I wake up to the sound of whispered screaming coming from the kitchen. I stretch my tired limbs across the bed before rolling over and placing my feet on the floor.
I don't bother putting in my contacts, so I just grab my glasses off the nightstand and slip them on before heading toward the sound.
"Kurt, this is getting ridiculous! We've been through this before, and you always seem to do the same thing over and over again! When are you going to finally stand up for yourself and realize you deserve better?"
Tina's sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee, phone pressed to her ear. She sees me walk in and gives me a small smile, but her eyebrows stay furrowed.
"Kurt…you know this isn't...look, do what you want, but...we all just want what's...God, would you let me finish a damn sentence!" Her voice grew louder and transitioned into a full yell at the last part.
It catches me a little off guard and causes my hand to shake as I pour coffee into a mug.
"Sorry," I hear behind me. I turn around to find Tina leaning on the table, and her phone sat idly beside her.
"What's going on?" I get straight to the point.
She lets out a sigh. "Blaine's cheating on Kurt again. And instead of getting the weepy drunk, we got the hysterically angry Kurt this time."
Honestly, I'm not surprised to hear the jackass hurt Kurt again. It doesn't change the anger I get every time it happens, though.
"What happened this time?" I ask, venom lacing my tone. I remember to do deep breathing exercises to maintain control - like Mike's been teaching me more of these past few weeks.
"Apparently, he's slept with some other guy a few times." Tina rolls her eyes. "And he got Kurt the tickets to Funny Girl as an apology."
"Is Kurt gonna forgive him?"
"You know as well as I do how this is going to wind up…."
I take a deep breath and cross my arms. We can try and try repeatedly, but it's probably never going to do any good. I don't get why Kurt's so dependent on the douchebag…but I guess it's not for me to understand, only Kurt.
"I'm gonna get ready for work," I say as I set my cup down on the table and head back to my room.
I try to shake my head of all worries and complaints for Kurt since I really don't have time to dwell on them right now. He's a big boy…he can make his own decisions and care for himself.
I dress in my previous waitress uniform, but pack a bag with a pair of leggings, a hoodie, and my sneakers. I put my hair up in a ponytail, decidedly ready to go.
"See ya, T! Have a good day at work," I yell as I grab my keys and open the front door.
"You too! Are Brittany and Quinn coming over tonight?" I hear her from the kitchen.
"Yeah, I think so, but I'll double-check!"
"Sounds good!"
And with that, I walk through the door and close it behind me as I make my way to my car.
/
I turn the radio down as I turn on the familiar dirt road that's hidden by lines of trees off the highway.
I drive for a few hundred feet before I slow to a stop near the last visible tree. I stay there for a second, watching as a seemingly invisible barrier lifts and gives me a full view of the land in front of me.
Up ahead is the familiar expanse of metal buildings that, at one point, I swore on my life I'd never come back to.
A small smile graces my face as I pull into the parking spot that recently became my own and think about how much things have changed in the past few weeks.
I grab my duffel bag out of the backseat and start walking to the entrance. I swipe my card, the same one Quinn gave me when I first left, and was granted entry into the building.
First things first, I have to go to my room and change into the clothes I packed since I can't really wear a waitress uniform and heels to train in.
"Hey, Santana." I was greeted by a professionally dressed, shorter woman with short brown hair.
"Hey, Rose," I reply with a small wave.
Rose is Mike's assistant. However, she's not the typical one that usually comes to mind. She doesn't wait around until Mike needs a coffee or his clothes picked up from the dry cleaners, but actively works with The Shadow League just like Mike does. With every decision he makes, Rose is there to help him work on it.
Ten minutes later, I came out of my room dressed in new clothes. Usually, I head to Mike's office afterward to hear the plan for the day, but I stop in my tracks when I see Quinn in the kitchen.
A smirk comes across my face as I change direction and walk towards her. She has her back to me, so she can't see me coming. As I get closer, I can see a piece of toast in one of her hands and her phone in the other.
When I get close enough, I reach forward and pluck the bread from her hand before taking a bite and hopping up to sit on the counter.
"Santana!" She groans, looking up at me.
"You know Quinn, I really need to give you credit. How nice of you to make me a piece of toast when I didn't have breakfast this morning!" I shoot her a smile as I take another bite.
"I haven't had breakfast either, Santana," She huffs, not looking amused. "Well, I did, but then a ravage came in here and fucking snatched it."
