AN: Wow it has been a long time since I updated! I am sorry to anyone who is actually still interested in this story, there have been some things going on with me but I wont make excuses. I also wont promise that I will be updating regularly again since I don't really see that happening. This update is more a present to myself for my birthday! :p Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorite/alert or even just read this story. Disclaimers, warnings and acknowledgements as before.
Chapter 6: Brittany
Brittany rushed into the studio at half past three. She wasn't late exactly since her class wasn't until four but she wasn't as early as she usually was. She still had to change into her dance sweats, set up the room and do some stretching. She rushed to get everything ready for her class and was just done with her warm up routine when the first of her students started to amble into the studio.
Before she knew it the two hour class had flown by. As much as she loved her beginner and senior classes, sometimes it was fun to just spend time with her advanced students. Most of the people in this class were already accomplished dancers who just liked the studio time to stay sharp and in shape. She hardly ever needed an actual lesson plan since it usually turned into a free for all freestyle session. She only had things planned when someone had something specific they wanted to work on.
Once everyone from her class had left she tidied up the room and made her way to the break room for something to drink and maybe a light snack. She found Tina lounging on one of the chairs messing with her phone.
"Hey, Tina." Brittany greeted her friend cheerfully and startled her in the process.
"Britt! I didn't hear you come in." Tina replied.
"Obviously." Brittany said with a chuckle as she opened the refrigerator to see if there was anything to eat.
Gathering things to make herself a salad, Brittany turned back to Tina.
"So, what you up to?" She asked.
"Nothing much. Got bored alone in the apartment so thought I'd see if anyone was around in here to pass some time." Tina replied. "So did you manage to meet up with San?" she asked with a sly smile.
"Yeap!" Brittany popped the 'p' at the end of the word. "We went for coffee before my class." She supplied with a dreamy smile.
"So can I assume, from your expression, it went well?" Tina asked.
"It was great! I told her about my condition and she was totally cool about it. She was actually excited saying it was like a superpower." Brittany said with an affectionate chuckle.
That made Tina burst out laughing.
"Oh, she is such a nerd!" She managed to get out once she calmed down.
"Hey! It's cute!" Brittany defended.
"I'm not judging!" Tina explained.
"We ended up mostly talking about that. She did share a bit about her high school experience but she completely clammed up about her project. Does she think I am too stupid to understand it or something?" Brittany asked a bit self-conscious.
"You are not stupid!" Tina admonished. "I can guarantee that Santana doesn't think that. She is just weirdly protective about her project. I mean, I know the basic premise of it but it seems to be really personal to her and I don't know the details behind her motivation. If she has already opened up about high school, which I know is another touchy subject for her, then she will tell you all about her project when she is ready." Tina explained and tried to reassure Brittany.
"I hope so." Brittany replied still sounding a bit doubtful.
"Trust me." Tina said with a warm smile. "So what's the deal with you two? 'Cause yesterday San was insisting that you are just friends, even though she wasn't very convincing, and you definitely aren't acting as if you are just friends." Tina asked.
"Well nothing has actually happened but I'm pretty sure it's more than friendship between us. I mean when I mentioned today was a date she got all flustered and I freaked out that I had misread the whole situation but then she said that it was the best first date she had ever been on. So that seems promising." Brittany explained with a bright optimistic smile causing Tina to chuckle.
"Yeah, I'd say that seems a bit more than promising." She replied.
"So, I invited her to game night tomorrow. I hope that's not a problem." Brittany said.
"Sure. I think 'Cedes was gonna invite Sam as well, so the more the merrier." Tina told her.
"Cool. Go easy on her will you? She already thinks you have an issue with whatever is going on between us and she doesn't want to cause trouble within the group or whatever." Brittany asked.
"Why on earth would she think I have a problem with you guys? I'm the one that introduced you! And I have been trying to get her to come out with us for ages!" Tina said, shocked.
"I don't know. Something about you being upset or weird when she told you about it yesterday." Brittany tried to explain with a shrug even though she wasn't quite sure herself where Santana's insecurities on this issue were coming from. Sure she made the comment about Santana getting her in trouble with Tina but that was just a joke.
"I was just caught off guard!" Tina defended. "I'm just not used to seeing San showing an interest in anyone and even though I introduced you I didn't know how it would work out. Plus I kinda expected that if things progressed one of you would have come running to fill me in." Tina added that last part a bit sheepishly.
"It's not like we were keeping it a secret per say, I was just enjoying keeping it to myself for a bit. You know I can't keep anything to myself for long. Anyway just try and put her at ease tomorrow please." Brittany pleaded.
"What I really wanna do is smack her upside the head, but fine. I mean really! I thought she knew me better than to believe that I would be anything but happy for you two." Tina huffed.
Brittany just gave her a smile and mumbled a thanks. She started to clean up the mess she had made while preparing and eating her salad and chatted to Tina about lighter topics. Once she was done she bid her farewell to go back home with promises to see her tomorrow.
When Brittany got home she found her two housemates bickering in the living room.
"You just got home from rehearsals like a half hour ago! You do not need to run lines again. You literally know the whole thing by heart, let alone your own part!" Brittany heard Kurt complaining before she even saw them.
"Preparation is vital, Kurt! If I am not at the top of my game then someone else may swoop in and snatch the part right through my hands. And you never know what may happen to a cast mate and they may need me to step in. There is no way I will miss out just because I am not prepared!" Rachel was trying to defend.
Kurt just shook his head at her antics and turned to leave when he almost collided with Brittany.
"Britt! You're home! Thank God. Please help me calm down the Diva so I can take a break from running lines with her." Kurt tried to enlist his roommate's help.
"Oh, no! I am staying out of this." Brittany said raising her hands in a defensive manner.
"See! Brittany understands the need for rehearsal and preparation!" Rachel tried her own hand at getting Brittany on her side.
Kurt just gave her a withering glare.
"I do understand that." Brittany said and rushed to carry on when she saw her roommates' varying reactions. "But! You have been working really hard Rach and there is nothing wrong with relaxing once in a while."
"I will be relaxing tomorrow at our game night!" Rachel tried to reason but at seeing Kurt's stern face she finally relented. "Fine!" She huffed and dropped onto the couch.
Kurt breathed a sigh of relief and mouthed a 'Thank you' to Brittany who just smiled at him.
"So you were gone earlier than usual today Brit. Everything OK at the studio?" He asked as he joined Rachel on the couch.
"Yeah everything's fine. I was just meeting Santana for coffee before my class." Brittany explained.
"Oh! It's progressed to coffee dates!" Kurt said excitedly as both he and Rachel gave Brittany their full attention.
"Yeah. It was fun." Brittany said bashfully. "I invited her to join us tomorrow for game night. I hope that's alright." She added.
"Sure. Assuming the two of you don't disappear on your own all night again." Rachel said in a teasing tone.
"Yeah. I mean we need to get a chance to grill her about her intentions with you!" Kurt said with a mischievous smirk.
"Hey! Be nice guys! She is shy so you better be on your best behaviour, if that's even possible." Brittany warned.
"Yeah, yeah. Of course." Her roommates reassured but Brittany knew better than to really believe them.
