Invisible Strings

by SantittanyLopezPierce

Santana accidentally dials the wrong number, but as it turns out, she’s more connected to the stranger than she thought.

1. Invisible Strings

The invisible string theory suggests that everyone has someone in their lives who is attached to them by an unbreakable string that transcends time, distance, and geography.

---

New York, 3rd May, 1:43am

Santana slammed her front door with annoyance and then winced at the loud bang, fumbling to simultaneously put down her bag and kick off the heels that had been hurting her for the past two hours. She was tired, drunk and pissed off, and that particular combination of feelings never usually ended well for Santana.

She rolled her eyes at the spinning in her head that made her version slightly blurred and then reached for her phone, the text on the screen merging together as she typed in a familiar number on the keyboard.

"Fucking pick up," Santana muttered under her breath as she began walking through her quiet apartment the bedroom. After the third ring, the click indicated that her call had been answered and Santana wasted no time in letting her anger unleash in a drunken rant, "I can't believe you! You left me with Berry all fucking night and for what? Now I'm drunk and I'm going to have the worst fucking Berry hangover tomorrow for this meeting! I thought we were all friends here, Q, this is not being a friend!"

"Who's Berry?" A soft voice whispered, sounding a little confused and taking Santana by complete surprise. That wasn't the voice she was expecting to hear at the other end of the call.

She paused for a second and then furrowed her brows with a huff because now wasn't the time for Quinn to be playing her weird games that only she found funny. Especially when Santana was already pissed off.

"Quinn, don't play with me, I'm too drunk for this!" Santana whined as she flopped down on her bed. She put her free hand to her forehead and closed her eyes to re-gather herself and repeated with exasperation, "and you left me with Berry all night!"

"Do you always call people at two in the morning to shout at them when you're drunk? You sound too cute to be angry." The voice asked again, this time sounding a bit amused as a few giggles floated into Santana's ear.

She paused for a second as she realised that this definitely wasn't Quinn, and frowned. "What- the?" Santana pulled the phone away from her ear and squinted slightly to try and focus the blur in her eyes so that she could see the screen. "Shit," she grumbled, as an unsaved number appeared at the top of her phone instead of Quinn's name.

The giggles were back and Santana could feel her lips twitching upwards, "wrong number?"

Santana sighed deeply, feeling some of her annoyance slip away at the softness of this strangers voice. She didn't seem one bit phased that Santana had possibly interrupted her sleep, only speaking with kindness.

She frowned a little deeper and rolled her eyes at herself once again, "yeah, I'm sorry. I told you- I'm a little drunk and I must have muddled up some numbers. Everything's a lil bit wiggly," Santana giggled a little.

"Were you calling your friend?" She asked and Santana let out a sarcastic laugh.

"That's a loose term at the moment," Santana told her with a small grumble.

"Why didn't you just go on your recently called?"

"What?" Santana asked with confusion, the alcohol swimming through her body making her unable to process the question properly.

The voice giggled softly, "why did you type the number instead of just clicking on your call log?"

Santana tilted her head, "oh," she laughed, "I told you, I'm drunk." The other woman laughed along with her and Santana fell silent for a moment.

Her mood had done a complete turnaround and all of the irritation from her night had disappeared suddenly, the alcohol seemingly causing her to be able to focus on only one thing, and right now all of Santana's focus had shifted to her mystery caller instead of directing Snix at Quinn.

The laugh that came after her words had Santana grinning, and she doesn't think she had ever heard a prettier sound. "I like your laugh," Santana admitted with a dreamy smile, trying to imagine what this person looked like.

She wondered if her cheeks bunched as she laughed, how her eyes looked when she was happy. Santana was lost in her momentary drunken thoughts and couldn't help but let the words fall from her lips.

"Thanks…" A gentle whisper replied, and Santana paused again when that simple one word sent her into another wave of dizziness. "You haven't had a good night?"

"Not really," Santana pouted, "my friends and I had this dinner to go to and they are always super boring. But Quinn bailed last minute because of a work thing, so I got left there to survive with just Rachel! It was awful! I had no choice but to drink a bit more than usual! And I have a stupid meeting tomorrow that's really important and I'm going to have a hangover!"

Santana paused and frowned, because she had no idea why she was offloading to a stranger so easily. She briefly wondered if it's because it's just that, offloading to a stranger, and she knows that she is probably going to speak to her again. Then, she also briefly wondered if it was because the woman's voice was so soothing and she sounded like everything good in the world? Santana put that last thought down to being drunk.

"What's wrong with just Rachel?" She asked Santana through another small laugh.

"Everything!" Santana exclaimed, "there was no way that I would have gotten through that without drinking. Nah-uh no way! If you knew Rachel like I knew Rachel, you would know that I've been through it tonight! Actually, you should be glad that you don't know Rachel how I know Rachel," Santana rambled about her friend whilst she put her phone on speaker and slipped out of her clothes lazily.

She had already gotten comfortable on her bed mid-conversation and there was no way that she was managing to get back out of it tonight. So, Santana slipped under the covers in her underwear and rolled onto her side, "well now I kinda want to know Rachel like you know Rachel and see if she's as bad as you're making her out to be!" Her eyebrows rose on her forehead.

"You shouldn't ever wish that on yourself!" Santana groaned, "you don't even know how good you've got it! Wanna switch?"

"Really that bad?" The woman chuckled and Santana could envision a look of mock-disbelief from the tone of her voice.

"Probably worse," Santana admitted with a laugh. "I love her but fuck, she's a lot to deal with. Especially at dinner parties with our parents, they've never been fun and she somewhat always makes them even worse. At least I usually have Quinn!"

"Sounds like this is all Quinn's fault," the woman laughed and Santana nodded quickly before realising she couldn't actually see her.

"Totally!" Santana agreed with her, "that's why I was calling her to tell her how lame she is!"

"Well, I'm glad that you made a mistake," her voice was softer than it had been the entire conversation and Santana could feel a small weight on her chest at the whispered admission.

Santana's lips tugged up into a tiny grin and she snuggled herself further into her pillow as she let out a soft, "hmm," in a small breathless daze. Everything was spinning and she wasn't really sure if any of this was actually happening, but the warmth in her chest and the pounding of her heart made her think that it really was.

"Me too," Santana giggled sleepily, suddenly finding it harder to open her eyes as she felt the weight of the night hit her exhausted body. "I like talking to you," Santana whispered with a smile.

"Me too," the woman replied and that's all Santana needed to hear.

"Did you have a good night at least?" Santana didn't know why she asked that, but when the woman started talking again, Santana knew it was just to hear more of her voice.

"I had a good night, even better now surprisingly," the voice chuckled.

Santana smirked, "are you flirting with me?"

"Is that a problem?" Santana gulped at the question and shook her head.

"I don't think you could handle me…" Santana smirked with a giggle, her smile widening when she heard the woman left out a loud laugh.

"I bet you're hot!" Santana felt her eyes widen and a deep blush appear on her cheeks from the unexpected comment.

"How'd you come to that conclusion?" Santana asked her curiously.

"Why? Are you not hot?" Santana paused for a second and didn't respond to the question. "Your silence is giving me confirmation that you are hot!"

"Maybe you'll find out," Santana ended up saying.

"I hope so," came the instant response and Santana smiled widely, which turned into a loud yawn.

"Shit," she mumbled.

The woman chuckled at Santana and whispered, "get some sleep."

