With you on my shoulder
By HeartofSummer
Genre: Brittany and Santana romance
Copyright: Playing around with these awesome characters for fun. If only I owned them and got paid for it.

A/N: Me and my beta reader Jasse had a half an hour discussion about what exactly Santana would say to Bailey... so, please tell me if it was good enough for you, and please come with ideas what she should do to the poor dog!

Chapter 6: Vitamin D

(Brittany)

I saw Santana flinch in the mirror, her eyes darkening as she concentrated on plucking her right brow. For once I wasn't mesmerized by a cheerleader's behind, but I was more concentrated on the expressions in her eyes in the reflection. She noticed me looking then, and gave a raise of her frshly plucked eyebrow. I winked at her, making that tickling smile tug at the side of her lips as she tried to stop it, before turning my back towards her. Then I breathed out deeply, before taking a hold of my foot and raising my leg high up into the air.

Rachel came in, and I gave her a side look before pushing my leg even straighter. Holding her hands together in front of her like that with those clothes made her look like a worried teacher and the lost kindergarten boy at the same time.

"Okay girls, we need to get started."

"We're getting warmed up." Santana's soft and annoyed voice told me that Rachel had startled her. Not that she would let it show, of course.

"Where's Quinn?" I knew everyone was expecting Santana to answer, but instead I repeated the words that had come out of her mouth when I'd asked her the same thing this morning.

"Probably down at the mall, looking for elastic waist pants." I smiled cheekily at that, trying not to laugh, looking at Santana as she turned around, giving me a encouraging smile and a nod. The girls laughed and I felt my heart race with the excitement. It was the first time I really felt seen by the others in glee club. Rachel wasn't happy, but I didn't care much for her. Neither did anyone else, that I knew of. Besides, she was mean to everyone, and I didn't like that. And it wasn't like Santana, she was just being honest. At least, that's what she always told me.

After the show I was laughing and clapping along with the rest of them.

The boys had been amazing! In the beginning I had been crossing my arms over my chest, trying not to take on the explosion of sounds, but I'd quickly been pulled into it. Finn and the others had been so full of energy, I'd just wanted to join them so badly up on the stage.

I pulled the bangs out of my eyes, feeling Santana's upper arm graze against mine.

"Awesome guys!" Mr Schuester looked like he was going to pee in his pants.

"That was so camp rock!" I mumbled out loud, and Santana laughed beside me.

"I'm s-s-so in l-love wit Art-t-tie!" Tina said to Mercedes in a hushed whisper, and me and Santana happily swung our legs on the side of the table.

"I wonder if he would give me a ride." I said to Santana, smiling. She rolled her eyes at me and I nodded my head sideways, pretending to be checking him out.

"You ladies better bring it tomorrow, otherwise..."

No, that wouldn't happen. I felt Mercedes look at me, and when I had a quick look in Tina's direction, her smile had faded. It had been a joke, but maybe I'd said something wrong. Truth be told, I'd always wanted to try being in a wheelchair... and I had a lot of reasons pointing to the fact that Artie was a robot from outer space.

I noticed Rachel's bitter frown. She stared at the guys as if she was trying to set them on fire. They were kind of already on fire, but I didn't mention that. Instead I let my arm brush against her, hoping to reassure her in my cheerleading glory.

"It'll be fine." But no, Rachel didn't look fine. And I thought she wasn't when she was telling us over and over again for about an hour how good they'd been.
I assumed she wasn't when we were all swallowing those pills in the office of the scary new school nurse who, juts like Miss Pillsbury, had the hots for Mr. Schuester.
I knew it when we were rehearsing steps that Rachel had come up with, as I made suggestions followed by a roar of positivity.
I defiantly knew she wasn't when she suggested we would all wear yellow and headbands to match her song choices. It was sometimes by then that I also knew that none of us other girls were fine either, because it was something none of us usually would be caught dead in.

But neither of that really mattered, because we really did feel fine. We felt more than fine, we all felt awesome. It was like being drunk times a hundred, without the barfing and feeling sick afterwards. Me and the others had never been as close, everything anyone said was hilarious and we had the energy to practice all Thursday afternoon, and then the whole lunch break at Friday.

