friendly hand on the blonde's shoulder.
"Q, scissors are scissors are scissors." She riddles and after a few moments Quinn shrugs her shoulders and places the bottle of alcohol between her thighs and sits up straighter.
"Okay." The blonde sighs and Santana takes that as her cue to move behind her friend, kneeling onto the coffee table and picks up a bunch of hair in her hand.
"Are you ready?" Santana asks cautiously, a tiny smirk playing on her lips as she waits for the 'okay' from Quinn before she starts snipping.
"Just do it already." Quinn demands getting a laugh from the girl behind her.
"That's what she said." The two giggle for a few seconds until finally regaining composure and falling into a comfortable drunken silence.
The girls sit there, mouths hanging open and eyes wide as they continue to watch the two minute video of Santana cutting randomly through Quinn's beautifully blonde hair. In the video the Latina is just picking up chunks of hair and chopping it off without any sort of creative or styling purpose. The video ends with Santana rubbing her eyes and yawning followed by Quinn doing the same and suggesting they finish tomorrow and then another close up of Santana's face as she ends the recording.
"I am seriously going to kill you in your sleep." Quinn hisses through her teeth and Santana leans away from her, hands up in defense.
"Hey, I don't remember doing any of that… this." She flips some of the random hairs poking out from underneath the hat Quinn has on, only to get her hand swatted away. "And this is your fault anyway. Berry is right, why the hell would you let me cut your hair?" Santana challenges, crosses her arms over her chest and sits further back in her chair.
"Quinn?" A voice from in front of them breaks the menacing stares they are shooting at each other. "If you follow Cindy over she'll shampoo you and then we can fix you up." The girl smiles kindly and motions towards another girl standing beside her.
"I thought you already got her presents." Laurie muses as she follows her sister up to the doors of the mall. It would figure that small town Lima would have the mall open on a holiday, but, she figures that those who don't celebrate Christmas need something to do. Brittany hums a response as she pulls the glass door open and ushers her sister inside, instantly feeling the warmth pouring out from the building. "So, then why the rush to come here and pick something up?" Her sister asks and she turns her head to give Brittany a questioning stare.
"Because." The younger blonde says, grabs the sleeve of her sister's coat and tugs her in another direction. When Laurie doesn't get another word from Brittany she rolls her eyes and sighs out a tiny laugh.
"Oh, well okay then." Laurie mutters and simply follows her younger sister towards the row of stores with glass fronts. "Wait," She stops walking, which causes Brittany to come to a halt as well. "Britt, what are you looking for?" Laurie smiles slyly, her eyes flicker towards the jewelry store entrance they seem to be headed for. Brittany huffs, rolls her eyes, and then tugs on her sister's sleeve once more turning her attention back to the task at hand before answering any questions.
"Something nice." Brittany mumbles, her eyes focused on the display cases of glittery and shiny jewelry just beyond her reach. She smiles to herself, her gaze feasting on the beautiful necklaces, earrings and rings just below the glass case.
"Can you afford anything in here?" Laurie asks, her lips twist and she lets herself enjoy the sight of lovely jewelry trying her best to blur out the prices aligned beside them. Brittany looks at her sister, smiles and nods her head as she bounces on the balls of her feet. "Okay." The older Pierce sister drawls out with a questioningly raised eyebrow, but follows when Brittany brushes by her and kneels in front of a glass case near the back of the store.
"How about… something like this?" Brittany wonders, her voice soft and nervous as she glances over her shoulder to get her sisters approval. Laurie's eyes widen, just a tiny bit, and she opens her mouth to speak but only a small breath escapes her lips. "Do you think she'd like it?" She asks, turns back to the case and smiles at the bright and shiny thing that caught her eye.
"I like it." Santana comments as she walks by Quinn at the computer at Nelson's. She leans her elbows on the counter top and tilts her head to the side, her lips pressed together and her eyes going over every inch of the blonde's new hair cut. Quinn huffs, closes out a check and shoves the money into her book before spinning around and glaring at her friend.
"You're only saying that because you feel bad." The blonde reminds her before pushing her shoulder and walking away, but Santana is quick to follow her over to the soda station.
"Actually, I would only be saying that because I paid for it." Santana counters, crosses her arms and shrugs her shoulder which garners another feisty stare down from Quinn. "But seriously, I think it's a good look for you. Your new 'New York City bitch' look." She smiles one of those old patented Cheerio smiles.
"I am so happy that I don't have to deal with you all day." Quinn mutters under her breath but since it's only them and three tables, save the cooks and dishwashers, Santana surely hears her and chuckles.
"You're the dumb ass that picked up Amber's night shift." The Latina points out and Quinn merely shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head.
