AN: Thank you everyone for your reviews/favorites/alerts. Disclaimers, warnings and acknowledgements as before.
Chapter 3: Santana
Santana was snapped out of her silent staring contest with the beautiful blonde by Tina's voice next to her "Oh, there's Britt! I knew she would show up sooner rather than later."
Santana turned towards her friend just in time to catch the shadow of a cheeky grin on her lips as she waved someone over. Shaking her head Santana tried to focus back on the real world and see if she had missed anything in her momentary daze. By the time she had gotten her bearings the stunning blonde had joined their little group.
"There you are!" Tina said cheerfully. "I'm surprised you haven't been stuck to my side all night just in case you missed-" She cut her sentence short when she saw Brittany's eyes bug out and shaking her head slightly with a pleading look. "Fine." Tina relented in her teasing. "Santana this is Brittany. The last member of our merry band of misfits. Brittany this is Santana." Tina put extra emphasis on Santana's name. "She is a friend of mine from college." She explained unnecessarily.
Santana found herself mesmerised again by the beauty she now knew as Brittany. Up close she could see that her deep blue eyes had a feline shape and her fine hair was the colour of spun gold. She wondered if it would feel as silky smooth as it looked if she was to run her fingers through it.
Trying to compose herself she put out her hand to shake Brittany's outstretched one. "Pleasure to meet you." Brittany said in her airy voice, a dazzling smile stretching across her face.
"Uh. Yeah. Pleasure to meet me too – ugh YOU! Meet YOU too!" Santana replied completely flustered. She wanted to smack herself upside the head. "Smooth Santana. Wow I really am a nerd." She thought self-deprecatingly.
Brittany just kept smiling that disarming smile but there was amusement dancing in her eyes. The chuckling of her friends around her brought Santana's attention away from Brittany and she realised she was still clasping her hand. Reluctantly she let go and drew her hand back to her side. She could still feel the heat from Brittany's palm against her own and she had tingles running up her arm to her elbow.
"Uhm, sorry." Santana mumbled. She thought that she could feel a blush building on her cheeks so she looked bashfully to the floor, avoiding eye contact with everyone surrounding her.
After a few seconds of whispered discussions around her she heard Tina say loudly "So who is up next to sing?" taking pity on her friend and trying to turn attention away from her.
As grateful as Santana was for the distraction she still didn't dare raise her eyes from the floor until she was sure her new friends were fully immersed in their argument as to who was up next on stage. As soon as she dared to look up she saw Brittany snap her head away from her as if she was caught staring. "Yeah she was probably gawking at what an idiot you are." Santana thought sullenly.
Santana remained silent throughout Mercedes' impressive rendition of a Whitney Houston song and Mike and Tina's hilarious performance of 'I've got you babe'. The whole time she was trying to appear engrossed in the performances and not sneaking peeks at Brittany. She was only slightly successful but most of the times she did dare to look at Brittany she was looking right back.
When Mike and Tina re-joined the group, to uproarious laughter and applause, Santana offered her own congratulations and smile. When everyone settled down Mike informed them regretfully that he had to make the rounds. "You guys know I would rather spend the night with you geeks but the last thing I need tomorrow is an 8am phone call from my mother having a go at me for ignoring my cousins who came all this way and blah blah blah." He said in a mocking tone. "You coming babe?" He directed to Tina. "You know you better put in an appearance as well."
"Ugh, do I have to?" Tina whined. "What about Santana? I can't just abandon her!"
Santana scoffed at that. "I'm a big girl now you know Serine. I can take care of myself!" She crossed her arms across her chest and huffed at Tina, offended.
Mike just chuckled while Tina rolled her eyes. "You aren't getting out of it that easily. Santana will be fine. Maybe Britt could give her a tour of the place!" He suggested with a cheeky grin.
"Uhh. Yeah. Sure." Santana said a bit hesitantly. "I mean only if you want to. You don't have to drag yourself away from the party for my expense. I'm perfectly fine on my own. I can entertain myself." She quickly added trying to give Brittany an out if she wanted it.
