Note: Sentences in italics are Spanish.

He woke up on Saturday morning feeling on top of the world. He had a date with Brittany today, the third one apparently, and he wanted it to be really special and perfect.

They had texted for an hour last night, flirting and making arrangements to meet up, and Santiago quickly checked his phone again to see if Brittany had replied to his last text. He hoped it wasn't a bit much;

"Ok B, goodnight. Lookin 4ward 2 seeing u 2moro :) xx"

She hadn't.

The smiley face and the kiss might have been a bit overboard. He was so new to this wooing business that he felt like he had been thrown right in the deep end. Oh well, he'd just have to deal.

After throwing on a t-shirt and some sweatpants he went downstairs to be greeted with the smell of pancakes made by is mom. His brother and sister were running around the kitchen screaming at each other and his mom looked like she was about to snap any minute.

"Carlos, Lolita come here please and give your brother a hug," Santiago called over the racket they were making. Lolita's squeal of excitement nearly damaged his ear canals but also put a smile on his face.

"SANTIAGO, we're playing monsters, do you want to play?"Lolita informed him as she reached up for his morning ritual hug.

"Come play, come play!" Carlos started chanting and banging a cup on the floor. His poor Mami must be slowly going insane. He picked Carlos up and kissed his cheek, carrying him over toward to dining table.

"No time for games right now, Mami cooked you a special breakfast and we're going to eat it together during quiet time, ok? The kids immediately deflated and took their places at the table, making sure to give Santiago the puppy dog eyes in the process. It didn't work. This time.

"Thank you Tiago, I don't know what I would do without you mijo."

"Don't sweat it Mami, these pancakes look amazing," he kindly dismissed her thanks. He didn't think she should have to thank him, after all, she was raising them alone because his asshole father couldn't keep his dick in his pants or his anger under control.

After a nice chat over breakfast, he cleared the table and cleaned the dishes, offering to bring the kids to the park to give his mom some much needed alone time.

"My darling boy, you are my shining light," She kissed his cheeks and hugged him tight. He wasn't sure whether she was referring to his offer to take the kids, the time he was finally strong enough to punch his father in the jaw for raising his fists to her or when he vowed to pick up the shattered fragments of family his father so quickly left behind.

Either way, it didn't matter because she deserved to be happy and he was determined to help her find that happiness again.

It was a little after 1pm when they made it to the local park and after buying them and ice cream cone each, his brother and sister ran straight over to the playground. He sat on the bench facing them and took the opportunity to make an important phone call.

"Kurt? Hey it's Santiago," he answered after he was met with a bright hello.

"Santiago! To what do I owe this pleasure? The last time you rang me on a weekend was when your wonderful mother left you in charge of painting the living room and you needed advice on colors. I must say, that hideous blue you were going to use still makes me shiver." Kurt was his bro, but sometimes he spent way too much time talking about fashion and color codes. It did come in handy from time to time though.

"That was last weekend dude and my mom loves the pink by the way. I don't. Just for the record," he almost shuddered at the memory of his favorite track pants being covered with a ridiculous pink from the paint splashes.

"It's Salmon Tint, Santiago and you can't deny that it looks amazing."

"Yeah, yeah, anyway, how's Blaine? Still got those huge eyebrows covering 78% of his forehead?" Santiago chided.

"Some day I'll actually take offense to your wicked words but today I'll ignore them in favor of telling you that he's great thanks for asking," Kurt was used to Santiago making fun of his boyfriend. Truth was that Santiago really liked Blaine. Actually, it was more that he liked how Blaine made Kurt feel and that he was happy for once. All those years of being bullied, despite Santiago using his fists to try and protect him, meant that Kurt had become depressed and introverted. He was definitely a changed man now though.

"Good to hear. So, I've rang you for some advice as I'm sure you've guessed." Santiago was putting his pride on the line and he hoped that Kurt wouldn't take the opportunity to make fun of him. That would be wishful thinking.

"Ah yes, you come to me once more for advice. Let me guess, your mom is looking to redecorate the kitchen and you want yours truly to help out," he said with a hint of smugness.

"Uh…no actually. I…. well I asked Brittany out yesterday after we kissed and she said yes and apparently we've already been dating, sort of, even though I didn't know and now I'm really fuckin' nervous man because I want to plan a great date for us and show her around Lima but what if she hates it and thinks I'm a tool or something?"

"SAN, calm down." Kurt all but shouted down the line.

"Ok, sorry," he took a deep breath and almost face palmed at his ridiculous outburst.

"First of all, wow. I have never seen Santiago Lopez get this worked up over a girl! I'm so shocked that I had to get Blaine to pick my perfectly moisturized jaw up off the floor on which it fell at your adorable rambling. Secondly, can I just state for the record that Brittany is a wonderfully strange person who recently called me a unicorn and handed me a mini pride flag when offering to help with my campaign for student president? And finally, relax. She likes you. A lot. And you like her. More than I've ever seen you like anyone, ever and frankly I think you could take her anywhere and she would be happy with it. Ok?" Kurt, always his voice of reason.

"Why is everyone assuming that Brittany likes me?" Santiago moaned.

