Author's note: Sorry for the delay in posting this! I was sick and college stuff so I've had half of it written for ages but I wanted to write the rest rather than give you all a half chapter :) Anyway apologies for that :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
Chapter 3
It's five minutes into the short journey home to Brittany's house and a silence has settled between them. Brittany glances at Santana who is gazing out the window and wonders whether or not she should fill the silence. Her thoughts went back to the ordeal that Santana had been through that day and was astounded at how well she was taking it all. Up until now Brittany felt that Santana was taking everything in her stride. While fires may no longer have an affect on Brittany, she knows what they can do to regular people. Brittany frowns as she looks back to the road and absentmindedly turns on the radio. If she couldn't fill the silence with words then she would have to settle for some music.
Brittany's Florence and the Machine album comes on. Santana looks at the radio and smiles gently and her tense stature seems to fade. Santana realises that she may have been tenser than she thought.
"This is a great album," she murmurs before humming along to the tune.
Brittany smiles, "It's one of my favourites."
They hold eye contact for a moment before Brittany has to turn her attention back to the road. Santana examines Brittany's profile, she can tell that she is tired, her face has a slightly worn aspect to it but she glows with an eternal happiness that Santana has never seen in anyone before which gives her features a youth that most women would die for.
Brittany grins as Santana seems to get lost in the music as her humming gets gradually louder until she is fully singing along under her breath.
"So you're a singer," Brittany states as she taps her fingers on the steering wheel.
Santana simply nods, not feeling the need to offer more information; she figures that anything she says Brittany will already know anyway. Most people she meets tend to know every little detail of her life.
"What do you sing? Anything I might know? I'd never heard of you before I saw the news this evening." Brittany chuckles nervously, afraid that Santana might be hurt that she hasn't listened to her music before.
Santana raises her eyebrows and smiles. It was refreshing when people had no preconceptions of her.
"It's mostly chart stuff but if you haven't heard it yet then don't bother, it isn't that great but it sells." Santana grimaces sadly and looks down at her lap.
"Are you not happy that you have fans that adore your music and that you're living your dream?" Brittany asks quizzically.
"I love my fans but I often wonder if they would support me if I made the type of music that I wanted to and trust me, the dream? It's not all it's cracked up to be." Santana's tone is steely and Brittany can tell that she has touched a nerve so she decides to drop the topic.
"At least you get to take a break from it all for a while," Brittany says tentatively, not sure if that was what Santana wanted to hear.
Santana sighs and drops her shoulders. Brittany is worried that she has upset her more until Santana nods and smiles at her.
"A break that I could not be more grateful for, despite the circumstances that brought it about." There is a twinkle in Santana's eyes that suggests that she is more than pleased with the situation that she has landed in. Brittany is glad to see it there because she feels exactly the same way.
….
Brittany pulls in and parks in the garage on the ground floor of her apartment block. Santana steps out of the car and realises that she is in some sort of warehouse.
"Seriously? Are you going to murder me or something because this looks like the perfect scene for a horror movie." Santana looks around bewildered, half expecting Brittany to jump out at her from the shadows. She knows that Brittany wouldn't really do that but this place was creepy enough to make her think that it could happen. Santana hears a chuckle from the other side of the car.
"I'm not kidnapping you silly. This is just where I park my car, we take the lift up to my apartment." Brittany beckons for Santana to follow her to the lift in the corner of the warehouse.
"Are you sure? Because I'm half expecting you to turn around and bind me up any moment now." Santana jokes, holding her wrists together for Brittany to tie up.
"As kinky as that sounds," Brittany winks playfully, "I don't think that will be necessary."
Santana begins to blush at Brittany's suggestive tone and thanks the lord that blushing wasn't obvious on her tanned skin. Santana just laughs along and tries to stop wondering why she was blushing in the first place.
Brittany presses the button on the elevator and the grate slides open. They step inside and Brittany closes the grate behind them.
"This is one massive elevator." Santana observes with amusement.
"Technically it's a storage elevator. This whole building used to be for storage until I converted it but I liked the elevator so I left it the way it was."
The elevator stops on the first floor and leads them out into a dimly lit hallway. Brittany walks over to the nearest door and takes her keys out of her pocket.
Brittany doesn't feel half as weird as she probably should letting a near stranger into her home. Oddly enough she feels slightly nervous, she wants Santana to like the home that she is staying in and to feel comfortable here.
