Thank you all so much for the wonderful response to the last chapter! It makes it so much easier to write when you know that there are people out there enjoying it. :)
Author's note: I do not own Glee.
Chapter 8
Even though Brittany's alarm to get up for work had gone off 15 minutes ago she couldn't seem to bring herself to get out of bed. Santana was sleeping peacefully next to her and Brittany didn't have the heart to wake her but she also didn't want to leave without at least acknowledging what had happened between them last night. Brittany had never felt so exposed but at the same time so completely safe in her entire life.
Brittany had chosen not to react to it last night but she had noticed that Santana had called her her girlfriend. Now in the stark light of a new day, Brittany was afraid to bring it up in case Santana had only said it in the heat of the moment. As Brittany trailed her eyes over the soft features of Santana's face she debated whether she should just pretend that Santana had never said it or not.
Brittany glanced at the clock again; she really had to get up now if she was going to be on time for work. Brittany leaned over and pressed a light kiss to Santana's forehead. It wasn't enough to wake her and all she got was a breathy sigh in reply. Brittany glides her fingertips along Santana's jaw line and tilts her head back slightly so that she is at the perfect angle to lean down and press her lips against hers. When Brittany pulls back a frown appears on Santana's face as she starts to stir in her sleep.
Brittany can't help but giggle at the confused look on her face. Santana cracks an eye open at the sound and squints at Brittany.
"Babe, don't tease me," Santana says in an attempt at a stern voice.
Brittany quirks an eyebrow at the pet name and smiles at Santana coyly.
"Babe?" Brittany lets the word linger between them and watches as the sleep fades from Santana's eyes and she realises what she had said.
"Um…I mean…"
Brittany found flustered Santana adorable and suddenly felt bold enough to bring up what had been said the previous night.
"Don't worry about it. I guess it's fitting though, right? Since you said you were my girlfriend, it just makes sense!"
Santana gapes at Brittany and Brittany begins to worry that she may have broken her.
"I understand if you didn't really mean it, I know that you want to take things slowly between us."
Santana baulks at that.
"God, Britt, no! I would never take it back. I meant absolutely everything I said to you last night."
Santana brings her hand to Brittany's cheek and caresses her jaw line gently.
"I'm glad because I could really get used to you calling me your girlfriend."
"Really? It seems to me that you prefer Babe."
Brittany's eyelids flutter as Santana's fingertips curl around her jaw line to start drawing her closer.
"I suppose I could get used to that."
"Or maybe you would prefer honey?" Santana questions as she draws Brittany towards her. "Or how about Darling? How does that sound?"
"Hmm…they all sound good to me. I guess you'll just have to keep using them all and I'll let you know which one my favourite it."
Brittany's face is so close to Santana's at this point that their breath mingles. Brittany inhales sharply as Santana roughly closes the last millimetre between them to hastily bring their lips together.
Brittany wraps her arm around Santana's waist and presses herself down into the kiss. Santana brushes her tongue along Brittany's bottom lip and deepens the kiss. Santana finds that she's all pent up from all the touching last night without getting any release. Not that she's complaining, she knows how important it was for Brittany to feel safe with her last night.
Brittany moans hungrily into the kiss and feels herself getting rather flushed.
All of a sudden, Brittany pulls out of the kiss and Santana scrambles to find purchase on Brittany's shoulders to keep her close. Santana gives her a confused look. In her mind they had certainly been nowhere near finished.
Brittany strokes Santana's hair. "San, while I would love, and I mean love, to continue this, I have to go to work."
Santana groans in protest and grasps onto Brittany tighter.
"Right now?" she whines.
"Actually, about twenty minutes ago but I just couldn't resist you."
"I thought you said you would be spending less time at work?"
"And I will be but I still have to show up, I can just do fewer hours once I get there."
Santana pouts at Brittany and gives her the best puppy dog eyes she can muster.
Brittany shakes her head. "Put away the pout San. I really have to go but I promise to make it up to you later, ok?"
