The days pass slowly as I await what's to come at the end of the week. Brittany has kept her word in not saying anything and the anticipation of the surprise is giving me high blood pressure. I don't like surprises. They never end up good for me and it always ends one of two ways: me yelling at someone or the person who surprised me crying.
Most of the time it's both.
I have a hard time believe that I would yell at Brittany though and hopefully I don't make her cry.
Unless it's the good kind of crying.
She has put a lot of planning into this from what I hear. Mostly from Rachel because she is Brittany's roommate. She keeps telling me that she knows something that I don't and it's really starting to piss me off.
"Rachel, please," I beg, cradling my head in my hands. "I get it. She told you her plans and if you're not gonna tell me, then will you please shut the hell up?"
"I am going to tell you," Rachel swings her leg over one of the stools to sit down next to me.
"Really," I peek at her from between my fingers.
Rachel purses her lips, smiling devilishly at me. "Of course not!" she exclaims and my head falls down to the counter top with a thump. Rachel gives me a pat on the shoulder. "You'll love it though," she tells me and I have no control over the groan that spills from my lips.
"Just save me alone," I push away from the counter. I walk to the freezer to grab a Popsicle.
Brittany hates grape, so she left them all for me because grape is my favorite one. Well, second favorite. Cherry is my first favorite, but Brittany eats all of those.
"You guys are so weird eating Popsicles in the middle of winter," Rachel shakes her head as she flips through a magazine on the counter. Probably a Broadway magazine.
I hum out a response as I make my way down the hall and into Brittany's bedroom, wanting to rid myself of Berry's presence. I shut the door behind me before turning to sit on the very edge of Brittany's bed. I bounce my legs up and down as I look around her room, my eyes stopping to narrow at the large duck that has seen us having sex more times than I care to admit.
At least he got a good show.
This room is still lacking Brittany's unique personality even though she has been living here more than half a year now. I lie back on Brittany's bed, thinking about her room back home in Lima with all the stars up on her ceiling and I feel my face stretch into a huge smile. H er room feels empty without it and I bet Brittany misses it. I remember how her voice sounded when she first told me about it in her bedroom during our first night together in Lima.
I sit up quickly, an idea coming to me as the blood rushes to my head. I ignore it and head back out into the kitchen to tell Rachel, because she is the only one here, about my idea.
"Rach- hey baby," my words get cut off when I see Brittany sitting beside Rachel in the kitchen. I swallow down the words that were about to spill from my mouth, hoping that Brittany doesn't notice.
Brittany gets up to give me a peck on the cheek, muttering a quick hello into my ear before disappearing into the bathroom.
"When did she get here?" I question, still sucking on my Popsicle.
"Like two seconds ago," Rachel looks up to me with a curious look in her eye.
"What?" I grow uncomfortable under her piercing gaze.
"Spill," she grabs my arms and pulls me to sit down. "You have three minutes and then Brittany will be back out. Well, probably two now," she looks down at her watch.
"What-?" I shake my head, deciding it's best not to ask how or why she knows that. "I just," I pause for a moment. "I had an idea for something to do for Britt," I wave it off. It's probably better that Berry doesn't know anyway.
She might not blab about Brittany's plans, but she doesn't like me as much. Sabotage is becoming Rachel's game lately and I won't let her win this time.
But thankfully Brittany returns from the bathroom and Rachel smiles to herself before going back to reading.
I finish the rest of my Popsicle before remembering that there is always a joke on them.
"Hey babe?" I stroll over to the chair Brittany is sitting on. I plop down on her lap, slinging an arm behind her back in the process. I hold the Popsicle stick in front of my face, making sure to turn away from Brittany so she doesn't see. "What kind of bird is always sad?"
Brittany looks up at me with curious eyes and a small smile playing on her lips.
"A blue bird," she answers, leaning up to place a peck to the tip of my nose.
"Yeah," I frown.
I was hoping that maybe it would take her a bit longer to guess.
"I just had that one last night," she tells me as she pulls me further into her lap, causing a surprised squeal to fall from my lips. Brittany buries her face into the crook of my neck. "Just a few more days," she whispers excitedly, placing a kiss behind my ear.
