Hello again! I know it's been a while. I kind of had a writer's block but I finally came up with a good solution to beat it which I think you'll all be happy with. So, I don't wanna drag this on. Just find out about it at the end of this chapter.
Shoutout to ChillYourBeans, thank you for the awesome feedback on this! :)
Anyway, thank you for all the favorites, follows, and reviews. You guys are awesome!
I had a blast writing this chapter! ENJOY!
"I can't believe this! That's like the third girl I've struck with tonight!" Santana huffs after trying her luck with the girl from the other end of the bar.
After grabbing a quick snack of burgers with Brittany a while ago, they headed immediately to Quinn's place to bake the torte Carole requested. Well, 'bake' is a generous term since it was Quinn who mostly did all the work while Santana and Brittany got busy of being in charge with the sampling. Thankfully, nothing burned down and everyone's still alive when they – actually, Quinn – finished baking the damn torte. So, when everything's settled and ready for tomorrow's event, Puck dragged Santana out of the apartment and to a nearby bar for a couple of drinks and the essential 'girl talk' every now and then.
"I see that you've lost your mojo now." Puck comments while smirking.
"No, I have not. It's just an off day." Santana sneers as she takes a swig of her beer.
"Off day or maybe those girls are seeing right through you?"
The brunette looks at him with her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Well, this thing with Brittany is getting interesting. What's up with that?" Puck adds and receives a curious look from Santana. "Oh, come on. Don't pretend there's nothing going on with you and her."
"I don't know what you're talking about." The brunette immediately avoids eye contact as she takes a gulp of her beer.
Puck grins devilishly. "Sure you don't."
Santana sighs. "There's nothing going on between us, okay? The whole thing is just for publicity."
"Publicity my ass. Satan, you've been staring at each other with sex eyes for the entire time Quinn was baking."
"It's nothing! Just leave it be! We've always been like that."
Puck sighs and holds up his hands for defense. "Fine. But I do think you and Brittany are meant for each other."
The brunette's ears perk up. "You think so?"
"Yeah, definitely."
Santana thinks about for a moment, even smiling unconsciously at the thought of it. But no, it can't be. She wipes the smile off her face and slaps Puck on the arm, making him spill a bit of his beer.
"Damn it, Lezpez. What is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong is you trying to push this 'thing' with Brittany into something it's not. Stop corrupting my brain, Fuckerman."
Puck chuckles. "I just honestly know that you're overcompensating with everything, Santana. Wanna know how I know?"
Santana rolls her eyes and motions for Puck to continue. "Sure. Enlighten me, Yoda."
"I've been looking at how you were interacting with those girls from a while ago and for the first time in a really long time, it's as if you're deliberately not trying at all. Texting while you're talking to them then smiling to yourself? Who are you and what have you done to my friend?" Puck utters exasperatedly. "It wouldn't take me three guesses who you're texting with, you know."
Santana breathes deeply. Puck, her partner-in-crime ever since high school, knows her all too well. Not as good as Brittany but he can definitely see through the brunette when it comes to these kinds of things. "Fine. But I'm not doing it on purpose, okay? Can we just drop th-"
"Nope." Puck smirks as he pops the word then calls for the bartender. "Open a tab for us and put it on her, will you?" He glances at Santana who rolls her eyes at him.
"Let's go deeper into this thing." Puck adds with a wide grin.
"So.." Quinn trails off as she settles a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the coffee table and takes a seat beside Brittany on the couch.
Brittany looks back at the other blonde who's grinning from ear to ear while staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing." Quinn shrugs with the same grin still on her face.
The radio host nods skeptically and takes a cookie from the table. As she takes a bite, she sees Quinn still staring at her from her peripheral vision with the same expression. "Okay, Q. What is it?"
Quinn sheepishly shakes her head while taking a cookie from the plate. Brittany squints her eyes at her and raises an eyebrow. "Just spill it. Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
"No! It's just... there's something different about you nowadays. It's like, you're glowing."
"Quinn, we literally see each other everyday and you say this now?"
"You can say that it's a late discovery. Pregnancy hormones." Quinn says with a fake grin.
Brittany shakes her head and takes another bite of the cookie in her hand. "There's nothing different about me, okay?"
"I disagree. You're extra chirpy, you're glowing, and there's something about you that I can't place. You got laid, didn't you?"
Brittany's eyes widen and gives Quinn a warning look while gesturing towards Beth who looks serious in watching Cupcake Wars while sitting on the floor and munching with her own plate of cookies.