"You better," Santana grumbles as she releases Brittany's shoulders.
"I promise," Brittany says as she leans down and gives Santana one last peck on the lips before she gets up and heads to work.
Santana flops back down into the pillows as Brittany hops up and skips out of the room, presumably to go take a shower. Santana is unable to prevent herself from checking out Brittany's ass as she leaves and wonders if Brittany would be objectionable to a visit while she was in the shower.
…..
Brittany felt bad having to leave Santana the way she did that morning. Considering the events of the night before, they really could have used some time to just talk to each other. Although granted if they had had the time Brittany is nearly 100% certain that they would not have spent it talking. All she wanted to do after last night was touch Santana and it was really disturbing her from her work.
Beiste had her filling out paperwork instead of going out on calls today. She might have thought she was doing Brittany a favour by keeping Brittany out of the field and letting her build her energy back up but it just gave Brittany too much time to think about what she would much rather be doing with her energy.
Brittany tries to shake herself out of the lust haze she currently experiencing but she just couldn't bring herself to focus on the words on the page in front of her.
But now that Santana knows about Brittany's secret there really isn't anything stopping their relationship from progressing to the next level. Before last night Brittany had struggled to visualise her and Santana getting to that level of intimacy. Brittany had been harbouring the fear that Santana would leave her when she found out about her back. But now that it was clear that Santana had no intention of leaving her it was all Brittany could think about.
She wanted to know what it would feel like to have Santana's lips kiss her everywhere. She wanted to know every bump and curve on Santana's skin. She wanted to explore her body and know exactly what makes her tick.
Brittany was ridiculously turned on and had no idea how she was going to get through the rest of the day like this. She crossed her legs in an attempt to calm herself down and close off all of those thoughts but it just served as some much needed pressure and Brittany ran her hands through her hair to tug at the roots as she tried not to squirm at her desk. She really needed to get laid.
Brittany was then forced to think straight when Blaine popped his head around the door. "Hey, Britt?" Blaine called.
Brittany looked up, slightly startled, from the paperwork in front of her. "What's up Blaine?"
"You coming to the cafeteria for lunch?"
"Yes!" Brittany jumps up from her desk enthusiastically. Food was exactly what she needed to take her mind off certain things.
"You ok?" Blaine asks.
"I'm fine, it's just when Beiste said she was gonna give me a bit of a break I thought she meant time off, not paperwork."
"It's Beiste, you should have known she wasn't just going to hand you time off," Blaine jokes.
"Yeah you're right. What's it been like out there today?"
"Slow enough, nothing too major. It's weird not having you out there with us."
"Obviously, I'm the life of that fire truck," Brittany jokes and jabs Blaine's side with her elbow.
"You've got that right!" Blaine laughs.
They enter the cafeteria, Brittany pays for a salad and joins Blaine at a table.
"So what do you think of Brody?" Blaine asks as he takes a bite out of his sandwich.
"Who now?" Brittany asks as she pokes at her salad with her fork.
Blaine stops chewing and gives Brittany a sceptical look. Brittany looks up and frowns at his expression.
"Are you serious? Brody? The new guy I introduced you to yesterday?" Blaine says trying to jog Brittany's memory.
"Oh yeah him. What about him?" Brittany goes back to her salad.
"What do you think of him?"
"Blaine, I met the guy for a second."
"But you saw him right? I mean his face looks like it was carved by Gods."
"Girls, Blaine. I like girls," Brittany says with a shrug.
"I know, I know," Blaine states and waves his hand dismissively. " But you can still appreciate an attractive specimen such as himself."
"Yeah, I guess he was pretty attractive."
Blaine cannot seem to fathom Brittany's lack of interest.
"Fine, I suppose that's all the input I'll get from you about his looks but what about his personality? He seems like a pretty nice guy, right?" Blaine asks eagerly.
"Blaine, I really don't know. You spent way more time with him. Do you like him or something?"
Blaine goes silent and Brittany looks up to find him blushing profusely.