I roll my eyes. "Here," I take one more bite and hand it back to her. "I'll share with you…you can have half!"
"How kind," She deadpans and drops her arms to her side.
"What's eating you?" I ask as I hop down from the counter.
"Nothing," She says as she tosses the toast on the counter.
"Oh, come on," I drag out, poking her in the side. "You know you'll tell me eventually, so just spill."
"You're being annoying today…more than usual." She crosses her arms across her chest and leans her back against the counter.
I just raise my eyebrows, knowing she'll give in eventually.
"It's Finn," She says as she rolls her eyes.
Ughhhh, how much boyfriend drama am I gonna have to deal with today? I've had two instances, and it's not even 10 o'clock!
"What did Doughboy do this time?"
"Santana," She looks at me pointedly, and I just shrug my shoulders. "He blew me off again. We were supposed to go to dinner tomorrow night, and he just canceled."
"Why'd he cancel?"
"He said his mom's having surgery…to get her prostate removed…"
I can't help but snicker. "Okay, okay, seriously? This is the guy you're head over heels for? How dubious is he? He can't even come up with a believable excuse?"
"That's not the point, Santana." She shakes her head. "He's always pulling shit like this and doesn't ever give me a legitimate reason why."
"Then you already know what I'm gonna say." I look at her and raise my eyebrows. "Dump his ass."
"Santana, I can't just-"
"Yes, you can, Quinn," I sigh exasperatedly. "Look, I'm only gonna say this once, so you better listen up." I point my finger at her. "You're a really pretty girl, Quinn…and half sane! What guy wouldn't want that? You have so many other options than that sad sack, so why do you stay with him? There's plenty of fish in the sea, Quinn, so stop wasting your time on a piece of garbage."
She looks down at her feet, and I know she knows I'm right. Will she listen to me? I have no clue, but at least I know she understands.
"Okay," She says as she nods her head. "When did you get a heart?" She asks after a moment, looking at me with a smirk.
"Blame it on Brittany." I shrug my shoulders.
She chuckles and stands up straight, but still keeps her arms crossed over her chest.
"Do you really think I'm pretty?" She asks with a smirk.
I roll my eyes. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Quinn! I actually act like a human being for once around you, and that's what you got out of it?"
"I'm just saying," She throws her hands up in defense. "You can't just go around calling other girls pretty…don't you have a girlfriend?" I can tell she's teasing with the tone of her voice.
"I'm still working on that," I say, feeling the heat creep up on my cheeks.
"Yea, well…" Is all she says as she turns her head to look at the discarded piece of toast. "You need to finish that if you really didn't eat breakfast this morning…Mike's got a lot planned."
She pats my shoulder and laughs as she walks past me and out of the kitchen. I grab the toast with a groan and bite it as I turn to walk toward Mike's office.
/
I turn down Mike's hallway, his office in clear view now. I trudge into his office, hell-bent on complaining my way out of whatever he has planned for the day.
However, when I walk in, the first person I see isn't Mike; it's Brittany.
"Hey!" She says, bouncing on her toes when she sees me.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" I say as I lean for a quick kiss. I can't help but smile at how she's cutely holding her notebook to her chest.
"The paper has me on another piece about this 'ever-evolving forcefield.'" She uses air quotes as she says the last few words.
"Ah, I see," I say as I nod slowly. "Is it your first day here?"
"Well, for the paper, yes, but I've been here before…" She trails off and looks at her feet for a second.
"Right," I say with a click of my tongue. That night isn't really at the forefront of my mind anymore. Brittany hasn't changed in the slightest since she found out, so I sometimes forget about all the drama that happened then.
"How long are you gonna be here for?" I ask.
"I'll be here for a few days, at least, but I think I'm only going to stay until lunchtime today."
"Well, do you wanna grab lunch before you leave? I get a break around 1," I say, hopefulness evident in my tone.
"I'd love that," She says with a sweet smile.
"Great! I found this really good Italian place down the road since I know it's kinda a long drive, so we won't have to go very far."
"Sounds perfect," She chuckles. "What are your plans for the day?"
I roll my eyes at being reminded why I'm here in the first place. "I actually don't know…that's why I came to Mike's office. Quinn said it's a lot, though, so I'm not too excited."
"I'm sure you'll be great," She reassures. "Plus, I'll be here, so maybe I can stop by and watch for a little bit…see what you do here."
