So I'm changing the rating now, because I know I'll forget to and someone will get all upset that I didn't change it before posting. So, yes, that is a change in rating you're seeing. But I don't want any of you to get confused or even hopeful, Brittana will not be participating in any of the scenes featured in Sugar's fic: Scrooflake: We're Going Down at the Tree or her sequel: Snooge: Scroo-ing Flake. There isn't a rating level that would be appropriate for that fic on FF. ;D hahaha
DJ Snowflake and Scrooge
December 22
7:01 am
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Something cold, hard, and pointed shoved itself underneath Santana's nose. She didn't notice it at first. It was the first time she had a complete night of sleep – sleep uninhibited by phantom Rachel Berry, the sound of Christmas music, or general uneasiness. No, tonight, she had fallen asleep. A hand that didn't belong to her, naturally rested over her hipbone underneath her sweater. Soft breathing gently moved strands of her dark hair and heated the back of her neck.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Santana went to scratch her nose, but her nail scratched against hard metal. Her eyes popped open and crossed in front of her. A metal point attached to a long shaft and mounted on what Santana could only guess was a crossbow aimed right beneath her nose. She sat up on the blanket on the floor and moved back. Her hand hit another body and produced a soft moan. Santana didn't have time to appreciate that Brittany had spent the night with her. The crossbow followed her every moment.
"Who- what-why are you pointing that at me?" Santana demanded. "Back off."
An older woman with her steel grey hair tied back in a severe bun was staring straight at her. The lines in her face were deep, but her hazel eyes were sharp like a bird of prey. Her mouth flattened into a straight line that resembled the shaft of the crossbow bolt pointed straight at Santana.
"Oh my god." Santana's eyes widened. "You're real. You're Doris and you have a fucking crossbow."
"Of course I'm Doris and no shit I've got a crossbow. What else would I have? A can of whipped cream?" Again, she sized Santana up and down as if deciding what she would do with her. "Now, who the fuck are you?"
"I'm here with Mercedes." Santana quickly tried to explain.
Doris's left eyebrow rose so high on her head, Santana was sure Doris's brow would merge with her hairline. The older woman lifted the crossbow even higher. "I may be old, girl, but I'm not blind. I know for a fact, that –" She pointed her weapon at Brittany's blonde hair spilled over the blanket and floor. "-is not Mercedes."
"No shit she isn't Mercedes. I'm the woman Mercedes said would be using to the town records. I'm Santana Lopez. That's Brittany um –" Santana paused and flushed dark red as she realized that she had no idea Brittany's last name was.
"Pierce." Doris completed for Santana. "That's Brittany Pierce, I know who she is and yeah sure you're the New Yorker who's been fucking around my desk at night like you're an elf or the tooth fairy or something."
"I-" Santana looked down. Pierce. Brittany Pierce curled up tighter against her backside to block out the light and keep sleeping.
"What I don't understand is how you don't know who I am. Mercedes told you about me, right?"
"Yeah, I mean she mentioned –" Santana's eyes scanned the crossbow again. "-you and I thought all of those quilting pattern books were yours. I really didn't know you walked around here with a loaded crossbow."
Doris pulled the weapon back and barked in laughter. "It's loaded, but the spring broke a while ago. I wasn't going to shoot you. That would have been too easy. Quilting magazines?" She looked back to her desk and saw the patterns and quilting designs. "Oh." She roared with laughter again. "Those belong to Blaine, my grandson. I only leaf through them when he comes around. He still thinks I'm going to join his quilting circle." She shuddered. "That place is for burn outs and old ladies, but when he sees me looking through his magazine, he stays happy."
"Santana?" Brittany rubbed her eyes and squinted in the light. She propped herself on her elbow and sat up. The blanket slid off her body and disconnected her from Santana. They were both still fully clothed, but Brittany could still feel where Santana backside had pressed into her body seeking warmth last night. With one eye open, she realized they weren't the only ones in the town records. "Doris? What are you doing here?"
"I work here, Brittany." Doris's response was dry, but somewhat amused as if this wasn't her first run in with Brittany. "I was just asking why Ms. Lopez why you were using my office as a picnic area."
