So here is chapter 4! Sorry about the wait between chapters, I wasn't sure which way I wanted this to go but hopefully you will be happy with what I have written. Just want to say thank you to everyone that reviewed, followed and favourited the story, it really means a lot and really motivates me to write more :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

Chapter 4

The past few days had been the best that Brittany could remember. There had been no awkwardness between her and Santana and it became clear to Brittany that Santana had seamlessly woven herself into the fabric of her everyday life. Brittany had taken Tuesday and Wednesday off from work so that she could spend time with Santana as she settled into the apartment and recovered from the accident.

They had literally spent every waking moment together. After their breakfast together, Brittany had cleaned up while Santana showered. Then they drove to a nearby mall so that Santana could pick up some clothes and other necessities.

Brittany loved the side of Santana that she discovered that day. It seemed that she was able to let herself go. When Santana had bought what Brittany could only consider to be enough clothes to last someone a lifetime, Santana wanted to have some fun. Santana had dragged Brittany into one of the changing rooms with her. Brittany had immediately gotten flustered and tried to duck back outside but Santana pushed an evening dress that she had picked out into her hands and begged her to try insanely over priced dresses on with her. Brittany remembered nodding bashfully as she left to go try it on in the next cubicle. Brittany shook her head at herself as she put the dress on. It had been a very long time since she had messed around like this just for fun.

Brittany looked at herself in the mirror and smoothed the creases out of the gown. She had never worn a dress like this in her life; her lifestyle didn't call for it. Brittany couldn't help but imagine a life where she did have to wear dresses like this and walk down red carpets. It also didn't take long for her to imagine a certain Latina on her arm, getting their photos taken together and sending each other loving glances.

Brittany was brought out of her daydream when a knock on the door told her that Santana was ready. Brittany opened the door and slowly dragged her eyes up Santana's body. Santana had chosen a sleek yet flowing red number for herself that accentuated her perfectly. Brittany's mouth dried up as she tried to think of something to say to the goddess in front of her but she also started to feel embarrassed because here she was dressing up, pretending to be someone like Santana when Santana was the real deal. Brittany didn't normally feel self-conscious but she was really out of her comfort zone and Santana was making it difficult to think straight.

"You look breathtaking." Brittany had managed to sigh out.

Santana never heard her though; she was too busy drinking Brittany in. Santana had to make a conscious effort to pick up her jaw from where it lay on the floor. Santana had known that Brittany was pretty and that her body would be fit; she was a fire-fighter after all, but she hadn't been expecting Brittany to be the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. The slit along the right leg of the dress showed just how long her legs were and the electric blue colour made Brittany's eye pop in a way that Santana had never seen before.

Santana shook herself out of it and smiled at Brittany. She pulled Brittany out of the changing room by the hand and stood them in front of one of the mirrors. Santana snuck her hand around Brittany's waist and squeezed her hip comfortingly; she could tell that Brittany was a little uncomfortable. That only added to her cuteness level though. Brittany couldn't even look at herself in the mirror and kept looking down at her hands. The tingly feeling that had erupted on her hip where Santana's hand was placed was also another distraction that she chose to focus on.

"Look at us." Santana had urged her enthusiastically.

Santana looked into the mirror with pride. She and Brittany were complete opposites yet they fit perfectly. Santana couldn't remember anybody looking better beside her. It filled her up with warmth and as their eyes met in the mirror they both broke out into smiles and began to laugh throatily. They fell about the place laughing while still holding onto each other. They seemed to have both realised at the same time how crazy it was that they were standing arm in arm in evening gowns.

Once they had recovered Santana turned to Brittany, held onto her forearms and looked up into her eyes.

"Thank you for doing this with me, I can't remember the last time I laughed like this." Santana grinned happily as her breathing slowed down to a normal pace.

"I know what you mean. I haven't had anyone that I have felt comfortable with to just let go in a long time." Brittany said as she nodded along in agreement.

After their clothes shopping they moved on to pick up some groceries. Brittany wanted Santana to get whatever food she wanted for the apartment as she knew that it was highly likely that they wouldn't like all the same things.