"What are we, chopped liver?" She heard Mercedes complain in the background but ignored her. Her full attention was on Brittany.
"No, it's fine." Brittany replied with a sincere smile. "I can show you all the hidden and best places around here."
"That sounds great." Santana said with a smile, getting lost in Brittany's eyes again.
"Right, so it's settled then. We all go do our own thing then meet back here in like forty-five minutes, an hour." Mike said.
They all agreed and went their separate ways. Brittany smiled shyly at Santana and inclined her head towards the door motioning for her to follow as she made her way out of the Karaoke Room.
When they were out in the hallway Santana was surprised by how quiet it was considering how loud the rooms were. She realised with a startle that it was completely quiet. Not only could the music and chatter from the rooms not be heard, but Santana's head wasn't filled with anybody's thoughts either. She tried to think when she had last heard thoughts and if she had just been blocking them out. The last thought she heard for sure, she realised, was Brittany thinking something about a rainbow.
The thoughts of everyone around her are usually a constant humming in her brain. It took years to learn to block them out enough so that they didn't take over her mind. The only time she had managed to quiet them down was when she was drunk, which was a big reason she drank so much as a teenager. But the alcohol and numbing of her telepathy only served to enhance her other overdeveloped ability. When her head was quiet of other people's voices her heart was generally filled with their emotions. When she drank in high school to dim her telepathy, her enhanced empathy usually made her overemotional and weepy, horny, or angry since those tended to be the predominant emotions of the teenagers that surrounded her.
This time, however, even though her telepathy was practically turned off, so was her enhanced empathy. The emotions she was feeling were completely her own. The embarrassment from getting caught staring at Brittany, the indignation at Tina's implication that she needed a chaperone, were all legitimate feelings that were not influenced by other people's emotions.
She was starting to get a bit freaked out over it all when she noticed Brittany looking at her with a concerned look on her face. "Are you ok?" Brittany asked gently placing her hand on Santana's arm.
Santana looked at Brittany's hand then back to her eyes trying to see if she could hear what Brittany was thinking. Brittany quickly removed her hand and thought "She looks freaked out. I hope it's not 'cause of me."
Breathing a sigh of relief Santana shook her head and tried to give Brittany a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. Just appreciating the quiet."
"Oh. Well I guess you don't want to go to the dance rooms then, if you like it quiet." Brittany mumbled trying to think where she could take Santana.
"I've already seen the Disco Room. But I think quiet would be nice for a little bit." Santana supplied. But then she started second guessing herself and rambling. "Unless you wanna go dance, or have someone better to spend your time with. Someone as pretty as you is bound to have a boyfriend waiting for you somewhere. Or a girlfriend! Nothing wrong with that. Live and let love I say." Santana snapped her mouth shut trying to reign in the torrent of words that were flooding out of her mouth. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she muttered to herself.
Brittany just chuckled and shook her head with amusement. "You think I'm pretty?" She asked cheekily.
"Well yeah. Do you not own a mirror?" Santana clamped her mouth shut again and looked to the floor avoiding Brittany's eyes. This time she was sure her blush could be seen even under her dark skin.
Taking pity on her Brittany just smiled at her adorableness. "Well thank you. Anyway I don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend at the moment and I dance for a living so I don't mind not dancing for a night. If you want quiet I know just the place."
With a smile Brittany took her hand and led Santana to the stairs. They passed the first floor with the dance rooms and kept climbing. On the second floor Brittany pointed out the entrance to Mike and Tina's apartment but they bypassed that and kept moving up. When they reached the top floor Brittany headed right for the door marked 'Roof Access Only' and just pushed through.
When the chilly night air hit them they realised they were still holding hands and both let go suddenly. Brittany made her way to the edge of the roof and leaned over the ledge slightly to see the street below. Santana took in a deep breath and held it. She wanted to shout out at Brittany to get away from the edge but she didn't want to startle her. She also didn't want to seem like an even bigger loser than she already must look like tonight.
