So I was skimming this story the other day where the author basically called their reviewers idiots and then threatened to stop writing if they didn't get good reviews. It was very contradictory and a bit worrisome to be honest. I just want to let you all know that I HEART the crap out of you all so very much, most especially for taking a chance on and reading my stories!
Also, I haven't been able to respond to your last reviews! But I will get to that in the next day or so! Thank you so much for the awesome reviews!
Chapter 23: Life In the Dangerous Lane
The first thing Santana becomes aware of when she wakes up in the morning, are residual tingles all over her body. Almost as if someone took a little ray gun and zapped different parts of her body on the lowest setting. Not enough to be painful but enough to make her really feel. The second thing she notices is that she's incredibly warm. Not over heated warm, but gooey fluttering heart warm, and also, that she's lying on her stomach.
There's a soft presence that's dancing across her lower back. Dipping in the contour and running from one dimple to the other, shooting even more tingles up Santana's spine.
When she finally blinks her eyes open, she's met with bright blue eyes, blonde hair, and the most breathtaking smile she's ever witnessed in her life in the form of Brittany leaning propped up in the bed next to her. Her fingers dance up and brush softly across Santana's shoulder before reaching out to brush the long dark locks of hair that have fallen to shroud her face, away from those beautiful brown eyes.
"Morning." Brittany croaks, wincing at the way her voice comes out sounding like a strangled frog, "Shit…" She curses, eyes widening as the foul word comes out sounding even more ridiculous. Santana's soft giggles gather Brittany's attention and blue eyes glance up to see the other woman she's sharing a bed with smile so wide her dimples pop.
"Don't you just sound like a sexy Casanova in the morning."
Brittany frowns both at Santana's words and her ability to sound perfectly sexy this soon after waking up. In fact, Brittany's fairly certain that Santana sounds like she could break out into song at any damn minute and bring the fucking house down as she did. Brittany sighs, she supposes it's at least something she can look forward to in the mornings.
Santana sounding all sexy…wait, what the hell? Did Brittany just make the presumption that she and Santana would be waking up a lot together in the morning? As like an on going, predetermined thing?
"Hey, did I lose you to a fantasy? I'm still here naked in your bed, you can discuss those out loud if you want." Santana suddenly interrupts Brittany's relationshhh…her realationshhh…dammit, she can't even think the word right now. Is it because she's scared that Santana's scared that maybe she's having second thoughts about having second thoughts?
Wait, what the fuck? Brittany just confused herself even more.
"So what you're saying is you don't want me naked in your bed right now?"
Who's not going to be naked? Oh fuck, Brittany's eyes snap back to Santana, who has her eyebrows arched in concerned wonder.
"No! You can stay naked, please stay naked with me." Brittany mumbles, shuffling closer to the other woman who giggles again, and Brittany swears she hears angels singing in the background (cheesy, so sue her). A warm body slides into her own, and Brittany groans as Santana's full, soft breasts push into hers and a tan thigh slips through her legs.
"Okay, but you've gotta come back to me." Santana murmurs in Brittany's ear, her breath hot against the shell, before her palm brushes across her heated cheek and full lips tickle pink ones. Brittany nods, sighing and trying to relax herself before she leans into Santana's mouth and kisses her heatedly.
She has to get these irrational fears out of her mind. She's the one who asked Santana to be her girlfriend (which Santana said yes to) and she's the one who said 'I love you' first. Blue eyes widen again as Brittany remembers that momentary slip of character, she was so caught up in the moment she couldn't hold her walls up any longer.
She doesn't regret it, and she certainly meant it, but she's hoping that when Santana said them she really felt the same too. Brittany hopes Santana does feel the same.
Her nose nuzzles against Santana's cheek, "Hey, so about last night." She starts and Santana lets out a content hum, snuggling impossibly closer to Brittany.
"Mmmhmmm."
Brittany swallows the lump in her throat, "When I said…you know?"
Santana's eyes flicker open and blink in innocent obliviousness, "Hmmm?"
Somehow Brittany thinks Santana knows right well what she's talking about, she's just fucking with her. Fine, she can be the bigger woman. She takes a deep breath and airs it out through the side of her mouth.
"When I said…that, I love you…" Admittedly she kind of stumbles through it, but a smile pulling across Brittany's lips pushes her onward, "I really…I meant it you know?"