"It's mostly just exercise for now, hence why I'm dressed like this," I say with a chuckle. "Where is Mike, anyway? I'd like to know what I'm doing so I know just how much to dread it." I look around the office for any sign of where he might be.
"I don't know, actually. I got here like 15 minutes ago, and I've just been waiting here since."
I nod my head, but then a thought comes across my mind that causes my brows to furrow. "Wait…you came here by yourself?" She nods. "How'd you get in?"
"Because technically," Mike interrupts just as Brittany opens her mouth to speak, "She's a part of The Shadow League too, just not in the same capacity as you." He says as he waltzes into the room with a messenger bag thrown over his shoulder.
"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.
"Well, she's part of the Lima Times…it's good to have someone on the inside, making sure our presence remains a secret. She's also the journalist assigned to all the projects we've been working on, so we know we can trust that the truth won't really get out."
"So, I'm like a double-sided agent?" Brittany asks with her eyebrows raised.
Mike bobs his head from side to side. "Sorta…I guess you could say that."
"Cool," Brittany breathes out as a giant smile crosses her face.
"You're not using her or anything, are you? Stringing her along for your benefit?" I ask, making sure no one's trying to take advantage of her.
"Of course not…she has all the same benefits as you, Santana. We don't pay her the same salary, but she gets compensation every time she publishes an article that keeps our organization out of the mix." He sits in his office chair and puts his bag on the desk. "And she has access to the facility like everyone else, so she's welcome here anytime."
I think it over for a minute, making sure I think about every dark spot in the situation. "Okay…" I say finally.
"Anywho…Santana, you'll need to go to the training room in a few minutes. We'll be working on maneuvering and control today. Brittany, I have to be with Santana today, so you're more than welcome to watch if you would like, or you can just hang around here and familiarize yourself with the place…it's up to you."
He stands and brushes past us, walking towards the office door to exit.
"W-wait," Brittany stutters, stopping him in his tracks. He turns around to face us. "What about the forcefield? That's why I'm here…to do a piece for the paper."
"Right," He says like he just remembered, "To be honest, there really haven't been any changes to it…other than the color of the buttons on the controls. I can show you tomorrow, but I promise nothing's changed."
"So it's still glitching like it was last time?" I ask.
"Unfortunately," He says with a slight frown. "We're still working out the kinks, but we've had a lot on our hands recently with a few other things."
"Alright," Brittany says as she opens her notebook. "I'll just put that down in my notes."
Mike nods and turns to me. "Santana…training room in 5," He says, then walks out.
/
"Left! Right! Right! Left!" Mike's screaming at me as he walks behind the dummy, surveying my every move. "Right! Left! Left! Left!"
"Oh my God, Mike! Just shut up!" I yell exasperatedly. "Can't I just punch the damn thing?"
He's had me using this punching dummy for around 15 minutes now, commanding which arm he wants me to hit it with.
"No…I have to keep you on your feet, Santana. You have to learn to keep your brain on high alert even when you're being physical.
I look down as I let out a sigh. The day's just barely started, and I'm already ready to go home.
"Can we take a break? My arms are already killing me."
"5 minutes. Then we're moving on to maneuvering." He grabs his clipboard from the bench and walks off.
I take off my hoodie and walk to the bench, leaving me in my sports bra and leggings. I plop down and take a few sips of water before resting my head back against the wall and closing my eyes.
"Tired already?" I hear a familiar voice beside me a few minutes later.
"Ugh, you have no idea." I groan, causing Brittany to giggle. "I've never had upper body strength or endurance, so this is torture."
"You're doing great," She says softly as she pushes flyaways in my hair back into the ponytail.
"Yea, well, Mike doesn't seem to think so." I roll my eyes and sit forwards, leaning my elbows on my knees.
"Yes, he does…he's just acting tough."
"Really?" I turn to look at her, not believing it. She's running her fingers up and down the inside of the sports bra strap.
"Mmhmm," Is all she says. She's watching her fingers move swiftly up and down the material, almost like she's entranced by it. "He's told me how proud of you he is…how far you've come."
I don't say anything in response, but let out a breath of relief as I look at my feet.
"I'm proud of you, too." She says quietly.
"Why?" I shake my head. "It's not like I've done anything important."
