08:30 am
26. 26 is not just a number. As a matter of fact, 26 is the atomic number of iron,
26 is the number of letters in the Latin alphabet, or the age at which males can no longer be drafted in the United States and 26 is the number of miles to be run in a marathon. 26 can be a number of different things, with a variety of different significances, but today it simply only meant one thing to Santana Lopez.
Today, 26 represented the number of years she had been living on the planet, the number of years she had been breathing and the number of years she had been forced to live her life as somebody else.
She had woke up with the overwhelming sensation that she was about to throw up and all she had been able to do was run into her bathroom and take a shower, in the vain hope she would be able to wash away her sorrow. The cold water running down her smooth skin helped a little bit, temporarily soothing her ever growing depression.
Fuck, it was her birthday and she was turning 26. Wasn't she supposed to be happy and excited? But all her brain seemed to be able to process was sadness and discomfort.
She quickly got out of the bathroom to take new underwear from her drawer, trying to be as fast and as silent she could as to not wake Ray up.
She wasn't afraid of annoying him she was actually more concerned on having to deal with him so early in the morning. Unfortunately her attempts of avoiding the man she was living with were thwarted when she heard his sleepy voice telling her to come back to bed.
And that was the beginning of one of the most painful things Santana had to deal with these past months.
Ray had hugged her and kissed her sweetly wishing her a happy birthday. Santana giggled in response trying to hide her uneasiness and hoping that the moment would be over soon.
She didn't know the reason why she suddenly found him so repellent and even the idea of just standing next to him was making her feel sick, she was hoping it was only a stupid phase cos she really wasn't able to imagine a life without him telling her what to do and how to behave.
But then the kisses became heavier, more passionate and she had immediately understood what was about to happen. She didn't even try to fight against Ray's lust and she was merely compliant when he laid her on the silk sheets. No, she simply had let him treat her like a doll or some fucking sex toy.
And so, there she was. Lying beneath him, while he panted and moved his fucking dick in and out, with his classic slow and disarming rhythm. She buried her face into his shoulder, trying to hold back the tears and all the negative thoughts that were populating her mind.
She forced herself at least to think about something that would make her feel better, she just needed to resist for two or three more minutes since Ray wasn't a Casanova by any stretch of the imagination.
And in that moment of complete despair only one thought came to her rescue. The image of a certain blonde tattooist popped into her mind, spreading a sort of hope into her body.
Suddenly very inappropriate thoughts invaded her mind and Santana couldn't help but bury her face into her guy's skin trying to focus on the present and not on what having sex with Brittany would have been like. Would it have been sweeter and slower that having sex with Ray? Of course it would have been so fucking weird since she was a girl and Brittany was another girl, and she was aware that…The plumbing was different but somehow she wasn't scared to try something completely new. She just wondered how the blonde girl, that apparently was a womanizer, would have treated her.
Luckily for her she didn't need to mull over those thoughts for long since Ray reached his peak of pleasure after two minutes, emitting his classic groan before letting his body fall completely against her.
As usual he giggled happily, satisfied and kissed her on the forehead before pulling away and to clean up and get ready, leaving Santana naked in the bed with the need to have another shower.
Fuck, perfect way to start the day.
Another shower later.
Santana sat quietly at the wonderful kitchen table made of Italian marble that Ray had directly ordered from the country of sun and pizza, adding an artistic tone to their love nest.
She was trying so hard to push the emptiness that had practically invested her away, but with each effort her mood just seemed to worsen.
The fact that it was her birthday was simply underlining how wrong her life was at the moment and was increasingly enhancing the overwhelming feeling, she wasn't in the place she was supposed to be. Sitting here at their kitchen table after having sex, with her boyfriend, and feeling like crap.
"Hun?" that word woke her from her blurred thoughts and forced her to lift her gaze to meet her boyfriend's eyes that were sweetly looking at her, unaware of her inner turmoil.
"What?" Santana replied with an uncaring, disinterested tone.
"I've asked if you want honey or syrup on your pancakes." He repeated calmly, visibly relaxed from their quickie.
"Oh, I-I none thanks." she said back lowering her glance to keep on playing with the little spoon she was holding in her fingers.
"Oh come on San, it's your birthday. Try to smile a bit!" He insisted probably noticing the dark expression painted on her face.
Santana didn't answer and kept staring at the marble patterns on the table.
Ray quickly walked to her noticing her dark mood, and stopped right In front of her smiling.
Santana was so fucking upset in that moment. Angry for so many fucking reasons, for having been literally fucked without feeling even a hint of pleasure, for having spent the entire night at Brittany's place without even getting a fucking phone call from her boyfriend and basically for being so stupid that she actually put up with all that shit.
Ray looked at her so intensely and so heavily she felt forced to lift her gaze.
"Hey." He whispered softly, in what seemed to be an understanding, comforting tone. "Babe, it's your birthday and I want you to be happy." He added leaning forward to hug her and Santana couldn't help but bury her face into his shoulder one more time. "Just think about something that can make you happy."
Brittany.
"And we'll try to achieve it!" He added with a painted smile on his face.
At those words Santana couldn't help but feel a little bit of relief and somehow his kind words lit up her mood. She shyly hinted a smile and Ray understood that now was the time.
He turned his back to grab something of the marble counter and Santana simply followed his movements wondering what he was up to. She was already aware that the time for her birthday present had arrived and she was kind of happy about it. Who doesn't like receiving presents?
What she wasn't expecting was the little black box that popped out. From the gold filigree finishing she could tell that scary little box came from an excellent jeweler.
Her heart immediately froze at that sight. For a second she literally wasn't able to breathe or process any other thought except from what could be in that little black box.