"I might find him particularly appealing," Blaine answers indignantly. "It's not like it's a crime."
"I didn't say it was but I thought you were into Kurt?"
"I was but he has this really messy history with his ex boyfriend Adam and I don't want to get involved unless I know for certain there is nothing going on with him anymore."
"That's fair, you've gotta put yourself first sometimes and protect your heart."
"Exactly and if in the mean time I want to admire what's around me then I certainly will and I won't feel bad about it for a second."
"I'm proud of you Blaine, it's very mature of you."
Blaine smiles warmly back at her in thanks.
"So how are things going with…"
Brittany knew that Blaine was going to ask about Santana and she was mentally preparing all the gushing she was going to do until Blaine trailed off and was looking distantly over her shoulder at the entrance of the cafeteria.
Brittany looked over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows at what she found. Brody had just walked in and she wasn't surprised that Blaine hadn't been able to finish his sentence. If she swung that way she knew that Brody's current attire would have left many people speechless.
Brody had clearly been working out in the gym and had decided that he was just too sweaty to keep a shirt on. His wet hair stuck to his face and he swept it back out of his eyes as he surveyed the cafeteria. Upon spotting herself and Blaine he smiled and started to walk over.
Brittany looked at Blaine who could barely manage a half smile back at Brody as his eyes were currently glued to Brody's abs.
"Hey guys," Brody greeted as he stopped and stood beside their table.
Brittany looked to Blaine and saw him struggling to find words so she took over instead. "Hi Brody, would you like to join us?" Brittany thought it was only polite to ask him to have lunch with them since he was new and probably didn't know anybody too well.
"Nah, I won't I'm all sweaty," Brody says with a smile at Brittany, not noticing that Blaine was blatantly staring open mouthed at him.
Brittany narrowed her eyes a little. If he didn't want to eat then she didn't really know why he would come looking for them in the cafeteria.
"Then what can we do you for?" Brittany asks.
"There's something wrong with the showers and I need some help getting them to work."
"Oh well I'm sure Blaine would be happy to help you."
Blaine jerks back to attention at the sound of his name and looks up to see Brody staring at him expectantly.
"Umm…" Blaine stares wide eyed at Brittany, begging her for help.
"Blaine, you goof, would you take your eyes off your food for one second and pay attention?!" Brittany covers for him. "I was just telling Brody that you would help him with the showers."
"You told him I would what?!" Blaine's eyes widen comically.
"Dude, the shower isn't working, chill, I just need a hand getting it to work," Brody laughs.
"Right, yeah of course," Blaine agrees. His eyes slowly glide back down to Brody's abs. "Do you work out?" Blaine blushes when he realises that he had asked that out loud.
Brittany hides a laugh behind her hand as Blaine tries to recover.
"I mean you must work out a lot, I'd say you've got a good routine going. How much do you bench?" Blaine tries to make it seem as if he is purely interested in his workout routine.
"Yeah I go to the gym a lot. The station's gym is really great. Do you work out too?"
Blaine nods eagerly even though that Blaine has never stepped foot into the gym. He likes to run and work out in the fresh air, he hates the idea of being around other people as they work out.
"Well we should work out together sometime then. I can show you my routine, it has worked wonders for me, you'll love it."
"Yeah sounds great," Blaine answers.
"So will you come show me how to get the showers working?" Brody asks again.
"Yeah sure," Blaine says as he stands up a little dazed. Blaine makes his way to the exit of the cafeteria without a word to Brittany. Brittany isn't worried by this though, she knows that he isn't really in his right mind. She smiles and shakes her head and looks up to see that Brody is still standing there.
Brody is just looking at her and it's a little unnerving.
"Is he always like that?" Brody asks.
"Who Blaine? No, he's just in a weird mood today."
"Alright cool. Well I hope I see you around Brittany." Brody flashes her a dazzling grin and he walks off to follow Blaine.