"Can I speak to you again?" Santana asked as her eyes grew heavy.

"How else am I going to find out if you're hot?" Santana giggled at her words.

"Goodnight," Santana whispered sleepily to the woman as it became harder to fight against it, barely hearing the soft whisper of a goodnight being returned to her, before the sound of her phone disconnecting from the call.

---

New York, 3rd May, 6:40pm

6:40pm Unknown number: I hope you wasn't too hungover for your meeting.

6:43pm Santana: surprisingly not! Thank u.

6:43pm Santana: I'm sorry for keeping you awake. You would have been well within your rights to hang up on me.

6:45pm Unknown number: But I didn't!

6:46pm Santana: that's right, you didn't. Why is that again?

6:47pm Unknown number: call it curiosity!

6:47pm Unknown number: also you sounded really cute and it felt wrong to hang up on you.

6:50pm Santana: well, I'm glad that you didn't… even though you missed out on sleep!

6:51pm Unknown number: I wasn't sleeping, I was just finishing up at work! It wasn't even midnight, don't worry about it.

6:52pm Santana: wait I called you at almost two in the morning? Aren't you in New York?

6:53pm Unknown number: nope, LA! I moved out here for work last year, which is why I still have a New York area code!

6:55pm Santana: oh! Are you missing NYC?

6:56pm Unknown number: after talking to you? More than ever…

Santana could feel her cheeks heating up and she bit down on her lip to try and hide the smile that was threatening to take over her face. It was useless though, because as soon as her gaze lifted to consciously dart around the room, hazel eyes were staring right back at her with a curious look.

"What?" She snapped defensively, locking her phone and trying not to act obviously flustered.

"Who are you texting, Santana?" Quinn rose one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows as she shuffled closer to Santana and Santana internally groaned at the quizzing expression on her friend's face.

"Nobody," Santana replied, stuffing her phone back into her pocket and away from Quinn's prying eyes.

Santana was taken back slightly, because this all suddenly felt super silly.

Santana never got flustered, or wanted to casually text a complete stranger that she had never met before, and she had never expected to be enjoying it this much. Santana wasn't the one to usually tolerate casual conversations and liked the familiarity of the people she had known for her entire life, but the randomness of somehow ending up on the phone to somebody in LA had Santana intrigued. What had Santana even more intrigued, was that this other woman was seemingly just as intrigued.

Why else would she message her to ask about her hangover and her meeting?

Truth be told, Santana had never felt fresher waking up the morning after a night out with Rachel. She had rolled over and her cold phone had squished against her cheek, jolting her awake and giving her an instant reminder of her drunken phone call the night before.

"Doesn't look like nobody," Quinn teased, and then looked at Santana expectantly when the sound of a text message alert came from inside Santana's blazer pocket. She watched with amusement as Santana's face twitched, but made no effort to check her phone. "Aren't you gonna get that?" She asked her with a grin.

Santana frowned, "I hate you." She sighed deeply, contemplating what to do, before regretfully reaching into her pocket and taking out her phone.

6:59pm Unknown number: I'm sorry, I have a habit of being too honest with people. I should fix that.

7:01pm Santana: Me too. Don't fix it. I like it. Quinn's just bugging me out and I need to get her back for leaving me with Rachel last night!

"Sooo…" Quinn smirked, "who ya texting?"

"Still nobody!" Santana groaned, pushing Quinn away from her as she tried to get closer and look at Santana's screen. "I'm pissed at you anyway, you left me alone with Rach all night!"

"Yeah, she told me this morning how much you guys drank," Quinn laughed, "you know you secretly like her when she's drunk so what's the problem?"

"The problem is, is that I also secretly like her sober when you're there to help me tolerate her! I could have avoided all of the alcohol if you would have just turned up!" Santana told her with annoyance, but then internally softened because without the any of the events of the previous nights, she probably would have never accidentally drunk dialled that unknown number.

That unknown number which hasn't left her mind all day, and that fucking giggle… Santana had thought about it all throughout her meeting.

Quinn just rolled her eyes at Santana. "Give it a rest, everything went fine didn't it?" Quinn's knowing expression made Santana huff.

"That isn't the point…" she mumbled, folding her arms over her chest and looking at Quinn expectantly. "You know I hate those dinners!"

"You know for someone who hates them so much, you go to a lot more of them than Rachel and I do," Quinn sighed, before turning serious as she looked at her best friend knowingly when Santana glared at her. "Next time I'll be there, S, I promise! Wanna go over to Rachel's apartment for dinner and be really loud? She still sounded hungover when I called her before coming up here."

Santana grinned at Quinn and rolled her eyes, "fine, I'm in need of some payback anyways."

---

LA, 4th May, 12:06pm

Brittany tiredly flopped down onto the couch in her dressing room, days of endless dancing and rehearsals catching up to her. She was exhausted, which was new, because Brittany rarely got tired from dancing. It had gotten like second nature to her, almost as simple as breathing.

Her chest heaved and her limbs ached, and Brittany wanted nothing more than to give into the sleep that was begging to take over. She groaned loudly when her phone began to ring across the room, contemplating leaving it to ring through to her answer machine.

By the fifth ring, Brittany's head was hurting and she whimpered with a pout before dragging her feet across the room to collect her phone.

At seeing the newly familiar New York area code flash her screen, Brittany grinned and brought the phone to her ear, suddenly more awake than she had been for the entire morning.

"Hey," Brittany answered softly, her smile evident in her voice as she spoke into the phone.

"Hi," came the hesitant response almost instantly after. Brittany rose her eyebrows and walked slowly back to her couch, "is now a good time?"

"Yes," Brittany breathed out, "what do you need?"

"Is this silly to you?" The unexpected question made Brittany frown with confusion, and her lack of response had the other woman giggling a little. Brittany grinned at the sound, "like, us still talking? We don't even know each other."

Brittany took a deep breath, "does it feel silly?"

She waited for the response for a few seconds, until a confident, "no," was spoken into her ear. That one word made everything seem a bit normal, even if it probably wasn't normal to be speaking to a stranger.

"Maybe if we introduce ourselves, it won't feel as weird, because then we wouldn't be strangers…" Brittany suggested with a hopeful smile, thinking of a quickest solution to the issue.

"Sheer genius!" The woman exclaimed and Brittany blushed at the compliment.

"I'm Brittany," she said, her stomach fluttering.

"Santana," Brittany's blush deepened somehow because she could only imagine how beautiful this woman was. A pretty voice, a pretty name and the prettiest fucking laugh she had ever heard. Brittany's mind flashed with possibilities, what this woman's hair was like and how soft it felt, how tall she was and how she would look stood next to her.

"T-That's a p-pretty name," Brittany stuttered, shaking herself out of her momentary daze thinking about Santana.

"Thanks, I'd like to take credit but it was all my parents," Santana told her softly and Brittany let out a loud laugh. "Are you sure you're not busy? I can call back later?"

"Santana, I told you, it's okay. What's up?" Brittany giggled at Santana's uncertainty, finding it quite endearing how nervous she appeared to sound now in comparison to how confident she was when first dialling her number.

She liked how Santana's name fell from her lips so naturally.

"Okay…" Santana paused and then let out a sigh, "My meeting from yesterday went better than I thought and for some reason the first person I thought to call and tell was you."

Brittany grinned, "yeah?"

A few seconds later and a small, "yeah" of agreement was whispered, before Santana cleared her throat. "It went really well, actually, and I just wanted you to know. I don't really know why I'm telling you that though."

