I'm alive! haha My semester has been quite exhausting so far and I'm not even done with midterms yet! I apologize for the wait but I actually think this is one my favorite chapters so far. And anyone who knows me know I'm pretty critical when it comes to my own writing but I'm actually very happy how this chapter turned out and I hope you guys are too! =)
Reviews always welcome I love hearing everyone's ideas for this story. Thanks again for all the support so far! Especially those who have stuck through since I started it, it really means a lot! Enjoy =) xx
Chapter 15
Brittany and Quinn are leaving their dance rehearsal as Brittany fills her in on the events of the previous day.
"I still can't believe you've managed to turn Santana into such a softy. It's been long time since I've seen her legitimately dating anyone." Quinn shakes her head with a soft smile. She's happy for both of them but it's still a weird concept to her. 'Santana dating one girl. Santana interested in only one girl and chasing after one girl.. that hasn't happen since she was with-'
"Yeah I mean," Brittany interrupts her train of thought, "I know I haven't been here all that long but I haven't even heard of her of actually going out with a girl without the sole intention of sex. You don't think that's what this is, do you? I mean this whole thing isn't just some setup to get me to go on this date just so she can sleep with me do you?"
"Britt you have to relax. Yes it's been a very long time since I've seen Santana like this and believe me it's a good thing, a very good thing. Just look at all the effort she's put in just to show you she's not just the girl that she perceives herself to be. She really cares about you Brittany and Santana wouldn't be making these types of gestures if her only goal was to get you in bed."
They turn the corner and Quinn opens the door of the cafe to let Brittany walk inside first.
"Thanks." she says to Quinn's polite gesture. "I guess you're right, she has been pretty amazingly thoughtful and that's definitely not something I've noticed before. I'm just nervous you know?"
"It's alright B it's normally to be nervous, especially given what you've gone through in the past." She says as they approach the counter where Tina is. "Trust me though I think Santana really cares about you so the only thing you should be worrying about is what you're going to wear tonight!" she says making Brittany laugh.
"I think she needs to wear something hot since Santana is already trying to sweep you off your feet and the date hasn't even started yet." Tina inputs having her the end of their conversation. Brittany and Quinn just look at her quizzically.
"What do you mean? I haven't even seen Santana today. Did she come in here?" Brittany questions.
"Well she wasn't specifically here but you might want to check in the cooler." Tina says with an amused smile.
"The cooler?" Quinn quirks her eyebrow and Brittany just looks even more confused than she was a second ago.
"Mhm. Go on, go look." She tilts her head towards the backroom.
"Okayyy.." Brittany says, taking the bait and walks towards the backroom with Quinn following curiously behind her.
They walk into the backroom and over to the cooler and Brittany pulls open the giant metal door enough to peak inside. "Holy shit." she gasps.
"What!? What is it, let me see." Quinn says behind her and grabs the door to pull it open further. "Whoa." Quinn's jaw drops and her eyes widen comically.
"This is.." Brittany walks steps into the cooler as she is surrounded by about a dozen bouquets of lilies. The petals are mostly pink with a white outline and some have spots going towards the center. The aroma fills the cooler.
"Yeah she's lucky we don't get our stock shipment until tomorrow I wouldn't have had anywhere to put them." Tina says from the doorway next to Quinn.
Brittany is in complete awe. She approaches the bouquet that's been placed in the center of the room notices there's a card attached to it. She leans towards it to smell the arrangement before carefully removing the card.
"What does it say?" Quinn asks.
'Here's a small hint to the evening I have planned. Wear something comfortable and because we'll be spending the majority of the night outside. Have an amazing day beautiful. See you soon. Xx
-Your not so secret admirer ;)'
"I guess you were right about Santana sweeping her off her feet." Quinn comments to Tina as they look at Brittany who couldn't possibly have a bigger smile or deeper blush on her face. "Still think she's not sincere?" she asks approaching Brittany.
"No this is just.. wow." she says looking around at all the flowers.
"I agree. I didn't realize how romantic and sweet she could be. Come on, I think we need to pick out your outfit." she continues now walking the remaining steps over to Brittany and loops their arms, "I want Santana's jaw on the floor when she sees you but apparently we can't have you showing off too much skin with your outdoor activities she apparently has planned."
Brittany just nods in agreement.
