From Lesbos to Hawaii to New York. What Brittany and Santana got up to while they were missing from June of 2013 until April of 2014
Grammar note: I struggled with the title; should it be Where In the World IS Brittana (Brittana being a single entity) or Where In the World ARE Brittana (Brittana being two separate people). In the end, I decided I didn't care and went with the one I thought sounded better.
A/N: Seriously, I cannot stress how effed up the Glee timeline was for S4 & S5. 100 & New Directions would have been around June of 2013 because that's when US high schools typically have graduation. We don't see Santana again until Opening Night – April 24, 2014 (that's the date circled on Rachel's calendar in the ep). We don't see Britt again until The Untitled Rachel Berry Project in May of 2014. The problem is, really, 100 and New Directions AIRED in March of 2014 – which means that it would only be a month of Santana missing. *smh* I cannot make sense of it at all soooo, I decided to just go with the ten months. Hopefully, this story will fill in the blanks :)
This one is rated M for sexy times (I am not promising well-written sexy times, sorry :( … Also, I've read some fics that throw in written out sexy times every time they have sex – I have not done this. A lot of sexy times will be left to your imagination).
Also … my head canon absolutely refuses to accept that Santana was out of touch with Brittany for over a month. Seriously … can anyone see Santana leaving Britt on the "Lesbian Island" (to quote Mercedes) with no passport or phone? Add to that the fact that Britt is wearing a Hawaii t-shirt at the end of TURBP (she also makes reference to both Santana's blonde hair AND the retirement home Peter Pan in What the World Needs Now when she (supposedly) wasn't around for either of those events) and I call shenanigans. So MY head canon says that they both returned to NY and Mercedes is the only one who knew and helped them keep it quiet because Brittany was just fed up with all the New Directions crap (and particularly with Rachel who, honestly, she never really liked).
This story is part of MY Brittana world (Dream World – a number of the fics in this series have/will have Dream in the title) that's (kind of/sort of) Canon-adjacent. The current reading order is:
(the dates are when I figure, in canon, things happened. The numbers after the dates are the ages I think Brittany & Santana are at the time of the fic/ep. My head canon is: Brittany is a Pisces born February 23rd, 1994 while Santana is a Virgo born September 3, 1994. Side note: I mention Santana being both 18 & 19 in Negotiating – that was a obviously a bad editing job on my part).
1) New York Lights – April/May 2011 (17/16)
2) The Spaces In Between – November 2011 to February 2012(18/17)
3) Immutable Truths & Unbreakable Rules – November 2011 (18/17)
4) Ain't It Shocking What Love Can Do – April 2012(18/17)
5) Negotiating the Terms of Our Reconciliation – June 2013 (20/18)
6) Where In the World Is Brittana? - June 2013 to June 2014 (20/18-19)
7) Chasing The Dream – June 2014 to February 2015 (20/20) - Mall tour/engagement/wedding - In Progress
8) The Only Dream That Matters – May 2017 ?
9) Dreams Come True - This is a future!fic that TODTM is going to become part of and will be changed to accommodate the events of WItWIB? - In Progress
10) Bad Days Made Better – November 2018 – this one will be incorporated into Dream Thieves & Guardians
11) Dream Thieves & Guardians – ? November 2018 ? Future!fic - In Progress
I am, however, having a small problem with the wedding fic: I cannot, for the LIFE of me, figure out why Brittany wanted Blaine & Kurt to share their wedding day. Her reason in-show was complete BS: she didn't think much of Blaine (she's sly about it but she basically tells Kurt to change everything about himself to get Blaine back and she loves Kurt so you know she's just trying to get Kurt to see that Blaine is continually trying to get Kurt to change.) She and Santana were a thing long before Klaine. Her show reason just doesn't track. (I mean, really, while she was planning her "high-end barn wedding" ALL she could think about was Klaine? I don't think so.) Also, my head canon says the wedding was on a Saturday which means Klaine couldn't have obtained a marriage license so they COULDN'T get married that day. Even if it was on a Friday, there's no way Klaine would have had time to get one. Someone has floated me a suggestion that I may be able to work with but I'm still taking whatever suggestions people have.
