A/N: Hey everyone, back from vacation and finally have an update! There's not a ton of plot movement in this chapter, but I kind of needed everything here to move the story on to the next point. Next chapter will be the holidays themselves and then you'll see a little time jump.
Glad to hear everyone liked jealous Brittany last chapter. It was fun to play with Brittany as the slightly insecure one for a change! As always, thanks for all the reviews/alerts/favorites. Anyways, hope you enjoy this one and I'll definitely be back with more soon!
"So anyway, now that we're just about in my favorite season, I think we need to go over Christmas. I'll take care of decorating this place," Rachel and Finn exchanged glances, "but I think we should do a Kris Kringle!" Brittany said, as she hopped up and down. Santana frowned slightly in thought.
"Britt, there's only four of us." Santana said from the loveseat, where she sat across from Finn and Rachel, watching TV as Brittany bounced down next to her.
"I know! But we'll now we'll only buy gifts for the person we get and besides it's fun!"
"That's implying I'd be buying Rachel a gift."
"You really are such an endearing personality Santana." Rachel said with mock wonder. Santana shrugged.
"Just keeping it real."
"Regardless of Santana's inappropriateness, I do agree, that I don't think this will really save money or anything..."
"It's not about saving money," Brittany frowned. "I mean it's supposed to be something fun."
"There's really not much mystery in who gets who Brittany...and I'm kind of getting you gifts anyway." Santana shrugged, but Brittany sighed.
"Well duh, you can't pick the person you're dating." Finn looked confused.
"That doesn't leave much of an option..."
"But it's still fun!" Brittany insisted. "It's just like a cool game and it makes you have to buy a gift for someone you might not have thought of." Brittany shrugged, before forming a pout. "Pleeease." Santana just sighed.
"Well, I suppose I don't have a problem with it." Rachel smiled.
"Yeah, I guess I'm down." Finn said. Brittany looked to Santana who just rolled her eyes.
"Like you really have to ask if you're getting your way?"
"Yeay!" Brittany squealed, throwing her arms around her neck before hopping up and running into the other room. She returned a minute later with a hat and held it out to Rachel.
"Pick!"
"Right now?" Brittany looked at her like she was insane.
"Rachel, it's December 8th, you're leaving like right after your test on the the Friday before Christmas because you're missing your special Jewish holidays with your dads. I also have to work that Thursday and Friday so we have to exchange gifts on Wednesday. This gives us less than 2 weeks to buy gifts for each other." Brittany explained emphatically and Rachel looked at Santana curiously.
"Britts takes Christmas very seriously." She said simply. "You should know that." Rachel looked back to Finn and then Brittany.
"Brittany, we're all going to be in Lima, we can exchange gifts there."
"But this is an apartment event." Brittany insisted seriously. "We have to do it here. It takes away from the Christmas magic in our home if we do it in Lima. And you guys aren't back till New Year's Eve. Way too long." Rachel just sighed.
"Just pick a name Berry." Santana spat. "What's the difference?"
"Fine." Rachel said, reaching into the hat and picking out a name before folding it up. "Sorry, I got Finn, guess fate just wants me to get him something." she smiled as did he and Santana mocked gagging and she rolled her eyes, picking again.
Brittany repeated the actions with Finn and then Santana, before taking the last name for herself.
"So almost half the people here know who got who." Santana commented.
"Not the point." Brittany said. "Don't be a such a party pooper San." she said poking Santana playfully and kissing her cheek.
"Oh!" Rachel said, surprised to run almost smack into Santana in the hallway as she was on her way to get her coat.
"Watch where you're going midget." Santana grumbled.
"Sorry," Rachel smiled. "Where are you headed this evening?" Santana just rolled her eyes.
"If you must know, I'm on my way to do some Christmas shopping for Brittany." she said, shrugging on her coat and buttoning it. I have to take advantage of these nights when she's working." Rachel nodded.
"Where are you going?"
"I was going to go uptown to the Manhattan Mall I guess, shop around in there and hit Macy's." Rachel smiled widely.
"So was I! I'm shopping for Finn since he's also at work."
"Cool." Santana said unenthusiastically. "Well, I'll see you later." she moved to open the door and Rachel looked confused.