"So, while you are thinking about what makes you happy, here is something that I hope will make you a little bit happier." He said in a whisper.
No fucking way. This can't be happening. She wasn't ready for that little box it was simply the worst timing ever.
She felt like she was stuck in limbo, she had recently started wondering if Ray was the right person for her, if she was supposed to feel barely anything, apart from a weird sense of safety. On the other side though she knew she wasn't ready to start considering the idea of leaving him or doing something to improve her situation.
A fucking engagement ring was the worst thing that could happen to her in that moment.
Fuck me.
She thought her eyes goggling, as Ray was gently taking her left hand and placing the little black box in the palm of her hand.
Oh, shit.
She quickly roamed her eyes around the room and for a second she seriously considered the idea of running out through the window.
"Oh, my god…" she managed to whisper still staring at the box as if it was representing a waking nightmare.
"Come on, open it." Ray said excited. She could tell that he was looking for her reaction but she was so damn afraid of what he would see.
Her eyes began to squint as she slowly applied enough pressure to lift to cover of the box. She could feel her heart hammering like crazy against her ribcage and her head was just about ready to explode.
"Oh…" She commented, voice still trembling.
A pair of beautiful diamond earrings were shining in that little box and she had never felt so relieved in her entire life.
Oh, fuck. Thank you.
She mentally thanked God for like three times in a row, but then she realized that her boyfriend was still looking at her with a questioning expression on his face.
"Wow, Ray they are amazing." she exclaimed showing all her excitement from the realization that she hadn't just been imprisoned for the rest of her life.
The earrings were obviously amazing, very classy, without a doubt extremely expensive but, as usual, they were nothing like her.
Ray was always buying her those excessively expensive gifts, like he was trying to somehow buy her love, to fill the emptiness in their relationship.
"I love them." she added again smiling.
She didn't care about the stupid present, all she felt was relief and like she had been granted more time to figure out where their relationship was going.
"Ray?" Santana asked quietly.
"Yes?"
"I think I know what could make me happy." She started hesitantly. "Well besides these beautiful earrings." She decided to add in the end.
"And what is that?" Ray asked but Santana could tell that he wasn't that interested in knowing what she was about to say.
Baby steps.
But before she could process the thought it had already been transformed into words.
"Music." That was the only thing she was able to say. One word. But it was just enough for her.
Ray frowned, squinting slightly at her.
"Aaanndd what is that supposed to mean?"
A light nuance of disappointment in his voice, but for once Santana didn't feel scared or threatened.
She simply shrugged.
"It doesn't have to mean anything. I love music so I was thinking about doing something relating to it."
Ray's questioning expression hadn't changed at all.
"I really don't have anything in mind yet."
"But I don't understand."
"What?"
There was actually nothing to be understood about someone wanting to try something new.
"This. I mean why would you like to start something that is so completely far from who you are, from your world?"
What the hell was he talking about?
"Because I need to do something different, something that can break the routine I have been stuck in for the past three years." She explained calmly. She really wanted him to understand her point of view and she really wanted him to be supportive.
"So, basically you are saying that you are bored with your life, by our life. Aren't you?" He replied still with a defensive tone.
Yes.
Santana rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, the conversation wasn't supposed to last this long.
"No, I'm just saying that I need a hobby. You have golf, sailing, dinners with your friends and what do I have? Nothing besides meeting with my parents which, I definitely don't consider a hobby."
"And what are you hoping to achieve? Become some kind of superstar or something? You know that we are in the real world where dreams do not come true."
"Ray, what the hell are you talking about?" Santana yelled making him freeze frowning. "Listen I don't want to fight about this stupid thing anymore. I am not saying that I want to turn my life upside down, I'm just informing you that I want to start doing something in my free time while you are having fun. What I decide is up to me, I have to choose what I like not you. So please stop being such an asshole."
Oh my god. Those words had come out of her mouth without even thinking. She would usually never have spoken to Ray like that, but somehow she did and she had no regrets. This was her freaking life and she was so fed up with people telling her what to do all the damn time. It had to stop and she felt like this was the first step to get on the right path.
She looked down to hide the proud smile that was slowly appearing on her face.
12:30 pm -Urban Ink
Brittany S. Pierce was a nice kid. She had grown up in a decent normal family, she had always received all the love she needed and she had never had any big issues. Her coming out to her parents and friends had been completely natural and she had been surrounded by all the compassion and understanding every person in her position would kill for.
Basically her life could be defined as perfect.
Perfect.
Perfect if it wasn't for one little thing, that had literally ruined all her chances to reach happiness in the last 27 years or her flawless life.
It was something her dad's money couldn't buy and something she couldn't even contemplate trying to change.
Herself.
Yes, her way of being had definitely let her reach and gain things most people might struggle to, but, at the same time, she was the reason why she had never felt completely or totally happy. She had always known that there was something wrong with herself and the fact that she had absolutely no reason to complain about her life, made everything that much harder.
Simply put Brittany S. Pierce's life was fucked and she only had herself to blame.
She was a walking talking contradiction. She was always painted as the tough, rude person but she wouldn't hurt a fly. She was reluctant when it came to spending time with people or making new friends yet, her biggest fear was to be left alone.
Sarcasm was her middle name, but she secretly believed in unicorns and magic.
However there was something she was sure about, she hated being interrupted on her lunch break!
Brittany rolled her eyes towards the door trying to glare at the person behind it trough the thick wooden material
She didn't answer unfortunately though that wasn't enough to discourage whoever was looking for her.
The door opened and Sugar's smiling face popped in.
"Hey you." Sugar said happily, pleased to see her friend.