Realising Santana wasn't next to her anymore Brittany turned away from the ledge to find her. Noticing how she had basically plastered herself to the wall next to the door she approached her cautiously. "Sorry I never considered you might be afraid of heights. We can go back in if you want. " Brittany offered apologetically.
"No it's fine. I've just always avoided heights since I was a child. Too risky." Santana tried to reassure her. "As long as I am not near the edge I'm fine. It's actually quite nice up here." She said looking up to see the night sky full of stars. Not something she was used to seeing since she came to the city.
"OK then." Brittany said and sat down indian style right next to where Santana was standing. She looked up at the starry night and sighed. Santana turned her gaze away from the night sky towards Brittany. She just admired her beautiful profile for a few seconds taking in her peaceful and wistful stare. She wondered again why her mind was so quiet. Why Brittany's thoughts weren't just flowing from her. "She seems so open and I could hear her just fine earlier even when she was in other rooms." She decided to brave making herself look like a fool again by trying to start a conversation with the blonde rather than just stare at her like a creeper.
"So you said you dance for a living. Are you an instructor here? You seem to know your way around the place." Santana asked breaking Brittany away from her thoughts.
"Something like that." Brittany replied with a cryptic smile, not looking away from the stars. Santana just stared at her expectantly. She figured she could try and focus on reading Brittany's thoughts but she would much rather hear her actual voice and not invade her privacy like that.
Brittany finally looked away from the sky when she felt Santana's eyes burning a hole into the side of her head. Laughing at Santana's expression she started to explain "You know Mike owns this place right?"
"Yeah." Santana replied trying to encourage Brittany to get to the point.
"Well I used to be just an instructor here." Brittany paused again for dramatic effect.
"Used to?" Santana encouraged again.
"Well I still teach dance here. Only now I just happen to own half of it with Mike as well." Brittany finally gave her the full explanation.
Santana gave her a low whistle. "It's quite impressive of you guys to own a business at such a young age. It's a pretty well-known and successful studio as far as I can tell." Santana complemented.
"Thanks." Brittany modestly answered. "I think it's only doing so well because we really love what we are doing. Dance has finally become fun for both of us again."
"Why? Did it stop being fun at some point?" Santana asked as she sat down next to Brittany. She was genuinely interested in Brittany's answer. It wasn't just how pretty she was that attracted Santana to her, but also the snippets of her thoughts she caught earlier. Originally she thought that whoever the thoughts belonged to must be drunk because they were so capricious. But Brittany was obviously sober so the randomness of her thoughts intrigued her. "She must have a pretty interesting view of the world." Santana thought as she leaned back against the wall waiting for Brittany to explain.
Brittany started to recount about her time with AMDC and quitting to live with Rachel and Kurt and how that all led to her and Mike owning the studio. Santana was mesmerised throughout the whole conversation. She caught glimpses of Brittany's unique point of view when she mentioned auras and music-colours and touch-sounds. Sure, if anyone else was saying things like that she would probably think they were crazy. But Brittany's enthusiasm and genuine excitement and emotion when she was telling her story made Santana believe that there was something really special about Brittany. Again she resisted the urge to try and read Brittany's thoughts when she seemed to go off on these tangents. She may be confused now but she was sure Brittany was the type of person it was worth taking the time to really get to know properly. Shortcuts would just ruin the experience.
She was enjoying the silence in her head. The only sounds that of Brittany's voice and the light traffic from the street below them. She wished she knew how it was happening. If she wasn't dedicating her full attention to Brittany she would be going crazy trying to figure it out.
Once Brittany had gotten through the story of how the group had come to be and she and Mike ended up owning a studio she entertained Santana with stories of her students or some of the antics the group of friends had gotten up to. All with the added bonus of being viewed and interpreted through Brittany's eyes with her always interesting and amusing commentary. They were brought out of their latest bought of laughter about a story of Rachel and losing some money to a goat by the sound of Santana's phone signifying she received a message. Santana apologised and pulled the phone out of her pocket to check it.