"Wait, Santana, are you kidding?" Santana stopped, turning on her heel to face Rachel with a sigh.
"No, I'm not. Listen Berry, I just want to go out and buy Brittany some cute things and something nice and be on my way." she said with exhaustion. "I like doing my Christmas shopping for her on my own."
"What don't you like doing on your own? When are you going to get over being such a loner?"
"Probably never." she sighed. "What's the big deal? I'm happy this way."
"The big deal is that we've known each other for over 4 years, have been living together for almost 4 months and we're headed to the same exact place at the same exact time and it didn't remotely cross your mind that maybe we'd go together!" Rachel said with exasperation. Santana took a heavy breath and pinched the bridge of her nose to calm herself before speaking.
"Fine, you want to go to the mall together?" she asked curtly, bringing her hand down and taking a step closer to look Rachel in the eyes. "But if you so much as breathe one word of what I get Brittany to her and ruin her Christmas, I will end you." she said seriously and Rachel swallowed.
"I would never."
"If she knows we did this together, she's going to try and ask you." Santana warned.
"I won't say a word. I'm like a vault." she said, raising her right hand. "Besides, I'm trusting you with Finn's gifts as well."
"Fine." Santana said, with resignation. "Let's get moving."
A half hour and crowded train ride filled with Rachel rattling off the details of her theater group to an uninterested Santana later they were shoving through the packed halls of the mall. They pushed their way through both tourists and locals, realizing instantly that shopping in the big city would be no picnic.
"This is ridiculous." Rachel said, tugging her coat as they stumbled through the door of a store.
"And you wonder why I hate people." Santana said simply, glancing through a few items. "What did you expect anyway? This city is totally overcrowded. My fatal mistake was not doing this a month ago." she frowned.
"I suppose you're right." she frowned. "You just hear all these romantic stories of the magic of Manhattan during the holidays. I guess this just doesn't fit the image."
"You really need to stop living in that fantasy world Berry, you'll be disappointed far less often. The way you think, you just set yourself up for failure." Rachel frowned.
"You're such a pessimist." Santana looked up at her.
"I'm a realist." she said bluntly and shrugged. "Besides, I'm sure the romance is there too. I just don't think you're going to find it Christmas shopping in an overcrowded mall...especially with me."
"True." Rachel said, putting down a sweater she was looking at. "Listen, I have to head off to find Finn a few things at a few stores I'm sure you have no interest in for Brittany. Want to meet back outside here in an hour?"
"Whatever." Santana said distractedly, still looking through the rack.
"Santana!" she snapped and Santana looked up. "Are you going to abandon me?" Santana rolled her eyes.
"You're so dramatic. No, I'm not going to 'abandon' you." she said quoting the word mockingly. "First of all, you could definitely get home from here and second of all, I'm not that big of a bitch..." she frowned, "at least not today."
"So an hour? We'll text if we're running very late?"
"Fine." Santana said, grabbing her buzzing phone and putting it to her ear. "Hey babe." she said to Brittany, waving Rachel off and heading to another store herself.
"Where are you?" Brittany asked. "It's so loud."
"The store."
"What are you getting?" Brittany asked, excitement evident.
"Well, you know, gotta get working on my secret santa gift." she shrugged.
"Oh." Brittany said, disappointed and Santana laughed.
"Maybe a couple things for my girlfriend too."
"Yeay!" Brittany said with a small squeal. "What are you getting me?"
"You'll see."
"You suck!" Brittany groaned.
"You love it."
"Whatever."
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have fun opening all your gifts on Christmas Eve like you always do."
"Ugh fine, I gotta go. I just had a minute and wanted to say hi."
"Ok, call me when you have a break again later. Love you."
"Love you too."
After an hour and a half Santana managed to actually kill off some gifts for her Brittany, the cats, and Rachel, who was her pick in the Kris Kringle much to her dismay. She met Rachel back where they began and saw the shorter brunette also seemed to have her share of bags.
"You good midget?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Yep, ready for Macy's." she smiled.
"Once I get Brittany something there, I'm pretty done. I still have to get my family a few things but I'm going to do it with Britt. I promised we'd do that together this weekend."
