Chapter 8
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Practice had been going smoothly for the most part. Santana was running everyone pretty hard, not because she was angry or in a bad mood, she just didn't want everyone getting used to taking things slow when they were with their other groups and slacking when it came time to get down to business. The team thrived off of the adrenaline and was pretty much in everyone else's heads during each of their matches, which is why they were the number one team in the eastern district. Because paintball matches never turned out the same way twice, you never really knew what to expect. The Riots however, knew what their jobs were and how to anticipate their teammates movements out on the field. This was also one of their downfalls. When they split up to play against each other in practice, their matches generally took a little longer than most because they would get stuck in opposing, but advanced positions, trying to eliminate each other because they already knew what the other was thinking.
Santana and Dave we up against Quinn and Puck, both teams holding strong in the center of the field while the rest watched the stand-off play out. No commands were really needed because they would all knew what the other team was planning to do.
Santana gave Dave a nod to try and advance while she covered him but as soon as he tried to make a run to an open bunker, both Quinn and Puck sprayed jets of paintballs at him.
"DAMNIT!" Santana sputtered out as she peaked up from her position to see her teammate walk over to the side.
"WHAT YOU GOT LOPEZ? CAN'T TAKE US BOTH OUT NOW CAN YOU?" The Latina heard Quinn shout followed by her and Puck laughing.
"Yeah, we will see about that." Santana mumbled to herself as she crawled along the Snake to move into position.
Neither Puck or Quinn saw her switch to another bunker when they opened fire on Dave. She shuffled quietly, getting ready to make her move. She peeked around the corner of the bunker and saw a blonde ponytail and a Mohawk, both peering around their respective bunkers looking at the bunker they thought they had cornered her at.
"OH COME ON SANTANA! AT LEAST TRY TO SHOOT US!" Puck yelled towards the empty bunker and popped off a few shots in that direction.
Santana smirked and stood up, walking quietly up behind them with the flag hanging out of her cargo pocket and her gun pointed at Puck's back. He was squatted behind a Mini-Brick while Quinn was about 10 feet away peering around the corner of the Aztec bunkers, firing off a few shots to try and coax Santana out of her position.
Santana now aimed her gun at Quinn while snaking her arm through and pulling Puck into a Choke Hold.
"Bang!" The Latina said into his ear which caused him to jump up and take Santana with him. She held on tight though and jumped up onto his back for a winners piggy-back ride.
"Shit Lopez! Give me a fucking heart attack why don't you!"
Quinn heard Puck and turned around only to be met with the barrel of Santana's gun pointed at her chest.
"Nuh uh!" Drop it Fabray!" Quinn scowled and dropped her gun in defeat.
The rest of their team just laughed as they made their way over to the group of best friends.
"How the hell did you get behind us? You were over at that bunker!" Puck said as he pointed to the bunker he and Quinn thought she was hiding behind.
"Correction… I was over at that bunker. Isn't there a saying that if you watch one hand you don't see what the magician pulls out with his other? Or some shit like that?"
"So you just decided to pull a Houdini?" Quinn asked still slightly pissed that she had her ass handed to her and she didn't even see it coming.
"You're just mad cuz I kicked your ass at a 1 Vs. 2... While you never saw me do it, I might add." Santana retorted with a shit-eating smirk.
Quinn flipped her off while still sporting the annoyed scowl on her face.
"Oh come on Quinn you had to admit that was pretty tight!" Artie said and raised his hand up towards Santana for a High Five.
"Whatever." The blonde huffed.
"You know I could have told your ass to sit out being as that's what you were supposed to be doing anyway, but all your bitching was just annoying the fuck out of me so I agreed." The Latina snapped as she jumped off of Puck's back.
Puck eyed the two girls and motioned for the rest of the team to move away, sensing some sort of argument was about to play out. He knew his best friends well enough to know that things would never get two far out of hand. They would yell rather loudly but would never physically hurt one another. Girls, can't live with um, can't live without them. So why are both of my best friends a bunch of raging hormonal bitches sometimes?Puck shrugged at the thought and walked off the field to head back towards the cabins with his teammates to get ready for dinner.
"Seriously Q, what the fuck is your deal?" You have been up everyone's ass since we started practice. I let you play even though the nurse told you no, now your pissed off over a practice run for Christ sake. I know your competitive and shit but take a fucking pill and calm down!" Santana screamed getting up in Quinn's face.
