Brittany stopped walking, letting her eyes adjust to the near complete darkness. She could just make out enough to not walk into anything. Securing the folder under her arm, she restarted her steps forward, a bit more slowly and with her hands out in front of her—just in case. When she reached her desk, she placed the folder on the edge and walked toward Santana's office. She was just on the verge of calling out the brunette's name when she found her. By running right into her. She felt Santana stumble back a step or two, and instinctively, she reached out both hands and placed them on the woman's shoulders, steadying her. She really didn't want to let go but had no good reason to keep holding on, so she let her hands fall by her sides.
"Sorry...didn't mean to run into you," Brittany mumbled quickly.
"Doesn't this place have generators? I can barely see, let alone get any work done."
Getting work done was the last thing on Brittany's mind, but she had come to realize that Santana was a bit of a workaholic.
"We do have a generator, but it only lights the stairwells and the first floor lobby."
"So what am I supposed to do now?"
Brittany thought for a moment and then stepped a few more feet into the office.
"You could try opening the blinds. This whole wall is a window. If you sat by it, I'm sure there'd be enough light for you to get some work done."
She began walking toward the back wall, but Santana's voice stopped her. "No...please don't."
"Sorry?" Brittany was yet again confused by her.
"Don't...please don't open the blinds."
Suddenly, Brittany had another one of those enlightening moments when she discovered something new about her mysterious boss.
"Oh my God, you're afraid of heights, aren't you?"
Now that her eyes were even better adjusted, she could barely make out Santana fidgeting in front of her.
"I...no, I just don't like heights."
The way she said it made her sound so vulnerable. Up until this moment, Brittany had never thought that that was an emotion Santana could experience.
"Do you mind if I just peek out then? To see how bad the snow is?"
Santana silently nodded and added, "I'll stand over here. Don't open them too much."
Brittany closed the remaining couple of feet to the window and barely pulled back one of the wall-length blinds to look outside. The flurries were huge and coming down fast. Up above, the sky was one solid wall of gray. Down below, everything was already turning white. It was beautiful.
She let the blind fall back into place and turned around. "You really should come see this. It's amazing."
"Uhh, I'll just take your word for it," Santana said from the opposite side of the room.
Brittany put as much sincerity in her next words as possible.
"Trust me."
She thought she heard Santana sigh, but then the brunette stood up a little straighter, set her shoulders, and marched toward Brittany and the window. She stopped just beside Brittany and looked up at her. Streaks of light from the cracks between the blinds crossed her face. She looked just short of terrified.
"Don't open it too much," she whispered.
"Look out and look up. Don't look down, okay? You're perfectly safe in here." Brittany found herself whispering back.
Instinctively, Brittany dropped her left hand and clasped Santana's right wrist. Her thumb rested lightly on the back of the brunette's hand, which was trembling just a little. Brittany's heartbeat was picking up.
"Are you ready?"
Santana nodded silently. With her free hand, Brittany pulled back the blinds, letting Santana look out at the winter wonderland. Her eyes widened with the view, and she stepped closer to Brittany. Now their arms were grazing.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" asked Brittany, ripping her eyes off Santana and looking out again. "It's like we're in our own little snow globe."
"Beautiful," Santana repeated.
They both stared out at the falling snow for a few more seconds, but then Brittany felt Santana's shoulder stiffen. She quickly removed her hand from Brittany's and took a few steps back.
"I think that's enough for one day."
Brittany immediately missed the contact, but she managed a smile.
"Was that so hard?"
"You have no idea." Santana said it so softly, Brittany wasn't sure if the brunette had even meant for her to hear.
Deciding to ignore the statement either way, Brittany sensed that their conversation had come to a close and changed the subject.
"So, I take it you won't be doing any work by the window then...so what now?"
"Well, I guess we either try to wait this out and hope the power comes back on, or we go home."
"Ms. Lopez, I will sit here in the dark and wait for power if you want, but this storm is only supposed to get worse."
Santana sighed again, seemingly weighing her options.
"Yes...well, I suppose we'd better leave then. Before we get stuck."
Brittany grabbed her purse and umbrella from under her desk, while Santana retrieved her own. They reached the stairs together, and when Brittany opened the door, she let out a huge sigh. 17 flights of stairs was a lot for anybody. Especially in heels.