"Oh my God!" Santana exclaimed as soon as she unlocked the screen. The message was from Quinn but that wasn't the reason for her reaction.
"What? Is everything ok?" Brittany asked with concern.
"Yeah. I just noticed the time that's all." Santana reassured.
"What is it like twelve? So we left the gang waiting for fifteen minutes. I'm sure they're fine and will forgive us." Brittany replied untroubled.
"Erm, it's been a bit longer than fifteen minutes since we were supposed to meet up with them." Santana said hesitantly.
"How much longer? What time is it?" Brittany asked.
"Well it's just passed one-thirty now."
"Shit! Really!?" Brittany exclaimed standing up and dusting off the back of her shorts. "We really spent almost three hours up here? It didn't feel like it!"
"No it didn't." Santana agreed standing up reluctantly to join Brittany. She really didn't want to leave the roof and Brittany's company. Spending time with the blonde, laughing with her and getting glimpses into how she views the world was the highlight of Santana's week. Hell her month even. These few hours together made her feel more alive than she has felt in a while. Her mind never even drifted to her project or her brother.
"I guess we should go and find the others before they send out a search party for us or something. They seem dramatic enough to do something like that." Santana suggested.
"Oh, they are definitely dramatic enough." Brittany laughed. Her melodic laughter made Santana's heart speed up and she got lost in Brittany's bright eyes for the millionth time that night. "But they probably just figured we are hooking up somewhere." Brittany mumbled.
"Huh?" Santana eloquently asked, shaking herself out of her daze.
"Nothing!" Brittany said quickly and a bit too loudly.
Santana just looked at her for a while and decided to let it go. "Ok. So shall we?" she asked pointing to the door back into the building and reality.
Brittany released a breath of relief that Santana didn't push the subject. She took Santana's hand and led her to the stairs.
On the way down Santana tried to open her mind to see if she could hear any of the group's thoughts. It took her longer than usual and required quite a bit of effort and focus but she finally heard Kurt's high voice "I'm gonna fall asleep in this comfy chair if they aren't back soon."
"Where are the most comfortable chairs around here?" Santana asked Brittany.
Brittany turned to her with an inquisitive look. That seemed like a random question, even to her. "Erm, probably the waiting room off the reception." She answered hesitantly. "It's the Lounge Room for the evening. Why?" she asked.
"We should start looking for the group from there." Santana shrugged a little.
Brittany looked at her sceptically for a beat then shrugged and smiled. "Ok." She said leading Santana there.
When they entered the Lounge Room and found it empty apart from their friends, Brittany turned to Santana with an astonished look. "How did you know? Are you psychic!?"
"Lucky guess." Santana shrugged and approached their friends.
Rachel was stretched out across two chairs snoring lightly, while Kurt was nodding off reclined in the chair next to her. Mercedes was giggling lightly at something on her phone while Tina was sitting in Mike's lap and blushing at whatever he was whispering in her ear.
Kurt noticed them first when his eyes popped open as his chin hit his chest in his napping and woke himself up. "Finally!" He said in an irritated tone that caught everyone's attention. Well except Rachel's who just snorted, rolled over on her makeshift bed and continued snoring.
"Sorry." Brittany said sheepishly. "We went up to the roof and got to talking and lost track of time." She tried to excuse their lateness.
"Talking?" Tina asked with a doubtful look on her face.
"Yes talking!" Brittany said emphatically.
"I never knew Santana could talk so much. She is usually so laconic." Tina said again with a smirk.
"Bite me!" Santana grumbled causing Tina to chuckle. "See! Not the most sparkling conversationalist."
"Well to be fair I did most of the talking." Brittany supplied. Then a frown formed on her face and she turned to Santana. "I'm sorry. I just realised how true that is. I practically talked your ear off and you hardly got a word in edgewise!"
Santana dropped her scowl and smiled at Brittany. "It's fine. I had a great time. And as much as I hate to admit it, Serine is actually right. I don't usually talk much. I am more of a listener." Santana reassured her.
"Even more of a listener than any of you know." She thought to herself.