"Okay, uh… How about we change the term into.." Quinn raises both eyebrows while her hands make random movements. She glances at the television for a second then back at her friend with a smirk. "Cupcakes?"
Brittany chuckles and looks at Quinn in disbelief. "We're seriously gonna call it that?"
Quinn raises an eyebrow at her. "Do you have any other suggestions?" The radio host just smiles at her and shrugs as she eats another cookie.
The pregnant woman grins widely and scoots closer towards her friend. "Okay, let's talk about 'cupcakes'. When the last time you had 'cupcakes'?"
"Oh. At the station, a while ago. They bought these awesome Red Velvet cupcakes from that bakery down at 11th avenue and I had like, three of-" Quinn cuts off her rambling friend.
"Britt, not that! Like, you know, cupcakes." Quinn grins devilishly and Brittany finally gets it as she nods slowly. "So, when's the last time you had one?"
"W-Well, I don't really like talking abo-"
"You had cupcakes earlier, didn't you?" Quinn teases her while wiggling her eyebrows.
The host almost chokes on her cookie. "No! I did not!"
"Then when was the last time?"
"U-Uh… I don't remember. It was with Jamie, for sure." Brittany replies back wryly.
"So, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Quinn utters with a smug grin.
"Yeah. But I'm not rea-"
"I'm just curious, Britt. How is it like? You know, having cupcakes with another girl?"
Brittany laughs in her friend's face. This is just beyond funny for her because she and Quinn don't really talk about sex that much. Oh well. Might as well entertain herself. "Uhmm.. Well, it's awesome. It's just.. Uh.." She stops and glances at Beth who's attention is still glued to the screen. "..a different kind of dessert but still great. A lot better, actually. I mean, I haven't had cupcakes with a guy yet but I assume so."
"Wait. Exactly how great?"
"Well, cupcakes with another girl requires a different…" Brittany does random gestures with her hand while thinking. "...Baking technique. But since you're both girls you know the- uh.. exact measurements that the other wants for good cupcakes, so it's just really amazing. Really awesome cupcakes." Brittany smirks, proud of herself for coming up with such a smart analogy.
Quinn nods, seemingly serious with the talk they're having. "How about when you eat the frosting? Isn't it, I don't know, itchy on the nose?"
"Quinn!" Brittany exclaims as she blushes bigtime.
"What? I'm really curious. So?" Quinn replies as she motions for her friend to continue.
Brittany sighs and slaps a hand on her forehead for a second before turning back to Quinn. "The frosting is wonderful. It's one of the best assets of having cupcakes with a girl. Like I said, since we're both girls, we know the exact measurements on how to uh.." Brittany pauses and shakes her head. "Well, there ain't no better way to put it, so, yeah. We girls know the best way on how to eat frosting and we do it good."
Quinn smirks in amusement. "Ooh.. Darn. I know I should have experimented having cupcakes with another girl back in college."
Brittany rolls her eyes yet again and decides to disregard Quinn's chuckling.
"So, have you ever had cupcakes with Santana?" Quinn quips with a cheeky grin after laughing her heart out.
Brittany looks back at her with a surprised face. "What?! No! Why would we- What are you-"
"I'm just asking! Gosh. No need to be defensive. It's just cupcakes." Quinn tries to hold back her laughter.
"No, we haven't. We're best friends, Q." Brittany says, trying to be cool about it.
"Yeah. Shame." The pregnant woman mutters under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, B." Quinn stares at Brittany as she happily gobbles up another cookie while humming to herself but this time, it's as if she's thinking behind that cool façade. She smirks to herself when a thought comes up in her mind.
"Hey, Britt?"
"Yeah, what's up?" Pierce looks at her with a wide smile. A little too wide as Quinn sees right through it. She turns to her daughter who's sitting by the floor. "Honey, can you go watch Thomas and Friends inside Mommy and Daddy's bedroom, please? You can bring your cookies too but don't make a mess on the bed, alright? Mommy and Aunt Britty needs to talk about grown-up stuff."
Beth nods and smiles widely while she slowly stands up while Brittany looks at Quinn curiously as she wonders what her friend is up to. Beth grabs her plate of cookies then turns to give her mother and Aunt Britty a kiss before happily skipping away.
Phase 2 will now commence, Quinn thinks. "Let's move past cupcakes, B. Have you ever had feelings for Santana?" She adds with a big smirk on her face.
"Why are you making a big deal out of this? I told you alrea-" Santana voices out before getting cut off by Puck.