"Maybe not yet, but you will." She stills her fingers. "And I know how hard all this is for you…in more ways than one. Sure, you have the physical pain and exhaustion of training nonstop every day, but I know you have emotional bruising from this place, too."
I sit up straight and turn to look at her. "You really get me, you know?" I look back and forth between her eyes. They're both sparkling with the same blue I've grown irresistible to.
"It's a mutual feeling." I catch her eyes flicker down to my lips before popping back up and staring deep into my own, and I notice how they're a shade darker than usual. "I think I'm gonna have to sneak in and watch these trainings more often."
"Why?"
She pauses for a moment.
"I don't know…watching you's fun, I guess." She moves her hand to fiddle with the strap again. "I never thought I'd enjoy watching someone workout before." Her voice is soft and unwavering, her eyes still unmoving from my own.
I gulp visibly and feel the sweat on my brow start to intensify.
I guess she could see how flustered I got, since her mouth transformed into a smirk. Slowly, she starts to lean in, and I follow suit.
"Time's up!" I hear Mike yell when our lips are only millimeters apart.
I turn to glare at him. "Really, Chang?"
He shrugs his shoulders and turns around to grab a pole-looking thing behind him.
"That doesn't look fun," I say as my shoulders deflate.
"Nah, don't sweat…you got this." She grabs my chin and pecks my lips once before standing up and reaching her hand out to me.
I take it with exaggeration and reluctantly stand up. "I think I'm definitely going to sweat…look at how big that thing is!" I gesture over to Mike. "And now he's twirling it around!" I whine.
Brittany doesn't say anything, but just giggles.
"You're not helping," I pout, sticking my bottom lip out.
She laughs once more as she takes my face in her hands. "Look, you. can. do. it. You're like the strongest girl I know, so there's no doubt in my mind about it."
"But have you met Beiste here yet? She's actually the strongest girl in the world."
She laughs and shakes her head. "I haven't, but it wouldn't change anything."
"You're just saying that."
"Okay, stop throwing a pity party and get your sweet ass over to Mike…I'm pretty sure he's not gonna wait for much longer." I roll my eyes. "Remember what I said."
She gives me one final kiss before pulling away. "Fine," I grumble.
"There ya go." She pats me on the butt as she walks away, only glancing back once to show me her satisfied smirk.
Ugh, now I'm hot in two different ways.
I walk towards Mike with my hands on my hips, ready to hear what he's got planned next.
"Alright…moving on to maneuvering!" He says excitedly. "This means we're gonna work on your dodging abilities."
"How are you gonna do that?" I ask, hesitantly. as I look up at the big pole he's leaning on.
"You'll see," He says with a mischievous smile. "Go stand on that red x for me."
He points to a small red x on the ground, and I nod. Once I'm standing on the correct mark, he throws me a VR headset of some kind.
"Put it on," He instructs. I look at him with an eyebrow raised, but he just gestures for me to continue.
Reluctantly, I put the headset on and am met with a black screen. I don't like this…it's making me feel lightheaded.
"Okay…I'm going to turn on the simulator now. For the first round, I want you to try and dodge all the objects with just your body…no using powers."
"It's just a simulator?"
"Yeah, kinda."
A few seconds later, a blue techno-looking screen pops up in my vision. This almost looks like a video game…
"Alright, in 3…2…1…go!" I hear Mike yell.
As soon as the words left his mouth, I started seeing red and blue flying shapes come towards me at rapid speeds. The figures are only coming few and far between, so it's pretty easy.
Huh, this isn't as bad as I thought.
All of a sudden, more and more shapes start flying, making it to where my body is constantly moving to dodge one.
I think I make it pretty far into the simulator when a blue square collides with my left shoulder. At the same time as the shape hit me, a force slammed into the exact spot, propelling me backward.
I land on my ass first…hard…before turning over on my side and rolling a few feet. Since the force hit my shoulder, it caused my body to topple over when I hit the ground.
"God," I hiss as I roll over onto my back and take the headset off. "I thought you said it was just a simulator."
"Actually, the word I used was kinda. And it was…partially." I hear Mike say, followed by his footsteps.
I stay silent and close my eyes as I wince at the pain in my shoulder until I hear his footsteps come to a stop beside me. I open my eyes to see him and Quinn staring down at me, smiling.
"Ah, lovely to see you, Quinn," I say sarcastically. Now I know where the force came from.
"As always, right?" She smiles sweetly as she offers a hand to help me up.