"OK." Brittany said not looking at all convinced. "But now I realise I don't know nearly enough about you. Next time you can do all the talking and I'll be the listener." She finished with a proud smile.
"Next time huh?" Santana chuckled with a smile.
"Well yeah. I hope this wasn't just a random one-night stand!" Brittany said making her friends laugh and Santana blush lightly.
"Erm, no. I would very much like for there to be a next time." Santana mumbled bashfully bringing out Brittany's dazzling toothy smile.
"As entertaining as this is," Kurt interrupted their moment "I am exhausted and we need to get Snoring Diva here home to bed Britt." He said with a nod to the sleeping Rachel.
"Yeah, I better get going as well." Santana said sending a regretful glance Brittany's way. "It was really nice to meet you all." She said to the rest of the group. "Thanks for inviting me and Happy Birthday again Mike. I'll see you on Monday, Serine."
Brittany offered to see her out as the others said their goodbyes. As soon as they left the room Brittany took Santana's hand again. At the entrance to the studio they both stopped and just looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Eventually Brittany leaned in and pulled Santana into a hesitant hug.
"I had a really nice time tonight. I'm so glad I met you. I knew you would be special. My senses have never let me down yet." Brittany whispered into her ear.
Santana was a bit confused by that last bit but she totally agreed with the original sentiment. "I had a great time too. I'm glad I came tonight and got a chance to meet you." She replied.
They eventually pulled away from the hug and Santana turned to leave while Brittany lent against the door frame to watch her go. Just as Santana was stepping off the last step Brittany shouted after her "There better be a next time!"
Santana chuckled and turned around. "There will be. I promise."
As soon as she turned the corner and was out of Brittany's sight she pulled out her phone to check Quinn's message. "Bitch I hope you are out late cause you are finally having some fun and you haven't been kidnapped or something. I want details!"
Santana smiled at her friend's message and quickly typed up a short reply. "It was the best night of my life."
By the time Santana woke up the next day it was almost noon. She hadn't gotten home until after 2am and she spent the first couple of hours tossing and turning in bed thinking about the night's events. Since Brittany wasn't around to distract her she couldn't get over the fact that her telepathy was turned down and she honestly didn't know why. The only thing that had changed really was her proximity to the beautiful and enigmatic blonde. When she eventually did manage to drift off to sleep it was Brittany's bright eyes and dazzling smile that filled her head.
Groaning and stretching out in her bed, Santana reached for her phone on the bedside table. She was sure her overstated message to Quinn would lead to an interrogation. As she expected she already had four messages from Quinn demanding an explanation. Chuckling at her friend's predictability she got out of bed to make some coffee before she contacted her.
As she waited for her coffee to brew she turned on her laptop. It would take too much effort trying to explain last night through texts so she would just call her friend through Skype. Before she even managed to take her first sip the familiar Skype ringtone started and a goofy picture of her best friend filled the screen. Taking a quick sip and sighing at the warm liquid she answered the call.
"The best night of your life and you leave it at that!?" Quinn shrieked into the camera.
"Hello to you too." Santana grumbled, still not completely awake.
"What part of details do you not understand San!?" Quinn asked snootily.
"Bitch it was late and too much happened to write in a message! I literally just got up and was about to call you. Calm the fuck down!" Santana snapped.
"Fine! Drink your coffee and once you have joined the land of the living call me." Quinn retorted and hung up.
"Damn drama queen. She would have fit in just fine with the rest of them from last night." Santana muttered to herself. That got her thinking about Brittany and she sighed as she took another big gulp of her coffee.
She spent another half hour enjoying her coffee and waking up properly. She would be the first to admit she isn't a morning person. She usually needed a good half an hour after she woke up to be even a little sociable. On a typical day she would brew some coffee and then browse through her many website and journal subscriptions while enjoying her first cup before she would even attempt to talk to anyone. This morning though she didn't even care to check her emails. She just drank her coffee in silence and spent the thirty minutes daydreaming about Brittany.