"I'm not. I'm just explaining to you the other side of the story that you're consciously trying to avoid." Puck explains as he hands a tipsy and semi-drunk Santana her sixth or seventh beer of the night.
The brunette sighs and takes a quick swig of her beer. "Fine. I'll listen for a minute. 60 seconds or something."
"Here's the thing, Lopez. You and Brittany have this unexplained chemistry. I mean, I've seen you with lots of girls before and Brittany's dated a few ones as well but seriously, there's nothing that compares to what the two of you have. Add the fact that you're not even a real couple and anyone who can see will think it's just crazy to believe that you've never even tried dating each other." Puck pauses and chuckles at his own statement. "Maybe this pretending-to-be-Jamie thing is actually an accidental catalyst for the two of you to be finally together. We've seen how you girls look at each other when the other isn't looking, Santana. The both of you have been running blind like clueless chicks who have their soulmate right in front of them since high school, so don't tell me I don't know shit."
"You don't know shit, Dr. Phil." Santana teases.
Puck rolls his eyes and gulps down his beer. "Seriously. What's stopping you from pursuing Brittany? Are you seriously saying you've never had actual feelings for her?"
"I told you, Noah. Brittany and I have been best friends since high school. We can't ruin that. And no, I've never had romantic feelings for Brittany." I think, Santana tells herself.
"I don't believe that. Besides, wouldn't that be a plus? You actually know each other from head to toe and inside out. I can guarantee you that no one knows you better, even yourself, than Brittany. And she's the same with you. I think that's pretty awesome."
"You married your high school sweetheart! I don't think you have jurisdiction on that matter."
"I'm a sports journalist not Quinn the lawyer. Stop lawyering me, bitch." Puck nudges the brunette who only rolls her eyes in response. "Look, just think about it. Brittany's an amazing girl and you're not so bad yourself when you're not moody. I have my money on the both of you ending up together in the end. I'm calling it."
Santana laughs loudly in his face. "Who are you, Quinn? Look, I'm drunk, tired, and will probably never remember this conversation tomorrow or ever. I'm even having a hard time comprehending shit right now. So, yeah. Whatever makes you happy, shithead."
Puck sighs, girl talk's over and it's time to go home before Santana cries like a little bitch which she always does when she's had one too many drinks. "Yeah, yeah. Time to go home." Puck motions for the bill and turns to Santana with a smirk. "This one's on you since you're loaded after getting that big ass bonus."
"Fine." Santana huffs when the bill is handed her way shortly after.
"Cool. Imma go pee before we go." Puck quips and receives a disgusted look from his friend.
Santana, the drunk that she is, ponders about her conversation with Puck for a moment. Puckerman does make a few good points, now that she thinks about it. Maybe it's only her who's having second thoughts about the whole thing. Maybe Brittany's open to the idea. But no. Well, Santana's never really said it out loud before. The fear and feeling of being conflicted about something.
"What if we don't work out? I'll lose her. I can't exist without her." She mutters under her breath, like a voiceover that's thought aloud in all her wasted and drunk existence.
"Who are you talking to?" A sultry voice declares behind her.
Santana jumps in surprise upon hearing the voice. Who the fuck said that? She looks to her left and see no one. She looks to her right and see the bartender minding his own business until he must have felt Santana looking at him for almost a moment now in which he replies by staring back at her with a deadpan stare.
"Did you hear that?" Santana blurts out drunkenly.
"Hear what?" The bartender replies with a semi-annoyed tone.
"Someone just said something."
Mr. Bartender shakes his head and ignores the girl. "Drunk chicks." He remarks then wordlessly walks away after giving back the brunette's card.
"Your job description includes listening to me, old man!" Santana exclaims and takes a long drag of her beer.
"I think that's enough alcohol for you, already." The voice calls out for the second time.
Santana freezes again. She looks quickly to her right and left then see no one. So, she does a logical thing that any drunk person will do in this situation. In all her seriousness, Santana looks up at the ceiling.
"God, is that you?"
The sultry voice laughs out loud. "I'm not God."
Santana puts a hand to her chest in shock. She rethinks the whole scenario and goes on to do the second logical thing when you're drunk. She looks down at the floor.
"Oh shit. It's coming from Hell!"
Suddenly, a familiar woman coming from behind Santana walks towards in front to face her.
"Jamie."
Then, Santana wasn't so drunk anymore.
"Dani?" She exclaims, suddenly sober now.
"You're pretty funny when you're drunk." Dani quips with a smirk as she takes a step forward, invading Santana's personal space.
"I-I.. Uh.." The brunette gulps loudly. "What are you doing here?"