"I'm glad," Brittany told her, "I was thinking about you yesterday."

Brittany wondered whether she had done that thing again where she is too truthful at the wrong time, and rolls her eyes in annoyance at herself.

"I guess that makes two of us," Santana's reply caught Brittany a big off guard and she gulped when feeling a lump appear in her throat.

She shook her head and blurted out, "what happened with your meeting then?" A small laugh graced her ears and Brittany wondered if Santana knew just how flustered her comment had made her.

Santana hummed a little and Brittany could hear shuffling on the other side of the phone. "I've finally closed all of the deals and found the perfect location for my new store!" Santana gushed, and Brittany found herself smiling as she heard the excitement in her voice.

"That's awesome. What kind of store is it? Tell me more," Brittany was curious about Santana.

With every word the woman spoke, Brittany could feel herself hanging onto and storing every new piece of information into her memory. Brittany never wanted to forget a single thing Santana told her when they spoke, she didn't know why, but everything Santana told her sounded like the most important thing she had ever heard.

"I'm a fashion designer. I opened up my own store a few years ago and had a lot of interest in my underwear and lingerie line, so this new store is just going to be dedicated to that…" Santana explained and Brittany's eyebrows rose with interest.

"I can't wait to see for myself," Brittany told her and Santana chuckled. "I bet they are gorgeous!"

"Why do you think that?" Santana asked.

"Just a feeling, Santana," Brittany sang playfully and she smiled when hearing that amused laugh again; Brittany wished she could see Santana's face as she laughed.

"What about you?" Brittany frowned.

"What do you mean what about me?" She questioned, shuffling a bit uncomfortably on the couch as she felt her muscles begin to stiffen from being in one position for too long.

"What do you do?" Santana asked her.

She shrugged with a smile, "I dance."

"I bet you're awesome, Britt," Santana spoke softly, and Brittany felt that familiar heat rising on her cheeks. "I can't wait to see for myself," Santana repeated Brittany's words and she grinned bashfully to herself, playing with the hem of her cropped top on her stomach.

She opened her mouth to reply but then paused for moment when the door to her dressing room opened to reveal a frantic looking Kurt. Brittany's dreamy smile dropped and she sat up a bit straighter, looking at him expectantly.

"What the fuck?" She mumbled as the door hit the wall and Kurt came stomping over to her, seemingly oblivious to the phone against Brittany's ear.

"Brittany?" Santana asked with confusion but Brittany couldn't reply because Kurt was already ranting to her.

"One fucking day, Britt!" He said with frustration, "I needed one fucking day to sleep and we still end up having to work! I'm so done!"

"Kurt, you said this yesterday!" Brittany laughed at her friend, and then held up her finger to him before turning her attention back to her phone. "Hey, my friend just got here but I'll call you tonight? We can finish this off?"

She bit her lip, hoping that Santana wanted to continue their conversation and tried to avoid Kurt's questioning eyes. "Of course, I'll speak to you later. Have fun with your friend, Brittany…"

Brittany held back her smile, "bye," and hung up her phone, tucking it safely back into her sweatpants pocket and grinned sheepishly at Kurt.

"What that about? Why do you look super suspicious right now?" Kurt questioned instantly when taking in his friend's guilty expression as she tried to back further into the couch.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders, "just a new friend," she admitted vaguely. Kurt looked at her with that judgy "you know that I wasn't born yesterday" look and Brittany let out a loud groan.

Kurt chuckled, "where did you meet this friend?"

Brittany looked at the ground, "I haven't."

"What do you mean? How else would you have a new friend?" Kurt asked with confusion.

"She lives in New York," Brittany added briefly, before sighing and knowing that she should just give it up. "Fine. She might have accidentally called me instead of her friend when she was drunk the other night and we ended up talking for a little while. Then I messaged her the next morning because she said she had a meeting and I wanted to know whether it went okay or not. She just called me now and told me that it actually went really well and we got to talking again…" Brittany rushed everything out and hearing it out in the open did make it seem a little ridiculous, but she couldn't help but want to know more about Santana.

Brittany had never felt a connection with somebody so quickly, especially somebody who she had merely had three conversations with over the phone. She was intrigued and she wanted to know more about this mystery person that had wanted to drunkenly call and yell at her friend at almost two in the morning. Brittany found Santana endearing and exciting.

Kurt was eyeing her skeptically from the couch beside her and Brittany never felt so exposed, like he was reading all of her inner thoughts and turmoil about Santana.

"Wow…" he sighed after a moment. "Just be careful, Britt," Kurt warned with soft eyes.

"Duh," Brittany smiled and then giggled, "plus she sounded pretty harmless when she was making her drunken threats to her friend."

Kurt just looked at his friend, shaking his head, because of course Brittany would be able to somehow make friends with a complete stranger. He shouldn't have expected any less.

"So, what's this mystery drunk diallers name?"

Brittany beamed, "Santana…"

---

New York, 5th May, 11:46pm

"Santana!" Santana ignored the voice coming from behind her and quickly threw back her shot of tequila, wincing as it burned her throat when she swallowed. "Santana!" The voice repeated, louder this time, and she internally groaned before plastering a fake smile on her face and turning around, coming face-to-face with a very drunk Rachel and Quinn, who just looked amused.

"What?" Santana snapped, trying to push Rachel off her when she moved to dangle her arms around Santana's shoulders. "Get off me!" Rachel just giggled and started swaying around Santana, who groaned loudly, "seriously, Rach, if you don't get off me in the next five seconds!"

"You're no fun!" Rachel mumbled with a sad look, removing herself from Santana and returning to her place cuddled into Quinn's side.

Santana brought her rum and coke to her lips and took a large gulp, looking at Quinn for some type of explanation. "She found the lady with the shot tray," Quinn told her with a chuckle. "Tried to buy them all but we came to a deal of five," She added.

Santana laughed, "she had five shots?"

Quinn nodded, "back to back. Never learns her lesson," she pulled her arm around Rachel as the girl tried to slip away and looked down at her, "where are you trying to go?"

Rachel shrugged, "I gotta pee," she whined and then stumbled a bit out of Quinn's hold.

The blonde immediately reached back out to steady Rachel and looked with a small laugh to Santana. "I'll take her to the bathroom. Wanna get us a cab and we can meet you outside?"

Santana nodded, "totally, it's your turn to handle her drunk ass. We can go back to mine since we're closest." Santana winked at Quinn, who rolled her eyes and guided a stumbling Rachel to the direction of the bathroom as she headed outside.

As she approached the exit of the club, Santana quickly drank the rest of her drink and left the empty glass on the side before stepping into the street. The coldness of the evening air hit her and sent chills across her body. Santana shivered and stood off to the side, not bothering to call a cab because there was a few on the street already that they could probably jump into.

She sighed, fiddling with her phone in her hand and thinking about Brittany.

They hadn't spoken since yesterday when Santana had called her, but Santana had been thinking about her since.

Brittany had been occupying Santana's thoughts more than she would like to admit. Which is why she had ended up at the club with Rachel and Quinn anyway, to distract her from the sudden cloud of Brittany that had taken over her mind.

Santana didn't understand how just three simple conversations could have her so hooked. But who was she kidding? Brittany had her hooked from the first phone call.

She didn't know remotely anything about Brittany, but somehow it felt like she also knew everything.