Once she was done with her first cup she poured herself a second and called Quinn. She may have been pissy earlier but she did want to tell her best friend all about the night before. Quinn answered on the second ring but didn't speak. She just stared at Santana through the laptop screen with her eyebrow raised and waited with an expectant look on her face.
"Fine! I'm sorry OK?" Santana broke first.
"Ready to tell me all about last night now?" Quinn said with a triumphant smile.
"You're like a dog with a bone." Santana muttered.
"If you don't want to talk about it I have shit to do. It's a Sunday and I have a boyfriend who actually likes to spend time with me and talk to me." Quinn snapped.
"Puck actually talks!? I thought he just grunted and beat his chest demanding sex and chugging beer." Santana teased.
"Bitch, you know he's grown up and matured since high school. I thought you had a good time last night, who pissed in your Wheaties this morning?" Quinn defended her boyfriend and questioned Santana.
"Sorry. I'm just deflecting. You know how I am." Santana grudgingly admitted.
"I do. Which is why I won't actually tell Puck that you called him a caveman." Quinn accepted her apology with a smile.
"You call him a Neanderthal all the time!" Santana grouched.
"Yes I do. But I eventually have sex with him so I'm allowed to call him whatever I want." Quinn explained with a smirk. "Anyway, get to it! What made last night so great? Was it a girl? Was she pretty? Prettier than me? Did you actually get some!?" Quinn threw out questions at a rapid fire pace.
"Hold your horses woman! Are you implying that I have to get laid to have a great night?" Santana scowled at the best friend.
"I'm not implying anything. I'm just saying it's been a while and you finding a girl that could rock your world might be just the thing you need." Quinn justified. "And stop deflecting! Was she prettier than me!?"
Santana was torn between being offended at Quinn calling out her celibate lifestyle, teasing her about her complex or just being honest with her.
"She rocked my world alright. Just in a much more profound way than your sleazy mind in the gutter could ever comprehend." Santana smirked at her friend. "If all I wanted was sex with a hot girl then I would have spent the night picking the brain of Motormouth Berry and be done with it." She added.
"OK, OK. So you didn't get laid. Who is this girl and how did she rock your world without even getting in your pants?"
"Her name is Brittany and she is stunning. She has these big, blue, cat-like eyes that just sparkle with energy and a sense of adventure, I could get lost in them forever. And her hair is really shiny and long and blonde. It looked so soft and smooth I just wanted to run my fingers through it. She has a rocking body, I mean it makes sense since she's a dancer. Those long legs seem to go on for miles." Santana gushed with a dreamy look on her face.
"OK now I need to see a picture!" Quinn demanded snapping Santana out of her reverie.
"Huh?" she so eloquently asked with a confused look on her face.
"A picture! I need to see what this girl looks like 'cause you are clearly biased." Quinn claimed. "She can't possibly be prettier than me." She mumbled.
"How the hell would I have a picture of her Q!?" Santana snapped. Angry that her friend had interrupted her daydream.
"I don't know Santana. We are living in the age of technology! Did you not take her picture with your phone when you exchanged numbers!?" Quinn asked with a huff.
"We didn't exchange numbers." Santana mumbled with a contemplative look on her face.
"What? How are you gonna keep in touch? Bitch, please tell me you at least talked to this girl and you didn't just spend all night staring at her from across the room like a creeper."
"Fuck you, bitch! We spent all night together! I just forgot to get her number." Santana defended herself.
"Was it one-sided then? Maybe she didn't want to see you again if she didn't offer her number." Quinn teased with a chuckle. When she saw her friend's face fall though, she regretted it. She sometimes forgot how insecure Santana was under all her bravado and the persona she had adopted in high school.
"Shit, San I'm sorry! I was only teasing. I'm sure she loved your company and definitely wants to see you again!" Quinn tried to backtrack.
"She did insist that there be a next time…" Santana said still with a bit of doubt in her voice.
"See! You can just look her up on Facebook or something and send her a message from there." Quinn said in an upbeat tone trying to cheer up her friend.