"Santana got snowed in last night. I came to keep her company."
"Good. Now you take her somewhere else before you two decide to find another corner to…canoodle."
"We weren't-"
"We'll be out of here as soon as we get our things. Thanks for letting us crash, Doris."
"Whatever." The old woman shrugged and put her crossbow over the top of her desk. She gathered Santana's boxes and placed them in a neat pile next to her.
"Morning." Brittany met Santana's eyes with a mischievous grin. "Not a bad way to spend your first Midtown snow storm, huh?"
Santana rolled her eyes and picked up a box while Brittany gathered the bag of food she brought. "If you think we're going to make that a tradition, you're going to have to start rescuing someone else."
"Maybe-" Brittany bent over next to Santana to grab her second box. Santana felt Brittany's shoulder brush into hers. "-we can find somewhere more comfortable next time."
Brittany's proximity distracted Santana so much, she forgot about picking up the box. Brittany's fingers slipped into the handholds and effectively took the heavy box from Santana's grasp without any protest.
Doris watched the entire interaction with the amusement of a rock. She yawned and commented. "I haven't heard of anyone sneaking in the town hall building to have a picnic since there were rumors of secret passages from the underground railroad."
"We'll be out of here in a few minutes." Brittany answered the older woman good-naturedly, but Santana said nothing. She stopped collecting her belongings and looked straight at Doris stunned.
Santana couldn't believe she hadn't thought of working outside the box. The Hummel's just needed one thing to connect them to the history of Midtown in order to be registered and perhaps to apply for federal and state grants. Brittany had said it last night. Midtown had a long history- a history much longer than Rachel Berry. Sure, Kurt had his collection, but he and his father had so much more. She had wasted so much time wrapped up in Rachel Berry that she had completely overlooked the basic function of the Hummel's building.
Santana dropped the box in her hands back to the floor. Both Brittany and Doris looked at her with curiosity.
"Santana?"
"Give me a second?" She asked Brittany and addressed Doris directly. "You know where everything is in this mess?"
"It's not a mess if you know how to navigate it. I expressly told Ms. Jones that I would be more than willing to show you how to use my catalog system if you asked. Instead, you decided to sneak in at night and fragrantly ignore my system."
"Do you mind showing me how to use it now?"
"Well…" Doris pursed her lips and looked around the town records. It was her special place and Santana had done a fairly good job violating it for the past three weeks. "I guess I can teach you. I'm a firm believer in teaching. I'm not going to pull records for you."
Santana thought Doris would have said no. "Yes. Great. I need to know how to access building plans and deeds."
"So do you need these?" Brittany asked and lifted the box in her hand.
"Yes. You can put it down right there." Santana pointed. She had a thousand thoughts and ideas racing through her head. She picked up her pencil from the desk and tucked it behind her ear. After a minute sorting through the nearest box, Santana realized she had dismissed Brittany. It had not been her intention. She looked up and saw Brittany walking toward the stairs.
"Britt…" Santana dropped her notepad and crossed the town records. Right as Brittany turned to answer Santana, the short brunette caught her wrist. Brittany twisted around and found herself in the middle of a kiss. Santana stood on her toes and lifted herself up to press her lips hard against Brittany's mouth. She pulled back and smiled. "Thank you."
Not that she didn't mind kissing Santana, but Brittany didn't know what she did. "For what?"
"Last night." Santana smiled and bit her bottom lip for a second as if deciding if she wanted to say more. Brittany threaded their fingers and wished she could have done more, but Doris shouted across the room that she wasn't going to spend all morning teaching Santana anything if she was going to spend it kissing Brittany. Santana rolled her eyes, but Brittany could see genuine excitement bubbling through Santana's expression. Whatever thought she had was enough that she wanted to get to work with Doris right away.
Brittany released Santana's hand and let her rejoin the old town hall employee.
10:26 am
"How long has she been down here?" Mercedes asked quietly from the bottom of the stairs.
"A few hours." Brittany answered with a soft smile.
"Are you the reason she's here?"
