NA: I know, I know, this took too long. It took me ages to figure out what to write, and then college ate my soul. But I'm back!
08
Brittany goes on tour. Santana doesn't confess, but she misses Blonde. They hadn't gone three days without seeing each other – the last three weeks surely feel odd. She realizes she has grown used to Long Legs, to calling her at the end of the day, to buying food for two, to unexpected and sudden appearances at her apartment, so the fact that she's in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington and whatnot doesn't feel right.
So she hangs out with Quinn, and with Quinn and Rachel, who should be awarded Most Disgusting Couple Of All Times with their hand holding, 'babe' this 'babe' that, pulling chairs, opening doors and being disgusting. And Blaine, who has proven he is not so bad and who's been letting his hair grow - and it's the fluffiest thing in all history of fluffy and makes Santana itchy to touch it because it's so beautifully curly and soft. This one time, she even went to dinner with Blaine and Kurt, but only because they were paying and she's not the one to pass on a free meal.
She paints, too, a lot, probably as a result of all that pent up sexual energy already getting on her nerves by the end of the first week and the lack of the distraction Blonde always seem to provide just by existing. She decides to send one to her abuela, produced in a distracted Wednesday to the resemblance of a certain Matisse painting. Maybe the summer course she had just taken on 20th century art was being too much of an influence. To spare herself the accusation of plagiarism and to please her favorite family member, she ships it along with a letter the following day. She wonders for a second before mailing it if she should say something to her abuela. Was it meaningful enough? Had enough time passed already? Was it too soon?
She hangs out at Rachel's too, because Quinn is there more often than not and Rachel is so determined to win Santana over that she feeds Santana, rents movies for them to see, and even lets Santana and Quinn hang out there when she's not. Santana likes the place and loves the food. A little playing along has never hurt anybody, after all. The woman is still unbearable and annoying most of the time, but Quinn sometimes gives Shortie a long, lovingly, yearning look and Santana just knows she will have to put up with this one whether she likes it or not.
Another good thing about Rachel is that her need for approval ends up working out better than expected for Santana. Apparently, Tanned Hobbit has a mother, Shelby – which would be so obvious if she hadn't two gay dads and what's with these modern families, anyways? –, also in Broadway. A mother that just bought a summer house, and who has just been convinced what she needs is Santana to paint her a mural. A summer house that happens to still need a lot of work on and it's not big, but would happen to fit Rachel and Santana and two more guests very comfortably. Because if Santana is to spend her time painting there would be no reason for her to be alone, and why not take the opportunity for some vacation time for everyone? Quinn is on vacations, Rachel's musical came to a successful end and she is taking her time to calculate her next step… Oh, and it's also in Hawaii. Santana just looks at Rachel, and then at Quinn, who has the same dumbstruck look, and can't find the words.
When Santana meets Shelby, she's impressed at how beautiful she is, tall and with a broad smile, brown hair falling on her shoulders. The resemblance is light, but when the woman opens her mouth to sing there's nothing but genetics to explain the same powerful range and that clear, demanding voice. They're at Rachel's, who's nervously serving them dinner to introduce her mother to both Quinn and Rachel. Santana has been told Rachel only met her mother in high school, and only started a real relationship after her graduation, when Rachel moved to New York. Santana understands the nervousness, the need for approval, for an exteriorization of parental love.
Shelby looks at the Rachel's wall and she seems to like it. She mentions that her husband, who's a businessman of some sort from what Santana has deduced from the conversation, was sure to love it as well. Santana asks herself if people actually like her work because of its merits or because someone told them to like and the chain effect was too strong for them to break it. Well, one way or another, she was getting paid – with the latest benefit of a trip to Hawaii. She drifts off for a moment to imagine Blonde being there, looking great in a blue bikini, laying with Santana on the sand, swimming with her on the beach. Rachel interrupts her daydreaming, unfortunately, and Santana agrees with the whole idea, still marveled at how much money attracts money.