Brittany pushed the trolley around the store as Santana zipped back and forth from the shelves picking up anything that caught her eye. As Brittany was learning that Santana had a sweet tooth, their shopping trip was cut short. Brittany had noticed two men at the end of the aisle, talking in hushed whispers and pointing at Santana as she was stretching up to get some cereal off the top shelf. Even though Santana was wearing a tracksuit and had aviators on, she was pretty sure that they had recognised who she was.

"San!" Brittany stage-whispered.

Santana turned to Brittany quickly, smiling to herself at the nickname that Brittany had used on her.

"Yeah?"

"Don't look now but I think we have company of the paparazzi kind." Brittany nodded to the end of the aisle.

Santana's smile faded and her face appeared worn.

"Here," Brittany reached into her pocket and took out the keys of the car, "they don't know that we've spotted them. Go back down the way we came and wait for me in the car. I'll finish this up and I'll meet up with you as soon as I can."

Santana took the keys from Brittany and nodded.

"I'll see you at the car."

Brittany had been disappointed that their shopping trip had been cut short but she was glad that she had also managed to get Santana out without the paparazzi taking any photos.

…..

By Thursday they had settled into a routine with each other. They got up, ate breakfast together and spent the day hanging out. It was light and easy. Brittany still felt that she didn't really know Santana yet but she was getting there. Every moment they spent together was easier and friendlier. Santana didn't feel like a visitor in her home anymore; this was Santana's home now too.

However, there had been a couple moments between them that Brittany couldn't really analyse for herself. There was this charged energy between them in certain moments. For instance, they had been in the kitchen making lunch together on Wednesday and Santana had opened the press to get the peanut butter out. When Brittany saw that it was too high for her to reach she had instinctively walked up behind Santana and reached up over her head to get it for her. It wasn't until Brittany had her hand on the jar that she realised that her whole body was pressed up against Santana's back. Santana had stopped trying to reach the jar and had turned her head slightly to watch Brittany as she did it for her.

As Brittany handed Santana the jar she noticed Santana looking at her with an expression that she had only seen a couple times before but they had never been this close together when she had seen it. Santana had always been looking at her from across the room or from behind a magazine she was reading. It was only ever there for a second and Brittany didn't know what it meant but it was her favourite of Santana's expressions. It was like she was letting all of her barriers down and allowing Brittany to see who she really was because in those moments she was also trying to figure out just who Brittany was too.

This time the look lasted longer and Santana seemed to have forgotten all about the peanut butter until Brittany couldn't hold Santana's intense gaze anymore and glanced at the jar in her hand, distracting Santana. Santana had sighed and breathed out a thank you as she turned back to make her sandwich. Brittany stood back and ran her hands through her hair, momentarily gripping at the roots in frustration. Brittany thought she was going to spontaneously combust if Santana kept looking at her like that.

By this point Brittany knew that there was no sense in denying to herself that she had a crush on Santana. The question was: what was she going to do about it? These moments they had made her feel like Santana felt like there was something between them as well but they were fleeting and she never received any verbal signs from Santana that maybe she was feeling the same way.

There was another moment that evening while they were watching a film before bed. From the moment that they had first sat down to watch TV together after their shopping trip on Tuesday after their shopping trip Brittany had learnt that Santana could not sit still unless she was as close to her as possible. Santana had noticed it herself and apologised saying that she just wasn't used to living with someone else and that apparently her body liked having somebody else to sit next to and lean against. Brittany had assured her that she didn't mind but she could tell that Santana still tried to keep her distance from then on.

Santana usually failed at this though and they had both resigned themselves to the fact that Santana was a cuddler. However, Wednesday night proved to be different. Santana had fallen asleep during the movie and had decided that Brittany was her best option for a pillow. At first her head was simply resting on Brittany's shoulder but it didn't take long for her to snuggle closer. By the end of the movie Santana's head was in the crook of Brittany's neck, her left arm was draped over Brittany's torso and her feet were tucked in under Brittany's legs. Brittany had been tense for the best part of an hour. The closer Santana got, the harder it became for Brittany to just watch the movie. Brittany didn't know whether to put her arm around her or not. What if she woke up and asked why Brittany's arms were around her or why she hadn't told her to wake up and get off her? Brittany didn't think that she could explain to Santana that having her in her arms was something she had been dreaming about and that while she was uncomfortable, the thought of moving her was unbearable.

