A/N: This chapter ended up much longer than planned thanks to the (unplanned, unexpected) stop in Buffalo.
xoxoxoxoxo
Chapter 30 – NYC, Cambridge (MA), Buffalo (NY)
Before they knew it, it was time to pack up and go home. They were both oddly sad about ending their travels and excited to be going home.
"Do you have a lot to pack up back in Cambridge, Britt?" Santana asked as they walked through Heathrow toward their boarding gate.
"No, mostly just clothes and stuff. The apartment was provided by MIT and came fully furnished; I didn't even have to buy dishes or anything. So clothes, towels, sheets, some pictures and knick-knacks. Nothing big or heavy. Why?"
"Just trying to figure out if we need to rent a truck or if we can get away with an SUV or something like that."
Brittany nodded and pointed out their gate.
"Probably just an SUV. What about you? How much stuff do you have a the loft?"
Santana nodded as they took a seat; they had half an hour until boarding. "Mostly clothes and pictures and personal stuff. I asked Kurt to pack everything up for me and just store it in a corner or the storage area. I told him if he needed to rent a space to let me know but I doubt I had that much stuff, really. I got there with one suitcase; I know I bought some clothes and shoes but, really, not much because storage at the loft was an issue.
"I don't have anything big either. The furniture is all Kurt's and Rachel's so I think an SUV should work out. We should probably plan to spend a couple of days in Cambridge; until you get everything sorted but I really don't want to spend the night in New York. I figure we can rent the SUV or a pick-up or van or whatever at La Guardia after we land, go grab my stuff from the loft, maybe have lunch with the wonder twins, and then head to Cambridge."
Brittany laughs. "You don't want to spend the night at the loft?"
Santana makes an 'ew' face. "Okay, let's see; Kurt and Rachel are there. Not TOO bad BUT … Blaine is there. And, um, Sam is there."
"I thought you and Sam made up?"
"We did. Doesn't mean I want to sleep in the same area as he is. And I really don't want YOU sleeping in the same area as he is."
Brittany laughed harder. "You're ridiculous."
"But you love me … so what does that make you?"
Brittany considered for a moment. She sent Santana a sly grin. "Incredibly tolerant?"
Santana had to laugh at that. "I love you."
Brittany grinned. "I love you, too."
xoxoxoxoxoxo
They had booked a non-stop flight from Heathrow to La Guardia; the flight was uneventful and took about eight hours. They both dozed on and off throughout the flight and arrived in New York around eleven-thirty a.m. (Santana did the quick time change calculation … it was four-thirty pm in the UK).
They rented an eight passenger SUV, just in case, and Santana drove through the city to the Bushwick loft.
They got there just before one and knocked before opening the door.
"Hello? Kurt? Rachel?" Santana called out.
Kurt came from his room and smiled broadly.
"Britt! Santana! Oh my god!" He hurried over and pulled them into a tight hug. "How are you? Where have you been? No one has heard from you in months! How long are you here for? Are you staying here at the loft? I mean, you can … there's not a lot of room but …"
Santana laughed. "If you're free, we'll buy you lunch and tell you all about it. If the rest of the club is around we'll take them, too. We're just here for the day to pick up my things."
Kurt smiled as he pulled out of the hug. "I stored your stuff downstairs in the storage locker. Blaine should be here any minute to go to lunch, actually. Rachel is at rehearsal. Sam's at a photo shoot and Artie's at school. Wow. I think that's everyone here in New York."
The door opened and Blaine came in, dropping his bag when he saw the girls. He wrapped them in a hug and bombarded them with the same questions as Kurt had.
Brittany laughed and shook her head. "Come on. We're hungry, let us buy you lunch and we can talk."
They stopped at the storage locker and grabbed Santana's things (which amounted to a suitcase and two boxes) and stowing them in the SUV before going down the street to a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant that Santana absolutely loved.
They laughed and joked and talked about their adventures, showed videos of Santana's performances, and pictures of the places they'd been. They heard about what had been happening in New York while they'd been gone.
"So, you guys aren't staying in New York?" Blaine seemed surprised.
Santana shook her head and swallowed the ice tea she had been drinking. "We're headed to Cambridge so Britt can leave MIT then we're going to Lima for the holidays. After that we're flying to Hawaii and we'll be there until April. I'm coming back here in time for Rachel's opening but Britt's not sure what she wants to do."