They decided to catch up on some of the shows they had TiVoed that they always watched together. After watching the latest episodes of 'American Idol', 'So you think you can dance' and 'Project Runway' they all retired to their rooms.
In her room Brittany looked around for something to do to fill her time. She spotted her phone on her bedside table, where she had put it to charge when she got home, and saw the notification light flashing.
Lying down and getting comfy on her bed she took her phone off the charger to see why it was flashing. She felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Santana's name under the '1 new message' notification. Smiling she pressed the read now button.
"Hey. I hope you had a good rest of the day and you weren't late for your class. I just wanted to thank you again for a great day. xx"
"She is so adorable." Brittany thought to herself with a dreamy sigh. She contemplated texting back but then checked the time and decided to be brave and call her instead.
Taking a deep breath she pressed the call button and brought the phone to her ear. She chewed on her top lip nervously as she waited for the call to connect. Each silence between rings seemed to drag on for longer and her heart rate started to pick up. Just when she was about to give up and hang up the phone the line connected and she heard Santana's breathless voice on the other end.
"Hello?"
"Uhm. Hi. It's Brittany. Am I interrupting something?" Brittany answered hesitantly.
"Oh! Hey. Uhm, no, not at all." Santana rushed to reassure, then took a pause. "It's just laundry day and I couldn't find my phone under the piles of clothes." She admitted bashfully. Brittany tried to suppress her chuckle but she ended up making some kind of embarrassing squeaking sound.
"Are you laughing at me?" Santana said pretending to be offended.
Brittany faked a cough to cover up her giggling and buy herself some time then said in as straight a voice as she could muster.
"No! No, of course not. I know what that's like."
"Yeah, OK." Santana said with amusement evident in her vice. "So, what's up? How has the rest of your day been?" She asked.
"Not bad. Not as good as the earlier part of my day." The smile in Brittany's voice could be heard even through the phone. "How about you? Did you get up to much apart from laundry?" She asked.
"Nah. Laundry was pretty much the highlight of my day after you left." Santana replied with a smile of her own.
"That's a shame." Brittany said.
"Well I doubt anything could have topped the earlier part of my day anyway." Santana said with a bit of a flirty tone causing Brittany to blush even though Santana couldn't see it.
"So are you still up for game night tomorrow?" Brittany asked.
"Sure. If I get the details." Santana joked.
"Oh, yeah! I totally forgot you don't know where I live." Brittany said with a chuckle. "Well it's gonna be around six, six thirty at our place. You got a pen to write down the address?" Brittany rattled off her address as soon as Santana confirmed she did.
"Should I bring anything?" Santana asked a bit self-consciously.
"We usually all chip in for delivery and we should have plenty of alcohol so other than your charming self, nope, nothing." Brittany provided cheerfully.
"I better dust it off and make sure I have my charming personality in place tomorrow instead of my normal one then." Santana joked.
"You are always charming and sweet and a lot of the times quite adorable." Brittany insisted.
"Hey now! I have a rep to preserve! Don't go telling people I'm adorable!" Santana said pretending to be all tough which just made Brittany laugh.
"Why are you laughing!? I am bad ass thank you very much!" Santana said, the pout evident in her voice.
"Yeah, I bet your pout is very bad ass." Brittany said as she continued to laugh lightly.
"I am not pouting!" Santana tried to protest.
"Of course not." Brittany said but her tone was not convincing at all.
"Keep this up and I won't show up tomorrow." Santana threatened.
That gave Brittany pause but then she just replied smugly. "Well that would just be your loss then. 'Cause we are awesome and our game nights have been known to be legendary."
"Well, now I'm just intrigued and have to show up." Santana said with a small laugh.
"Good, 'cause you would have been dearly missed if you didn't." Brittany said.
"Oh, really?" Santana asked.
"Really. Tina was really excited that you would be joining us." Brittany replied with a smug smile.
Santana went quiet for a few seconds on the other end of the line. "Just Tina?" She asked in a much more vulnerable voice.
"Well she wasn't as excited as I was. And I bet she wouldn't miss you as much either." Brittany said in a soft voice.
"I'm excited as well." Santana admitted bashfully.
"So I do believe it was my turn to ask a question. Since we spent most of today talking about me again after your question." Brittany said with mock annoyance. She was hoping to lighten the mood and bring back playful Santana.
Santana breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the tension that had been building lift. "It's not my fault you are just so interesting!" Santana defended.
"You are interesting too. International woman of mystery! Always managing to change the subject and get me talking about myself. Anyone would think I am a narcissist if they heard us!" Brittany complained and made Santana chuckle.
"I'm really not that interesting. But ask away and I promise I will answer." She replied.
"Hmm, I better make it a good one then." Brittany stated and spent a few seconds to think.
"Right, got it! So… What. Is. Your. Favourite. Colour?" Brittany dragged out the question, pausing between each word, as if she was asking what the meaning of life was and wanted to make sure she was perfectly understood. Santana burst out laughing once Brittany finally got the whole question out.
"That's your question? I thought you would go for the jugular with this opportunity and the way you were dragging out the question." Santana said after she stopped laughing.
"That's what I get for taking it easy on you!" Brittany said in a huff. "You'll see next time." She added in a mischievous tone making Santana gulp.
"No, no! Easy is good. No need to bring on the Inquisition." Santana rushed to discourage Brittany. It was Brittany's turn to laugh hearing Santana's anxious tone.
"Answer the question and I'll think about it." Brittany replied with a smirk.
"Okay! My favourite colour is red." Santana answered. "Or Bengals orange during football season." She added as an afterthought with a chuckle.
"Red, huh? The colour of passion." Brittany said with a flirty laugh. Santana just laughed with her.
"So you like football?" Brittany asked.
"I got into it once I became a cheerleader. I mean our high school team sucked but at least the Bengals gave me something to bond over with my dad." Santana tried to explain.
"It's nice that you had that with your dad." Brittany said a bit wistfully. "So do you like any other sports or just football?" She asked.
"I watch a bit of basketball when I can but baseball bores the hell out of me." Santana said with a light chuckle. "How about you? You follow sports?" She asked.
"Not really. I mean we have a Superbowl party and I know enough from my cheerleading days to follow the game. I catch the occasional NBA play-off game when Mike is watching it but I don't really support a team or anything." Brittany explained. "I do love watching the gymnastics at the Olympics and the figure skating at the Winter Olympics!" She added enthusiastically.
"I used to follow gymnastics quite a bit back when I was a cheerleader. Our coach was insane and would make us do the hardest, craziest stunts so I used to watch gymnastic competitions in the hopes to be a bit prepared for whatever she may come up with." Santana said.
"Did it ever help?" Brittany asked.
"Not really." Santana replied with a chuckle. "But we did win four consecutive national trophies so I can't really complain." She added.
"Wow! That's impressive. We only made it to Nationals senior year but we didn't even make it out of the preliminary rounds. We didn't stick around for the finals so I obviously missed you." Brittany said sounding both impressed by Santana's achievements and disappointed she never actually got to see her perform.
"I can't believe we were so close and never managed to meet." Santana said.