My heart flutters inside my chest at her words and I squeeze Brittany tighter.
"Did you bring Pip?" Brittany asks, lifting up her head to look at me.
"Uh..." I hesitate. "I-"
That would explain why I felt like I was forgetting something when I left my apartment earlier.
"You left her didn't you?" Brittany smiles. "Even though I texted you right before you left and told you not to forget."
"It's Quinn's fault," I try to defend myself. "She made me take out the trash before I left," I hang my head in shame. "Sorry," I puff out my lower lip, watching as Brittany rolls her eyes at me.
"It's fine," she sighs, reaching into my pocket to grab my phone. "But we need to leave right now, so we won't be late."
"Okay," I hop off Brittany's lap and extend my hand to help her up. "Let's do this."
/
"I hate doctors," I look around the small room that we were throw into about ten minutes ago, my knees bouncing up and down furiously.
I think it's the smell.
Yes.
That has to be it. It smells like sickness and torture.
It doesn't help that the room is mostly white and you are supposed to sit there on a cold table while some creepy doctor puts their hands on you.
I shudder at the thought.
I can't let that happen to poor little Pip. She's done nothing wrong.
I turn my head slightly to glance down to Brittany's lap. She is sitting there, calm as can be, taking a nap.
If only she knew.
"Santana," Brittany laughs, placing a hand on top of my closest leg, successfully stopping my erratic movements. "You're not seeing the doctor, you know that right?"
"I just don't understand why Pip isn't nervous. Do you know what they are going to do to you Pip?" I lean down to talk directly to the cat. "They are going to stick a thermometer up your butt and violate you," I turn to Brittany. "And then they are gonna tell us she needs her shots. I hate shots," I tell her as a shiver runs through my body.
"Shh," Brittany covers Pip's ears, "I told her she wasn't getting shots. And you are making me nervous."
My features soften as I see the look of worry flash into Brittany's eyes.
"I'm sorry," I reach for Brittany's hand, lacing our fingers together. "I just hate doctors," I relax in my chair and try to focus my attention on the show they have playing on Animal Planet and the way that Brittany's thumb is tracing along the edge of my wrist.
Its short lived when the door to the room swings open and a woman dressed in scrubs enters the room.
"Hello," the woman sighs out. "Sorry it took so long, I was with a rather difficult patient," she sets her things down on the table before snapping on a fresh pair of gloves. "Dr. Judy," she extends her hand out to Brittany.
"Brittany," Brittany states, shaking the woman's hand with a gentle smile on her face.
"Santana," I say flatly, noticing a few shots in the doctor's pocket.
"Are we the moms?" Dr. Judy reaches for Pip as Brittany nods her head. "She's so precious," she says in a baby voice, holding Pip close to her chest.
I look over to Brittany, giving her a wide eyed look to which Brittany just shrugs.
Pip is calm the whole time Dr. Judy is inspecting her. That is until she has to get a shot, but even then the cat reacted better than I would have in the same situation.
It's a good thing we are walking out of the building now because if I had to spend another second with that doctor, I probably would have taken a syringe and done some very inhumane things. Thankfully, Brittany was there to calm me down.
I don't know if it was the excitement of the day or there was something in the shot that Dr. Judy gave Pip, but she has hardly moved since we left the Vet. Brittany has her curled up in her arms with a tiny blanket that the vet provided us with since it's so cold outside and when we get back to my apartment, Brittany lays her down in her bed. To both of our surprise, she stays there. She never stays in her bed.
Brittany and I shrug it off, putting it down to the fact that she is probably just tired.
"Aren't you gonna take off your coat?" Brittany asks.
I stand in the middle of the kitchen, running my hand through my hair.
"No, uh..." I pause, trying to think of something to say. "I was gonna go to the store. Pick up a few things," Brittany starts to get up from her spot on the couch, but I hurry over to her, pushing her back down by the shoulders. "You stay," I tell her. "Sleep." I lean down to give Brittany a quick kiss, but she holds tight to the flap of my jacket, keeping my lips attached to hers.