Brittany shakes her head and finishes off her salad before going back to her office. When she sits down to her paperwork again she looks at the clock and sees that it's only 2pm. She drops her head to the table and moans, how is she going to handle another three hours just thinking about Santana?
….
Santana couldn't stand staying in the apartment all day without Brittany. She could hardly look at their bed without thinking of what they had done last night. It made her hot and she knew exactly what she really wanted to do with Brittany in that bed and on the sofa and in the shower and in the roof garden if Brittany was up for it.
So in order to distract herself Santana thought she might have a little bit of retail therapy. Santana had come across a dress that was disgustingly expensive but she was in love with it. It would hug her body perfectly and give enough cleavage to ogle without it being deemed inappropriate. It had a slit on one side that came up to about mid thigh, so she could show off her good leg and discreetly cover her burned one. The soft gold tone would make her skin glow as well.
The only thing was that she really had no where to be going that would warrant buying such an extravagant dress. Then it dawned on her that it would be the perfect thing to wear for a fancy night out with Brittany! Santana picked the dress back up off the rack and bought it straight away.
Santana was going to take Brittany out that night. She would bring her to her favourite restaurant and then they could go get ice-cream or something else equally romantic. It really was the perfect idea. It would be their first proper date and Santana couldn't wait for it.
When Brittany came home Santana bounded over to her and hopped up into her arms, planting a firm kiss to her lips.
Brittany stumbled back for a second but managed to get her balance quickly enough to reciprocate the kiss. She carried Santana over to the sofa and sat down, placing Santana down beside her. Brittany drew back from Santana and felt her heart flip at the glorious smile that was stretched across Santana's face.
"Hi," Brittany said quietly as she stared into Santana's eyes.
"Hi," Santana said back before leaning in for another kiss. But Santana didn't let herself get too distracted and pulled back pretty quickly, laughing at the pouty face Brittany sent her way at the end of the kiss.
"I have a question to ask you," Santana stated, taking Brittany's hands in her own.
"Oh yeah? What kinda question?" Brittany asked intrigued.
"One that I hope you'll say yes to," Santana says looking at their hands and then looking up at Brittany through her eyelashes.
"Oh come on don't keep me waiting! What is it?" Brittany chirps excitedly.
"Will you, Brittany S. Pierce, go on a date with me tonight?" Santana's heart is in her throat. She doesn't know why she feels so nervous, she knows Brittany will say yes. Maybe it's because she's never had to ask someone on a date before, she had always been asked. Or maybe it was because she would be going out with someone she truly cared about and made her feel things that she had never felt before.
Brittany's eyes light up as the most dazzling smile breaks across her face. Brittany's grip on Santana's hands tighten in excitement. "For real? An actual date? In public?"
Santana smiles and her heart skips a beat a Brittany's ecstatic response.
"Yes to all of the above."
With that Brittany lunges forward and wraps her arms around Santana placing kisses all over Santana's face. On her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, her chin until eventually settling on her lips. Brittany nips on Santana's lip playfully before sucking Santana's bottom lip between her own. Santana cups Brittany's cheeks and can feel Brittany smile as she continues to kiss her.
Brittany pulls back and looks at Santana worriedly. "Are you sure?"
"What?" Santana asks stunned.
"Well we'll be in public and you don't want everyone to know about us yet." Brittany chews on her lip and refuses to look at Santana, afraid that she has changed her mind.
Santana tilts Brittany's chin up so that she has to look at her.
"I'm not going to let the fact that I'm not ready to go public prevent us from going outside. We'll go out and if we run into paparazzi I'll tell them we're friends. We should be fine, I've been out of the public eye for so long now that they won't even know where to start looking for me and they won't be expecting it."
While it isn't the perfect solution Brittany is still pretty happy that Santana is even ok being seen in public with her. It's a step in the right direction.
"So what are we doing?"
"I'm taking you out," Santana states proudly. "I am going to wine and dine you."
"Really? Where?" Brittany asks.
"It's one of my favourite restaurants. It's pretty up market but this is my treat so just put on your best dress and leave the rest to me."
