I like to think this chapter has a little bit of everything. Thanks. Enjoy.
Chapter 16
Santana's POV
My days in Wisconsin are running low. Less than a week. Today is Thursday and I leave on Wednesday. So, less than six days now.
Today is my last day at the diner, then I have the weekend and Monday and Tuesday. I have yet to pack anything. But that's like me. I'm a total procrastinator when it comes to packing.
It's the middle of my last shift at the diner. Things have been a little weird today. Janet has been quiet, which never happens. I think she is planning something, but I don't know what. I'm sure I'll find out though.
I am happy and sad at the same time. I'm happy that I am returning to school for my last year and then it's off into the real world. I got a taste of the real world this summer and I think it wasn't too bad. A lot of people say that when you are done with school you have to get a job and get serious about your life. But, I don't think that's necessarily true. Sure, you need to have a job but you don't have to be serious about every aspect of your life.
Take Brittany for example. She went to school for two years and got a great job for herself. And she is serious about that. But, a lot of the rest of her life she just plays by ear. Sort of a laid back approach and whatever happens, happens.
I like that.
But, Brittany is the reason that I'm sad to leave. It has been a great summer. Better than I ever could have imagined. And a lot of the credit for that goes to Brittany and the kind of person she is. She was so welcoming to me when I first met her. She welcomed me into her world and the rest is, well, history.
I wish I could be in the same city as Brittany. Heck, we aren't in the same city now. The same area would do. The same state even. Northwestern is approximately a three hours drive from here. That might not be all that long to some people, but it's not really close enough for a day trip, to just drive there and back to visit.
I'm actually leaving on Wednesday to go home. Classes don't start again until the end of the month but I want to go back to Ohio and spend some time there before going to school. I want to see my mom and Quinn and even my brother. This might be one of the last time where I have a whole week of free time where I have no responsibilities to take care of. I can just be with my family and not have anything to worry about in the back of my mind.
I think it will be good. To just take a little time between summer and the start of the semester.
It starts to get busier in the diner the closer to noon that we get. There are customers everywhere now. I have to be more careful not to bump into anyone or spill anything.
A tap on my shoulder has me spinning around quickly. Good thing I wasn't holding anything. "Brittany." She stand there with a big smile on her face. "What are you doing here?"
She stands there in her work clothes. A tank top and shorts and work boots. Behind her I recognize her boss Jerry and a couple of other people that work with her.
"It was Janet's idea."
"What was?" I ask cautiously.
"This." I turn around at the sound of Janet's voice. The whole diner seems to fall silent in an instant. She is coming out of the kitchen with a cake in her hands. It's a surprise to me. "We wanted to do something for our star summer waitress. It might have been my idea to whole to celebrate but it was Brittany's idea to get a cake." I look to Brittany quickly and she shrugs her shoulders. "We want to celebrate you and celebrate your work this summer for the restaurant. We wanted to celebrate that you are returning to school and are in your last year. This cake is for you and all of your accomplishments and all that you are to accomplish in the future."
Janet sets the cake down on the counter. She picks up a glass and raises it in the air. "Here's to you, Santana. Take the rest of your shift off and celebrate with us." Janet takes a drink from her glass and I see some of the other customers do the same.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Shannon, the owner and the woman who agreed to hire me for the summer. She smiles and gives me a big smiley thumbs up from the corner of the room where she sits.
I wave over at her with a tight-lipped smile.
"Lets cut the cake." Brittany cheers from my side. The murmur of conversation starts to pick up and the attention shifts off of me back to whatever discussions the customers were having previous to the cake interruption. "Sit." Brittany puts a hand on the small of my back and guides me to the stool in front of the cake.
Janet is already cutting the cake into small squares. Sally has the paper plates and forks ready to serve the cake at her side. The first piece is cut and Janet puts it on a plate and hands it to me. She continues cutting and hands a piece to Brittany next. Piece after piece gets cut until the cake is gone and more than half the people in the diner have a piece of cake.
"What about lunch?" I ask when Brittany digs into her cake.
"I'll just have my dessert first." She says a second before the fork meets her lips.
"Okay." If that's what Brittany's gonna do then fine. Who am I to judge?
Brittany's man boss, Jerry, sticks his head in between us. "I don't know about you girls but I'm gonna get a table."
"Okay. Save us a seat." Brittany replies.
Brittany shoves the last few bites of cake into her mouth. "Come on." She gets up from her stool and tugs on my elbow to get me to stand with her.
"Britt. Hold on." I haven't finished my cake yet. I reach for the plate on the countertop and snatch it up before Brittany can pull me away from it completely. "Let me get my cake."
She lets go of my elbow and I reach for the paper plate. Once I have the plate in hand Brittany starts for the table in the corner that her boss Jerry sits at with two other women.
There are three seats left at the table. Brittany takes the one next to Jerry. I sit down across the six person table from her. It's the biggest table we have at the restaurant. If a group bigger than six comes in we have to slide two tables together or the customers have to sit at separate tables.