"I may head back to Lesbos for a bit; I wanted to learn some of their native dances and I got an offer to teach dance at a one of the schools there. I'd teach modern, jazz, and contemporary in exchange for lessons." Brittany sowed the lie she and Santana had decided on. It could change but, for now, Brittany had no desire to get pulled into the Rachel Berry Show.
"That sounds amazing, Britt. I can't believe all the places you've been and things you've seen. It's incredible." Kurt was looking through the pictures on Brittany's phone.
"Oh … those aren't even the best pictures. Wait until you see the pictures Britt took with her camera. They're amazing."
Brittany blushed a bit at the praise. She cleared her throat. "How's living together going?"
"It's definitely … a change." Kurt said. "It's also weird because it's not just us … Rachel and Sam are there, too. Although I think Sam is considering moving out."
They chatted for another hour before Santana reminded Britt that they had an over three hour drive ahead of them.
They hugged Blaine and Kurt goodbye and promised to see them over Christmas when they were in Lima. Brittany told them to say hello to everyone and to let them know they'd be in Lima until January second.
Then they were on their way to Cambridge.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
Once they arrived in Cambridge they had a quick dinner before collapsing in Brittany's bed; completely exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before, the long day of travel, and the inevitable jet lag.
The following day, Santana started sorting through Brittany's stuff while Brittany went to talk to the monkey masters. They didn't have a lot of boxes so most of Britt's clothes ended up in garbage bags. Santana sighed; that meant a boatload of laundry when they got back to Lima.
Brittany had been gone most of the day and Santana was getting worried. They'd had breakfast together at a small diner around the corner from Britt's apartment and Britt had thought she'd be back before lunch. It was almost dinner time and Britt wasn't home and wasn't answering calls or texts.
Santana was just about to call the police when her phone chimed with a new text message from Brittany.
From: My Genius
6:36pm
Ugh. I am … UGH. Be back by 7:30. These people. UGHHHHHH.
Love you
Santana looked at the message and decided to start dinner so it would be ready for Brittany when she got back. If it was that bad, she suspected they hadn't let Brittany take a break for lunch. She was gonna go ALL Lima Heights on these circus freaks if they bullied Brittany into anything.
Brittany walked through the door at seven-twenty-three and dropped her keys on the table by the door, dropped her bag by the table, hung up her jacked, walked over to the couch and flopped, face first, onto it.
Santana came out of the kitchen just in time to see Britt's belly flop.
"Who do I have to kill?"
Brittany's response was muffled in the couch cushion.
Santana laughed. "Dinner is almost ready. Just some pasta with shrimp in a garlic wine sauce. There wasn't much in the cupboards or freezer and the fridge is completely empty. I'll go shopping tomorrow. I assume you'll have to go back to the math department tomorrow?"
Brittany groaned as she got up from the couch and stretched; Santana winced as she heard the vertebrae popping.
"No. That's why I was there so long. They wanted me to stay; I said no. That started some sort of weird negotiation to get me to work on a 'consulting' basis. I said no."
They sat at the table and Santana dished up the food and poured them some water.
"We were at it all day. They didn't understand my 'I don't want to be a math monkey chained to a calculator … I need to move, I need to dance' argument. Or my 'I'm moving to New York to be with my girlfriend' argument." She sighed as she dug into the food. "Mmmm … this is really good. Thank you. Of course, we didn't stop for lunch." She rolled her eyes. "I swear, they're all robots or something."
Santana smiled. "So what happened?"
"Honestly? They finally made me a sweetheart deal that I couldn't refuse. They'll send me whatever problem and give me four days to figure out if it can be solved or fixed or whatever needs doing; if I know I can't figure it out or won't be able to by the end of four days I'll get paid a flat rate of two thousand dollars for the four days. If I know I'll be able to figure it out given more time, I'll get the fifteen thousand dollar consulting fee once I figure it out."
Santana choked on the water she had just swallowed. "Holy shit, Britt! That's a lot of money."
Brittany shrugged. "That's why I didn't turn it down. I'll have a dedicated e-mail account that they'll send the problems to; I have to check it once a day. Thing is, most of the time, I'll know in a matter of a couple of hours if I can't figure something out … other than the Riemann Hypothesis which no one has figured out since he posited it in 1859. So, really, I'll get paid two thousand dollars for a couple of hours if I can't figure it out. If I can figure it out and it takes more than a week, my fee goes up to seventeen thousand." She took a drink of water. "It's kind of an honor system; that if I can figure it out, I'll figure it out as quickly as possible and not just drag it out to get a bigger paycheck."