Brittany gives Santana a tight lipped smile and lets the door swing open. Standing back a bit she gestures with her right hand for Santana to go into the apartment. Santana ducks her head slightly and gently brushes by Brittany.
The first thing Santana notices is that Brittany's apartment is nothing like what hers was. It's a million times better. Once you walk in the door of the apartment you are in the living room but Santana has no time to notice the eclectic mix of furniture or the unicorn painting hanging above the mantelpiece or what appeared to be a two-tonne cat sitting in a bean bag in the corner of the room because her eyes were instantly drawn to the windows facing her on the far side of the room.
With wide eyes Santana walked over to the windows that started at waist height and continued all the way up to the top of the high ceiling. The entire side of Brittany's apartment were windows. Santana stood next to the wide window ledge and instead of looking out at the view, Santana inspected the numerous photos of family and friends that Brittany had in all their different and unique frames.
Brittany watches as Santana takes in her new surroundings and tries to figure out why she is so nervous. As Santana crosses the room to the windows, the glow from the streetlights outside that is streaming in creates a halo around her petite frame and Brittany's breath is taken away and she was pretty damn sure that she didn't want it back. Brittany gazes at this wonderful person that she hardly knows standing in her living room and finally feels like her home is now complete. Brittany gasps slightly, in awe of Santana's effortless beauty.
Santana's head snaps around at the sound and she quickly places the photo she had been admiring back on the ledge.
"Did you say something?" Santana asks curiously.
"It was just a cough," Brittany says as she shakes her head vigorously in denial, "how do you like it?"
Santana takes a deep breath, almost trying to absorb the very essence of the apartment.
"I really love it Brittany," she sighs contentedly. Brittany lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding when she sees the genuine truth practically ebbing from Santana.
"Well you can get the full tour tomorrow but I take it you want to get straight to bed?"
"Yes please, I'm exhausted." Santana looks around, waiting for Brittany to lead the way.
"Come on, let's go get you some pyjamas." Brittany opens a door to the right of the sitting room and leads them down a corridor. She opens a door to her left and walks into what Santana assumes is her bedroom. Santana stands patiently in the doorway waiting for Brittany to get back to her.
"No need to stand over there, I need to measure these against you to see if they will fit, although I doubt anything will be perfect," Brittany calls over to Santana from her dresser.
Santana admires the colourful bedspread and the rainbow painted onto one of the walls. When she is standing next to Brittany she begins to feel a little awkward as the bizarre nature of what was happening set in. Here she was in a near stranger's home, letting said near stranger pick out pyjamas for her. It was ridiculous, why didn't she just check herself into a hotel. Santana was letting her mind run away with these thoughts until Brittany looked up at her and reached out to take Santana's hands to place the pyjamas in her arms.
That one glance and that reassuring touch was all Santana needed to know that she had made the right decision and that her life had suddenly taken a turn for the better. Santana couldn't feel anxious or nervous or upset around Brittany. It was like she was able to instantly change her mood for the better.
"Your bedroom is just across the hall," Brittany says as she points out the door to the door opposite them, "go try those on and let me know how they fit."
Slightly dazed, Santana makes her way out of the room and goes into her own. Santana familiarises herself with what was to be her bedroom for the foreseeable future. It was pretty basic but spacious at the same time and would have everything that she needed.
Brittany takes Santana's absence as an opportunity to put on her own pyjamas. Putting on her matching duck pyjamas of shorts and a t-shirt, Brittany finally felt comfortable. Brittany hears the door across the hall open and turns to see Santana standing in her doorway fidgeting with the end of the t-shirt she had given her. Brittany's jaw dropped and she quickly had to try and compose herself. Brittany was glad for the dim lighting because she could feel a distinct heat rising up her neck and onto her face.
The pyjamas she had given Santana were definitely too big on her but they were the best that she could do. The real problem was that the only word that Brittany could think to use to describe Santana in her clothes was "hot."
"Em...they fit fine," Santana murmurs gently, "thanks again."
"That's great! Well umm…goodnight!" Brittany stutters hastily as she gives Santana an awkward wave and rushes to close her bedroom door so that she can try and remove the sight of Santana in her pyjamas from her mind. Brittany face palms herself at how lame and rude that was of her but she thought it would be even weirder to go back out and give her a proper goodnight.