She barely gets the 'kn' part of know out before Santana's lips are crashing into her own and Brittany's back is being pressed into the mattress. Santana strokes her mouth deeply with her tongue before slowing the kiss down and placing a few soft pecks against Brittany's lips. The small, fiery as hell woman settles back down on top of Brittany's naked body.
"That's a really nice thing to hear," She whispers and Brittany's holds her breath while Santana tortures her with a long pause, then plump lips press into the skin above Brittany's heart, "Because I really love you too."
Everything is exhaled in one giant whoosh of air, and Brittany wraps her arms around Santana's back happy to lie there smiling in blissful, silly content.
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An hour or so later, when Brittany reawakens from the nap she hadn't realized she'd fallen into, Santana is still asleep on her chest, soft little kitten snores falling out of her mouth. Brittany chuckles because go figure that such a feisty little cat like Santana would make such adorable little mewling sounds.
Fuck did she just say? Adorable? Brittany groans, Santana is getting to her more than she originally thought. Her eyes flicker down to Santana, what's visible of her face reflecting back to Brittany is the soft light of the morning and Brittany smiles, yeah okay she's not really upset about anything Santana's done for her life.
She starts to run her fingers through the long unruly dark tresses that fall all around Santana's face as she waits for the woman to wake up. When brown eyes blink open a few minutes later, Brittany tilts her head down as best she can and kisses the crown of Santana's head.
"I thought I'd lost you to some lumberjacks."
Santana's eyes squint in confusion as she turns them up towards playful blue. Brittany flashes her a cheeky smile.
"You know, cuz you snore like one."
Santana gasps appalled and slaps Brittany in the shoulder, "I do not!" She defends and Brittany simply laughs harder, enjoying her own jest. Santana pouts for a few seconds until the soft nibbling that Brittany is supplying to her jaw line becomes too ticklish and sweet she can't stay angry anymore. She giggles as she pushes Brittany away gently, but then props her chin on her chest and looks up into blue eyes.
"You know, don't take this wrong, but last night…I didn't know you could be so sweet and caring."
Brittany rolls her eyes playfully but shrugs, "Well yeah, I've never been this in love." She says it without much thought, as if it's just so natural, but then gets a little nervous and apprehensively raises her eyes to gauge Santana's reaction. She finds twinkling brown eyes and a sweet smile.
Santana cups her cheeks and leans in to capture her lips in a brief kiss, "You still mean that then, even if I snore like a lumberjack?"
A giggle pops from pink lips, "Santana, I think I'd love you even if you were a lumberjack." Brittany admits, and Santana simply rolls her eyes but smiles, snuggling into her further and pressing a few choice kisses across the ledge of Brittany's jaw.
"I'll keep that in mind if I'm ever looking for a new job."
They lay there in content silence for a few minutes, Brittany's arm wrapped around Santana's shoulders and her fingers making sweeping motions up and down her arm. Her eyes tilt and focus on the adorable birthmark that presents itself on the junction of where Santana's right arm meets her shoulder. Brittany's mind tingles in remembrance of another telling mark she spotted on Santana's body recently.
"Hey Santana?"
"Hmm?"
"That scar on your lower back," Brittany starts to say, the tips of her fingers sliding down Santana's spine until they ghost over the very same mark she's inquiring about which rests on the lower left hand side of a tan back. "How did you get that…if you don't mind me asking?"
There's a few seconds of tranquility where the only sound perceivable to Brittany's ears is Santana's soft breathing, and then her voice breaks through the cloud of silence.
"Oh yeah, that's…uh…from when I was a little kid." She starts off saying, and Brittany jumps a little in her spot when she feels Santana's own fingers start tracing unexpected patterns against her ribs. She pulls the smaller woman's body closer, hoping she'll continue her story.
Santana takes in a deep breath, it's not fearful or strained, just deep in preparation, before she airs it out and begins her story, "When Hec and I were little and my parents were still alive, we lived in Miami just a couple blocks down from a really exclusive all-boys prep school. Naturally, my parents wanted my brother and I to have the very best education, and they assumed that such a revered private school would provide that, so they enrolled Hector. Since he was sixteen and I was ten, and also a girl, I wasn't allowed to attend with him."
Brittany notices Santana punctuate her last sentence with a teasing smile, and she giggles lightly understanding the woman's way of trying to lighten the mood a little. Brittany tilts to press a kiss to her temple, before Santana continues.