"I could say the same for you. Are you alone or is Brittany with you?"
"N-No, I-"
"Oh. That's good. No competition around." Dani voices out and takes another step forward then gets up in Santana's face.
"Boy, you're not really into wasting time, huh."
"I don't believe in passing up chances. At least now I get you all to myself and say what's on my mind, like how seriously hot and sexy you are. Maybe I'll even show you." She adds with a devilish grin and slowly leans towards the brunette.
"Stop." Santana tells her and takes a step back, even pushing the other girl. "Look, stop whatever the hell it is that you're doing. I-I'm engaged."
Dani disregards her statement and smirks once again. "I don't mind, if you don't."
Woah there. Santana cannot believe this girl. Like seriously. "I'm not interested, Dani."
"Oh, are you really?" Dani comments and grabs Santana's beer then gulps it down, leaving the brunette a little speechless.
"Hey, Lezpez! You are not going to believe what I saw back at the-" Puck shouts but is immediately cut off by Santana who's glaring hard at him and subtly motions at the mystery girl in front of her.
"Noah!" Santana fills in her friend's questioning look. "This is Dani, Brittany's coworker at the station. She came by to say hello to Jamie. You know, me." She adds and throws Puck a knowing look.
He looks back and forth at both ladies for a moment. Then he gets it. "Oh! Dani! Brittany's coworker. Brittany who's engaged to Jamie. You, the one and only Jamie!" He chimes in nervously with a fake grin.
Huh.
It's now Dani's turn to look back and forth between the two, who both look like idiots while having a silent conversation that only they can understand. Bunch of weirdos, Dani thinks.
"And who is this?" The radio host inquires with a bored look.
"He's Noah. One of my best friends." Santana chimes in, looking like a crack addict with how jumpy she is.
"Yeah, and Jamie and I are now leaving." Puck voices out and proceeds to drag Santana away by the hand.
"Wait!" Dani calls out but to no avail.
"Bye Donny!" Puck speaks for the both of them.
"It's Dani!"
"Don't care!" He responds without even looking back, leaving an infuriated Dani behind.
Soon enough, they're outside and trying to catch their breaths from the stressful ordeal inside.
"What the hell was that?" Puck exclaims with a hard tone.
"Look, dude. I don't know how that happened but let's just get out of here before it gets any worse."
Puck takes a deep breath and rests both hands on his waist. "That was so freaking close."
"I know. We almost got caught." Santana sighs.
"Shit. I think she's coming out of the bar. Run!" Puck declares and in a moment of panic, they do so. "Last one to get back at the apartment is gay!" He adds as he outruns the brunette.
"Fucking shit!"
"No!" Brittany instantly replies loudly which takes Quinn aback. "I-I mean, no. What- No! I have never had feelings for Santana."
"Okay." Quinn nods, just going along with it. "Well, why not?"
The question makes Brittany's ears perk up as she thinks about it for a second. Actually, why not? She utters and comes up with the obvious answer in her mind. "Because we've been friends for the longest time."
"So?"
"What do you mean by 'so', Q?" Brittany's eyebrows scrunch up, trying to avoid eye contact with Quinn.
"Is that the only reason? Because the way everyone sees it, it's a wonder the both of you are not a couple yet. B, you're single, she's single. You've got crazy chemistry. Your personalities jive. Both of you have stable jobs. My daughter loves the idea of you girls being together. You already act like a couple more than anyone we know. So, if friendship is the only reason why you're not together, then maybe you're looking at it the wrong way."
Brittany looks down as she tries to absorb everything that Quinn said. Maybe her friend's right but she can't think of it too much. "Santana and I can't be together. She's my best friend in the entire world. She gets me like no one else. If we-" Brittany bites her lip and sighs deeply.
"What if we fail at being an actual couple? We suck at relationships, I think that's obvious enough. But if it ends badly, not only have I lost my chance on a relationship with her but I'll lose my best friend too. I don't know what I'd do without her in my life. I won't be able to function without her, Q. We all know that." Brittany pauses. "E-even if I do start to have feelings for her, I can't act on it because I don't want to know what would happen between us if it doesn't work out. I honestly don't want to know at all."
Quinn nods and places a hand on her friend's knees. "Britt, are you trying to convince me or yourself?"
Brittany freezes instantly at the question and it clearly shows on her face. She tries to muster up a reply but comes up short. She looks up to see Quinn grinning widely, giving her a knowing look which tells her that saying something will never make Quinn think otherwise again. In short, she's fucked.
"I-I.. Uh.."