"Yeah, I know. It kinda sucks but maybe the universe was just waiting for us both to be ready to meet." Brittany said.
"Probably." Santana agreed. "I mean you probably wouldn't have liked me very much if we had met back then. Hell I hated myself back then, I don't see how anyone else could like me." She added self-deprecatingly.
"Maybe. But I like to believe that I would see the real you and that you were just sad and scared." Brittany replied optimistically.
"Well if anyone could I'm sure it would be you." Santana said with a smile. "My turn?" She asked.
"Yeap. Go ahead." Brittany confirmed.
"You got any nicknames?" Santana asked.
"Well the guys mostly call me Britt and occasionally Mercedes and Kurt may call me Rainbow Britt. They say 'cause I see the world through a rainbow and 'cause of my cheery personality." Brittany explained with a chuckle. "My family call me Bumble Bee or just Bee."
"That's cute." Santana cooed. "Why Bumble Bee?" She asked.
"My dad gave me the nickname. He says that I used to buzz around like a bee and apparently one of the first things I said after coming too from the anaesthesia from the procedure was that my dad's beard sounds like bumble bees when he kissed my forehead. I don't remember that since I was pretty doped up but it does sound like bumble bees." Brittany explained with a chuckle and Santana laughed along. "At first they thought it was just the anaesthesia wearing off talking and my dad called me Bumble Bee to tease me. When they realised what was really going on he felt really bad and wanted to stop calling me that but by then Hailey had already picked it up and I didn't really mind anyway. I liked it so it stuck." She explained further.
"Who's Hailey?" Santana asked curiously.
"Oh! She's my little sister. She was like two at the time and repeating everything she heard. It was both adorable and annoying." Brittany answered.
"Sounds cute. So how many years difference do you have?" Santana asked.
"Almost ten years." Brittany replied.
"Wow. That's quite an age gap." Santana exclaimed. "So are you close? Does the age difference affect you at all?"
"We are pretty close." Brittany said. "There have been times when the age difference has been difficult. Especially when I was a teenager and just wanted to go out but she was too young to understand that and just wanted attention. But most of the time, even when we were younger, we used to get along really well. It might sound weird or bad but with the dyslexia at the beginning and then the synaesthesia I always felt like I could relate to her better. My parents never really got me but Hailey idolised me and even if she didn't really understand me she never made me feel bad for getting things wrong, so I would spend a lot of time with her. She made me feel normal." Brittany confessed.
"It's great that you two are so close. It's nice to have that kind of connection, especially with your siblings." Santana said.
"You talking from experience?" Brittany asked.
"Kinda." Santana replied.
Brittany remained quiet for a bit on the other end of the line to see if Santana would elaborate. Taking a deep breath Santana continued.
"I have an older brother, Marco. He is four years older than me." She stated.
"Are you close?" Brittany repeated Santana's question back at her.
"As close as we can be. We love each other and I would literally do anything for him. I just don't talk to him that often. He is still back in Ohio and I don't get back there as much as I would like." Santana explained.
"Can't he come visit you here? Or like keep in touch over the phone at least?" Brittany asked.
"He can't really travel that far and he gets distracted easily on the phone. It's a bit better when we Skype and he can actually see me." Santana replied. She was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with the discussion but didn't want to completely shoot Brittany down, especially after the whole project fiasco. Although if this topic continued for much longer she would probably beg to talk about her project instead. At least with her project she can go into science mode.
Thankfully, Brittany seemed to pick up on Santana's unease. She could tell there was more to this story that Santana was holding back but she wasn't going to push her. She was curious but Santana would tell her when she was ready.
"So how about you? Any nicknames?" Brittany asked, effectively changing the subject and relieving the tension once again.
Santana breathed a sigh of relief before answering.
"Well my family tends to call me Ana, unless I'm in some kind of trouble then I get the full Santana Maria treatment. My friends tend to go with San and with Quinn we can sometimes just use initials, a habit left over from our cheerleading days. If she is feeling particularly affectionate she may call me Bitch." She said with a light chuckle.
"You must be really close." Brittany replied with a laugh.
"Yeah we've known each other since we were like ten and been friends from the age of 12 onwards." Santana explained.
"Nice. So is she in New York? Will I get to meet her?" Brittany asked.
"She is actually in Boston doing her graduate degree in Education. But when she finally manages to get her ass over for a visit I'll be sure to introduce you guys."
"You better. I bet she has a ton of adorable stories about you as a kid!" Brittany said excitedly.
"Don't make me regret ever saying I'd let you two meet!" Santana mock threatened and Brittany just laughed.
"Okay, okay, I'll behave." Brittany insisted. "So, Santana Maria, huh? You hear that often growing up?" She asked with a smile.
"On occasion." Santana answered cheekily. "They always used to joke that the reason they call me Ana instead of Santana is that I rarely qualified for the 'Saint' part of my name." She explained with a laugh.
"I say again. Adorable!" Brittany replied affectionately. She quickly asked her next question before Santana could get all huffy again. "So, what is the weirdest dream you have ever had?" She asked.
"I don't really remember my dreams. But once I remember waking up after a dream that had something to do with a shrub and feeling really weirded out but I have no idea what the dream was about." Santana replied. "How about you?" She asked.
"I once dreamt that my high school Spanish teacher pulled a duck out of a hat randomly while in class and then Kurt burst through the middle of the classroom on the back of a unicorn. Rachel was in the corner screeching like a cat that was having its temperature taken and I was feeding a goat her money." Brittany stated nonchalantly, as if that was the most normal thing in the world.
"Uhm. Wow. That's-" Santana just trailed off at a loss for words.
"Well I did say weird dream!" Brittany defended and started laughing.
"That was weird alright!" Santana agreed and laughed along.
"Your turn." Brittany stated once they calmed down.
"Umm. Favourite animal?" Santana asked after a beat.
"That's hard! I like all animals! It's not fair to have to choose." Brittany complained with a pout. "But if I really have to choose one it would probably have to be cats. Just 'cause of my babies Lord Tubbington and Charity back home." She said affectionately. "But I really like feeding the ducks at the pond in the park as well." She added thoughtfully. "Ugh! This is impossible! What's yours? So I can stop thinking and won't feel guilty for not choosing one." Brittany huffed.
Santana just chuckled. She hesitated but then admitted. "I like lizards and sharks."
"Not very cuddly, but ok." Brittany said with a chuckle. "Any particular reason why or just 'cause they are bad ass?" She asked.
"Ugh. I am so geeky." Santana complained in a mutter. "The regenerative abilities of reptiles and the possibly strong immune system of sharks intrigue me." She admitted grudgingly.
"Hey people tend to think lizards are just gross and sharks are scary but you see the good in them and how they are special." Brittany replied.
"Or I'm just a big science nerd." Santana said self-deprecatingly and chuckled trying to laugh it off.
"Well that too." Brittany conceded but the smile and affection were evident in her voice even over the phone. "There is nothing wrong with that! I will keep telling you until you finally believe me. I think it's cute." She insisted.
"Fine, if you say so." Santana finally said.
