Summary: Brittany convinces a hesitant Santana to sneak out and stargaze with her on a school night. Badass cheerleaders shouldn't cuddle their girl best friends and this kind of feels like a... date but Santana can't resist it anyway.
A/N: Based on this tumblr prompt: "We are laying on a blanket star-gazing oh my god you're snuggling up to me and I can feel the butterflies I felt all these years ago when we met"
This is set pre-Season 1 era and I'm ignoring the canon version of how they met for this fic because childhood friends to lovers is the superior Brittana trope.
It hadn't taken much to convince Santana to sneak out late that night in freshman year, just a little pouting and batting of the eyelashes from her best friend. It was completely ridiculous and so maddening how she, the ultimate badass Santana Lopez could never say "no" to Brittany no matter how outrageous her ideas were.
It was a school night and Santana's parents would kill her - but there were a lot of other things they could kill her for if they found out so she figured one more little indiscretion couldn't hurt.
Santana was laying on her bed in her dark room listening to music when an annoying sound of something knocking against her window made her ears perk up. Her phone vibrated with a new text.
I'm outside your window
The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes and sighed but immediately ran to let her in, her heart thudding against her chest and a warm feeling coming over her as it always did when Brittany was around.
She was accustomed to this habit of hers as the two had always randomly visited each other like this since childhood but Santana was no less flustered at the sight of Brittany's smiling face than she had been when they were ten.
"Britt... not that I'm not happy to see you but what are you doing here?"
The blonde beamed at her as she climbed in, bright-eyed and chirpy despite the late hour as if it were normal for her to be popping into a friend's room unannounced.
"I can't sleep. Can we go to the park?"
"I don't know, Britts. It's after midnight."
"Please? I promise it'll be fun."
That was how Santana ended up being pulled along by a giggling Brittany toward the empty park a few houses away with the swing sets where they had always played together as kids. It was as if they were going on an adventure.
The school year had just started and it was that weird but pleasant in-between period between summer and fall when it wasn't too cold yet. It was a windy night and Santana saw Brittany rub her arms and shiver as they slowly shuffled along.
"Are you cold?" Before the other girl could answer, she quickly grabbed the blanket the blonde was carrying and wrapped it around Brittany, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. It was strange how taking care of her friend felt like second nature. Brittany leaned into her instantly, tucking her head under her chin.
The neighbourhood was dead quiet and almost pitch black aside from the glow of street lamps so Santana figured no one would notice two fourteen year old girls walking along for no apparent reason. They fell into a comfortable silence.
"So what are we doing here?" Santana raised an eyebrow in amusement as Brittany's face lit up with childish delight when they finally got to their destination and she immediately ran to sit on the swing.
"I dunno, I just wanted to hang out with you. I missed you." Brittany said honestly in a sweet tone, oblivious to how Santana's stomach was doing somersaults at her words.
Was it normal to constantly get butterflies around your best friend?
Brittany got bored of the swing and set the blanket out on a patch of grass. She lay on her back, gesturing to Santana to join her.
"Come stargaze with me, San. It's so pretty tonight."
Against her better judgment Santana went along with it and Brittany was right. It was a full moon and stars could be seen clearly in the cloudless sky. Brittany began to point at the different stars and try to guess which one was which.
This sentimental, soft stuff wasn't exactly Santana's thing - stargazing seemed more like what that complete dork Rachel Berry would do for fun - she was about to say something in protest but Brittany snuggled up to her, resting her head on her shoulder and Santana forgot all of the mental arguments she had prepared.
It suddenly occurred to her how this would look to strangers... like a date. That made her swallow as cold fear pricked at her skin at the idea of anyone from school seeing them like this. It was just too intimate. Popular cheerleaders had a reputation to maintain and being caught cuddling with other girls wasn't going to win her any favours in her social life.
However, they weren't at school now; they were hidden away from everyone in their own little private world for a few moments. So maybe she could afford to let her guard down.
Still, there was a line that needed to be drawn.
Brittany stared at her in concern as she felt Santana stiffen against her and pull away slightly to create a little distance between them, crossing her arms over her chest. She flinched when Brittany's eyes met hers intensely and she felt like she could see straight through her. The blonde didn't seem offended, just confused by Santana.
"Why are you acting all weird?" Brittany whispered, moving closer to her undeterred and - oh God - Santana's heart rate spiked as Brittany grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers and she felt the smooth skin of her leg sliding against hers. "You get so nervous all the time when we're together now."
Santana didn't know how to respond to that. All of her instincts were screaming at her to just run away and pretend this wasn't happening. Or maybe she should just laugh it off and pretend nothing was wrong.
Instead she was just frozen in place and remembering that fateful day in first grade when she punched Dave Karofsky in the face without thinking to defend a little freckled blonde girl who was sobbing in the corner because he broke her cat sculpture.
Brittany had smiled at her after and slipped her hand into hers then they became inseparable. The butterflies Santana felt then had never gone away. If anything they had only multiplied.
But having this avalanche of feelings she felt towards her best friend was wrong and there was no way Brittany - lovely, innocent Britt who still believed in leprechauns and fairies - would ever understand.
"Do you want to kiss?" Brittany tilted her head to the side, her eyes dancing playfully.
"W-what?" Santana choked out, not expecting that at all in a million years. She would never be fully prepared for Brittany's boldness and random outbursts. Did the blonde actually mean what she was saying or was it just Brittany being well... Brittany?
"I've thought about kissing you before," Brittany admitted, still staring at her brazenly. She said it completely casually in her signature flat, airy tone as if she wasn't causing Santana to meltdown beside her. "Cause your lips are like really sexy and-"
Before she could continue Santana couldn't take it anymore and covered her soft cheek with her hand, pressing their lips together in a chaste kiss. She pulled away quickly as if she was burned. Santana's face felt like it was burning hot and she cupped a hand over her own mouth in shock at her own actions as Brittany gasped.
"Wow." Brittany said simply.
Now was the part where Santana should probably backtrack and salvage what was left of the friendship she had just ruined before her cheerleader best friend ran away and never spoke to her again -
Except Brittany was now kissing her, pulling her closer with a hand on the back of her neck and now Santana finally understood why everyone made such a big deal about kissing. A few seconds later they pulled apart and Brittany smiled at her, running her fingertips over Santana's cheekbone. It took Santana a few moments to calm down because her brain had completely short-circuited.
"You're a really good kisser," Brittany told her, sounding breathless. "I feel all tingly. We should do that again sometime."
Santana didn't trust herself to speak and avoided her eyes. She didn't trust herself not to want to kiss Brittany again if she dared to glance in her direction.
"O-okay." She squeaked, allowing the girl to rest her head on her chest as she lay back on the blanket and stared up into the night sky.
Everything had changed between them all at once and yet it felt like the most normal, natural thing in the world for them to be kissing and holding each other in their arms, as if that was what Santana was meant to be doing for the rest of her life.