My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline out of surprise because it was just supposed to be a quick kiss.
"Hurry back," she husks when's she finally releases me. Brittany runs her thumb along my bottom lip, wiping away the moisture from her own lips.
"I don't wanna go anymore," I lean back down to take Brittany's lips in my own.
Brittany sinks back into the cushions, as I sling my legs over her lap.
"Then don't," Brittany sighs against my mouth, her hot breath tickling my face before she takes in my bottom lip.
I kiss her a few moments more, until I remember why it felt so urgent to go in the first place. I detach my lips from Brittany's before resting my forehead against hers.
"But I have to," I tell her as I cup her face in my hands. Brittany juts out her bottom lip. I shake my head at her, smiling slightly before I lean forward a tiny bit to kiss her pout away. "I'll be quick," I hold up the pinky on my left hand. "Promise."
Brittany latches her pinky around mine and tilts her head up to give me a kiss goodbye.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" She asks softly, but I can see the way her eyes are struggling to stay open that she doesn't really wish to come, even though I know she would if I asked her to.
"Baby," I run my fingers through her hair. "You've had a long day," I mutter as I press a kiss Brittany's temple.
"So've you," she gives me a pointed look.
"Nah," I wave it off.
"You left for school at like six this morning," Brittany tells me through a yawn.
"And I took a nap during class."
"San," Brittany chastises me. "I knew we shouldn't have gone for round two last night."
"Shh, Brittany," I silence her with a kiss. "You can't just say things like that. And trust me, it was worth it," I smile to myself as I remember the night.
Brittany rolls her eyes at me, but rests her head against my shoulder.
"Take Pip and go sleep in my bed," I tell her.
Brittany gives a weak nod, wrapping her arms around my waist and pressing herself tighter against me.
"Pip isn't as warm as you," she says, taking a deep breath, "and she doesn't smell as good as you either," I can almost hear the frown in Brittany's voice.
"I'll be back in less than an hour."
I remove myself from Brittany's lap and walk into the kitchen to grab my purse and shout a quick 'I love you' to Brittany.
I wish Quinn was here so she could come with me, but I think I can manage this. It shouldn't be too hard to find glow in the dark stickers to make a constellation.
/
Well, I thought it wouldn't be hard. I have been to two different stores already and no one can help me find them. I've asked numerous sales people, but they all just look at me like I'm crazy. It can't be that uncommon of a product to have and I know Brittany isn't the only one who has those in her bedroom.
She might be the only adult that has them in her bedroom, but that's another story.
She's my girlfriend and she is going to have a unicorn constellation in her bedroom if it's the last thing I ever do.
Hopefully this hardware store has some of these mysterious glow in the dark dots. I have been up and down the same aisle more than a few times now and I'm starting to get looks from the employees.
The employees I have asked at the other places had no idea what I was talking about, so I thought I would take it upon myself to hunt them down this time.
Which is why when I see an elderly woman walking away, I duck my head and speed walk toward the lawn mower section. Hopefully she isn't fast enough to catch me.
Thankfully she isn't.
I can add out walking an elderly woman to my list of accomplishments in life.
I browse through the lawn mowers for a few minutes, trying to catch my breath. It's a big store and the lawn mowers are pretty much on the opposite side of the building from where I was.
"Cutting grass now?" A familiar voice sounds from behind me.
"Jesus!" My heart jumps in my chest as I turn around to find Brian standing there.
"Whoa," he laughs. "Didn't mean to scare you," he raises his hands up in defense. "I just-," his sentence stops short. "I saw you over here and I want to apologize," he sticks his hands in his pockets, finding his feet more interesting than me.
I chew on the side of my mouth, remembering how he reacted after I told him I was with Brittany. My arms cross in front of my body, a barrier being created between Brian and I. I narrow my eyes at him and wait for him to continue.
"I was just shocked I guess," he shrugs his shoulders. "Look, I mean-," he takes a moment to gather his thoughts. "We've done things," he lowers his voice.
"Brian," I hiss out, looking around for any prying ears.
"I'm just saying," he quickly replies. "But, like I said, I'm sorry," he lowers his chin to his chest again.