"She has three kids, she should be home on Christmas." The blonde states factually with a tinge of sadness.
"I'm pretty sure she's Jewish, but, yeah whatever." Santana muses and glances quickly over at her table to make sure they don't need anything. "Speaking of matzo, how's the troll doing during her trip back to her kosher homeland?" She asks with absolutely no curiosity at all, just simply trying to stray the conversation away from Quinn's hair, or lack thereof. The blonde smiles to herself, glances down at her apron where her hands are smoothing out the fabric and hums.
"She's doing good." Quinn tells her, lifts her head only to find Santana inspecting her fingernails and nodding politely or as politely as Santana can nod when referring to Rachel.
"That's swell." The Latina fake smiles and turns around to walk away. "Gotta check on table thirteen." She waves the blonde off and is soon back on the floor being 'nice' to her guests at table thirteen."
Quinn shakes her head, always Santana to change the subject thinking she's being all quick and clever. It doesn't deter the blonde from enjoying the topic of her girlfriend being brought up and the fact that she is coming home in three days. She sticks her hand into the pocket of her apron to grab her phone because she wants to read over the text message she had received from Rachel about twenty minutes ago.
She grins because her girlfriend's text was in response to the picture she'd sent of her new haircut. Rachel told her she loved it and that she can't wait to see how hot she looks in person with it. She also mentioned a little something about how sexy she will look in bed with that hot hairdo. Quinn feels herself blush as she reads that part over and she covers the smile on her lips with her hand because she is definitely grinning like an idiot.
"Anyway," Santana comes back within minutes and is by Quinn's side once more. "I was thinking of ordering Chinese tonight." She mentions as she takes out her nail file from her apron and gets to business, keeping her eyes focused on filing away. "Should I just get the usual for your fat ass?" She smirks with a quirked eyebrow and pokes her friend in the said with her nail file.
"Our lives are so sad right now." Quinn mumbles, shaking her head at the both of them standing by the soda station in their Nelson's uniforms. "It's Christmas day and here we are," She motions to them and Santana lifts her eyes from her nails and watches her friend's hands move. "Working, talking about Chinese food and being girlfriend-less." Santana frowns slightly at the mention of 'girlfriends', her eyes lower and she slightly bends her nail file between her fingers.
"At least we have each other." The Latina points out, shaking off the vibe the blonde is putting out there and clears her throat. "So we're not entirely alone."
"Speak for yourself." Quinn pushes her shoulder playfully. "At least you get out of here at like four, I'm stuck here until closing and knowing my luck they won't let me out of here till at least two." She scoffs, the idea of spending her entire holiday at Nelson's is nothing short of a living nightmare. "Besides, I've been thinking," Her tone changes and she leans her arm on the counter top, resting her chin in her hand and watches as Santana continues to meticulously file her finger nails. "What are we gonna do when you and Britt move out?" Santana's eyes shoot up and her hands still. "You and me I mean, like when we feel lonely. Or after work, we're not gonna be walking each other home and shit."
"Q," Santana lowers her hands and tilts her head to the side trying her best to offer Quinn a sweet smile without letting it show that this topic really makes her sad. "We're not moving away, away. Like, to another state or whatever. Just a few minutes away." She reminds her, brings her hand up to her arm and rubs it affectionately. "Besides, we're still gonna be working together and we are totally having our nights out regardless of what our women say." She gives the blonde a pointed look which finally cracks Quinn's sad puppy dog expression into a grin and she nods.
"Santana," A deep voice comes from out of nowhere behind them. "How many times have I told you that your hygiene routines are to be done before or after work, not during." It's Roger, their assistant manager, and he is pointing sternly at the nail file in Santana's hands with a very unimpressed look on his face.
"Sorry Rog, guess I forgot." She shoots him a fake apologetic smile and shoves the nail file back into her apron, he nods thankfully, too stupid to see through her falseness. Quinn chuckles trying to cover her mouth with her hand. She watches over her shoulder as Roger practically hops his way over to one of her tables asking the customers if everything is satisfactory.
"I'm just waiting for the day I can finally quit this job." Santana mumbles, glaring openly at Roger who is oblivious to her not so subtle rage. After a moment she lets the seething course through and out and spins back to smile happily at Quinn. "One day, in the not so distant future, I will be free of this wretched prison and be my own boss." The blonde quirks an eyebrow at her friend's newfound overachieving side and smirks, she can only imagine the type of business Santana has lined up for herself.
"Oh yeah, and what are you gonna be the boss of?" She challenges as she crosses her arms over her chest.