"Nothing's wrong Santana! Fuck! Why can't you just back off? I wanted to play to get my mind off of things alright?"
The Latina just looked confused.
"Get your mind off of what? You were fine a few hours ago when I left the cabin for lunch. What's got your panties in a bunch this time?" The Latina asked, lowering her voice a little and scrunching her face up, somewhat puzzled.
Quinn didn't answer. She pulled off her mask and started to walk off the field when Santana caught her by the arm, halting the blonde's movements and swinging her to face her.
"What do you want from me?" Quinn shouted, finally getting angry because Santana still hadn't released her arm.
"I wanna know why you're being such a bitch right now! Did I do something to you or what, because to be honest I have no idea what is wrong with you!"
"I'm scared alright! Are you happy now?" Quinn shouted, yanking her arm away and storming off down the path.
Santana stood there, not knowing what to say. Not only that, but she didn't know what the blonde was referring to. She wracked her brain for a few minutes, trying to pin-point what her friend could possibly be afraid of.
The Latina walked back to the cabin slowly and opened the door to find Quinn sitting on her bunk and playing with the hem of her pillow case.
Santana walked over and put her gear on her bunk before taking a seat next to her best friend. She pushed herself back to lean against the wall as she waited a few moments, trying to give her friend a chance to speak. When she didn't, the Latina spoke up.
"Q…" She stated as more of a question.
The blonde moved her head that was previously staring down at the ground and turned away from Santana to look at the wall.
"Can you please just tell me what's wrong? What are you scared of? And why?" The brunette added.
"Rachel…." Was all she said in nothing higher than a whisper and the name laced with sadness.
Santana stayed quiet to let her finish, even though she already knew the reason why she was scared.
"I like her, a lot S. But I don't want to get hurt again, and I don't want to hurt her."
At the beginning of their sophomore year, Quinn had a nasty break up with her girlfriend of two years. Nobody, not even Santana, saw it coming.
FLASHBACK
The two best friends walked down the hallway of McKinley after just ending Glee practice. The door to the gym swung open and a tall and slender looking basketball player jogged up to them.
"Hey baby!" Quinn said with a smile as she stood up on her tip-toes to kiss her girlfriend Kelly.
"Hey, I won't be able to hang out tonight. My dad wanted to take me and my brother out to dinner since he's flying in from L.A. I think he feels bad for choosing his job over his family. I tried to get out of it, but my mom wouldn't have it."
"That's ok, me and S are probably just gonna go back to my place and do some homework."
"Alright, I'll text you when I can but I have to get back to practice. I just wanted to let you know." Kelly said with a half smile.
"I understand, call me later tonight when you get home if you can?" Quinn asked.
"I will, bye babe!" The basketball player said, giving the blonde a quick peck before running back into the gym.
Later that night after Quinn and Santana had finished their homework, the two lounged in the family room of the Fabray house.
"There isn't shit on TV right now Q and I'm starting to get hungry. You up for some Breadstix?" The brunette asked hopefully.
Quinn rolled her eyes and switched off the TV. Santana jumped off the couch so fast she almost tripped but was able to catch herself before she toppled over.
Quinn couldn't contain the laughter anymore.
"Shut it Fabray!" The brunette sneered.
"You get way too excited about those breadstix there S. I'm surprised you managed to keep your figure all these years." Quinn said through her giggles.
Santana just flipped her the bird and grabbed her jacket before chucking Quinn hers. They headed out of the house and over to Santana's favorite restaurant.
When they arrived, both girls took a seat in the only available booth towards the back, Quinn with her back towards the wall with a good view of the entire establishment. The waiter came over and took their orders before leaving the two to engage in their conversation. Santana was on a rant about Shelby's glee practices and how they had to have a last minute practice 8AM starting the following morning. The women really was somewhat out of her mind. She wanted perfection in every aspect.
Santana was chomping down on a breadstick when she noticed Quinn staring past her, her face drained of color, mouth slightly agape, and her eyes welling up with tears.
"Q? What's-" She started to ask as she turned around to peek around the booth. She didn't need to finish the rest of the question.
Standing at the door waiting for a table was Kelly. But she wasn't with her dad and brother. She had her arms wrapped around a shorter girl that Santana recognized from the softball team while planting light kisses to the girls lips.