They chatted a while longer about different animals and what kind of unique characteristics they may have to make them special; occasionally wondering off onto amusing or enlightening tangents, usually courtesy of Brittany. After a bit a yawn escaped Santana causing Brittany to check the time. Ten o'clock wasn't that late, considering it was a Saturday night, but they had been talking for over an hour. It was actually closer to two.
"You getting tired of me?" Brittany teased.
"Of course not!" Santana rushed to reassure Brittany. "I think the long week is just catching up to me." She defended.
"I was only teasing, but it's nice to know you aren't fed up of me." Brittany replied. "I'll leave you to get some rest 'cause you are gonna need all your energy tomorrow night." She added in a flirty tone.
Santana gulped on the other end of the line and then coughed to try and regain her composure.
"Uhm. Okay. Yeah. Looking forward to it." She finally managed to mutter. Brittany chuckled at Santana's reaction.
"If you need directions or anything feel free to contact me. I'll see you tomorrow night. Sweet dreams Santana." She said.
"It should be fine, but yeah, will do. Buenas noches Brittany." Santana replied before hanging up.
Brittany placed her phone back on her bedside table and just lounged on her bed for a few seconds to bask in the warm and happy feeling surrounding her after her talk with Santana. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.
Brittany was hoping to sleep in the next morning so that she wouldn't have too long to wait until everyone arrived that night. And yes by 'everyone' she did mostly mean Santana. That plan was pretty much shot when she woke up and checked her alarm. Nine am wasn't the crack of dawn but it wasn't exactly sleeping in either. She tossed and turned for another half hour until she finally gave up and got up. After completing her morning ritual she decided she might as well get a run in since she had free time. Running was her favourite form of exercise, after dancing of course. She considered joining the track team in high school but once she was recruited to the cheerleading squad she didn't really have the time, what with all her dance classes and tutoring sessions.
She could hear Rachel's elliptical working in her bedroom and Kurt was just making his way sleepily to the bathroom as Brittany was leaving her bedroom. Kurt took one look at her attire, grunted "Have a good run." and continued shuffling sleepily to the bathroom. Brittany chuckled at her still half asleep roommate and called out "Thanks. See you soon." just as he was closing the bathroom door.
Smiling to herself Brittany jogged to the park to warm up and then started her real work out with a full tilt run round the track.
After a good hour's exercise Brittany made her way back to the apartment feeling energised and cheerful. Running always had that effect on her; left her feeling rejuvenated and clear-headed.
When she got back to the apartment she found her roommates lounging in the living room watching some kind of celebrity gossip show. Brittany didn't really care about those kinds of things but her roommates loved them. Presumably because they dreamed of the day they would be featured in one.
Surprisingly, so far Brittany had the biggest claim to fame out of the three of them. Her and Mike's choreography for some of the music videos they had done recently was starting to get them some notoriety. The studio had even been mentioned in a small segment on one such gossip show. But Brittany didn't really care about fame. She did it because she loved it.
Rachel's career had started to pick up with the supporting role she had recently landed in what was slated to be the 'next big thing' on Broadway. Obviously she was disappointed she didn't get the lead but she was working tirelessly to make sure she "shined as brightly as possible and her talent would be recognised and rewarded with a leading role in no time." Her words, not Brittany's; although Brittany was sure Rachel was on the right track and would get her leading role. She was extremely talented and hardworking after all.
Kurt seemed to have veered the most off his planned course to conquer Broadway. After only landing a few bit parts in the chorus of off-Broadway shows he was starting to get discouraged. His big break came from a completely different direction. His fashion blog, that he had been keeping since he was in high school, got highlighted in an edition of Vogue dot com and he eventually landed a gig working for the editor-in-chief over there. He has been there for a few months now and is loving both the opportunity to express his passion for fashion and all the free goodies.
"Hey, have a good run?" Kurt greeted Brittany as she entered the living room.
"Yeah, it was just what I needed, thanks." Brittany replied.
"There's fresh bagels in the kitchen. I got them from that deli you like down the street." Rachel provided.
"Thanks, Rach. I'll have some after I shower." She said as she made her way to the bathroom.
Once she was done with her shower Brittany prepared her bagel and joined her roommates in the living room. The TV was currently showing commercials so Brittany could only hope the gossip show had ended.
"So, what are we watching?" She asked before taking a big bite of her bagel.
"Don't worry its finished." Kurt replied with a knowing smile.
"I didn't say anything!" Brittany complained but her smile betrayed her relief.
"Uh huh." Kurt replied simply.
"So what are we watching?" Brittany asked again.
"Nothing at the moment." Rachel replied. "We were waiting for you to finish from the shower so we could all decide on something."
"In other words, you want me to be the deciding vote because you two keep arguing." Brittany said with a chuckle at their guilty faces.
"Well, what are our options?" She asked.
"I just ordered 'Behind the Candelabra' on Netflix!" Kurt supplied enthusiastically while bouncing slightly in his seat. His excitement dwindled when he saw the grimace on Brittany's face and Rachel rushed to supply her own option.
"I just found a new movie vaguely based on the early years of the great Barbra's career. Granted it is completely unsanctioned and unverified and the casting is questionable but surely there will be something of interest." Rachel trailed off at the end, even she seemed to be losing her conviction the more she talked about it. Brittany just laughed at the conflicted and thoughtful look on Rachel's face.
"Well as compelling as you made that sound Rach, I think we will pass." Brittany said with a smile. Before Kurt could get a chance to cheer his victory Brittany turned to him. "I'm really not in the mood for all that flamboyance either to be honest. Surely there must be something we can all agree on." She said as she reached for the TV controller and started flipping through the channels.
Just as Brittany seemed to be falling into a sort of trance of just randomly changing channels and paying more attention to the changing colours rather than what she was actually seeing, Rachel shrieking a sudden "STOP! Go back, go back!" scared the living crap out of her.
It took her a few seconds to get her racing heart under control and figure out exactly what was going on. By the time she came to her senses Kurt was already yelling at Rachel.
"What the hell, Rachel! You scared the living daylights out of me!" He admonished.
"Yeah, no kidding." Brittany agreed bringing a hand to her chest to feel her heart still beating a bit faster than normal.
"Sorry." Rachel apologised sheepishly. "It's just, I saw Mandy Patinkin and I didn't automatically recognise which iconic role he was portraying so I wanted to watch it for a bit." She tried to explain.
"And you had to scare us half to death to do that? You couldn't just ask like a normal person?" Kurt huffed.
"I said I was sorry!" Rachel replied petulantly and Kurt just rolled his eyes.
Brittany started flipping backwards through the channels they had already been through paying more attention to the actual scenes on the screen this time. She stopped when she came across a scene she recognised.
"Huh, Toilet Seat Girl." She said with a light chuckle prompting both her friends to just kind of look at her blankly.
"That's not her actual name obviously. Her real name is George, she just died by a flying toilet seat so the other Reapers call her Toilet Seat Girl." Brittany tried to explain but her friends just looked even more confused.
"Dead Like Me?" She tried again in a questioning tone.
"While the title Dead Like Me does sound vaguely familiar, I seriously doubt Mandy would be in anything with a character named Toilet Seat Girl." Rachel didn't even manage to finish her snobbish diatribe before none other than Mr Mandy Patinkin himself appeared on the screen.
