Sorry for the wait. I was no where near my laptop for the past few days. I've already started on the next chapter so the wait won't be so long this time, promise! Reviews are always welcome. I'm really pleased with the response I'm getting from you all so thank you!
It's been a few days since the aftermath of the part and Santana is happy that Brittany seems to be slowly letting down her guard with her. She's still distant but they have had some 'friends' worthy conversations when Santana goes to the cafe for her daily doses of caffeine. Well nowadays it's more to see Brittany then for the coffee but she hopes Brittany doesn't realize that, not yet anyway.
Brittany seems to be doing fine considering her situation at the party. Santana thinks, well hopes, it has something to do with Brittany receiving the letter she left for her. She didn't tell Santana about it but she had overheard part of a conversation between her and Quinn to know she did actually get it.
'She could be happy for an entirely different reason stop getting ahead of yourself. Damn when did I become so weak?' She thinks looking at the envelope in her hands. 'When did I become this longing idiot. She doesn't even know what she's doing to me and she hasn't even done anything.' Her thoughts flood her mind and she quickly snaps out of it to look around making sure she is alone before slipping the letter under the door of the coffee shop. 'Fuck it.' she says to herself as she turns around to make her way back through the dark night and back to her dorm.
The next morning Santana meet up with Blaine and Kurt in the courtyard closest to their dorms and head over to the cafe for their daily fixes.
"So how's everything with your Juliet, Romeo?" Blaine asks with an innocent smile, nudging Santana's side as they walk.
"Fine." She says short.
"Well that doesn't sound good. She turn you down, again?" Kurt asks digging for details.
"Shut it Lady Lips," she barks "Mind your damn business." She says hoping to drop the subject.
"Oh somebody really needs their coffee fix. Come on it's on me." Blaine says trying to lighten the mood.
"More like her Brittany fix." Kurt interjects in a loud whisper that doesn't go unnoticed by Santana. Blaine grabs her by the arm when she tries to lunge at him. "You really should try anger management or something Satan." He says backing away out of her reach.
"Watch it Hummel, I'm letting your boy hold me back right now." She sees the fear in his eyes before ripping herself out of Blaine's grip and storms ahead of them towards the coffee shop.
"You know you really shouldn't give her such a hard time Kurt." Blaine says watching the angry walking ahead of them.
"No I know that but I wanted to show you something." He says with a wide grin, pulling Blaine with him to catch up to the girl.
"What are you talking about?" Blaine asks with confusion written all over his face.
"Just watch Santana when we get inside. I noticed something the other day when I met up with her and she was pissed about something else." He catches the door the girl had swung open a moment ago and the walk inside to catch up to her. "Just watch." He whispers as they get in line with Santana in front of them, looking like she could blow up again at any second. Blaine looks at her curiously to see what Kurt is talking about.
As soon as they approach the front of the line Brittany gets in sight of the guys but Santana doesn't notice her at first. She's looking down at her feet with her hands clenched into fists at her sides avoiding any eye contact with her friends.
"Hey guys." Brittany says when they finally get to the register. As soon as she speaks Blaine just stands wide eyed looking at the brunette in front of her. Santana unclenches her fists, looks up to catch Brittany's gaze and her face immediately relaxes as their eyes met. Blaine looks over to Kurt who just mouths a 'Right?' with a knowing looking towards the girl.
"Hey B." Santana says trying to fight a soft smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.
"Wow." Blaine whispers and Kurt nods with a huge smile, both knowing they're not used to anyone having the effect to calm Santana's temper so easily.
"Hey Santana." she replies with a smile, "I'll get started on your orders." she finishes before practically skipping away. Santana quickly follows on the other side of the counter noticing the familiar folded envelop in Brittany's back pocket.
"You seem pretty happy today." She says watching Brittany starting on one of the drinks.
"Yeah today is a good day." She responses and Santana can't help but notice the spark in her eyes.
Santana wants to push but doesn't want to seem too, well pushy. She's still trying to earn the girls trust and knows she can't force it. 'Stay calm Lopez. Damn what is she doing to me?' she thinks to herself as she watches Brittany make her macchiato.