"That's fine. I just wanted to get Finn taken care of." she looked to Santana whose mood seemed pretty even and decided to test her luck. "Do you have an idea of what you want to get Brittany? For her big gift?" Santana shot her eyes to the side and Rachel nearly winced but she was surprised to see her smile proudly.
"Actually, I know exactly what I want to get Brittany." she smiled. "I've had an idea for a while now."
"Me too!" Rachel said. "For Finn I mean." Santana nodded.
"Let's go."
"Whoa..." Finn said, stepping slowly into the apartment, Santana trailing behind him, as they made their way in after band practice. "Holy crap."
They paused to take in their surroundings. In the living room stood a tree that was far too big for the apartment strung with lights and decorated with candy canes and various ornaments. There were lights strung around the room and some of the decorations that previously covered the tables and walls had been replaced by items that were much more holiday oriented.
Finn stepped forward to place his key's on the table only to jump as he triggered a dancing Santa Claus singing Jingle Bells that now sat on the mail stand. Santana laughed mockingly as he glared at her and dropped his keys down on the table, before taking his coat off.
"It's like Christmas exploded in our apartment."
"That tree is huge." Santana said, frowning slightly as she noticed it seemed to be moving. "What the..." Her eyes widened as she saw a tail sticking out halfway up. "Oh no."
"What?" Finn said, turning to look as well, his eyes widening as they watched the kittens chase each other up the tree, ornaments falling off as they climbed it.
"Brittany!" Santana yelled and Brittany appeared from the bedroom, Santa hat on her head and Christmas music blaring.
"Hi! Do you like it?" she asked expectantly. "I've totally been saving up and I went to this crazy Christmas warehouse store today and got all this stuff for like so cheap!"
"Britt, the cats are in the tree." she said, motioning towards the shaking tree and Brittany laughed.
"Yeah, I know, they're like obsessed with it." she shrugged. "It's kind of annoying cause you have to keep picking up the ornaments, but whatever."
"How the hell did you get that tree up here?" Finn asked.
"Oh I had some of my friends help me. Isn't it great?"
"It's huge." Santana said, still in shock as she watched the tree rock from side to side. Brittany frowned and bit her lip.
"Do you guys not like it?" she asked, disappointment evident.
"No!" Santana recovered quickly, plastering a smile to her face. "It's awesome." she said, elbowing Finn.
"Huh?" he looked at her and she glared at him. "Oh yeah, it really looks great in here...um, thanks for decorating for us Brittany." She smiled.
The sounds of the locks turning indicated Rachel's return from theater group and she soon stepped into the apartment. She looked up at them standing in the entry way and then around to take in the transformed room.
"Oh my god." she said, taken aback and looking at the tree with concern. "What..is...is the tree shaking?"
"Cats." Santana said simply and Rachel just nodded.
"Wow..."
"Do you like it?" Brittany asked hopefully. "Since they had to move their band practice to tonight, I figured I'd decorate. I found this awesome store that was like a Christmas dollar store!"
"I see." Rachel said, smiling tightly and dropping her keys only to jump in surprise when Santa started to sing. Santana burst out laughing.
"That thing is awesome." she said.
"Well?" Brittany asked.
"It's lovely Brittany." Rachel smiled. "You didn't have to go through all this...trouble." Brittany just waved her off.
"Please, this was like the coolest day ever." she looked at Santana. "Wait till you see our room! Come on!" Santana just smiled and sighed as Brittany bounded off. Finn and Rachel looked at her expectantly and she just scowled.
"What? I told you she takes this shit seriously."
"But-"
"But nothing. She lives for this stuff, so just enjoy the tacky decorations and deal with it." She said, heading off to the bedroom to follow Brittany who was calling her once again.
"I'm pretty sure I'm the only Jewish girl living in a Christmas extravaganza." She said with a sigh and Finn laughed. "Thank god I like the holidays, huh?"
"Yep." he said, leaning down to kiss her. "How was your group?"
"Terrific, things are going great. How was practice?"
"Awesome."
"Come on, let's go see if she hit our bedroom too." she smiled, grabbing his hand and leading them towards their room.
"Santana, I don't think Rachel is going to be into this idea at all." Brittany said, as she threw bags of chips into the cart.