"You were saying?" Kurt asked in a mocking tone and laughed at the gobsmacked look on Rachel's face.
"That's Rube. He acts all strict and serious but he's a good guy really. Well he may have been a bank robber at some point but that's still a bit unclear so whatever. He has a thing for post-its." Brittany tried to explain more about the show but her random facts just seemed to confuse her roommates even more. "It's really good you guys. You should give it a chance."
Rachel was already being slowly swayed by the mere presence of Mandy Patinkin and just when Kurt seemed ready to disagree a shirtless Mason appeared on screen with his pretty green eyes and rambling in his slightly crazy British accent. That had Kurt shifting to the edge of his seat and paying attention. Brittany chuckled when she noticed Kurt's reaction.
"Mason. British. Eccentric. Drug induced drill mishap." She supplied with a smile.
"Come on guys, it has to be on Netflix and we can't decide on anything better to watch so why not give it a chance and watch it from the beginning so you can really understand it. You'll love it I promise!" Brittany pleaded. She had really missed that show.
Her roommates shared a look that seemed to include a whole silent conversation until Kurt finally shrugged and said "Fine, why not?"
Brittany cheered and went about finding the show on Netflix and setting up for a mini marathon.
By the time Rebecca Gayheart's character 'dies' almost five hours in Kurt and Rachel were hooked and Brittany was watching them smugly as they scrambled to put on the next episode.
"She can't be dead!" Rachel shrieked.
"Well technically they are all dead already." Brittany supplied with a chuckle.
"Well she can't just disappear like that!" Rachel was almost on the verge of hyperventilating as she started repeating "She can't be gone." like a sort of mantra.
"Rebecca was so fabulous then!" Kurt argued as if that was a good enough reason to keep a character on a show.
"Pft if The L Word could kill off Dana then no one anywhere is safe." Brittany thought to herself.
"Uhm, guys." Brittany interrupted their rambling. "Sorry to disappoint you but we can't watch anymore."
"What!? Why!?" They both argued.
"We need to know what happens!" Kurt insisted.
"See! You should totally trust my taste more often! I told you you would love it." Brittany said triumphantly. "But seriously, we can't watch anymore right now cause everyone is gonna start arriving soon." She explained to the matching pouts of her roommates.
"You are evil Brittany Pierce!" Rachel stated dramatically while Kurt nodded his head so hard in agreement Brittany feared it might snap off his neck.
"You shouldn't have got us hooked on it when you knew we wouldn't have enough time to watch it all." She continued.
"Erm, sorry to disappoint you guys but we wouldn't have been able to watch the whole show in one sitting anyway. I mean I know it got cut too soon so it's only like twenty nine episodes but we all have lives and obligations. We can't just spend twenty nine hours in front of a TV screen. Plus I said you would love it I didn't know you would get obsessed with it!" Brittany argued.
"Stupid, rational arguments." Kurt muttered as he got up to start preparing things for the rest of the evening.
Brittany laughed as she got up to join him.
"Do we need anything from the store? I can go get stuff before everyone arrives." Brittany offered.
"Before Santana arrives, you mean." Rachel teased.
"Before anyone arrives. It would be rude to leave our guests and not be fully prepared for the evening before their arrival." Brittany replied trying to mimic Rachel's prim tone for proper hosting etiquette.
Kurt laughed at Brittany's imitation while Rachel frowned. "I don't sound like that." She muttered causing Kurt to laugh harder and Brittany to offer her blinding innocent smile.
"We should have everything we need." Kurt said after he calmed down. "Board games and karaoke, check. Snacks and take out menus, check. We have some alcohol and Mike said he will be bringing some of the stuff that was left over from his party. So we are set in that department too." He gave a quick rundown of their check list.
"Okay. Good. Well I'm gonna go get changed then and I'll come help you set everything up in a sec." Brittany said as she made her way to her bedroom.
"What's wrong with what you are wearing? It's not like it's a fancy party or anything." Kurt teased and he and Rachel burst out in chuckles.
"Cut it out chuckleheads. You promised to be nice." Brittany complained.
"Yeah, to Santana. We said nothing about going easy on you." Kurt replied smugly.
"You guys suck." Brittany pouted at them and turned to continue on her way to her room.
"That pout ought to keep them at bay for a little while at least." She thought to herself as a smirk graced her face as soon as her back was turned to her guilty looking roommates.
By 6:15 everyone was gathered at their apartment. Well everyone except Santana. Brittany kept checking her phone for both the time and in case Santana had tried to contact her and she had somehow missed it. Considering her phone hadn't left her hand since 5:45 that seemed pretty impossible but you never know.
"Calm down, Rainbow Britt. Stop fidgeting, you are making me anxious!" Mercedes complained.
"Sorry." Brittany mumbled distractedly checking her phone once again.
"She'll be here, don't worry." Tina tried to reassure her.
"Yeah, I mean we only just got here. Were you this anxious about us getting here as well?" Mike tried to tease with a cheeky grin.
At Tina and Brittany's matching glares he just sat back trying to mould into the couch cushions muttering "Shutting up now."
The rest of the gang laughed at his antics and teased him about being whipped by all the women in his life. But Brittany was still distracted.
"What time did you tell her anyway?" Kurt asked when he saw even a teasing Mike couldn't help distract Brittany.
"Six to six thirty." She replied absently.
"She won't be here before six thirty then." Tina said confidently.
Brittany's eyes snapped to Tina's instantly. "How do you know that? Have you talked to her?" Brittany asked.
"Uhh. No. But she wouldn't risk being the first here. She also won't be here much later than six thirty 'cause she is usually pretty punctual and wouldn't want to be rude and make a bad impression." Tina explained.
"Okay." Brittany said taking some deep breaths trying to calm herself down.
"Well, drinks anyone?" Rachel asked and the group broke out into random conversations between them after getting their drink requests out to Rachel.
"I'll help." Brittany offered, hoping that would make the time pass quicker.
"Who were we talking about?" She heard Sam asking as she was entering the kitchen.
At almost six thirty on the dot there was a knock on the door. Brittany had rushed out of her seat and out of the living room before anyone else even had a chance to process what was even happening. Everyone in the living room went completely quiet in hopes of eavesdropping on the conversation in the foyer.
At the front door Brittany took a deep breath to compose herself before opening it. A huge smile blossomed on her face as soon as she saw Santana on the other side fidgeting slightly and looking rather nervous.
"You made it." Brittany said breathily; almost like she could finally exhale now that Santana was finally there.
"Yeah." Santana said with a nervous chuckle. "I hope I'm not late. You did say six thirty."
"I did. And you're fine. Right on time." Brittany replied, the smile never leaving her face. "Come on in. Everyone is in the living room." She added motioning Santana in.
Santana gulped, then took a deep breath to fortify herself as she made her way across the threshold.
"I brought beverages." Santana said to Brittany's back as she was closing the door.
Brittany giggled at her adorableness and tried to conceal a full out laugh when she turned around to find Santana shaking her head and muttering to herself.
"Thank you, but you really didn't have to." Brittany said snapping Santana out of berating herself further.