Santana wanted to know more, she had to know more. It was weird, because she had never felt this way about a person, but she welcomed it hungrily and it was taking over her mind.

As she thought intently about Brittany while waiting for her friends, Santana pulled up the newly saved contact in her phone and hovered her thumb hesitantly across it.

She bit down on her bottom lip and then rolled her eyes at her own ridiculousness. "Fuck it," Santana mumbled and pressed down on the name to compose a new message.

11:53pm Santana: hey, are you free?

11:53pm Brittany: Santana! I'm finishing work in 5 mins and then heading home. I'll be free in about 20/25 mins!

11:53pm Brittany: I was going to call you anyway when I got back. Is that okay with you?

11:54pm Santana: that's perfect with me, Brittany.

Santana grinned widely at her screen and then jumped when Quinn and Rachel suddenly appeared in front of her, "fucking hell!"

Quinn laughed, "giggling at your phone again?"

Santana ignored her and slipped her phone into her pocket, "are we done?" Rachel nodded, smiling widely at them both.

"Can we get pizza?" Rachel asked, looking at her two friends with pleading eyes.

"Absolutely not. You did this last time-" Quinn started, shaking her head.

"Please?" Rachel butted in, looking like she wanted to cry and turned to Santana for back up. "Tell her, Santana, let's get pizza!"

Usually, Santana was down for pizza and would actually side with Rachel. However, she needed to be home within the next thirty minutes to speak to Brittany, and she didn't want to risk missing out on that all because Rachel decided that she wanted a mid-night snack.

Santana snorted, "sorry, Rach, I'm with Q on this one. While I was all for it last time, we waited a whole hour for that shit and when we finally got home you just passed out without even eating it."

Rachel frowned, "maybe I'm actually hungry this time! Come on, please!"

"I have leftover Italian at my place you can have that," Santana offered easily, knowing that there was a ninety percent chance that Rachel would pass out before eating it, and Rachel grinned.

"Deal! Let's go, I'm starving!" Rachel tried hurrying her two friends closer to the cabs on the street, causing Santana and Quinn to stumble behind her as they were practically dragged.

"Rachel, just slow down-" Santana groaned, batting Rachel's hand away from her.

The three women shuffled into the back of the cab, Quinn telling the driver Santana's address whilst Santana tried to buckle in an incompetent Rachel. Santana looked in disbelief as Rachel's head hit the window and she fell into an immediate slumber. "Hungry, my ass," she muttered to herself before buckling in her own seatbelt.

"So, what's the real reason you didn't want pizza?" Quinn asked Santana as they rode to Santana's apartment. She watched curiously as Santana avoided looking at her.

"I just didn't want to wait for an hour again," Santana told her, her voice coming out a pitch higher than usual, indicating her bullshit.

"Whatever, S, I'll find out eventually…" Quinn teased, wiggling her eyebrows playfully. Santana rolled her eyes and Quinn let out a laugh, "come on. Rach is passed out, I'm not gonna tell her. Please? Do you have a secret girlfriend?"

Santana's eyebrows shot up, "absolutely not, Q!"

Santana's defence mechanism was never very strong and Quinn could always see straight through it. "But you want it to be!" She exclaimed, slapping Santana on her arm lightly.

"I do not!" Santana huffed, "look, it's nothing. I called the wrong number a few days ago and I've been talking to her. That's it." Santana chanced a glance at Quinn, who just had that "I can see right through you" look and Santana groaned, "she's really nice to talk to!"

"So, you- Santana Lopez- are just talking to a complete stranger?" Quinn asked, a bit puzzled.

"She's not a complete stranger!" Santana defended, "her name is Brittany!"

Quinn chuckled, "how is old Brittany?"

Santana opened her mouth and paused, Quinn smirked at her knowingly. "Shut up- I don't know yet!" She said with a frown, "but I'll find out! I know that she's a dancer and she's living in LA."

"Wait she lives in LA? How did you even end up calling her?" Quinn asked.

"She has a New York number, she's originally from here but moved out there for her job. I was trying to call you the other night after the party and got some numbers mixed up," Santana explained and then grinned at Quinn, "so if I end up getting killed by a crazy stalker then it's all your fault."

"Santana, that doesn't even make sense," Quinn frowned and Santana just laughed with a shrug as they finally pulled up in front of Santana's apartment complex. "Help me get her out," Quinn told Santana after she gave the cab driver a twenty.

Santana internally groaned and helped Quinn pull a still half asleep Rachel out of the cab. "She's lucky she's a dwarf and we can still do this. We're not sixteen anymore for fuck sake," Santana mumbled to Quinn.

"Stop whining and walk, Lopez," Quinn groaned as they practically carried Rachel through reception and to the elevators.

Five minutes later, the three women were stumbling through Santana's front door and into the living room. Rachel immediately face-planted the couch to return to her slumber and the other two women shared looks of amusement, "that's her out for the night. Good work," Santana commented and lifted her hand for a high-five.

Quinn returned it, "can't believe she never learnt how to handle her drink after drinking with us for so long." Santana laughed at Quinn's comment, "I'm going to bed. Please don't have phone sex, your walls are really thin," Quinn winked at Santana and retreated down the hall to the spare bedroom.

Santana's jaw dropped a little and she could feel the heat in her cheeks. "What the fuck, Fabray!" She folded her arms and went to lock up, before grabbing some water and making her way to her bedroom.

She hadn't even been in bed for a minute when her phone started to ring and Santana's smile was suddenly wider than it had been all day.

"Hey Brittany," Santana grinned.

"Hi, Santana," Brittany giggled and Santana could feel her stomach clench as butterflies swarmed through her whole body.

"How was your day?" Santana asked softly, wanting to hear about Brittany's day and just be able to listen to the sound of her voice.

Brittany sighed down the phone and Santana frowned, "really draining actually. I've been working pretty much every day for the past year, it's really starting to hit me."

Santana rose her eyebrows and subconsciously chewed on her bottom lip as Brittany spoke. "That can't be healthy, Britt," Santana told her quietly after a few seconds.

"I know, it's not for forever anyway. I'll be done with it soon," Brittany asked and Santana was curious.

"Done with what?" She asked.

"This job," Brittany told her. "I'm just in LA temporarily, Santana. I'm a dancer and choreographer, usually for the west end, but I've been doing some work for an artist for the past year. Our contract finishes in three months."

Santana let Brittany's words sink in before she responded, the new information setting off multiple spiralling thoughts and Santana was even more adamant to learn every part of Brittany that she possibly could.

She took a deep breath and asked the main question that all of her thoughts lead back to, "what are you going to do then?"

Brittany giggled, "I think I might go back home. I told you, I'm starting to miss it."

Santana smiled widely, putting her phone onto speaker and putting it onto her pillow next to her head. "To New York?" Santana asked her, hoping that she was hearing correctly.

Brittany hummed, "yeah, to New York, Santana."

"Awesome!" Santana giggled. "But you still need to rest and take care of yourself," she added.

"I know, I will. We have another day off coming up so that should help. What about you? How was your day? Isn't it late in New York?" Brittany asked Santana and Santana thought that if she could see Brittany, she would be looking at her with raised eyebrows and a pointed stare.

"Yeah so… I ended up at the club with Rachel and Quinn, but Rach did that thing again where she thinks she can out-shot everyone and then suddenly can't stand up," Santana rambled, and Brittany chuckled, "she's passed out on my couch right now."

"Sounds fun," Brittany told her.