Anyway … if anyone has any ideas they're willing to share, I'm completely open to suggestions.
I will NEVER write a canon season 4 … I hate Bram with a fiery passion; my breasts ache with rage. That is why I wrote Season 3 stuff and skipped right to the reconciliation.
I have several A/Us in the works as well.
Warning: I hate Finn Hudson.
Finally – I did quite a bit of research into Lesbos and the other places they visit to try and make it as real as possible but I did take a bit of artistic license with some things. (Honestly, I think it took me longer to try and research than it did to actually write.)
Also, this story is extremely long compared to my other Brittana fics. Hopefully, it's still interesting and entertaining. I honestly thought it would only be about 15 chapters.
Sorry for the obnoxiously long A/N … on to the story. :)
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Chapter 1 – Mytilene
"Santana … whatever it is, just tell me."
"What?"
They were lying in chairs on the beach and enjoying – or trying to enjoy – the beautiful sunshine and the clear blue waters of the Aegean. Brittany could feel Santana stewing over … something.
"Santana, I can hear you thinking all the way over here. Whatever's bothering you, just tell me so we can work it out and actually enjoy the beach." Brittany didn't look over at Santana; she just kept relaxing in her chair. She knew whatever it was was probably something minor that Santana was over-thinking and working herself up over for nothing.
Santana sighed. "I have to tell you something. I don't know why I didn't just tell you before. I didn't think it was a big deal but then I started thinking about it and now I'm not sure …"
Brittany sat up and faced Santana. "Santana …" she interrupted the ramble that Santana was gearing up for.
Santana looked over at Brittany and sighed again before sitting up and turning to face her. She took Brittany's hands in hers.
"I talked to Dani the night before we left. I … I called her."
Brittany nodded. She wasn't sure where this was going but … "Okay … and?"
"I didn't want her to hear about us from Kurt or Rachel because God knows what the drama twins would tell her and I didn't want her to get hurt thinking I had been cheating on her or that I planned it or whatever." Santana looked at Brittany and bit her bottom lip.
Flashback
"Hey, chica, what's up?" Dani's voice floated through the phone.
"Hi! How are you? How's LA?" Santana didn't know why she was nervous. She wasn't doing anything wrong. (Then why aren't you telling Brittany? Why did you wait until she was in the shower?) Santana shook off those thoughts. She was going to tell Brittany. She was. Eventually. Maybe. Ugh.
"It's amazing! The weather is awesome. I'm having a great time. Thank you again for getting me Geno's number. He's been so great introducing me to people and showing me around. The show seems like it's going to be good. We've done a couple of read-throughs and I think the script is really well written and tight. My co-workers are all pretty chill. I was a little nervous about that but, honestly, they've been great. So how are you? To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"I'm good. Really good. It's just … there's something I wanted you to hear from me in case Kurt or Rachel texted or whatever. So, I ended up going back to Lima for that Glee thing and … um … Britt and I got back together. I didn't want you to think I was cheating on you or that we broke up because I was planning on getting back together with Brittany. It just … so cliché … happened. I didn't want you to get hurt if Kurt or Rachel said something that made it seem like … I dunno … something it wasn't."
Dani laughed. "Santana, I know you didn't cheat on me. That never would have entered my mind. I know why we broke up; I mean, you even went to Grand Central with me to see me off on Thursday morning. I know you didn't plan it because, as of Thursday morning, you weren't planning on going to Lima." Dani paused for a moment. "Maybe people who think everything happens for a reason are right. I mean, if I hadn't gotten this chance, you probably wouldn't have gone back to Lima." She paused again. "Can I be real with you?"
"Of course."