"I didn't want to come empty handed." She said as she handed over the six-pack of beer and bottle of wine she was holding. "I wasn't sure what everyone liked so I took a chance on Corona and a Pinot." She muttered bashfully.
"That's fine. Like I said you didn't have to bring anything but yourself anyway." Brittany replied.
Santana just gave her a small smile and a shrug.
"Right. Ready to join the rest of the gang?" Brittany asked offering her free hand to Santana.
Santana looked at her hand for a second then tried to smile with more confidence. She took it and said with more bravado than she actually felt "Bring it on."
Brittany just chuckled and squeezed her hand as she led her to the living room.
As soon as they entered the room everyone burst into random discussions pretending like they hadn't been trying to listen in on their conversation. Brittany just shook her head at her goofy friends.
"Alright guys, cut it out. We are all here now so let's get this party started." Brittany said enthusiastically.
"This is a party? I thought it was supposed to be just a chill game night." Sam said sounding confused.
Mercedes patted his arm affectionately and whispered that it was just a figure of speech. His outburst had drawn Santana's attention though since she hadn't noticed him sitting on the floor by Mercede's legs.
"Sammy Evans!?" She asked incredulously, like he was the last person she ever expected to see there.
"Surprise!" He said with a goofy grin as he stood up to give her a hug. Most of the group just watched them completely confused.
"You guys know each other?" Kurt asked once they were done hugging.
"Hell yeah! We share a very special relationship." Sam said dorkily.
"Please tell me you never dated!" Mercedes said while looking kinda nauseous.
"Eeew! Hell no! Despite Trouty Mouth's lady lips and girly hair he is neither now nor has he ever been of any interest to me!" Santana exclaimed feigning a shudder.
Sam just laughed and pulled her into a side hug. He knew that was Santana's way of showing affection for him. Mercedes on the other hand did not know Santana that well.
"Excuse you!" she snapped.
"Erm.." Santana just looked around anxiously as she stiffened in Sam's hug.
Sam and Tina, who knew both Santana and her friendship found the whole thing amusing. The others were just looking on confused and a little taken aback. Brittany, sensing Santana's anxiety skyrocket, started to tense in preparation of stepping in and keeping the peace.
"I was, erm, just saying. I mean. Erm, Sam is too male for my tastes?" Santana stuttered out but her explanation sounded more like a question.
At that Sam and Tina couldn't control their amusement anymore and burst out laughing. The rest of the group just looked at them as if they had gone crazy.
"The big bad Snix stuttering like a coward. How about some conviction, huh?" Sam teased once he recovered from his laughing fit.
"Snix?" Brittany questioned while Mike exclaimed "You're Snix!?"
Santana just glared at Sam while he stared her down smugly.
"Okay. What the hell is going on?!" Mercedes finally broke in.
"Good question." Kurt agreed.
"Snix is legendary in the gaming world! Your headshot kill stat is still one of the best in CoD history and you haven't even been around much lately." Mike gushed enthusiastically. "I always figured you were a dude." He added sceptically.
"Sexist much!?" Tina admonished.
"What!? I was just saying!" He complained but stayed quiet after that.
"Yeah, I get what you mean." Sam said. "That's why Snix is too male for my tastes." He added cheekily.
"Hey! I am all female, thank you very much!" Santana stated as she punched him in the arm.
"Yeah. Very lady like." Sam teased some more.
"You never mentioned Snix as a nickname when we were talking." Brittany said but she seemed more amused than upset.
"Well I don't use it much anymore and I'm not exactly proud of that side of me." Santana tried to explain.
"You totally should be!" Sam said while Mike just nodded his head vigorously in agreement.
"Why?" Brittany asked.
"'Cause online gaming is super nerdy."
"Hey!" Both Mike and Sam complained.
"And I mostly played in high school and early during my undergrad as a way to work through some of my aggression. So my online presence wasn't very pleasant." Santana admitted ignoring Sam and Mike's interruption.
"Hence assuming she was a guy." Mike tried to justify his earlier comment.
"So most guys are aggressive jerks?" Kurt questioned defensively.
"That's not what I meant!" Mike tried to defend himself but realised quickly that the more he talked the more trouble he seemed to be getting into so he just pretended to zip his lips and sat back in his seat.
"So you two know each other from online gaming?" Mercedes questioned.
"Well I knew Snix from CoD mostly. She kicked my ass on a number of occasions. But I met the Real Santana Lopez when I met Tina. They were working on a project together freshman year and needed some help with some programming. I needed some extra cash so I had my details on the student website. I helped them out, they got an A and Santana has pretended to hate me ever since." Sam explained with a blinding smile.
Santana just glared at him and Tina laughed some more.
"They argue all the time. But if Santana has gone to the trouble of coming up with a nickname for you then she likes you. No matter how bad or mean the nickname may seem." Tina explained with a smile.
Santana just bowed her head embarrassedly and tried to avoid eye contact with the group at all costs. Brittany took her hand again and gave it a light squeeze.
"So that's how you knew Sam and recommended him for our website?" She asked Tina, trying to take the group's focus off Santana for a while.
"Yeap." Tina replied.
Sensing what her roommate was trying to do Kurt piped up with his own distraction. "So are we gonna play some games or what? I'm feeling quite competitive tonight." He said.
"Should we decide on food first before we all get too distracted?" Rachel asked.
They all agreed and once the pizzas were ordered and the money for the delivery collected and placed on the side table by the door for easy access, game night could officially begin.
As always the night had to begin with a round of Candyland since they had learnt from experience that Brittany would just bug them all night until they played. It wasn't bad enough that they had to play a game they pretty much considered childish but Brittany always managed to win somehow which just made it even worse. But no one could ever really say no to Brittany so it was now tradition that every game night would start with a round of Candyland. At least this time Sam seemed to give her a run for her money even if she did hold out and win in the end.
After that they split into two teams to play charades and Pictionary. After the insistence of both Rachel and Brittany they came up with official names for their teams. 'Team Brain Dance' consisted of Brittany, Santana, Tina and Mike, while the other four came up with the highly original name 'Team 3 Divas and a Blond'. Once the obligatory trash talk, which surprisingly wasn't between Santana and Sam but Brittany and Rachel of all people, was over and both teams had settled down, they started their game of charades.
'Team 3 Divas and a Blond' managed a very narrow victory by just one point despite Sam shouting out Star Wars as the answer for every round. Santana was still complaining that the only reason they lost was because Trouty Mouth was distracting them with his terrible James Earl Jones impression whenever it was their turn while Rachel and Kurt were insisting it was down to their superior acting capabilities.
Just as Santana was about to threaten Sam with shoving his collectible Yoda lightsaber somewhere very uncomfortable, there was a knock on the door.
"Pizza's here!" Brittany cheered as she jumped up from her place on the floor to go open the door. "Behave!" She said as she looked pointedly between Sam and Santana.
Santana got up to follow Brittany and Sam made the sound of a whip cracking. She lunged for him to try and slap him but Mercedes cut her off.
"Run along now, Satan." She said with a small chuckle.
