Moving to New York hadn't been that easy.
There was no way all her things would fit in Brittany's apartment, no, their apartment, and it helped that Brittany had been living there for a while and had everything furnished already. Santana had been able to sell most of the furniture from her apartment, except what she knew she would need, and got herself a storage unit for anything else she didn't want to take. Even still, packing up the truck had taken a long while and then the drive to the city the next day took even longer.
Driving ten hours in a giant truck that rattled and shook like it might stop working at any moment definitely didn't rank on her list of favorite things, but that didn't matter. There wasn't much of a choice. So she woke up while it was still dark out, and drove, drove, and drove some more. Countless cups of coffee and rest stop breaks later, she managed to get to the city. She would have taken ten more hours on the road if it meant she didn't have to try and navigate that truck through the streets of New York City.
It was a miracle that Santana got a parking spot right there by the apartment building. If she hadn't, she honestly thought she might kill someone to get their parking spot. That much time on the road, then the stress of driving in the city, she was ready to throttle anyone who happened to cross her. It also wasn't until she got there and parked that she realized she had to unload everything that was in the truck. Brittany was at rehearsal all day, and that meant she was on her own.
She was exhausted, and the last thing she wanted to do was spend the rest of her day traipsing up and down the stairs to and from the apartment, carrying box after box. That was why she didn't have any inhibitions about talking to strangers, and she started asking almost every guy who passed who didn't look like he was on his way somewhere important if he would help her move her stuff up to her apartment. It took a lot of asking, and a bribe of money, pizza, and beer, but eventually she managed to get a couple guys to help.
Two hours later, everything had been moved up into the apartment. The guys who had helped her were gone, and she had taken the truck to a drop off location. It had been a really long day, and by the time Santana had gotten off the subway and back to her new home, she was completely exhausted. She should have split up the trip between two days, but she'd wanted to get it over with. Having to stay at some hotel in the middle of Pennsylvania or somewhere, she hadn't wanted to do that. Now it was all done, and she was glad.
She was going to wait to deal with the boxes scattered throughout the apartment. There was no way she could unpack much of anything that night. She had made sure to pack a separate bag with what she needed for her first day of work, thankfully, so she didn't have to worry about that. Right at that moment, the only thing she cared about was finding her shower things and getting clean. After spending that long in the car, and then hauling her junk up so many flights of stairs, she felt disgusting.
It took a good bit of fidgeting with the water before it was at a good temperature. Santana left her clothes on the tile floor of that bathroom and stepped in under the hot stream of water, letting out a loud sigh. That felt even better than she had expected. She let her head tilt forward, her chin almost resting against her chest as she let the water pound against her shoulders and neck. Everything was sore from that drive, but at least that was helping even the smallest bit. She moved her head back, letting her hair get saturated completely before she turned to let the water wash over her face.
More than anything, Santana was tired. After getting up so early and driving so long, she just wanted to go to bed. Or take a nap right there in the shower, that would work well enough. She couldn't even muster up the energy to wash her hair, or grab a loofah and scrub at her skin until she didn't feel gross anymore. All she could do was stand there and let the water, hot and soothing, hit her chest.
It wasn't until a pair of arms slid around her waist that she realized she had been starting to fade out of consciousness. Santana hadn't heard the front door open or close, or the bathroom door either, though she wasn't entirely sure she had closed the latter in the first place. She never had at her old apartment, and habits tended to stay strong. She hadn't heard anything happening outside the shower, nor had she heard anyone get into the shower with her. All things considered, she was glad that it was her girlfriend and not someone else who had managed to get into their apartment.
"Hey you," Brittany said softly, kissing her shoulder as her arms tightened around her.
"Hey," Santana murmured, squirming so she could turn around to face her. She slipped her arms around her and pressed a light kiss to her lips, lingering as she enjoyed the feeling of Brittany's mostly dry skin coming in contact with hers. Her hands skimmed along her back, and she made a soft, sad sound as Brittany pulled away, but the other girl just moved around her to be under the water.
"Cold," Brittany offered in explanation before tilting her head back and letting her hair get soaked. She reached up behind her to get shampoo from the caddy hanging off the shower head, but grabbed Santana's instead of her own. After putting some of it in her hand, she tucked the bottle back up in its place and spread the shampoo across both her hands before reaching out and working it through Santana's hair.
If Santana hadn't been tired before, that would have pushed her over the edge. The way Brittany's fingers were massaging against her scalp, working the shampoo through her hair, spreading out the suds and the scent of lavender, it was the most amazing feeling in the world. She rest her hands on Brittany's hips to keep herself steady as her eyes closed, and she basked in how great that felt. A featherlight kiss brushed against her lips before she felt herself being guided under the water, and she automatically let her head fall back as Brittany ran her fingers through her hair repeatedly, making sure all the shampoo got washed out.