"My dad was a doctor so he was always at work, and my mom was a highly demanded event planner that was always flying all over the east coast to plan parties and stuff for big time people, so they weren't around as much as they wanted to be. Hec would always make sure I felt included in things. He'd take me places and let me hang out with him and his friends, even if they were so much older than me."
"It was nice because Hector was always the center of attention, and he'd always be doing the coolest things. One time, he joined this Choir group at the school and invited me to one of their practices. He was one of the more popular kids in the group, and one of the more talented, and he'd made friends with a new kid that had been bullied at his last school. Well turns out this kid, Kurt, had been bullied because he was gay, and when my brother kind of took him under his wing, well then Hector started getting jeered at, despite his popularity."
Santana shakes her head at the memory, but Brittany pulls her closer in reassurance. Another deep breath later, Santana resumes her story.
"Kurt, due mostly in part to Hector's friendship, kind of took a liking to me as well. He was two years younger than Hector, so a little closer in age to me. Well this didn't go over too well with the main bullies of the school, they eventually started hackling Kurt and myself whenever Hector wasn't around to stop them. It got so bad one time that this one guy from one of the bullying groups, pretty much the leader of them, gathered his friends around to throw slushies in Kurt's face. I was there that day and I, being my feisty little self," Brittany chuckles at Santana's words, imagining a younger version of that hard glare and locked jaw, "I thought I could step between them. Well the leader guy ended up pushing me and I stumbled back into some metal bleachers, which instantly sliced a huge gash in my back left side."
Brittany absentmindedly trails her fingers over the scar on Santana's back.
"Hector came in about that time, and prevented the jerk douche from doing anymore damage to Kurt or myself. He ended up kicking the crap out of the guy when I told Hector who had pushed and hurt me, and then both Hec and the other guy got expelled from the school. We only saw the other guy once before my parents had to move again, and even through his battered face he still swore to Hector that if he ever saw him again, he'd get his revenge. After that, Hector never left my side. He, Kurt, and myself were good friends until our parents died, and then Hec and I jumped around Miami. I don't know whatever happened to Kurt."
Brittany's mind is reeling with the information she's just heard. She never imagined Santana's life to have been so dictated by violence and bullying. She supposes it's quite the shock, considering how poised and proper Santana is sometimes, but then again she does realize that woman has got one hell of a dangerous side too. She smiles and pulls Santana close again.
"I'm sorry that happened to you and Hector, and this Kurt guy. Have you heard anything from that bully kid since then?"
Santana shakes her head in the negative, "No actually, I don't even remember his name. I want to say it was Warren or something like that…or maybe S-"
The woman's words are cut off by Brittany's front door bursting open and a high-pitched voice calling into the condo, "Listen up sleeping beauties! It's time to rise and shine!"
Brittany blinks for a second until she realizes who is standing in her doorway, "Sugar? What the actual fuck!? Get out!"
"No can do boss, there's important shit that needs to be done and your and Santana's ass need to roll on out of bed and get it done."
"Except you're missing one little tidbit of information; I'm still your boss. So whatever absurd thought gave you the crazy notion to come in here and-"
"It's not like I wanted to come in here Brittany," Sugar cuts the blonde woman off, once again much to Brittany's irritation, "Look, Holly's got some kind of intel that she wants to discuss with you. She asked me to come get you."
Pale cheeks tint an angry red, but Santana leans in and presses a kiss to the underside of Brittany's jaw, trying to ease her tension away, "Babe, it might be a good thing to talk to Holly." Brittany's eyes glance down at her girlfriend, taking a moment to comprehend her words, before she recognizes that Santana probably has a very good point.
She sighs, "Fine. Holly can have five minutes and that's it."
Sugar pumps her fists in the air in triumph, as if she knew she'd get her way all along, but makes no motion to turn around and give the woman in the bed, who are still very much naked, any privacy.
"Um Sugar, do you think you could turn around for a second."
The short petite woman dramatically rolls her eyes at her boss, "Please, not like it's anything I haven't seen before."
Brittany's eyes go wide and Santana's arch questioningly. Blonde hair whips fervently back and forth and Brittany's hands come up defensively, "She's joking! Or she's not talking about me, swear to God she's not talking about me." She affirms definitively holding her breath until Santana's eyes soften and nod at her in acceptance. Brittany's eyes shot a glare towards Sugar, who merely smirks at her boss, winks and turns so her back is facing them.