"The best," Santana agreed with sarcasm. "Anyway, Quinn and I were actually wondering how old you are?" Santana didn't think the alcohol she had drank tonight was really effecting her until that comment fell into the open without her really thinking beforehand.

Brittany was giggling, "you talking to Quinn about me, San?" Brittany's words were teasing and Santana's face was flushed with embarrassment.

"Um- well, she… Quinn wanted to know who I was texting and I told her it was you." Santana quickly tried to explain herself and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that Brittany didn't think she was lame.

"Twenty three," Brittany told her, and Santana grinned widely. "What about you?"

"Twenty four," Santana replied almost instantly, feeling a bit more relaxed knowing that Brittany was pretty much the same age as her. Not like her age made any difference in whether or not she was a potential serial-killer. "Do you wanna play a game?"

Brittany laughed, "what kind of game?"

"The question game," Santana suggested with a small smile. She wanted to know more about Brittany and she found herself wanting to tell Brittany everything about herself.

"I'd love to," Brittany told her and Santana breathed out a small breath of relief.

"You wanna go first?"

"Sure, Santana…"

---

New York, 20th May, 9:36pm

9:36pm Brittany: flowers or chocolates?

9:37pm Santana: flowers. I don't eat chocolate.

9:37pm Brittany: what the fuck

9:38pm Brittany: you don't eat chocolate?

9:39pm Santana: I have a dairy intolerance, Britt, so no chocolate for me :(

9:40pm Brittany: that's sad, so you've never eaten chocolate in your whole life?

9:41pm Santana: I had it a couple of years ago. Quinn bought these white chocolate covered strawberries and they looked too good so I ate one. Never again…

9:42pm Brittany: had a bad reaction?

9:43pm Santana: more like projectile vomited all over Quinn's living room. She was so pissed.

9:44pm Brittany: was it worth it?

9:45pm Santana: 100%, was the best strawberry I have ever eaten.

9:45pm Santana: What about you?

9:46pm Brittany: I love chocolate but flowers are really pretty, and having them given to you is one of the best feelings in the world.

9:46pm Santana: I wish I could agree but nobody has ever bought me flowers :(

9:47pm Brittany: WHAT? Are you serious?

9:48pm Santana: so serious, Britt.

9:50pm Brittany: I'll have to fix that then one day.

9:51pm Santana: Britt…

Santana could feel her heart rate suddenly pick up speed from Brittany's words, well, her message, and the knots tangling together in her stomach.

Over the last two weeks, she had felt more and more butterflies in her body and the heat that Brittany brought to her skin was only intensifying and growing warmer. She was undoubtedly hooked, and Santana had never developed feelings for somebody in such a short space of time that her mind was spinning with newfound emotions.

Santana had slowly started implementing Brittany into her daily routines: Wake up- message Brittany, arrive at the store- message Brittany, hang out with Quinn and Rachel- message Brittany, get back home for the night- wait for Brittany to call her. She was enjoying their conversations and she was enjoying finding out more about Brittany.

Brittany was everything and more than she expected her to be.

Brittany was soft and gentle, kind and funny. Brittany had the funniest and the dirtiest jokes, and Brittany knew exactly what to say to Santana to make her into a stuttering, awkward mess.

Santana knew that Brittany was beautiful, even if she had never seen her face, because Brittany's personality and her soft heart made the impression on Santana that every inch of this woman was absolutely gorgeous.

She wanted more, she needed to see her.

But Santana knew that once they changed from texting and phone calls that the dynamic would shift between them. She was stuck between wanting to explore the shift, or continuing to ignore it and believe that this is all something she had made up in her head. Because once she sees Brittany giggling on a screen, or watching her expressions change as Santana spoke, Santana knew that she wouldn't be able to ignore it any longer and she would have to admit that everything she felt was real.

9:53pm Brittany: San…

9:53pm Brittany: your turn ;)

Santana paused, biting her lip and contemplating.

9:53pm Santana: How do you feel about FaceTime?

Santana mumbled to herself, "shit," and threw her phone across the couch as if it had set on fire and burned straight through her hand. "Shit, shit, shit," she continued to mumble, jumping up and beginning to pace in her living room as her eyes stayed glued to the phone on the end of her couch.

After what seemed like forever, but in reality probably wasn't even a few minutes later, Santana's phone buzzed and she jumped a bit.

"Fuck, what do I do?" She groaned. Santana hit her forehead, "grow a pair" she whispered and motivated herself enough to hesitantly pick her phone back up. She hovered her finger over the screen and then rolled her eyes before quickly tapping it, glancing down at the message notification.

9:56pm Brittany: like in general or with you?

Santana let out a puff of air she didn't know was trapped in her lungs and giggled.

9:57pm Santana: With me, Britt.

9:57pm Brittany: I would love to. How about 30 mins? I'm just leaving work now.

9:58pm Santana: that sounds perfect, can't wait! Get home safe, Britt.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod," Santana freaked out, quickly moving to the direction of her bedroom. Her eyes widened when getting a glance at her reflection in the hallway mirror as she walked past it and internally panicked. She quickly hurried through her bedroom and into her bathroom, picking up her hairbrush with one hand and using her other hand to dial Quinn's number.

Santana did a quick check she had entered the numbers correctly and put her phone on speaker, dropping it onto her bathroom dresser. "Pick the fuck up, pick the fuck up, Q!" Santana groaned, pulling her bathrobe off and throwing it on the floor.

"What up, S?" Quinn's voice filled her bathroom and Santana sighed in relief as she started running the hairbrush through her hair in an attempt to tame it.

"I'm freaking the fuck out," Santana admitted, "I need your help!"

"Brittany?" Quinn asked and Santana paused with a frown, glancing down warily at her phone.

"Wait, how did you know that?" She asked.

"Santana, you've called me more times freaking out these past two weeks than you have our whole fucking life. Hate to be the one to tell you this, but you have a huge ass lesbian crush on this chick…" Santana could hear the playfulness in Quinn's teasing voice and rolled her eyes.

"Now's not the time to be weird!" Santana groaned, "we're FaceTiming in like twenty minutes and I'm scared!"

"Santana Lopez, scared?" Quinn laughed, "you know if Rach was here you would never hear the end of this, right?"

"Yes. Which is exactly why I'm calling you and not her. Please be serious right now!" Santana whined, putting her brush down and turning on her taps to wash her face.

"Okay, okay, shit you actually like her," Quinn mumbled, sounding like she was mostly speaking to herself. Santana rolled her eyes, "look, S… I think it's normal that you're scared because she could look completely different to what you're expecting in your head."

Santana shook her head, "that's not why I'm scared." Quinn made a small "huh" in confusion and Santana crossed her arms and mumbled, "I'm scared that she could be everything I'm expecting."

"Santana," Santana could detect the tone in Quinn's voice change and she gulped. "You need to stop with the I don't deserve love crap. If she is everything you want, then please don't run away from this. Just see what happens, that's all you can do. You owe it to yourself," Quinn spoke firmly but softly and Santana knew that Quinn knew that was how best to get through to her.

"You're right," she muttered.

"Damn straight I'm right!" Quinn laughed, "listen. I've got to admit that I was a bit cautious at first when you told me about her, but I've never seen you this happy to talk about someone. Just let yourself have this one, who knows what could happen?"

"Thanks Quinn, I needed that," Santana smiled and added, "let's not tell Rach about this mini freakout."