This works good though. I am sitting next to the middle aged woman with blonde curly hair. I think Brittany said that was her other boss, Mary. My suspicions are confirmed rather quickly when she starts speaking to me.
"I'm Mary. Brittany's boss. She told us about how you are working here just for the summer and that you are leaving soon to go back to college. She insisted that we come today for lunch and celebrate with you."
"It was very nice of you to come. I didn't even know any of this was happening." I chuckle nervously.
"Brittany has such high praise for you we couldn't not come." The woman sitting on the other side of Jerry from Brittany pipes up. "I'm Sara by the way. We work together." She twirls her finger around the group of us indicating that she works with the others at the table.
I nod, feeling a little embarrassed that Brittany's been telling her co-workers about me. "Well, thanks again for taking time out of your day. I'm sure you guys were busy doing- something."
"Things are starting to slow down a little. But, I could never pass up an opportunity to eat at my favorite restaurant." Jerry says with a little sly smile. "Where's my coffee lady?" He looks around the restaurant. "Oh, here she comes."
Jerry lifts his coffee cups to meet Janet's coffee pot as she reaches the table. "The usual Jer."
The man nods. "Yup."
"Alright, what will you ladies be having for lunch today?" Janet sets the coffee pot down and pulls out her order pad and pen.
We all order and Janet leaves but not before teasing Jerry. "So you brought all the ladies in for lunch today. I'll make sure you get the check then." She winks at Jerry and turns on her heels.
"So, what did you do this morning?" I ask. I'm mostly interested in Brittany's answer but she's not the first to respond.
"Brittany and I cleaned the pond first thing this morning while Sara watered. Tell her how that went." Jerry nods in my direction while eyeing Brittany.
"I may have fallen in the pond." Brittany mumbles, her chin tucked to her chest.
Jerry laughs.
"It wasn't funny. I had to change all my clothes and I still smell a little like pond scum. I can't wait to take a shower after work today."
I'm not sure how to react to that. A little part of me wants to laugh because that would be pretty funny to see but the majority of me just feels sorry for Brittany. That must have been gross, falling in and getting her clothes all wet.
"After that fiasco we fixed the deer fence out at Mary's land and picked some vegetables. And now we are here." Brittany explains further.
"And this afternoon we are getting stones for a job." Mary informs me. "And if we have time Brittany and I have a small mulch job to do."
"Sounds busy." I comment. It actually sounds like a lot of work to me. I don't know if I could do Brittany's job. I know she likes it and likes to be outside. But, it's also quite a bit of physical labor. And I'm not the strongest or the biggest. I don't know how long I would survive at being a landscaper.
"What's involved in getting stones? Do you go somewhere and pick them up? Is there like a stone distributor?" I look around the table at everyone. I really don't know if I'm asking the right questions. I have no idea what 'getting stones' is or involves. Brittany is looking at Jerry and he is looking at Mary and Mary is looking at Brittany. Sara is looking at me.
"What?" I ask feeling uncomfortable or like I missed something. "Did I say something wrong?"
"We do it all ourselves." Jerry says then takes a drink from his coffee cup.
"Well, it's a process that involves all of us. Hunting up stone for our projects takes teamwork. It's not something that can be done alone. But, I do most of the work." Brittany smiles, smug-like, and elbows Jerry.
"Right." Jerry shakes his head, sarcastic.
"No, but seriously, Jerry finds all of the perfect stone specimens. Must of the time we find them in the woods. Once one has been chosen, and if it's stuck in the ground, we have to get it out. That's were we use a digging bar and a long shovel and pry the stone out of the ground."
"How big are these stones?" I have to ask because this sounds like it would be too much work for some small stones.
"Oh, three feet by three by three maybe. Sometimes bigger. Probably three to four hundred pounds depending on the size." Jerry says like it's the most normal thing in the world.
"Holy shit." I gasp. I throw my hand over my mouth quickly at my slip up.
Jerry laughs. "We've done a bunch of ponds lined with stones, it's not that be of a deal. You'd be surprised what a little bit of ingenuity and a lot of muscle can get done. That's where these girls come in handy." Jerry thumbs to his right and left. "Young and strong." He turns to Brittany and squeezes her right bicep with his fingers. Brittany grins goofy and flexes her arm muscles.
"When a stone is pried out of the ground it goes on what we call a tree cart. It's like a big appliance dolly except for moving tree around instead of furniture. One of us then runs the stone out of the woods to wherever the pick up point is. We go to the next stone and do it all over again."
"We need about ten to twelve stones today." Mary adds to the conversation.
"Sounds exhausting."
Brittany shrugs. "It's not too bad. But, if you don't know what you are doing or aren't in good shape you could be in trouble."
"You got the rest of your shift off. You could come and help us." Jerry says to me.