"It's about time you remember my order." She smirks and motions to the drink.
"Yeah well I was only doing it to piss you off anyway." Brittany smiles back coyly and turns away to finish the drink.
"Really? I had no idea." Santana replies sarcastically, the smirk not leaving her face.
"You may be a bit cocky but I'm starting to think you're not as bad as some people say you are Lopez." She turns back to face the brunette.
"Is that right? Well I believe I've been telling you that since I've met you." She responds, raising her eyebrows at the blonde.
"Hmm.. don't recall that." Brittany says turning away with a smile that the Latina can't see, while working on another order.
Santana shakes her head at her response. 'She's not flirting with you, don't get ahead of yourself. One step at a time.' She thinks before saying, "You know I was wondering," she starts and Brittany turns back around to give the girl her full attention. Brittany's gaze takes her off guard and she takes a breath before continuing, "uh sorry. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime this weekend? You know if you're not working or have other plans."
"You want to hang out?" Brittany asks surprised by the question.
"Yeah." Santana says trying to hang onto what small bit of confidence she has left.
"As friends though right? Not a date?" She said eying the girl suspiciously.
"No not a date." 'If only I were that lucky.' "Just two friends hanging out."
"You're gonna try anything right? I feel like we could be friends Santana but you were just hitting on me like a week ago and I really hope this is just some ploy t-" She rambles but Santana raises her hand motioning for her to stop.
"Did I try anything when I had you in my bed after that party? Or anytime since then?"
"No." Brittany looks down now ashamed she even felt the need to ask in the first place.
"Exactly B, you can trust me. Hey look at me." She says tilting her head down to try and catch the other girls gaze again. "Brittany," she says and the girl finally looks up to met her eyes. "I can be a good friend. Let me prove it to you."
Brittany searches her eyes trying to find any fault in them from her statement before saying. "I-"
"Brittany! I'm so sorry I just got your message." Quinn says slamming her hands against the counter in a hurry. Both girls break their eye contact and look over to the girl Brittany tries to speak again but Quinn continues before allowing Brittany to say anything. "Let me see that letter you were gushing about on my voicemail! I can't believe you got another this is so fantastic. Is it good? Let me rea-"
"Calm down Q, you look like you're gonna have a stroke." Santana saying interrupting the rambling girl beside her.
"Right. Hi Santana." She says before looking back over to Brittany. "Sorry Britt I just got excited when I heard the message." She says.
"It's okay." Brittany says genuinely, "Here." as she hands her the letter that Quinn practically rips from her hands and goes to the empty table right next to the counter to sit and read it. "Here Santana your drinks are ready." She looks to the brunette, handing her the tray with all three drinks securely inside. She looks down towards the register noticing another line has formed and goes back to work.
Santana doesn't even get a chance to thank the girl by the time she looks up the blonde is already at the register asking a customer what they would like.
"Thanks." She says under her breathe before turning to find Blaine and Kurt at a table nearby. She carries the tray of drinks over, sets them on the table as she sits down with a sigh.
"So how'd it-" Kurt begins to ask but the glare he receives stop him mid sentence.
She sit there lost in thoughts, not even pretending to follow whatever conversation they've moved on to. She glances at Brittany who is helping customers and then to Quinn who seems to be looking over the letter repeatedly. The girl looks up and mets her gaze for a split second before Santana looks away. She sees through her peripheral vision as Quinn looks towards her for a moment before getting up to go back to the counter, letter in hand.
'Oh shit, she knows!' Santana begins to freak out but trying not to let her face show. 'She knows and she's about to tell Brittany. No wait she can't there's no way she knows. Damn it Lopez calm the fuck down and breathe!' she reprimands herself. She glances towards the counter and can see the girls are talking as Brittany continues to fill orders as they come. It's obvious it's about the letter once she notices Quinn gesture to the paper a few times. Santana's nerves and curiousity can't hold out any longer. If Brittany won't flat out discuss it she knows Quinn will be too excited for her friend not to share. She finishes her drink and takes a deep breath before making her way back up to the counter.