Brittany shook her head no. She took a sip of the hot chocolate in her hand. Her bright blue eyes followed Santana around the room. Since Santana had kissed her, she had been working with, fighting with, arguing with, and listening to Doris. They moved around the town records like two mini tornadoes or perhaps the correct term was volcanoes as both of them were prone to explosion at any moment.
"Then what are you doing here?"
Brittany passed Mercedes one of the coffee cups from the holder in her other hand. She had wandered down through the snow to the diner down the street. Mercedes took the cup without question. Santana owed her a coffee; this would be the closest she would get to getting one back from her friend.
"I just thought I would get them some liquid breakfast as it looks like they'll be here for long time." Brittany casually shrugged. "She's kinda cute when she's intense like this."
"Lucky for you, she's always this intense." Mercedes snorted into her coffee.
"I don't know…" Brittany remembered Santana's arm draped around her body underneath the blanket last night. She remembered how light her laugh could be over the phone when she wasn't Scrooge on the radio. Brittany loved how Santana's eyes softened and deepened when Brittany kissed her.
"Brittany, I don't know what you're planning or who you think Santana is, but I hope you figure it out soon. She's leaving before Christmas."
Brittany misjudged her drink and burned her tongue on her hot chocolate. For the first time since Mercedes had joined her, Brittany faced the mayor's aide. "But Christmas is in three days."
"I know." Mercedes stated, but her eyes betrayed a touch of compassion. "That's why I'm telling you now. Santana is…" Mercedes searched for the word. "Santana. She's stubborn and difficult and I think she actually likes you which means she's going to bolt. She doesn't like good-byes especially when she doesn't want to say good-bye."
"Oh." Brittany swallowed hard.
"If it makes you feel any better, I've never seen her this way, but I'm sure you'll both be over it soon. It's not like this was anything more than a holiday fling, right?" Mercedes shrugged. "Thanks for the coffee, Brittany. You know I should talk to Holly about running a few ads for some upcoming town events on your program."
"Yeah-" Brittany nodded distractedly. "You should talk to Holls about that."
Mercedes had done everything in her power to help her best friend. She hadn't lied to Brittany. In the past two weeks, Santana had a glow and her eyes lit up for no apparent reason. Of course Mercedes had discerned the reason before she even knew Brittany's name.
Santana and Mercedes had been through just about everything together in college and continued to be close after. Mercedes had seen Santana stumble her way through relationship after relationship, but this was the first time Mercedes had witnessed her best friend trip. Mercedes knew why Santana balked. There was nothing like the sensation of falling. When the bottom drops out, it's impossible to know if you're going to land or hit the ground.
Mercedes walked away, but not without a sense of satisfaction. Whether Santana would act on the way Brittany made her feel was one thing, but Mercedes had a sense that Brittany wouldn't let Santana walk away without at least asking her to stay. Mercedes could see Brittany's eyes intently focused on Santana.
There wasn't much more she could do, but Mercedes had a feeling it would somehow work out. Whether Santana believed it or not, there was something magical about this time of year.
Drawn by a magnetism Brittany couldn't control, she gazed across the room back to the Santana. It was just a holiday fling – that's what Mercedes said. Santana turned around. For the first time since Brittany had returned from the diner, Santana noticed the blonde standing at the bottom of the stairs. She stopped yelling at Doris for a half-second. She flashed Brittany a smile that Brittany couldn't imagine Santana giving to anyone else. It made Brittany believe if Santana could, she would touch Brittany and kiss her like she did the night before.
Just as quickly as Santana smiled at her, she turned back to continue yelling at Doris.
It was just a holiday fling.
Brittany couldn't believe that, but did Santana?
Brittany smiled back as best she could. She placed the remaining two coffees in the holder on Doris's desk. Brittany didn't know what to feel. They had only known each other's names for a week, but Brittany felt certain she wanted say Santana's name for a lifetime. Last night had not been enough.
She didn't linger. Brittany gathered her blankets and left.
Santana smelled the coffee and stopped listening to Doris for a second. "Brittany?"
But she was gone. Santana frowned and picked up the closest coffee. She turned it in her hands and read the message written in sharpie on the cup.
Call me anytime you want to be rescued. –BSP