The door to the apartment opens, unveiling Santana who's wearing a blue leather jacket and skinny black jeans and Puck in a plain gray shirt and jeans. Quinn and Brittany look up from their spot and Santana immediately catches her best friend's gaze.
"Hey, ladies." The brunette utters while trying to catch her breath and removing her jacket at the same time to unveil a white tank top before settling beside Brittany on the couch. Basically, leaving no distance between her and the blonde as she puts her arm a few inches behind Brittany unconsciously, gluing their bodies together like it's the most normal thing. It actually is normal for them but nevertheless makes Puck and Quinn do a quick, curious glance at each other.
"Wait. Why do guys look like you've just ran a marathon?" Quinn utters while she looks at her husband and friend.
"Well, we uh.. had a bet and ran into someone.." Santana trails off and turns to Puck for some assistance.
"Yeah.. That Dolly chick." Puck fills in. "Girl was at the bar getting her flirt on with JLo here. And yeah, Santana's still gay for losing the bet." He adds and Santana just rolls her eyes at him.
Brittany squints her eyes at her best friend and somehow feels uneasy. "You had a run in with Dani and flirted with her?"
"What? No! I mean, we ran into her but I certainly didn't flirt with her. For all I know I was having a conversation with God in all my drunken glory. I can't even remember my conversation with Dani. Plus, I was in full Jamie mode." Santana rambles on as she throws a hard glare at Puck who shrugs.
Brittany pouts involuntarily. "Oh. Okay." She says but with a tone Santana's not exactly sure about. Puck and Quinn share another look with a hint of mischief.
"Britt, I swear nothing happened to screw the Jamie thing up."
Brittany forces a smile and nods. Trying to act normal about everything. "Yeah. I know, San."
Santana's eyebrows scrunch in confusion. Is she missing something here? She stares at the blonde and tries to figure out what's happening right now but comes up short. She sighs and decides to leave it be. "So, how about you girls? What were you talking about?"
"Oh.. W-We were just talking about cupcakes!" Brittany exclaims, sneaking a glance at Quinn for help.
"Yeah. All about cupcakes between us girls. How good those damn cupcakes are and eating that frosting which sometimes makes your nose itchy." Quinn quips with a big grin and receives a glare from the other blonde.
Santana and Puck looks dumbly at them, trying to figure out the sub context of their conversation but eventually let it go. Santana turns her attention to Brittany who incidentally looks back at her at the same time. Both of them not caring that their faces are just inches apart from each other.
"So, how are you?" Santana mutters, just enough for Brittany to hear as she smiles.
"A little hungry. How about you? Had a great time?" Brittany mumbles.
"Not really. Puck was his boring self and it's never the same without you. Being around you makes everything infinitely better. You know that, right babe?"
Brittany automatically breaks out into a smile. She tried hard to hide it. She freaking tried not to show it but holy cow, she can't help it.
Ugh. Santana. Santana. Santana.
This has always been her game whenever she and Brittany have a misunderstanding of some sort. This is how Brittany gets owned by having that soft spot for her best friend. She even thinks that the effect of Santana's simple words multiplied a hundred times because of having previously talked things out with Quinn a while ago.
"I heard that." Puck huffs.
"Ignore the peasant. How about we grab some Chinese before we head home? Maybe get some ice cream at that shop you've been dying to try while we're at it. Watcha think, B?"
"I'd love that." Brittany almost whispers with a cheeky grin.
Just like that, the feelings of animosity or whatever that was a while ago when she heard Dani's name is now long gone. It's Santana, of course. She knows the blonde like the back of her hand. The brunette knows her quirks and how to make her mood turn around with just a snap of a finger. Blame the butterflies in her stomach for making her ramble like a psycho.
"Great." Santana replies as she bites her lip. Both of them not noticing how close their faces are now than a minute ago as they inch closer to each other.
"Ahem.." Puck clears his throat loudly and catches both of their attention, making them snap out of it. "I hate to break this cute little live show here but don't you have to get up early tomorrow for that broadcast?"
"You trying to get rid of us, Fuckerman?" Santana sneers.
"San.." Brittany raises an eyebrow at her and the brunette rolls her eyes in reply. "Actually, we do have to go. We're driving all the way there."
Santana nods and turns her attention to the others. "Well, since you're ejecting us already. We'll get going. Don't forget the torte, babe."
"Oh yeah!" Brittany exclaims and walks towards the kitchen to get it while Santana follows her with her gaze.
