Summary: Brittany's earliest memory is of finding her tiny crescent moon just below her collarbone. Her mom tells her that her soul mark will glow and turn a different colour - a special colour that represents her inner self - when she is in love with her soulmate. Falling for Santana was never part of the plan. Slowburn Soulmates AU
A/N:
***Alternate Universe - Genderswap
Boy!Santana/Brittany
I actually started writing the basic concept for this soulmates story way back in 2021 or so when I first got into Glee. This is a childhood friends to lovers AU and to clear up any confusion Santana is a boy in this but has the same name (I read that Santana is a unisex name).
*If genderbend fics in general are just not your thing then that's also totally fine and feel free to skip this chapter.*
*Don't like, don't read. I add summaries/warnings to each of my fics so it's up to you if you decide to read them despite some trope or storyline not appealing to you. No one is forcing you to read something you don't like or find uncomfortable. There are plenty of other fics available out there for you to read or you can always write your own based on your own preferences.*
If you are interested in this story, as always I'd love to know more about your thoughts in the comments. I've written a few more parts of it about them growing up together as teens, so if anyone is interested I will post more of it sometime.
Everyone is born with an outline of a tiny sun or a moon on some part of their skin like a little tattoo. Brittany's earliest memory is of being just two and half years old and finding her own crescent moon just below her collarbone on the right side.
She gasps in surprise and delight, rushing over to show her parents. Her mom tells her that her soul mark will glow and turn a different colour - a special colour that represents her inner self - when she falls in love with her soulmate. That's a story her mom will keep telling her every year after that.
Moon people love other moon people and it's the same for people who have sun-shaped marks. That's just how it is. Falling in love with someone who has a different symbol is unheard of. Adults say in hushed tones that it's unnatural to love someone with the opposite soul mark though she never finds out why. Brittany doesn't understand it.
Brittany meets him officially when she's five and runs straight into his body on her way to the playground, falling on her back and sobbing. Her long, lanky body is still a little clumsy. The sudden collision is a shock to her and it hurts.
She and Santana knew each other long before that day.
The Lopez and Pierce families have a history. Brittany's parents sometimes tell her about the one fateful summer day when Maribel Lopez first happened to run into her blonde neighbour from the next block or two over pushing her months-old baby with equally golden curls and big blue eyes in a pram. Maribel had just returned from the hospital days before and was cradling her own tiny and frail, dark-haired newborn in her arms.
"I hope our babies will be good friends one day, 'Bel." Whitney remarked in her usual cheery way while the Latina tensed up.
Brittany remembers crossing paths with little Santana many times. She was just a waddling two year-old chasing her family's temperamental calico cat, Charity, around their backyard when the Lopez couple stopped by with their toddler in tow to thank the Pierces for the cake they had dropped over to welcome them to their new residence just a few houses down from Whitney's.
Her mom took Brittany to the grocery store when she was three and little Santana who was holding Maribel's hand would watch her curiously from across the room. She and Santana took naps by each other's side in preschool and they'd find them curled up on the same blanket.
The two would pass each other in the street when Brittany first started riding her tricycle. Maribel and Whitney sometimes took turns babysitting both of them when either set of parents needed a night to themselves.
Yet Brittany feels as if she and Santana have always known each other somehow. They're like two connecting pieces of a puzzle, or maybe two complementary halves of the same whole. Yin and Yang.
She does vividly remember how the boy with the bronze skin and dark hair wrapped her up in a big hug as she began to cry that day in kindergarten. Brittany gazed into his dark eyes and instantly stopped crying. Then they ran off together holding hands the entire time, immediately best friends who unconditionally adored everything about each other like only two five year-olds could. The rest was history.
Santana has the darkest curly hair that Brittany thinks is beautiful. It isn't a chestnut brown like Rachel's or almost white blonde like Brittany's or a golden light brown like Finn's.
Santana's hair is a rich shade of dark brown that's almost as black as the night sky. His skin is so much darker than hers and a smooth, glowing burnished brown like it has been polished without any of the many freckles all over her own almost translucent skin.