And just like every time she dealt with her sweet friend Brittany couldn't help but smile back.
"Hey."
Sugar sat in the chair for customers at the front of her desk.
"Have you already eaten?"
The blonde nodded towards the almost empty can of sugar sticks.
"Oh okay. This is better." Sugar commented placing a plastic box with containing a kind of salad in front of her. "One day you will thank me." But as she realized that her friend was giving her a blank look she quickly added. "...For taking care of you."
"Aha."
"So, how are things going recently?"
"Fine. Why?"
"Nothing. Can't a friend be interested in your personal life?"
Yes. She could and Brittany was grateful for that but at the same time opening up, had never been one of the easiest things for her.
"I told you. Every thing is just fine."
"Ok. It's just that you seem a little bit…" But then she stopped to focus on a random spot on the desk probably looking for the right words.
"What?"
"I don't know. Not yourself. Don't take this the wrong way, but I've noticed that you have been behaving differently in the past few days and I was wondering if this has something to do with her?"
Oh fuck. Sugar had only been there for three minutes and she had already hit the nail on the head.
"With who?" Brittany replied pretending not to know that her friend was talking about Santana.
Sugar just gave her the You-know-what-I-mean expression.
"Oh come on! Don't lie to me! You never did and you won't start know because of some stupid skinny rich girl you can't fuck." She said visibly annoyed. But her words just made Brittany laugh in response.
"You are a skinny rich girl."
"True but I'm awesome the way I am and mostly I don't fuck with you."
"She is not doing anything wrong Sugar!" Brittany readily said to calm her down.
"So tell me what's wrong about your relationship with her coz it really doesn't seem to be the usual customer-owner relationship."
Brittany let her head fall into her hands releasing a sigh.
"I have no idea, ok?" She admitted, looking up to check her friend's reaction.
"What do you mean? Do you like her?"
"No! I mean yes. Of course I like her. Have you seen her? She is probably the hottest girl I have ever seen." She said in one breathe but then she suddenly stopped as she realized her words seemed more like random ramblings than actual comprehensible speech.
"So? What's the problem? Did she refuse you?"
"No! I haven't even tried anything!"
"So do! Sleep with the girl and get her out of your mind."
"She has a boyfriend, S."
"It was never a problem before if I remember correctly."
Brittany didn't answer. Sugar was right. A lot of girls with boyfriends had crossed the threshold of Urban Ink and most of the time, if she was interested they had left the studio with a tattoo and a good session of lesbian sex. It wasn't her fault she didn't even know why those girls were so easy to conquer. Straight girls were crazy, apparently always so in love with their men, but after a couple of sessions love was turning into disappointment and that was when they were going to her to fill the voids that their relationships couldn't.
Straight girls. She remembered her grandma's advice when she had told her that she was gay.
"Never fall in love with a straight girl." She had said.
Fall in love. That would have been great if she even knew what falling in love was supposed to mean and more importantly how it was supposed to feel.
And then she had met Santana. Yet another straight girl, and another possible conquest.
But somehow she had turned out to be no ordinary girl. She was different, and as long as she knew that the girl was unhappy with her life, she couldn't bare to just categorize her.
"Listen B. If you like her just pursue it. I've seen the way she looks at you and let me say that she is totally into you." Sugar insisted.
"Sugar.." She began. "..It's complicated this time. She is different from the other girls I've met. I would never hit on her, even though I wouldn't mind at all."
"Why?"
"Because you know how I am and you know that I tend to destroy everything I touch. I'm incapable of taking anything seriously and I won't even start explaining to you the countless reason why I can't be in a relationship."
"You still haven't answered my question. Why do you care?"
"-Because.." She almost stuttered. Fuck. She never did that.
"Oh my god you really like her."
"Yes, I've already told you that."
But Sugar quickly shook her head smiling.
"No, no. You really like her, you have feelings for her."
"Don't be stupid."
She did not have feelings for Santana. She was incapable of having feelings for anyone.
"Look at you, all worried you'll hurt her! That's not you at all! Oh Britt, I'm so proud."
"Hey, hey stop it! I don't feel anything towards that person but somehow I care about her, that's why I don't want just to fuck her and ruin her life. I don't want to talk about it anymore, ok?"
At those words Sugar lifted her hands up as if she was surrendering.
"Ok, ok! But remember that avoiding a problem doesn't solve it."
"Ok, Yoda. What should I do?"
"It depends. What to you want?" Sugar asked putting her in front of the real issue. She had no fucking idea of what she wanted from Santana or what she was hoping for.
"Sugar, I have no clue. The only thing I know is that I don't want to hurt her and I don't want to be my usual jerk self with her. I don't know, I probably just want to keep seeing her and the best way to do that is not doing anything stupid. I really don't want to screw things up this time, she already has her own problems and I don't want to make her life any worse."
"Oh honey, you got it bad. The only thing I'm sure about is that hiding or trying to control feelings doesn't work at all, so my little piece of advice is try to live this relationship as you feel and try to behave in a normal way this time."
"I have already told you. There is nothing to live, she is taken and the only thing I am hoping is to at least be her friend."
Sugar sweetly smiled at her and Brittany for the first time since she had known the girl and noticed a worried shadow in her gaze. She was sharing the same concern. Where was that "friendship" taking her? What the hell was happening to her and why the hell couldn't she even think about just fucking Santana like she usually would? The real issue was that she had absolutely no clue about how to deal with this situation and another thing to know about Brittany S. Pierce was that she didn't like not having her emotions under control.
09:00 pm
Santana parked her car in the driveway of their house and switched off the engine. She looked up at the place where she had been living for the past three years. It was undeniable that the place screamed class, but she couldn't help feel the same sensation she had been experiencing for the past few days when she came home.