"Ok, I can't wait."
"I'll meet you at the door at 8 sharp."
…
Santana had been waiting at the door for ten minutes already. It was only a little after 8 but it wasn't like Brittany to take so long to get ready. Normally it was her holding everybody up. She didn't really mind, she had only said 8 sharp as a joke but she was just really excited and couldn't wait to see Brittany.
Santana had been right about her dress. It fit her perfectly and in the evening light there was a soft glow to her tanned skin. She had chosen some emerald green earrings and a necklace to match to finish off the look. In her high heels Santana was pretty sure she would be as tall as Brittany which would be an interesting change.
Santana turned around when she heard footsteps approaching. Santana tried to keep her mouth shut as the most gorgeous woman on earth strode down the hall towards her. Brittany was wearing a deep red dress that was cut off just above the knee. It was tight which showed off Brittany's small waist and her legs went on forever. Brittany was wearing heels too which meant that the height difference was pretty much the same as it always was. Her hair was swept to one side and was loosely curled. The icing on the cake was the deep red lipstick that she had chosen to wear. Santana had never seen her wear it before and she knew that she was going to have a hard time looking at anything other than Brittany's lips all evening.
Brittany came to a stop in front of her and look down at what she was wearing.
"Brittany…you look…"
"Is it alright?" Brittany asked nervously.
"Alright?"
"Yeah I mean does it look ok? Sorry I took so long it's just that I don't normally go out to fancy places and this was the only thing I had that would even be slightly appropriate." Brittany scratches her neck self consciously.
Santana steps forward and pulls Brittany flush against her before giving her a searing kiss.
"You look so incredibly beautiful," Santana states while looking Brittany in the eye. "And hot," she adds as she looks over Brittany's body again.
Brittany blushes. "You look pretty amazing yourself."
"Thanks."
"So shall we go?" Brittany asks.
"Yeah but you might need to fix your lipstick before we go. Sorry about that, I couldn't help myself."
Brittany brings her fingers to her lips and blushes again.
"I'll just be a second."
…
When they step out onto the street Brittany instantly starts to look for a cab and puts her hand out to flag one down.
Santana puts her hand on Brittany's arm and brings it back down to her side.
"Why'd you do that San?"
"I thought we'd ride in style tonight," Santana says with a smouldering look.
She turns and gestures for a car parked a little way down the street to move towards them. The lights turn on at her signal and a shiny black limo rolls up in front of them.
Brittany looks from Santana to the car and back to Santana.
Santana smiles at Brittany's stunned expression. The chauffeur gets out of the front and walks around to open their door. Santana gestures for Brittany to get in first.
"After you m'lady," she jokes.
Brittany swoons a little at being called Santana's lady and gets into the limo.
As Santana gets in after her and they settle into their seats, Brittany takes a look around.
"I've never been in a limo before."
"Is it what you expected?" Santana asks.
"It's better but I think that might be because of the company," Brittany says suggestively.
Santana blushes and is glad that it is pretty dark and that Brittany probably can't see it.
"Champagne?" Santana offers.
"Ooh yes please." Brittany tries to be suave but she really can't hide just how excited she is by all this.
Santana giggles and pours Brittany a glass. Once she has poured her own she puts the bottle down and turns to Brittany.
"To a wonderful night."
Santana holds up her glass to toast with Brittany.
"To a wonderful night," Brittany agrees.
They spend the journey sipping their champagne quietly simply enjoying each others company. Brittany cannot help but look outside at the city. It's a whole new perspective looking at it from inside a limo and Santana is happy to watch her as she does so. She loves how enthusiastic Brittany is about life and enjoys watching her reaction to everything.
When they pull up outside the restaurant the chauffeur opens their door and Santana steps out first. She nods towards the driver and takes Brittany's hand to help her out of the car. She briskly leads Brittany to the entrance of the restaurant. She doesn't want to linger too long on the street, it only gave people the opportunity to recognise her.
