Santana's parent's lake house was more of a beach house in Lakeside Ohio. It was a small house with stairs that come off the back porch right onto the sandy shore of Lake Eerie.
When Santana pulled to a stop in the carport, she turned off the engine and turned to Brittany. The blonde had fallen asleep about an hour into the drive. Santana noticed when Brittany's hand had gone limp in her own.
Santana quietly got out of the car and went inside. She unloaded their bags and put them in the master bedroom. She checked all the rooms before checking that there was food in the pantry.
When she turned around, Brittany was leaning on the doorframe staring thoughtfully at the ground.
"You okay?" Santana asked, making her way over.
Brittany nodded slowly and let out a tentative smile, meeting Santana's eyes.
"So," Santana took a deep breath. She started to panic. She'd never not had anything to say to the blonde. Maybe this hiccup had ruined them. Maybe it was irreparable. Maybe this was the first crumble in the collapse in their relationship.
Santana shook her head. Maybe she was just really overacting. She's had a long day and she was still slightly hungover. She'd be damned if a piece of paper was going to ruin them. She reached out and easily hooked her pinkie with Brittany's, "What do you want to do now?"
Brittany looked behind her at the wall of windows that overlooked the water.
Santana smiled. She knew exactly what Brittany was thinking and although she was exhausted she would go along with it because Brittany was smiling and that was all it took.
It wasn't ten minutes later that they were in bikinis and in the sand.
They played in the water and laid on towels in the sand as other vacationing people moved around them.
Brittany shook out her wet hair over Santana who was on her stomach soaking up the sun. The brunette shrieked and chased Brittany into the water where an epic water fight started.
During a playful splash, a gleaming caught Santana's eye. The ring on Brittany's left hand caught the sun and reflected off of the water, drawing Santana's immediate attention.
It caused her to pause enough to get a face full of water.
Santana sputtered and splashed back, Brittany's giggling filling her ears and lightening her spirit.
Finally Santana reigned herself out and they walked back to their towels. On the way Brittany saw a dog running along the water toward them, chasing a wayward Frisbee.
The Frisbee landed by Brittany's feet and sprayed her ankles with sand. The dog smelled around her legs as she pet it's head and picked up the Frisbee. She knelt next to it and the dog licked her shoulder and she laughed, the pure sort of laughter she had.
A shirtless, tan little boy with dirty blonde hair about Brittany's sister's age ran over and smiled at her, "He likes you."
"I like him too," Brittany grinned and attempted to hand the Frisbee back.
"You can play with him for a while if you want," the little boy scratched his shaggy hair and looked behind him at a small group of boys, "I was gonna go swim with my friends."
Brittany nodded, "Okay. What's his name?"
"Asta," he shrugged, "My mom and dad named him. They told me it was from a book or something, but I don't know... I'll be back real soon."
Brittany nodded again, still smiling and petting the dog, "Have fun."
The little boy tore off down the beach and as soon as he reached the group of boys they all ran into the water.
Santana laid back on a towel and watched as Brittany ran around the beach playing with the dog. She couldn't help, but smile. She always thought that Brittany needed a dog, but her little sister was allergic so Brittany was happy just to pet ones passing in the street or at the pet store.
Santana shook her head, watching Brittany run around with the dog. That girl had boundless energy, plus she got to sleep in the car. Santana was getting tired just looking at her. She slid sunglasses over her eyes and rolled onto her stomach so she could get an even tan.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she felt a long wet tongue lick her back and she was sure it wasn't Brittany's. Santana rolled onto her back and sat up, finding a dog staring her in the face.
"Holy shit," Santana sputtered when the dog licked her face. She pushed it away and wiped it off, "Gross."
"Aww San he likes you," Brittany laid down on her towel. The dog laid down between them and looked at Santana, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
"He should like me a little less," Santana mumbled and laid back down. She felt hot, stinky breath on her face and turned her head over. The hot, stinky breath tickled the back of her neck so she just sat up.
"C'mon San," Brittany grinned and ran her hand over the dog's back, "He just wants you to like him."