And when we danced... it was like we were all parts of the actual sun, bouncing off of shiny surfaces in the summer. Every move I made radiated with light and the guys staring made me even more excited, showing off more of what was under my skirt than I needed to.

Besides that, there was one thing that stood above everything else in being so high on life. It was the way Santana looked. Her every move caught onto me, and I moved with her. Every time she touched me the hummingbirds seemed to shoot up into the sky of my chest like fireworks, only to burst into a hundred new ones.

After the performance we ran out of there, hand in hand, getting our bags and giving everyone hugs, which was so unlike us. I loved hugs, but Santana said cheerleaders saved theirs for other cheerleaders and boys, so I'd stopped.

Then, with our bags and yellow sun dresses on we rushed out to my car. Katy Perry's voice boomed out of the stereo as I started the engine, and I started to shout out the words as we left the parking lot.

"I kissed a girl, and I liked it!" I felt more giggly then usually, singing those words. It was like everything in my mind was covered in yellow duckling feathers. Shiny, fluffy and bright in my head and in my chest. I felt her eyes on me, and it made me sing even louder, wanting to tell her that I did like kissing her, so much.

"It felt so wrong, it felt so right!" I shouted, not caring that the lyrics stated that I wasn't in love. In this exact moment, it didn't matter. What mattered was that we had kissed and that I had liked it.

"I liked it!"

Me and Santana tumbled through the door in a fit of giggles, met by Bailey's excited barks and jumps. Then there they all were, and Santana became a little less giggly and a little shy. She reached out her hand to take my dad's hand, and he shook it with a steady shake. My dad was a veterinarian, so he was used to handling shy animals.

"Santana Lopez," he said in his brass tube voice. "You've grown into a full fledged female, haven't you?" I looked at Santana, who laughed a little.

"I guess I have, Mr. Pierce." Dad's eyes crinkled like they always did when he liked someone.

"Oh, call me Bernard if you don't mind. Everyone always call me Dr. Pierce at the office, and it makes me sick of it at the end of the day. Here we're all family." He spread his hands, and patted Santana's shoulder. She was ready for it, since she's been getting those shoulder pats ever since we were small and she's been protecting me. She rocked slightly, but stood her ground. That made my dad's eyes crinkle even more.

"Fine, I wouldn't want you get sick when we're gonna eat Silke's awesome lasagne," Santana grinned, making mum and dad laugh. Then, behind mum, my little sister took a peek.

"Hi there, Daphne. Is that really you?" Mum stepped aside, leaving Daph exposed. She looked a little panicky, before swallowing hard and reaching out a hand.

"Yep, that's me. Is that really you?" Santana laughed, taking my sister's hand in hers, shaking it like she was an adult too. "It really is me. You're a person now and not just a baby anymore," she stated.

"Of course I'm no baby!" Daphne exclaimed, wide eyed. "I'm turning 11 this September!"

"Oh, definatly not, then. The things I did when I was 11! You're getting old!" Daphne gave her a "are-you-serious?" -look, before smiling at me.

"I like her, sis. Now could we please eat? I'm starving. Santana, could you sit by me? Santana, Brittany, do you see the plates and the napkins? I set the table all by myself. Mum always makes me do it, so I'm practically and expert at it now. Maybe I should go to other families and set their tables for money. Santana, do you like bunnies? Because we have one, and he would love to meet you, I just know it!"

All this she said in one breath, typically Daphne and I looked over at Santana as we sat down, wondering how she took it. Some people thought it was annoying, but she was smiling slightly. It suited her.

"So tell me now, ladies. Why are you both dressed in yellow?" Dad asked us, and I leaned into the table, giving Santana the salad while starting to tell them about our performance. Santana soon joined in, and we both talked like sis, finishing each others sentences and laughing loudly, not really caring if something wrong slipped out. It was like we were winding forward really fast, and didn't stop to think what we were actually saying. But my parents listened, and nodded and mum told us about her new muffins selling and dad told us about the strange patients he'd gotten today, and it was all really, really nice.