"Slow down, lovergirl." Quinn comments with a smirk. Santana turns her attention at the blonde and looks at her inquisitively. "Beth! Your aunts are leaving! Come say goodbye!" Quinn adds with her stare still trained on Santana.
Shortly, a smiling Beth comes running down and bids Santana goodbye.
"Will you get me a big stuffed toy at the carnival, Aunt Tana?"
"Sure, honey. I'll get you the biggest teddy bear there is!"
"You can't even go near a clown." Puck mutters under his breath and receives a death glare from Santana.
"Don't worry, Bethy. Aunt Santana and I will get you one!" Brittany remarks upon retrieving the torte and placing it inside a dessert box.
"Aunt Britty! You need to protect Aunt Tana from the evil clowns!" Beth cries out with wide eyes as she goes to hug her.
"I will, sweetie. I'll bring back Aunt Tana safe and sound." Brittany tells her, giving a quick kiss on the cheek as she does so.
"Don't hurry!" Beth voices out, making all the adults look at each other curiously as the kid bids her aunts goodbye and run towards her room to continue watching.
"Well, we have to go now. Early day tomorrow." Santana pronounces with her attention towards the married couple.
"Alright then. You girls take care tomorrow, alright? We'll be listening." Quinn utters while hugging Brittany.
"Good luck, Jamie." Puck says with a wink directed at Santana who gives her friend the finger.
"Yeah, yeah! Goodbye now!" The brunette responds from the door as Brittany and her exit the apartment.
As soon as they hear their friends completely disappear, the married couple smirks to themselves with their eyes still directed at the front door of their apartment.
"Phase 2?" Quinn speaks out first without looking at her husband.
"Mission accomplished." Puck replies with confidence. "You?"
"Likewise."
"Awesome."
Quinn finally looks at her husband. "Now all we have to plan for is our next move."
Puck's eyes widen and grabs his wife closer to him by the waist. "I have the perfect idea. Let me tell you everything that happened a while ago at the bar..."
"So, do we have a specific plan for today?" Santana asks as they alight from the car they arrived in not more than a minute ago. After a few hours of driving, they're finally at Staten Island for Dalton Radio's anniversary event.
Brittany thinks about it for a second as she fetches the chocolate torte from the backseat before turning her attention towards the brunette. "Well, not really. There's the live broadcast and several interviews. Just be on your feet, I guess. You can never know with these people in this kind of environment."
"Alright then. So, our usual Jamie and Britt thing then be on our feet then."
"Yep, that's about it. Ready, San?"
Santana grabs the blonde's hand then slowly inserts the 'engagement ring' on Brittany's finger while maintaining eye contact, making Brittany have goosebumps all over her body with how Santana's looking at her with the sexiest eyes ever. "Can't forget the ring now, Britt." Santana adds and winks at the blonde. Brittany's pretty sure that her heart stopped for a second there for unknown reasons. And if that's not enough, Santana intertwines her fingers with that of Brittany's and they proceed to walk hand-in-hand. The latter disregards the butterflies by acting confident and tightens the grip as they walk towards the event center.
About the carnival thing, well true enough, the place looks like a legit carnival. Well, they're in Staten Island, after all. The whole place looks like something out of a Disney movie or something. From the carousel, entertainers, and games from every side which all envelops the stage in the middle of the whole event together with hundreds of people wandering around and sightseeing while waiting for the show to start.
"Look, San. The ferris wheel's amazing!"
Santana glances at Brittany, more than she should have actually. Well, after a moment, it's now probably bordering on creepy. She clears her throat and looks towards where Brittany's pointing and admires it all the same.
"Yeah. It's pretty great. Maybe we should ride the carousel and ferris wheel later."
Brittany grins excitedly. "Really?"
Santana sticks out her bottom lip and nods. "Why not? We're here so might as well enjoy it."
"Jamie!" A sultry voice catches both of their attention from the side. They turn to see Dani, together with Burt and Carole, approaching them with big smiles. Well, the Hummels' looks genuinely happy to see them.
"Dani." Santana states with a bored voice. Which reminds her that she hasn't really told Brittany the whole story about her run in with Dani last night. Well, she honestly can't recall every detail. Plus, it probably doesn't even matter since her best friend never mentioned anything about it anymore and seems seriously uninterested on the matter. So, yeah. It's not a big deal so the best thing to do is let it go.
"Burt, Carole. So nice to see you again!" Santana follows almost instantly, her arms automatically and unconsciously snaking behind Brittany's waist. The blonde catches her breath at the last second, a bit surprised by Santana's sudden action.