Santana turned to the dog and said, "I like you. Now go away."
Brittany laughed and stood up, "C'mon Asta, she's grouchy. She needs to go inside and take a nap."
Santana thought about it and nodded, "Yeah I probably should. We didn't get much sleep last night."
Without thinking about it, Brittany gave Santana a quick peck on the lips and took the dog away, "Sleep good."
Santana watched them walk down the beach and went inside. She figured Brittany would be okay outside by herself because they'd been coming here since they were ten. She didn't bother changing before she fell into the bed.
This was kinda weird for her. This was usually her parents' bedroom. Now it was hers and Brittany's. It still seemed surreal. Sure they'd done weird things while they were drunk before, but this one took the cake.
Again Santana's descent into sleep was interrupted. The back door closing made her look up and she found Brittany standing in the doorway, looking concerned. The blonde walked over to the bed and laid down next to Santana. She wrapped her arms around the brunette's middle and kissed her bare shoulder. "Sweet dreams San."
Santana smiled at Brittany and kissed her lightly on the lips, "You too."
Brittany let out a small smiled back and closed her eyes, holding Santana close to her body.
Santana stayed awake a few more minutes just watching Brittany sleep. She felt a telltale ache in her chest as she surveyed the blonde's peaceful face. She had done enough thinking for a while and decided to just go to sleep, putting her thoughts on the backburner for later.
She closed her eyes, falling asleep in the serenity of Brittany's sleeping embrace.
When Santana woke up, Brittany was gone. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, surveying the room to see if she was in there. She didn't find Brittany so she slid out of bed and walked out of the bedroom. She found Brittany standing in front of the coffee machine, watching the dark liquid drip down into the pot.
"What are you doing?" Santana asked with a smile.
Brittany grinned back at her, "Well we're like both adults now so I thought that we should probably start drinking coffee."
Santana thought about it. She doubted that Brittany would like coffee. Santana only drank it after a really late night when she had school or something the next day. However, she shrugged, "Okay."
When it was done, Brittany poured them both some coffee. After a health amount of sugar and milk, Santana easily drank hers and Brittany was making faces as she tried.
"You don't have to drink coffee," Santana giggled, "Not all adults drink coffee."
Brittany shrugged and tossed the rest of hers into the sink, "I just thought we'd try it. It's gross though."
Santana took a sip of hers, "Are you hungry? We can eat here or go to that little place down the beach."
"I don't care," the blonde hopped up on the counter and sat down.
Santana moved to lean between Brittany's legs and set her coffee next to her. "I think I feel like staying in, but I don't want to cook. Do you want to get a pizza?" She rested her hands on Brittany's thighs and rolled onto the balls of her feet to steal a kiss.
Brittany wrinkled her nose as Santana rolled back onto her heels, "You taste like coffee."
Santana chuckled and dumped the rest of her coffee out. If Brittany didn't like to kiss her after she drank it then she wouldn't drink it.
She looked back at Brittany and saw that she was staring at the ring on her left hand. When the dancer saw that Santana was looking at her, she quickly averted her eyes.
Santana swallowed hard. She wanted badly to ask Brittany what she was thinking, but Brittany was now staring at the cabinets behind Santana, apparently not wanting to talk about it. Santana definitely wasn't going to bring it up, so she put on a smile and asked, "Pizza?"
"Okay," Brittany nodded. When she saw Santana's smile she smiled back and kissed her, "Extra cheese?"
"Of course," Santana grinned and played with the hem of Brittany's shirt.
Brittany slid off of the counter and wrapped her arms around Santana's neck. Santana reciprocated the embrace and closed her eyes. She found out a long time ago if she held her breath for a few seconds, she could hear Brittany's heart beating and it always calmed her nerves. Luckily it worked its magic this time and she let the steady beat wash over her.
The blonde pulled away too soon for Santana's liking. "I'm going to go put some clothes on."
Santana smirked and pulled at the strap of Brittany's top, "Or you could take some off."
Brittany giggled, but still made her way back to the bedroom.
"Or not," Santana mumbled to herself and picked up her phone to order the pizza.