There Was a Girl
August, 2005
"Santana!" Quinn squeals, but her shouts are muffled by the laughter coming out of her. Her hands grip to the rope tighter and her eyes close as she spins faster and faster in circles. "Santana stop!" She giggles, her smile only grows when she hears the angelic giggles popping from her friend's mouths.
"Okay, okay." Santana chuckles, finally stepping back from the tire swing she's been twirling into circles trying to make Quinn spin round and round and round. She moves to stand beside Brittany, who is clutching her stomach in hysterics, and leans into her as the laughter takes her over too. "Open your eyes Q." She calls out to her friend who is starting to slow down now.
"I think that's the fastest ever." Brittany muses as her laughter subsides and her eyes widening as she takes in how long it has taken for the tire swing to unwind and slow down.
When it finally starts to only sway back and forth, the two girl's move forward and hold it still, letting Quinn dislodge her body from the hole in the tire. With one foot on the ground, she stumbles backwards, luckily caught by her blonde friend.
"Whoa." Quinn sighs out, the dizziness apparent in her voice as much as in her lack of coordination which garners another round of giggles. "I can't see… there's like, a million Santana's." She points over to said girl before tumbling into the ground and rolling on her back where she grabs at her sides as she laughs again.
"You can't even walk." Santana points at her as she wriggles on the ground, unable to catch her breath from amusement. Brittany nods in agreement and with a beaming smile, tugs at Santana's hand and pulls them both to ground to join Quinn.
"That was awesome." Quinn finally says after regaining her breath and clear vision. She turns her head towards Santana and smirks. "You're like, the bestest spinner ever S." She points out, reaching her hand out to grab her friend's.
"For realz." Brittany agrees, making Santana chuckle at how her bubbly buddy uses her city jargon. "Even better than my dad." She notes and this gets a nod from all three girls.
"Hey dumbo." A voice, a boys voice, interrupts them and all three girl's shade their eyes with their hands as they sit up to find the voices owner. Santana huffs and rolls her eyes at the boy, letting her hand drop to the ground behind her so he can fully see her glare. "Yeah, you." He motions to Brittany who jerks her head back and chances a glance at both of her friends.
"I'm not an elephant." She tilts her head to the side in confusion, a pout coming to her face when the boy laughs at her.
"What do you want Hudson?" Santana pushes herself up to a standing position, crosses her arms over her chest and cocks a hip to the side like she's seen her mom do a bunch of times. He looks away and over to the tire swing and makes a move over to it. "Hey!" She shouts and steps between him and the tire swing. "What do you think you're doing?" Quinn and Brittany are on their feet within seconds, standing behind the other girl and mirroring her intimidating stand as best they can.
"I was just gonna look at it." Finn spits back defensively, moving a step away from the three girls. "Geez."
"Well, get a good look State Puff, because you're totally not touching this thing." Santana informs him.
"Yeah, like never touching it." Quinn pipes up, getting a look from the dark haired girl a little in front of her and she smirks.
"So you should probably just go home, change your plastic sheets and let your mommy give you your evening bubble bath before we make it so you can't even touch yourself." Santana hisses, walking towards the boy to only make him stumble backwards until he turns around and sprints back down the road to his house.
"That. Was. Awesome!" Quinn cheers after Finn's figure completely vanishes over the tiny hill of the south service road. Santana smirks, shrugs her shoulders and spins to face her partners in crime.
"No biggie." She smiles at both of the girls; finally letting her arms uncross and fall to her sides.
Smile
September, 2011
"What are you wearing?" Aunt Linda asks, nearly spitting out her coffee. Santana scrunches her eyebrows and looks down at the outfit she has on.
"What?" She brings her eyes back up to her aunt's face in confusion. "You told me to dress up." Santana reminds her making Aunt Linda laugh.
"And you picked that out? You're not going out clubbing, you're going to church." Aunt Linda explains, shaking her head side to side, hands on her hips and her eyes raking over the 'outfit' her niece currently has on, which consists of a rather short and as very tight fitting dress that is low cut at the top leaving nothing to the imagination. The cardigan she has over it hides nothing.
"I know." Santana shrugs her shoulders and brushes by the older woman and pulls the refrigerator door open. "And I figured that since, well, according to the bible beaters 'round these parts, I'm going to burst into flames as soon as I step foot onto holy ground, I may as well look decent when I arrive at the fiery gates of the underworld." She explains, bending over to grab a bottle of water. She glances at her aunt who is glaring at her. "I look hot, don't hate."
"That's not what one wears to church Santana." Aunt Linda tells the young girl.
"Says who?" Santana challenges and stands up straight to look her aunt in the eye. "If I remember correctly, the Bible does not have a section titled 'do's and don'ts for Sunday's best'." She mocks, but she can't shake the stare down from her aunt. "Look," She begins with a long sigh, finally averting her eyes from the older woman and closes the refrigerator door as a distraction. "This is the longest dress I own." She admits with a huff and rolls her eyes causing Aunt Linda to flinch.
"What about pants or jeans?" Aunt Linda inquires only to get a quirked eyebrow in response.
"Yeah…" Santana drawls out. "I don't." Is all she says, shaking her head from side to side and walks by her aunt towards the living room.
"After church we're going shopping!" The older Lopez calls out and Santana waves her off.
"Yay." She mumbles to herself with faux enthusiasm.
It's nearly nine in the morning and Santana can think of a million and one places she'd rather be than in Aunt Linda's truck, thighs sticking to the leather of the seat and on the way to church. One place in particular is dream land and the other is Boston, though, if being honest right about now she'd pick dream land.
When they pull down the block where the church is located she notices her aunt slow down the truck, her hands twisting lightly around the wheel and her head looking from side to side. She mutters something to Santana about keeping an eye open for a spot but the younger girl is too busy inspecting her cuticles to really care on whether they get a good spot, a spot at all or if they are late for the early morning sermon or mass whatever it is they do in this church.
The last time Santana was in a church was for her confirmation and it was just when her parent's divorce was finalized. Her father had the audacity to invite his 'girlfriend' at the time and it was a very awkward lunch following the ceremony. She remembers sitting in her white dress next to her mother and across from the woman who was, at the time, with her father. At first she hated the other woman because she had thought, for the longest time, that it was her fault that her family was all screwed up.
But, as she got older she came to understand that it wasn't the other woman's fault at all and that it was her parent's fault. Love was crap and all it does, in her life anyway, is drive people apart. If love was enough then her parent's would still be happily married, her brother would visit once and a while and there would be no stupid Patti being a c-u-n-t. But life blows, it's like a bad hand at poker just when you've been on a roll and decide to put everything you got into the pot. It takes it all and leaves you with nothing.
She's taken out of her musings at the sound of Aunt Linda's truck coming to a very loud and squeaky halt just at the corner of Charles Avenue, the street that holds the church. There are families walking by them on the sidewalk smiling and all dolled up in their slacks, button downs, sun dresses and a lady with white gloves holding her bible close. With a roll of her eyes she pulls the lever that is the door handle and pushes the door open, creaking as it does so.