She didn't belong here.
She rolled her eyes to the clock on the dashboard and noticed it was already late.
9.00 pm
The work out at the gym had taken longer than she had anticipated but she really needed to ease some tension. She, or well they, didn't have any plans that evening since Ray had an important after dinner party with his old college mates. Even though it was her birthday, he couldn't miss it for any reason in the world.
Santana opened the car door and slowly approached the entrance of her big house already making plans for how she wanted to spend her night alone.
For a second she wished she had asked Brittany to come over and to hang out together but, earlier during her Urban Ink's session, she barely had enough courage to tell her that it was her birthday.
The session had gone pretty well and Brittany had pleased her again by being in a surprisingly good mood and telling her funny incredible stories about her years at MIT. Santana became numb to the pain of the laser therapy thanks to all her attention was focused on Brittany's mesmerizing voice.
It was incredible how the blond had been leading her life, she had been on this planet for only 27 years but she had amazing stories to tell as if she was an experienced veteran and Santana didn't even try to deny that listening to her was the best part of her week. Well, listening to her and feeling her wonderful soft hands massage her. Santana could barely understand how the tattooist managed to make her skin burn and pleasantly tingle by only grazing it.
She was naively hopeful that the more she got to know Britt, the more likely it was for the undeniable attraction she felt towards her to fade. Well, that was the plan. The ugly scary truth was that she was barely able to concentrate when Brittany was talking and smiling at her. She was so fucking worried that the initial attraction was turning into something different.
She mentally cursed herself for letting the blond snake into her thoughts for the umpteenth time that day and opened the door to the place she was supposed to call home.
"Ray! Are you home?" She shouted from the hall to check if she had to wear her fake smile or if he had already gone.
"Babe! Kitchen!" She heard him reply.
Fuck.
She really didn't feel like seeing him after the disastrous sex session that happened this morning. She just wanted to slip into her pajama and watch TV with a glass of wine maybe.
She turned the corner at the end of the corridor and all of a sudden the place felt different, better and more positive.
What the hell?
Instinctively she narrowed her eyes to check if she was hallucinating or if she really was seeing Ray and Brittany sat in her kitchen talking with two opened beers.
"Oh, hi honey! Look who came to say hello." Ray said happily pointing towards the tattooist.
"Hi Santana."
Her heart started hammering like hell against her chest. What the hell was she doing here? Why the hell did she and Ray seem to be best pals?
"H-hi." She had so many questions in her mind but no time to put them into words since Ray had already started talking again.
"You didn't tell me that Brittany was the daughter of Mr. Pierce!" He said and now Santana could understand the reason why her boyfriend was acting kind towards the blond. But still she had no clue on why Brittany was acting so politely towards a person she would normally want to punch in the face.
"I- I…" she stuttered. "I must have forgotten babe."
"Brittany just kindly invited us to have dinner with her and her dad but unfortunately I'm going out in a couple of minutes. But you should go honey." Ray explained, excited to get his hooks into more members of LA's leading class."
"I would love to." Santana replied politely to avoid any complaints. She just wanted him to leave and she wanted to be alone with Brittany so she could talk to her about what the hell was going on.
"Perfect. Ok then ladies, have fun and Brittany say hello to your dad for me and thank him for the invitation." He said standing up and getting closer. "Have a great night babe." He added placing a sweet kiss on her lips but, similarly to that morning, she was annoyed by that and she couldn't help but lower her gaze to hide her frustration.
Santana kept staring at the floor and the seconds it took Ray to get out of the house felt like an eternity. Once she heard the sound of the main door slamming her eyes quickly rolled up to find the blond ones already waiting for hers.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked shamelessly but her arrogant tone wasn't enough to annoy the tattooed girl.
Brittany took the last sip of her beer and then she stood up and Santana literally died.
She was wearing a pair of incredibly tight jeans and a simple white top with the Rolling Stones' logo but she was flawless. Santana immediately felt her mouth go dry as she watched the girl approach her.
Oh my…
The denim fabric perfectly wrapped all the blond's curves showing off her amazingly sensual hips but what was really unbelievable was her top. White, simple, it would probably didn't cost much but Santana had the overwhelming urge to know where it was from so she could personally thank the person who sold it her.
"I've..." The blonde said taking another step in her direction.
Santana was petrified, when she noticed Brittany's nipples shyly popping out under the thin layer of cotton fabric.
Oh fuck.
In this moment now San was so fucking attracted to Brittany all she wanted to do was push her against the kitchen table and touch her beautifully enticing chest.
"...Heard."
Another step.
Those blue eyes still glued to hers. "...That it's your birthday."
Brittany was right in front of her and Santana let out a kind of choked moan. Her blood immediately flushed up to her face making her cheeks burn like hell.
"It is indeed." She knew it was a lame answer but her mind was totally incapable of anything more.
"And so you want to make me meet your dad?" She added trying to keep looking in her eyes and not let her gaze drop to the blonde's lips.
Brittany smirked, darkening her glance.
"Santana, do you really think I'm taking you out to have dinner with my father?" She replied lightly giggling.
"So, where are we going?"
Brittany smiled and Santana swore that the distance between them decreased again.
"You will have to trust me." She replied still looking at her.
She trusted Brittany, she really did. The real issue was that she didn't trust herself anymore.
"I have to change." She stuttered realizing that she was still wearing her gym outfit.
Brittany let her eyes drop onto her lips and trail down following each one of her curves and then up again.
"Ok, but wear something casual." She said slowly lifting her arms.