"We'll see." Santana sighs out and leans on the counter, her gaze fixed into 'somewhere out there' and she twists her lips in daydream.
"That was quick." Mrs. Pierce says, surprise in her voice as she watches her daughter's walk in the front door. Laurie and Brittany smile at their mother and nod as they quickly remove their winter gear and put it in the appropriate place. "What was the sudden need to shop?" She asks as she puts down a few things she'd been carrying into the living room. Laurie steps away from her sister to go down the hall to the den to check on her husband and son leaving Brittany and her mother alone in the living room.
"I just had an idea for a gift for Santana." Brittany explains easily enough, her mother chuckles when catching a glimpse of the bag and shakes her head motioning for the young blonde to follow her into the dining room.
"Well, you two got back just in time. Everyone's here so we can start eating in ten." Mrs. Pierce tells the girl as she hands her some silverware to place out beside the plates.
"I'm sorry that we had to push up dinner time. I hope it wasn't an inconvenience for anyone." Her mother chuckles once again, waving her off as if it's no big deal.
"I'm sure Nana is more than happy to have dinner early." The older woman says, glancing up from her side of the table. "This way she can get her drink on sooner." Mrs. Pierce winks and Brittany giggles at her mother's comment, agreeing that Nana Pierce most definitely will enjoy have more hours to drink. "Now, why don't you go put that special gift away, and don't put it in your luggage, I don't trust those people at the airports." She points at the bag that Brittany had left on the table by the door as she stands up straight and unties the apron she has on. "Put it in with your carry on, this way it's in your possession on the plane." Brittany nods and watches her mother walk out of the dining room and disappear down the hallway to tell everyone that dinner is ready to be served.
"I'll see you at home Q." Santana tells her friend in a rush, waving over her shoulder as she walks by the front desk. Quinn glances up at her over a few customers and nods, her eyes widening and her lips mouthing 'kill me now', prompting a chuckle from the Latina.
It's a lot colder than it was this morning and Santana is most definitely not regretting the gloves she pretends not to notice Brittany stuff in the pockets. Their hot pink and fluffy and kind of embarrassing in a 'these could be my little cousins' kind of way, but, they are keeping her from getting frost bite right now so whatever. There is actually a lot more traffic on the sidewalks than she would have imagined for Christmas night but then again, she reasons, this is not small town Lima where people literally don't leave their houses for anything during Christmas dinner.
The option for a taxi is not there seeing as everyone and their mother who is trying to get home to their families or somebody's for the holiday are standing at every corner stalking out the yellow cars. It's much better to waste twenty minutes walking than twenty minutes of waiting and then another twenty minutes walking, saves her forty minutes from standing in the blistering winter cold of New York.
When she finally does get to the front door of their apartment complex she is as frozen as a Popsicle. Her hand shakes a little bit as she pulls the door open and lets out a huge sigh of relief as she becomes bombarded by the heat of the foyer of the building. The elevator is broken so she has to take the stairs tonight, but, she reasons, it's only two floors to her apartment so she can manage being on her feet for a few more minutes. On her way up she envisions the copious amounts of Chinese food she plans on ordering, strewn about the coffee table at her disposal. She wasn't going to do it, but she knows that there is a marathon of It's a Wonderful Life on television and she seriously can't fight the urge.
She passes by a few of her neighbors as she makes her way down the hallway, doing her best to offer polite smiles even though she is still thawing out. When she opens the door to their apartment she is greeted by the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree which confuses her because she is pretty sure that she had shut them off like she does every morning. But, then again, her and Quinn were in kind of a hurry this morning so she shrugs it off as well as her jacket which she tosses onto the couch.
Her shoes are next, kicking them under the table where she throws her keys down and groans to herself at the way it feels to be out of those non-slip sneakers after five hours. She pulls at the hair tie, letting her long, dark locks come down and sighs at the pressure being relieved as she walks down the hallway and into her bedroom.
She hits the lights and glances over at the clock to see that it had only taken her a good twenty two minutes to walk home from work and she smiles, feeling kind of impressed with herself. Just as she is about to go back into the living room to retrieve her phone she hears something. It sounds like a tapping or maybe a dripping or maybe a scratching. Whatever it is, she definitely hears something… or someone. Her eyes close and she takes in a deep breath because she needs complete silence to make sure she is not hearing things.
But then it happens again, she hears it. Her eyes pop open and her lips part, letting out the breath she's been holding long and low. She glances around the room in search of some sort of device to strike a quick blow if it's called for, and that's when she remembers her secret weapon. She'd put it there the day they moved in for emergencies, and this seemed like the moment she was going to have to use it. Santana quietly, but quickly, moves towards the bed and reaches underneath to retrieve the bat she has stowed away there.