"You're sure you have no idea?" She hears Quinn ask as she approaches the counter.
Brittany looks to Santana when she sees her and smiles at her. The gesture makes Santana's stomach flutter and smirks back at the girl before she turns back to Quinn.
"No I have no idea, but I wish I did." She sighs then turns hear attention to Santana, "Refill?"
"Yeah thanks B." She replies and Brittany begins making her another drink.
Quinn sees the small interaction between the two girls and then looks down to skim the letter for the eighth time. "Britt," she calls out and waits for the girl to meet her eyes before she contines, "You don't- I mean do you think it could be..?" She asks slightly motions her head to Santana who is playing on her phone.
'Shit! Relax and act normal, there's no way she can get suspicious. She'll think it was all a joke if she finds out.' She thinks as she scrolls through twitter updates, trying to not look like she's paying attention to the conversation in front of her.
Brittany looks to Santana and curiously scrunches her brow to think of the possibility for a moment. 'Okay so she was just hitting on me like a week ago. Well she does kinda does but that's just her personality I'm sure. This is Santana,' she shakes her head at the idea of it, 'not a chance. That's just ridiculous.' She's so lost in thought she doesn't even notice Santana has been staring back her until Quinn's voice gets her attention.
"Brittany." She hears and snaps out of her thoughts. She looks at Santana for another moment noticing the girl giving her a confused expression but the slightest grin pulling at her lips. It's so small she's not even sure if it was real or if she was just seeing things.
She shakes her head and looks to Quinn, "No Quinn it's not her." She says before getting a lid for Santana's order.
"Not me what?" Santana asks turning to Quinn. "What is she talking about?"
"Well Brittany here has receiving these love letters from a secret admirer recently." Quinn emphasizes holding up the letter.
"Quinnnn.." Brittany whines placing Santana's drink down in front of the girl before looking to Quinn.
"What Britt you said so yourself it's totally romantic."
"Secret admirer huh? Wait a second," She looks to Quinn and back to Brittany, "you thought I wrote them?" 'Yeah that's right play it off.' She looks directly at Brittany, who blushes at the question and it takes the Latina off guard. She's never made the girl blush before but now that she has she wants to do it again.
"Yeah it was silly thought. You're just a friend it couldn't have been you." She says then takes an order up to the register.
"Brittany you can take your break." Her supervisor tells her when she gets to the register. She nods in response and heads back down the counter towards her friends. "I really want to know who it is though." She says to Quinn as she begins to make another drink.
"Well whoever it is definitely has the secret part of this down. Plus you're still pretty new here so it's not like you know a lot people. Seriously though Britt with words like that I doubt they'll be able to keep their feelings to pen and paper for long. Who ever it is seems really into you. Ugh I'm totally jealous." She says with a light chuckle, shaking her head to herself. "Anyway I've got to head to class but I'll see you at rehearsal later okay?" She asks handing the letter back to her friend.
"Yeah definitely." Brittany says, folding the letter and placing it back in the envelope.
"Awesome, see you then. Bye Santana." She waves as she turns to go.
"Bye Quinn." Santana replies taking a sip of her drink. She turns back towards Brittany who is still making a drink. "You did hear that dude tell you to take a break right?" Santana asks curious as to why the girl is still working.
"Yeah I know I was just making myself a drink." She says and Santana watches curious to what it is she's making.
"What is that?" She asking point to the cup in Brittany's hand as she places a lid on it and makes her way around to the other side of the counter towards Santana.
"It's a chai tea latte." She says sitting down at the table Quinn had been sitting at before. She looks up to see the confused expression on Santana's face and chuckles. "It's super good. It tastes like a snickerdoodle, but in a cup." She smiles.
"Weird." Santana says looking at the girl's cup as she sits down across from her.
There's a silence between them for a couple minutes, neither girl sure of what to say.
"So... you have a secret admirer huh?" Santana teases causing the blonde to blush again. The girl's reaction literally causes her to forget how to breathe for a moment. Santana swears it's the most amazing thing she's ever seen. 'Just when I thought I couldn't like her more.' she shakes her head to herself. 'Yup getting her to blush is definitely my new favorite things.'