It's only once they've stepped inside that she notices just how glamorous the restaurant was. She was glad that Santana had said it was her treat because there was no way in hell she would have been able to afford to eat in a place like this.
The maitre d doesn't even look up at them as they approach before he states, "Name."
"Lopez," Santana replies demurely.
He peruses the list for a moment before saying, "There are no reservations under the name Lopez."
Brittany glances at Santana worriedly. Brittany didn't think that Santana would forget to do something as important as book the reservation for their first date.
Santana smiles at Brittany reassuringly before looking back at the maitre d and saying, "Maybe you should check under Santana Lopez."
At that his head snaps up and his eyes widen as he realises who he was speaking to.
"Ms Lopez! Pardon me, right this way." He grabs two menus and guides them to a table for two in the centre of the room.
Santana rolls her eyes. They always try to put her in the middle of the room so that other customers can see what kind of clientele they can draw in.
Santana catches his eye and indicates to him to join her.
"Perhaps somewhere a little more secluded?" Santana whispers into his ear. "I can hardly hear myself think out here and I would like to be able to talk to my friend Brittany."
It stings a little to hear Santana refer to her as a friend but she knew that it was to be expected tonight.
He nods and guides them to a sheltered alcove at the back of the restaurant, well out of view of the doorway and most other guests.
"Is this more to your liking?"
"This is perfect, thank you."
They sit down across from each other and Santana instantly picks up the menu. Brittany on the other hand seems to be completely awestruck by the whole thing.
"Are you ok?" Santana asks when she sees that Brittany hasn't even picked up her menu.
"Do you eat in places like this all the time?"
"Only when I go out," Santana says with a shrug.
"But it's so fancy, I feel like they'll throw me out if I drop my fork," Brittany jokes.
"No they won't, they'll come out with a whole tray of different forks for you to choose from."
"What? That's ridiculous, that's…that's…" Brittany is set to rant but she can't even come up with the right words to describe how crazy that is.
"Hey I was kidding," Santana laughs as she leans forward and puts a soothing hand over Brittany's.
"Oh ok…" Brittany says a little embarrassed.
Brittany picks up her menu and takes a look. There were so many pages she didn't know where to start. Brittany didn't want to spend her whole evening reading the menu so she looked up at Santana and said, "What's good here?"
"Well what do you like? I'm sure they'll have it."
"I know but I don't want to spend my time looking at the menu, there are better things to look at."
Santana's heart starts to beat a little faster as Brittany smiles at her and glides her fingertips along the side of Santana's hand. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea on her part. If Brittany continues to look at her like that all night then she is probably going to jump her from across the table.
"The shrimp is really good for a starter and I usually get the spaghetti for the main. I'm so boring that way, no matter where I go I usually end up ordering the spaghetti, I just can't say no to it." Santana tries to answer calmly, not giving away the effect that Brittany is having on her with a simple touch of her hand.
Just then a server approaches them and Brittany pulls her hand back. Santana frowns in disappointment until she realises that this is what she had asked for and Brittany was respecting that. Santana was beginning to question whether it was worth it. She would much rather be able to hold Brittany's hand all night than hide for the sake of her label.
"What can I get you two ladies?" the waiter asks politely.
"Can we get a bottle of the house wine," Santana starts before looking back down at the menu.
"And we'll get two shrimps and two spaghettis," Brittany finishes for her.
"Excellent choice," the waiter says as he takes their menus and walks away.
Santana raises an eyebrow at Brittany. In the past had a date ever tried to order for her she would have been royally pissed off but they weren't Brittany and none of them ever gave her the kind of sly grin that Brittany was giving her now.
"You ordered for me," Santana states.
Brittany smiles even wider.
"Should I not have? Do you not like what I ordered?"
"No I do like it, it's just…I kinda liked that you did."
"I'm glad," Brittany says with a smirk. "But I'll let you pick dessert."
Santana feels as if her heart just fell out of her chest at Brittany's suggestion. She may as well have died and gone to heaven because she thought it would be impossible to survive the sexy look Brittany was sending her.