Is he crazy or is he seriously asking for my help? I feel my eyes get bigger as more seconds pass and no one says anything. "I- uh- I-"
"He's kidding." Brittany chuckles.
Jerry shakes his head and throws his coffee cup back, drinking the contents at the bottom. "As great as this little lunch has been whatdaya say we get something done this afternoon." He pushes his chair back and stands up.
Lunch is over.
Brittany stands and so do I. Mary and Sara follow afterwards. "We'll see ya back at the nursery." Mary says to Brittany and passes me up. She leaves the table first, followed by Jerry and then Sara. Brittany stays behind.
"No dawdlin'." Jerry waves a finger at her before he goes.
"Wow. They are quite the bunch."
"True." Brittany grins big at me. "They're like a second family to me. Jerry's like a second dad. And Mary a second mom. Sara's like an older sister or a cool aunt. I feel really blessed to have them in my life."
"What about Eric? Where was he?"
"I don't really know. Some job. He's kind of a mystery some days." Brittany chuckles. "Walk me out?"
"I'd love to."
Brittany goes first and I follow her between the tables and chairs of customers in the diner. We head outside and over to Brittany's truck which is parked at the back of the lot. She unlocks the door and gets inside.
Once the door is closed she starts the truck and rolls down the windows. "So, were you really surprised? Did you not know anything was happening today?"
"I was really surprised. Thank you."
"No problem. You should thank Janet though she did most of the work. She's the one who made the cake." Brittany informs me. I nod at the new info.
"I will when I go back inside." I put my hands on the door where the window slides into the door. "Shit." I pull them back quickly. "Hot." I look down at my palms quickly before returning my glaze upon Brittany.
"You alright?" She asks me with a crooked smile.
"Yeah. I'm good. It's hard to imagine it being cold and snowy here with hot temperatures like this."
"Yeah. I should get goin' or Jerry's gonna grind on me for be late coming back." Brittany taps her fingers on the steering wheel. "Kiss."
I nod and lean closer to the truck but am careful not to touch it. I learned my lesson with that one. Brittany leans out the truck window until she meets me for a quick kiss.
"I'll call you when I'm done with work." She says and shifts the truck into drive. "Love you."
"I love you too." The words feel amazing leaving my lips. Brittany looks at me for a second more before smiling and nodding and driving away.
I watch Brittany leave before going back into the diner to spend some time with the staff before I have to go.
I'm on my way over to Brittany's apartment for the rest of the day. She suggested that we spend the last weekend that I'll here together, like all weekend. I easily accepted her idea.
I'm nearly there when my phone rings. Without taking my eyes off the road I reach over and grab my phone off the passenger seat and answer it.
"Hey, S. Where are you?"
"Hold your horses I'm about two minutes away." I tell Brittany with a giddy smile.
Brittany scoffs. "My horses are fine."
"Okay. Fine. I'll be there in a few. Can I let you go?"
"Yeah." Brittany sighs glumly.
"See ya in a bite." I hang up my phone and toss it back onto the passenger seat again. I can't help but think of Brittany sitting in her apartment. Her leg bouncing anxiously waiting for me to arrive.
When I pull up outside Brittany's apartment building I am surprised to see her sitting on the grass under the shade of a tree in the front lawn. Before I can shut the car off and get out she is at my door.
"Hey." I say as I open the door. Brittany leans in and kisses me on the cheek. "Can I at least get out first?" I giggle.
Brittany pulls back and steps back so I can get out of my car. As soon as I do Brittany shuts my door and pins my to the car. Her lips are kissing mine over and over again until she has me in a fit of giggles. She leans back, her hips still pressed to mine, with a smug, satisfied smile.
"Wanna come inside?"
"Duh, that's why I'm here." I swat her on the arm playfully and she backs up. Brittany holds her hand out for me to take. I take it and we walk up the sidewalk to the building side by side.
After some spaghetti that Brittany cooked- it was delicious- Brittany popped open two bottles of beer. She handed me one and she took the other. "Let's go in the other room." Brittany walks into the living room from the kitchen. "Sit down." She points her beer bottle in the direction of the couch.
I follow her instructions while she goes over to a rack of DVD's and pick one out and put it in the DVD player.
"What are we watching?" I ask when Brittany sits down next to me.
She wraps an arm around my shoulder and takes a sip of her beer. "You'll see."
We spend the rest of Friday sitting, snuggled up on the couch watching funny movies. Our positions change and so do hand placements and kisses and by the end of the third movie Brittany is laying with her back against the cushions of the couch and I am on top of her. My stomach over her pelvis. My head resting just under her chin so I can still see the tv screen. Her hands are making big soft circles over my back. It's making me sleepy.
"You wanna go to bed?" Brittany asks when she sees my next yawn.
"Yes." I say through another yawn.
"Okay. Let's go." She kisses me on the top of the head.
I get up off the couch and Brittany shifts. I can only take one step before there a swat on my ass. I jump. I really wasn't ready for that. "Britt." I scold and rub my behind, but keep walking away from her.