"Yeah apparently so." Brittany says fiddling with the envelope on the table.
"So why don't you seem as excited as Quinn? That girl is going crazy over a letter that's not even hers." She says causing both girls to chuckle. 'Okay second favorite thing, that laugh.'
"I don't know. I mean it's sweet and romantic don't get me wrong. It's just I don't know why they're hiding, you know?" Brittany asks hoping the girl doesn't think she's crazy for questioning such a romantic gesture.
"Yeah I'd probably ask myself the same thing if I was you." Causing Brittany to smile when Santana confirms that her hesitation is normal.
They sit in silence for a moment before Brittany speaks, "At first I didin't even think it was real. I just- I don't get why someone would write to me like this when they don't even know me. The way they write though, it's like know me which is kind of scary because I don't know many people here. It's like my brain is telling me to react one way, to stay away but.." she trails off for a moment as she thinks back to the words of the letters, "My heart though it's like it skips a beat with almost every word. It's scary."
Santana gives herself a mental high five when she hears Brittany describe how the letters make her feel and fights to keep a straight face. "Wow they must really have a way with words if whoever it is has you swooning already." she begins to smirk but stops herself, 'She doesn't know it's you remember? She can't know.' she sighs "Your brain is right too though, it's better to be cautious. You never know who it could be and there are some crazy people around. Just be careful, alright?"
"You're worried about me?" Brittany asks looking up from her cup to meet the other girl's eyes. 'She really cares?' she thinks to herself while searching Santana's eyes for doubt.
"Well you're one of the only people I can stand being around. It'd be a shame if something happened to you. Plus you're fun to mess with. I can't blatantly flirt with just anyone." She says with a wink. 'She can't know the notes from me but I can't let her think I've completely lost interest in her.'
Brittany rolls her eyes at her. "You mean like any other girl at this school? I'm sure you wouldn't have any issue flirting, you didn't before."
"They're not any fun. Not when I can you to squirm instead." She wiggles her eyebrows a bit, "It's much more entertaining." she says with a coy smile.
"Santana." Brittany says, a small blush on her cheeks. 'Still just trying to pick me up but maybe..' she shakes her head at the girl.
"Sorry." 'Too much, good job you idiot.' "Seriously thought B just promise me you'll be careful?" She asks, smirk gone and her face serious.
"I promise."
"Good. Well I'll let you enjoy your snickerdoodle in a cup." she smiles trying to lighten the mood again. "I should be getting to class, I'll see you around." she says getting up with a quick wave and heads towards the guys table to get them and her bag.
'Maybe she does actually care about me. Maybe.' Brittany thinks to herself and before she has time to hold back she looks to the girl who is making her way towards the exit. "Santana!" she calls out as she gets up and makes her way over to the girl.
Santana turns around at the door as Blaine and Kurt have already stepped outside. Brittany approaches her and Santana just looks at her curiously.
"I'm free Saturday," she says when she reaches the brunette. "if you still wanted to hang out."
Santana can't hold back the smile that forms on her face. "Yeah Saturday works." she says before reaching in her bag and pulling out a pen. "Give me your hand." She says and Brittany raises her arm up as told. She takes Brittany's hand and they both flinch at the quick jolt they feel when their hands touch. Santana clears her throat momentarily ignoring the chills that run through her body. "Here's my number so just text me and we can work out the details." she says writing the number on the girls skin before reluctanty letting go of Brittany's hand.
"Okay." Brittany says happily.
"Okay." Santana smiles back, "Well I guess I'll hear from you soon blondie." Santana says as she lets go of her hand and turns to catch up with the guys that are waiting outside for her.
Brittany stands there for a moment until the girl is out of sight, slightly rubbing her hand where Santana had held it.
"Brittany break's over." She hears her supervisor say from across the shop. She gets back to work but can't help but wonder what it was she had felt when Santana had held her hand. 'Static electricity, it's totally normal.' She excuses the thought and get back to work.