So I got a really helpful suggestion from my awesome friend Jenni in a review, saying that I should put the summary of this fic at the top of each chapter, just so it's easier for you guys to keep track of what it's about and stuff. So, here it is ^^
Summary: Santana Lopez is a hardened criminal. She has just been assigned her toughest mission yet. But what happens when Brittany Pierce bounds into her life, possibly changing it forever? AU Brittana.
Also, thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has favourited/alerted so far and those of you who have reviewed - SGAFirenity, ToniiChuckles, TeamBrittanaGermany, my dad, my flailbot LemonPie, and the anonymous reviewer! :D
Anyway, my good fellows and wenches, on to Chapter 2!
Santana awoke abruptly, the sound of her repetitive beeping alarm clock ringing in her ears. She grabbed it and flung it against the wall violently, where it smashed and landed on the floor in a crumpled heap.
"God, I hate that damn thing." she grumbled, pushing the duvet off herself roughly while dragging her exhausted body out of bed.
"Memo to self: do not go out partying until the early hours of the morning when you have missions to complete." she muttered, her face twisted into an expression of pain mingled with disgust, as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her hair stuck out at all angles, she had make-up smeared all over her face, and she realised that she must have fallen asleep in the clothes she was wearing yesterday, as she vaguely remembered coming home and flinging herself haphazardly into bed.
She quickly stripped off her clothes, tossing them into the growing pile in the corner of her room, then jumped into the shower, humming tunelessly. She then began to sing, loudly, her voice ringing around the tiled bathroom. For there was one thing no one, not even Blaine Anderson, knew about Santana Lopez. And that was, she absolutely loved to sing. She continued to belt out the chorus to Valerie at the top of her lungs, until her hair was clean and her body was scrubbed until it was practically sparkling. As she stepped out of the shower and leaned forward to grab a towel, she caught a glimpse of herself in the floor-length mirror, and she couldn't help smirking proudly.
"Damn girl." she murmured to her naked reflection. "You is lookin' fine!"
She then sauntered into her room, pulling on her favourite pair of jeans and a nice fitted top, while unconsciously whistling 'Waiting For A Girl Like You' softly under her breath. After a few seconds, however, she realised what she had been singing, and cleared her throat awkwardly, even though she was alone and there was no way anyone could have possibly heard her. She then changed her tune, literally, as she started jumping around wildly while rapping 'Pretty Fly For A White Guy' in an overly masculine voice, while she searched for her handbag containing her purse, make-up, and gun (well, you can never be too sure of what might happen on a trip to a middle-class neighbourhood, right?)
She then grabbed her keys, snatched a banana from the bowl lying on the kitchen counter, and trotted to the door, opening it stiffly with her elbow. Before she shut it behind her, she rifled through her bag, making sure she hadn't forgotten the most important thing.
"There you are." she muttered, finding the scrap piece of paper on which she had written Brittany's address.
She then walked down the stairs, striding out into the street. She glanced up, frowning slightly at the overcast, grey clouds.
"Oh well." she thought to herself. "I'll be inside with Brittany for most of the day anyway."
At the thought of Brittany, her stomach did a little involuntary flip, which she silently chided herself for.
"Don't even go there." She growled vehemently to herself. "All you're doing is pretending to make friends, then you're going to get in, get the diamonds, and get out. That's all." she stated adamantly to her mind, which had begun singing "Santana and Brittany, sitting in a tree, k-i-ss-i-n-g", much to her annoyance.
And yet, there was still a tiny part of her that tingled with excitement at the thought of seeing Brittany and being near her, inside her house, inside her room... First things first though, she had to convince Brittany to actually let her into the house; that meant utilising her acting skills to the best of her ability, and putting on the best performance she had ever done in her life.
The cab pulled up outside the address Santana had presented to the driver, and as she climbed out of the car, he turned to watch her leave, his eyes tracing the outline of her ass in her tantalisingly tight jeans.
"Perv." she spat, as she tossed a couple of ten dollar bills through the window.
"Besides", she thought to herself, "these jeans aren't for your benefit. They're for a certain blonde who has the most incredible blue eyes…"
She caught herself before she could continue her sentence, reprimanding herself once again for letting Brittany worm her way into her mind.
She made her way up the neatly trimmed grass that framed the front of the house, letting her eyes roam over the various objects that decorated the garden; the white picket fence, the colourful flower bed, the ornaments that were scattered over different areas of the rich greenery; rosy-cheeked gnomes, unicorns frozen mid-leap, pirates with wicked grins and deadly swords, imps and pixies dancing around a circle of daises. A small water feature trickled in the corner of the garden, each layer sporting a different scene; one showed horses prancing in a meadow, another showed butterflies perched precariously on the finest branches of a tree, and the third involved what looked like a gathering of magical creatures enjoying a dinner party. She found herself smiling as she took it all in, finding it rather… cute.
No. Santana Lopez did not do cute. She shook her head slightly, attempting to clear the fluffy haze that had descended over her mind, and approached the front door, which was a bright yellow and was adorned with a sign that said, "Welcome to Brittany's!"
Santana raised her hand, hesitating for a second before pressing the lollipop shaped doorbell. A few seconds of silence followed the loud ring, and then Santana heard a shuffling sound coming from inside the house. The door then opened suddenly, and a rather large tabby cat came shooting out, heading straight for the water feature, lapping up the water earnestly. Santana watched the cat intriguingly, then turned back to the door and jumped a little in surprise as she was met by Brittany's piercing gaze.