Aunt Linda meets her around the truck on the sideway and tries her best to close the cardigan Santana has on but gives up after a few tries. She huffs and crosses her arms over her chest when her aunt turns around to lead her towards the church where people are congregating outside on the small staircase. Basically everyone from Knox City High School are here with their families and Santana is desperately hoping that none of them try and say 'hi' to her and try to introduce her as the new girl. She's going to church and that's enough 'niceness' for the day.
Of course her plans are altered when she hears her aunt greeting someone with a joyous 'hello' and she clenches her jaw really praying to whoever is listening that she does not have to play the part of the 'friendly' niece. Lucky for her, when she looks up she locks eyes with a pair of hazel ones she has just recently become reacquainted with. Quinn smiles as she steps down to the sidewalk and Santana nods, her arms loosening from her chest as the other girl approaches.
"Didn't think I'd see you here." Quinn says in that soft way she speaks and Santana glares at her aunt, unbeknownst to her of course, and shakes her head. Quinn chuckles at the nonverbal response and nods in understanding and she unconsciously looks Santana up and down. "I take it you didn't think you'd see you here either." She points out with a smirk.
"Wasn't really on my top ten." Santana sighs out and looks around at the other people standing around them.
"And you remember my niece Santana." Aunt Linda's voice comes into her ears at the sound of her name and she jerks her head in the direction it came from. Aunt Linda is motioning towards her with a huge smile on her face. Santana unglues herself from the spot she's been standing in since they arrived and takes a place beside her aunt. "Santana, these are Quinn's parents." They smile back at her politely, Mrs. Fabray doing her best not to blatantly look the girl up and down.
"It's so nice to see you again dear." Quinn's mom says and she seems sincere enough so Santana nods, forcing a smile to her lips. "I can tell you that Quinnie was so excited to hear that you were going to be staying here for the year." Santana's eyes flicker to her aunt who still has that slap happy smile on her face.
"Yeah." She finally speaks and that only seems to make Judy Fabray grin even wider making Santana fear that she may have just opened the door for more questions and comments. Thankfully, she is saved by a booming voice from behind her.
"Russell." A man greets loudly, his voice is deep but is oddly soothing. When everyone looks over her shoulder at where the voice came from, she turns around in curiosity to find a tall, blonde haired man walking to where they are standing. "What time did you close up shop last night? I tried to get there to help but I was so busy at the dealership." Santana quirks an eyebrow as she watches the interaction between the two men.
Mrs. Fabray continues to talk animatedly with Aunt Linda who, when she brings up shopping, pulls Quinn into their little circle of 'girl talk'. Beside the tall man, who is still talking to Mr. Fabray about shops and things, appears a blonde woman of average height, her hair perfectly done in an up do and her makeup done just so, that it looks natural. The woman looks over her shoulder and mumbles something in a hushed voice, her hand making a quick but subtle motion by her hip and when Santana raises her eyes she spots Brittany.
Santana realizes that clearly, this woman is Brittany's mother, the same woman who brushed her off the other day as if she had never known the young girl. She remembers when they were younger and Mrs. Pierce would always yell at Brittany for getting grass stains on any of her clothes, for messing up her hair even the slightest and the time she said she wanted to be a professional motocross rider. The woman was so strict and so old school when it came to gender roles it was actually surprising to Santana that someone as free spirited as Brittany was as a kid actually came from Annie Pierce.
Brittany's blue eyes flicker up from the front of her dress where her mother is complaining about something and locks eyes with Santana. She smiles at her and playfully rolls her eyes at the fact that her mother is fixing her dress. Santana rolls her eyes in return and shrugs her shoulders.
She suddenly feels that awkward tension when the talking stops and all eight of them are standing in silence. Mrs. Pierce is the first to make a move, grabbing her husband by the elbow and nudging Brittany in the shoulder so they can make their way inside. The woman doesn't even spare a glance at Judy Fabray who used to be over at the Pierce's annual end of the summer barbeque every single year. Brittany, before she follows her parents through the double doors of the church, glances over her shoulder to both Quinn and Santana and smiles.
The Fabray's and the Lopez's follow suit, albeit a few minutes later, and head on up the steps and into the church finding seats beside each other. Quinn sits next to Santana and leans over to whisper something about how Mrs. Pierce is the 'ice queen' of Knox City. Santana can totally attest to these feelings and finds the name to be quite suitable, especially when she chances a look over on the other side of the aisle to where the Pierce's are sitting to catch the matriarch of the family staring at her outfit, openly judging her.
Santana wonders if Brittany's mom was always like this. So rigid and just a straight up bitch, and maybe it's a bit premature to categorize her neighbor as a bitch but being one herself, Santana can hone in on other bitches easily. Her attention is stolen from giving Mrs. Pierce a hard and well deserved stare down, even if she is unaware of it, by something falling in to her lap. When she looks down she finds that Quinn is trying to hand her the hymn book and it's quite hard to stifle a chuckle that's a mix of a laugh and a huff.
"Just open it and mouth the words." Quinn whispers in her ear with a shrug of her shoulders. "I do it all the time."
It's not a bad idea, she's faked more than enough things in her life. As she flips through the pages absentmindedly she thinks about how weird it must be for Quinn to be sitting in church, gold cross around her neck, parents to her right and a best friend forbidden to see her just a few feet away. She is sure it's not lost on the other people sitting in this church that Quinn had a baby, the whole 'I had a big lunch' line can only work for so long until people start to wonder.
For an hour and a half Santana follows Quinn's lead, standing when being asked to stand and even when not asked, kneeling when being asked to and not, and pretending to sing the words to songs she's never heard before in her life. There is one moment she actually tries to fall asleep with her eyes open but she figures out that it is impossible and just something lazy people made up. The one thing she does find herself able to do, besides acting like she's a good Christian girl, is chance glances over in Brittany's direction.
Each time she looks over she catches the blonde girl's eyes and then a smile is tossed in her direction. But whenever she is about to respond with some sort of a facial recognition, Mrs. Pierce sends an icy glare her way. She learns fast to keep her eyes forward or on the book of hymns in her lap. After she thinks enough time has passed, she slowly turns her head to the aisle and lets her eyes fall onto Brittany one more time, only to grin because girl has actually fallen asleep. She has to bite her lip to hold in a hearty laugh because Mrs. Pierce sighs loudly and shakes her daughter back to consciousness.
Church in Knox seems to end the same way as football games do here, with everyone being all jolly and shaking one another's hands and wishing them well. Santana is seriously starting to think she's entered another dimension. Quinn nudges her out of their row of seats until they are finally heading towards the door. Outside is muggy, just like every other day has been so far and she runs her fingers through her hair to make sure it's still under control.
She stands outside, awkwardly, next to Quinn while her aunt and Mr. and Mrs. Fabray have 'adult' time. Mrs. Pierce is all smiles as she descends the steps of the church, waving at people like she's the pope, telling people she'll see them at meetings and games. Mr. Pierce sends Mr. Fabray a quick head nod but is pretty much hot on his wife's heels as she walks down the sidewalk to where their vehicle is parked. Brittany isn't in as much of a hurry as her parents are to get away and she moseys herself on over to where Santana and Quinn are standing in a comfortable silence.
