Apologies for this chapter taking so long! I have tried to make it a bit longer than usual for you all. Thank you for the reviews – they really do make my day and encourage me to continue writing so please do keep leaving them if you can.
/
Santana had been keeping her head down all day, mostly to try and avoid any awkwardness with Quinn. She opened her locker and took out the books she needed for afternoon lessons, before closing the door firmly. She let out a small gasp and pressed a hand to her chest in surprise as a head of blonde hair appeared behind it.
"Hey." Brittany smiled back at her.
Santana returned the smile, chuckling softly. "You scared me." She admitted to the other girl.
Brittany bit down on her bottom lip. "Sorry, I didn't mean to." Her eyes locked onto Santana's, and she found herself becoming lost in the dark brown orbs for a moment.
Santana gazed back into Brittany's and decided that she really liked that shade of blue. She had always found eye contact quite intense though and found herself having to break it after a few seconds, wringing her hands together. Brittany dropped her gaze down to Santana's hands and noticed the nervous tick. She hoped it wasn't her making the brunette feel like that.
"How was tutoring last night?" Brittany broke the silence, sensing that Santana was feeling uncomfortable.
"What?" Santana asked, before catching on quickly. "Oh. Oh! Tutoring. Err-"
"With Quinn, right?" The blonde encouraged.
Santana nodded. "Right, Quinn. Yeah, sure. It was fine." She shrugged.
Brittany sensed that the brunette wasn't telling her everything, but she didn't push any further. She was just happy to have some time alone with Santana without Quinn interrupting, like last time.
"I was serious yesterday though…" Brittany began. "I could really do with some extra help in Spanish." She scrunched her nose up, a little embarrassed of having to ask.
Santana smiled at the blonde. She was adorable.
"I've got some free time after school today, if you wanted some help?" She suggested.
Brittany's eyes lit up and she beamed at Santana. "Really? You mean it?"
"Sure," Santana couldn't help but grin. "Come by my house, around six? I've got some homework of my own to finish but I should be done by then."
"You're the best Santana." She nudged the girl playfully with her shoulder and smiled gratefully, before heading off to her next class.
/
Brittany threw her head back and let out a dramatic sigh. She sat on Santana's bed, her back leant against the headboard, with her work strewn out in front of her haphazardly.
"I'm never going to get this." She whined, closing her book in exasperation.
"You will, it's just going to take a bit of time." Santana soothed.
"But you're so good at it!" she pouted, and the brunette let out a soft chuckle.
"I'm fluent Britt. I've been brought up around people speaking Spanish all my life." She explained from where she sat on her desk chair.
Brittany seemed to be mulling this over. She let out a quiet sigh and looked at the smaller girl, who was swivelling back and forth in her chair casually.
"Santana?"
"Hmm?" she looked up at the blonde, letting her know she had her attention.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure Britt, anything." Santana replied, expecting it to be a question about the Spanish assignment.
"What's the deal with you and Quinn?"
Santana froze. Well, she certainly wasn't expecting that. To be honest, it was a good question – what was the deal with her and Quinn? They weren't friends, not anymore… they definitely weren't in a relationship either. Was she even allowed to tell anyone about this deal they had going on? Brittany already knew she liked girls so that wasn't a problem. It was a bit fucked up though now that Santana thought about it. Did she really want Brittany knowing about their arrangement?
"Santana?" Brittany waved a hand in front of her face. She had shuffled closer and was now sat on the edge of the brunette's bed, opposite her.
"Err-" Santana seemed to have lost her words. She internally slapped herself and continued. "Quinn and I are…" she paused. "It's complicated." She settled on.
Brittany looked at the other girl closely. "I feel like she has this hold over you."
"Like you wouldn't know." Santana muttered under her breath, not meaning for Brittany to have heard it but apparently the blonde had supersonic hearing or something.
"I knew it," the blonde whispered. "What does she have on you?" she continued.