"Hello?" Santana calls out, her hands are beginning to sweat and she is nervously gripping at the bat handle as she raises it behind her. She is not in the mood for some sort of cat burglar, she's got shit to do, like order Chinese food and call her girlfriend for some hot phone sex. "Who's there?" She yells out a little louder as she slowly makes her way down the hall. She hadn't noticed before when she went to her bedroom is that the light is on in the bathroom and the door is closed. Her eyes widen, because obviously the culprit is inside and… taking a shower? "What the fuck?" She mutters under her breath and releases the bat with one hand to reach for the door knob but at that moment is when the door opens and she shrieks. "What the…" She stops in mid scream and her head jerks back at the sight before her as well as the terror filled shrill.
"Santana!"
"Britt?" Santana breathes out in utter bewilderment. "What the…" She lowers the bat, the end of it hits the floor sending a sound of metal against wood echo through the apartment. Brittany lowers her hands and lets out a long breath she'd been holding in and brings her hand to her chest to steady her heartbeat.
"Oh my God you scared me." The blonde sighs in relief of not being bludgeoned to death. She tilts her head and furrows her brow as she looks at Santana's weapon. "Why do you have a bat? Where'd you get that thing?" Brittany questions, points at it and sends her girlfriend a confused look. Santana huffs, she'd been holding her breath as well and shakes her head back to reality and glances down at the bat in her hand.
"Oh, I keep it under the bed." She explains before realizing she should be the one asking the questions around here. "Wait, forget the bat." She drops it, making the sound of metal hitting wood even louder. "What the hell are you doing here?" Santana asks, surprise back in her voice and a small smile begins to creep up at the corners of her lips. Brittany smiles in return and her hands tug on the belt of the robe she has on which the Latina recognizes as her own.
"Merry Christmas Santana." The blonde whispers as she leans in to press her lips to her girlfriend's and it is a gesture that is greatly received. Santana's hands instinctively go to rest on Brittany's hips and Brittany's arms wrap around her neck to pull her closer.
"Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too sweetie, but, that doesn't really answer my question." Santana giggles against the blonde's mouth and pecks her once again before pulling back to look at her face. "You're supposed to be home, celebrating Christmas with your family." She reminds the blonde, her thumbs rub against the material of the robe and presses it into her girlfriend's skin.
"I know." Brittany nods her head and then nips at Santana's bottom lip quickly.
"Okay." Santana drawls out in a laugh, her head shakes side to side and she wraps her arms around Brittany's waist to press their bodies together.
"I had to come home, here, because I have to give you something." She begins and she runs her hands down Santana's arms until she is reaching behind her own back to grab at her girlfriend's hands. When she is holding tanned fingers with her own she steps forward to bring them both out into the hallway, leading them into the bedroom.
"You didn't have to come all the way home to give me a gift B." Santana starts. "Besides…" But Brittany cuts her off.
"I know, before you say anything, that we were going to pick a day to do gifts. But, since I'm home I figured we could do it right." She sends a wink over her shoulder at Santana and walks them over to the bed where she signals for the Latina to have a seat.
"But what about your family babe?" Santana asks her, her voice soft and low ad Brittany can't help but smile back at her.
"Santana," She looks down for a moment and shrugs her shoulders. "You're my family too." The Latina can't fight the huge grin that comes to her face, just absolutely beaming at her girlfriend's words.
Santana sits down and watches her girlfriend walk over towards her jacket that is hanging on the chair in front of the vanity and she wonders how she'd not noticed it before when she got home. Oh yeah, she remembers, it's because she was being hasty in looking for a weapon to kill an 'intruder'. Brittany has something in her hand but she is keeping it behind her back as she makes her way back to the bed. The mattress dips when the Brittany sits down and Santana curiously eyes her up with a shy smile.
"Okay, I don't want you to freak out on me." Brittany states calmly getting a slight nod from her girlfriend. "This isn't what you think it is, so please, just let me finish before you say a word." The blonde gives her a stern look which after a few long moments Santana sighs, rolls her eyes and nods in agreement. Her eyes widen however when Brittany brings the hand behind her back into sight and in the palm of her hand is a small, black, velvet box. "Shhh." Brittany hushes her instantly and she closes her mouth, only then realizing she had opened it to say something. "I know that we have only been dating for about, nine months." Santana nods, eyes still wide and flickering from the box to Brittany's blues. "But, I also know we've been unofficially together long before that." She smiles sweetly, soft and sincerely that Santana can feel her heart melt and she decides to keep her eye fixed on Brittany's, almost completely forgetting about the tiny box, almost. "You make me so incredibly happy I just want to shout it from the rooftops and tell everyone I see and meet that I am with the most amazing girl in the world." A tiny tear of happiness escapes from the corner of Santana's eye but she quickly wipes it away. "But, in all honesty, I don't really care who knows how much I love you, ya know? All that matters to me is that you know." Her head tilts to the side and then her eyes look down to the box in her hand and they both watch as she slowly opens it.