"Awesome." Quinn says excitedly, "Well then ladies, everyone grab a vase so we can bring these upstairs with us then we can get started." She un-loops her arm from Brittany and goes to pick up a couple vases of flowers.
"What do you think the flowers mean?" Brittany asked aloud to Tina and Quinn as they each gather some vases in their arms and began to walk to the apartment.
"That's true, the card did say it was a hint for the date." Tina inputted.
"I've been trying to figure it out too," Quinn states as they get to Brittany's door, "but I honestly have no idea. I guess you'll just have to wait and see."
"Thanks for your dude." Santana says making a few last adjustments to her setup.
"What help? I'm pretty sure the only thing I did was stop you from buy every flower in the county." Blaine jokes, "You came up with everything else on your own, I just kept you from going overboard.. and broke." he laughs.
"Shut up. I just want her to like it."
"You mean you want her to like you? She already goes Santana so stop stressing and go have fun."
"You're right. Okay I've gotta go pick her up. You're gonna be around to watch over all this until I text you?"
"Yes I'll be here guarding your things."
"Alright cool, thanks." Santana says surveying everything again to make sure she hasn't forgotten anything.
"Two thank yous within what 2 minutes? She's already changing you I think." he comments and Santana whips her head around.
"Bite me." she snaps at him.
"Mm.. doesn't have the same effect now that I know you're a softy." Blaine chuckles which only fuels her fire.
"It will when break into your dorm while your in class and I cut up your horrific bow ties." she says in complete seriousness and Blaine knows she's not bluffing since she's already been known to attack his hair gel in the past.
"Alright no need to go crazy." he says bringing his hand up to his bow tie and his other up in surrender.
"Mhm thought so.." she says checking her phone. "Shit I gotta go." She grabs her bag off the ground and heads towards her car.
About fifteen minutes later she's walking up the stairs and down the hallway to Brittany's apartment. The door swings open a few seconds after she knocks and she's pretty sure her breath went with it. Brittany stand in front of her in dark skinny jeans, like the tightest she's ever seen. Her eyes finally move up to her top because 'Damn those legs go on for miles in those pants.' she thinks. But once her eyes reach her top her heart drops, much like the neckline on Brittany's shirt. 'Holy fuck.. plunging neckline, of course.' She scans up further to meet Britt's devious smirk, satisfied with the effect she's had on the Latina. Her hair is down and falling over her shoulder in soft waves.
"I think you may have a little drool San." Brittany giggles.
'Fucking giggles! The girl that can go from sexy goddess to innocent and adorable in a half a second.'
"Pretty sure the note said comfortable." She finally finds her voice.
"Oh I'm totally comfortable," she raises her foot off the floor, "got my converses on, see?" she says brightly.
'Too fucking adorable.' Santana shakes her head smiling.
"Plus," Brittany adds, "these jeggings.. they're super comfy too!"
"And the uh—lack of a shirt?" she swallows hard as her eyes rake over Britt's chest down to the outline of her abs.
"Oh that was just to see that look on your face." Brittany smirks as Santana's eyes snap back up to hers.
"And what reaction would that be?" Santana challenges, trying to gain back her badass composure.
Brittany sees right through it and steps out of the doorway and is nearly toe to toe with Santana and she sees her chest rise and fall just a little quicker as she leans so her lips ghost over Santana's ear. "The one that looks like you're mentally timing yourself on how fast you could rip it off me." she husks, her voice low.
But just as fast as she's there she bounces back into her previous position in the doorway.
"Are those for me?" she asks point down to the small bouquet of sunflowers in Santana's hand.
Santana nods handing them Brittany, not trusting her voice yet again. Hell she's barely trusting any movements towards Brittany after that comment.
"You must really like flowers." Brittany giggles as she turns to go inside the apartment and gestures Santana to follow her, "Thank you by the way, that was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Although, I think one bouquet will do next time. I can't imagine what all of those must have cost you San."
"Next time?" Santana questions, finally regaining her voice again.
Brittany laughs, "That's all you took from that?"
"No I got it all. And you're welcome, by the way." She smiles. "I thought I'd mix it up a bit though with the sunflowers."
"I love sunflowers." Brittany smiles and smells the flowers in her hands.
"Yeah?" Santana asks glad she made the right choice, "Good. So any guesses for our plans?"