As we ate and laughed at Daphne's animated story about her best friend Peter putting pees up his nose, my hand searched for Santana's thigh under the table. She let her fingers brush against the back of my hand, before entwining her pinky with mine, shooting me a side glance. I smiled, trying to eat my food but having a hard time swallowing and smiling so brightly at the same time.

Santana felt like a part of my family, a part of my home. And I knew I always wanted her here, because somehow during all of these years, she'd been a missing piece... without any one of us ever even noticing it. You know, the way you always have one more chair at the table, in case you have a guest, but it's not just for any guest but you're thinking of a special person when you buy that chair. People rarely sat in the same chair when there was guests over anyway, but when it was just me, Daphne and my parents we had our same seats and that one was always left unseated, as if it was meant for someone special. It was Santana's chair.

After dinner and three pieces of mum's amazing chocolate and strawberry cake, me and Santana went up to my room. Santana said she wanted to inspect my wardrobe, and I didn't mind.

Bailey went after us with her happiest smile, and I knew she liked Santana a lot. She looked up at her all of the time, before looking at me and doing her eyebrow dance. I think she was really curious about my new, good smelling friend.

"You have to meet Mittens!" I shouted as I got up the stairs, running down the hall to my room. Santana laughed behind me, starting to run too. I threw myself on the bed so that Mittens sat up in a sleepy I-just-woke-up-from-my-really-nice-nap haze and blinked at me. I gave scratched the side of her ear, and she closed her eyes again, relaxing into my hand and purring loudly. I looked up to smile, and saw Santana standing and leaning against the door, having shut Bailey out, staring at the room and then me.

"This is totally up my alley." I felt my chest swell with pride.

"Yeah, she's awesome."

"No, I-" she paused, smiling. "Well, yeah, but your room, BrittBritt!"

My high didn't allow me to feel down about my misinterpretation.

"Oh!" I giggled back. "Come here and cuddle Mittens." Santana, unlike with Bailey, took three full strides, plopping down on my bed and stuck her face close to my cat. Mittens sniffed her politely, before reaching out and rubbing her cheek. Santana closed her eyes at that and I could hear her breathe in. She looked... for the first time I think, she looked peaceful. I leaned down too, using it as an excuse to breathe in her cinnamon and jasmine smell, and put my face close to mittens. Santana opened her eyes and stared right into mine, making me think of the sun shining through a glass of coke. Bubbly, tempting and so tasty.

"Wardrobe!" she exclaimed, winking at me and hopping up to fling the doors wide open. She ran her fingers through my dresses and shirts. I lay back, patting Mittens and just watched her.

I felt like I'd poured the colour of her eyes into my mouth, and that it was now boiling inside me.

She went to my mirror, opening my jewellery box, and yelped.

"Britt, you still have this?" Before I knew it I had left the bed and was tsanding beside her. She turned around, holding our old friendship bracelet between her fingers. I touched it.

"Of course, San. I still wear it sometimes when I'm scared," I revealed in a whisper. She was looking at me, I felt it, but I didn't look up to see her reaction. Instead I let my fingers move from the bracelet to across her thumb, then against her wrist, carefully stroking. I felt her breathe in a shaky breathe, and I looked up to see those eyes burning holes through mine. I bet she wasn't used to not taking the first step, and even though the sunny pill helped me to be bolder, like the princes in the fairytales, I knew I would've done this sooner rather than tomorrow.

She opened her mouth slightly, as if to say something, but then she stayed quiet, almost closing her eyes as my fingers tickled her arm and shoulder. Up and down and around and oh, the way her eyelids were moving at my touch. Her, long black hair flowing over her shoulders, and I gently pushed them aside. Santana held her breathe, it seemed. I felt shaky with excitement as she looked up at me, and I stepped that one step closer and leaned to her side to smell her neck.

As I did the coke had reached my hummingbirds, and caffeine was really bad for them. They started climbing on the walls of my stomach, and the seconds where I stood there taking it all in I realized that her skin also smelled like crushed almonds. I felt that the moments before taking the first step hurt like when you get stung by a wasp. Kind of like cramps, pulsating, but in my chest. But it was the good kind – like when you do sit-ups and it burns and is a pain, but in the end your stomach's flatter. I though of how my heart would be fuller, and then I leaned forward, trying to give her a light kiss on her neck.