"Hey guys." Brittany greets the pair who both turn around at the same time, Quinn smiles back up at her and nods.
"Hey Britt." She replies, letting her arms uncross from her chest and fall to her sides. Brittany's eyes flicker towards Santana, obviously expecting some sort of greeting from her in return.
"Hi." Santana offers after a few quiet seconds and looks down at her nails, a simple ploy to tear her eyes from those penetrating blues.
"Didn't think I'd see you here." The tall cheerleader says straightforwardly, a playful smirk on her lips as she shifts her weight from foot to foot in her cute Sunday shoes. Quinn laughs along and elbows Santana, getting her attention and pointing at Brittany.
"I said the same thing." Quinn reminds the dark haired girl who just grins and raises an eyebrow.
"Well, don't really have a choice with Aunt Linda in charge." Santana grumbles, motioning with a jerk of her head to the woman she is considering starting to call her 'warden'. The girls chuckles subside and the three girls stand in an awkward silence for a few moments.
"Oh, I heard a rumor you're in contention for Homecoming Queen." Quinn breaks the quiet, her eyes on the tall blonde in front of her and this information catches Santana's attention, simply as a form of momentary interest of course. Brittany bashfully lowers her head, and her hands clasp together in front of her and her fingers twist around one another as she kicks at the ground.
"Uh," Brittany starts. "Yeah, my mom's pretty amped." She rolls her eyes, tossing glance over her shoulder at the woman in question who is standing at the corner having a conversation with some Knox City pedestrian.
"Well, congratulations anyway." Quinn adds, reaching forward to place a friendly hand on the other girl's arm.
"Brittany!" Mrs. Pierce's voice booms from down the block, in a motherly yet authoritarian tone causing Quinn to retract her hand. Brittany lets out a sigh of annoyance and shrugs her shoulders before turning back to look at two girls.
"I guess I'll see ya." She waves and turns on her heels to head towards her ever so demanding mother, who looks like she is tapping her foot as she waits for her daughter.
Quinn turns back to the adults and pretends to join the conversation, but Santana stands still, watching Brittany slowly make her way to where her parents are waiting for her. Just before she gets about halfway, she looks over her shoulder and sends Santana a sweet smile.
"Come on Santana, we should get going." Aunt Linda comes up from behind her and tugs on her elbow. With one last glance, she realizes Brittany is gone, and she follows her aunt down the street. "You know," The older woman throws her arm around her niece's neck and playfully pulls her close, much to the younger girl's disapproval. "Maybe if you keep coming to church with me on Sunday's, you could meet a nice Christian boy."
For a few moments, Santana remains quiet, letting the words settle in her mind as she and her aunt continue their journey towards the truck. She's never actually said it out loud, not in front of anyone at least. Come to think of it, does it even really count if she's said it to herself in the shower? But for some reason or another, she thinks 'fuck it', because this town really means nothing to her so what does she have to lose. And, she also figures, maybe this will get her out of having to go to church every Sunday.
"Aunt Linda," She starts getting a hum in response from her aunt. "I'm a lesbian." Santana tells the older woman, she actually even wonders for a moment if her mother or father has shared their suspicions with Aunt Linda about this, not that it really matters.
Aunt Linda is silent for a few seconds, maybe even minutes. Santana glances over at her and watches as her expression has remained the same since they started walking.
"I knew a lesbian once." She says and all Santana can do in response is raise an eyebrow and keep walking.
Santana is lying on her stomach on the floor in the living room, her history book opened up in front of her and her notebook set up next to it. She kicks her legs in the air behind her, crossing and uncrossing them at her ankles as she reads over chapter ten. School has never been very hard for her, she's one of those naturally smart students, also, she finds the more information she can take in, the better and more unique her insults will be. Historical facts mashed up into an insult have rendered many of her victims speechless, an accomplishment she is very proud of.
As she thumbs to the next page, light tapping on the front door pulls her out of her journey through Western Civilization. Her head cranes towards the direction of the front of the house and her ears perk up for the sound of Aunt Linda's footsteps, only to remember that her aunt is in the backyard doing 'yard work'. She sighs in annoyance, because she was totally getting her Roman Empire on, and pushes herself up from her lying position to go and answer the door.
Upon opening it, she is greeted by some ginger haired, doe eyed, smiley looking woman who is clutching tightly to a binder and some really atrocious, sorry excuse for a purse hanging from her shoulder. Santana quirks an eyebrow, leans her arm into the door, and openly eyes the woman up and down. The woman shifts, uncomfortable under the girl's stare, but it does not deter her from moving her binder fully into one arm and extending the other.
"Hello, you must be Santana." The ginger says, her voice is high pitched and soft, like how baby powder would sound if it could talk. The teenager glances down at the offered hand, and after a tiny battle inside her, she slowly reaches out and shakes the woman's hand. "I'm Emma Pillsbury, your social worker." Emma beams, slowly pulling her hand back and Santana catches the way the woman in front of her reaches into her back and pulls out a travel size antibacterial cleanser.
"Wait." Santana shakes her head from Emma's obvious germaphobic ways, and her eyebrows knit together. "Social worker?" She asks incredulously, crossing her arms over her chest and stands up straighter than before. "What am I, some kid in the system? I don't think so." She shakes her head again and reaches for the door, all ready prepared to shut the door in Social Worker Emma's face.
"Miss Pillsbury." Aunt Linda's voice comes out of nowhere and within seconds she is standing beside Santana, pushing her niece against the door to open it wider and motioning for the young woman to enter. "Come on in." She smiles as she is drying her hand in one of the dish towels from the kitchen.
"Thank you, and please, call me Emma." She says as she steps over the threshold and into the Lopez's living room. "I'm just here to introduce myself really, and to kind of get to know you a bit." The ginger haired woman explains, looking around the room at the furniture and other knick knacks.
"Please, have a seat." Linda offers, pointing towards her favorite recliner, but Emma simply holds her hand up and politely shakes her head.
"No thank you Miss Lopez."
"Linda."
"Very well." Emma nods and clutches her bag tightly in her hands. "I wanted to clear a schedule with you and Santana, for appointments." She looks between the two Lopez woman, one has a smile on while the other a scowl.
"Santana doesn't have much going on, besides school." Aunt Linda explains, tossing the dish towel over her shoulder once again.
"I see, well, perhaps you'd like to pick a day to come by my office." The young woman suggests and Santana only glares back at her. "How about Wednesday afternoons?" She pulls out her datebook and flips through a few pages until she lands on next week's schedule.
"That sounds fine." Linda answers when she realizes her niece is not going to provide any kind of response for the poor woman standing rigidly in the living room. Emma smiles, nods and pens a note in her book before closing it up neatly and shoving it back into her bag.
"I'm still waiting for more paperwork, until then, we can begin sessions this upcoming Wednesday after you get out of school." She tells the teenager, who remains still in her position of crossed arms and a hard stare. "It was very good to see you again Miss Linda."
"Of course. Tell William I said 'hello'." Emma nods as the older Lopez shows her out of the house and they wave one another goodbye. "You know," Aunt Linda's voice enters the house before she does. "You could have been a little more polite." Santana scoffs, finally moving from her position in the middle of the living room and falls to the couch.