"Jamie and Brittany! My favorite couple!" Carole quips and engulfs the both of them in a big hug.
"It's always a pleasure to see the both of you. Congratulations on the engagement again." Burt chimes in with a big grin. The couple nods in reply while returning the smile.
"By the way, this is the torte you've asked us to bring." Brittany utters and hands the dessert over to an excited Carole.
"Oh gosh! I'm like a kid on Christmas day right now! Thank you, ladies."
"No problem. Here's the recipe as well." Santana speaks and hands over an envelope which the older woman takes without any second thoughts.
"You've just made her the happiest woman in this event today." Burt says and the four of them laugh in agreement. "Well, we have to go say hello to the board and other people too. Plus, my wife will want to hide this magical torte from everyone. Goodluck with the show and we'll see you ladies later!"
"We'll be watching from the wings." Carole states before excusing themselves.
As soon as the Hummels disappear, Dani clears her throat loudly which makes Brittany and Santana turn their attention to her.
"Yes?" Santana speaks up for the both of them with the same bored expression a while ago.
"It's so nice to see you again, Jamie. Well, not like it's been that long." Dani tells her with a flirty tone. Is she trying to pull off something here again? Santana thinks.
"You mean Brittany and I, right?"
Dani laughs in their faces and leans towards Santana while deliberately ignoring Brittany. "No, just you."
She doesn't know what came over her. She doesn't even know why she did it but what Brittany's sure about is that she's been wanting to this for quite some time now for reasons completely unknown to her.
"Baby, let's go. I'm horny."
Woah there.
Santana and Dani's head instantly turn to face a blushing red Brittany in record speed with a look of shock and disbelief at the same time. The blonde looks down in embarrassment but remembers that if she wants to own Dani the bitch, she needs to act confident and rule this conversation. Alright. That, she will.
"Well?" Brittany raises her eyebrow at Santana and gives her an impatient look which catches the brunette off guard.
"U-Uh.. Y-Yeah, babe. Okay." Santana utters, not exactly sure how to go about the situation. Brittany turns to face Dani one last time with a big smirk and a look of triumph.
"Well, you have a good day now, Dani. Goodluck later."
Dani's surprised and pissed off face slowly turns to that of a smirk. She slowly takes a step forward then crosses her arms. "Actually, you're the one who's going to need all the help you can get. Pray hard, Brittany." She declares before walking away while doing an evil laugh.
"Okay. What the hell was that?" Santana remarks as she glares at Brittany.
The blonde follows Dani with her gaze for a few seconds. "I've no idea, actually. But don't you think that was a bit sketchy? Like there's something behind those words."
"Not that!" Santana exclaims. "I'm talking about the horny thing you just pulled off."
"Oh. That." Brittany replies with a slow nod. "Well, she wasn't being very nice, wasn't she?" She adds with a fake grin while Santana, who's brain is still initializing because of her friend's actions a moment ago, just shakes her head in disbelief.
"Brittany! Jamie!" A voice calls out from behind them. They turn around to see Blaine in his usual suit and bowtie running towards them with a sigh of relief. "Thank God I found you. We've just finished setting up the set for your broadcast and the show's about to start. Are you good to go?"
The blonde only shrugs in reply. "Uhmm.. Yeah?"
"Good!" Blaine exclaims as he clasps his hands together then motions both women to walk towards a tent which moonlights as a dressing room of some sort. "Now, let's go and prep you ladies for the show."
Now it's Santana's turn to be surprised. "W-What? I'm going in too?"
"Of course, Jamie. People are so excited to see you after your engagement. They can't get enough of you two." Blaine quips. "By the way, this is probably a last minute thing but you really won't be doing a live broadcast until after we're done with the first part, Brittany."
"What first part? What are you talking about?" Brittany's eyebrows scrunch in confusion as she's being thrown to have someone retouch her make-up and fix her hair, like Santana in the corner who's sharing the same questioning look.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the show is about to start in five minutes. Please take your seats." The announcer's voice echoes through the huge speakers surrounding the place.
"Well, we decided to just go on with the question and answer thing first then do the broadcast after. I'll be doing the questioning and you guys are going to answer them just like I said yesterday." Blaine comments nonchalantly.
"What?! What do you mean, Blaine? I don't understand what's happening here." Brittany almost shouts with a hard tone.
"Calm down, babe." Santana chimes in with a worried look. Both of them hear a lot of noise outside from excited people who are all waiting for the show to start.
"I thought Dani filled you in? She volunteered to relay the information for you along with the questions sheet yesterday." Blaine replies with confusion.