"Whatever," I roll my eyes, a slight smile pulling at my lips. "You better not ask if you can watch," I narrow my gaze again.
Brian's eyes meet mine again, finally allowing himself to grin.
"Deal," he nods his head. "So, why are you really here? Surely not for a lawn mower."
"A gift actually," I scratch the back of my head.
"For your girl?" Brian wiggles his eyebrows.
"Uh, yeah. Okay this is going to sound dumb, but do you know those stars you stick on your ceiling that glow in the dark?"
"Who doesn't?"
"A lot of people apparently," I scoff. "Do you know where I could find them?"
"Sorry dude," Brian shakes his head. "Why don't you ask someone?"
"No!" I all but shout at him. "No," I say quieter, clearing my throat. "I can handle it." I turn to walk away, but Brian grabs my wrist to stop me.
"We should hang out sometime."
"Does your definition of hanging out include making out? Cause I'm pretty sure my girlfriend wouldn't be okay with that."
"No, of course not," he pauses. "I mean- unless you want to? Ow!" Brian grabs his arm after I punch him. "I was joking."
"I'll see you around," I call to him as I start walking away and back to the aisles I was stalking before.
I go up and down again, making sure not to let my eyes skip over one item and just when I'm about to give up, I find what I'm looking for.
"Found you, you little shits!" I grab about five packages because I have no idea how many I need.
I can always return them if I have extras.
/
"Hey," Quinn greets me when I enter the apartment. "What in the bag-"
"Shh," I point over to the couch where I see Brittany is still sleeping.
"Oh," Quinn looks over her shoulder toward the living room. "She's been so quiet. I didn't see her. So what's in the bag?" She asks again through a whisper.
"A gift," I tell her as I shed my coat and hang it up on the rack next to the door.
"For Brittany?"
"Yes, for Brittany."
Who else would it be for?
"Do I get to know what it is? Or is it for private time?" Quinn wiggles her eyebrows.
"Shut up," I roll my eyes but take a seat at the table. I steal a grape off of Quinn's plate and pop it into my mouth.
"What happened to Pip," Quinn looks pat me into the living room while I turn my head to find her still sleeping soundly in her bed.
"She went to the vet today."
"Oh right," Quinn remembers. "Are you excited about the trip?"
"I would be more excited if someone told me where we were going," I frown. "Just give me a hint," I beg quietly so as not to disturb Brittany.
"Okay," Quinn whispers, motioning with her finger for me to come closer. "I'll give you a clue, but if she finds out you know, I'll deny everything." I nod my head furiously at Quinn's words. "She told me where you were staying, you know for emergencies and it's somewhere we've ways wanted to go. We talked about it in high school."
"Ugh, Quinn!" I groan. "That was so long ago. Can't you just tell me?"
Quinn shakes her head. "No, that's all I'm gonna say. I'm sure you can figure it out Santana."
"Figure what out?" Brittany calls from the living room.
Quinn's eyes widen as I look over my shoulder to find Brittany stretching herself out on the couch and rubbing the sleep for her eyes.
I look back to Quinn with an equally wide expression.
"Nothing babe, just a question for my psychology class."
Quinn mouths good cover to me before getting up and heading to take a shower.
"Are you gonna come sleep with me?" Brittany groans from the couch, but I hear the soft padding of her feet as she makes her way into the kitchen. It doesn't take long before her hands are sliding across my shoulders and underneath the material of my shirt. I tilt my head back, so Brittany can give me a kiss. "It's been over an hour and I tried to wait for you," she mumbles between kisses.
"I'm sorry," I tell her as I wrap a hand around the back of her neck to keep her close to me. "Let's go lay down."
Brittany nods her head against mine and we make our way down to my bedroom. We decide to leave Pip in her bed because she doesn't look like she wants to be moved at all.
/
"What are you doing babe?" Brittany asks plopping down on my bed.
"I'm packing, what does it look like?" I try shoving a pair of shoes into my luggage, but I've run out of room.
"But we aren't leaving until tomorrow," she tells me.