"Please, I think this is the most awesome idea I've ever come up with. I get my holiday party, which Berry was against, but I found a way to make it all about her, which she'll love."
"She was pretty adamant about not throwing a party in the apartment." Brittany said skeptically. Santana sighed and rolled her eyes.
"It's not like this is going to be some huge ridiculous party that's going to wreck our house. I invited the guys from the band and a few of their friends, your friends from school and work, and those couple people I've been in study group with. You called the hobbit's theater friends right?" Brittany nodded.
"So, it won't be that bad."
"I know but I mean, Finn is taking her out on this romantic night on the town. He got her like, orchestra seats to a play and they're going to a big dinner." She bit her lip. "I just feel like we might really destroy their night."
"By having an event that revolves solely around Berry? She fantasizes about shit like this."
"You told most of our friends it's really more of a holiday party."
"Listen, Rachel does not need to know that." Santana instructed and Brittany paused. She walked up to her and sighed. "They may be a little pissed at first, but I can't see why we can't host a party and this is the perfect way to get Rachel into it. Trust me."
"Okay." Brittany said skeptically. "But if they throw us out of the apartment, it's on you." Santana laughed.
"I wish."
"Santana!" Brittany said with frustration and went on pushing the cart.
"I know, I know." Santana giggled, grabbing her hips and kissing her quickly. "Don't worry, I'm totally aware of the fact that this needs to work for a while, okay?" Brittany still remained unsure. "We'll get the party going while they're out and by the time they walk in, everyone will be there and they'll have no choice but to love it."
"Okay."
"Britt, come on, you totally wanted to have a Christmas party even more than I did."
"Well, yeah of course."
"So who cares what Berry thinks?" Santana asked confidently. "We pay half the rent." Brittany smiled mischievously.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." she shrugged. "Rachel will get over it. We'll just act like it's about her for like 10 minutes and she'll be over it." Santana smiled broadly.
"Exactly." she said. "Come on, let's get out of here and move on to the liquor store."
"How exactly are you going to explain these charges to your dad?" Santana rolled her eyes.
"Please, like he looks at my bill." She said, throwing a few more things into the cart. "I've figured out the perfect amount I can charge and not get asked any questions. Besides, I can get away with more when it's Christmas because of gifts." Brittany shook her head and laughed.
"You are such a spoiled brat."
"Yep." Santana said, grinning as she pecked her cheek. "And you love me for it." Brittany just sighed as she rolled her eyes and pushed on towards the register so they could close out the food portion of their trip.
"I texted Finn to see what their plans were and they're heading home. They'll be here in 10 minutes." Brittany shouted over the music.
"Okay, let's get everyone together I guess. This is the important part." she said and they proceeded to walk around their very full apartment. It might not have been a ton of people, but once you took the bedrooms out of the equation, the place was not huge and it was certainly crowded. Everyone had been there for a few hours and with the alcohol flowing, the comfort level was high and people were scattered around mingling at will.
Meanwhile, Finn and Rachel were in a cab on their way back downtown and content in their evening on the town.
"That was a lovely evening Finn." he smiled and squeezed his arm around her tightly, leaning down to kiss her softly.
"It's still going." he whispered, kissing her once more and she grinned as they pulled up to the apartment. As they made their way off the elevator they heard music blaring.
"Someone must be having a Christmas party." Rachel said with a sigh. They proceeded down the hall, noticing the noise only intensified as they reached their own apartment.
"Rach...I think...that's coming form our place." he said, with wide eyes, as he dug out his keys, and opened the locks quickly.
"Happy Birthday!" the crowd shouted as Rachel walked in the door ahead of Finn and was stunned. Her eyes scanned the group in front of her and she smiled politely while searching out her roommates.
"Thank you." she said, greeting her friends from her theater group as Santana and Brittany high fived at the back of the crowd.
"Guys, what the hell is this?" Finn asked, making his way over to them.
"A surprise party for Rachel. Isn't it kind of obvious?" Brittany asked. He looked around.
"Everyone's got Christmas stuff on. I thought Rachel told you she wasn't into having a holiday party?"
"Relax Big Foot, like Britt just said, this is for Rachel...and it just happens to fit as a good time to hang out with our friends before the holidays." she shrugged.