Brittany and Santana share a look and groan at the same time upon realizing what just happened after putting two and two together. So, that must be what Dani meant a while ago. "Damn that sly little bi-" Santana exclaims but gets cut off by Brittany.
"Oh. I-I must have forgotten." Brittany replies while looking down at the floor, receiving a curious look from the brunette.
Blaine nods and takes a peek behind the dressing room's curtain. "Okay. We're on in about 90 seconds. Goodluck out there." He adds one last time before leaving the tent.
As soon as everyone's out of sight, Santana blows up almost instantly.
"Why did you tell him that? Dani never gave us anything nor told us about doing the show together and all that crap!"
"We can't do anything about it now, can we? We just have to go with the flow of whatever will be thrown our way." Brittany says in a defeated tone.
"She's doing all of this on purpose to trip you up and get that syndication, B! This is sabotage!"
"Do you think I'm not aware of that, San?!" Brittany responds with a hard tone, taking Santana aback by the sudden change in her best friend. "I am more than aware of what she's doing but we can't cry foul and whine just because the competition hits us like that."
Santana looks down, feeling helpless. "But what are we gonna do, Britt? We haven't even practiced answering questions about this 'thing' we're doing. We can't let Dani get away with this."
"No, we won't! This is the last straw and I'm done with being nice."
Brittany rests her left hand on her waist while pinching her nose with the other while thinking of a solution to this fucked up situation. "Let's just go about this normally, okay? Don't panic. Just act like this is all normal and when they ask us something we're blanking on, let's get the answers from our own experience or something."
"Okay." Santana sighs deeply then turns to look at a worried Brittany. The look in her best friend's eyes is something she's not really accustomed to because knowing the blonde, she's always got something under control and is easily the calmest person in a group over unexpected situations. She approaches Brittany and squeezes her hand. "Don't worry about a thing, Britt. Trust me and I promise you we'll get through this."
Brittany stares into the brunette's eyes and sees the sincerity behind it. She finally breaks out into a small smile and nods her head slowly. "I trust you, San." The brunette returns the smile and as if on auto-pilot, she raises Brittany's hand and kisses it, surprising the blonde and actually making her heart skip a beat.
"S-San.."
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Dalton Radio's anniversary show right here at the great Staten Island! I'm Blaine Anderson, Dalton's station manager and I will be your host for today.." Blaine's voice echoes throughout the place and interrupts the moment between the two women. It effectively gets them out of their trance as they break apart and scurry to check themselves out from the big-ass mirror in the dressing room. Brittany sneaks a glance towards Santana who looks absolutely stunning in an off shoulder, knee length, lace little black dress that shows off her figure in an amazing way and partnered with awesome red heels. It's actually a pretty semi-casual attire but Santana's beauty gives it an elevated look. Brittany looks at herself in the mirror one last time and fixes her pale yellow sundress before being dragged by Santana out of the tent without any words.
"..So, on with the program! Our first broadcast is someone you know all too well. She's Dalton Radio's resident relationship expert and host of the critically-acclaimed radio show, 'Romantically Speaking'. But for today's special event, we have something special for everyone.."
Brittany instantly feels the panic and fear settle in her nerves when the audience starts to cheer. It's the first time she will ever do the show in such a large audience and even takes a few deep breaths that does nothing to calm her at all. She even looks down at her left hand to see it shaking like crazy out of nervousness.
"Hey.." Brittany hears Santana's soft voice beside her and looks up to see the girl smiling sweetly at her. Like the mind-reader that Santana is when it comes to Brittany, she slowly intertwines her fingers with that of the blonde's and stares back into those ocean blue eyes.
"I got you, babe."
Santana utters with that stunning smile Brittany's so fond of. And just like that, Brittany knows everything will be alright with Santana by her side.
"..So, let's call on to the stage, the adoring, newly engaged couple, Brittany Pierce and her fiancée, Jamie!" Blaine declares and everyone cheers louder this time as both women prepare themselves and proceed to climb the stairs to the stage, waving and putting on a show for everyone.
Showtime, bitches.
Thoughts? :)
Sorry for the cliffhanger and if it's a little long. It was supposed to cover the whole live broadcast and whatnot but I decided to just split it into two chapters so I won't miss anything out and rush things. I'll get on it with it as soon as I'm done with the latest chapter of Chasing Pavements.
*Anyway, if you do have the time, please check out my new story entitled "Something Like Black Magic". I made it after realizing that one way for me to get out of a slump is by writing a new story. So, there it is. Hope you guys like it! :)