The waiter came back and poured them each a glass of wine which Brittany immediately picked up and took a sip of, staring at Santana over the rim. Santana reached out and took a large gulp of wine to fix the dry mouth she suddenly seemed to have. It was going to be a long night.
…
Their main courses had just been cleared away from the table and the waiter had said that he would give them a little while before he came around with the dessert menu.
While the meal had been absolutely perfect, it had also been absolute torture. Brittany couldn't use her hands to stroke Santana's hands because she was eating so she had changed tactics. Shortly into their starter Brittany had begun to glide her foot up and down the one leg that Santana had on show. She couldn't believe that the dress that she had thought was so perfect was working against her.
It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying the attention, she certainly was. She just found it exceedingly hard to concentrate on her meal or the flow of the conversation when Brittany's toes were getting into dangerous territory. Santana also didn't have the nerve to return the attentions in such a public place so she was left to being tortured.
Brittany on the other hand was thoroughly enjoying watching the results of her ministrations. She had lost count of how many times Santana had lost her train of thought in the middle of a sentence or suddenly dropped food off her fork. And if the darkness of Santana's eyes were a tell then she new that Santana was enjoying receiving the attention just as much as she was loving giving it.
Santana couldn't believe that she was letting Brittany control her like this. It was time to take over and show Brittany that she could give it straight back.
Santana calmly stood up from the table and dragged her chair around, further into the alcove, to sit right next to Brittany. Brittany's eyes narrowed slyly, wondering what Santana's game was. Santana poured herself another glass of wine and poured more for Brittany, pretending that she wasn't up to anything.
The waiter came back with dessert menus and Brittany went to reach out and grab one but Santana grabbed Brittany's knee under the table.
"I think we're going to skip dessert but two americanos would be lovely."
The waiter nodded and walked away.
"Why aren't we having dessert?" Brittany asked childishly.
"Because I can think of something better," Santana whispered seductively into Brittany's ear.
Santana slowly began to trail the hand that was on Brittany's knee upwards and Brittany instantly tensed up. Santana chuckled under her breath as Brittany's cheeks went a bright shade of pink as traced her fingers up and down along the inside of Brittany's thigh.
Brittany knew she was stuck and Santana was winning. Santana's dress didn't allow for such touches and she knew that she wasn't going to ask Santana to stop.
Santana leaned back in her seat as the waiter came back with their coffees but she didn't remove her hand. He placed the cups down in front of them and left.
Santana took a sip of her coffee and slowly began her movements on Brittany's thigh again. Brittany couldn't take her eyes away from Santana's hand.
"Drink up Britt or other people will notice," Santana stated calmly, not looking in Brittany's direction.
While she wanted to toy with Brittany she knew that they couldn't sit there huddled together not touching the coffee in front of them. Santana was sure that to anyone that may have looked over at them, not that there were many people that could, it would just look like two friends having a conversation over coffee and nothing more.
Brittany's breath hitched when the back of Santana's hand pressed against her hot centre. Santana's eyes widened at the heat that she felt emanating from between Brittany's legs. She tried to breathe out steadily but the thought of touching Brittany this way had her extremely hot under the collar and other places too she might add.
The next time the back of Santana's hand brushed against her Brittany's hand came down and held it there. Brittany's eyes had fluttered closed and Santana couldn't take her eyes off her.
"San…" Brittany breathed heavily. "You're killing me."
Santana leaned over to whisper into Brittany's ear, making sure that she ghosted her lips along it as she spoke.
"Payback's a bitch Babe, what are you going to do about it?"
Brittany's eyes snapped open and Santana saw that they had gone a deep shade of blue.
"Let's get out of here," Brittany whispered back huskily.
Santana immediately stood up and placed well over the amount of money that would cover dinner on the table. She wanted to take Brittany's hand as she walked out of the restaurant but she knew that she couldn't so she had to make do with sending Brittany reassuring glances over her shoulder as she manoeuvred her way to the front of the restaurant.