Santana turned around to face Quinn, who was standing up to start charging towards the door. The brunette stood up immediately to block her friend from rushing out. The blonde had hurt and a shit load of anger plastered across her face and it didn't take long for her to vocalize it.
"YOU STUPID BITCH!" Quinn shouted over the brunette's shoulder trying desperately to brake free from Santana's hold on her.
The entire restaurant turned to the corner to see who shouted. Kelly and the softball player wheeled around to see as well. Kelly let go of the girl and her face turned from happy to mortified in less than a second.
"Quinn… I… This isn't what it looks like!" She said trying to save face. Santana turned and shot her a glare that certainly could have killed anyone if it were at all possible.
"THEN WHAT IS IT HUH? IT SURE AS HELL LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING TO ME!" She screamed through her tears.
"Q, come on, let's just go." Santana said trying to get her friend out of the situation all together. She was coming pretty close to letting the blonde go and beating the shit out of the girl for doing this to her best friend but she knew that Kelly had meant everything to Quinn and she knew how much this was breaking her best friend's heart.
"Baby I can explain…" Kelly ran over to the two girls and tried console the blonde but Santana stopped her by swatting away her outstretched hand.
"I suggest you leave… right now before I knock out every single one of your teeth! If you ever come near Quinn again or attempt to contact her in any way, shape, or form, I will kill you myself. Now get the fuck out of my way!" Santana said through gritted teeth, trying with every ounce of will power she had not to hit the basketball player.
Quinn looked at her girlfriend with a tear-filled angry glare. "We're done!"
With that, Quinn pushed past Santana and stomped out of Breadstix. The brunette gave one final glare at the now ex-girlfriend and followed Quinn.
It took the blonde almost 6 months to finally get over Kelly but she only moderately dated and sex had been out of the question since then. She never let anyone see her with all of her walls down again and to be honest, nobody blamed her.
END FLASHBACK
Santana slipped her arm around Quinn's shoulders and pulled her in. The blonde rested her head on the Latina's shoulder and they sat there in silence for a while.
"I don't know what to do San. This feeling that I have for Rachel is more than just a little crush and it's stupid to even think this would happen. I've barely just met her and already she's occupying most of my thoughts." Quinn finally admitted.
Santana rested her head on Quinn's and sighed.
"I know the feeling Q, but you shouldn't be afraid of letting someone in again just because one bitch couldn't keep it in her pants. You were better then her anyways and she didn't deserve you."
Quinn let out a short laugh. "This coming from the one who's shield mimics the Great Wall of China."
"Hey in my defense, I feel the same way about Brittany as you do about Rachel and it scares the shit out of me. I want to be with her though and as much as I'm afraid to let her in, I don't really have much choice in the matter. She makes me happy and I don't feel so guarded when I'm around her."
Quinn giggled at her friends confession.
"What are you laughing at now?" Santana said lifting up her head and looking down at her friend.
"Oh nothing." The blonde said sarcastically. You are so in love with this girl and you don't even know it!Quinn thought to herself.
"Whatever." The brunette didn't think much of it so she let it go. "You ready to go meet the lovely ladies for dinner?"
"Yeah." Quinn smiled and Santana scooted off the bunk. Quinn gave Santana a hug.
"Thanks S."
"Yeah, yeah." She patted Quinn on the back and shrugged off the mushiness.
Quinn just shook her head and the two headed off towards the DC.
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After the fiasco back at the cabin, the girls only had about 15 minutes to eat before they had to run back to the cabin to grab their gear and be back up at the field for their team session with one of the instructors. To everyone's relief, it wasn't Coach Sylvester. They went over drills that could be implemented into their practices. Quinn sat out during this practice because she knew that it was a scheduled one and the coaches would never allow it. Hell, Santana almost flipped her shit earlier when Quinn came onto the field with all of her gear and wanted to play. The Latina finally got tired of listening to her whining and agreed to it only because she wouldn't shut up with the smart ass remarks to everyone.
It was rounding 10:30PM when they finally finished. They were all having way too much fun to stop at their scheduled time and Coach Beiste didn't mind in the slightest. In fact, the women was rather impressed with how the team conducted themselves and worked together. Each encouraged one another and she could tell that they all had a really close bond. Especially, Santana, Puck, and Quinn. Santana was a true leader as far as she could tell and she worked hard for the things that she wanted while still having fun with her friends.