"Yeah," I say absentmindedly taking out a few things to make some room. "Wait, have you not packed yet?" I look over to Brittany who is playing on her phone. She shakes her head slowly. "Why not!"
"It won't take but five minutes," Brittany waves me off with her hand.
"I've been packing since yesterday and I'm still not done," I huff out.
"Yeah, but you're super particular about everything when you pack," Brittany sits up on her knees and crawls over to me. She takes the pair of shoes from my hands and just shoves them in there. "So, you should stop," she zips the bag halfway up. "And come talk to me about how excited you are to go on our first official vacation together."
Brittany leans forward to capture my lips in hers, her fingers coming up to tickle my sides. I giggle into her mouth as we fall back onto the mattress. Brittany's legs lock around the small of my back. I try to wiggle free from her embrace, but she's still tickling my sides.
"S-stop it!" I manage to push away from her, but she is crawling on top of me not a moment later.
At least she stopped tickling me.
Brittany smiles down at me, her features softening the longer she looks into my eyes.
"I love you," I tell her, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. Brittany nuzzles into my touch, turning her head slightly to place a kiss against the palm of my hand. "And I'm really excited," I whisper. "Even if I have no idea where you are taking me."
Brittany smiles, her eyes shining brightly as she sinks her body further into mine.
"Mmm," Brittany rests her forehead against my chest, placing a kiss to my collar bone before lifting her head back up to look at me. "I love you too and I wanna tell you so bad, but I can't because it'll ruin it for you. Well, it won't really, but still."
"Yeah, and since you didn't pack, we have to go out in the cold and go to your place now," I frown.
"And we are coming back here before we leave tomorrow, so I can say goodbye to Pip?"
"Of course," I kiss Brittany's temple.
/
We head over to Brittany's apartment a few minutes later, deciding it's better to walk the distance with the sun still out because it's a little warmer.
"Do you think we should get snacks?" Brittany questions from beside me. "Cause what if we get hungry in the hotel room and we don't have anything to eat?"
"I have you," I smirk.
"You know what I mean," Brittany rolls her eyes. "Let's stop in here," Brittany tugs my arm, pulling me in the direction of the convince store we just walked pasted.
Brittany and I go our separate ways as we each find some food to bring along on our journey. We meet back at the front of the store a few minutes later with Brittany holding a bunch of different candies in her arms.
"How are you so fit?" I laugh out noticing all the licorice and gummy bears Brittany has.
"These," she holds up the bag of licorice, "are low fat and I'm a personal trainer," she smirks. "I kinda work out for a living. And you're one to talk. Ms. Chips," Brittany nods her head down to the bag of chips in my hands.
"Whatever," I lightly shove her shoulder.
We pay for our snacks and make our way to Brittany's apartment complex.
When we get into Brittany's room, I see all the piles of clothes scattered across her room.
"What's all this?" I ask as I take a seat in her desk chair.
"My packing," she tells me proudly. Brittany walks over to her closet and pulls out a duffle bag. She stuffs all her clothes into it in a matter of two minutes. "See," she smile, "told you it wouldn't take long."
"You're done?"
"Mostly, I'll pack the rest when you get a shower tonight cause it's your gift and I don't want you to see it."
"So no sexy shower time?" I ask a little disheartened.
"Not tonight," Brittany shakes her head, "but we have plenty of time for that this weekend," she reminds me with a wink. "In fact, I'm counting on it."
/
Brittany is holding Pip while I try and find my carry-on bag for the flight. It's really early in the morning and I don't think I'm really even awake right now.
At least it doesn't feel like I am.
Everything is too quiet in the morning.
I tried to get into my apartment as quietly as I could, so I didn't wake up Quinn, not that I would really care that much if I did. Thankfully she left Pip in the living room, so I didn't have to go into Quinn's bedroom to get her.
Brittany and I still have about an hour before we have to get to the airport and Quinn offered to drive us there, so I'll be seeing her pretty soon anyway.
"Baby," Brittany calls, "Pip says you should stop for a minute and come sit with us." Brittany makes Pip wave her little paw at me.
I stop what I'm doing long enough to smile at the two of them.