She let go of her breathe, and I kissed her skin again, and again, and again, and again crawling up towards her ear... She was burning my lips, and I added some tongue and teeth, wanting to actually taste her. She put her hands in my hair and on my arms, then after her slightly muffled noise, like a cat saying hello, she took a hold of my cheek, pressing my face to hers, immediately catching my lips, holding them there, shaking. I forgot to think.

We both moaned quietly and I felt Santana's mouth hard against mine, kissing again and her hands on my hips and then there was a bang on the door and a bark and we sprung apart. My hand covered my mouth, and Santana put her arms across her chest, and we both stared at sweet Bailey who'd been shut out and had somehow gotten the handle pushed down. She hated being left out. Maybe it was time she learned that she couldn't be here when I was doing grown up stuff. And it was time to get the key to that lock on the door.

"Santana, sis!" Daphne appeared in the doorway, and Bailey stepped aside, smiling at her and then at me and Santana. "Could we play PS2, pleeeeaaaaassseee!" I glanced at Santana, who met my eyes, and then looked away, putting the bracelet on the bureau, nodding. Daphne had definatly noticed our quietness.

"Why are you so quiet, and why are you all read in the face? Have you two been talking about boys...? Or well, other stuff... Or, oh my god, have you been talking about kissing?"Santana smiled at that, and I ignored my little sister.

"Sure, Daphne. How about Buzz?" I loved that game.

"Oh okay. I'll get Pan!" She disappeared down the hall and I followed, giving Santana a glance. She was walking past the dog with an evil look in her eye, whispering;

"Oh, it's on." I stopped at that, but seeing Daphne stopping to wait for us down the hall, I just waited for her to come up beside me before whispering the question.

"Santana, what's on?" She ignored me, but I asked her again. "What's on?"

"Nothing, BrittBritt. So, what's Buzz?" I forgot it then and there, starting to jump up and down.

"Oh, it's the best game ever! It's so awesome I could die!"

I ran down the stairs, Santana and Bailey behind me, and we both ran past mum and dad on the living room couch to the other side of the living room, to the play station area. We plopped into the sofa, leaving the armchair for Daph.

"Where did she go?" Santana asked, pulling her legs up beside her, and I stretched out my feet so that they almost touched hers, pretending like I wasn't planning to do it.

"Santana, Santana! This is Pan!"

"Speaking of the devil," Santana muttered, and looked at the rabbit in Daphne's arms. He looked like a fluffy apricot of some kind, all beige and lovely with his two huge black eyes.

Daphne sat on our feet, and I quickly pulled mine away.

Pan turned his head towards Santana, and I could see him pushing with his back legs to get a proper look.

"Pan, as in Peter Pan?" Santana laughed. I gave her a serious face, wondering why she thought he looked like Peter Pan. Our Pan wasn't red haired.

"No, short for Pancakes." Santana's eyes looked into mine, and she went serious too.

"Oh."

"Do you want to hold her?" My little sister asked, pushy as always.

"Nah, thanks. I'm good. Are we playing this or what?" So while I turned on the game and gave everyone controls, I managed to get Daphne to put down Pancakes on the floor to jump around while she sat in the armchair so we wouldn't see what buttons she would push.

Then I sat back, and as we started the game I let my toes touch the upper side of her foot. I felt Santana shiver slightly, before rubbing her feet more against mine.

"What kind of animal is Oliver from the Disney movie "Oliver & Company"?"

"I know this one, I know this one!" I cried, pushing the orange button over and over again. Santana's laugh rang out beside me.

"Geesh, wonder what that could be." Santana said, rolling her eyes at me, tickling the underside of my feet, and I wondered if this was all the work of those vitamins. Because if it were, I wanted at least ten more packages.

A/N: Please give me inspiration to keep writing by telling me what you think!

I'm always interested in suggestions and discussions so don't hesitate to tell me!