Five minutes later, Brittany is clasping Santana's hand in her own and following Sugar from her condo, both presentably dressed. They only get about ten feet before Sugar stops and informs Brittany that Holly specifically requested to talk to just Brittany.
"No offense Santana." She mentions to the Latina woman standing next to Brittany.
With reluctance, Brittany agrees and leaves Santana with a kiss. Not a minute later, Santana is approached by a steely eyed and clench jawed Quinn.
"Hey I've got something to tell you." Quinn states skipping all pleasantries (not that Santana's surprised.)
Brown eyes roll as tan arms fold across Santana's chest, "Okay, Ms Demanding, I'm listening."
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Brittany is very thankful that Santana joins her in the garage just a few minutes after her talk with Holly. She's disappointed she didn't get more out of the conversation, but in all fairness she did kind of walk away from Holly when the woman she once called her aunt couldn't give her any solid answers.
She just kept repeating that she 'wanted to tell Brittany, but she couldn't just yet' and well, Brittany doesn't have time for that shit right now. There are far too many other things on her mind.
Like for one, what Santana is going to do with the Cayman that they stole last night.
"Hey baby, god it's good to see you." Brittany murmurs as Santana strides over to her. Santana chuckles as Brittany wraps her up in her arms and leans back in the embrace a little.
"Britt, we just saw each other like ten minutes ago."
Brittany sighs, "Yeah I know, I'm just so stressed out and you always seem to make it better. Is it weird that I missed you in the time you weren't around me?"
Full lips press to hers passionately before an answer is husked from them, "God no, because I missed you too, and I understand."
They tinker around with a few things in the garage until Brittany pulls a distributor out of one of the spare cars and sets it on the worktable to mess around with it a little. Santana leans into her side, her arms wrapped securely around Brittany's waist, her chin propped up on Brittany's shoulder.
"So are you still okay with the plan for me to take the car back?"
Brittany nods, turning her head slightly to peck Santana's lips, "Yeah I think it's a good plan. He should know that his driver's are as good as he expects them to be, I don't want him hurting you if he doesn't think you are."
Santana cups Brittany's cheek and brushes her lips across the taller woman's, "I wouldn't let him hurt me, but I think you're right." Brittany smiles in return letting her eyes dance over Santana's stunning features before they gaze back down at the car part in front of her.
"By the way," Santana speaks up again, still softly but loud enough for Brittany to hear without diverting her concentration, "Did something else happen between you and Quinn? I thought you two were okay and everything, but you've been avoiding her and I can practically feel the animosity from a mile away." She states, shifting as Brittany does and lifting up on her tips toes to lean in closer to the woman.
A sweet kiss to the side of Brittany's neck sends a tingle through her body and she twists her head to meet brown eyes, "Naw, well I mean I don't think so. I think she's just butt-hurt again about me finally being all in charge. You'd think she would be used to it by now, it's not like I've never given orders, but it's like now she's jealous that she obviously can't defy me anymore." She explains with a shrug and then cranes her neck to capture Santana's lips.
There's a solid beat that goes by before Brittany casually adds, "Plus she might kind of be all torn up about you still, on some crazy ridiculous level."
"Me? What'd I do this time?" Santana asks indignantly, she's not so much taking it out on Brittany as just affirming the level of annoyed she is with Quinn's apparent inability to let things the fuck go.
Brittany stops her task and turns around so her and Santana are face to face, she rests her hands on the shorter woman's hips and pulls her close, placing a sweet kiss to the full and pouty lips before her.
With a soft chuckle she explains, "Really it seems like she's grasping at shit to complain about because she can't function with the amount of shit that's actually going wrong. With Hunter and Finn still gone, Holly being here and all their covert conversations, the whole situation with Jesse and not to mention the fact she hasn't gotten laid in a very, very long time…"
Santana's eyebrow quirks at that information, not too entirely wanting to hear such information and Brittany's face turns sheepish.
"Sorry probably shouldn't say stuff like that," She apologizes and Santana smiles at her, "I can't get a read on what her actual deal is, but I know I'm fed up with her shit so I told her that I wouldn't talk to her until she figured it out, and properly apologized to you once and for all."