The house, she finds out, is more than enough for the four of them – Rachel, Quinn, Santana and Blaine. It's not very furnished and it does give the impression no one has lived there in at least a few months, but the most basic things are there: couch, table for six, beds, drawers, in wooden tones that remind Santana of old houses with stories to tell. The kitchen also has the essential equipment, and Santana can't ask for much more. After taking a look at the place, the first thing the quartet does is to get to know their surroundings. Maybe it's because they are tourists, maybe it's because they're on vacations, but even the most pedestrian street, building or little shop seems fascinating and poetic. They buy enough food to feed an army, sunscreen, and a CD with Hawaiian songs. It's a nice end of afternoon and it takes Santana's minds off the aching for Brittany she thinks is driving her crazy.
Santana is not the one to deal with distance and absence. She needs the touch of Blonde's skin to remind her of everything, she needed the smell of her shampoo when Blonde has just left the bathroom, her purring in the mornings refusing to wake up, and the unlimited sex drive that woman had. Weeks had gone by already, and even if Santana hated to feel and seem needy, time couldn't pass fast enough and phone calls just weren't enough.
Brittany does call that day, when Santana has just gotten to bed. It's been a long and tiring day, with traveling and unpacking and exploring and going to restaurants. Santana's drawn out and she feels embarrassed when she talks with Blonde on the phone in front of other people, so thankfully Blaine is fast asleep by then. She tells Brittany she has seen a magazine that stated Blonde was "Ke$ha's and Britney Spears' lovechild" and Handsome Devil just laughs deliciously, flattered. Going on tour wasn't easy, and the Unstoppable Hurricane was tired in most of their phone calls. She tells Blonde she wishes she could be there just before they hang up.
Days pass in pure bliss. She paints, experimenting with new techniques – it's important to make unique pieces, so each work would be outstanding and separate, making each one of those famous people proud to have something all for their own. She goes to the beach and gets her tan back, something she knows Brittany is going to love when she gets back. She calls Brittany every day. She swims, she jogs at dawn and she makes castles out of sand with Quinn like they are 5 years old. They drink and they go out dancing and it's so great that they can pass anonymous and avoid Rachel's Broadway fame.
It's funny how it's all linked, she thinks one night when they are playing cards and drinking. Rachel is so drunk she's actually funny, or maybe it's Santana who's drunk and tolerant. And thoughtful, because being there and having fun and doing things she loves is such an unexpected turn in her life. One way or another, her life had changed twice the last couple years, first with the painting and second with all the circles of people Brittany had inadvertently brought along when she had decided to hit on Santana that night. It's one person taking her to the next and to the one after that and then suddenly she's in Hawaii, painting and committed with that unreal woman. Santana work there is done and their short stay is coming to an end, so this feels like a goodbye. They have only two more days and real life starts again with Quinn's classes, Rachel's music and Santana's struggle for a career she could barely say she had.
The next day she wakes up and goes downstairs to brew some coffee. She has just gotten to the kitchen when the bell rings, and when she opens the door it's no one but Blonde, tall and beautiful and staring at her. They stay like that for a few seconds, until Santana breaks the spell and moves, pulling her in and pulling her close and pushing her against the wall all at the same time. They hug, Blonde's bag falling to the ground, and Santana doesn't even care how her woman got there or why isn't she somewhere else across the States. Brittany laughs for no reason and Santana laughs too, and they share a few light kisses. She cups Blonde's face and just looks at her in what essentially is joy, and the kind of smile she has hasn't been seen by many.
She whispers an I missed you and she gets in return her ass being grabbed and her neck being assaulted and she's not complaining at all. They have plenty of time for explanations and questions and talking in general. She sinks her nails in Blonde's back in response to a particularly emphatic sucking, eyes fluttering at the feeling of wet tongue and the prospect of having Brittany naked after six unbearably long weeks. Brittany whispers in her ear she's too easy and Santana would disagree if she wasn't starting to ride Brittany's thigh very slowly – but she couldn't be more ready, really, with the lack of sex and their agreement not to touch themselves during their time apart. Santana cups Blonde's breasts and searches for Brittany's mouth with a shameless moan. When Blonde sighs and melts, it's just what Santana has been longing for all this time.