"Got it! Now go get your girl, bitch! I'll come by the store on my lunch tomorrow and you can tell me all about it!" Santana grinned at Quinn, and took a final deep breath.

"Can't wait," Santana said sarcastically but Quinn knew that she was joking. "Look I gotta go quickly change, love you, thanks Quinny!" Santana quickly hung up her phone when noting the time ticking closer and rushed into her bedroom to change.

She barely had her fresh hoodie covering her before a call came through on her phone.

FaceTime: Brittany

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck…"

---

LA, 20th May, 7:24pm

Brittany couldn't wait any longer.

Her walk home from the studio took longer than it ever had before, which was strange because Brittany practically ran home, despite having zero energy from dancing all day.

She had suddenly never felt so energised and Brittany's thoughts were racing with everything Santana, just like everyday since that first night.

Brittany didn't want to wait any longer to see Santana's face. So, as soon as her foot kicked the front door of her apartment shut, her hand was excitedly clicking on the FaceTime button underneath Santana's saved contact.

When the call connected after a few seconds, all of the air disappeared from her lungs. She paused from trying to detangle her arms from her backpack and all of her focus zoned in on Santana.

Because there she was, on the screen in her hand, looking even more beautiful than Brittany expected.

"Holy fucking shit," they both breathed out in unison, their cheeks flushing and smiles bashfully appearing on their lips.

Brittany felt dizzy because even though she expected nothing less, Santana was fucking beautiful and Brittany's heart was racing faster than ever before. Everything was spinning but Santana was still clearer than ever, Brittany couldn't look away from her.

"Hey, San," she managed to breathe out.

"Hi, Britt," Santana replied softly, a small smile playing on her lips.

Brittany focused on them for a second, and swallowed, "you're so beautiful," Brittany told her with a grin, shaking herself out of her haziness and trying to re-focus herself.

"Thanks, Britt," Santana grinned widely and Brittany slipped over her backpack that she was trying to step over after dropping it off her arm onto the floor, Santana's dimples on full show. Santana giggled, "you're cute. Are you just getting home? You could have called a bit later if you needed more time."

Brittany shook her head instantly, "I couldn't wait any longer to see you."

She watched as Santana went quiet for a few seconds after her comment, just like she usually did after Brittany made those types of comments, except now she would see Santana. Brittany could see Santana biting down on her bottom lip to stop her smile from growing wider, she would see Santana's flushed cheeks and her eyes lighting up.

"Stop looking at me like that, Britt," Santana whispered softly, looking at Brittany as that small smile finally broke out on her face.

Brittany giggled, "looking at you like what?"

Santana gave Brittany a knowing look, "you know what, Brittany."

Brittany looked at Santana with amusement and nodded a little in acknowledgment, "yeah I do." They both giggled at each other and then Brittany practically face-planted her couch as she fell onto it, "ughhh" she groaned loudly.

"You okay?" Santana chuckled.

"I can't wait to finish this job," Brittany mumbled and positioned her phone against her couch so she didn't have to hold it and sat cross legged on her couch in front of it.

She pouted, looking at Santana, and wished more than ever that she was back home in New York.

"You don't have long left, though, right?" Santana asked gently, raising an eyebrow for confirmation.

Brittany nodded with a smile, "that's right. Two months to go. My body will be glad, I think it needs a break," Brittany felt her stomach tighten when she noticed Santana's eyes scan around the screen, before coming back to focus on her face.

Brittany smirked and Santana blushed. "How come you're dancing everyday, B, surely that isn't good for your body?"

"It wasn't this for the whole time. I'm doing work for Mercedes Jones, have you heard of her?" Brittany started, noticing Santana's eyes widen when mentioning Mercedes's name.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Santana asked, "I went to high school with Mercedes! We were all close with her but then she moved out to LA for college. We still see each other whenever she comes back here."

Brittany looked at Santana in shock, "no way."

Santana grinned, "how crazily coincidental."

"This is like that invisible strings theory I have been reading about!" Brittany replied and Santana slapped her forehead.

"Rachel has been taking none stop about invisible stings for the past like month now!" Santana whined, half joking and half serious, "please carry on B!"

"Anyway, her parents are friends with my parents and when they told her about my last job finishing, Mercedes wanted me to help her with her new project," Brittany explained and Santana nodded, to encourage Brittany to keep going and that she was listening. "She wanted me involved in everything if I was going to be the one to create the piece. I was creating the routines, hiring the dancers, designing the sets, helping produce the final videos. We're just finishing up filming the final video. She wanted her album to tell a story and wanted a piece of art to go with each song."

Santana grinned widely, "I can't wait to see. I bet you're insanely talented."

Brittany smirked, "you bet" she winked.

Santana laughed loudly, "always the flirt," she told Brittany with a shake of her head.

"With you, always," Brittany admitted. "Especially now I know how hot you are too, score!"

"Brittany!" Santana playfully scolded her and Brittany just grinned widely. Santana broke out into a huge smile not even a second later and Brittany thought that Santana's smile was the best thing she had ever seen.

Santana was everything she had been wanting and hoping for and Brittany knew that she couldn't stop the emotions from overwhelming her and growing out of control. Her body felt more alive than ever, bubbling with excitement and contentment at the same time, and Brittany could feel her skin burning.

Brittany grinned bashfully at Santana for a moment, and sighed dreamily. "I'm so glad that you called me," she admitted in a soft tone, and Santana's adoring look visibly grew.

"I've never done this before," Santana told Brittany in a quiet voice.

"FaceTime?" Brittany asked curiously. Santana chuckled with amusement.

"No, Britt, this," Santana corrected, gesturing between herself and Brittany. Brittany made an understanding "oh" with her mouth, blushing from the miscommunication. "I'm not usually good at talking to people. I tend to stick to who I know, and who I know can take me being a bitch-"

"You're not a bitch, Santana!" Brittany cut her off with a pointed look.

"Not to you," Santana smirked and Brittany grinned, "you must be special. I couldn't think of a reason to ever be a bitch to you."

"I do feel special, then," Brittany giggled, feeling her body heat escalate. Santana wasn't even trying, but her words were making Brittany's head spin.

"Rachel and Quinn, we were practically all raised together from birth. Where I'm from in the upper east side, everyone just knows everyone and things start to become routine. It's all routine, and routine is all I rely on in my life. But you Brittany, nothing with you is routine and I can't stop thinking about you," Santana admitted softly.

Brittany paused, feeling as though Santana's words were going to make her pass out and she inhaled deeply to try and feed her lungs the air that they craved. Her shaky breath hitched in her ears and Brittany tilted her head to the side wordlessly.

"San, I-" she whispered, and then closed her mouth again to take another deep breath.

"I just wanted you to know. I really do like this," Santana reaffirmed all of Brittany's thoughts so easily, as though she was able to read all of her internal feelings and fears.

Brittany smiled widely at the admission and her heart squeezed in her chest. "I really like it too, speaking to you is my new favourite part of the day," Brittany whispered quietly.

Santana returned the smile, "me too."

---

New York, 25th May, 11:29am

Santana was sitting cross legged on the floor in the middle of her new deconstructed office, her phone resting comfortably against a boxed up desk chair that she was still yet to put together, and Brittany on her screen rambling on adorably.

The blonde woman finally had a day off, and Santana wished she had them more regularly if it meant that she could bring Brittany along to work with her all day instead.