She loves that no one else in her class looks as amazing as he does and his name sounds fascinating on her tongue, though she can barely pronounce it and often just calls him just "San" with her lisping, soft voice. She still can't pronounce some of the bigger words.
His eyes are mesmerizing and equally as dark as his hair. She has never seen such beautiful, big eyes like endless pools she could drown in if she stared into them for too long. He has a big, easy smile that makes his eyes crinkle, his cheeks dimple, and his nose scrunch with little lines around it in the most beautiful way Brittany has ever seen.
There's a little sun-shaped mark below his collar, right just about where Brittany's moon mark is that is often hidden under his shirt. She thinks it's so fitting because even though her own dad calls Brittany his "Sunshine," Santana is the one who is really like the sun, full of energy and all-consuming.
Santana is equally as fascinated with her. He constantly plays with her long, pale, almost platinum-colored locks. He is amazed by her upturned, pale blue eyes and the spatter of freckles that dance across her nose and cheeks, spreading to her shoulders and arms.
For the next two years, she teaches Santana a lot and he teaches her as well. He laughs at everything she does - not in a mean way like how Dave Karofsky and her one older cousin laugh at her whenever Brittany says anything at all - he laughs with her, as if he finds everything about her jokes and presence amusing. It's the easiest thing in the world for her to make Santana smile.
It makes her feel special that she's the only one who can get his attention and make him smile like that.
She loves making him laugh, just for the chance to see his eyes twinkle and his nose crinkle up in that familiar way. She cherishes everything about him, even his slight accent that the other kids mock him for and he is so embarrassed about. She yells at them for mocking him - they're just jealous because he sounds way cooler than they do - and he glances up at her gratefully when no one else can see him.
Everyday they sit by each other constantly, making mud pies and hanging from the monkey bars at recess, or making up all sorts of imaginary games. Most of the time, they just play house but sometimes she pretends she is a princess and he is the knight who has to rescue her. Sometimes they're penguins, or lions, or cats depending on which animal Brittany is currently obsessed with.
The stuttering, shy girl called Tina, the talkative girl with the shrill voice called Rachel, Artie, a really smart, scrawny little boy who wears clunky glasses, or Kurt, a small boy with sandy brown hair and round blue eyes sometimes join in their games.
Brittany doesn't mind them joining. She mostly forgets they're around. She knows Santana gets jealous of the others because eventually he starts getting mad. His voice gets high when he shouts that he only wants to play with her by herself so the others need to go.
The black-haired boy still doesn't like any of them. Santana especially hates when Artie tries to control their games and they argue over who gets to be the leader. Brittany thinks Artie and Santana are more similar than they realize because they're two of the bossiest boys in the class.
Santana's favourite games are the ones where he pretends to be a warrior and protects her from a dragon, or an evil monster. Brittany thinks living in a castle sounds like fun and she doesn't mind it as long as it's Santana who comes to her rescue.
Brittany notices it one day as her mom tells her to wash her hands before dinner. Santana is over at their house like he constantly is, watching TV in the living room with her. She cuddles up to him on the couch, allowing him to rest his head against her shoulder as she strokes his hair.
"Are you okay, Britt-Britt?"
Brittany shudders at the movie they're watching, feeling her face turn white as a cold feeling comes over her. He notices how Brittany is acting so he gets in front of her, blocking the TV from view.
"Don't be scared. I'll protect you, okay? We don't have to watch this anymore."
"Okay."
Brittany feels reassured as he pulls her into a tight hug. She pulls away slightly, still keeping her arms around him and all she can see are his deep, dark and steady eyes. She never wants to let go of him. They continue to hug for a long moment, ignoring the movie that scared Brittany so much until her mom calls them for dinner.
Even though she's only six, she knows what the light pink colour she sees on her skin when she looks in the mirror could be but she also knows her mom told her that private things like this should be kept to herself. She grabs her mom's hand, pulling her towards the bathroom hurriedly.