"I couldn't resist." I hear her get up off the couch and then she shuts the tv off. The room goes dark. Thankfully, I'm only a step away from the bathroom and flick the light on. "I'll meet you in the bedroom." Brittany husks the second before I shut the bathroom door.
"Britt." I giggle. "Stop. That tickles. Britt." She kisses the inside of my elbow once more before licking it and then moving her lips to my ribs. Brittany kisses every single one of my ribs up to the underside of my left breast. "Britt." I moan as her tongue flicks over my nipple.
I squeeze my fingers into the soft flesh of her ass, pulling her hips down against mine and grinding up into her. Her whole body is amazing. She feels so amazing.
I may be new to this with ladies, but I'm not new to sex. I slip my hand between our bodies. It's now or never. When I slip my fingers through Brittany's slick folds she stills on top of me. She looks up, from the attention she was giving to my chest, into my eyes. There's a mix of surprise and pleasure there, then it turns to pure need. She grinds herself down onto my fingers searching for more.
Sure, I've touched myself before but this is different. I don't know if a could put words to the feel of my fingers running through Brittany. I circle her clit with two fingers and Brittany presses down further against me, starting a rocking motion. I rock back and forth with her.
Brittany takes my earlobe between her lips and sucks. It drives me crazy. I move faster and faster. She licks her tongue around the shell of my ear and then down the length of my neck. I buck my hips up into her.
Her hand appears between my legs suddenly. She wastes no time in slipping her fingers inside of me. "Britt." I arch into her and copy her movements with my own fingers against her. I slide two fingers into Brittany's center and start working them in and out.
It's hard to focus on Brittany when she has her fingers in my core working me up towards a climax. The coil in my stomach is getting tighter by the second. I know I'm not gonna last much longer. I wouldn't know for certain, but by the way Brittany's muscles tighten around my fingers, I would say that she is in a similar state.
I rock into her harder. Brittany matches me tit for tat.
All my muscles become tense, I arch off of Brittany's bed, my jaw becomes clenched, I squeeze my eyes tight together. Brittany pumps into me a couple times before her fingers still inside me. I fall back onto the bed, relaxed. I slide in and out of her a few more times before wiggling my fingers inside her.
"Fuck. San." Brittany clenches tight to my fingers and arches her whole body against mine in climax. She rocks down hard into my hand twice and then goes slack. Brittany drops herself on top of me with a little grunt.
I slide my fingers out of her and wipe them on the bed sheets. She has the side of her face pressed to my collarbone. The little puffs of air she exhales as she catches her breath tickle against my naked, clammy skin. I rub both my hand over her back as I catch my breath myself.
"Wow." Brittany breathes out after a few minutes of recovery. "I- yeah- just wow." She lifts her head from under my chin. Brittany gets up onto her elbow and her face hovers over mine.
When she looks into my eyes all I see is love. Brittany's love for me radiates off of her. I can feel it and I can see it. "I love you so much." I whisper to her. I need to make sure she knows.
She smiles. Cute and simple. Even her smile says 'I love you'. "I love you, too, Santana." She hums and then leans in for a kiss. Slowly our lips brush over one another's. Over and over again Brittany alternates between my top and bottom lip in the best after sex kiss ever. There's no tongue involved, just slow, lazy, satisfied kisses.
I know we are gonna fall asleep like this with my arms around her, her on top of me, our legs tangled together, slowly kissing. "Goodnight, Brittany." I say between kisses.
She hums against my lips. "Night, S." And continues to kiss me.
"I want pancakes but I also want eggs." Brittany says from behind her menu. She decided that we should go out for breakfast this morning. She got me up at eight to make sure that we wouldn't miss breakfast. After I got ready we left the apartment in her truck. She brought us to a restaurant that I've never been to before. It's nice. It's not the diner. It's more, I'd say, modern than the diner but still very nice. Family friendly.
"We could make a deal." Brittany lowers her menu and quirks an eyebrow at me. "You get pancakes and I'll get eggs and we can share." I suggest.
"I love you." Brittany says blissfully.
"So, you like that idea?" I tease.
She nods and leans forward a little bit. Brittany set the menu down on the edge of the table, she turns all of her attention to me. "I love that idea." She clasps her hands together and puts them on the edge of the table in front of her so that her forearms rest on the tabletop.
"What?" I ask after Brittany stares at me for a long period.
"Say it." Brittany nods her chin at me and smile unabashed.
"Say what?" But, I know what she wants. I also like this little game that we are playing.
"You know."
"No. I don't think I do." I shake my head.
"San-tan-a." Brittany whines.
"Fine." I giggle. "I love you too."
I smiles in full again. It's so easy for her to be happy. The smallest things make Brittany happy. And I don't have to do anything but be myself and she is completely happy with that.