That is until she hears a faint knock on her door and she is out the door so fast that she didn't even give Santana time to step back and she has bumped into her and nearly sent her sprawling to the floor. Except that she hasn't fallen to the floor because she had swiftly caught Santana by the waist and had pressed her against her to make sure that she was steady.
Brittany quickly realises how close they are and that she is literally clinging to Santana so she loosens her grip a bit and Santana steps back but only a little, she is very much still in Brittany's personal space. Santana looks up at Brittany through long, dark lashes. All she wants to do is let Brittany know once again just how grateful she is for everything that she has done.
Drawing a blank and not being able to come up with anything else she leans in and wraps Brittany up in a hug in an attempt to convey how much she appreciates what Brittany is doing for her.
While a little stunned, Brittany understands the sentiment and slowly wraps her own arms around Santana's back and tries not to make it obvious that she is inhaling the scent of Santana's hair as she leans down and rests her nose on the top of her head. No words need to be spoken in this moment and with one final squeeze Santana unravels herself from Brittany and has gone back into her room.
Brittany collapses onto her bed within seconds and falls asleep knowing that she is in trouble because she is falling for this stranger and falling hard.
…..
Santana wakes early from a fairly fitful night's sleep. The bed was comfortable and everything but she just couldn't keep memories of the fire out of her dreams or nightmares more like. Santana swings her legs out of the bed and pads over to the mirror. Seeing herself in Brittany's pyjamas makes her smile. How is it that someone else's pyjamas can be ten times more comfortable than your own? Her pyjamas were one of the things that she thought she would miss but apparently not, these even smell better. Santana mentally tells herself to ask Brittany what detergent she uses. These pyjamas are probably the only reason she got any sleep at all.
Santana wanders out into the hall and into the living room. The clock on the wall says that it's 8am. It hits her that Brittany may have gone to work already and that she could be alone in her apartment all day. Santana is strangely disappointed at the thought that she might not see the blonde until much later in the day. Not really seeing much else to do, Santana figures that she should get acquainted with the kitchen. Santana laughs and shakes her head as soon as she walks in because everything she discovers about the blonde is convincing her that she is the most sensational person on earth. Instead of having a regular old dining table, Brittany has a picnic table. Santana finds that this is a perfectly reasonable thing for Brittany to have in her kitchen; she is actually surprised that she didn't see it coming.
Santana glides her fingertips along the grooves in the table as she walks around to the other side of the kitchen. A coffee is definitely in order. Santana is dismayed to find that Brittany doesn't have any coffee. However, instead of being irritated like she normally would be, she thinks it makes sense. A person as bubbly as Brittany does not need anymore caffeine in their system. While Brittany may not have any coffee, Santana does find that she has an extensive range of different flavours of tea. Santana feels like she is learning so much about this wonderful person just from being in their home for less than a day. Brittany is clearly creative, experimental and likes to take risks if some of these flavours of tea are anything to go by…liquorice? Who even does that?
Santana settles for a chai tea. When she is getting the milk her stomach does a weird squirmy thing when she sees the vast number of duck magnets stuck on the fridge. She thinks it's…cute? There is really no other word that comes to mind. Santana potters around the kitchen cupping both hands around her mug of tea as she looks around. There is a door at the back of the kitchen that she had not noticed when she came in before. It was probably just a storage cupboard but Santana was feeling particularly nosy so she went to open it.
Santana is surprised when she finds a staircase and is unsure whether she should climb them or not. While she knows it is probably just an office or an attic that awaits her at the top of the stairs, curiosity gets the better of her and before she knows it she is slowly clambering up the stairs being careful not to spill her tea as she goes.
…
As Brittany slowly comes out of her slumber she remembers that she is no longer alone in her apartment and jolts out of bed. Brittany skips into the kitchen, assuming that if Santana is up, that is probably be where she will be. Finding the kitchen deserted she figures that Santana must still be asleep.
This was her opportunity to make a good first impression as a roommate. Brittany quickly gets to making French toast with bacon and maple syrup. She hopes that she can get it finished before Santana wakes up even though there is a good possibility that the smell of the food cooking would wake her anyway.