Santana was standing still, her muscles stiff, ready to catch any hint of the blonde's movements.
The tattooist slightly leant forward and let her long fingers slide into her hair.
Santana immediately felt a fucking huge knot in her stomach and her palms began to sweat.
Oh fuck.
Her heart skipped a beat when the blond tightened the grip in her hair forcing her to look up at her.
She needed to stop, she needed to fucking pull away or she would do something incredibly stupid.
Santana swallowed thickly
"Leave your hair down cos I love the way it falls on your shoulders." Brittany added in a whispering seductive tone that immediately sent a wave of goose bumps down her back.
Oh shit.
She knew she was supposed to move and she knew she was supposed to go and get changed. But those eyes were so fucking hypnotizing she just couldn't stop staring into them.
Brittany didn't move either. Fuck, she wasn't ready, she wasn't prepared at all.
"I-I…" but her mind was empty the only thing she was able to do was look down unintentionally meeting the blonde's teasing lips.
She didn't know if Brittany had done exactly the same but she swore she could feel the weight of her glance on her lips as well.
"Santana?" The tattooist asked.
God she loved the way the girl pronounced her name.
"I'm going." She said and forced herself to take a step back to get out of the danger zone.
"I'll wait for you right here." Brittany informed her giggling and sitting at the kitchen table again. "Oh and can we use you car?"
"Sure." Santana replied turning her head to meet the girl's gaze.
Brittany hinted a smirk. That girl was so up to something.
"Can I drive?" she questioned hopefully.
"Nope." She really didn't mind Brittany using her car but she found it way more exciting to tease her right back.
"Bitch."
Ok, she was expecting that answer but she didn't care at all, she simply smiled back amused.
"I'll right back." She added before heading quickly to her bedroom.
30 minutes later...
"After you birthday girl." Brittany said with a hint of teasing, before she opened the door to a bar Santana had never been to before.
Santana crossed the threshold of the entrance and hesitantly looked around, both a little scared and excited to find out why they were here.
After a quick look the place didn't seem to be anything special, but then, as if everybody was waiting for them, a melody started playing and a nice girl on a little stage started beautifully singing the well- known song The scientist. The girl had a very tender and captivating voice that Santana couldn't help but still and stare at her performance.
"Santana?" Brittany called out to her.
"Yeah?" She replied breathily. "Wow." She added to not seem like a complete jerk.
"Come on, let's have a seat."
And then Brittany did something that completely diverted her attention from the singing girl. She wrapped her thin fingers around her wrist and, just like every time her skin touched the blonde's, she went into that all too familiar catatonic state she had become increasingly familiar with.
Santana let the girl drive her through the bar until they found a free table in front of the stage.
"This place is so cool." Santana commented roaming her eyes around. But she was inevitably drawn back to the stage to watch the girl singing.
"No one said it was easy."
"That's why I brought you here."
"Do you come here often?" Santana asked eager to find out another little detail of Brittany's marvelous life.
"Sometimes." The tattooist replied staring at her with her big watery eyes. "I have a friend who is trying to make his way into the music field. When he brought me here for the first time I immediately fell in love with this place. It's so… inspirational."
Santana nodded in agreement. She felt like ice had just run trough her veins.
"It is. Is it some kind of karaoke or something?"
"Yeah exactly. The only difference is that only artists, singers or musicians can perform here. It's a nice way to avoid drunken, out of tune people that annoy the customers and you can listen to good music for free." She explained waving her hand to the waitress on the other side of the bar. The girl smiled and waved back nodding, probably all too aware of what Brittany wanted to drink. Santana couldn't help but wonder if that cute girl was another of Brittany's numerous conquests. She quickly shook her head trying to push the image of the two of them kissing away.
"Ok." Brittany said connecting her eyes back to hers. "You're next."
"W-what?!" Santana asked her voice trembling but sincerely hoping she had misheard Brittany.
The blonde giggled and Santana wondered if she was looking forward to seeing her in an uncomfortable position or if she really believed Santana was capable of what she was asking her to do.
"The DJ is a friend of mine and he owes me a favor." Brittany started. "So I asked him to let you sing tonight."
"No way!" Santana almost shouted.
"I know! Isn't it great?"
"No! No! Hey I don't know why you thought that making me sing in front of all these people would have been a nice thing to do, but there is no way I'm doing that!" Santana replied firmly, her heart just about ready to explode out of her chest.
"Why?"
"Because..." She said putting particular emphasis on the first syllable. "... I'm like the shyest person on the planet and the thought of stepping onto that stage scares me to death."
"That's a good thing! Oh come on Santana I believe you can do this!"
She shook her head quickly in the negative.
"No Brittany, I said no." She stated firmly with as much confidence as she could muster she wanted to put an end to this conversation. However she was acutely aware that a fight had just begun.
In the mean time the girl on the stage had stopped singing and everyone was clapping their hands in a sign of approval.
"You don't even know if I can sing."
Brittany shrugged in response.
"You have a beautiful voice, I'm a hundred percent sure that you can do this." She said and for a second Santana felt a warm sense of safety invest her.
Focus. You are not doing this.
"I wouldn't put you in this position if I weren't sure you could do this." Brittany insisted while the DJ was already inviting the next person to go up on stage.
Santana was petrified. She couldn't do that, she didn't want to do that, to embarrass herself in front of all those people and mostly she didn't want to let Brittany down.
"I'm not…" She said again but before she could finish her sentence Brittany placed her palm on the back of her hand to stop her ramblings.
"Ok, let's put it this way." She said with her classic teasing smirk. "I bet twenty bucks that by the end of the next song you will be singing on that stage."
Santana let out her first carefree laugh since she had left her house.