After breakfast we went back to Brittany's apartment and she showed me pictures of herself from when she was little. All the way from birth to age eighteen. Her hair was even blonder when she was little. And she was so adorable in her overalls on her fourth birthday. She looks like a ton of energy in most of her photos, even when she got older.
Now we are on our way back to my house. In separate cars. Brittany is following behind me in her truck as we make the journey. I'm trying to think of things for us to do for the rest of the day but all I have come up with so far is the hot tub.
"Dad, we're here." I yell into the house as I open the front door. Brittany runs up from behind me once she has her truck parked on the opposite side of the horseshoe driveway. She wraps her hand around my waist and pulls me into the house with a little chuckle.
"Is he home?" Brittany asks once we are inside.
"He said he would be. He's Jeep is in the driveway."
"Right."
"Dad." I call again.
"Kitchen." His voice booms through the house.
"Hi, dad."
He looks up from the counter to me and then Brittany. "Hello, girls." He nods towards the mess on the countertop. "I'm starting supper. It has to sit in the crock-pot for a couple of hours. So…" He trails off and looks back to his work making a meal.
"What are you making?" Brittany's the one to ask first. I was just about to ask the very same question.
Dad looks up and smile over at Brittany. He's happy that she asked, I can see it in his smile. "Shrimp and artichoke barley risotto."
Sounds like a mouthful to me.
"Mmm. I like shrimp." Brittany hums.
"Good. I hope you like this then."
"I'm sure I will." Brittany says politely.
It was decided sometime during the week that Brittany would be here for dinner tonight and that she would be staying over tonight. My dad went out shopping the very next day to make sure he had all the ingredients for the meals he was planning this weekend. It's a little over the top on his part, if you ask me. But, I guess, I hardly ever bring friends over and he wants to do something special before I leave so I'm just gonna let him do whatever he wants. Plus, I think it gives him something constructive to do with his time.
"Brittany and I are going to go in the hot tub." I inform the man in the cooking apron.
"Okay, dear. Have fun." He goes back to his cooking business. I grab Brittany by the elbow and led her upstairs.
"You can change in here. I'll go in the bathroom." I grab my swimsuit off the back of my chair.
"Okay. I'm glad I brought my suit." Brittany mumbles. I don't know if she is actually telling me or more talking to herself.
"Yeah." I say with a smile. Brittany is looking around my room like she's never seen it before. Taking in her surroundings all over again like it's the first time. I exit the room and go into the bathroom and change.
"I haven't been in a hot tub in a long time." Brittany drops the towel from around her waist and I nearly drool at the sight. Her in a red polka dot bikini is almost too much for me to handle.
"Yeah." I mumble. She slips into the water and sits down next to me. I have to refocus my eyes so I don't look like a total perv.
"You can look." She whispers in my ear then kisses me on the cheek. Maybe spending time with Brittany sitting next to me in nothing but a few thin pieces of fabric covering her most intimate parts wasn't a good idea.
I nod and try to smile at her.
She closes her eyes and sinks further into the hot water. "Feels good."
"Yeah." I say dumbly and close my eyes too. I reach around under the water until I can find Brittany's hand and lace our fingers together. She pulls our hands into her lap.
When starts to get dark after dinner I suggest a bonfire. My dad agrees whole-heartedly. He tells Brittany and I to clean up from dinner and he is going go and start the fire.
"I'll get the chairs if you bring the stuff for s'mores and drinks." I tell Brittany. She nods with a pleased smile. "Meet you down there." I purse my lips for a kiss. Brittany doesn't disappoint. She pecks me on the lips then wraps a palm around the back of my neck and pulls me closer to her for a more intimate kiss. It's sweet and sensual and absolutely perfect.
"See ya." She licks her lips and turns away from me after the kiss.
I go to the storage room on the back of the house and get out two plastic lawn chairs. With one in each hand I head over the grass, down the steps, and across the sand to fire pit.
"There she is. I thought that you might have gotten lost." My dad jokes.
"Very funny." I say sarcastically. It's not really funny at all. He uses that joke all the time when someone is late.
It's dark outside now. It's a warm August night. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach drown out all the other sounds around us. The fire roars in front of me. Brittany sits to my left and my dad to my right.
"So, Brittany do you like your job? I know you are good at it but to you truly like it?" My dad asks across me.
"Yeah. I love it."
"Well, good. It's important to have a job that you like, otherwise you will be miserable at work." My dad says like he's some expert on jobs.
"Yep. I may not be making millions but I am having a damn good time at work." Brittany agrees with him.
It's great that my dad and Brittany get along so well. Sitting here watching and listening to them talking warms my heart in a way that I've never felt before. It makes me want to tell my dad that Brittany isn't just my friend, that she's so much more. But, there is still something holding me back from doing that. I don't know if it's fear or something else, but I'm just not there yet. I know in some ways it's not fair to Brittany, but she is a patient, understanding person. She isn't gonna be upset or push me. She's just gonna let me work through it on my own, in my own ways. And I love her even more for that.