"I don't really think I should-" Santana started but stopped as Brittany proceeded to stand up in front of her, gazing down at her with a concerned look on her face.
"I can help you." she placed a hand on Santana's cheek, her thumb brushing the underside of her jaw gently.
Santana shuddered and closed her eyes, feeling herself leaning into the blonde's touch. She felt Brittany bend down and move in closer. Her breath hitched as she felt the blonde nudge her nose gently against the side of her face.
"Tell me." Brittany whispered against the shell of Santana's ear.
Santana let out a soft whine. She couldn't believe how turned on she was by this girl from the slightest little thing.
"I-I can't." Santana whimpered as she felt the blonde's hot breath against her jaw.
"You said that last time," Brittany murmured. "Why can't you tell me?"
"We made a deal." Santana blurted out as Brittany's lips dragged across her skin.
Brittany pulled away slightly to look at the brunette's face. Her eyes were screwed shut. The blonde pondered over this new information. They had made a deal? What kind of deal? It sounded pretty serious.
"Look at me," Brittany whispered. She watched Santana's eyes flicker open. "Are you in trouble?"
Santana bit down on her lip and met the blonde's concerned gaze. She shook her head slowly in answer to the question and let out a soft sigh, feeling a wave of guilt rush over her. Brittany had no reason to be worried. This was all her own doing; she had agreed to Quinn's stupid deal and had gone through with it, more than once.
"Then what is it, Santana?" she asked.
She didn't know exactly what it was about being around Brittany but Santana felt a sudden sense of calm sat there with the blonde. She had been keeping this to herself for weeks now and it was starting to eat her up inside. She felt like she was Quinn's dirty little secret, and she wasn't sure she wanted to be anymore.
And just like that, the truth came spilling out of her.
/
Brittany didn't say a word for what felt like an eternity to Santana. She seemed to be contemplating everything the brunette had shared with her. Eventually, she broke the silence.
"Let me get this straight. Quinn's blackmailing you to sleep with her? Does she even like girls?" The blonde was clearly confused and looked to Santana for answers.
"I don't know," Santana shrugged. "I don't know what she is… but we both agreed. I'd do what she wanted if she kept quiet about me being…" she trailed off. "You know."
"Gay?" Brittany asked. "You can say it, it's not a dirty word Santana."
Santana looked away and folded her arms defensively. She was still coming to terms with putting a label on herself. Yes, she was attracted to girls, but this was exactly what she was trying to stay away from. Acceptance. Going public. Being judged. Being labelled.
"It's whatever." The brunette shrugged, her walls coming up.
"No, don't do that," Brittany said softly, crouching down between the brunette's legs so they were at the same level. "This is not right. It's not right that she's using you like this." She reached out and tucked a strand of dark hair behind Santana's ear.
Santana scoffed. "I'm just as bad. I agreed to it," she paused. "I went through with it."
"To protect yourself." Brittany whispered, stroking the brunette's hair gently.
"Do you-do you think I'm a terrible person?" Santana whispered, looking down at her feet.
Brittany smiled softly, her fingers running through dark hair soothingly. "No sweetie, but I do think you need to get out of this mess."
Santana nodded slowly in agreement. "I know, you're right. I just-I don't know how."
Both girls jumped as the sound of the Lopez's doorbell chimed through the house.
"Mija! You've got a visitor!" came the voice of Maribel Lopez from downstairs. Santana heard her mom follow up with a: "Go right on up."
Soft footsteps padded up the stairs. The brunette widened her eyes, putting two and two together and coming up with the only other person that might be visiting her at home at this time…
"Hey S," Quinn stood in her doorway, eyeing the brunette closely before she caught sight of the other girl in the room. "Oh, I didn't know you already had company." She pressed the door closed and turned to face the two cheerleaders.
Brittany clenched her jaw at this comment and stood beside Santana's bed, holding the fiery blonde's gaze. This time, she wasn't backing down and she certainly wasn't leaving.