"I had a whole romantic night planned out." he said angrily.
"Right, and I did not interrupt it. You guys can go slobber all over each other later."
"Santana, that's not the point."
"I could tell you wanted to have a party too."
"This is Rachel's birthday, it's not about me or you."
"And I'm sure she'll have a blast. Seriously, pipe down and go grab a drink. You need to lose the attitude." He sighed and walked over to talk to his friends.
"I knew this would be trouble." Brittany bit her lip.
"It will all work out."
"Santana, Brittany!" Rachel said, grabbing their arms and pulling them into her bedroom. "I specifically said I did not want a party. We're first year renters. You can hear the music from down the hall! Finn had a very sweet evening planned out for me and I walk in here and it's like a frat house."
"I think that's a slight exaggeration." Santana said. "It's extremely civil out there."
"There's beer pong on our kitchen table and people are playing strip poker in the living room." she shook her head and Santana and Brittany exchanged curious glances. "I told you no Christmas party. I would have thought it was clear that the statement included those thinly disguised as birthday parties."
"I'm incredibly offended at that accusation." Santana said, lifting a hand to her chest. "This is absolutely your birthday party. I mean, I invited your friends, I made your new favorite – jello shots, I got someone to bring a karaoke machine and I even got you a red velvet cake from that vegan bakery." she sighed. "Brittany and I worked hard. I guess that's what I get for trying to be nice."
"Ariel and Sebastian are even wearing birthday hats." Brittany nodded. Rachel looked confused. "I was going to have Sebastian deliver your card to you."
"I-"
"It's okay Rachel, I understand, we'll just tell everyone you want them out." Her eyes widened.
"Wait! No! People who came to see me cannot think I'd turn them away." she said, looking around as she thought. "Fine, we'll have the party, but you control your friends and make sure the noise level is respectable."
"Of course." Brittany shrugged. Rachel turned to walk out the door and they exchanged victorious glances as they followed her back out.
Almost two hours later and Rachel was in the kitchen screaming as she threw her ping pong ball into a cup.
"Ha! Take that sucker!" she yelled and Santana laughed.
"I told you she'd get right into it. Sometimes people just don't know what they want till they get it." she said and Brittany shook her head.
"Your roommate is a trip." Brittany's friend Todd said, coming over and putting his arms around them. "I asked her like one question about her play and she gave me the most detailed history of Les Miserables that I've ever heard. She even offered to sing it." Santana shook her head.
"That's Berry. The first rule is never bring up the two Bs." He looked at her curiously. "Broadway and Barabara. Either one can have you stuck listening to her asinine ramblings for an hour easy." She said and he laughed as they watched Rachel sink another ball and jump in celebration."
"She's fabulous."
"Yeah, you say that now. Try living with her." Santana scoffed. Brittany smiled happily, clearly a little more than buzzed and slung her arms around Santana's neck.
"Santana loves her, she's just likes to pretend she hates her."
"I do not love her. That's disgusting." Brittany just kissed her temple and sighed.
"Hey, whatever happened to your stalker? Did you shake her?" he asked with curiosity and Brittany frowned.
"She's crazy and evil." Brittany pouted. "And like totally obsessed with my girl." Santana laughed, as Brittany tightened her grip on her.
"Yeah, she was just some chick I got assigned to do a project with and she kind of got crazy and attached. I gave her a talking to after the club but she still texts me and shit." she shrugged. "I doubt she'll pull a stunt like that again."
"We need to change your number." Brittany grumbled.
"No, we don't. I've had that number for years." Santana said, looking back at Todd. "I just don't even answer her."
"Yeah, well she seems pretty determined. But I'm sure she's harmless." he laughed. "Be back, gotta hit the bathroom."
"Yes!" Rachel said, jumping up and down. "We won!" she said, turning around and throwing her arms around Finn as she pulled him down for a celebratory kiss. "More jello!"
She made her way towards the refrigerator and stopped when she saw Brittany and Santana, flinging her arms around them.
"This is the best party – ever." she said. "You guys totally rock. Best roommates ever."
"Ugh, Berry, I know. Now get off and go get more jello." Santana said.