"I think that lady was polite enough for the entire world." She huffs, picking up the remote, preparing herself for some television watching.
"Uh uh." Aunt Linda sneaks up and tugs the remote from her, quickly shuts it off and points to the books still spread out on the ground. "Homework." Santana rolls her eyes, drops her shoulders and pushes herself up from the couch to head back to what she'd been doing prior to her new social worker's arrival.
"Aye aye captain!" She salutes her aunt, who only continues to walk away and flips her niece the bird without even turning around. Santana raises an eyebrow and smirks. Maybe Aunt Linda is more like her than she realized.
Santana finds herself at Pierce Parts and Tires, clearly the garage of Pierce Motors, the high end car and truck shop from town. When she walks in to the building where the office is, she spots Quinn sitting behind the desk concentrating.
"Don't tell me you work here." Santana says, breaking the blonde from her thoughts, dragging her eyes away from her textbook and up to the dark haired girl in front of her. Quinn smiles when she sees that the intruder of distracting her from her homework is Santana.
"Yeah, like Mrs. Pierce would let that happen." Quinn rolls her eyes. "Mr. Pierce is cool, he lets me stay here and do my homework. Luckily, this place is too 'dingy' for Madame Pierce to drop by. I'm sure if she found time in her 'busy' schedule to stop in, he'd get in trouble for several things." Her eyes flitter to the glass door in front of her and to the right. "What's up, were you looking for me?" She asks, leaning forward to rest her forearms to her books.
"Umm, actually, is your dad here?" Santana asks in exasperation, she'd had an irritating experience with her aunts truck the whole way to this place. "Aunt Linda needed me to pick up some part or whatever, I don't know cars." She shrugs her shoulders and sighs, flailing a post-it in her hand to show she's got it written down.
"Oh yeah," Quinn nods, sitting up a little straighter in her seat and points towards the glass door. "Just go right through there, he's just working on paper work in the back office." She informs her friend as she leans back into her chair. "It's all the way in the back to the right." She lifts her hands up and motions in the air of how Santana should journey through Pierce Parts and Tires. "Just walk through the garage past the lifts." She smiles and goes back to her books while Santana nods and pushes through the glass door, immediately greeted by music.
She chuckles, shakes her head and mumbles something about classic rock and Texas under her breathes. 'Slow Ride' is blaring as she slowly walks through the place, glancing around at the huge room and all of the tools. When she gets halfway through something catches her eye and she stops and grins, suddenly finding herself intrigued.
About twenty feet away is a girl with a typical, standard garage jumpsuit on. The top is rolled down to her waist and the sleeves tied in the front, revealing a grease smudged tank top. The girl's hair is thrown up in a messy bun and the wrench in her hand seems to be serving itself with an unusual purpose, a faux microphone.
The girl dances around, seemingly oblivious to her audience. Santana hasn't even realized her legs taking her in the direction of the lithe dancer, until the song comes to a close and she claps slowly. Brittany, clearly startled, whirls around quickly and smiles when she finds who her fan is.
"Jesus, you scared me." Brittany sighs in relief, gripping at her chest which makes Santana chuckle. "How long have you been leering?" She asks, shock and embarrassment quickly leaving her and she tosses the wrench onto the toolbox. Her eyes slowly lift back up to meet Santana's as she waits for an answer and wipes her hands on a rag from her back pocket.
"Long enough to see you've still got moves." Santana comments, feeling satisfaction over the blush that begins to creep up to the Brittany's cheeks who turns away just in time. "You move like a stripper." She adds with a quirked eyebrow, watching on as Brittany shoves the dirty rag back into her pocket. "It's hot." She says before she even thinks, catching herself off guard.
"Umm," Brittany turns around to face Santana again, surprised to find the other girl blushing a bit and she smirks. "Thanks." She smiles, her bottom lip finding its place between her teeth.
"Yeah." With the awkwardness completely taking over, Santana's eyes flicker in the direction that Quinn had originally instructed her to go. "Mr. Fabray?" She walks backwards, pointing over her shoulder towards the office she assumes is his.
"Oh," Brittany shakes her head, as though it would be obvious that Santana is here for something and not just to spy on her dancing. "Yeah." She motions to the corner and Santana smiles before she turns to walk away. "Hey!" Brittany calls out, and Santana whips her body around in response. "Are you…" She starts, and too occupy her nerves, she picks up a socket wrench and taps it against her palm. "Do you want to do something, today?" She looks at the car in front of her, hood open and random tools laid out. "I'm almost finished here… I mean," She looks back at the dark haired girl. "If you don't have plans of course." She smiles when Santana finally does, but it doesn't stop her hand from gripping the metal tool tighter and tighter.
"O… okay." Santana stammers.
"Okay?" Brittany's eyes widen slightly, cautiously not wanting to seem too excited about this. Santana nods twice.
"Okay." She repeats, but this time with more confidence.
"Cool, alright." The cheerleading mechanic grins down at the wrench in her hand and moves to put it back into the tool box. "Let me finish up here." Brittany motions to the car and gets right back to work.
By the time Santana is finished talking with Mr. Fabray, which was a lot longer than she had anticipated and hoped for, Brittany is done doing whatever mechanically thing she'd been working on earlier. Quinn had already left, seeing as her father did take about thirty minutes of Santana's life trying to explain what exactly Aunt Linda had to do and with what. It honestly didn't really matter because she's already forgotten by the time she walks back out into the garage and finds Brittany patiently waiting, sitting on the hood of one of the trucks she's probably been doing work on.
"You ready?" Brittany asks as she hops off of the truck and shoves her hand into her pocket to grab her keys. "My trucks right out front." She motions over her shoulder and Santana can see she is heading towards a smaller door, hidden within one of the garage doors.
"Hmm." She hums to herself, she always figured that the mechanics used the extremely large garage door to get to work. "Actually, I've got Aunt Lee's truck." Santana explains, suddenly remembering the metal stabbing her fingers and palms. But her attention is more on Brittany who chuckles. "What?" She tilts her head and furrows her brow, feeling that she may be offended at any moment.
"It's nothing, I just…" Brittany shrugs her shoulders and idly plays with the keys on her key ring. "Haven't heard that name in a while, that's all." She sends the shorter girl one of her cute smiles and the ice that had been starting to course through Santana's veins is immediately defrosted, realizing what she means.
"Yeah," She breathes out in amusement, and shakes her head. "I guess I haven't even called her that in a while." She muses, looking up from the keys and the box in her hand to find Brittany smirking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"How bout, you drop the truck off and then you hop in mine." Brittany motions with her hands as she explains the plan. "And then," She shrugs her shoulders and twists her lips. "We hang out?" She chews the inside of her cheek as she watches Santana think everything through, and then smiles when the other girl finally starts nodding her head.
"Okay." Santana agrees, and follows the retreating form of Brittany to the parking lot out front.