"Well sorry to say, but I agree with you on her being crazy about ridiculous stuff. Her whole attitude is kind of stressing me out."
Brittany nods before kissing Santana's lips again, "I know babe, I know and that's why I'm standing firm until she comes around, she'd better get her shit together and realize that I'm in love with you and you're not going anywhere."
Santana smiles at Brittany's words and leans in to kiss her, "I like that." She informs Brittany who smiles and blushes a little. She goes back to tinker around with the part in front of her, Santana draped over her back, with her chin resting on Brittany's shoulder again.
"By the way, did she ever apologize to you?"
Santana's brow creases as she seems to think about that question and recall a time in the past day that Quinn might have done something like that in the spare second that Santana wasn't spending with Brittany, "Oh well, she said something to me in passing when you went off to talk to Holly, I suppose it could be considered an apology."
Brittany looks to her with narrowed eyes, "Could be? Oh shit, what did she say?"
"Umm let's see…she basically told me that even though she was wrong about some things, she still has her eyes on me and the second that I step out of line 'again' she'll be sure to kick me back into it. Or something like that."
Brittany groans and drops her head, "It's worse than I thought." She mumbles before ever more quietly whispering, "My best friend hates my girlfriend."
Santana chuckles running her fingers through Brittany's hair and pressing a kiss to her clothed shoulder, "Hey, it's okay. She's shit with her approach but I recognize that she's essentially just looking out for you. I mean, I plan on doing the same thing to anyone who comes near my girlfriend with less than friendly words."
"Yeah?" Brittany asks, a quirked smile tugging at her lips as she glances at Santana.
"Oh definitely, and in the meantime," Santana begins to say before glancing around the shop, "I plan on showing said girlfriend just how serious I am about keeping her mine."
A smug grin tugs at Brittany's lips as she twists around to face Santana and pull the smaller woman tighter into her body, "I think I could get used to this." She murmurs before ducking her head down and pressing her lips to Santana's who moans at the contact and leans further into Brittany.
Brittany's tongue dips into Santana's mouth about the same time that a soft, but exceedingly annoying jingle starts playing throughout the shop. It sounds weak and muffled, almost like it's underwater or well muffled and as Brittany's palms slide down Santana's back and round over the curve of her tight jeans, she suddenly feels a vibration under her fingers tips.
"The fuck?" Brittany mumbles against Santana's lips as she pulls back from the kiss slightly.
"What?"
"Oh not you baby, I think your ass is vibrating."
Santana's eyebrow furrows and then arches as she becomes aware of her phone buzzing in her back pocket, she huffs but leans back a little in Brittany's embrace, steadying herself so she can reach around and remove it from said pocket. Without even a look at the screen, she sets it on the worktable behind Brittany's back and smiles up at the taller woman.
"There." She says before tilting up to resume the kiss she had been enjoying with her girlfriend. Brittany chuckles against Santana's lips but presses back into the kiss, welcoming Santana's tongue this time as it skims across her teeth and runs the length of her own.
"Mmm."
Brittany's second venture towards bliss is interrupted once again by a buzzing, only this time louder as Santana's phone shakes against the wood surface and makes that irritating high-pitched mixture between a buzz and a rumble. Santana sighs against Brittany's lips and grunts as she reaches out blindly and feels around for her phone until she finds the buzzing device.
Her eyes expand when she sees who is calling, and how many calls she's missed from them, "Shit, it's Jesse. He's called a lot."
Brittany twists around with Santana still in her arms until she's standing behind the woman, "Put it on speaker phone."
Santana nods and swipes her finger across the screen, "Rivera speaking."
"Maria, where the fuck are you?" Jesse's voice shouts through the other end of the line, his tone callous and unforgiving.
Santana glances at Brittany before she replies to her pseudo boss, "I'm just on my way back with the car now."
"It had better be in one piece. And if you're not back in half an hour, don't bother coming back, and don't bother staying in Vegas."
Jesse's words are followed by the telling click that he's disconnected the call from his end. Santana lets out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and Brittany feels her shake slightly in her arms.
"I don't like you being near him one bit Santana, I don't care if he doesn't know your real name. It's too dangerous, I can't ask you to go back."
Santana lets out a shaky breath and turns around in Brittany's arms, her lips pulled in a thin line, "You're not asking me too, and at this point it would be more dangerous if I didn't go back."