"You are crazy." She said while looking for her purse. "I raise you fifty dollars cos nothing, not even Mr Obama in person, can make me get upon that stage." She added placing the money on the table.
Brittany laughed back and stood up.
"Ok girl. It is so on." She said before walking off and leaving her there.
"Where the fuck?"
Santana's eyes followed Brittany getting on the stage and waving smiling at the little crowd.
What the hell was she doing? Santana immediately regretted accepting the challenge but she should have been more prepared since every minute spent with said girl seemed to be crazy, memorable or both.
"Hi everybody, my name is Brittany and I'll sing the next song cos my friend over there, who by the way has a flawless voice, refuses to sing for us." She said pointing directly at her. Santana immediately felt all the eyes on her and her initial instinct was to vanish from that place.
"So, if you have any complaints about the next performance you should blame her." Brittany added while the music started.
Santana immediately recognized the song and somehow managed to smile since she knew that Brittany had chosen it especially for her.
She was still clueless as to what Brittany was hoping to achieve and the fleeting embarrassment she had just caused her had passed and there was still no hope in hell she was going to sing. But then Brittany opened her mouth and the song lyrics came out.
Ever wonder about what he's doing
How it all turned to lies
Sometimes I think that it's better to never ask why
There was only one thing that occupied her mind in that moment, complete astonishment. Brittany was probably the worst singer in the world, there was no way she could be that out of tune. But incredibly, she was actually that bad. Santana though, found her even more incredible in that moment. She continued singing without showing any signs of embarrassment or shyness but Santana could already hear the murmur of the people in the pub.
She knew exactly what that bitch was doing but there was no fucking way she was letting her win!
Where there is desire
There is gonna be a flame
Where there is a flame
Someone's bound to get burned
But just because it burns
Doesn't mean you're gonna die
You've gotta get up and try try try
Gotta get up and try try try
You gotta get up and try try try
Santana still couldn't believe how a person could have so much self-confidence they were able to go on stage and make a complete fool of themselves, but somehow Brittany was proving to her that, at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is the way you see yourself and not the way the others see you.
Santana's eyes goggled unable to believe what she was witnessing. Brittany didn't seem to have any intentions of stopping at all and the murmur in the place had turned into annoyed chatter, people probably trying to understand if this was some kind of joke.
She quickly looked around, trying to read the other people's reactions and then refocused her chocolate eyes back on the tattooist who hadn't stop staring at her, not even a hint of embarrassment in her eyes. Her natural cheeky smirk was still on her face like she wanted to prove that she had the situation under control.
Oh, fuck me.
She knew she was supposed to stay sat down, without moving a muscle, but something stronger than her was controlling her body. It wasn't her fault that all the cells making up her body were suddenly pushing her to take the first step towards the stage with the sole intention of saving Brittany from her embarrassing situation.
She cursed herself for what she was about to do and then she just did it. She moved her foot and slowly approached the stage before getting on it and taking another microphone.
What the hell am I doing?
Her heart was beating like hell in her ribcage and, each step, her legs felt weaker and weaker. The walk to the stage was a blur until she suddenly found herself right next to Brittany on stage in front of everyone. The music was playing and it was almost time to start singing again.
Santana was still looking at Brittany, she couldn't turn to face the audience otherwise she would have probably had a panic attack. The tattooist had followed her every movement with clear trusting eyes and for the first time since she had stepped into that place Santana thought she could do it. The blonde nodded, still smiling, trying to make her understand that it was her moment.
Why her? Why had Brittany chosen her? Why was this person who seemed so free doing all this for her? Just to make her gain a little bit of self-confidence?
Santana didn't have the answers to that question but somehow, having Brittany standing in front of her, was enough. Enough to make her slowly lift the microphone and start singing.
There is something weird about hearing your voice when you sing, it doesn't seem to belong to you, it feels weird, like listening to someone else and that was exactly how Santana felt when the first words came from her lips.
A glacial shiver quickly ran down her spine and she instinctively closed her eyes. She knew the song, she had listened to it on the radio so many times but she had never really paid attention to what it was trying to say.
But just because it burns
Doesn't mean you're gonna die
You gotta get up and try try try
Whilst singing, she almost forgot how to take in oxygen especially when she felt Brittany's smooth fingers shyly wrapping around hers. Oh my fucking god, what was happening? She was singing in front of everyone while a person she was sure hated her, was holding her fucking hand.
And as quick as everything had started it came to an end just as quickly. The music stopped playing and she knew that it was the time to open her eyes.
She slowly unlocked her eyelids and her brain suddenly came back to life and in that one second everything going on around her flooded her senses. People were clapping their hands Brittany still holding her hand and herself… she was smiling so hard that her facial muscles were almost hurting.
The sensation she was feeling was absolutely indescribable.
"Oh my god you did it!" Brittany exclaimed and Santana didn't know if it was the excitement or the dizziness that was controlling her body but she leant forward to innocently hug the blonde. But as soon as contact was made she quickly came to her senses.
Santana, seriously?
She cursed herself for such a stupid and impulsive move but Brittany didn't react the way she was expecting.
The tattooist hugged her back, lightly caressing her back with both her palms.
It lasted just two seconds but that first contact felt so good, having Brittany's breast pressed against hers, having her so close to be able to breathe her intoxicating perfume was something she craved for.
But that was probably too much for the reckless badass she was holding in a tight and soft embrace.
"Hey barbie, I don't do hugs." She whispered making her ear tingle.
Classic Brittany behavior.