Pierce Parts and Tires is actually not that far from Aunt Linda's, but it feels like it is simply due to the fact that Santana cannot drive a stick shift. She can feel the embarrassment and frustration burn into her cheeks each time she catches Brittany's blue eyes flicker into the rearview mirror to look at her. Thankfully, she allowed Santana to talk her into driving in front of her, of course after being told she knows these roads better. So, obviously it takes them a little longer to reach home than it would have if Santana was given the rights to her beautiful automatic back in Boston.
She notices how Brittany drives right up to her Aunt Linda's driveway, completely surpassing her own, and pulls all around ready drive out when Santana hops in. The dark haired girl groans, then curses as she forces the truck into park, pulls the emergency break up, and kicks the driver's side door open. Aunt Linda is sitting on a rocking chair on the porch with a grin on her face, making it clear to her niece that she enjoying giving Santana errands to run.
"Oh, please, don't get up." Santana holds her hand up to her aunt as the woman continues to rock forwards and backwards in her chair. "You know, Mr. Fabray loves to talk." She sighs, handing the box of car parts over to her Aunt.
"Yes, why do you think I sent you?" Aunt Linda smirks as she looks over the box and clearly written instructions from the man in question. Santana's mouth drops, her eyebrows knit and she shakes her head.
"You…" She is about to give her aunt a piece of her mind, but when the humming of a waiting engine catches her ear, she takes a deep breath and clenches her fists at her sides. "I'm going out." She tells the woman and spins around ready to make a run for it.
"Hey!" Aunt Linda calls out, finally jumping up from her chair and by the time Santana turns back around the woman's already got her hands on her hips. "Where do you think you're going? There's no gallivanting when you live under my roof." She gives her niece a pointed look, which only makes the teenager cross her arms and huff.
"I'm not 'gallivanting', like I even could in this boring, one road town." Santana rolls her eyes and glances over her shoulder. "Brittany asked if I wanted to do something, so I said yes." She informs her aunt, as though challenging her to call Santana a liar. Aunt Linda steps a little further out onto the porch and peers over to where the powder blue pick-up truck is parked in her driveway. "Why would I lie about that?"
"You're a Lopez, you'd lie about anything and everything." Aunt Linda pokes her shoulder with her finger. "Okay, go have fun. But please, don't try and corrupt the Pierce girl." She raises an eyebrow and wags her finger in the air.
"How do you know she won't corrupt me?" Santana fires back and flinches just in time to miss a playful smack her aunt tries to send her way.
"Alright, alright. Go!" Aunt Linda waves her niece away and slowly takes her seat in her rocking chair.
When she enters the powder blue pick-up truck, Brittany is all smiles and turns up the radio before pulling out of Linda Lopez's driveway and back out onto the south service road. Santana doesn't question where they are going because she doesn't know anywhere even if she were told. The only places she knows of are Carmel's, Pierce Parts and Tires and that lovely liquor store she'd been to in town. She assumes Brittany is not going to be taking her to go and socialize, or at least she's hoping, and the only other place she can think of is Church, and she doesn't really see them going to hang out there either.
"Where are we going?" Santana finally asks, as she starts to worry about their destination being something holy or full of people. Brittany chuckles and lowers the volume down on the radio.
"The barn my dad owns." She tells the girl beside her as she turns off of the service road and down a horribly paved side road.
"Oh." Santana nods, vaguely remembering the Pierce barn from when she was younger. "That's cool." She adds with uncertainty.
They pull up to a small patch of land about fifteen minutes after Brittany turned off of the service road. It's smaller than she remembers, but then again, so is everything else so far. There's a manmade wooden fence surrounding the property that Mr. Pierce must own, it's about as big as a football field she figures. The barn is red, looking as though it has recently been painted, and the trim around the big doors is white kind of like a playschool farmhouse.
"Just over that way, you can see most of town." Brittany points through the windshield as she pulls the keys out of the ignition and pushes her door open. "Come on, I'll show you."
Santana silently follows, thankful that today she's opted for reasonable footwear and not her usual kind. She tucks some hair behind her ears that the wind decides to blow around, and cautiously follows the long legged blonde through the tall grass and bits of hay that are scattered about. They only walk thirty yards or so until they hit a hill that overlooks Main Street and other roads in Knox. The trees that hang over them seem to be there for decoration and do nothing to shield them from the brightly shining sun that is slowly getting closer to earth, preparing to set.
"Isn't it pretty up here?" Brittany asks, her eyes fixed on the town below and her hand is up to shield her face from the sun which of course is of no use. Santana nods, glancing from the girl beside her and down at the buildings and houses that look so tiny from where they are.
"Yeah." She whispers, actually finding this experience relaxing her a bit. "It's nice." Brittany plops herself down onto the ground and pats the spot beside her, obviously trying to get the other girl to join her.
"Sit." Brittany says softly, crossing her legs at her ankles and leaning back onto her hands.
"Okay." Santana lets out slowly, positioning herself so that the least bit of her skin actually comes in contact with the grass that looks as though it could give her rug burn.
"Remember when we were younger and we didn't care about anything, except hanging out with each other." Brittany says, her eyes focused on the sky.
"Sunrise to sunset." Santana jokes, it's something their parents used to say to each other about the girls. The two laugh, smile and nod their heads at the memory, eyes still fixed on the clouds decorating the afternoon sky.
"It was so great, back then… when the only think that I had to worry about was when you were leaving. Ya know, at the end of the summer." Brittany shrugs her shoulders and lets out a sigh. "Is it weird that I feel like that again?" She asks, turning her head to look at Santana, who looks back at her in confusion.
"No." She breathes out before she even realizes she is speaking and Brittany's eyes quickly find hers. She awkwardly shifts her body, moving on the dry patch of grass that has become her seat and she reaches down to tug at one of the blades, freeing it from the ground. "I mean, I am going to be leaving at the end of the school year, so…" She doesn't say anything else, because when it comes down to it, there's really nothing else to say. Once she takes her last final, she's out of this cow town and off to wherever the wind takes her. Preferably out onto the open road with her Jetta and no parents around holding her back.
Brittany nods and she looks down at the space that separates her and Santana's bodies. Her mind wanders to when they were little and how the notion of 'personal space' was a saying that never applied to them. She gnaws on her lips, suddenly feeling as if she's shared way too much with the one person she used to feel so close with, the one person she'd never felt anxious around.
"I guess seeing you and Quinn is nice though." Santana adds as an afterthought when a few minutes of silence goes by. She looks over at Brittany, who is still in her own mind, but nodding regardless.
"Yeah." Brittany verbally responds, shaking her head from her thoughts and smiles back up at Santana. "We've missed you." The dark haired girl chuckles and looks back up at the sky.
"You know, Q told me about everything." She informs the cheerleader, her words come out a little colder than she had intended.
"Oh." Brittany's head lowers and she pulls at the grass to her side. "Yeah, about that."
"She explained everything. Ya know." She jumps in before Brittany decides to give her a long winded explanation of reasons as to why the two are no longer 'besties'. "That your mom kind of rides your ass and didn't want you to be associated with a 'bad seed'." Her eyes roll as she remembers the conversation she'd had with Quinn about the whole 'baby gate' situation. "I mean, I get it. Picture perfect family and all." She tosses the blade of grass she's been twisting around her finger back to the ground and lets out a sigh as silence takes them over again.