"I'm almost done," I say softly.
I put a few more things into my bag and then I am laying down on the couch the next instant. I rest my head in her lap after I grab Pip and cradle her in my arms. Brittany runs her fingers through my hair while I gently massage Pip's head. Her eyes fall closed and I let out a small laugh at the sight.
I find myself thinking about how I'm going to miss the little fur ball.
Just then, Quinn comes down the hallway, letting out a loud yawn and she goes straight to the coffee pot. I watch as she pours herself a cup before she makes her way into the living room. She gives Brittany and I a nod in greeting when she sits down, reaching for the remote with one hand and bringing the cup to her lips with the other.
Quinn likes to watch the news in the morning and hearing the familiar sounds of the news anchors on the TV makes my eyes grow heavier.
The dull sounds of the TV slowly fade out the longer Brittany plays with my hair and before I know it I am being shaken awake from my sleep.
It wasn't long enough and I'm pretty sure I'm more tired now than I was when I fell asleep a while ago.
Brittany has to physically shake me to get me up. I groan, flipping myself over before I bury my face into Brittany's lap. Brittany giggles from above me, leaning down as best she can to kiss the back if my head.
"You can sleep in the car babe," she tells me softly. "And on the plane, but not when we get there. I need you awake then."
"Why?" I groan. "We should sleep. All day," I reluctantly roll back over and sit up when Brittany says she needs to pee.
"You'll be awake by the time we get there," Brittany assures me.
/
Brittany does all the talking at the airport, but she over looked the fact that I would eventually have to see the ticket. So, when she hands it to me, I can help the way my eyes widen slightly or the way I grab hold of Brittany's arm a little too tightly.
"Gah!" Brittany swipes my arm away. "What the hell?"
"You're! We're!" I have trouble forming words.
"Oh, right," Brittany looks down at the ticket. "Surprise!" she smiles brightly at me.
"Florida?! Babe! What? How did you afford this?" I ask, suddenly realizing that this couldn't be cheap.
"Don't worry about it," she leans her forehead against mine.
"It's gonna be so warm there."
"That's the point," she tells me. "But that's not the only surprise."
"I've got a surprise for you too, but you don't get it until we get back."
Quinn saw what was inside the bag that I brought home the other day and I told her what my plan was. I already had a picture and everything printed out so that I didn't have to go at it without any guidance. She said she would take care of it for me while we were gone, which I was thankful for because I really didn't think of how I would put it up without Brittany noticing.
Right now Brittany and I are seated in our terminal and we have to wait another hour or so before boarding starts. We start playing a game of eye spy, but that gets old pretty quickly, especially when there isn't much to look at except for a bunch of old people in their Hawaiian styled shirts and fanny packs.
Brittany gets sucked into a game on her phone and I end up just listening to my music as I hold onto Brittany's jacket sleeve since I can't hold onto her hand because she is using it for her game.
About ten minutes later I decide to get up and stretch my legs a bit. I was sitting cross legged in the chair and my legs have started to cramp up. I head over to the large window on the other side of the room and take a look outside. The sky is dark, thick clouds are rolling in. It's already drizzling and it doesn't look like it's going to clear up anytime soon.
With a heavy sigh, I go back to my seat. Brittany is still playing her game, so I rest my head in the palm of my hand and watch as her eyes dart back and forth across the screen.
"You're gonna make me die," she says, her eyes never leaving the screen and her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth. "See," she huffs out, finally meeting my gaze. "But I broke my record, so I'm not mad," Brittany stuffs her phone in her pocket and leans back in her chair.
"It's raining."
"Yeah?" Brittany yawns.
"It looks like it will storm." Brittany lifts her head up to look out the window across the way. "We might be stuck here for a while."
Soon enough, a man gets on the intercom, letting everyone know that the flight will be delayed until the storm clears out. Hopefully, it won't be too long.
After another hour and a half, which really isn't that long considering, the skies finally clear up and thank God they do because everyone is starting to get pissy, mostly myself, but that's just because I hate airports and I hate flying. I just hate the whole experience.
"Just three more hours." Brittany reminds me when we board the plane.