I smack it away and move to get up on my own. The pain in my shoulder gets worse when I put weight on it, but I'll live.
"That's definitely gonna bruise," I mutter as I stand and look at the red mark on my body. "What did you hit me with?"
"Telekinetic force," She says with a shrug as she walks away, like it's the simplest thing in the world.
"Right," I drawl out, still clearly confused.
"Quinn can manipulate her telekinetic powers within her hands to create balls of force. Even though you can't see them when they're thrown, they still feel like a bag of bricks when they hit you." Mike clarifies as he pats my back.
"You're tellin' me." I move my arm back and forth, trying to work the pain out of my muscles. "How long is this gonna last?"
"Well, she didn't hit you with the full force, so it's not as bad as it could be…she hit you with the equivalent of getting hit by a baseball."
"Thrown at God-speed?"
"Not that fast, Santana…just enough to knock you off your feet and cause a wee bit of discomfort."
I stare at him wide-eyed. "If this is your definition of a 'wee bit of discomfort,' then I don't want to know what you think real pain feels like."
"You'll be fine…some minor bruising, but that's it." We start walking towards the bench again. "You wanna go see the nurse? She could give you some ice."
"No, I'm good. I just need a minute to crank the soreness out."
"Alright, no rush…I was only going to take the maneuvering a day at a time since I know it's uncomfortable, and I don't want to overdo things. So we'll move onto your control for a few hours, and then we'll be done for the day, alright?"
"Okay," I nod my head. "Hey, are you coming over tonight?"
"Yea, I always do. Why?"
"Just wondering…I didn't know if you were still busy or not. You mentioned earlier that you have other things on your plate to deal with."
He gives me a soft smile. "Yeah, it's all good, though."
"Okay, just checking."
He gives me a final nod before walking off to join Quinn on the other side of the room.
God, I can't wait for the day to be over.
/
"Okay, Santana. See this pole?" I look up at the massive metal pole he's holding and swallow thickly to try and rid the nerves.
It doesn't work.
"I'm gonna toss it at you…toss, not throw," He turns to look at Quinn. "And you're going to use your powers to stop it, move it out of the way, or turn it into any shape you want. This is all about control, so I need you to think quickly and decide what you're going to do."
"Okay," I nod. I open and close my hands in fists at my side, getting ready to do what Mike instructed.
"Alright…first try." He takes the pole and lobs it high up in the air.
If I don't move fast, the thing's going to come down with force and hit me square on the head. Deciding to just move it out of the way, I raise my hand and swipe it gently to the left, putting all my focus into moving the pole.
In a swift motion, the pole moves out of its path towards me and glides to the left, landing with a loud clank a few yards away from me.
"Good, good…now give it back to me." Mike holds his hands out.
I start to walk towards the pole, ready to pick it up and hand it to him, when he stops me in my tracks.
"Eh, eh, eh!" He yells, sounding like a game buzzer. "Use your powers."
My eyes widen in realization as I move back to my previous spot and focus back in on it. I raise my hand and watch as the bar rises from the ground, following my hand movement. I move it over to Mike's hands and do a little victory dance when he's able to get a firm grip.
"Hey, I'm getting pretty good at this powers thing!" I say excitedly.
"It's definitely progress," Mike replies with a smile. "Okay, round two."
He lobs the pole up in the air again, but this time I raise my hand in midair to make it stop in its tracks. Once I have it in my control, I slowly lower it down to the ground, laying it ever so gently on the floor in front of me.
"I'm impressed," Mike says with a clap before holding his hands out, telling me he wants me to give it to him again.
After I successfully give the pole back to Mike, he tosses it up in the air yet again. This time, instead of stopping it or making it change directions, I twist my fingers to turn the metal pole into a U shape.
I watch the piece of metal clank to the ground and feel a sense of pride overcome me as I see how much I control I have now. I've been working on calming techniques and control for the past few weeks, but we haven't gotten to the point of actually trying it on metal until today.
"Hey, it kinda looks like a magnet," Quinn says as she cocks her head to the side, looking at the pole.
"How fitting," Mike laughs, and gestures for the pole again.
This time I had to straighten it back out before giving it back to him, but I managed to do it successfully.
"Okay, this time…I don't want you to use your hands," Mike says, causing a look of fear to come across my face.
"N-no hands? How am I gonna control it?" I stutter.
"Use your mind…that's where your powers stem from anyways. The power doesn't come from your limbs, Santana."