Brittany shifted uncomfortably as Santana just gaped at her. "What?"
"Even though I know you're a genius, I'm still awestruck by your amazing awesomeness." Santana grins at her.
"San …"
"What? My girl is a genius; damn straight I'm gonna be proud."
Brittany blushed a deep crimson. "Anyway. I need to go to the registrar and officially resign and drop off my keys and stuff but then I'm free so, as soon as I'm all packed up, we can start for Lima."
Santana nodded as she finished off her dinner. "Well, I made a pretty big dent in things. Most of your clothes are in garbage bags and ready to get put in the SUV. I wasn't sure about the towels and bed sheets and blankets and stuff. I packed up your pictures but wasn't sure which of the knickknacks were yours. Like, I knew some of them but others I didn't recognize. So we should be able to finish up tomorrow. I assume the registrar isn't open on Saturday?"
Brittany shook her head as she stood up and collected their plates and moved to the sink to do the dishes. Santana put the leftovers in the fridge and gave Brittany the pot to wash.
"Okay, so, we either have to work really fast tomorrow or we're here until Monday."
"Well, we'll see where we're at tomorrow. Depending on how much is left, we might be able to get out of here before the registrar closes tomorrow."
Santana shrugged. "It doesn't really matter, Britt. I mean, we've got two weeks until Thanksgiving so we're fine on time."
Santana dried the dishes and put them away as Brittany handed them to her.
"Yeah, I know, but … I really don't want to be here any longer than I really have to, you know?"
Santana nodded. "Yeah. I get it." She held out her hand for Brittany. "Come on. We'll make an early night of it so we can get an early start so we can be on our way to Lima tomorrow afternoon."
Brittany took her hand and sighed softly. "Sounds good to me. I'm ready for bed."
xoxoxoxoxo
The next morning they were up and packing by seven and by one they were all packed up. The apartment was clean, they made sure not to leave any food behind; everything was in order when they stopped at the registrar and Brittany was officially freed from her permanent position at MIT. By two-thirty, they were on the road to Lima.
They decided to stop in Buffalo, NY for the night.
"Hey San?"
"Yeah?"
"Why don't we stay here for a couple of days?"
"In Buffalo?" Santana looked dubious.
"Yeah, look; they've got this great art museum and look at all this stuff to do." Brittany showed Santana a brochure she had picked up in the lobby. "I mean, we're here, we're not in a hurry." She shrugged.
Santana looked over the brochure; some of the stuff they couldn't do because it was too cold but there was plenty to do otherwise, including a trip to Niagara Falls (Santana was surprised to discover that the American Falls were less than half an hour away). There was a Canadian Winery tour that looked interesting as well.
Santana shrugged. "Yeah, why not? Could be fun."
Brittany grinned.
Santana shook her head and went down to the main desk to see about extending their stay and booking some of the tours.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
They returned from the winery tour on Sunday evening pleasantly buzzed. The drinking age in Canada, they discovered, was only nineteen so they thoroughly enjoyed their trip.
They were slipping into bed and Santana looked at Brittany. She was so beautiful, Santana found herself tearing up.
"San? What's wrong?"
"You're so beautiful."
Brittany giggled.
Santana sighed. "I love you so much. I think I must be the lucking person ever." She leaned up and kissed Brittany lightly on the lips. "I get to do that almost any time I want." A silly grin graced her lips.
Brittany smiled at her. "Yes, you do. I love you, too."
Santana looked at Brittany and moved to straddle her.
"San …"
"It's been too long, Britt," she leaned down and pressed her lips to Brittany's, seeking to deepen it when Brittany gently pushed her away.
Santana couldn't stop the tears. "Don't you … am I not attractive anymore?"
"Oh, honey, you are the most beautiful woman I've ever known. I am so attracted to you and so deeply in love with you. But … you're not quite sober and, as much as I love you and I know you love me, I don't want to take advantage of you." She gently cradled Santana's face in her hands. "I know it's been awhile and, if you were sober, I'd be all over you. But I don't want our first time after you were assaulted to be while you're drunk."
Santana sighed and lied down on top of Brittany. "You're perfect."
Brittany gently stroked her back and kissed the top of her head. "I'm perfect for you."
"Good. Don't wan' you to be," Santana yawned, "perfect with anyone else."