The movie had been over for ten minutes and Brittany still hadn't gotten up the courage to wake Santana up. Brittany eventually realised how ridiculous she was being and gently shook Santana's shoulder to wake her up.

Santana's hand that had been on Brittany's stomach moved up to rub at her tired eyes. Santana looked around for a moment until she became aware of her proximity to Brittany.

"I'm sorry," Santana mumbled as she leaned back, creating distance between them.

"No it's ok," Brittany assured her, "I only woke you because the movie was over and I thought you would like to sleep in your own bed, this couch isn't that comfortable for sleeping on."

"You're really comfortable." Santana said to her as she got up and stretched.

Brittany got up and stretched too and began to make her way to her bedroom. As they stood in the hallway between their bedrooms Brittany turned to Santana. "I'm like a teddy bear, what can I do?"

Brittany grinned cheekily at Santana and shrugged her shoulders. Brittany was happy to see that Santana found it amusing.

"Don't do anything; you can just be my teddy bear." Santana said as she stepped towards Brittany and reached her arms out. Brittany spread her arms out to let Santana in for a hug. As she wrapped Santana up in her arms and swayed them back and forth as if to emphasise her teddy bear hugging skills Santana held onto her tighter and whispered into her ear, "Goodnight Britt." Santana seemed reluctant to let go as she stepped back. They had never had this experience going to bed before. They had always been able to part ways casually but that night they looked at each other as if they were both expecting and wanting something more but neither of them had any idea how to get what they wanted.

"Night Santana," Brittany whispered to Santana as she stepped back and turned to go into her room. They sent each other one last smile before closing the doors to their respective rooms.

….

After a few hours sleep Brittany woke with a fright. She could have sworn that she heard Santana calling her. Looking at her alarm clock she saw that it was nearly 2am. Brittany shook her head; she was becoming so fixated with Santana that she couldn't even get a full night sleep without thinking about her so much that she woke up.

Brittany was just about to fall back asleep when she heard it again. It was a distressed murmur coming from Santana's room. Brittany was up and out of her bed so quickly that when she went bursting into Santana's room she didn't really know what she expected.

Santana was still asleep but she appeared fitful. She kept jerking and shaking her head. Every once in a while she would make a sound of distress and she even said Brittany's name once or twice.

Brittany rounded the bed and knelt down in front of Santana. Gently placing her hand on her shoulder she shook Santana.

Santana woke with a gasp and her eyes darted wildly around the room until they settled on Brittany. It was only then did she let out a sigh of relief.

"Brittany," she exhaled as she squinted her eyes at Brittany as if she were trying to hold back tears.

Brittany's heart broke at the little crack that she heard in Santana's voice. She moved her hand from Santana's shoulder to her hair and stroked it reassuringly.

"Hey, it's ok, I'm right here," Brittany cooed softly. "What happened?"

"It was just a nightmare," Santana said as she tried to shake the memories of it out of her mind.

Brittany watched her fingers playing with Santana's hair.

"Was it about the fire? I heard you call out my name." Brittany didn't want to make Santana feel uncomfortable but she knew that Santana would feel better if she got it off her chest.

"Oh God, that was out loud?" Santana grumbled as she raised her palm to her face in embarrassment, "I thought that was just in my head." Brittany shook her head and grimaced. "It was about the fire," she admitted. Brittany nodded along.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Brittany asked tentatively.

It took Santana a moment to answer because she was getting distracted by Brittany playing with her hair.

"Eh…no, not right now, maybe tomorrow."

"Do you want to try and go back to sleep or would you like a cup of tea?" Santana smiled at Brittany's kindness.

"I think I'll try and go back to sleep," Santana said with a conflicted look in her eyes.

Brittany could tell that there was something on Santana's mind but she didn't want to push her with anymore questions so she got up and made her way back over to the door. Just as she was about to say goodnight Santana called her back. Brittany turned around and saw that Santana was sitting up against the head board. Her arms were wrapped around her knees which she had brought up to her chest.

"Yeah?" Brittany asked.