"No! I've been thinking all afternoon and I really came up with nothing. Even Quinn and Tina couldn't think of anything that had to do with lilies."
"Good then I'm sneakier than I thought." She's says glad that it got her thinking of the date but didn't give away the surprise.
"You're a totally ninja."
"Awesome." San laughs. "Well before we go to my ninja surprise spot, are you hungry? I made reservations since it's still a little early. Sound good?"
"Sounds great." Brittany puts the flowers in a vase amongst her other bouquets on the counter. "Just give me a second okay?"
"Sure. Of course." Brittany turns towards the hallway to her room when Santana's voice stops her. "Oh and Brittany.."
"Yes?" she turns around to face her.
"You look beautiful." Santana smiles kindly making Brittany's cheek tint pink.
"Thank you." she says before turning around and walking into her bedroom. She returns a minute later saying that she's ready.
"You changed?" Santana asks noticing the hoodie Brittany is now wearing that's similar to her own.
"No I just put on a hoodie. Didn't want you to be distracted all night." she winks.
"I said you still look beautiful." Santana says in complete honesty.
"There's my charmer." Brittany teases walking over to her.
"Yours?" San quirks her brow, smirking. 'Payback.' She can see Britt get flustered.
"Well I mean you're always a charmer to me.. I d-didn't mean you're like umm 'mine' because we uhm-"
"It's okay B." she says with a chuckle.
Brittany glares at her, "You so did that on purpose!"
"Payback's a bitch just like me." Santana replies with a cheeky smile. "We should head out, ready?" Santana asks holding out her arm for Brittany to take.
"Yeah just one more thing." she says as she comes to stand beside Santana.
"What?" she questions unsure of what else the girl could be forgetting. She's surprised by Brittany taking her arm and leaning in to give her a soft kiss to her cheek.
"You look great and I loved the flowers, all of the flowers. You really know how to make a lady swoon." she smiles and it's contagious because Santana's smile couldn't be wider.
"That's just the beginning sweetheart. Let's go." as shes leading her out.
"I've never been here before." Brittany says after they've been seated at their table.
"You've never been to Breadstix?!" Santana says in disbelief.
"No, they don't have one back home." Brittany shrugs not getting the big deal.
"They have the best breadsticks. Actually they're like legally obligated to keep bringing you all the breadsticks you want too. One time back in high school I came with a wheelbarrow and they had to no choice but to fill it up."
"Seriously?" Brittany laughs, "That's awesome!" she says as the waitress approaches their table.
"Good evening ladies, I'm Avery and I'll be your server this evening. Can I start you both off with something to drink?"
"Iced tea, please." Brittany says. Santana orders a Sprite and the waitress leaves to get their drinks while they look over the menu.
"Do you like Italian food?" Santana asks.
"Mhm.. I actually have always wanted to try this thing at an Italian restaurant..." her mood immediately changing from excited to 'disappointment? Am I fucking things up already?' San mentally scolds herself when she sees Brittany trail off ducking her head down.
"Oh yeah? What thing?" San asks curious.
"Nothing, forget it. It's stupid." she says sadly and opens her menu hoping Santana will drop it. 'I don't even know why I mentioned it in the first place. So stupid.' she thinks.
Santana immediately notices the change in Brittany's mood. "I seriously doubt that Britt, what is it?"
Brittany looks up from the menu that she was pretending to look through and sighs. "Okay but you can't laugh."
"Promise." San says with a soft smile and urges Brittany to continue.
"Okay so you know that scene from 'Lady and the Tramp' when they share that big piece of spaghetti and rolls the meatball across the plate?" Santana nods in recognition, "I've always wanted to do that.. I uhh.. I even practiced at my house pushing the meatball with my nose but I never got to do it." she sighs in disappointment.
"Why not?"
"Well... Artie. He.. he said it was a stupid idea." Brittany fidgets with the corner of her menu.
"He's an asshole." Santana says sternly but doesn't get a chance to say anything further as their waitress returns to place the drinks on the table.
"Here are your drinks. Have you decided on what you would like?" she asks. Santana is still looking at Brittany's dejected face and then she's talking before her head catches up with her mouth.
"Yes we're ready to order." Santana says turning her focus to their waitress.
"But San I haven't even looked at the menu yet." Brittany says but Santana ignores her and keeps her focus on the waitress.