"Maybe from the outside it does, look perfect that is." Brittany says after a few minutes, referring to her family. "But, it's far from perfect." She looks down thoughtfully and twists her lips. "It's like Cher said." Santana looks at her curiously and quirks an eyebrow.
"Cher?" She asks in complete confusion.
"Yeah, you know, from 'Clueless'." Brittany clarifies in all seriousness. "When she says that thing about that painting." She watches and waits on for it to click in Santana's head, and when she sees that light of recognition go off she continues. "My family is like a Monet, from far it looks nice, but up close, it's a big old mess."
Santana's eyebrows furrow, her lips part slightly and her head jerks back as she analyzes the blonde's expression and the way she's just explained her family. It's never actually occurred to Santana that maybe someone as happy and carefree as Brittany could have such a blue outlook on something. She half smiles at the girl, who in return does the same and then slowly they both look back up to the sky and watch as the sun slowly begins to lower.
"I didn't mean…" Santana begins, the feeling she's over stepped by pretty much calling Brittany's mother a hard ass and her family the Brady's weighs down on her. But, the cheerleader shakes her head and places a gentle hand onto own, the softness of her touch a big difference from that of the dryness beneath her.
"Don't." She tilts her head to the side and sends Santana a small smile, before returning to adore the sky as it turns a light shade of pink and purple.
They sit there, swapping stories of their youth back and forth, as the sun sets and turns the sky into a dark blue. Light conversation continues as they drive back up the south service road to head home, all the while nearly forgetting that they are no longer those little kids playing in the back of Aunt Linda's yard and hopping the Pierce's fence. But for some reason, it feels just the same as it does different, and somewhere deep down they don't even know exists, is the feeling that it might actually feel a little bit better than it used to.
"Thanks for taking me out on the town." Santana says as she unbuckles her seatbelt, preparing to exit the truck. Brittany nods, throws her arm over the back of the bench seat she's sitting on and smiles.
"We should do this again." She notes, her eyes sparkling from the moonlight and stars above. Santana opens the door and slowly hops out, turning to face Brittany before she shuts the door and heads inside.
"I'd like that." The dark haired girl replies, standing there as the other girl simply stares back at her. "Well, goodnight." She waves as she shuts the door, missing the soft way that Brittany says 'goodnight' in return.
"Santana!" Aunt Linda bellows from some part of the house, her exact location not really a concern to the teenager. What is of importance at the moment is her lip gloss and instead of rushing to the shriek of her name, she leans closer to the mirror in her room.
"Yes?" Santana replies carelessly as she pulls back from the mirror and puckers up her lips.
"I haven't got all day and not only that but, you're going to be late." Linda tells her and from the sound of it, she's bustling around in the kitchen. Santana rolls her eyes, twists the cap to her lips gloss back on and grabs her bag.
"Okay, okay I'm coming." She announces and walks down the hall to find Aunt Linda standing by the front door, tapping her foot impatiently. "Chill out Aunt Lee or you'll have a coronary." She smirks, tilts her head to the side and walks her way to the door.
"No thanks to you." Linda mumbles under her breath, but loud enough for her niece to hear her. "Smartass." She smacks the back of Santana's head lightly, but with enough force to make a point and she follows her niece's path out the door. "Tomorrow I'm just gonna leave you, then you'll have to walk to school." The younger Lopez huffs and leads the way down the porch, quickly descending the steps. "What the…?" At this, Santana stops in her tracks, looks back to see a confused smile on her aunt's face and raises an eyebrow in her own confusion.
Santana looks to where Aunt Linda is staring to only have the same surprised expression take over her face. Parked in their driveway is Brittany's truck, with its owner leaning her back against the front of it and her hands clasped in front of her.
"Mornin' Miss Linda." The young girl greets and pushes herself from the truck.
"Mornin' Britt." Aunt Linda waves curiously and walks down the steps. Brittany looks from Aunt Linda to Santana a few times before clearing her throat. "Umm, yeah, I've gotta go to work, Britt," She points to the cheerleader. "See this one gets to school."
"Sure thing." Brittany nods as the older woman hops into her own truck, leaving the teenagers in the driveway.
"Hey." Santana drawls out, taking a step or two in the other girl's direction.
"Hey." Brittany replies, slightly more confident and with a bright smile.
"Sorry about crashing," She points towards the light blue truck in the driveway. "My aunt's already late for work." She explains, her eyes looking around.
"You're not crashing Santana." Brittany is suddenly closer. "What do you think I was waiting out here for?" She grins sweetly and Santana can only give her a shrug and a shake of the head. "It's kinda silly for your aunt to take you to school every morning, it's out of her way and I'm already going there." Brittany explains as she walks up to Santana, her cheerleading skirt swaying with every motion. She reaches up and grabs the shorter girl's bag from her shoulder.
"Oh, I see, so you're doing my aunt a favor." Santana smirks, finally finding the power of speech and the will to walk again.
"Of course, I remember what a trouble maker you were when we were kids. Don't want her going to jail for killing you." Brittany teases as she places the girl's bag in the truck for her and winks at Santana who lets out a chuckle. "Besides, it gives us time to catch up on the things we missed." She shrugs one shoulder and hops into the truck.
"You sure are a sweet talker." Santana comments while reaching behind her to grab the seatbelt while Brittany pulls out of the driveway. She side eyes Santana and her outfit for a brief second and she shifts in her seat comfortably.
"You look nice today." Brittany compliments with one of those soft smiles Santana's been getting a lot of.
"Oh…uh…" She looks down, her eyes going over her ensemble for the day, short skirt, knee socks that she knows totally makes her high heeled boots look super awesome and one of those tops that leave nothing to the imagination. "Thanks." Santana shifts in her spot, glances over at Brittany who is sporting her high pony tail and her usual cheerleading attire. "You too." It comes out before she even realizes it and she immediately wishes she didn't have the ability to speak sometimes. The sound of Brittany's laughter is not helping any.
"Well, thanks." Brittany looks down at her cheerleading uniform. "I feel like a cartoon character." She lets out and judging from the silence that takes over the truck she continues. "You know, cause they are always in the same clothes." Santana arches an eyebrow and she grins because even though the two girls haven't spoken or seen each other in years, she can't help but think 'that is such a Brittany thing to say'.
"Very true." She nods at the statement and turns her head forward once again, watching the road before them become the road behind them.
"So, I was thinking." Brittany hums out as she looks both ways before pulling away from a stop sign. "You, me and Quinn should get together or something." She suggests, glancing over at the other girl to gauge her reaction. Santana's eyes flicker around the car, contemplating the idea, and then shrugs at the thought.
"Sure." She concedes with a nod.
"Well, after homecoming, there's this party by Stars Lake." Brittany begins to explain slowly, using one of her hands as she speaks.
"Stars Lake?" Santana snorts out, not at all surprised that this town would have the most lame name for a place that kids hangout.