"Would you um…," Santana fidgeted with the covers, "would you mind maybe staying in here with me tonight?" Santana raised her head and looked at Brittany with the most adorable puppy dog expression she had ever seen. It was filled with uncertainty and fear that Brittany would reject her but at that moment Santana really couldn't have cared less, she just really needed Brittany beside her in that moment.

Brittany gave Santana a sad smile and nodded her head.

"Of course I'll stay with you. I'd do anything to make you feel better, you must feel awful."

Santana didn't say anything in response; she just turned over and pulled back the duvet on the other side of the bed so that Brittany could hop in. Brittany's heart began to flutter once she realised what she had just agreed to but there was no going back.

Brittany moved to the side of the bed and climbed in, getting comfy under the duvet. When Brittany settled she looked up to see if Santana was asleep yet and saw that she was staring right at her. Brittany's cheeks began to burn under Santana's intense gaze. She was giving her that look again. The one that made Brittany feel like there was definitely something more than friendship going on between them. She was lying in bed with her for Christ's sake!

Santana reached her hand across and interlinked their fingers. Brittany looked down at their hands. It just felt so intimate and Santana's hands were so soft she couldn't form coherent thoughts and she was pretty sure that just lying there and staring at their hands was going to weird Santana out.

"Thank you for doing this for me Brittany."

Brittany looked back up at Santana and didn't see anything off with her so why should she feel off about it?

"Anytime," was the only thing that Brittany could think to say.

Santana chuckled lightly. Brittany didn't know why Santana was laughing and before she could figure it out she noticed Santana slowly leaning in closer to her. Brittany's breath caught in her throat when she felt Santana's breath on her face. Santana pressed her plump lips to Brittany's cheek and gave her a soft yet lingering kiss. Brittany's eyes closed on contact as she relished the feeling of Santana's lips on her skin even if it was only for a moment. When Santana pulled back she looked at Brittany's face and saw her eyes flutter open. Brittany smiled bashfully at Santana and she received a warm smile in return. With that Santana let go of Brittany's hand and turned over.

Simultaneously, both girls raised their hands to their faces. Santana brushed her fingers along her lips in wonderment. A simple kiss on the cheek had never raised so many questions in her mind before. Why had she felt the need to kiss Brittany, even if it was only on the cheek? Why did she linger like that? Did Brittany notice that she lingered? Would she have cared if she had lingered longer? Did she wish that she had lingered a little bit longer? Santana's thoughts began to race as she tried to sort through all these questions. Even though Santana hadn't been in a real relationship in a long time she still knew what it felt like to be in the early stages of falling for someone and the tingling on her lips and the butterflies in her tummy were definitely telltale signs. She just didn't know what to do with all this new information. She and Brittany had been getting along so well and even though she knew that she had felt an instant connection with the blonde she didn't realise that this was where it was headed. Where was it headed? The back of her mind seemed to be hinting at an answer that she wasn't ready to acknowledge quite yet. Although she knew with time that it would push itself to the forefront of her mind. Santana then slipped into a dreamless sleep allowing her mind to wonder about all these new thoughts.

Brittany had also fallen asleep but not before she had placed her hand to her cheek where Santana had kissed her and tried to burn the memory of the feeling into her mind.

…..

Brittany had felt bad having to leave Santana to go to work on Thursday morning. She knew that leaving Santana alone in the apartment was going to be hard but after the events of the night before she felt twice as bad leaving Santana alone in her own bed after she had asked Brittany to stay.

As a way of saying sorry Brittany had left Santana a note on her side of the bed. It simply read Brittany slept here. It also had a little arrow pointing to where she had been sleeping.

Brittany had been determined to get off work as early as she could that day. It had been a relatively slow day for the station which was a good thing but it also gave the others an opportunity to ask her about Santana. They had a field day once they found out that Santana was living with her. They made jokes and kept asking if she had accidently seen her naked and when she was going to 'tap that'.

With each question Brittany grew more and more irritated. Blaine had noticed that Brittany wasn't taking their jokes as well as she normally would have and told the others to lay off. Brittany had to remove herself from Puck's presence because she couldn't handle being around him anymore. Normally she found him funny but today he was relentless.