Santana walked by her and gave her a fleeting smile. "At least we're going down," she said and started down the first flight. Brittany smiled and started off after her. Neither spoke on the way down; Brittany was heavily focused on not falling and making another idiot out of herself. She wondered what Santana was thinking though. 17 flights later, they finally emerged in the lobby. Looking through the glass doors, Brittany could see that quite a bit of snow had already accumulated on the ground. She was thankful she didn't live far away.
"Ugh, it's going to take forever to get home in this mess," Santana groaned, also looking out at the little blizzard.
"Wait, you didn't drive, did you?"
"I drive every morning. I don't live close enough to walk."
"Ms. Lopez, you can't drive in this!"
"Brittany, I'm sure the roads are fine."
"Even if they were, which I doubt they are, you still wouldn't be able to see anything out the windshield. Look, my place is just a few minutes' walk from here. Come wait it out there."
A slight look of panic crossed Santana's face at these words. "Uhh...no, that's quite alright...I'm sure I'll be fine driving."
Brittany lowered her voice and looked down at the floor. "Ms. Lopez...I just lost my last boss from a car accident. And it happened in perfectly manageable weather. Please, just wait a little while."
She looked up to see Santana staring at her again.
"Okay...I guess. Just until it lets up."
Feeling immensely relieved, Brittany began walking toward the doors, Santana following closely behind her. They made their way back as quickly as possible. The snow made the sidewalks slippery—again, especially in heels. By the time they reached Brittany's apartment door, both women were freezing and considerably soaked, even though they'd used umbrellas.
Brittany walked in, immediately taking her shoes off and cranking up the thermostat a few degrees. She was so thankful that her home still had power. Turning around, she noticed Santana still standing there, barely inside the front door.
"You can come in," Brittany said, laughing. "Come back here, and I'll get you something to change into."
"Oh, that's alright, actually. You don't have to."
"Ms. Lopez...I am freezing. And my clothes are soaked. Which means I know you are cold too."
"You are persistent," Santana said with another slight smile.
"Or just a good hostess," Brittany retorted. She made her way to the bedroom and found a pair of sweats and a hoodie for the brunette. "You can change in the bathroom if you want," Brittany pointed to the open bathroom adjoined to her room. She was so glad she'd cleaned up this weekend.
Santana mumbled a quiet thanks and took the clothes from Brittany, heading for the door. When she shut it behind her, Brittany took out some sweats of her own and began to change. She was just pulling an old t-shirt over her head when she heard the bathroom door open. When her head popped through the neck of the shirt, Santana was just standing there in the doorway, staring. Brittany suppressed a smirk. She knew Santana had to have just gotten an eyeful. Now who's looking?
"Right...well, I can put your clothes in the dryer while we wait. Do you want to check the weather channel? Maybe they'll tell us how long this will last?"
"Yeah...good idea."
Brittany quickly threw the clothes into the dryer in the hallway, then led the way back into the living room and sat down on the two-seater couch, Santana coming to sit beside her. Glancing over, she took in the sight of her boss in her old sweats. She had to admit, she kind of liked it. Picking up the remote, she started flicking through the channels, trying to find the weather station. When she landed on it, a commercial was on.
"Can I get you something to drink, Ms. Lopez?"
"No, I'm okay, thanks. And uh...well, I guess if you want...you can call me Santana."
A smile started to spread across Brittany's face, but she didn't say anything. Santana mumbled out her next sentence.
"I mean, I am wearing your clothes and everything...if you want to, that is...you can call me Santana."
"Santana." Brittany said, still smiling. It sounded quite good rolling off her tongue like that.
Just then, the weather program decided to come back from commercial. The man on the screen was pointing at a huge moving pink blob hovering over New York City. This storm was big. Apparently it wouldn't be over for quite a while. Sitting back further into the couch, Brittany looked over at the brunette, who was still sitting rigidly upright.
"Santana, you can relax, you know. We're off the clock, remember?" Man, she liked saying Santana's name.
The woman gave another small smile and leaned back into the couch. As soon as her back hit the cushion, her shoulders relaxed and her eyelids drooped.
"Are you tired again?" Brittany asked, looking back to the TV.
"I'm always tired," Santana responded. She sounded very much like she meant it.
"Then, I'll let you relax. We can just watch a quiet movie or something."
Santana looked over at her, and she seemed grateful. "Okay," she whispered.
Brittany began flicking through the stations again, finally landing on an old movie she'd seen a hundred times. It was already almost halfway through, but she didn't think Santana would care. She was proven right within minutes; after two commercials, she felt Santana's weight shift on the couch. Her head came to rest on Brittany's shoulder, and she was sleeping peacefully.