I gulp thickly as I continue looking at him.
"No hands…you got it, okay? If you don't think you can move it in time, just run out of the way so it doesn't hit you." He says calmly.
I want to protest, but I honestly don't think I can. He's going to throw the pole regardless.
"3…2…1…" He counts down before tossing the pole once again.
I squint my eyes, ready to take the impact if it collides with my head, but hold focus on the pole and moving it from my path.
It feels like everything is moving in slow motion. I keep my gaze still on the metal, willing it to change direction.
After an extremely long moment of agony, I see the pole start to shift its path over to the left.
At that moment, everything seems to go back to regular speed as I hear the loud sound of it hitting the floor. My hand covers my mouth in shock as I hear an excited yell from across the room.
"You did it, you did it!" I suddenly hear Mike in my ear as I'm being lifted off the ground. "I knew you could do it!" He twirls me around.
"Gotta admit, Lopez, I didn't think you had it in you." I hear Quinn say as she walks up to us.
"I did." I hear Brittany say as she approaches as well.
Mike puts me back down on my feet, and I share an excited smile with him before walking towards the two blondes.
I high-five Quinn as I walk past, her smirk even wider than usual, and raise my arms to wrap them around Brittany's neck.
"See what happens when you listen to me?" She teases quietly in my ear. "I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you," I mutter as I bury my face in the crook of her neck. She nods in response and I close my eyes, reveling in the feeling of Brittany holding me like this.
"Ahem," I hear Quinn clear her throat after a few moments.
I snap away from Brittany and give her a soft smile before turning to look at Quinn and Mike, who are now standing there kind of awkwardly.
"Thanks, guys…I couldn't have done any of this without you."
"Oh, I know," Quinn remarks.
I roll my eyes, even though my smile is still there, and turn to face Mike.
"What else did you want me to do today?" I ask him.
"I was gonna have you do a few workouts…maybe some cardio," He says professionally. He remains stoic for a few moments before a grin comes across his face. "Nah, I'm kidding…you're free to go." He waves his hand.
"Really? But we're an hour earlier than usual."
"You earned it," He gives me a soft smile. I move forward to wrap him in an excited hug…I'm so glad to be done for the day. "Butttt…I do expect some excellent homemade pizza when I come over tonight."
"Deal," I say as I pull away. "Oh, speaking of, are you coming, Quinn?"
"Wellllll, I didddd have plans," She drawls out. "But yea, I'll be there." She relents.
"Cool," I say with a nod. I turn to Brittany and reach out my hand, which she gladly takes.
"See you guys later then." I turn and head towards the exit of the room, grabbing my hoodie along the way.
/
"How's your chicken parmesan?" I ask in between bites of food.
"It's good…how's your chicken alfredo?"
"Good," I nod my head and take a drink of my water.
"I swear, you eat like a kid." She chuckles.
"What do you mean?" I scrunch my eyebrows with a smile.
"You're like the pickiest eater I know…first it was the cheese pizza, and now it's the chicken alfredo."
"Hey, I can't help that my palette is really limited." I shrug my shoulders.
"It's just kinda funny, is all."
We continue eating in silence for a minute before I speak again.
"Oh! I meant to ask you earlier, are you still planning on coming over tonight? Tina wanted me to double check."
"Mmmm, I was thinking about it," She teases. "I have to check if I have anything else going on."
"What else is more important than spending time with friends on a lovely Friday night?"
"Laundry, cleaning the bathroom, hanging with Lord Tubbington…" She deadpans.
I stare at her with my eyes narrowed for a moment before shaking my head. "Well, all that stuff can wait, because I'm texting Tina right now that you're coming."
"Ugh, fineeee," She groans, but the smile on her face is wide.
"Plus, you have to come…it's your night to pick what activity we do."
Ever since Britt told me about how her family used to take turns every Friday night picking a movie, I figured it would be cool to add that into our friends nights. That way Tina can't dictate every aspect, and it's bringing part of Brittany's past in, too.
"Oh yea, I need to start thinking about that."
"And please don't let Tina guilt-trip you into playing another one of her Monopolys," I whine. "We play those all the time, and we never finish because it takes so damn long."
She laughs and shakes her head. "No promises…she could put up a really good argument."
I roll my eyes. Part of the reason I started the taking-turns-thing was so we didn't have to play Monopoly every Friday. Tina always made us play that or Clue…both were torturous.