"This was all you're idea." she said pointing at Santana a little too closely. "You deserve the biggest hug." she said and Brittany giggled as Rachel tackled Santana in a bear hug.
"I swear to god Rachel, if you don't let me go you're Barbara box will be out the window before you can blink." Rachel pulled back and looked at her with shock.
"You wouldn't."
"Oh, you know I would." Santana said and Rachel narrowed her eyes, drunkenly trying to gauge her seriousness. She bit her lip and shrugged before turning to the rest of the people in the kitchen.
"Who wants to hear me sing 'I Feel Pretty'?" she yelled and Santana sighed.
"I told you the karaoke was a bad idea Britt. She's impossible to stop."
"It's okay baby, we still have an awesome party." she said, leaning against the counter and grabbing Santana's hips to pull her towards her. "Are you excited to go home for Christmas?" she asked with a smile.
"Are you crazy?" Santana said with a sigh, locking her arms around her neck. "I'd rather listen to Berry sing the entire works on Barbara Streisand on repeat than go home."
"It won't be that bad." she said, squeezing her waist affectionately. "At least we're doing it together."
"Well yeah, if you weren't going I wouldn't be either." she shrugged and Brittany smiled sadly.
"I'm sure it'll get better. Who knows, maybe your mom will warm up."
"More likely say something offensive to you that causes me to storm out, but I guess we'll see."
"Stop being dramatic. It's just a few days."
"I guess. But I'm excited to see your parents."
"Me too!" Brittany lit up. "And Lord Tubbington of course!" She frowned. "I told my mom to make sure she explained Ariel and Sebastian to him but I'm pretty sure he's going to be mad at me."
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Santana smiled. "Besides you'll be spending 5 days giving him your undivided attention."
"About that. Are you sure Jeff is capable of watching the cats?"
"His girlfriend has 2 cats Britt. She's totally going to take care of it."
"Having her own cats doesn't mean she's prepared to handle our cats. They have their own personalities." Santana smiled.
"I know, but I think she's more than capable. She seems to love them."
"Hmmm, I think I better go talk to her and ask her a few questions." she said, pulling Santana in for a slow, long kiss before pushing forward. "Don't worry, Lima's going to be awesome. I can feel it!" she said, happily bounding towards the living room. Santana looked after her in thought, releasing a heavy thought before sliding into Rachel's spot at the beer pong table.
The next week they ordered in on Wednesday night deciding to have dinner and a gift exchange as a group date night for the last week before Christmas. With all of the activities they picked up with the school year, they didn't have time to do it every week and this seemed fitting. After devouring their Chinese food they all settled into the living room to exchange gifts.
"Wow...Brittany..." Finn said in confusion. "Thanks...I think." he said eying the bow in his hands and the set of arrows accompanying it.
"I know how much you love the Indians." she said proudly. "So I figured you'd want to be just like one." she shrugged. Rachel's eyes widened in realization.
"Open you're next one!" she clapped excitedly as he pulled the paper off of a box of moccasins.
"Wow...yeah, Britt, that's awesome. Thanks."
"One more!" she handed him a box where he smiled relieved to find a normal gift as he pulled out a lightweight brown jacked.
"Awesome, thanks Britt."
"Well I know you love the Browns so." she said with a smile and he just smiled awkwardly.
"Yeah..." he said. "Well thanks!" he said hugging her.
"Your turn Rachel!" Brittany said, as Santana sighed and placed a few gifts in front of Rachel.
"For the record, I've never had to shop for a harder person in my entire life." she huffed.
"A stool?" Rachel asked with a frown as she looked up at Santana.
"What?" Santana asked, looking around the room. "You can't reach half the cabinets in the kitchen." Rachel looked unamused and Santana sighed. "Oh come on hobbit, do you know how hard I had to look to find a stool with Froto on it?" she asked.
Rachel sighed heavily, hesitantly moving to the next small box. She opened it to find a small jewelry box and looked at Santana with surprise, but found her smirking back at her. Cautiously she lifted the lid and pulled out a small plastic bag. She scrunched her brow.
"Santana, is this...is this pot?" she asked horrified and Santana nodded happily.
"That's right. Some good shit too." she nodded.