Brittany is pleased with how the breakfast came out. Normally she does not have the concentration required for cooking but she was determined to get this right for Santana and she didn't burn a single piece of food or make a giant mess in the kitchen. Brittany assembles two plates of food on a tray accompanied with two glasses of orange juice. She then makes her way out to Santana's room only pausing for a second outside her door to contemplate whether she should knock or just walk straight in. Brittany shrugs her shoulders and opts for just walking right in. Brittany skilfully opens the door with her elbow and backs herself into the room. Turning around, she finds that the room is empty, she even checks behind the door in case Santana had heard her coming and had decided that she wanted to play hide and seek but there was no one there.
When Brittany walks back into the kitchen she notices that the stairs' door is slightly ajar and guesses that Santana must be upstairs.
Brittany walks out onto the cool tiles on the opposite of the door at the top of the stairs, instantly spotting Santana at the far side of the garden looking at the view of the city. Brittany lets out a sigh of relief. The irrational part of her brain had momentarily been convinced that she had left her.
Santana turns around when she hears the tray being put down on the table. Brittany smiles up at her and is glad to see that Santana has helped herself to some tea; she would have been upset if Santana had been up for ages by herself and felt that she could not help herself to whatever she wanted.
As Santana begins to walk over, Brittany sits down on the lawn chair and puts Santana's plate of food across from her on the other side of the table.
Santana had wanted to immediately compliment Brittany on her roof garden, it was like she had her own private paradise on her roof, there had been so many things she wanted to say she thought she was going to have to make a list but everything just slipped out of her mind when she saw that Brittany had made her breakfast. Could this woman be any more perfect?
"You didn't have to do all this," Santana insists as she sits down with Brittany.
"I wanted to. We're roomies now, I want us to get along and I wanted you to have a good first breakfast here." Brittany answers bashfully.
"I don't think you need to worry about that," Santana says as she digs into her food.
"What do you mean?" Brittany asks curiously.
"Can't you feel it? We hardly know each other yet we seem to fit perfectly, we are going to be the best roommates." Santana curses herself internally for how dorky that sounded but apparently Brittany was happy to hear it because she did a bouncy little happy dance in her chair.
"I totally agree," Brittany says as she nods along reassuringly.
"These are delicious by the way," Santana manages to grumble out around mouthfuls.
Brittany giggles as Santana gets maple syrup on the corner of your mouth. Santana looks up and quirks an eyebrow as if to ask why she was laughing.
"You've got a little something…" Brittany points to the corner of her own mouth.
Santana ducks her head in embarrassment and pokes her tongue out to clear it up. Brittany had thought it was cute up to that point, her eyes focused in on the pink tongue that swiped along her bottom lip and Brittany couldn't help but follow it's progress until it had successfully licked up the maple syrup and Santana was humming contentedly.
"I'm sorry, look at me getting food all over myself, I'm such a mess. I'd say that was so attractive."
Brittany just laughs because she is afraid of what she might say if she does anything else.
"So what are you up to today?" Santana asks hesitantly, she doesn't want Brittany to feel like she has to hang around with her or that she can't do her own thing.
Brittany looks shy all of a sudden.
"Well I have a few days off actually," Brittany murmurs as she scratches the back of her head, "and I thought maybe we could just chill out today to, you know, let you recover and then tomorrow we could go shopping since you have no clothes or anything?"
Santana decided then and there that a nervous Brittany is the cutest thing she has ever seen. Brittany starts to look worried at her lack of response.
"That sounds perfect Brittany." Santana states warmly.
Brittany starts to bounce with excitement in her seat.
"Ok so after this we can go downstairs and pick movies and eat ice-cream and just stay in our pjs all day long."
Brittany's excitement is so infectious that Santana is nearly hopping in her own chair.
"Cool, as long as I can shower first. I feel horrible"
"Oh, yeah, yeah of course."
"Well Brittany," Santana says as she raises her glass of orange juice, "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."
Brittany raises her own glass and they clink them together and smile at each other.
"I couldn't agree more," Brittany says before they both take sips of the juice.
The word friendship doesn't sit right with either of them because this feels like the start of something much more than that for both of them but neither of them say a thing as they bask in the happy moment they are sharing together.
...
So that's chapter 3! Hope you enjoyed it! I'm gonna put my tumblr on this again, I tried it on the first chapter and I do believe I made a right mess of it :P so here it goes, you can follow me on tumblr at freakingcharming-limaheights .tumblr .com :)