Santana just stared at her blankly for a second before she laughed. "Good one, Wheezy." She said as she turned to go help Brittany with the pizzas.
They spent the majority of the time they were eating talking about Rachel's opening night. Partly because, well it's Rachel, and partly because as overbearing as she may be it was the most interesting thing anyone had happening in the near future. They talked about Mercedes' struggles to find a record label to sign with and the upcoming shows "Rainbow Fusion" was organising as well.
Once they were done eating they organised themselves into their two teams again and started on a game of Pictionary. 'Team Brain Dance' won by a landslide mainly down to Brittany's secret artistic genius and the freaky mind meld of Asian Fusion. Their win brought about a vigorous round of teasing which resulted in Santana coining the nicknames Porcelain and Hobbit for Kurt and Rachel.
Unsurprisingly the last two standing in Twister were Mike and Brittany. Mike was crowned the victor after an impressive contortion that basically had him wrapped around Brittany who slipped and fell just before pulling off her own impressive move. The various impossible moves and positions Brittany had pulled off throughout the game had Santana admiring her flexibility and when her mind started to wander to less than PG uses of said flexibility she scrambled to come up with a nickname for Mike in order to distract herself. Twinkle-toed Ninja wasn't the best nickname she'll admit but she was under pressure.
Rachel had been bugging the group to sing karaoke ever since she was the first player to go out in Twister. She blamed her shorter limbs, which did nothing to help her case against being called Hobbit, and insisted they do something that was more geared towards her own talents.
"Erm. I have an idea." Santana interrupted the inevitable bickering as to who would sing first and what song. She cleared her throat when all eyes seemed to suddenly turn towards her.
"Uhm. I mean I like karaoke as much as the next girl but it's not actually a game. And only one or two people can sing at a time while the others just sit around and watch." She started explaining.
"So what's your idea?" Rachel asked a bit aggressively obviously not happy with karaoke being put down.
"Rach!" Brittany admonished.
"Don't worry, Hobbit. It's still geared towards your own talents." Santana said with a smile mildly teasing Rachel's earlier complaint. "How about we have a Riff-Off instead?"
"What, like in Pitch Perfect?" Brittany asked excitedly.
"What the hell is a Riff-Off?" Mercedes asked.
"And what the hell is Pitch Perfect?" Sam added.
"Really you guys!?" Brittany asked incredulously as she saw the clueless faces of all her friends.
Santana just laughed.
"You guys are seriously the last group of people I would have ever expected to have NOT seen Pitch Perfect!" She said in between laughter.
"Seriously!" Brittany agreed. "I was only going on about how great it was and how cute Anna Kendrick was in it for like two months!" She continued.
"You thought Anna Kendrick was cute?" Santana blurted out.
"Well yeah! Pretending to be a badass who didn't care about anything but her passion for music. And her obvious crush on Chloe of course."
"Oh, obviously!" Santana agreed. "I just always like Chloe more. I probably prefer Brittany Snow with blonde hair though."
"Uhm, guys. Not to interrupt this enlightening fan girling moment." Kurt said effectively doing just that. "But is there an actual point to all this?"
"Oh, yeah!" Brittany said as she snapped out of her side conversation with Santana. "Apart from obviously our next movie at movie night being Pitch Perfect, both one and two! The point is we should totally have a Riff-Off!"
"Care to share with the group what a Riff-Off actually is?" Tina asked.
"Basically you get categories of music and then a group starts singing a song that fits that category. Then the next group has to cut in with another song that fits that same category but they have to cut in with a word that the first group just used in their song." Santana tried to explain. At the blank and confused looks on everyone's faces she tried to think of a way to make it clearer.
Deciding showing them would be the easiest way to explain she found the clip from the movie on YouTube and showed them. Once they were all clear on how it works they decided it would be better if there were more teams so they split up into twos; Santana with Brittany, Mike with Tina, Sam with Mercedes and Kurt with Rachel. They all wrote down a category on a piece of paper, folded it and placed it into a bowl. They had decided since they didn't have a giant projected wheel with categories handy, this would be the fairest way to have a random mix of categories.
As the competitive performers most of them are the whole battle became pretty intense. Not only were they trying to outdo each other with song choice but with a full performance of each song.
Sam's 'Country Crooners' category was Mike and Tina's undoing since they could barely come up with one song to fit that category.
"Well we are an Asian couple from Chicago! What chance did we really have!?" Mike asked jokingly.
"What I wanna know is how Satan knew all those songs!" Mercedes said.
"Well I was raised in Ohio." Santana replied with a shrug.
"Wait! Ohio!?" Rachel asked suddenly.
"Uhm, yeah. Lima. Why?" Santana replied sceptically.
"That's where I know you from! Show choir!" Rachel said excitedly.
"Oh, God." Santana groaned.
"Snix was in a glee club!?" Sam said incredulously and burst out laughing.
"Can it Trouty Mouth!" Santana snapped.
"I knew I recognised your voice! We faced you at regionals junior year!" Rachel continued.
"Ugh. Yes I was in glee club and yes you kicked our asses. Can we move on now please?" Santana begged.
"Next category! 'Divas'." Brittany said quickly, randomly pulling out Mercedes' folded piece of paper and reading out the category.
An epic battle then commenced between Mercedes against Kurt and Rachel, with Santana adding in a few choice songs of her own. It was ultimately Sam who lost it for her when he confused the lyrics to 'I need a hero' by Bonnie Tyler. He felt really guilty for ruining Mercedes' roll but he was so adorable and goofy performing it that all she could do was laugh and gave him a shy peck on the cheek.
Kurt and Rachel were ecstatic when the category for their final show down with Santana and Brittany was Rachel's 'Broadway Baby'; they were sure they had it in the bag. Ultimately they did win it but Santana's time in glee club and Brittany's year of living with Rachel and Kurt meant they had enough Broadway and show tunes knowledge to put up a decent fight.
While Rachel was busy celebrating their victory Kurt graciously congratulated Santana and Brittany for their valiant effort and surprising knowledge. When Rachel was done celebrating she retook her seat on the couch while everyone else was lounging about the room trying to regain the energy Twister and then the Riff-Off had taken out of them.
"That was amazing! A perfect mixture of talent and musical knowledge! We should do that again but be more organised next time!" Rachel gushed enthusiastically.
"That was definitely fun. I'm sure we will be incorporating it into our future game nights. Thanks for suggesting it Santana." Mercedes added.
"No problem. I'm glad you all enjoyed it." Santana replied.
"So what's next?" Sam asked.
"Well I've never been to a game night before." Santana said and took a sip of her beer "So I wouldn't know." She finished after she had swallowed.
Sam's eyes lit up as he watched her.
"Well I've never played CoD with the legendary Snix before." He said with a smirk and took an obvious swig of his own beer. Santana just looked at him like he had gone insane. It was Mike who caught on first and laughed.
"I've never opened my own dance studio." Mike added and took a drink and then turned to Brittany and said "Drink up Britt!" It finally dawned on the rest of the group what was happening and Brittany laughed as she took a sip of her own drink.