"Mom, I need to ask you about something." She gushes excitedly as her mom strokes her hair affectionately.
"Sure, Sweetie. What is it?"
She whispers in her mother's ear when she's sure Santana is far away out of earshot, playing in another room with the TV blaring and it's just her and her mom alone.
"My soul mark is glowing."
Whitney smiles, chuckling.
"It couldn't be, Honey! Are you sure? Maybe it's just some paint from earlier. "
Brittany pulls down her shirt slightly and her mom's eyes widen when she notices the tiny pink crescent moon that's glowing just as Brittany says it is. She says nothing for a long moment then pulls Britt into a hug, making sure her mark is covered again.
"Mommy, does this mean Santana's my soul… mate? I was hugging Santana and looking into his eyes when it happened."
Her mom just remains silent for such a long time that it begins to scare Brittany a little. Her mom isn't acting like herself. She has never been this quiet. She usually is calm about everything so when her mom's eyes pop open like that and her mouth hangs open, it makes Brittany wonder if she said something wrong.
"Yes," She takes a deep breath, "I think…it means that. That's exactly what it means. This is really special, Britty. You're blessed that it happened to you at such an early age. Let's keep it a secret for now at least for a little while, Sweetie."
Brittany could practically burst from happiness. This is the best thing that has ever happened but she doesn't understand why she can't scream it to the world.
"A secret? Even from San?"
"Yes, Sweetie, even from San," Whitney confirms, "This is a big deal. He's only little and might not be ready to hear about this yet. You need to give him more time."
Having a soulmate seems like the most wonderful thing in the world to her because she has never loved anyone or anything more than Santana. Brittany wants to run and tell everyone and do cartwheels, feeling like she's giddy with the need to share her news with everyone but she bites her lip because her mom is giving her a look that tells her this is something she needs to be careful about.
Brittany trusts her mom more than anything so she holds up her pinky to swear to her that it'll be their secret for now. She makes sure that her pink sweater is covering her mark for the rest of the night but she smiles to herself whenever she thinks about her secret.
She stays true to her word and doesn't tell him about the special mark but she does teach Santana about the fairies that live in the flower bushes outside of the window that could be seen if you looked close enough and that Mrs. White their homeroom teacher really had magical powers that she was hiding and recited the names of all of the birds, squirrels, rabbits and other animals of the school yard that she talked to.
The other kids around Brittany look at her in annoyance but Santana only listens intently, nodding along.
Santana teaches her that their teacher will fall asleep at the exact same time everyday after their spelling lesson and they could sneak out of class without being caught, how to throw cherry poppers on the ground, how to build a fort in the sand with a moat and how to roll down the steep hill in the school yard - though a teacher would always yell at them when they did that for getting their clothes dirty.
She wets herself once because she's too scared to ask the scary looking teacher if she can go to the bathroom (and she forgot how to get there without a map). Everyone else laughs and stares at Brittany except for Santana who stays behind and talks to her that day even though everyone else is mocking her. Brittany doesn't laugh at Santana when the boys dare him to eat weird stuff they mixed together and he throws up in front of everyone one time.
The teachers sometimes get mad at them for giggling with each other and talking constantly throughout class. They both cry - Santana practically screaming and throwing a tantrum - when they force the two of them to sit separately on opposite sides of the room, to the point where the teachers take pity on them and get tired of the crying so they just let them sit together again.
Brittany's parents are elated to see Santana by her side now everyday when they pick her up from school when she's six. She has never had any other friends before and she knows they had been worried because her teacher told them that Brittany had her head in the clouds - she complained about how much time Brittany spent doodling with her crayons and staring out the window daydreaming. The teachers don't understand the pictures Brittany draws or the random outbursts she has in class. They complain that she's falling behind.
Her dad had been furious and didn't allow her teacher to go on any further. He ignored the comments on her report card and told her to ignore what anyone else thought - she was doing a great job. He and Mom were proud of their brilliant little girl.
They were happy that she had her new best friend and Whitney rushed to snap photos of the two of them with her new camera, huddled together playing on the couch for their first ever playdate at the Pierce house.