Brittany shakes her head and opens her mouth to protest but Santana cuts her off by framing her face in her hands and pulling their lips together. When she pulls back from the brief kiss she sighs, "I love you Brittany and I promise I'll come back."
A thick lump is swallowed down Brittany's throat as she wraps her arms firmly around Santana and presses a kiss to the top of her head, "You'd better because I love you too and I'm not about to lose you."
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Santana pulls the Cayman up to the fenced and gated entrance of Jesse's 'claimed' warehouse. The main guard, Nelson is his name Santana thinks, approaches the drivers side door and glances in to find a sunglasses covered Santana, flashing him a wide, and very fake smile. Nelson takes a look around the rest of the car and has Santana pop the trunk before he allows her to drive through the gates. She breathes a sigh of relief.
The truth is, despite having Jake and Brooke on her side, coming back to Jesse's scares the shit out of Santana, even though she'd never admit that to Brittany because she knows it would only worry her, and Brittany doesn't need more bad things happening. Bad things happen enough in the St. James' crew.
She's ushered through a warehouse door into a room just big enough for a car and some tool stations. It's the chop shop part of Jesse's warehouse, and after she parks the Cayman, Santana steps out of the car and is met with a stone faced Brody. She swallows the fear in her throat and walks towards the man, allowing him to wrap an arm around her waist even though her skin prickles with irritation and disgust.
Part of her cover while infiltrating the St. James crew has been pretending to be Brody's arm candy. As Jesse's right hand man, Brody is Santana's closest link to the crime boss, but she loathes every second she has to be touched by the brooding gruff of a man because Brittany will always be the only one who ever gets anything more from her.
"Nice job hot stuff, Boss will be really happy. He's wanted to bring that car in for a while." Brody speaks to Santana even though she bristles under his words, trying to fill her mind with Brittany's voice saying sweeter things, and allowing herself to take joy in that and not that man leading her through the warehouse.
They reach the main area of the building where Jesse keeps his 'office' and Brody ushers Santana into the room gesturing his head to the chair in front of the desk that Jesse is currently sitting at. Santana takes her seat and primly crosses one leg over the other.
"Ahh, dear Maria, you have returned unscathed I see, and within the time limits." Jesse greets Santana, a maniacal smirk pulling at his lips as he leans forward and lays his folded hands on the desk in front of him.
"I managed to re-obtain the Cayman after the Pierce crew had successfully stolen it." She begins to explain and Jesse's eyebrow quirks.
"Oh so it is true then? Brittany Pierce was successful in boosting the car first?"
Santana nods, she knows Jesse's not looking for anything more than that.
"We had been wondering what was taking you so long, especially since you'd assured me that you were by far the best booster in this crew. I remember you claiming you were even better than Pierce." Jesse's eyebrow remains quirked in challenge, and Santana's body runs cold knowing his statement is just another test. It's a challenge of sorts, where on one end if Santana asserts her original claims she would appear to have been lying at first, but if she denies them than Jesse sees her as weak, either way it's lose/lose in St. James dangerous eyes.
She steels her features, presenting her very best bitch façade, "Look, I let Pierce steal the car first to get past the alarm system. Not because I wasn't capable, but because I had hoped that maybe she'd trip some alarm and make everything that much easier for us. Second, I followed her back to her base of operation and studied her and her crew's methods, thus giving us another advantage. And when everyone had gone off to dream land, I stole the car out from under their noses, proving your crew's superiority once again. I did you a favor."
"She has a point Jesse, it was probably the better call."
"Yeah, Pierce won't know what hit her."
Two voices simultaneously join the conversation. Santana's eyes flicker to the doorway and see Brooke enter, giving Santana the barest nod of acknowledgement, and another man whom she's never seen before but who looks strangely familiar. Both in his posture and physical features.
"Ah, Brooke my dear, always with impeccable timing." Jesse greets his 'lady' as she steps further into the office and perches on the edge of the desk, facing Santana. "And Maria, I'd like you to meet our newest member…well let's just call him Warbler for now."
The lanky man that looks very familiar to Santana takes a step further into the room, his hair spiked in the front, his eyes beady, and a impish smirk pulled across his lips. He nods in Santana's direction.
"Pleasure to meet you…Maria was it?"