Brittany had woken up twenty minutes before hand, calling Santana from her bed with excitement as she asked for the private tour of her new store. As Santana finished up showing Brittany her vision, she came a halt in her office.

"Santana?" A loud, familiar obnoxious voice called through the shop a few minutes later and Santana's eyes widened, darting between Brittany and the door to her office in panic.

"S? Where are y-oh why are you sitting on the floor?" Quinn cut herself off when she and Rachel came barging into her office, coming face to face with Santana sitting in the middle of the floor. Santana plastered a fake smile on her face and looked pointedly from Quinn to her phone.

"Who is that?" Rachel asked with a frown, squinting her eyes at Santana's phone screen and inching closer to her. Santana panicked and picked up her phone, hiding it from Rachel's view, "Santana, is that Brittany?"

"Brittany? Who's Brittany? Quinn, do you know a Brittany?" Santana asked, glancing down at her screen to see Brittany with an amused smile.

She sighed, knowing that Rachel wasn't going to give up and it was pointless. Santana momentarily contemplated kicking them both out of her office. All she wanted to do was enjoy a morning at work with Brittany there to help discuss what wallpaper she should get, or help pass some time with her questions.

"Okay, Berry, listen…" Santana started in a warning tone, pointing one finger between her two friends and added after a second thought, "you too, Q." Quinn frowned, "if either of you dare say anything embarrassing I swear…"

"San, it's fine, I want to meet them," Brittany interrupted Santana's meaningless threat with a small laugh.

Santana paused her inevitable Snix release, "you sure, Britt? Because I can kick them out if you feel uncomfortable?"

Rachel frowned, "how rude!"

Brittany grinned, "I promise. It's okay."

Santana felt somewhat nervous, which was strange. This somebody made Brittany more real- sharing her with her friends. As much as Santana wanted to gush non-stop to her friends about how amazing Brittany was, she was scared to cross that line and mix Brittany into her crazy world.

Brittany actually talking to Rachel and Quinn was completely different to Santana just telling them about her, and she subconsciously prepared herself to swiftly intervene if Rachel went off on one of her usual tangents.

"Britt, this is Quinn and Rachel," Santana started, then turned her phone so Rachel and Quinn could see a smiling Brittany, "Q and Berry, this is Brittany."

"You don't look crazy enough to be enjoying talking to Santana in your free time," Quinn commented, dodging Santana's flailing hand with a laugh. "Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."

"I've heard a lot about you both, too," Brittany admitted and Santana quickly turned the phone back to face herself with widened eyes.

Rachel smirked, "you talking about us, Lopez?"

Santana snorted, "only bad things, don't get your panties all wet, Rach." Brittany gave her a pointed look and Santana grinned sweetly. "Britt is helping me at work because she has the day off today," Santana explained in the next breath.

"And why would you want to do that?" Quinn asked Brittany with confusion.

Brittany shrugged with a smile, "honestly I'd do anything with Santana." Brittany shared an adoring look with Santana, who felt those familiar butterflies come flying back into her body.

Her cheeks heated up with a blush and she ignored Rachel's "you're so in love" look. "Barf," Quinn groaned with a fake gag. "Wouldn't you rather be sleeping? I hear that Cedes has you on a killer schedule!"

"Cedes as in Mercedes?" Rachel interrupted and the three others turned to her with a nod, forgetting that she wasn't aware of that piece of information. "No fucking way!" Rachel squealed, "I miss her. How is she? As if you're working with our friend! This just proves the invisible string theory is awesome!"

"Rachel! Rachel- rein it in a bit!" Quinn chuckled when noticing Santana glaring and Brittany trying to hold back a laugh during Rachel's spitfire questions.

She laughed, "yeah, I think I'm going to miss her when I come back to New York. My schedule has only been this bad for the past few weeks now that the project is coming to an end. Otherwise it's been really chilled," Brittany explained.

"So, you're coming back to New York?" Quinn asked with a grin, Brittany nodded.

"Absolutely. I miss home…" Brittany said, her eyes flicking to look at Santana.

Santana knew then, that Brittany was trying to tell her everything through her eyes, and Santana felt everything Brittany was saying with them as her heart clenched in her chest.

Santana was beginning to look forward to Brittany coming home.

---

LA, 8th June, 3:06pm

It had been a little over a month of Santana. Everyday, for a whole month, Brittany has had a daily fix of her new favourite feeling of speaking to Santana. Santana had taken over her, and Brittany couldn't stop craving more and more as the days went on.

Everything made her think of Santana.

Brittany thought about Santana when she was dancing, she thought about Santana was she wasn't dancing, and lately, Santana had even taken over her dreams. She knew that Santana was different, special even, and Brittany knew that the days leading up to her return to New York seemed to be dragging longer than she would like. Brittany also knew that she had it bad for Santana.

She had to keep reminding herself, that in less than two months, she would be back in New York. She also had to keep reminding herself, that Santana was also in New York.

"You're doing that thing again, Britt," Kurt laughed from his position sat on the floor with his back against the mirrored walls.

"What thing?" Brittany lifted her head off of the wooden floor as she laid on her back in front of him.

"That thing where you get lost in your thoughts," Kurt told her knowingly, "thinking about anybody in particular, there? Maybe a drop dead gorgeous Latina that has you even more smiley than usual?"

"Maybe," Brittany said shyly as her face heated up with the embarrassment of being caught and then dropped her head back against the flooring. She closed her eyes, "Kurt, I really like her," she whispered to him.

"I know," Kurt replied with a smile. Brittany sighed and sat back up in front of him, crossing her legs. "Is there a problem with you really liking her?" Kurt asked her gently when she stayed silent for a moment longer.

Brittany shook her head, "no. I just-" she paused. Kurt reached over and squeezed her leg encouragingly. "I don't know what things are going to be like for us when I get back to New York. What if she doesn't want to see me?"

"Did she say that?" Kurt asked with disbelief. Kurt had seen Santana speak to Brittany on FaceTime, he had seen how she looked her at.

"No, but-" Brittany started and Kurt shook his head.

"Britt… Santana is smitten with you. Probably just as much as you are for her. I have no doubt that she will want to see you," he told her truthfully and Brittany looked at him.

"Do you really think?" She asked him.

"Of course, why wouldn't she? You're amazing Britt!" Brittany finally cracked and smile and reached over to embrace Kurt in a tight hug. "Thanks Kurt! Maybe I should just ask her?" Brittany suggested.

Brittany wanted Santana, and she wanted Santana to know that she wanted her.

Kurt nodded, "you should."

"What, now?" Brittany asked and he nodded again.

"Go for it, girly!" Kurt told her, jumping up to his feet. "I'm going to go over the final fittings with Mercedes. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Kurt winked and Brittany grinned warily at him as he stumbled out of the room.

Brittany sighed when the door of the studio shut behind him, leaving her alone.

She could feel her heart rate quicken anxiously and chewed down on her lower lip. Maybe Kurt was right, she just needed to rip off the bandaid and have it out in the open?

"I can do this, it's fine," Brittany mumbled to herself. She bounced on her toes for a few seconds before rolling her eyes and taking her phone out of her pocket, clicking on Santana's contact at the top of her recently called list before she could overthink. She listened to the phone ring once before Santana's soft voice was filling her ears.

"Hey, Britt," Santana giggled as she answered.

"Hi," Brittany breathed out. Santana's voice always seemed to suck all of the air from her lungs.

"Everything okay?" Santana asked and Brittany nodded, before remembering that Santana couldn't actually see her.