Once the shampoo was out, Brittany did the same thing with her conditioner. Santana wished it wasn't so soothing, the way her fingers were digging lightly against her scalp and running through her hair. It just made the fight to stay awake so much more difficult. She knew she had to, though, otherwise she would probably get injured from falling over in the shower and she'd miss her first day of work, not to mention scare Brittany half to death. So she fought against the sleepiness trying to take her over, and let her girlfriend move her under the water again to wash the conditioner out of her hair.
"C'mere." Santana waited until she seemed to be finished working out the conditioner before she opened her eyes and reached up above them, grabbing down Brittany's shampoo. It was that same apple shampoo she'd been using since they were in middle school - made for kids, and a 2-in-1 with the conditioner. She put some in her hand, careful to keep it out of the water as she put the bottle back. Brittany's eyelids fluttered closed as Santana ran her hands through her hair, making sure to get the shampoo all the way through to the ends. Her head lolled a little under her touch as she rubbed against her scalp with her fingertips.
"That feels so good," Brittany mumbled, and Santana ran her fingers down through the length of her hair, working out the little tangles and making sure it was all sudsy. She moved her under the water and took her time washing it out. Once she was done, Brittany reached back and grabbed the two loofahs off the hooks, holding one out to her. The look on her face was innocent, almost hesitant, and she offered Santana a hint of a smile. "I'll wash you if you wash me?"
Santana agreed with a nod and took the loofah from her, and they each got down their respective shower gels. It was quiet in the shower, other than the rhythmic pulsing of the water hitting their skin, as they slowly worked their ways along each other's bodies, scrubbing softly and letting the lather settle on their skin. The smell of vanilla and strawberries filled the air, and they stepped further under the water together, letting it run all over and wash the suds away.
Their skin slid together, wet and slick, and Santana slid her hands around to rest at the small of Brittany's back. She felt so much better than she had before, all clean and warm and relaxed, and standing there with Brittany was making it even better still. They stood there, just holding each other, occasionally dropping little kisses along each other's skin. She had completely lost track of how long they had been in there, but it had been long enough since the water had turned from hot to lukewarm, and then started to turn cold.
Brittany reached down and turned off the water, leaning out from inside the shower to grab some towels for them. Santana dried off, squeezing the water out of her hair before wrapping it up. She glanced up right in time to see Brittany holding a robe out of her, a grin on her face. "It's fuzzy and soft," she offered. "I have one too, except mine's pink."
"Thanks, Brit," Santana said with a smile, taking the robe and slipping it on. Brittany was right, it was really fuzzy and soft and just so comfortable that all she wanted to do was crawl into bed. She didn't even want to take the time to blow dry her hair, she just hung the towel up beside Brittany's and followed the pink robe clad girl to the bedroom.
Santana crawled onto the bed, sprawling out on her stomach, and Brittany flopped down next to her, pulling the covers up over them and nestling into her side. "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered against Santana's still damp hair, kissing at it before burrowing her face into her shoulder.
"I'm glad too," she murmured, lazily draping her arm across her girlfriend and pulling her in close. It had been a long, long day, and she was more than glad to let sleep finally claim her now that she was lying there in bed with her.
When the alarm went off the next morning, Santana realized what an unwelcome sound it was in her life. She moved to roll over and hit it, but there was something in her way. No, not something. Someone. With a sleepy smile, she realized it was Brittany. Not only was it Brittany, but she was in New York, and everything was finally working out right. She carefully leaned over her girlfriend and turned off the alarm clock, trying her best not to jostle her as she got out of bed.
She pulled her laptop out of her bag and took it out to the living room, getting a bowl of cereal and sitting down to catch up on her email before she needed to get ready for work. There was the usual junk, as well as one from her mother that she didn't plan on reading until later after work when she had a drink or two in her system. The one email that caught her eyes was one from Rachel Berry, signalling the arrival of another one of her newsletters. Santana clicked it open and scrolled down.
Rachel had just been cast in a show. Kurt was really hoping to be on what was probably the fiftieth season of Project Runway. There was Santana's bit about how she got hired by a publishing house in New York, but when skimmed down and saw what Brittany had sent in she almost choked on her cereal.
Brittany S. Pierce found a Santana out on her doorstep and decided to let her into her apartment and keep her forever.
If Santana had any concerns about moving to New York before that, which she hadn't, that would have gotten rid of the right there and then. And when Brittany padded out of the bedroom and over to the couch, curling up with her head on Santana's lap, she knew she was exactly where she wanted to be and stay, as Brittany had said, forever.