Santana realized that every time she got too close to that girl, Brittany somehow managed to always get herself out of the potentially awkward situation. But then why was she always teasing and annoying her with her jokes and her flirty moves yet, she seemed so afraid of real contact. Santana might have just found Brittany's kryptonite. She had never been an arrogant person, but somehow her Mexican psychic eye was telling her she was right.
No, it wasn't possible. Was it?
She smirked, as she pulled away, determined to finally turn their relationship upside down.
They got off the stage to let other people perform and got back to their drinks that had magically appeared on their table.
"Wow. I feel…" Santana stuttered, she really was trying to stop smiling but the adrenaline was still running through her body.
"Excited?" Brittany suggested.
"Yeah! That was incredible!"
"I told you I know how to turn a girl on." She commented teasingly, but Santana didn't lower her gaze this time, she was completely at ease.
"Well, if this is your effort every time you fuck someone, I'm really impressed."
She immediately noticed the blond frowning, intrigued by that unexpected answer.
"Oh no, Barbie. You are the only one that requires this kind of effort."
Barbie. Again.
"I bet." Santana replied laughing. "But thank you. I'd never of done something like this if it weren't for you."
"No problem. You really have a wonderful voice."
"Thanks."
"But, do you know what this means?" Brittany asked tauntingly.
She knew.
"That I've just saved you from the most awkward situation?"
"Oh please, I was doing so well."
"No you weren't! So...you're welcome!"
Brittany smiled back and bit her lower lip, immediately catching Santana's attention.
Oh fuck.
The image of the blonde's tongue piercing quickly crossed her mind and Santana couldn't help but wonder if it was the only one.
"It doesn't matter because what matters is that you owe me 50 dollars."
"Shark!" Santana exclaimed but broke the tense moment with a laugh and Brittany hinted a smile back.
"You should do something with that voice." she said cutting her off.
Santana shrugged taking a sip of her drink. "Ok first of all, I'm not that good and second I tried to tell Ray that I wanted to do something regarding music and singing, but…"
"But what?" Brittany stepped in readily, her voice had rapidly changed from relaxed to one coated in annoyance.
"He didn't seem too thrilled of the idea."
"Santana, I know that I'm probably not one who should tell you this and I should mind my own business."
"But something tells me that you won't" Santana interrupted mocking her getting a glaring gaze back.
"No, I won't and do you want to know why? Because he is a jerk Santana, he shouldn't treat you like this and mostly you shouldn't let him treat you like shit."
"I don't let him..." but then she froze since she knew the girl was right. She rolled her eyes at her in order to delay her response so she could think of an answer, any answer but the truth. The truth would ruin this special moment where she felt good, happy and carefree for the first time in so long and she didn't want her stupid problems to ruin it.
"…listen. I know I still have a lot of things to face in my life but, can I just start tomorrow?" she said trying to be honest and delicate at the same time.
For a second Brittany didn't say anything and stared at the table.
"Hey, don't get me wrong. I love talking to you, it's just that I'm having so much fun and-" but suddenly cut what she was going to say when she noticed the shy smile Britt was giving her.
"W-what?" she asked hesitantly.
"Nothing I was just wondering if there is a manual to teach how to be Santana Lopez or it's just something natural."
What did she mean with those words?
But Brittany didn't even give her the time to process the thought.
Was that another defense mechanism?
"So, did you like the song I picked for you?"
"Sure. I didn't know you were a Pink fan."
"Oh no, I hate pop singers that pretend to be rock-stars but I thought you might like it."
"I see." Santana replied blushing a little bit since the girl practically admitted to having done something just for her.
And then again Santana suddenly realized that the music had started playing again but this time it was a sort of club song, with a heavy powerful bass.
The people who just a few minutes earlier had been their audience, were now up and dancing on a small dance floor right in front of the empty stage and next to their table.
This place was amazing.
"Brittany?" Santana asked even if she wasn't a 100% sure of what she was going to say.
Brittany mumbled something that wasn't exactly a word but Santana read it as an authorization to tell her what was on her mind.
"Let's dance." She said standing up and walking next to the table to face Brittany. "Come on!"
"Oh no! I don't dance."
"You know, once I thought you were fun and fearless."
Brittany turned her head to glare at her.
"Santana, you really don't want to play this game with me." She replied darkening her gaze.
Santana couldn't help but feel the knot in her stomach return, tighter than before. She had no intention of surrendering, not this time, but was that just to win for once against the girl that had literally topped her for the past few weeks, or was it because she was secretly dying to dance with her?
She smiled again she couldn't hide the thrilling alive sensation she felt in that moment.
"Coward." she said teasing Brittany one more time.
"Santana…" The way the girl pronounced her name caused a trembling motion in her legs. "...you-"
"I'm not taking a no as an answer." she insisted and this time Brittany had no other option than to roll her eyes up to the ceiling and agree.
"Fine, but I warned you."
Santana turned and started walking toward the spot of the pub where people had gathered dancing.
"I bet you are not that bad." She shouted the music was too high to keep at a normal level.
Then Santana turned on her feet and at the same time, as if someone was waiting for them a remixed version, with a heavier bass, of the song Latch started. She loved this song, the lyrics, the music, it had something incredibly sexy in the rhythm.
Brittany was standing right in front of her and as soon she realized what they were doing, her heart instinctively started beating faster.
Her eyes immediately dropped, to the blonde's tank top, and her enticing chest, shyly coming out.
Santana slowly started waving her hips following the beats of the music.
Brittany stood still not moving at all, except for slightly shaking her head to the beat. Santana managed to swallow back a laugh and, still smiling, said. "Come on, try a little bit harder." she leant forward towards the blonde's ear, until the tip of her nose was almost brushing the tattooist's cheek.