It started off innocently enough but when Brittany said "I have never kissed someone of the same sex." and apart from the usual suspects of Kurt, Santana and Brittany, Rachel also took a sip ("What!? I went to NYADA and work on Broadway, it was bound to happen at some point.") Kurt got an idea. He may have promised not to grill Santana but this could be a great way to find out more about her without it seeming like an inquisition. So when his turn came around he moved the game in a more interesting direction.
"I have never had sex on the first date." He said while looking right at Santana.
She frowned a bit at his look but dutifully took a sip of her drink. His raised eyebrow just made her feel even guiltier about her past. Surprisingly Rachel and Mercedes seemed to cotton on to his plan so the game continued on in the same manor.
Although the questions seemed to move in a more telling direction "I have never had unprotected sex." "I have never done drugs." "I have never had a threesome." "I have never had sex in front of an audience." all resulted in no one drinking so Santana was lulled into a false sense of security. On Kurt's next turn though things took a turn for the awkward making Santana regret ever playing the stupid game.
"I have never cheated on a partner." Found Santana the sole drinker of the group with a number of judgemental eyes on her.
Brittany rushed to keep the game moving and take the focus off Santana.
"I have never been skinny dipping." She said loudly and made a big deal of taking a drink along with Mike, Tina and Sam.
The playful mood had been broken though and Santana was getting more and more withdrawn. She sat quietly searching for an excuse to leave. The game soon came to an end and Santana found her chance to bolt.
"It's getting late and I have a full day tomorrow." She said as she started to get up from the cushion on the floor she had been sharing with Brittany. "Thanks for having me guys. It's been….fun." She said a bit hesitantly.
"Do you really have to go?" Brittany asked quietly as she grabbed Santana's arm. She looked up at her with sad pleading eyes.
Santana took a deep breath and sighed.
"Yeah, I better." She said sadly.
"I'll walk you out." Brittany said getting up as the rest of the group said their goodbyes to Santana. Brittany glared at Kurt who just looked to the floor guiltily as the two of them left the room.
At the door Santana stopped and turned towards Brittany but she kept her eyes trailed to the floor.
"About those things…" She muttered "I already told you I wasn't a very nice person in high school. I did a lot of things I'm not proud of." Santana tried to explain.
Brittany put her hand under Santana's chin and tilted her head gently until their eyes locked.
"You don't have to explain. It's in the past." She said with a small understanding smile.
"I just wanted you to know I'm not that person anymore. I haven't been for a while. And I hated who I was then." Santana said pleadingly, searching Brittany's blue eyes, hoping she would believe her.
"I know." Brittany said in almost a whisper. She trailed her hand from Santana's chin to splay across her cheek and used her thumb to smooth out the worry lines between Santana's eyebrows. Santana closed her eyes and sighed at the action.
Brittany slowly leaned in and gently brushed her lips against Santana's. It was barely a kiss but Brittany would have sworn she heard angels singing in that moment. Santana inhaled sharply through her nose and her eyes snapped open in time to see Brittany leaning back with a shy smile on her lips and a sparkle in her eyes. She timidly smiled back and moved to follow Brittany, reconnecting their lips more surely this time.
Brittany smiled into the kiss and her hand drifted to tangle in Santana's hair. The sound of a panther purring with satisfaction filled her head. When Santana let out a small whimper as their lips disconnected Brittany saw fireworks explode in front of her eyes (sometimes she really loved her condition). They both wore matching smiles as they looked dreamily into each other's eyes.
"So, I should go." Santana said softly after a few moments.
"Do you really have to go?" Brittany repeated her question from earlier. Her right hand was still running through Santana's silky hair while her left, which at some point had drifted to Santana's waist, tightened as if she never wanted to let go.
"I think that would probably be best." Santana replied with a heavy sigh as she tangled the fingers of her right hand with Brittany's left and gave a gentle squeeze.
"Fine." Brittany said with a pout.
"Oh, that pout is going to be trouble." Santana said with a light chuckle. Then she pecked her lips hoping to kiss it away.
"It is pretty powerful." Brittany said with a giggle. "Text me when you get home so I know you got in safe?" She asked.
"Promise." Santana said with a smile. "Thanks for a great evening." She added.
"No, thank you." Brittany said with a cheeky grin. "You know, I'm the only person tonight you didn't give a nickname to. Do you not like me as much as the others?" She asked with a fake pout.
"Ugh! Again with the pout!" Santana groaned. "You are too perfect to use a stupid nickname on. You are so perfect all I can do is keep repeating your name. Wow that sounded cheesy." Santana said with a pout of her own causing Brittany to chuckle.
"It was cute." She said.
"You are cute, Britt-Britt." Santana replied.
"I can live with that." Brittany said with a grin.
"What being cute or the nickname?" Santana asked.
"Both!" Brittany answered happily.
"Okay then it's settled." Santana said with a laugh and turned to leave.
"Good night… Tana!" Brittany repeated after a beat with a blinding smile.
"No one calls me Tana." Santana replied with a smile of her own.
"I know. That's the point!"
Santana just laughed again.
Brittany could hear Santana's chuckling echo in her head as Santana made her was down the hallway. Once she was out of sight Brittany finally closed the door and leaned against it taking a deep breath. She took a few seconds to recompose herself before joining the others in the living room. As soon as she entered the room Kurt jumped up and rushed to her.
"Britt, I'm so sorry. I never meant for it to get so serious and make her feel bad. I just wanted to find out more about her." He tried to apologise and defend himself.
"You promised Kurt!" She said with an edge to her voice.
"I know, I know. I just saw an opening and I took it. I'm really sorry." He said with real regret.
"You're just lucky you didn't ruin everything." Brittany relented. "And just so you know nothing that was revealed tonight was particularly shocking to me. Well apart from Rachel kissing a girl. And it doesn't change anything."
"What me kissing a girl or your relationship with Santana?" Rachel asked curiously. The whole group had obviously been listening to their conversation.
Brittany turned to Rachel and the rest of the group and shook her head with an affectionate smile. She just couldn't help loving this bunch of idiots.
"Both." She said as she made her way back to her earlier seat on the floor.
"I mean I don't care who you kiss as long as you are both consenting adults." Rachel pulled a semi-disgusted face at the thought of anything but that and Brittany laughed before continuing. "As for Santana, I may not have known exactly all that was revealed, but I knew she had a past; one that she wasn't proud of. But she has changed since then." She explained.
"I can vouch for that." Tina added. "I mean, I didn't know her in high school but I have heard stories from her and Quinn and that is not the San I know today."
"You've met Quinn?" Brittany asked.
"Once when she was visiting and we've talked a few times when she was on the phone or Skypeing with San." Tina replied.
They all chatted for a few more minutes about random things before they decided to call it a night. Brittany had just said goodnight to her friends and was making her way to her bedroom when her phone chimed.
"Home safe and sound. Thanks again for letting me be a part of your game night. I hope I didn't ruin it with my mood and leaving abruptly. Buenas noche Britt-Britt. xx"
Brittany read the message with a smitten smile and quickly typed out her reply.
"Thanks for joining us. You didn't ruin anything. If anyone is to blame its Kurt and his sneaky ways but I put him in his place don't worry. I had a great time and I hope you did too. Sweet dreams Tana xx"