The playdates continue happening constantly, sometimes multiple times each week. Santana makes such a fuss and hides every time his mother drives over to pick him up after that she gives him some of her sternest looks and speaks in a tone that means business.
Brittany and Santana watch the same fairytale movies for hours repeatedly until they are bored and spend the rest of their days playing outside, jumping through the sprinkler, blowing bubbles, and playing in Santana's paddling pool.
Brittany is alarmed seeing Santana naked and asks why he has a thing between his legs. He looks equally shocked that she doesn't have any.
Santana keeps asking his parents why he and Brittany aren't the same. His dad, Antonio, laughs louder than Brittany has ever heard anyone laugh while Maribel, also laughing, hastily explains that it's because Brittany's a girl. They're both satisfied with that explanation.
Brittany overhears Maribel say that she doesn't know what to think of Brittany but she admires how the girl can hold Santana's hand and get him to quiet down all at once when he's getting really hyper.
The two of them start refusing to even wear clothes ever and will happily run around giddily until either Maribel or Whitney, laughing and exasperated with the two of them at the same time, would grab them and force them to wear clothes again.
When they are playing the prince and princess game once, Brittany says that Santana should give her a kiss at the end because that's what happened in Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin.
Santana agrees to kiss her on the cheek with a blush.
Santana calls her on the phone so often when he is seven and learns how to use one that her parents begin joking that their daughter is already a teenager. He only puts down the phone when his dad or mom snatches it away and tells him that it's time for a bath or bed.
She learns how to ride a bike soon without training wheels. Santana has figured out how to do it first. Brittany is in awe because her parents still had her with training wheels on her bike and her dad has to watch her everytime she rides her pink bike around the neighbourhood.
She falls down and cries a lot because of her bruised knees and scraped ankles. Usually her dad will pick her up and hug her but one time Santana is the one who kisses her knee after her mom puts a plaster on it because he says it will make her feel better.
The two of them get into a flurry of excitement one day after watching a movie with a wedding. They pretend they're getting married too with a ring pop and some white cloth for her that he finds in the cupboard and him wearing some ancient-looking black jacket and top hat that are way too big for him.
He steals lipstick and paints her lips with so much of it that it covers most of her mouth and cheeks. The two of them parade around the house singing, "Here Comes The Bride" at top of their lungs. Maribel walks in, hearing the commotion and laughs when she sees the two of them.
"What's going on here?" She asks.
"Brittany and I are getting married and she's pregnant!" Santana announces loudly, as if it's obvious and his mom should know already.
Maribel almost doubles over in laughter and calls Dr. Lopez to see what they're doing.
"Is that so, Santana? You're gonna need to get a job to support the baby." He says.
Santana frowns, looking very concerned about this. A few minutes later, Brittany is clutching their newborn "baby" who is really just the baby doll that she brought over.
She kisses him again - just a little peck on the cheek at his seventh birthday party. It is a big party with a jumping tent, pony rides and a massive chocolate cake - the Lopezes sparing no expense. The two of them still spend most of the party in each other's company anyway even though almost every kid from their class and Santana's cousins are there.
They are cutting the cake together, her hand on top of his own that is holding the knife. His parents tell him to make a wish and everyone is clapping and cheering. She doesn't know what he wishes for but he keeps looking at her as he blows out the red candles so she wonders if maybe his wish has something to do with her.
His aunts and uncles gush over the two of them as they take photos constantly and the children squint as the cameras flash. Brittany is wearing a bright pink Aurora dress that makes her feel like a magical person complete with a tiara.
"Give her a kiss, San, give her a kiss!" One of his aunts shouts, causing the others to also join in and Brittany feels her face flush.
Santana is staring at her shyly and blushing too, with a deer in the headlights expression. Since he is so scared, eventually she is the one who gives in and plants a big kiss on his cheek, to the delight of the others who cheer and laugh about how adorable they are.
Santana rubs his now blushing cheek and just stares at her in surprise but doesn't move away. They each feed each other forkfuls of cake messily, grinning at each other when they both get icing all over their faces.