"I won't. I'm yours. Always."
xoxoxoxoxo
Early in the morning, Brittany was awakened by soft kisses being peppered all over her face.
"Mmmm sweet lady kisses," she murmured.
Santana captured her lips in a slow, deliberate kiss that had Brittany's body reacting immediately and she couldn't stop the moan that left her lips.
Santana moved across her jaw to the sweet spot between her neck and collarbone and suckled softly before moving up to whisper in Britt's ear; "I'm sober now." She captured Brittany's lobe in between her teeth and tugged at it.
Brittany groaned and felt the heat pool between her legs; god it HAD been a long time and … oh, god, what Santana was doing with her tongue …
Brittany opened her eyes; Santana's eyes were dark with desire.
"San …"
"Let me."
Brittany nodded and Santana quickly divested both herself and Brittany of their t-shirts. She re-captured Brittany's lips and both women moaned as their breasts rubbed against each other. Santana slowly kissed down Brittany's neck, stopping at her pulse point before moving further down. Her lips and tongue blazed a heated trail down Brittany's body. Santana kneaded Brittany's breast with one hand while her mouth loved on the other; licking around the nipple before pulling it into her mouth and tugging on it with her teeth.
She continued her southward journey, licking and nipping at hard abs and soft skin. When she reached Brittany's shorts, she pulled them and Brittany's underwear down in one quick movement before settling between Brittany's thighs.
"God … so wet. So beautiful." Santana looked up through her lashes and saw Brittany watching her with love and desire obvious in her eyes. One of Brittany's hands was massaging her own breast while the other combed through Santana's hair.
Santana inhaled Brittany's scent and felt her abdomen tighten with want. Her tongue found its way through Brittany's folds, dipping into Brittany briefly before circling her clit.
Brittany moaned and writhed beneath Santana as Santana continued to lap at Brittany's folds and circle her clit.
"Oh, god, San … please …"
"Please what, baby?"
"Take me." Brittany begged.
Santana slid two fingers into Brittany; her lips suckling at Brittany's clit. So gentle, so soft at first. Brittany arched and writhed until Santana tugged on the bundle of nerves and started moving her fingers quickly in and out of Brittany. Velvet walls tightened as Santana hit the spongy sweet spot inside of Brittany. Brittany was close. Santana looked up again.
"Look at me, Brittany."
Brittany looked down at Santana and Santana took Brittany's clit between her teeth and began to flick her tongue over it; hard and fast as her fingers moved deeper into her beautiful blonde. Brittany moaned and arched, trying to keep her eyes on Santana but, as her orgasm hit, she lost the battle. She arched hard as she came, head thrown back and screaming Santana's name.
Santana continued to move in and out but lessened her hold on Brittany's clit. She added a third finger and pushed deeper. It took only a moment for Brittany to scream out for Santana as her walls tightened around Santana's fingers again.
Santana removed one finger but kept slowly moving in and out to extend Brittany's orgasm and to bring her gently back down. She crawled up Brittany's body and kissed her deeply.
She pulled back and Brittany's eyes opened.
"Hi."
"Mmm. Hi." Brittany sighed in contentment. "Give me a minute."
Santana slid her fingers from inside Brittany and Brittany groaned at the loss.
"Rest, baby. It's really early." Santana snuggled into Brittany's side and pulled the blanket up over them.
"But I wanna …" her voice was sex soft and sleepy.
"Later, my love." Santana kissed Brittany's shoulder. "Sleep now. We've got plenty of time."
They both drifted back off to sleep with smiles on their faces.
Xoxoxoxoxo
The rest of their time in Buffalo was spent exploring the city and finding interesting places to go; The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Allentown, and the fun Wing Tour (an amazing taste tour of the best chicken wings in Buffalo).
"San … I think we should plan to come back sometime during the summer. This was all amazing but I'd love to see the Allentown Art Festival and maybe Canal Side when it's warmer."
Santana nodded. "Yeah. Definitely a place to revisit." She laughed. "Easier to get to than Spain, Portugal, and Wales."
"True."
They left Buffalo behind after three days that had been packed full of fun and laughter. Lima was six hours away. Both Brittany and Santana were feeling a bit apprehensive; Brittany because she had left almost five months ago with just a quick phone call to her mother telling her she was leaving and Santana because of her family situation.
Neither girl was sure what they'd be heading into but they both sure of one thing; they'd face whatever it was together.