Santana just groaned and smacked her head on the table mumbling.
"What was that sweetie?" Quinn asked trying not to laugh at her friend's dramatics.
"I don't know her last name…" Santana mumbled again peeking up at the screen with her head still on the table.
A small laugh did escape Quinn this time but she quickly stifled it at Santana's death glare.
"OK, OK. I'm sorry. I'll stop." Quinn said composing herself. "We'll figure this out. What do you know about her?"
"Well she half-owns the studio the party was at with Mike, Tina's boyfriend." Santana said hesitantly.
"OK, so there are two ways we can go about this. She is obviously friends with Tina so you can just ask her for her number or her surname at least to look her up on Facebook." At Santana's doubtful look she quickly continued with option two. "Or, you can look up the studio online and see if you can find her details that way. Surely at least her full name will be somewhere." She finished.
"Well I'd rather not look like a complete dork to Tina and Mike. Especially if she isn't really interested." Santana replied sullenly.
"She's interested." Quinn stated emphatically. "Anyway. What's the name of the studio? Please tell me you remember that at least!"
"Yeah, I do. It's 'Rainbow Fusion'. It's actually pretty well known, I think." Santana stated with a bit of pride.
"OK, let's see what we can find out." Quinn said looking down, obviously typing up the name on her keyboard.
"Wow!" she said after a few seconds.
"What? You find her?" Santana asked hopefully.
"Yeah. You weren't kidding! She looks like a blonde Amazon Warrior!" Quinn said sending the link she had found to Santana. It was the official website to the studio.
Santana opened the link and sighed with a dreamy look when Brittany's proud and beaming face filled the screen. She was standing with Mike underneath the studio sign.
"Ohh, there's a video section!" Quinn exclaimed enthusiastically. The music to 'The Fear' by Ben Howard came through Santana's speakers as both her and Quinn pressed on the first video link with Brittany's name on it.
"Wow San, she is really good!" Quinn proclaimed.
"Yeah." Santana replied dreamily. "She was with the American Modern Dance Company for five years." She supplied.
Quinn gave a low whistle and arched an eyebrow. "Impressive. I saw their touring performance of Swan Lake a few years ago. Wasn't very modern but they were really good."
"She is fearless Q! She gave it all up to strike out on her own without even really knowing what she was gonna do just 'cause she was unhappy there. And look at where she is now! Not only does she part own a studio but there are videos here crediting her as a choreographer to some of the hottest up and coming artists!" Santana gushed.
Quinn chuckled at her friend's fangirling. "Yeah she seems like a real catch. Don't screw it up Lopez!"
Santana's face fell and Quinn sighed. "Damn it San I was only teasing!"
"What chance do I really have? I mean she is fearless and I am basically afraid of my own shadow. She takes life by the horns and does what she wants and I am just spare parts living for someone else. She sees things in colours and full of music and my world is black and white and full of noise." Santana stated miserably.
"Hey now!" Quinn raised her voice trying to get through to her mopping friend. "None of that! You aren't afraid of your shadow you just don't take unnecessary risks. That's not a bad thing. And you are NOT spare parts! You are your own person! Even your parents would agree with me. Hell do I need to call up Marco!?"
"No." Santana mumbled petulantly. "That was a low blow Fabray." She accused.
"Well sometimes you need a kick in the butt to get your head out of there." Quinn replied with a smirk. "So what the hell did you and the Amazon Princess talk about all night that has made you so crazy?" Quinn hoped getting Santana to gush about Brittany would snap her out of her funk instead of make her spiral further down the rabbit hole of despair she sometimes falls into.
"Not that much considering we were alone together on the roof for almost three hours." Santana said.
"She got you to go on a roof? Did you freak out?" Quinn asked knowingly.
"Almost. When she was leaning over the edge looking at the street below. But she noticed and stepped away. We mostly lent against the wall by the door for most of the time." Santana admitted grudgingly and Quinn just laughed.
"She's really special Quinn." Santana said softly. "She made everything quiet." She added in almost a whisper.