Santana doesn't miss the skeptical edge that laces this man's tone, but she nods nonetheless, "That's right." She replies, forgoing shaking his hand. It's the more proper thing to do in Jesse's crew anyway. Warbler simply smirks wider and leans back against the door, his tall lean frame fitting against it perfectly as he shoves his hands in his blue business suit pockets.
"So Maria, while I will agree that you have a very good point, we are faced with quite the conundrum now." Jesse speaks up and Santana's eyes flash back to his, arching in question.
Jesse's maniacal smile grows wider as he brings his hands, pushed together as if praying, and rests them just below his chin, "If you've bested what was considered our top competition, how are we to recruit them now?"
Santana's eyes go wide for a moment, before Brooke cuts in, "Actually Jesse, I was thinking about that too. I think I have a pretty good idea of what we can do." She says, turning back to face the curly haired boss before providing her plan.
Santana sits, counting the seconds down until she can be safely in Brittany's arms again.
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Brittany hears Santana before she sees her girl, a smile crossing her face as she rushes out of the garage to greet the Agent Orange Nissan as it pulls up onto the concrete just in front of the shop door. But almost immediately, Brittany realizes something isn't right.
She rushes to Santana's side, opening the door to find a distraught and on the brink of tears Santana.
"Jesus, what the fuck did he do to you? I'll kill him."
Santana shakes her head, "We have to go inside to talk, and you have to act like we aren't cordial. I think he sent someone to follow me this time, so it's not safe talking out in the open."
Brittany nods and steps back, allowing Santana to step from the car, folding her arms over her chest in an effort not to reach out and hold her. She gestures towards the shop and Santana nods, following Brittany there. When they get into cover, Santana wraps her arms around Brittany and kisses her deeply, taking the taller woman by surprise and causing her to fall back slightly with a grunt.
She manages to catch her balance before they fall much further than the couch in the shop, and even then Santana's lips don't detach from Brittany's as her full body weight rests on top of the woman. A few minutes of Santana's lips brushing across pink lips and Santana's tongue snaking out and tangling with Brittany's, they break from the kiss with a wet smack and a whimpered moan.
"Fuck Santana, not that I don't appreciate that greeting, but what's going on?"
Santana sighs, "Well Jesse's offered you another challenge."
"I don't give a crap about that guy. I'm asking if you're okay." Brittany says as she cups Santana's cheeks and looks into her eyes. Santana nods and pecks Brittany's lips again.
"I'm definitely better. It's a good thing Jake and Brooke are there with me, because Jesse's a psycho. He was pissed that you'd stolen the car first, but at the same time happy about the notion. Brooke ended up proposing another challenge for the Pierce crew, or rather just you, because he really wants to see your skills in person and deem you worthy enough." Santana explains, air quoting the last words.
Brittany's eyebrow furrows, "Okay so what's he going to have me do? Race again? Boost something else? Kick his manservant in the face?"
Santana chuckles at Brittany's utter dislike of Brody, she doesn't blame her but shakes her head, "Actually it's something a lot more domesticated, well at least in terms of crime. But I think you'll like it."
"Oh?"
"He wants to challenge you in a poker game. Just you and him playing, and if you beat him, he partners with you and you're in."
Brittany smirks at Santana's words, "Really? Poker in Vegas? Wow, that's original." She states with an eye roll and Santana chuckles before Brittany continues, "I can take that asshole."
After a moment, Brittany's eyes turn serious, as she shifts her and Santana so they are lying on their sides, face-to-face on the couch and asks, "He's not hurting you is he?" concern written all over her face.
Santana shakes her head. "No. I'm just there as arm candy for Brody."
Blue eyes narrow at this but Santana reassures Brittany with a kiss, "I just stand next to him and have to listen to his irritating droning." She explains before leaning in to connect their lips.
"Good," Brittany mumbles against Santana's lips as she pulls back, "Because if anyone so much as touches what's mine I'll go Rambo on their ass's."
Santana smiles before leaning in and kissing her again. "He won't, and you won't have to. But it's super hot knowing you would."
What does it all mean? I don't know…you tell me! No really, I'm really interested to know what you think is happening. Thanks y'all as per usual! Till next time.
Also I'm going to shamelessly plug about my other story: There's No One Else Like Me, it's a fascinating story about a shy!Brittany and adorable!Santana, getting to know each other and possibly falling in love. You should check it out...if you want!