"Yeah, it's this little place by a lake. It's kind of secluded, it's usually where the squad and the football team have our parties." She moves her head from side to side as she clarifies the type of setting this would be. "I guess you could say it's in the woods. But it's perfect for teenagers, the sheriff doesn't drive by there so there's no cops." Brittany adds and looks over at her passenger.
"Okay, so what happens at Stars Lake?" Santana inquires, pretending it's the most exciting thing she's heard of since she's arrived in Knox, and Brittany giggles completely picking up on her friends sarcasm.
"The guys'll probably get beer, the squad is in charge of getting girls there." She rolls her eyes, remembering freshman year when head cheerleader Gina Crofts gave explicit instructions that no ugly girls were allowed to step foot on Stars Lake. "But, they're usually wasted before they even get there to really care. All they want to do is slam beer can against their heads and talk about the game." She waves off the memories of past experiences of post homecoming gatherings.
"Sounds exciting." Santana mutters as she pulls the visor down to check her lip gloss.
"It can be." Brittany lets out as she turns onto the road that will finally lead them directly to school.
"I've got nothing else going on while I'm in town." Santana informs her with amusement and she receives a grin in return. "I guess I can swing by your little party." She shrugs as she flips the visor back to its upright position and before she knows it, they are pulling into the school's parking lot.
"Ugh." Brittany groans which catches the dark haired girl's attention, and she follows the blonde's line of vision.
"Who's that?" Santana asks as she pulls her bag into her lap while Brittany parks in a spot.
"Hey Pierce!" The deep voice enters her ears before she can hear the name on Brittany's lips. But her eyes fix quickly onto the name that is embroidered onto his letterman jacket.
"Hey Finn." Brittany greets with faux excitement. Finn's eyes flicker over towards the girl coming out of Brittany's truck, but she holds his attention for only a few seconds.
"Thought the squad was going to meet up with the team last night for breakfast dinner." He wonders, bringing a hand up to the girl's bare shoulder, caressing it with his rough hands. Santana's eyes narrow as she stares the boy down, she's pretty sure Brittany and or Quinn would have mentioned something about Brittany and Finn being some sort of an item.
"Yeah, about that," Brittany shrugs the boys hand off her and takes a step to the side and back. "I had to work on Kurt's truck so… I called the girl's and cancelled." She explains in that soft an innocent voice, tilting her head to the side for the extra cuteness factor. "And I mean, he's the Sheriff's son so, I couldn't say no." She adds, bringing up the cops always does the trick no matter what the situation. Finn's eyes widen and he nods his head up and down as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He glances over towards Santana who is slowly walking around the front of Brittany's truck.
"Who's she?" He asks, not even lowering his voice politely.
"Oh," Brittany looks over to find Santana making her way over and pulls the girl closer quickly. "This is Santana, she's Miss Linda's niece." She beams over at the shorter girl who smiles back regardless of trying not to. "She used to visit in the summer, do you remember her?" Brittany glances back at Finn who seems to remember, but only shakes his head and looks over his shoulder at some of his football buddies.
"Nah." He points behind him and jerks his head in the same direction. "Gotta go. I'll catch ya at lunch." He waves to both girls and then lightly jogs over to other jocks standing under a leafless tree.
"He totally remembers you." Brittany mumbles, a small smirk on her lips.
"How could he forget? I totally kicked his ass." Santana reminds them both, and they giggle at the memory.
"Hey, I have to go talk to my cheer coach, but…" She nervously bites her lip, somehow feeling as though it's the end of summer and she isn't going to see Santana again for a while.
"I'll see you later Britt." Santana smiles, relieving the other girl of sudden stress.
"Yeah, see you later." And she watches the blonde cheerleader head off in the direction of the field house that is connected to the gym on the other side of school.
She can't figure out why she is trekking it all the way out to Pierce Parts. Well, she kind of does but at the same time she doesn't know why she is going through the trouble, it's all rather exhausting. But truth be told she doesn't know a lot of people out here in the middle of nowhere and she would have stopped by Quinn's but Judy Fabray was all kinds of weird when they were kids and she can't imagine that living in a small town like this would change that much.
So here she is, on her way to Pierce Parts because, well, Brittany wasn't at home and this is the only place she can think of to find the little blonde, cheerleading, grease monkey. And it really wouldn't be all that bad, the trip up to Pierce Parts garage but she's riding a bicycle. Like who even does that anymore? For some reason or another Aunt Linda wouldn't let her take the truck and so now she's cruising on a Huffy ten speed that she's pretty sure was hers when she was twelve years old.
When she finally pulls up to the garage she sees that it's pretty empty, which she figures makes sense for a Saturday afternoon, except for Brittany's truck parked right outside the open garage door. She comes to a stop and brings her feet to the ground, still straddling the ten speed and twists her lips in thought. She and Brittany have had few interactions, maybe more than a few, but it's still a little weird and like she is getting to know the girl all over again. For a moment she considers turning her bike around and heading back to Aunt Linda's, but then what was the point of driving through Main Street and embarrassing herself on this hot pink bike.
So she sucks it up and lets the bike fall to the ground and makes her way through the open garage door. As soon as she gets inside she spots the girl she came to see, standing at a tool box looking from one hand to the other each holding a different piece of metal. Brittany hasn't spotted her yet or sensed her presence and goes on about her business, chucking one of the tools into the box and heads to the front of the truck. Santana watches the girl stop, bob her head a few times and then spin in a perfect circle, in place three times.
Santana's quirks an eyebrow and looks on when Brittany's body stops and she stomps her foot while running her fingers through her hair. She can't help the small chuckle that comes out and she tries to cover her mouth before it leaves but it's to no avail.
"Hey." Brittany says excitedly when she looks up and finds Santana standing a few feet away from the garage door. Santana gives her a nod and a quarter of a half a smile.
"What are you doing?" She asks curiously, moving from her spot and closer to the other girl. Brittany shrugs her shoulders and tosses the other tool back into the box and walks towards Santana.
"Dancing." She simply replies and Santana smirks.
"Spinning in a circle and stomping your foot, hmm, is that what the kids are doing these days." She bites back in a playful sarcastic kind of way. Brittany tilts her head and eyes Santana.
"Okay then, show me some big city moves." She challenges putting her hands on her hips and Santana sighs, rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
"I don't think you can handle my moves." She bites the inside of her cheek at how lame she sounds, like a horrid pick up line some nerdy guy would use in one of those 80's movies. She still can't comprehend what it is about Brittany that makes her lose her words and stammer like an idiot about nothing. But as usual , Brittany simply giggles, smiles and stares at her.
"I think I can handle anything you throw my way tough guy." Brittany shoots back, confidence etched all over her face. But Santana is not giving in to this and she once again shakes her head.
"Nah I'm good, but please don't let that stop you from… expressing yourself?" The cheerleader eyes her carefully.
"Oh my god!" Brittany gasps with a smile she can hardly hide and brings her hands up to cover her mouth, more for dramatic effect than anything else. Santana's eyes widen self consciously and flicker to the side. A small giggle bursts from the Brittany's lips and her hands fall from her mouth and cross over each other at her chest and she tilts her head. "You don't know how to dance." Brittany says sweetly and softly, her smile and eyes giving off that 'aw' type feeling. Santana jerks her head back and scoffs.