After my dad goes in the house for the night, Brittany gets out of her chair and unrolls a blanket.
"Where'd you get that?" I ask. I didn't see her bring a blanket down here, nor did I see it sitting on the sand.
"Your dad. He brought it out with him when he started the fire."
That's suspicious.
"Come lay down with me." Brittany says and pats the blanket when she has it all flattened out. "We can look up at the stars."
I smile and nod. "Sounds perfect."
Brittany lays down first and I lay down next to her. She slips her arm around under the back of my neck, her fingertips brush up and down my arm opposite her. "I'm so lucky."
"Why's that?" I ask.
"Cause I had another perfect, amazing day with the most amazing, perfect girl."
"Britt." She makes me blush so easily. She turns her head to the side and kisses my temple.
It's quiet, well, as quiet as it can be with the waves. The sky is clear and I can see the stars clearly. In Chicago, at school, there is so much light pollution that you can hardly see the stars on a clear night.
"I wouldn't be able to do this at school." I tell Brittany.
She hums in response.
"I'm gonna miss this."
"Watching the stars?" Brittany asks.
"No, well yeah, I guess. But this, me and you, spending time together, just being together."
"Yeah, I will too." Brittany says and hugs me tighter to her side.
We lay in silence for a long time. I don't know how long exactly, but the fire starts to die down. "Lets go in." I suggest. I feel Brittany nod and start to get up. She goes over to the fire and doses it with water. I roll up the blanket and when I'm done Brittany is standing there waiting for me. She holds out her hand to me. I take it and we start for the house.
"Santana."
I bolt upright in bed.
"Santana. Breakfast is ready." So, it's my dad who's yelling. I rub my left eye with my fingers of my left hand. I glance around the room with the other eye. It's empty. Which doesn't surprise me but I'm slightly disappointed.
It's probably for the best. I told my dad that Brittany would sleep in Roberto's room but I snuck her into my room last night after he was asleep.
By the time I get downstairs Brittany and my dad are sitting at the dinning room table munching on their breakfasts.
They both turn to look at me when they hear me shuffle in. "Morning, sweetie." My dad says first.
Before I can reply, I see Brittany mouth the same thing. She's such a brat sometimes. I try my hardest to keep a straight face but end up smiling like a idiot. "Good morning, dad."
I slide into the seat next Brittany and reach for the plate of French toast in the middle of the table.
"What are your plans today, Santana?"
"I'm not sure." I look over to Brittany. She shrugs her shoulders telling me that she doesn't have a plan either.
"Oh. Well, I'll be around here all day." Dad tells us. I'm not sure if he wants to do something with us or if he doesn't want us around the house all day.
"Okay. Well, me and Britt will probably find something to do." I say vaguely.
I'm laying on a beach towel on the sand soaking up the afternoon sun. That is until something blocks out the sun on my face. I raise a hand to my brow. When water drops slash down on me I know what is blocking the sun.
"Brittany." I whine and open my eyes to see a very wet Brittany standing above me.
"What?" She asks innocently.
I lick my lips and look over her shiny, glistening wet skin. It's like she just came out of a commercial. One of those super sexy commercials where the girls are scantily clad and covered in oil. Brittany is like a golden goddess.
"Your getting me wet."
"Is that so?" She smirks, she bends over me further and shakes a little, more wet droplets drip off of her. "I could take care of that for you." She husks and kneels in the sand next to me before swinging a leg over my body so that she is straddling me.
"Brittany." I warn. This is not the time for this. There are people around. "Brittany, there's kids over there."
"So?" She lowers her body so that her chest is somehow an inch from mine. Her ass sticking up in the air. She is so damn flexible. I want to run my hands across her back and down to that perfect tight ass of hers but know I can't.
"So, I don't think their parents would like it if they saw two people getting it on on the beach."
She lowers face next to mine and whispers in my ear. "That's a shame. Those kids could get a real live sex demonstration."
I push on her shoulders and push her off of me before we get into something that we can't control. She flops onto her back next to me with a little frustrated grunt.
"Let's go get ice cream to cool off." Brittany suggests.
"Okay." I couldn't think of a better idea myself. Well…
Brittany hops to her feet and then pulls me up. She starts running up the beach, I chase after her all the way to the house. Brittany runs around the side of the house to the front yard and hops in her truck.
I stop in the driveway. "Brittany." I yell. "Don't we need clothes?"
"Na. Nobody will care." She waves me of over. Hesitantly I go over and get in the passenger side of her truck. She opens the glove box and fumbles around for a few seconds before producing a key. "Ta da." She grins at me and wiggles her eyebrows.
"Do you always keep that in there? It doesn't seem very wise to me to keep the key that
"Yeah. Why?"
"No reason." It doesn't seem very wise to me to keep the key that starts the truck in the truck. If somebody found that like could drive away with the truck.
She shrugs and starts the truck.