"We're going to be splitting a plate of the spaghetti and meatball. If you can put the sauce in a separate dish please. Also I would like one of the pieces of the spaghetti to be veryy long." She asks hoping the girl will pick up the meaning.
"I'll have the chef make it fresh." the waitress nods with a knowing smile as she continues to scribble on her pad. "Anything else for starters?"
"Just bring those breadsticks so I can show her what she's been missing out on." Santana asks with a smile handing the menus back to Avery.
Avery laughs, "Of course, I'll be right back with that."
"Thank you." Santana says as Avery leaves the table. She hesitates to look over to her date but the whisper of her name being called across the table forces her to turn and see Brittany staring back at her. She can't quite make out the expression on her face.
"San.. you didn't have to do that." Britt says blushing.
Santana shrugs, "It's a brilliant idea Britt. Artie's the stupid one for not realizing that." she brushes it off and takes a sip of her drink.
Brittany smiles at her adoringly and they talk for while before their food arrives. They look at each other shyly once Avery has left them to enjoy their meal. Brittany makes the first move pulls her hair back into a low, loose ponytail before she leans forwards and nudges the meatball across the plate towards Santana. She giggles and Brittany is sure it's the most adorable thing she's heard. She looks up to see Santana shaking her head in disbelief.
'I'm really re-enacting a fucking disney movie scene in the middle of restaurant right now.' She thinks but when she looks at Brittany and sees the excitement in her eyes she picks up her fork and searches for the lengthy piece of pasta on the large plate. She mentally thanks the chef for placing the entire piece on top of the dish making it much easier to spot. She brings one end to her mouth and she sees Brittany do the same. Once they both have each end in their mouths they begin to eat the piece of pasta not taking their eyes of the other the entire time. The distance between them closes as they run out of pasta to eat. Santana bites her end allowing Brittany to suck in the remaining piece between their mouths. Her heart is pounding against her chest. 'Who knew this could actually be a good idea.' Santana thinks before closing the remaining distance between them and takes Brittany's lower lip between her own. It's a short kiss and they can't help but notice a few other customers looking at them when they part, smiling after seeing the little scene take place. Both girls blush profusely at their unexpected audience but the look on Brittany's face makes it all worth it.
"Thank you for doing that San." Brittany says as Santana pays for their meals.
"Oh, it's not a big deal Britt. I asked you out it's kind of a given that I pay you know?" Santana shrugs signing the copy of the receipt and reaching into her wallet for money to leave for a tip.
"No the whole spaghetti thing. That was really sweet of you to do." Santana stands and offers Brittany her hand to help her up and they leave the restaurant.
"You deserve the world Britt and if it's possible I want to be the one to give it to you. So if that means making a fool of myself reenacting disney movies or reciting freaking Shakespeare outside your window consider it done." Santana says twirling Brittany around as they laugh and walk down the street to the car. She had already sent out the text to Blaine that they were coming shortly so he would be gone by the time they get there.
"Soooo... where are we going now?" Brittany asks practically bouncing in her seat once Santana's starts driving to their next destination.
"I guess you'll just have to wait and see." Santana throws her a wink.
"Fineee..." Brittany pouts.
Santana quickly looks at her when they're at a stop sign. "Oh no.. no! No we agreed to no pout faces until after the second date.. it's not going to work this time."
"But it works every time.." she says sticking out her lip further and Santana just shakes her heard forcing herself to keep her eyes on the road.
"Brittt.." she whines, "I want to surprise you babe, please just let me." She says and reaches her hand over to rest on Brittany's leg. Brittany smiles, immediately grabs her hand to intertwine their fingers and rests them on her thigh again. She doesn't say another word just plays with Santana's fingers in her own.
Santana pulls the car over at the top of a hill about fifteen minutes outside of town. She helps Brittany out, leads her through the tree line and into a field. Brittany clinging closely since it's dark out and she can't really see where they're going. Brittany spots a something further in the field as her eyes begin to adjust to the dark. She notices that's where they are headed she squints trying to see what it is but she can't make it out. They finally stop where there is blanket laid out with some pillows in the grass and what looks like, 'Wait what?!' Brittany looks at it strangely.
"San is that a bottle-rocket launcher?" Brittany asks extremely confused.
Santana who was standing there watching Brittany's reaction with her bottom lip between her teeth goes over to her date and wraps her arm around her waist. "No Britt, it's a telescope. Look up." she points to the sky.