"Please, I can dance." She replies quickly and confidently then waves her hand in the air for emphasis while rolling her eyes. Brittany smirks, setting her head straight and her hands moving from her chest to her pockets.
"So, show me." She takes one step forward to nudge Santana's shoulder with her hand quickly and then steps back to her original spot. Santana looks around the nearly empty garage bewildered and embarrassed.
"Here? Now?" Santana quirks an eyebrow at the other girl, who can only continue to smile brightly as she nods at the questions. "That's… kinda weird and stripperish." Brittany lets out a hearty laugh and playfully rolls her eyes.
"Oh come on, it's fun to just let loose and dance it out." She announces loudly, her voice echoing throughout the nearly empty garage. When Santana doesn't laugh, smile or even make a single move Brittany stops moving and crosses her arms giving Santana a good hard look. "You used to dance with me." She reminds the dark haired girl. When they were little girls and preteens most of their summer days were spent dancing in the sun under a sprinkler. "Hmm, you were a lot less uptight back then though." She shrugs her shoulders and walks over towards the open door to the passenger side of the truck she'd been working on. Santana's eyebrows furrow and her jaw hangs open as she watches the blonde lean over to the radio playing with the dials, a quiet static coming from the speakers.
"What?" Santana asks incredulously, her arms going into their normal position, pulled tightly across her chest. Brittany looks over her shoulder with a smirk and looks the other girl up and down, a small chuckle escaping her lips.
"Look at you Santana." She moves herself from the slightly torn leather seat of the pickup truck and turns fully around the face the other girl. Her finger points at Santana and she moves it up and down the length of her friend. "You're so closed off and… uptight." She repeats because it's really the only word she can think of to really explain this new Santana, the one she is getting to know. "You need to loosen up!" She cheers and shimmies the top of her body from side to side giggling as she finishes and she winks when she gets a small smile from Santana. "You need to shake what your mama gave ya!" She lifts her arms above her head and shakes her hips slowly which garners a bigger, not huge, smile out of her friend. "See, that's the girl I know!" She points at Santana's smile, matching it with her own and Santana rolls her eyes at the other girl's antics.
"You are like…" Santana breathes out, a small laugh stuck in the back of her throat and she shakes her head. "Exactly the same." Bright blue eyes meet dark brown ones questioningly but also with elation. Then Santana smirks and adds, "Almost." They stand there for a few more seconds looking at each other, grinning, while Santana shifts from side to side feeling fidgety under Brittany's stare.
Without saying another word Brittany turns back towards the truck, leaning onto the weathered leather seat and plays with the knobs of the radio once again. The beginnings notes of a familiar song to both girls' emanates from the speakers of the truck and Santana can hear Brittany squeal with delight and she turns the volume louder until it's bouncing off of the dirty white walls of the garage at Pierce Parts.
She jumps out of the truck, smiling from ear to ear and slowly moving towards Santana with some pretty old dance moves that the latter is sure were made illegal after the awful decade that was the 80's. Brittany's hands come up in the air as she moves and her index fingers poke out and curve to beckon the shorter girl to come towards her. Santana shakes her head, waving her hands in front of her in way of saying 'no' but can't her laughter seeing that Brittany is not giving up.
And that's when Brittany starts mouthing the words the ever still a classic 'A Little Respect' by Erasure, a group Santana is certain were a complete one hit wonder and that's it. But this does not stop the blonde from serenading Santana via lip-synch and gnarly dance moves. And after the first verse of 'that you give me no' Brittany is right in front of her placing her hands on Santana's hips and moving them from side to side trying to get her to 'let loose' as she has been preaching.
Santana allows her to do this to her, trying her hardest to keep her smiling in check, not wanting to give in at all. Or at least not yet. But Brittany does not give up and she reaches up to pull Santana's wrists away from around herself and pull her arms out from being crossed. She's pretty successful but is working with spaghetti arms, Santana not helping her in the least but she moves the tanned arms as she wants and spins herself around a few times with no assistance from Santana herself.
The shorter girl watches the dancer. Her smile has yet to falter, her eyes still sparkle the same way they did when they were kids and she is happy. Legitimately happy and all she's doing is dancing. Santana can't help but feel a little envious about that fact but then again, maybe it will work for her too. So instead of continuing on with letting Brittany make her limbs and hips move like she's a puppet she takes a few steps away towards the toolbox. Brittany watches her curiously, still dancing regardless.
Santana reaches into the toolbox for anything really and she luckily comes up with a screwdriver which she holds the metal end of and spins around using the actual handle as a microphone. Brittany cheers, throwing her head back in laughter and claps. She watches Santana sing the words the song that brings back memories for the both of them, of the both of them and she's not holding back. Santana is throwing in her own corny dance moves and it's now her turn to call Brittany over and she quickly obliges, reaching in the toolbox for her own makeshift microphone.
She spins around in a few circles until finally throwing her arm around Santana's neck and gripping her shoulder as they move side to side and sing 'don't you tell me no' together into their screwdrivers. Santana reaches up and grabs Brittany's hand, steps back and spins her so they are dancing together. Brittany mouths 'I'm so in love with you' and grips Santana's hand a little harder than before and with her hand holding the screwdriver she points her index finger out and runs it down her face as she mouths 'I'll be forever blue'.
Santana smirks as Brittany moves her hips and motioning for her to do the same and when she does the other girl beams up at her while still mouthing the words to the song. Finally letting it all go Santana throws her head back, mouthing the higher pitched words like they are actually coming from her and this gets the blonde to laugh with her.
As the song comes to an end they start busting out some of their favorite dance moves with Brittany pulling out the robot and Santana doing some hip hop step along with the beat. Their laughter egging the other on as they try out each other's moves until the song finally ends and the air is replaced with the voice of the radio DJ. They come to a stop, breathing heavy and grinning at one another like they used to when they were kids.
"That was so much fun." Brittany says through her ragged breathing, Santana simply nods and tosses the screwdriver back into the tool box. "Look at you." She points at Santana's face.
"What?" With an eyebrow quirked, the corners of her lips remained pulled upright.
"You're smiling cause you're happy." Brittany simply states. "I missed that." Santana lets out a throaty chuckle and watches the girl brush by her tossing her screwdriver/microphone back into the toolbox along with her own.
"I've smiled since I've been here." Santana defends, but Brittany just shakes her head.
"This is a different smile. I mean, they're all pretty but," She looks up from what she's doing and finds Santana's eyes for a moment before looking back down. "It's just different."
She is happy and it feels good. Different but good, and a little reminiscent of how she used to be before the drama of growing up came into play. Brittany leans back into the truck to kill the engine and shuts the door as she exits. She comes back to face Santana and nods proudly as though they have just accomplished something that almost seemed impossible. Then, she reaches forward with her hand towards Santana's hanging by her side and hooks their pinkies together.
"And since I made it happen, let's go to Carmel's so you can buy me a shake doll face." Brittany winks and drags Santana out of the garage by her pinky and towards her own truck parked right outside.
It's in this moment that Santana can't help but feel like this was more than just a song and more than just dancing.