"Alright guys and gals, great practice but I think we should call it a night. Lights out in 30 minutes." Everyone said their goodbyes and started to head back to their bunks.
"Lopez!" Do you have a moment?" The coach asked and Santana nodded. She let her team file past her before walking back over towards Coach Beiste.
"Everything alright Coach?" The Latina asked now standing slightly awkward while awaiting the answer.
"Everything's fine. I just wanted to tell you that you seem to have a well put-together team there and you are doing a great job as their captain. You have a strong command presence and they all respect you. It's hard to find that in a leader." The woman smiled.
Santana didn't always know how to handle compliments. She always felt taken aback, almost like when everyone sings Happy Birthday to you and you just sort of sit there not really knowing what to do with yourself.
"I uh… thanks I guess." She replied with a half smile.
Coach Beiste returned the smile and nodded a 'you're welcome.'
"Have you gotten a schedule for the captains meetings and practices? They are optional of course because not everyone has the same schedules and open sections in their day."
"Nope, didn't get one." She shook her head.
"Here," the woman handed Santana a piece of paper from her clipboard, "whenever you have time, come on over." If you have any co-captains they are welcome to join you as well."
"Thank you, I'll see if I have free time." The brunette said as she took the paper and glanced it over quickly before looking up.
"Alright, well I'll let you go get some sleep. If anyone stops you on the way back for being out of bed after lights out just give them this." She handed Santana a small piece of paper; a permission slip of some sort.
"Thanks coach, night." She said with a small wave and turned to leave.
"Goodnight."
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Santana walked briskly back to her cabin. The night air was getting a little cooler but not bad enough to require a jacket. She approached her cabin and quietly opened the door. It was dark so she assumed Quinn and Mercedes had already fallen asleep. She walked over to the bathroom counter and switched on the light so she could wash her face. Once she was finished she glanced over towards her and Quinn's bunks and noticed that the blonde wasn't there. She then peeked around the corner to look towards Mercedes bed, empty as well.
The Latina tossed her hand towel on the counter and walked towards the door grabbing her cell phone from her bed as she went. She opened the door and peeked out before stepping outside, making sure that there were no chaperones or coaches walking by.
She dialed Quinn's number but it went straight to voicemail. She then tried Mercedes' phone only to hear the ringtone blaring in their cabin.
Before she could say any curse words in response to the current problem, pale, toned arms wrapped around her and gave a tight squeeze. In a normal situation Santana would have tightened up and turned around to address the person who was sneaking up behind her. But she had gotten used to those arms over the past few days, mostly because a certain blonde had a tendency to greet her from behind most of the time. She smiled at the memory of the first time Brittany had greeted her at the dance.
"Hey Britt." She said softly and moved her hands down to rest them on the blonde's.
"How did you know it was me?" She said, pulling on arm out from under Santana's and pulling a curtain of her raven hair to one side and placing a soft kiss on her shoulder before moving up to place one more soft lingering kiss on the Latina's neck.
"Mhhh" Santana hums softly at the feeling. Brittany smiles into her neck.
"What are you doing out so late?" Santana says, almost forgetting that they weren't supposed to be outside.
"Just coming to see you actually. What are you doing outside?" Santana turned in the blondes arms to face her.
"Well I was going to go to bed but then I realized that Quinn and Mercedes disappeared and I need to find them before we all get in trouble. Our practice went longer than I expected. I'm really sorry we didn't get a chance to hang out."
Brittany gave the Latina a sly smirk. "You won't find them… well… not unless you come with me anyway."
Santana furrowed her brow.
"So you kidnap my friends to get me to go somewhere with you?" She asked jokingly.
"Well I gotta have some incentive don't I?"
"You could have just asked me." The Latina said with a small laugh.
"But what fun would that be?" Brittany said with a wink.
"Alright so where are we going then?"
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Alright, next chapter will be the camp out. Let me know what you guys want to see happen. Thank you all for the Story Alerts and favorites! These chapters past few chapters involve a lot of fillers to give you the background information. Things will start picking up the pace here within the next few chapters but I don't want to rush right into it yet. Happy Halloween Everyone! NEW EPISODE OF GLEE THE DAY AFTER! =DD BRITTANA IS ON!