"Didn't you just say you kissed? And the girl talks about you like you're the best thing since the invention of spray-on glitter and frankly her whole face glows when you enter a room. Oh and apparently you little stud muffin, brought her to the cinema and acted like a perfect gentleman. So unlike you!" Kurt laughed.

"Hey, I can be a gentleman. It's called 'having a way with the ladies'," he had to save face. He was hardly going to let Kurt know that he wanted Brittany to feel special and he was happy just being in her company without getting in her pants. Hello, he has a reputation!

"Ok San. But you do know that I'm not Finn or Puck? You can tell me things and I won't judge you." Kurt said seriously.

"I know man. Thanks. But listen; have you any ideas about what we can do for our date? God only knows how Blaine let you get into his man thong but I'm guessing you had to do something special."

"You are awful! But just for your information, Blaine and I bonded as friends before we took it further and I think that you and Brittany have done that too. I have a few ideas though; I'll ring you later to go over the finer details. Expect my call." And with that Kurt air kissed him over the phone and hung up.

Just as he was about to put his phone back in his pocket he got a text. His chest fluttered with excitement but soon deflated when he saw it was from Puck;

"Heard ur goin out with Brittany 2nite. You dawg. Bring rubbers dude, u mite get to pop her mckinley cherry. Bet she's gr8 in d sack."-Puck

He replied with a simple 'Fuck you' and left it at that.

Brittany had texted him a little while later to let him know that she was looking forward to seeing him too and that she had to bring Lord Tubbington for a walk because he's on Atkins now and everyone knows that a good diet needs to be balanced with exercise. He wasn't sure that the cat was capable of walking but he wasn't going to tell Brittany that. Instead he told her that he agreed with her and hoped that Lord Tubbington wasn't going to refuse her new regime.

He couldn't believe that he was talking about a cat like it was a person. Sometimes he had to flex his muscles in the mirror to remind himself that he was, in fact, a guy. But if he was totally honest, he didn't really care because Brittany made him feel comfortable, happy and, if he was really honest, safe and that meant more to him than anything else.

He had started helping Brittany with her Spanish soon after she started at McKinley and every Wednesday afternoon he went over to hers for an hour to tutor her. An hour would soon turn into three as they talked and laughed and watched awful television together. Brittany's little sister had developed an obvious crush on him and her mom started insisting he stay for dinner. Her dad eventually invited him over to watch the play offs (which were next week) and all in all, he felt like they had really accepted him into their home. It felt great.

Usually, the parents of any girl he was ever with associated him with a drunken, violent dad and were always weary of his presence around their families. He never bothered to stay around long though because he would soon lose interest in them and delete their number from his phone. He hadn't gone all the way with any of the girls because most of the cheerleading squad made their rounds with the football team and the thoughts of Puck being near them really turned his stomach. Brittany was different though because she didn't throw herself at him or try to be sexy, she was just Brittany. And that was the most attractive thing of all.

Nothing had happened between them during the study sessions though and Santiago had been convinced that Brittany just wasn't interested in him like that, but after last night his opinion was changing and he definitely had a chance with her now. If he didn't fuck it up. He was still frightened of letting himself feel for her and one day a few weeks ago, in a moment of rare vulnerability, he confessed to his mom that he was terrified of being like his father. Tears were shed and his mom told him that never in her life had she thought he would be like his papi because even though he sometimes lashed out with his body, it was to defend those he loved and never to hurt them.

It was with that in mind that Santiago felt more comfortable opening up to Brittany.

Kurt had rang him back as promised with a list of very, very detailed plans that he wrote down, as per Kurt's request, word for word. After some arguing, snide remarks and general disagreements, they both finally agreed on an idea.

He dressed in jeans, black chucks a grey long sleeved top and his trusty black leather jacket that still faintly smelled like Brittany's citrus perfume. He told her to dress comfortably when she asked what she should wear.

He walked up to Brittany's front door with a dry throat and butterflies in his stomach. Her parents would now know that his intentions with Brittany weren't all that friendly, he worried that would make them change their opinion of him. He rang the doorbell and took a deep breath.

"Hello Santiago, please come in," Mrs. Pierce answered with a wide smile that was uncannily like Brittany's.

"Thanks Mrs. Pierce," he croaked out and walked into the hallway.

"I've told you to call me Susan! Must you make me feel so old?" she laughed good-naturedly.

"Sorry Susan," Santiago smiled at her, already a hundred times more at ease.

"I'll forgive you if you promise to look after my daughter tonight," she said, half jokingly but definitely with serious intent.

"I will. I promise," he had never actually brought a girl out on a proper date that didn't involve going up to their room to fool around under the pretense of 'doing homework'. He really liked making an effort though, it made it more exciting.

"I trust you will," she said before standing at the bottom of the stairs and telling Brittany that her handsome date has arrived.

"I'll be down now Mom," Brittany called from, what he guessed was her room. Despite being in the house numberous times, he had never been in her room. He wondered what it was like. He hoped he'd get to see it someday.

Just as Susan looked like she was gonna ask him something, Brittany gracefully made her way down the stairs, meeting Santiago's eyes bashfully.

Wow. Santiago felt like the luckiest guy alive.

He felt excitement, anticipation and a hint of arousal stir in his lower abdomen.

She really did look beautiful.

His excitement trebled at the thoughts of their date.