"We were having fun together. I like you, you like me. It wasn't love, right? I mean, you told me when we met that you still loved your ex but it was over. I think we were way-points for each other. A temporary rest stop before we moved on to our next thing. For me, it's LA. I have a really good feeling about everything. For you, it's Brittany. You were floundering, we both know that. You didn't know what you wanted. I think the Broadway thing was you trying to figure out what to do. It's cool, Santana, really. I would like it if we could be friends."
"I don't have that many so I'd really like that, too."
"Good. So my friend calls me up and says 'hey, my ex and I just got back together' … my response? Are you happy? Is it what you want?"
Santana laughed. "I am happy. Yeah, it is what I want. It wasn't like we saw each other and hooked up. She called me Thursday night and just sounded wrong. I knew something was up so I made the trip. I was right. MIT was killing her … she wasn't Brittany anymore. We spent the week hanging out and I reminded her of who she really was. Took us about a week and a half to figure out that we wanted to try again. As of yesterday, all of our friends knew. Tomorrow morning we're heading off to Lesbos for awhile. Spend some real time together without the Gleeks and family and whatever. Just me and Britt and a lot of sun and sand."
"That sounds awesome! Really, I'm happy for you. And, even though you didn't have to, I really do appreciate you calling. You're right about Kurt and Rachel; there's no way of knowing what they'd say. So I do appreciate you giving me a heads up about what really happened. It's sweet." Dani laughed.
"Whatever. I like you. I didn't want you to get hurt. I mean, we broke up just over two weeks ago and here I am running off to Europe with my ex."
"Hey, I ran off to LA first. Really, it's all good. Enjoy yourself. Hit me up when you get back to the States. If you're ever in LA or I get back to New York, we'll do dinner or something. Don't be a stranger."
"Same goes for you. Talk soon."
end flashback
"Okay. So, you called your friend to tell her we got back together just in case the drama divas thought about being 'helpful'."
Santana nodded.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" Brittany wasn't angry or even upset. Just bewildered and curious. "I mean, did you call her to see if there was a chance for the two of you to get back together before you ran off with me?"
"What? No! Of course not!" Santana gaped at Brittany. "How could you even think that?"
"I didn't but that's kind of how you're acting. Like you did something wrong. Santana, you called a friend. It's really not the big deal you're making it out to be. The only thing making it a big deal is you not telling me like it was something you had to hide."
Santana looked at Brittany for a moment before launching herself off her chair and tackling Brittany off hers. They landed in the soft sand with a muffled "oof" and Santana leaned down and captured Brittany's lips in a searing kiss. She ran her tongue over Brittany's bottom lip and was granted access. Their tongues began the dance they'd known forever. Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana's waist and pulled her close.
When they finally separated for air, Brittany grinned at Santana.
"Not that I'm complaining but what was that for?"
Santana laughed. "For being the most amazing girlfriend ever."
They got up and cuddled together on the chair Brittany had been lounging on.
"Santana, you're allowed to have female friends and talk to them on the phone and text them or whatever. I trust you. If I ever get the feeling that something's off with someone, I'll tell you. Like if someone seems to be seeing you as more than a friend. I know you. You'd be clueless." Brittany smiled.
"You're right, I would be." Santana shrugged. "When I'm with you, it just doesn't occur to me that someone else would be interested because I'm not interested. And … I just felt weird because she's my ex."
"Don't think of her that way. She's your friend. When you talked to me while we were broken up was I your ex or was I your best friend? You had sex with Quinn … do you feel weird talking to her?"
"When you put it like that …"
"Exactly. We're together. I trust you not to do anything to hurt that. I know you'd never cheat on me. That's a non-issue for us." Brittany kissed Santana softly. "I love you, we're pretty much in paradise, I don't want you getting lost in that pretty little head of yours over silly stuff."
"I love you, too, Britt." Santana smiled.
Brittany yawned. "I'm a little tired. I know we planned to just laze on the beach but I think I'd like to go back to our room and lie down for a bit. You interested?"
Santana got up and offered Brittany her hand. "With you? Always."
Brittany took her hand and they headed off back to their room.