Santana sent Brittany one last smile before she stepped out into the cold night air. The first thing Santana saw when she looked back was a bright flash of light. Santana put her hand up in front of her face to shield her eyes. She could hardly see a thing. The first flash had led to a thousand more similar flashes.
Santana knew exactly what was going on. The paparazzi had found them and were going to hound her relentlessly with questions about the fire in her apartment and her sudden disappearance. Santana looked back at Brittany who appeared to be genuinely frightened. She hadn't been expecting to be utterly bombarded with what must have been dozens of paparazzi scrambling over one another to get the best angle for a photo of them.
Santana stood directly in front of Brittany and instantly whipped out her phone to get the driver to pull up to the restaurant. She had been hoping that she and Brittany could stroll through the city together but that clearly wasn't going to happen.
Then the questions started.
"SANTANA, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"
"SANTANA, WHO IS YOUR NEW FRIEND?"
"SANTANA, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN STAYING?"
"SANTANA HAVE YOU BEEN DROPPED FROM YOUR LABEL?"
Santana began to try and move her way through the crowd. They parted for her but only slightly and soon Santana and Brittany were completely surrounded by them. One guy pushed his camera forward, nearly directly into Brittany's face to try and get her to look up at him. Santana snapped.
"HEY! You stay away from her!" Santana reached back and wrapped her arm around Brittany's waist pulling her tight against her. "I've got you," Santana whispered into Brittany's ear, hoping she could hear her over the consistent shouting.
Suddenly all the questions took a significant turn to Brittany.
"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"
"WHAT DO YOU DO?"
"HOW DO YOU TWO KNOW EACH OTHER?"
Santana saw the limo pull up at the curb and she dragged Brittany over to the car as quickly as possible.
Once they were safely in the limo and had pulled away from the restaurant Santana took a closer look at Brittany. She was visibly shaken and hadn't said a word. Santana took her face in her hands, trying to get Brittany to look at her.
"I'm so sorry Brittany."
Brittany didn't say anything in response but clung onto Santana and rested her head against her chest.
The rest of the ride back was silent. Brittany didn't say anything and neither did Santana, she didn't know if it would make things better or worse. Santana just really wanted to know what Brittany was thinking.
When they got out of the limo Brittany wrapped her arms around herself and walked upstairs. Santana followed suit.
When Santana had changed out of her dress she went to find Brittany. She was already curled up in her bed, her arms wrapped tightly around a unicorn teddy that Santana had never seen before.
"Britt…"
Brittany was facing the wall and didn't turn around. Santana climbed onto the bed beside her and shuffled forward getting as close to her as possible without actually touching her. They lay in silence for so long that Santana was nearly certain that Brittany was asleep.
"I didn't think it would be like that," Brittany mumbled.
"I'm so sorry Britt, I should have prepared you better," Santana chokes out, overwhelmed by how dreadful she feels at letting Brittany feel so afraid.
"It's awful."
"I know, I hate it. It normally isn't that bad. They must have found out where I was and it's the first public appearance I've made in a while so they are all trying to get the scoop."
Brittany doesn't respond and a lump begins to form in Santana's throat. She's afraid that this may be too much for Brittany to handle.
"But Britt, it's a part and parcel of being with me and I would understand if you said that it was too much."
A tear slides down Santana's face as she waits for Brittany to answer her. If it really came down to it she would probably give it all up just to be able to be with Brittany and that is something that she never thought she would think.
Brittany turned over to face Santana.
"You're going to have to teach me how to get used to that," Brittany whimpers.
Santana lets out a sigh of relief and moves forward to take Brittany into her arms.
"I'm just so sorry Britt," Santana mumbles into her soft hair. "What can I do?"
"Just keep holding me," Brittany murmurs into her chest.
So Santana does and she rocks Brittany gently until she falls asleep.
…
And there we have it, chapter 8. I hope you enjoyed it :) -Aisling x