"We shall see," She says cryptically and continues eating her pasta.
"How's work going?" I ask after a few minutes.
"Eh, it's going. Good news is that after this new forcefield piece I have a break for about a week, but then it's back to the grind."
"That's good, though! What are you gonna do on your week break?"
"I'm not sure yet…probably just hang around the house." She shrugs her shoulders. "I would say I'd spend it all with you, but you have stuff with The Shadow League to do." She smiles.
"Not necessarily…" I put my fork down. "Yea, I work there now, but training also ends this week, meaning I kinda do what I want when it comes to my work schedule."
"Wait really? But you've only been with them for a couple weeks." Her eyebrows furrow.
"Yea, but it's not like a regular job…you come in when they need you, and just pretty much chill the rest of the time."
"I would say that sounds awesome, but I have a feeling that when you guys are called in, it isn't the funnest of work days." She scrunches her nose.
"Yeah, probably not…" I look down to my plate. "I did have a couple things I wanted to talk to you about, though."
"Sure," Brittany says, giving me her full attention.
Suddenly, I became really nervous. I didn't know how she was going to react to my question. I pictured her being excited in my head every time, but sometimes thing's don't always work out like you picture it.
I dig into my bag next to me in the booth and pull out two tickets. "I got these for us," I say as I set them on the table and slide them to the center.
"What are they for?" Brittany asks with her eyebrows scrunched as she reaches forward to look at them.
"Plane tickets…to New York," I say, my hands wedged in between the backs of my thighs and the seat.
She looks up at me with a semi-confused expression and cocks her head to the side. Just as she opens her mouth to speak, I interrupt.
"I-I know Funny Girl opens next week…so I bought us the plane tickets to get there. I know you really wanted to go support Rachel on her opening night, but were worried you couldn't drop that much cash at once…so I took care of it." I shrug my shoulders.
Her face still looks confused, but she looks more shocked than anything. "How did you know that I'd even have a break from work?"
"I didn't," I shake my head. "I just got them and figured I could get a refund if we couldn't make it. I called the airline to make sure I could get one, and they said as long as it was 7 days in advance, so."
"So…you really dropped your plans for next week, and spent I-don't-even-know-how-much on plane tickets…for me? Just so I could go see Rachel?" Her eyebrows are still knitted, but a smile's came across her features.
"Y-yeah…I know how much this means to you," I stutter. "And the plane tickets weren't even the most expensive part…the hotel prices are insane up there!"
"You got the hotel room, too?"
I nod my head. "I could only get one room with one bed, though, so I hope you don't mind. I could totally sleep on the floor or on the recliner or something if you want." I start rambling.
"Santana," She places the tickets down and holds out her hand, silently asking for my own. I still feel a little nervous about what she's gonna say, but I gently bring my hand up to grasp hers.
"I love that you did this for me, and it's seriously the sweetest thing anyone's ever done." She has a soft look in her eye. "But I can't let you drop this much money on me, especially for something that you wouldn't do otherwise if I wasn't involved."
"Britt-" I start, thinking about what else to say. "I want to do this. Sure, I probably wouldn't have done this otherwise if you weren't here, but the fact that you are is enough to make up my mind about it. Seeing your best friend on her opening night is important to you, so it's important to me, too."
I squeeze her hand a little tighter.
"And if it's the whole money thing that's got you hesitant, trust me, it really wasn't all that much. I don't ever spend money on anything else, so it's not like I'm going to have to worry about paying rent or anything afterwards."
She looks at me for a moment, and I can see that she's weighing all her options before speaking.
"Can I pay you back for at least half of it eventually?" She asks.
I shake my head with a smile. Just as she opens her mouth to protest, I raise my hand to stop her. "Tell you what…you can pay for our lunch today, and we'll call it even."
A small smile graces her lips and she bounces in her seat a couple times.
"So is that a yes?" I ask.
"Yes," She says after a moment and reaches forward to wrap both her hands around mine. "You really are the best, Santana. I'm so lucky to call you my…" She pauses, looking for the word. "Best friend."
I notice how her shoulders deflate the tiniest bit at her words even though the smile on her face never wavers.
"That's - uh - actually something else I wanted to talk to you about," I say, nervous again. I don't know why I'm nervous, really, since it seems like we're on the same page about this.
She furrows her eyebrows again, but nods, telling me to continue.