Everyone knows he's a sun person and she is a moon person, so they can't really be together as a romance but when they're seven, everyone just thinks how innocent and adorable their childish love for each other is before everything becomes more complicated.
Santana shares his lunches with Brittany almost every day. He begs his mom to buy him animal crackers and Dots and make him extra peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because he knows those are Brittany's favourites.
When Santana has to stay home for an entire week because he's sick with the flu, Brittany walks around by herself despondently, not knowing what to do with herself.
When they're eight and Santana has all but lost his accent, Brittany becomes a big sister. She doesn't expect it and she's torn between delight and sadness when a tiny, blonde-haired bundle - her little sister Stacy who her mom says looks so much like Brittany did at her age - is sharing her home with her. Santana is surprised when the baby turns up too.
Brittany explains that Stacy was adopted. She is a little sad that her parents are now giving all of their attention to Stacy because it's such a big change but hanging out with Santana makes it all better because she always has all his undivided attention on herself to count on.
Other things happen that year but all of them are much sadder. Artie loses his ability to walk after a terrible car accident. Kurt's mom passes away. Santana's parents start talking about something called "divorce" that sounds horrible.
The other kids unfortunately aren't as nice to her as Santana is. Dave Karofsky and his best friend Azimio, two really big and tall boys for their age, tell her to get lost when she's swinging by herself because they want the playground for themselves.
"This is ours, so go," Azimio sneers. "Aren't you that weird, alien girl who always talks to herself?"
Brittany wants to argue back but instead she sniffles and runs away, curling up into herself in the far corner of the playground by the oak tree where it isn't easy for anyone to see her. She starts to feel hot tears pricking behind her eyes but she doesn't want to cry. Only babies cry all the time and she's not a baby anymore - that's what her grandma told her.
Santana finds her eventually, worry etched onto his face and asks, "Where did you go? I was looking everywhere for you."
She doesn't say anything, hiding her face behind her hands and hair. He just sits beside her in silence, pulling his knees up to his chest in a similar position. He watches her with confusion and concern.
"Why are you crying, Britts? Don't cry."
Then he starts to get mad very quickly when Brittany still doesn't cheer up, as if realizing what happened, and she hears the fury in his voice.
"Was someone being mean to you?"
Brittany is accustomed to getting slammed into walls by the bigger kids, or having her pigtails pulled or being jeered at by some of the girls in her class who think she's stupid.
She bites her lip, choking back her tears and feeling shame wash over her at having to admit it. It feels like a weakness and like it's her fault. She nods once.
Santana stands up, balling up his fists.
"Who was it? I'll punch them so hard!"
She doesn't say anything but Santana hears the giggling and whips his head around, catching the two large boys from before pointing in Brittany's direction and making faces. Some other boys are also snickering.
Brittany reaches for his hand to pull him back before he can say anything but Santana charges up to the boys and punches Dave right in the face.
She gasps, frightened of what would happen because even though Santana wasn't that small, those boys were so much taller and bigger. Dave and Azimio begin pushing Santana and eventually they roll around in the dirt in a violent scuffle, slapping and punching at each other while the other kids start gathering around with wide eyes, slack jawed. A teacher runs out to see what the commotion is about and pulls them apart.
"He attacked me!" Dave is a blubbering mess, with a busted lip and scratches all down his arms that are bleeding. Brittany almost feels sorry for him.
Santana doesn't cry though he too was all bruised up and only stares defiantly back at the teacher with gritted teeth.
"Wait!" Brittany cries suddenly, interrupting before something really bad could happen to Santana. She is terrified but forces herself to speak up for once because this is about Santana. "It wasn't Santana's fault. He was just defending me."
"She's lying! Santana started punching and kicking us for no reason!" Azimio insists.
"Did you really do that, Santana?" The teacher asks evenly.
"Yep, I did," Santana says simply with a defiant glare. "And I would do it again too."