Ten minutes later we are getting out and walking up to the ice cream stand. A few people give us some weird looks but Brittany was right, nobody really puts up a stink about two girls in their bikinis at the little ice cream stand.
"One blue moon and one swirl." Brittany tells the boy behind the window.
He nods abstinently. I can practically see the drool slipping out of his open mouth.
"Maybe we should've put something on. This kid looks about ready to faint." Brittany whispers in my ear.
I cover my mouth with my hand to hide my little laugh. I watch as the boy stutters through getting our ice cream and then hands them to use with a blank stare. Brittany hands him some money and tells him to keep the change. He nods and we leave.
"That was great." I say between licks of my ice cream cone. We are sitting on the tailgate of Brittany truck eating our cones. She parked under the shade of a tree on the edge of the ice cream stand parking lot. "The look on that boy's face when he saw us was priceless."
"Hey, I don't blame him. We are a couple of hotties. I would be drooling too if I were him." Brittany takes a big bite out of her ice cream.
"Oh my god." I whisper. I could never do that to my ice cream. It makes me cringe and my teeth hurt just watching Brittany bite a chuck out of her ice cream.
When I wake up and realize it's Wednesday my heart sink. I'm leaving this wonderful place today. This land with all it's beauty and wonder. More specifically this spot where my family house rests along the water. It's been an amazing summer. I'm glad that I made the decision to spend my summer here. I'm sure gonna miss this place when I'm gone.
I have a long day ahead of me. First, I need to get up and out of bed. I packed all of my stuff up yesterday. Clothes, shoes, hair care products, etc. Anything and everything that I brought with me in the spring and will need back at my dorm in college. I need to double check that I have everything one more time before I leave.
I have a long drive ahead of me. I would have actually gotten up and left earlier but Brittany swore up and down and left and right that she would come over and send me off. It's gonna be a long eight hour drive especially after I have to say goodbye to her.
I have a feeling that will be the worst part. Saying goodbye to Brittany, unsure of what's going to happening between us in the future or when I might possibly see her again.
That's been the absolute best part of my summer. The job was good. The relaxation and the time spent on the beach and just having fun were great. But, Brittany was the best part about my summer. I never would have thought that my summer would have turned out the way it did.
I imagined that I would come to the house and spend time relaxing and doing what I wanted. I thought that I would get a job and tour the area. I never thought that I would have met someone who would change my life. And she has. Brittany has definitely changed my life.
I check to make sure that I have everything that I need before I leave and start bringing my three big bags and a couple smaller ones down the stairs and set them by the front door. I'll mostly ready to go, so I go into the kitchen and get something for breakfast. I've showered, and dressed, and gotten everything I need ready. I just need to eat something before I go.
There's a note on the island counter from my dad.
I went for a run. I'll be back before you leave. Dad.
I knew he wouldn't be around this morning. He told me he was going out for a run last night before he went to bed. He also told me that he would give me some time alone this morning to say goodbye to the house and to prepare myself to leave.
I'm thankful for the quiet time to myself.
It's weird thinking that I am going to be leaving and he is going to be staying here. That's not something that has ever happened before. In the past, when I came to this house it was always with somebody. My mom, or dad, or grandmother, or any combination of those. To be leaving by myself just reinforces the fact that I am grown up and living my life without my parents. I'm moving on and leaping into adulthood. After two more semesters of college it will begin in full. I'm not sure what that future holds yet, but I'm excited about it.
When Brittany told me she was taking the day off and coming to see me off I told her no. I told her she should go to work that I'm not worthy of her taking a day off of work and taking money out of her pocket. But she, in her very Brittany way, told me that she insisted, that she was taking the day off whether or not I wanted her to.
She said she would come over at nine.
I'm putting jam on my toast when the back patio door slide open. "Hey, San." My dad huffs out of breath.
"Good morning. How was your run?"
"Good. It's a beautiful day. Not humid." He reaches into the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water. "You all ready to go?"
"Yep. Just waiting for Brittany to get here." I take a bite of my now jammed toast.
"You two have gotten awfully close this summer. She seems like a great girl. I like her. Plus, she's a great gardener."
"Landscaper." I correct my dad. "And yeah we're really good friends."
He narrows his eyes at me. "Right." He takes another big gulp of water before capping the bottle and setting it on the counter. "I'm going to shower. Don't go anywhere." He jokes then ruffles my hair with his big hand.
"Dad." I whine.
He just chuckles and goes upstairs to his bedroom and the master bathroom.
When the doorbell rings I freeze. This is it. My dad looks over at me. "I'll get it." I don't know if I'm relieved or terrified.
I can hear him talking to Brittany and I finally get moving. I scurry out of the kitchen and into the hall, over to the front door.
"-and you've done a fabulous job with the yard this summer. It's looks great like always." I hear the tail end of my dad's conversation with Brittany.
"Thanks." She says. I can see her standing in the door as I approach the entryway. Brittany has her hands clasped in front of herself swaying back and forth. I can tell she is a little nervous talking to my dad. I decide to jump in and save her.