Santana felt trapped. She looked from one blonde to the other anxiously and gestured to the bed, where Brittany's homework still lay scattered across the sheets.
"I was helping Brittany with her Spanish." She explained quietly.
"You don't have to explain yourself Santana." Brittany spoke up confidently, taking a few steps forward so she was stood beside the brunette.
"I think she can speak for herself." Quinn snarled, shooting daggers at the taller blonde.
Santana licked her dry lips nervously. "Q, stop it." She whispered.
Quinn looked at Santana. "Can we talk?" she asked. "In private."
Santana desperately tried to avoid the Head Cheerio's gaze and turned her head towards Brittany. The taller blonde looked confident in her stance; she hadn't stopped staring at Quinn since she had entered the room. It felt good to have somebody standing up for her and Santana felt herself relaxing a little next to Brittany as she eventually spoke.
"Now's not a good time…" Santana said, her hands wringing in front of her.
Quinn swallowed visibly, clearly not used to being denied much, and watched the brunette closely, her brows furrowing. She knew this would happen. She had already warned Santana about her spending time with Brittany. They had agreed weeks ago, right at the very beginning of this, that she was the only Cheerio she would be sleeping with. Quinn wasn't stupid; she could see what was developing between these two. And she wasn't going down without a fight.
"Well, how about I talk, and you listen then? It won't take long and I'm sure Brittany would love to hear what I have to say." Quinn said, flashing a sickeningly sweet smile at the taller blonde.
Santana didn't like that tone of voice. It meant that the other girl was up to something. But before she could get any words of her own out, Quinn started speaking again.
"I just wanted to say how much fun I had with you yesterday at tutoring," she smirked. "You really do have a wonderful way of explaining things, very… hands-on. I don't think I've ever got so much satisfaction from a study session before."
Santana went pale as the words started tumbling out of the blonde's mouth.
"Perhaps," Quinn tapped on her chin as if thinking about it. "It was the way you completely dominated it. You know, the way you just bent me over and thrust all of that Spanish into me." She grinned, the Latina now daring to hold her gaze. Quinn noticed Santana's jaw clench and knew she was getting somewhere. "I feel like I have a much deeper understanding now; you should be really proud of that talented tongue of yours S."
"Stop!" Santana shouted. "What the fuck is your problem Fabray?" She was past caring now about her actions. Quinn had riled her up so much with her words and she was ready to do some serious damage. She took a few steps forward and pushed Quinn so hard that her back slammed against her bedroom door.
Quinn grunted in pain at the collision and looked at the brunette with a fiery gaze. This is exactly the reaction she wanted from the Latina.
"Go on S, push me around some more. I like it rough." She sneered.
Brittany looked on at the scene in front of her in shock. It took her a few moments to realise what was happening and just before Santana went to lunge once more at Quinn, she grabbed the smaller girl round the middle and tugged her back.
"Santana, no!" she said firmly, keeping a firm grip on her as she pulled her back against her front strongly.
The brunette struggled in the taller blonde's hold, clearly full of rage for the Head Cheerio.
"Eres una perra loca!" Santana yelled. "Let me go Brittany. Ella se merece lo que viene."
Quinn stood with her back resting against the door, breathing heavily after their little tussle. She smirked, holding Santana's gaze, happy with the amount of stirring she'd done for now.
"Mija, are you okay up there? You're making an awful lot of noise…" Maribel Lopez shouted up from the bottom of the staircase.
Santana caught her breath and quickly gathered herself as she heard her mom calling up to her.
"Everything's fine Mami!" she shouted back, slowly beginning to relax in Brittany's hold as she calmed down. "Quinn's just leaving." She said in a quieter voice that only the three girls could hear. "Aren't you?"
Quinn looked from Santana to Brittany and back to Santana.
"This isn't over." She said with finality.
Brittany and Santana watched as she turned the knob on the door, gave them one last look over her shoulder, and left.
/
Eres una perra loca - She's a crazy bitch
Ella se merece lo que viene – She deserves what's coming