"I don't smoke pot Santana."
"That doesn't mean you shouldn't. You need to relax a little Berry." she shrugged. "I just figured I'd help you mellow out." Rachel looked at it with confusion, as she placed it back into the box. "You better use that Rachel. It was not cheap. That's high quality." she said, as Finn pulled it back out and inspected it with curiosity.
"I..."
"You can thank me later." she smiled. Rachel was speechless and thought it best to move on to her final gift which sat in an envelope on the table.
"Do I even want to know?" Rachel asked and Brittany giggled. "Great." She opened the envelope to reveal a certificate for a tattoo parlor around the corner. "A tattoo?" Rachel asked in shock.
"Listen Berry, I'm just trying to get you to fully embrace your youth. One day, you're going to be thanking me. I made you get that fake ID and look at you know." she shrugged. "You're a total boozehound."
"I am not!" Rachel said in horror. "That's incredibly offensive. While I may now agree that alcohol is not the complete evil I previously considered it to be, I am not and never will be a 'boozehound'."
"Oh that's right, you're just a lightweight." she said and Brittany laughed.
"You do get drunk pretty fast." she agreed. Rachel scowled.
"What makes you think I want a tattoo anyway? That's a major decision. Plus I could never get one in anywhere that would jeopardize my future career." Santana rolled her eyes.
"I'm not asking you to get a picture of Barbara tattooed on your forehead Rachel. There are plenty of spots you can put them. I'm sure you'll figure something out. But I get to watch."
"You just want to see me squirm in pain." She narrowed her eyes.
"That's extremely offensive." Santana said and Rachel rolled her eyes.
"I want to come too!"
"Well, as interesting and slightly inappropriate as your gifts might be, thank you." Rachel said genuinely. "Brittany, I think it's your turn." she smiled, leaning over to grab a few things and push them towards Brittany who bounced up and down with excitement. Brittany tore through her gifts with unparalleled enthusiasm.
"Awesome!" she said finding a pair of new dance shoes along with a certificate for a few classes at a local studio over the break. "Thanks so much!" she hopped up and hugged Rachel. She opened another and found several boxes of Dots bound together and instantly began popping them into her mouth.
"There's one more I couldn't really wrap." Rachel smiled and ran into the bedroom coming back out shortly with the gift in her hands.
"You bought them a cat condo!" Brittany said with excitement. "Yeay!" she ran over and grabbed Ariel, plopping her on the top level and watching with joy as Sebastian climbed his way up.
"That's not really a gift for Brittany."
"Santana!" Brittany chastised.
"Don't get technical Santana." Finn said.
"They're my cats, it's totally for me." Brittany said. "Stop being a grumpy pants." Santana sighed.
"I guess it's pretty cool."
"Thanks Rachel!"
"Here's yours Santana." Finn said, handing a few boxes over to Santana. She looked skeptical but soon opened them.
"Wow." she said, impressed as she studied a pretty expensive bottle of tequila. "Thanks Finn. I'll be sure to drink this slowly." she smiled, opening her others to find an Amy Winehouse box set and a box of cigars. "Awesome." Brittany frowned.
"Finn!" she said.
"Sorry." he said uncomfortably.
"Hey, no, don't be sorry." Santana said seriously and looked at Brittany. "It's Christmas Britts, I won't use them all at once." she promised and Brittany sighed.
"Fine, but this does not start back up a habit." Santana just smiled and nodded.
"That was kind of fun." Rachel admitted.
"Yeah, that was a good idea Britt. It was kind of a challenge, but it was good." Finn smiled.
"Told you." Brittany said, popping more candy into her mouth as she snuggled into Santana's side and looked up at her expectantly.
"Yeah whatever, it was kind of fun." she grumbled and Brittany laughed, kissing her quickly before cuddling back into her neck.
"I'm glad we're having a little apartment Christmas." Brittany said. "We're like our own family too."
"Yeah, we are." Finn smiled. "It's been a good time living with you guys so far. I'm glad we all did this." Santana groaned.
"Sappy, sappy, sappy. Can we just cut the sentimental crap and watch a movie?" Rachel sighed and Brittany laughed.
"Such a brat." Brittany said, shaking her head.