"Hey, Britt." I stand next to my dad putting a hand on his shoulder.
She ducks her head down and looks at her tennis shoes. "Hi, Santana."
"Come on in, Brittany." My dad says and we all move into the house and dad closes the door. I nearly trip over my bags as I turn around. "I'll get some lemonades." Dad says and goes into the kitchen. "You girls wait in the living room."
"How are you doing?" Brittany asks as soon as we still down on the couch. I know what she's asking. She asking how I am doing with leaving, not how am I doing in general.
"Okay, I guess. I think it hasn't hit me yet. Once I'm on the road it probably will."
"Yeah."
"Here ya go." Dad comes in and hands us each a tall glass of cold lemonade.
"Thanks." Brittany and I say in unison. I giggle a little, nervous.
"Drive safe. Make sure you stop more than once to stretch your legs. I love you." My dad has my head cradled with his hand. The side of my face pressed to his chest.
I squeeze him tighter. "I will dad. I love you too."
"I'll let you say bye to Brittany now." He lets go of me and I nod.
My bags are packed and in my car. The three of us are standing outside, behind my car. My dad takes a couple steps back from me.
I've been doing good so far, but as soon as I see Brittany biting her lip, tears start to well in my eyes.
Brittany takes step forward and wraps me up in her arms in a big bear hug. "Don't cry." She whispers in my ear. It only makes more tears spring to my eyes. I bury my face in the crook of her neck. Brittany rubs her hands up and down my back before pulling me away from her body.
"Hey." She rubs her thumbs across my cheek wiping the tears away. "It's gonna be alright. You'll see. We'll talk everyday. We'll see each other soon."
"When?" I ask with a pathetic whimper. My bottom lip trembles as I try to hold back more crying.
"I don't know." She says sadly. "I'll come visit though." She tries to smile but it looks more like a grimace.
I nod and look up at Brittany through my wet eyelashes. I find it hard to speak. First, because of the lump in my throat and second because I can't think of the words to say.
Brittany continues though. "We will talk on the phone. And Skype. And text. And email. And use an other form of communication possible to be connected to each other." She whispers, still running her thumbs over the skin of my cheeks.
"Okay. Yeah." I whisper back. Brittany smiles but it's not her usual happy smile. It's more of a sad sort of smile. I just know that she is holding herself together for me, but that on the inside it's probably killing her to have to do this today. I know she won't cry. Not in front of me. Or my dad.
This probably looks a little weird to him right now. Two girls, who didn't know each other three months ago, having a tearful goodbye in his driveway. That's part of the reason that I spent yesterday evening at Brittany's before coming home and packing.
We sat together in her apartment and soaked up as much of each other as possible. We shared many, many kisses. We didn't do a lot of talking. It was more about touching- not in a sexual way- and kissing. We both knew that we couldn't do that today in front of my dad and I think that's why yesterday evening was so special.
I so badly want to kiss Brittany one final time before I go but I know that I can't with my dad standing right there.
I give her a tight-lipped half-smile and pull her closer to me. I slip my arms between hers and her sides and place my hands on the small of her back. Brittany wraps her arms around the upper part of my back and I rest my chin on her shoulder.
"I love you, Britt-Britt." I whisper in her ear.
She hugs me tighter. "I know. And I love you too." She whispers back.
I squeeze her tight once more before letting go. Brittany takes two steps back from me and I feel all wobbly, like I'm about to fall over. I reach out and put my palm on the trunk of my car to steady myself.
"All ready to go?" My dad asks. I look at him. He stands there a few feet from Brittany with his hands in the front pockets of his pants.
I nod. "Yeah." It's doesn't sound very confident or believable coming out of my mouth.
He smiles. "Okay then. Drive safe and call me when you get there." He says.
I nod again. I'm not sure what else to do. I look over in Brittany's direction. She is trying to avoid eye contact with me but when our eyes lock I can see the sadness there. I want to run over to her and hold her and tell her I'm not going. But I can't. I have to go.
"Okay. I should go or mom will get worried if I'm late for dinner." Taking my hand off the back of the car.
Brittany nods and bites at her bottom lip. My dad chuckles a little. He knows just how my mom is. He's been married to her for nearly thirty years, he better.
I turn around and open the drivers door. I can feel the hesitancy in my whole body when I climb in. This summer has been like magic and I don't want it to be over. I start the car, roll down the window, and stick my head out. "Bye guys." I wave briefly before shifting the car into gear and letting my foot off the brake.
As I pull out of the driveway I look into the rearview mirror. There, standing where I left them, are my dad and Brittany waving as I drive away from them. I see my dad say something to Brittany. She nods and wipes under her right eye with her index finger.
That's the last thing I see before I have to turn out of the driveway and onto the road to begin my journey back to Ohio. The only thing I am looking forward to right now is a good home cooked meal waiting for me when I get to my parents house.