"Whoa." Brittany gasps seeing how clear the sky is and the countless stars above her. Santana tugs gently at her waist and leads her to sit down on the blanket with her. "That's amazing." Brittany says as she lays her head down on small pillow and continues to stare at the sky in awe.
"Yeah I kind of have a thing for astronomy. I've always loved to look at the stars and I like learning how the universe works. Once I took a class last semester I kind of got obsessed with it. I heard tonight was going be a really clear night so I thought you might enjoy it." she says laying down next to Brittany.
"It's amazing." Brittany says looking over to Santana causing the other girl to look at her when she feels her breath on her cheek. Santana smiles back at her before Brittany leans in a kisses her. Santana kisses her back and their lips softly glide against the others. Brittany deepens the kiss when she runs her tongue along Santana's bottom lip who takes no time to respond. She opens her mouth and their tongues explore each other's mouth. Brittany's hand is on the back of Santana's neck holding her there as she plays the hair there. Santana's hand is on Brittany's waist pulling their bodies closer.
Brittany breaks the kiss first in order to catch her breath. Santana opens her eyes to do the same and sees Brittany's darker blue eyes. Santana moves her hand to run it through Brittany's hair that's fallen in front of her face. Brittany leans in and kissing her again.
"Will you teach me how to use the telescope?" she asks, well mumbles against Santana's lips after a couple minutes.
Santana nods and brushes her hand along Brittany's cheek kissing once more before pulling back. "Of course." she says looking into Brittany's eyes and her now slightly swollen lips. She traces her thumb only the plump bottom lip before pulling back to sit up and Brittany does the same. "I don't really know that many constellations because the class was more like understanding the universe but I can point out a couple." she says she moves across the blanket to where she had setup the telescope.
"Hey San.." Brittany gets her attention once she realizes something doesn't make sense to her.
"What's up B?"
"Where do the lilies fit in? I know it's dark but I don't see any here."
Santana turns to her, "Well it's gonna sound pretty lame now but the lilies I gave you are stargazer lilies. Cheesy I know." Santana chuckles shaking her head.
"No, it's sweet." Brittany smiles before changing the subject when she senses Santana's embarrassment, "What ones do you know?" Brittany asks curiously motioning up to the sky and Santana is happy for the change in subject.
"Well I can find the North Star, the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, Orion's Belt and maybe I can see if I can find a planet. Only the basic stuff really. I don't really know a lot of the constellations." Santana shrugs knowing she's the furthest thing from an expert.
"Well we can make up our own." Brittany says excitedly as she sits behind Santana. Her arms wrap around her middle as she rests her chin on Santana's shoulder while the other girl looks up to the sky seeing where the constellations are so she can adjust her telescope to show Brittany.
"Yeah sounds like a plan." Santana says excited that Brittany is not only enjoying the surprise but taking interest in it as well.
Santana shows Brittany a couple of the constellations she told her about and teaches her how to adjust the telescope. Brittany listens carefully and gets excited when Santana has her do it by herself to find Orion's Belt. Brittany looks through the telescope in awe of how many stars she can see with it. Santana leans in and kisses her softly on her temple before she goes to lay back down. Brittany joins her after a few minutes. She snuggles into Santana's side and lays her head on her chest and they look up at the stars. Brittany comes up with a few of her own constellations including, 'The Duck King' and a castle. Santana smiles at her creativity and is surprised when Brittany manages to outline and elephant in the sky.
"You're a genius Brit." She says softly has her hand traces the sky.
Brittany just holds her closer and watches Santana's hand closely. "Are you drawing a heart?" Brittany asks after a minute.
"What?" Santana asks her hand freezing. She wasn't even paying attention to the her hand she more focused on Brittany cuddled against her.
"You've been tracing hearts in the sky for the past few minutes." Brittany points out by taking Santana's hand in her own and continues to draw trace the heart shaped line of stars.
"Oh yeah. It was a pretty perfect one. Sorry I zone out when I look up at the sky sometimes."
"No I like it." Brittany smiles even though Santana can't see it she can hear it in her voice and causes her to smile as well. She sighs as Brittany continues to trace the heart with her hand still holding Santana's, "it's my favorite one." she says as she continues to find different hearts for them to trace across the night sky.