"So…we've been spending a lot of time together and everything…and I think it's pretty clear how we both feel about each other," I pause. "So how would you feel about not being friends anymore?" I ask hesitantly.
Clearly this was the wrong way to phrase it, since she seems to stiffen a bit and her brows furrow even further together.
"Not be friends anymore?" She asks with a shake of her head.
Just as she opens her mouth to say something else, I interrupt her. "N-no, that's not what I meant, Britt," I shake my head back and forth. "I meant…do you want to, like, change the label?"
She still looks confused, so I let out a sigh. This isn't really going the way I imagined it.
"Change the label? I mean, we can, but I don't really understand what-" She's looking up the ceiling, now, the gears in her brain clearly moving.
"Okay, I'm just going to be as clear as I can now, which kinda makes this even more nerve-wracking…I kinda hoped the metaphors would do the trick," I say the last part quietly.
"Okay," She nods her head, looking at me intently.
"Britt…do you want to be my girlfriend?" I take a deep breath after I say it and try to remain confident.
She looks at me with the same expression for a moment, which does nothing to settle my nerves, before breaking out in a shit-eating grin.
"I'd love to!" She says, and I visibly relax at her words as an excited smile comes across my face. "You know, I was wondering how long it'd take you to ask."
"What do you mean?" I scrunch my nose up.
"Well, one, we've been doing this dance for a while now, so it's about time we actually became official…but, two, I knew what you meant when you first asked if we didn't want to be friends anymore…I just wanted to hear you say it."
My mouth drops open at hearing her words. I can't believe she would do that to me! I was extremely flustered through that whole exchange, and it was all for nothing.
"Sorry," She drawls out with a laugh. "Even though I'm really not…it was cute."
"That was torture," I shake my head and look down at the table with a chuckle. "I'm not used to this whole vulnerable-sharing-feelings-thing, so that was way out of my comfort zone."
"I know…that's why it means even more that you asked." She squeezes our still-conjoined hands.
"Speaking of…you said you were waiting until I asked you…if you were ready, why didn't you just ask me?" I ask.
"Because I know how hard and scary this whole dating thing is for you, so I wanted to go at your pace. I figured you'd ask me when you were ready, so I didn't want to ask you and accidently scare you away by moving too fast."
I let out a breath. "You really get me, don't you?" She nods and caresses her thumb over the back of my knuckles. "I'm really happy right now."
"Me too," She says softly. "But I'm even happier that I can do this, now that we're officially girlfriends."
She slides out from her booth quickly before sliding in mine, sitting impossibly close to me. She turns her body so she's facing me the best she can, and brings her index finger up to my chin before pulling me into a long, deep kiss.
When we pull apart, my eyes stay closed for a few seconds, still feeling the tingle on my lips where they were just connected to Brittany's. When I finally open my eyes, Brittany's looking at me with a sweet smile and lets out a small laugh.
"Oh, honey, you didn't need to be my girlfriend to do that," I tease as I pull her back in for another kiss.
When we break apart, we're both staring at each other with goofy smiles and dreamy looks in our eyes. I swear I could just sit here all day and look into the blue orbs that belong to my girlfriend.
"Alright, Miss Girlfriend, what do you say we pay the check and get out of here? Apparently, I have a bomb-ass homemade pizza to make for tonight, and I think I might need some help." I smirk.
She laughs and nods her head in agreement. "Yea, someone's gotta be there to make sure we actually have toppings on it. Knowing you, you'll just make a cheese one."
"Uh, because it's the best, and you can't argue." She rolls her eyes. "And for your information, sometimes I put basil on the top and make it a margherita pizza." I say with a smug nod of my head.
She narrows her eyes and stares at me for a moment. "Do you pick the basil off before you eat it though?"
I don't say anything, but just stare back and let out a sigh.
"Knew it," She laughs.
I let her relish in her victory for a minute before changing the subject.
"Get the check," I say in a playful tone.
"Okay," She drawls out as she looks over the edge of the seat to flag our server. "I'm paying," She says sternly to me as the waiter starts walking in our direction.
"Hey, I'm not arguing," I raise my hands up in defense. "Free lunch is always the best."
She laughs and pecks my cheek before grabbing the black envelope from the man and putting a few bills in it.
"Keep the change," She says with a smile. He nods his thanks at us before walking away, and Brittany's dragging me out of the booth soon after.