The other kids gasp. The teacher sighs, looking appalled at Santana's behaviour and grabs his arm tightly, pulling him away.
"Mr. Lopez, come with me to the principal's office." The teacher speaks in a firm tone. Santana allows himself to be dragged away with a stoic expression, accepting his punishment but staring back at Brittany over his shoulder with a smile and a wink when no one else is looking.
Just like Brittany being taunted and only getting C grades at highest, Santana being called into the principal's office becomes a common weekly occurrence. Brittany is taunted everytime she is called to the chalkboard and gets a word or a math problem wrong while Santana makes a huge scene to distract the class and stop them from laughing at whatever she did wrong.
Santana starts yelling all these bad words Brittany has never heard before and speaks threateningly in rapid Spanish. He makes up insulting nicknames for every kid in their class, except for Brittany.
The older Santana gets, the less he smiles and the more that bright light fades out of his eyes. He scowls, he swears, and he has a perfectly practiced mean face (they call it his Bastard Face - though his mom gives them a sharp look whenever they use that word) that he uses to keep others away from him and prevent them from insulting him first.
He never does that face when he's alone with Brittany. When he's alone with her, he looks at her with stars in his eyes as if she's the best thing that has ever happened to him and his big grin comes back.
Brittany knows he's angry for a lot of reasons, most of which the class don't know anything about and she would never tell them. No one would ever know that Santana broke down in tears in her arms and told her that his mom and dad only ever scream at each other all the time and his daddy tells him he's a waste of his time.
No one will ever know how Santana spends so many sleepless nights listening to the fighting and slamming of doors and sometimes he runs to her house and slips through her bedroom window, needing her to hold him so he can sleep and there are tears running down his face.
They won't know that he argues with his mom or dad the entire way when they drop him to school and sometimes he's ready to cry or shout at someone when she first greets him each morning before class.
Santana's angry because he can't control whether his parents get back together or not, he can't stop Brittany from getting bullied and he can't stop his Abuela from calling him mean names. The other kids soon don't play with him anymore as he earns a reputation for being mean and ruining their games by starting fights whenever he can't get his way.
When Santana's at the Pierce house, he is the most quiet boy and obeys her parents without questioning them. He answers every question politely and seems to relish every hug and every bit of attention her parents give to him.
Most of the boys and girls start calling Brittany names like "Dumb Blonde" "Barbie" "Bimbo" "Dimwit" or "Dumbo." They say it so often that they make Brittany run away and cry in the bathroom. Santana gets a slapped by his parents for smacking one of the boys who did this with a ruler really hard and twisting one's arm until he screams.
"I hate everyone in this class," Santana complains to her one day. "They're all a bunch of pathetic Lima Losers... Except for you, of course. You're the only cool one."
"Lima Loser" was a term Santana had picked up from his dad and some of his older, rowdy boy cousins. Now he used it all the time on anyone he didn't like. Being a Lima Loser, to Santana, was the ultimate insult.
Brittany feels her heart swell at his words and butterflies form in her stomach.
"I don't know. I don't hate them all that hard," She says after a moment of deep thought. "I don't hate Mike or Matt too much. Tina's just there and Mercedes is okay. Even though Rachel, Kurt, and Tina are kind of annoying."
Those were the kids who never picked on her or Santana.
"Yeah, whatever," Santana grunts dismissively, crossing his arms over his chest. "I just don't understand how you still act nice to everyone even though they tease you."
"I don't know." Brittany doesn't know how to explain that none of them matter to her that much because she only really cares about Santana's opinion of her.
When they first meet, they are roughly the same height and size then after they turn six, Santana seems to be taller for a short while. By the time Brittany is nine, she is about a head taller than he is, all long legs and skinny limbs. Santana is now one of the smaller kids in their class. She can tell it makes him frustrated even though he never admits it.
"Imagine that was us." He says one day really off-handedly when they're in the park, walking her new cat on her leash.
He's watching all of the teenage couples laughing together on picnic blankets. Santana is wearing his baseball cap with his sleeves rolled up to his shoulders, his Bastard Face on and she knows that he's trying to look manly.