Brittany did have to concede however that she had earned quite the reputation for herself over the last couple months. Since breaking up with Sugar she had been more of a one night stand kind of girl and the guys at work had grown accustomed to asking her about her recent conquests. So it wasn't really their fault that they reacted to the news of Santana living with her the way that they did.

Of course as soon as Brittany's shift was due to be over they had a last minute call out. It had just been a small domestic fire but it was enough to put her behind schedule by two hours.

When Brittany finally gets out of work she picks up some Chinese take-out on the way home for her and Santana.

Brittany finds Santana in the roof garden again, this time on one of the loungers with a glass of wine and a book.

"Hey!" Brittany calls out happily.

Santana looks over in surprise.

"You're home! I didn't know if I should make dinner for you or if you would go out with work friends." Santana walks over to Brittany.

"I thought I was going to be home early but we got called out at the last minute so I got us some take-out on the way home." Brittany lifts the bag of food onto the table in confirmation.

"I can see that. It smells great." Santana begins to help putting out the food.

They sit down and begin to eat together. Santana pours Brittany a glass of wine and they talk about their days.

Santana stares at Brittany unawares as she eats. The setting sun shining through the trees dapple leaf shaped shadows across Brittany's face.

"It's really romantic up here." Santana states matter of factly.

Brittany nods slowly in agreement as she chews, not really sure where Santana is going with this.

"You and your girlfriend must have had some wonderful times up here." Brittany nearly chokes on the mouthful of rice she had been eating and has to take a large swig of wine to finally compose herself enough to respond to Santana's statement.

"What are you…how did you?" Brittany tries to ask.

"Relax, I was taking a look at your photos that you have up around the apartment and I found one of you with your arms around this girl. You seemed really happy with her. I take it your not still together otherwise you would have mentioned her."

Brittany likes that Santana is able to talk about this with her in such a cool manner, she was hoping that her sexuality wouldn't be an issue with the Latina.

"I was happy with her."

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Her name was Sugar and she cheated on me."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up." Santana berates herself for upsetting Brittany.

"No, it's ok. It was a while ago now, I'm over it. Actually if it weren't for her all of this wouldn't be here." Brittany gestures around at the garden. "I kinda used this as a project to distract myself."

"So you haven't had any romantic times up here then," Santana states with a smirk.

"This would be my first," Brittany winks.

Santana gasps playfully and they laugh along together. Brittany likes the cheeky flirting that they have going on but she doesn't know what it means.

"What about you? I take it you aren't seeing anyone or else you would be staying with them and not me." Brittany tries not to let on just how curious she is about this particular topic but she feels her grip on the stem of her wine glass tighten as she waits for Santana's reply.

"My label set me up with a few guys over the last couple of years. It was just for publicity really and none of them turned into anything serious. I guess I'm still waiting for the right person to come along."

"It sucks that your relationships were manufactured that way."

"Yeah but at least I'll know what the real deal feels like when I get it. So did you have any other relationships before Sugar?" Santana sips on her wine, realising how much she has had as a slight fuzziness creeps into her thoughts.

"I had a couple short-term boyfriends and girlfriends, nothing as committed as my relationship with Sugar." Santana quirks one of her eyebrows.

"So you're not exclusively into the ladies then?"

"Haha no I guess not. I'm kind of open with my feelings and let them decide, where they take me is where they take me." Brittany shrugs nonchalantly; she had never really put much thought into who she had dated, she had simply gone with what had felt right at the time.

"That's a beautiful way of looking at it."

"What about you? Have you only ever dated men?"

Santana hums in agreement and Brittany's heart sinks.

"I guess a relationship with a girl is just an opportunity that hasn't crossed my path in life yet." Brittany's heart rate picks back up and starts to hammer against her chest. There is hope.

"Yet, you say?" Brittany asks coyly.

"Well you never know…," Santana says suggestively as she looks up at Brittany through her dark lashes with a smouldering look, "I may just surprise us."

And with that Brittany's heart soars because she knows that she definitely has a chance with this woman.

...

So there you go, I hope you enjoyed it! Not sure when I'll get the chance to put up the next chapter because I have exams but it shouldn't be too long :) I would also just like to say that Naya was the cutest thing ever on her ustream today! Thanks for reading. -Aisling.