"Sorry about Lord Tubbington. He's always too eager to get outside and play in the water." Brittany giggled, smiling lovingly as she watched the bulky cat waddle around contentedly.
The blonde's eyebrows then furrowed slightly in confusion as she looked at the woman standing on her front porch, and she tilted her head slightly as she tried to figure out why Santana seemed familiar to her. Then her face lit up and her mouth stretched into a smile as the realisation dawned on her.
"Hey! It's Santana, right?"
Santana nodded, before answering with, "Yeah, and you're Brittany."
The blonde blushed, shocked that Santana had remembered her name, before collecting herself and looking at Santana curiously.
"So…?"
"What?"
"Well… you're at my house."
"Oh right!" Santana exclaimed, a look of embarrassment flitting across her stunning features momentarily. Brittany giggled adorably, her nose scrunching in a way that made Santana's stomach do back flips.
"Well, I, umm… I came here because…" Santana stuttered. She realised she hadn't thought up a valid reason for why she would be coming to Brittany's house, considering she was practically a stranger and the blonde hadn't even given Santana her address. "I… uh, I wanted to apologise properly for the other day."
Brittany frowned slightly, confused as to what Santana was apologising for. Santana noticed the bewilderment on the blonde's pretty face, and so tried to offer a clearer explanation.
"I, uh, felt bad for bumping into you and not really saying sorry, y'know, properly. So, I thought I would come here and tell you, in person or whatever."
Santana winced, convinced that her appalling lie was obvious and that Brittany would see through her façade right away. But suddenly, the blonde broke out into a wide grin, swinging the door open and stepping back, gesturing for Santana to enter the house.
"Well then, by all means, come in!"
Brittany bowed in an over-exaggerated manner, and Santana couldn't help but to giggle, as the blonde pulled a funny face waving her hand in a regal flourish as she directed Santana towards the living room.
Both girls then sat on the sofa, which was covered with a plaid blanket, but Santana could see the worn brown fabric of the sofa peeking out from between the various holes the riddled the patterned cover. She glanced around, taking in the new, unfamiliar surroundings. Brittany's house was sparsely decorated; she didn't have fancy ornaments, or top-of-the-range electrical equipment. But her house was cosy and inviting, unlike Santana's conventional, messy apartment.
Aside from the worn sofa they were perched on now, the living room was filled by a simple, cushion-covered armchair, which was sat grandly below the window, diagonally facing the television. The curtains were a light chalk blue, and they framed the sunlight as it streamed into the room through the net curtains, giving the room a safe, warm glow. A fireplace was situated in the corner, a small black casket containing a few burnt embers sitting beneath the grate. Above the fireplace was a mantelpiece, adorned with a few framed photographs. Santana noticed a photo of a much younger Brittany, sitting on a woman's lap, grinning, and she couldn't help but to smile at the look of bliss on younger Brittany's face.
While Santana had been inquisitively studying the living room with growing interest, Brittany, in turn, had been studying her. The curve of her full lips, the way they stretched upwards when she smiled, the way her nose crinkled when she laughed…
"So Santana, whatcha smiling at?"
Santana jumped slightly, startled by the soft intrusion of Brittany's voice into her daydreams.
"That picture. You… you look so happy. It's nice."
Brittany swivelled her head to see the picture that Santana was referring to, and her lips curved up into a sad smile.
"Oh yeah. That was me and my mom, when I was eleven. She was great."
Santana picked up on the dejected tone Brittany had adopted, and averted her gaze from the photo to focus on Brittany.
"Was?"
Brittany shifted uncomfortably, before replying,
"Yeah. She died when I was fifteen."
Santana couldn't hold back the sympathetic gasp that escaped her lips.
"Oh Brittany. I'm so sorry."
Santana leaned over, placing her hand gently over Brittany's. Both girls inhaled sharply at the electric buzz that zapped through them when their hands came into contact.
"Electric shock." Santana whispered, and Brittany smiled slightly, raising her eyes to lock gazes with the mysterious brunette.
"So, Miss Santana…" Brittany began, eliciting a giggle from Santana at the use of the formal title. "Tell me about yourself."
Santana froze for a second, startled by the unexpected request, but then relaxed as she felt Brittany stroking her knuckles softly.
"What do you want to know?"
Brittany took in a deep breath, before leaning forwards slightly and whispering, "Everything."
Santana felt her heart start beating slightly faster, and had to fight to keep her breathing under control.
"Well, if I told you everything, then I'd have to kill you." she murmured, smiling wryly.
Brittany chuckled, amused by Santana's dry sense of humour.
Little did she know how much truth Santana's statement actually held.
Just so you all know, this conversation will continue straight away in the next chapter. I just didn't want this chapter to end up being really long, and besides, I like making you all wait, because I'm a teasing bitch like that ;D
But yeah, in all seriousness, I hope you're all enjoying this fic so far, and please, don't be afraid to let me know what you think, what you like, what you think I could improve on. Reviews make me happy, and a happy Steph makes for more ficery, because they encourage me to keep writing ^^ So yeah, just click that little button, and type type type away! :D Muchas gracias!