"What do you mean?" Quinn asked gently but the shock was obvious in her voice.
"I could hear everyone as usual at the beginning of the night. And before we met I could hear her thoughts just fine. They were probably louder and clearer than anyone at the party. But once she was near me and we were introduced then everything went quiet. It took me a while to realise it, I was so distracted by her, and I almost freaked out when I did. But when she saw me and I focused really hard I could hear her again. But it actually required effort." Santana tried to explain.
"Did you have anything to drink? You couldn't have been slipped something without realising right?" Quinn asked with concern.
"No, nothing like that. And my empathy was in check as well. No unwanted thoughts or feelings." Santana replied.
"Wow. So was it only from her or everyone? Do you think it is actually because of Brittany or just a freak coincidence?"
"I had to focus really hard to hear anyone when she was near me. But on my way home I could hear the homeless guy in the park from a block away and the few people that were still milling about. It would be a pretty huge coincidence if it isn't because of Brittany." Santana said.
"Wow." Quinn repeated. "She must be really special then. So any ideas how or why it started?" she asked.
"Not a clue." Santana replied honestly and way more nonchalant than Quinn expected.
"How are you not obsessing over this? I would have thought figuring it out would be a priority for you. I was actually surprised when you didn't use your big brain to search for some kind of treatment for yourself but instead you focused your research on ALD." Quinn questioned. She had always wondered about that.
"What I have is an inconvenience. What Marco has would have been fatal if it weren't for our exceptional circumstances. Hell it usually is." Santana replied with a shrug. "And I don't know. I guess I'm not quite convinced yet that it wasn't just some random malfunction. I thought about it for a while last night but I don't want it to taint my night with Brittany or influence any future encounters." She tried to answer Quinn's first question.
"So when are you seeing her again?" Quinn inquired curiously.
"Dunno. We never actually arranged anything. And now that I don't have her number I have no idea." Santana replied.
"Like you would have made the first move even if you had her number." Quinn stated knowingly.
"Yeah, whatever bitch." Santana grumbled. Hating that Quinn was probably right.
"At least look her up and add her on Facebook. It will show you are interested and at least tried to find a way to contact her." Quinn advised.
"Won't it seem creepy or desperate or something? Like I just met her last night and then first thing next day I stalk her Facebook?" Santana asked self-consciously.
"I'm not saying stalk her account and like everything she has posted in the last year!" Quinn admonished. "Just find her and send a friend request. If you're feeling particularly brave maybe send her a message saying something like, since you forgot to exchange numbers at least now you have some way of keeping in contact." She finished.
"Uhh. I'll think about it." Santana conceded.
"Well I definitely think you should. Don't overthink it. Anyway I'm supposed to meet Puck soon so I gotta go but keep me posted!"
"Yeah, yeah. Say hi to the goof from me." Santana said.
"Awww! See, you do like him!" Quinn laughed and gave her friend a wink.
"Whatever, bitch. Have fun." Santana replied.
"Bye San! Love ya!" Quinn said cheerily and made kissy faces at the screen, making Santana laugh.
"You're nuts! See you Q." She greeted before logging off.
Santana spent the rest of the day trying to decide what to do about Brittany. She had found her on Facebook pretty easily once she had her full name but she couldn't work up the courage to send the friend request. She spent a few hours reading any new articles she could find and catching up with 'Orphan Black' on Netflix.
By 11 o'clock she was getting into bed but still hadn't dared to send the request, even though she had spent more time than she would ever admit admiring Brittany's profile picture. Sighing and cursing her cowardice she slammed her laptop shut and curled up under her covers.
Just as she was getting comfortable, the new message chime went off on her phone that was charging on the bedside table. Grumbling she reached for it fully expecting the message to be from Quinn calling her a chicken shit or something. Her breath caught and her heart sped up when she opened the message.
It wasn't from Quinn.
"Sorry to message you so late and I hope you don't think this is creepy or anything but I got your number from Tina. You never gave it to me even though you promised a next time. xx Britt"