The teenage girls are all really tall with long legs, long hair down to their waists, and curvy figures. Their boyfriends are even taller with muscular arms. Santana stands beside her, skinny and shorter than average for his age and pouting now with a miserable expression as if he can hear her thoughts about the teen boys.
He looks shocked when he registers his own flippant comment, then his face gets flushed and he covers his mouth.
His words take her by surprise which is strange because hardly anything ever has and usually she's the one completely throwing him for a loop with her comments rather than the other way around. They've never talked about anything like this before.
In any case, she is only ten now and Brittany doesn't think too deeply about it.
"Maybe someday we might when you're closer to my height." She teases, before he can retract his comment, tilting her head to the side and watching him playfully.
Santana looks almost comically dejected for a moment but then realizes she's just messing with him when he sees her stick out her tongue and poke him in the side, darting away at full speed before he can react and daring him to chase her.
The bullying at school reaches a boiling point when they're eleven and some of the meaner kids shove Brittany down really hard in the hallway after school.
Her ankle twists painfully when she falls and she cuts her lip, her books and papers scattering everywhere.
Santana becomes so overwhelmed in a rage when it happens that he starts cursing them out, using all of the words Brittany's mother warned her she should never repeat and Santana even breaks the other boy's nose in his fury, lashing out at anyone who gets near him. Before he can do any worse damage, Brittany begs him to stay with her.
"Please, San," She chokes out weakly, "I just want to go home."
Santana becomes quiet, cooling down a little at the pleading look on her face and relents, helping Brittany up and re-packing her backpack. He slings it onto his shoulder in addition to his own bag, wraps an arm around her and leads her out of the school quickly.
She curls into herself, slouching, her arms folded up against her chest and tears drying on her face while Santana is keeping a watchful eye out as he escorts her, throwing death glares at anyone they pass as if daring them to say something about it.
"If you like her so much, why don't you just marry her?" A tall ginger-haired boy with a mullet haircut called Rick calls out to them as his friends make smooching noises beside him, laughing at Santana and Brittany.
Santana falters and loses his glare for a moment as he turns bright red and his eyes go wide. He sticks up his middle finger at the boys, looking away from her and his arm drops from her shoulders until they get onto the street and they're alone again. Then he's pulling her close.
Instead of taking the bus, Santana walks with her the rest of the way to her house in silence, holding her close still. Her house isn't that far away from the school but it feels like a million miles because she's in pain. She sniffles and he strokes her head as they continue walking in silence.
"Who is this? Santana?" Pierce opens the door when he hears the knocking and makes his usual corny joke, pretending not to know who the dark-haired boy is until he sees the state that Brittany is in and his face falls.
"Oh my! What happened to you, Skittlebug?"
Brittany has never seen her dad look so devastated. Brittany never talks to her parents about the bullying but she suspects that they can tell something is going on when she comes home with cuts and bruises a lot and gets sad when they ask her about her day.
Her mom, who hears Pierce's voice comes over then and gasps, taking Brittany inside to get her cleaned up as the blonde girl dissolves into tears in her arms. Santana stands awkwardly in their living room with Pierce as Brittany recounts to her parents what really happened when they continue prodding her.
"Oh, Sweetheart. You poor thing. It's such a good thing Santana was there to watch out for you." Whitney says after a while, holding her daughter in her arms and rubbing her back as her sobs start to quiet down.
"What would you do without him?" Pierce chuckles, clearly trying to lighten the mood though he still glances at Brittany with concern. He ruffles Santana's hair affectionately. "Promise me you'll always be there to protect our little girl, Santana."
Santana gulps, staring back at him with determination.
"Yes, Sir. I will. I promise."
"Well aren't you our brave little soldier." The tall, curvy blonde woman gushes, wrapping him up in a motherly bear hug before he can get away.
Whitney and Pierce have something unreadable in their eyes as they share a glance with each other and then back at Santana and Brittany, as if knowing something the little blonde has yet to figure out.
To be continued