Santana gasps, her eyebrows raise and her hand comes to her chest. She smiles a tight lipped smile and tilts her head to the side as she stares at the ring in the box. Her hand comes up to her mouth and she lets out a tiny chuckle that sounds like a sigh and a breath at the same time which garners a perplexed look from Brittany.
"Do you not like it?" The blonde nervously asks, her eyes moving from glistening browns to the ring with the sapphire stone set in the center. "I know it's not your birthstone if that's what you're upset about." She quickly tries to fix the situation, unable to read her girlfriend's expression and getting nervous by the second. She shifts on the bed closer to Santana so that her knee is touching the Latina's thigh. "It's mine, I guess I just… I…" Her head drops and her eyes search their comforter for something, anything to say to diffuse whatever it is she just did but instead, two fingers come to her chin and lift her head.
"Babe," Santana whispers, her eyes sparkling even more than before and her lips are in that sweet and gentle smile. "It's fucking perfect." She nods slowly, making sure that Brittany understands that she is being honest and the blonde finally lets out a long sigh of relief.
"Oh thank goodness." Brittany exhales, dropping her hands to her lap. "I just…" She pauses for a moment, swallows because her throat feels dry and she grabs Santana's hand. "I don't know if you want this to be a promise ring, or, I don't know…" She sucks in her lips and looks off to the side for a moment to gather her thoughts. "I want you to be able to look at it, every day, especially if there are times that we're apart like this week and know that without a doubt I love you. With all my heart." Santana sniffles and brings her hand to Brittany's cheek before leaning in slowly to press a kiss to her girlfriend's lips.
"I love you too." She whispers onto her lips and they smile into the kiss. "Can you put it on me?" Santana asks quietly, pulling back just enough to see those blue eyes. Brittany grins and bashfully nods as she scoops the ring out of the box and pulls up Santana's hand.
"Left hand?" Brittany asks cautiously, not wanting to make the wrong move with such a meaningful gesture. Santana nods immediately, her coy smile never leaving her lips.
"If you want it to be, I mean, I would like it to be." Santana breathes out in the faintest of voices Brittany almost doesn't hear her.
"What?" The blonde asks, her eyes lock into Santana's.
"A promise ring." She watches Brittany's throat visible move as she swallows and their eyes remained locked with her hand still held in the blonde's.
"What's the promise?" Brittany croaks out, her voice suddenly betraying her confidence. The corner of Santana's mouth curls up and she bats her eyelashes as she thinks of her response.
"That," Santana is the first to break the intense staring competition and she clears her throat before looking back up at those sparkling blue eyes. "One day…" Her voice trails off and she realizes, as her brain searches to finish it, she doesn't really need to say anything else. Brittany seems to agree judging by the tiny smile forming on her lips and she nods twice.
"One day." She repeats Santana's words as she brings the ring to the tip of her girlfriend's ring finger and they both watch as she slips it on.
They sit there in complete silence for a few moments, both still staring at the ring and then at each other. Their smiles are goofy and it's obvious just how smitten one is with the other. Santana finally takes her hand, the one with the new piece of jewelry, and lifts it up to cup Brittany's cheek. She marvels at how different everything looks with that ring added in the mix and it makes her stomach, deep down, flutter like crazy. Slowly, she leans in and presses her lips to Brittany for a sweet, chaste kiss. When she pulls back she sighs out a giggle and shakes her head.
"What are you laughing at?" Brittany asks and reaches for Santana's hand once again, dipping her head to meet those brown eyes. Santana looks up and tilts her head.
"I can't believe you're here, that's all." The Latina says easily enough, and takes the hand that is grabbing at hers. "How did you manage this?"
"Well," The blonde begins and moves to sit beside her girlfriend on the bed and pulls her down so that they are lying with their heads on the pillows. "This is why I couldn't tell you what my big gift was over the phone." She explains but Santana can only quirk an eyebrow and turn her head towards her. "My parents got me an earlier flight."
"To come home?" Santana questions in confusion.
"No." Brittany smiles sweetly and leans over to kiss Santana's cheek.
"Wait, so a plane ticket was your big gift?" She chuckles.
"The plane ticket brought me to my gift." Brittany tells her in all seriousness and her amused grin slowly fades and she pulls the blonde in for a passionate kiss.