Brittany's mouth suddenly turned into a curved smirk and with a sharp and firm movement she stopped her from pulling away, wrapping her arm around her waist. At the contact of the blonde's hand on her hip, Santana almost jolted.
Oh fuck.
Maybe, disturbing the sleeping dog hadn't been a smart idea after all.
"I don't want you to fall in love with me." Brittany whispered, her mouth was so close to Santana's face that the brunette managed to feel her breath brushing her jaw. At those words Santana felt her legs become even weaker and if it wasn't for Brittany holding her up she would have probably sagged to the floor.
Here she was again, succumbing to the blonde's arrogance, but no, enough was enough, she wasn't willing to lose, let the girl treat her like this.
She hid the mix of embarrassment and excitement that had invested her and lifted her jaw just enough to look the blonde directly in the eyes.
"Shut up and dance."
At that answer Brittany smirked one more time, probably happy to hear those words.
Santana felt the blonde's hand slowly moving on her back and gently placing on her hip. With a light pressure Brittany pulled her away, to put some distance between them, well as much distance you can have on a crowded dance-floor, and she started dancing, this time for real.
The movements she was doing were simple and slow, nothing complicated or frantic, but Santana was completely mesmerized by the blonde's body, moving rhythmically to the beats. Fuck, Brittany was so good at that, her mouth was going fucking dry at every movement of her hips.
Brittany cut the eye contact for a second to make a turn on herself, slowly enough to give Santana all the time to drop her eyes to the blonde's perfect ass.
Santana tried to ignore the countless hot vibrating waves that overtook her body and closed her eyes for a second, but she almost died when she opened them a second after.
Brittany had closed the distance between them, maybe because someone had pushed her or maybe because she simply wanted to get closer, either way it didn't matter, cos now Santana was just about to die.
She looked down, keeping up her movements with the song, but it didn't matter where she looked every possible point she could settle on, lips, chest, eyes they were all danger zones. Santana didn't know what to do at all she had never found herself in such an odd situation. Everything that was inside her, from her cells, to her organs were urging her to close even more distance between them, to kiss the girl, to caress what seemed to be the most amazing and tasteful skin but luckily for her, her brain was still working.
The fucking throbbing sensation between her thighs was softly torturing her, building the pressure in her lower limbs beat after beat.
Santana rolled her eyes up, meeting Brittany's heated gaze. The way the blonde was looking at her, the way she was chewing her lower lip was too much for Santana to handle. She had no doubt, Brittany wanted her and despite her constant attempts to prove otherwise, she wanted her as well.
She made the last step forward and the blonde took it as an invitation to touch her. Instinctively the blonde grabbed her hips and started helping her move rocking her waist in circles in time with her own movements. Santana wrapped both her hands around the tattooist's neck and held on tight.
She noticed Brittany's gaze drop to her lips and automatically she did the same.
She wanted to lean forward, just a few inches. She also knew she should leave and go away but somehow she couldn't.
Brittany started calmly waving her torso towards her, brushing her chest against her. Ok, this was way too much but Santana couldn't help but start doing the same, tightening the grip on her neck.
"Oh." A slight moan escaped her mouth as she realized she had never been so fucking wet in a public place.
The tattooist knew exactly what she was doing, as she gently trailed her hands up to her back, pleasantly scratching it making her skin tingle under the light pressure.
Quick breaths, suffocated moans, skin brushing and the heat surrounding them caused everything to become almost unbearable. That situation was intense, Santana knew she was about to lose control and the only idiotic thing she managed to do to stop staring those lips was to lean forward just enough to rest her forehead against Brittany's.
They kept dancing like that for what seemed an eternity. Santana suddenly let a whimper escape her lips when she realized she was thinking about having sex with Brittany. If just dancing with her was causing that sick wetness in her panties, more than any man had ever done touching her, she could barely stand the idea of having the girl focusing on her naked body.
Everything was so wrong and exciting at the same time. The attraction between the two of them was undeniable, the air was electrical.
Brittany let her fingers slide into her hair, again, and firmly grabbed it pulling up to make her lift her head.
"Uhg." Santana almost shouted, not prepared for the sudden movement.
Brittany took advantage of her exposed flesh and leant forward placing her wet humid lips on it. At the contact of those incredible lips on her skin Santana almost died. Brittany didn't kiss, suck or lick her neck, no, she simply rested her mouth on her skin but the brunette could feel the blonde deeply inhaling and releasing her breath.
The knot in her stomach was going crazy and she was completely soaked. Following the throbbing sensation between her legs, Santana let one of her hand slide around to the blonde's cheek and caress it.
"Santana?" Brittany whispered against her skin.
"Mhmm…" she murmured closing her eyes.
"What are we doing?" she asked.
What? Brittany was pulling away? The girl that had practically been screaming I want to fuck you since they met for the first time, was pulling away from such a hot situation?
But Santana's mind wasn't ready to answer and the only suffocated words that came out of her mouth were.
"I just want to feel something."
I just want you.
Hi guys! This An is going to be a litte bit longer than the usual ones.
I really want to thank (like really really) you for all your feedbacks and all the love towards this fic. I feel blessed and I'm sorry if I wans't able to answer to all the messages for the last chap!
I'm also sorry cos it took me ages to update but with holidays, work and life I had really little time. (I swear the next one will thank less)
I hope you like this last chapter and i want also to thank Ruby-may89, my wondeful beta. this story wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for her! She is also a valuable, flawless writer, so check her story out, Only you!:)
Thank you also for your messages/follows on Tumbrl! i love it and i'm having so much fun with it!:)
Anddd...now, I also should apologise for the cliffhanger, but I won't:)
Have an amazing week! Love you all! Peace!