"Yeah, I just have a question," Brittany told her. She inhaled deeply and squeezed her eyes shut, but then the words came tumbling out like word vomit. "Will you go on a date with me, Santana?"

"A d-date?" Santana stuttered and Brittany could picture her rosy cheeks and raised eyebrows.

She grinned at the image in her mind, "yeah. When I get back to New York. I would love to take you out."

"Brittany…" Santana whispered, "I would love that."

Brittany couldn't wait to go home.

---

New York, 16th June, 2:09pm

Santana had always hated the fancy dinners that their parents would organise with all of their fancy friends and their families, in turn forcing herself, Quinn and Rachel to attend.

The socialising, the pointless talking about things nobody actually cared about, and the preparation of every small detail. Santana hated it all. She hated everything, except maybe the fancy clothes that everyone dressed in.

That's probably where Santana's love for fashion came from. But, putting that aside, Santana hated the fancy bullshit dinner parties. Santana always wondered if she would hate them for the rest of her life, or if they would grow to become the best part of her month- just like her parents.

Her parents loved these dinners and having time with their friends, so for them, Santana found herself agreeing to attend no matter how badly she would rather be cosied up in her own apartment.

"Mija!" Santana was dragged away from her phone as she sulked in the corner of the kitchen, and was suddenly standing beside her mother and an older blonde woman, "this is Susan! Her husband, Mark, started working with your Papi not that long ago. She has a daughter your age!"

She smiled politely at the woman, Susan, who looked somewhat familiar. Santana shrugged, putting it down to probably seeing her at a dinner somewhere without taking much notice, and offered her hand out to the woman. "Nice to meet you. Is your daughter here?"

Susan smiled warmly and shook her hand, "you too, Santana. You're very pretty!" Santana's cheeks flushed, "she's doing some work out of New York at the moment, she's due back soon."

"You must miss her," Santana offered, she felt comfortable around Susan. Her presence was warm and Santana felt at ease talking to her.

"I miss her a lot," Susan agreed, "but she's doing what she loves. I'm really proud of her, too. I hear you're in the middle of doing something amazing for your career, too?"

Santana nodded shyly, trying to look pointedly at her mother who had clearly been gossiping about her to her friends. Maribel lifted her hands defensively with a laugh, "ay, Tana, Papi and I are just happy that you're finally doing what you want."

"Your Mami has shown me your designs, I can't wait to come shopping!" Susan winked and Santana giggled at her, looking at her feet bashfully.

"Thanks, Susan," she grinned. "How long have you lived in New York?" Santana asked her.

She pulled herself up onto the counter, ignoring the pointed look from her mother. Susan chuckled at Santana, her blue eyes sparkling and reminding her of Brittany. Santana was suddenly thinking about Brittany, and make the silent decision that Brittany would love these fancy dinners.

"We've always lived here, but moved away for a while when our daughter went to college. She stayed to go to school in New York but my husband and I decided to go travelling for a while. We moved back permanently about two years ago, just before our daughter left," Susan explained and Santana listened with interest.

So far, she liked Susan. Susan seemed different to the usual stuck up people that attended these dinners, obviously aside from the Berry/Fabray/Jones parties. Susan seemed kind and warm, and she liked talking to her.

"I think you'd get on with her," Susan grinned, looking at Santana with kind eyes.

Santana returned the smile, "yeah? If she's anything like you, then I can see that."

Maribel chucked, "always the charmer, mija."

Santana shrugged without shame and then smiled when her phone buzzed in its safe place securely in her bra. She jumped down of the counter and slowly backed away from the conversation, "look, as much as I love chatting, and Susan, it was really lovely to meet you and I can't wait to talk more- but now, I really, really, need to go! Quinn is almost here and I forgot I had something I need to give her."

Santana could see their questioning eyes and grins awkwardly, before turning out of the room and hurrying to the privacy of her parent's backyard. Well, endless of old people still surrounded her, but she was away from her mother's and Susan's curious, prying eyes.

2:31pm Brittany: I miss you.

2:35pm Santana: I miss you too. I wish you were here with me to make this more tolerable.

2:36pm Brittany: I can't wait to be dragged to one of your boring dinner parties one day.

2:37pm Santana: lol, strangely enough I was thinking earlier that you would definitely be in your element here.

2:38pm Brittany: oh for sure, especially if it's around you ;) how's it going there?

2:39pm Santana: Britt! And not too bad. Actually I just met one of my Mami's new friends and she reminded me of you.

2:41pm Brittany: really? Why's that?

2:42pm Santana: Aside from the fact she looked a lot like you but older. She was really kind and I warmed to her quite quickly… like I did with you.

2:43pm Brittany: You are so fucking cute.

2:43pm Brittany: I really wish I was there with you.

2:44pm Santana: I really wish that too, Britt.

2:45pm Brittany: It's so hard to not just book a flight and come home right now.

2:46pm Santana: b… you can't do that silly.

2:47pm Brittany: I know. Doesn't mean I can't think about me turning up there and sweeping you off of your fine ass.

2:49pm Santana: you really are something.

2:50pm Brittany: you know it.

2:51pm Santana: just so you know, I'd be into that.

2:52pm Brittany: oh?

2:52pm Santana: yeah. Really into it.

2:53pm Brittany: that's really good to know, San.

---

New York, 1st July, 12:55am

"22 more days," Santana breathed out with a smile to Brittany, her heart fluttering.

Brittany was due home in three weeks, and had told Santana that she couldn't wait any longer than twenty four hours after landing before seeing her. After trying to convince Brittany to spend some time catching up with sleep and seeing her family first, Santana was caving into Brittany's pout.

In the end, she agreed for the night after. That way, Brittany could see her family in the evening after her flight and spend the majority of the day together. Santana was silently thankful that Brittany had wanted to see her as quickly as possible, because every day seemed to be getting longer and longer and Santana was loosing her patience.

The anticipation and the need to have Brittany close to her was eating away at her and she had never craved somebody so much.

"Those days can't go quick enough," Brittany smiled back at her widely.

They were both laid in bed, their phones propped up on their pillows and when Santana closed her eyes as Brittany spoke, it was almost as if she was right there next to her. Santana nodded in agreement, "you're right Britt-Britt, I want to get my cuddle on."

Brittany giggled at Santana's comment and Santana could see her cheeks turning red under the light of her bedside lamp. "I give the best cuddles," Brittany warns, "you think you can handle them?"

Santana grinned, "I think so. I can't wait to find out."

"Times like these are when I regret not building that Time Machine back in high school. Hear me out- I could freeze time, come and cuddle with you, and come back again. Then we could all go about our day as normal. Nobody would even know but us!" Santana laughed at Brittany's words.

"Genius, babe!" Santana's smile suddenly faded, but she watched with horror as Brittany's widened.

"Oh- la, la," Brittany teased and Santana couldn't help but giggle, her embarrassment fading as quickly as it appeared. "You called me babe," Brittany sang in a playful voice and Santana just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she mumbled, trying to be annoyed but couldn't hide the massive smile on her face.

"You make me so happy," Brittany suddenly said and Santana's eyebrows shot up her head. "No, I'm serious. You make me so happy, Santana," she repeated, her voice growing serious as she stared at Santana with an adoring look.

"You make me happy too, Britt," Santana told her, "more happy than anybody has ever made me."

"I have a question," Brittany whispered and Santana hummed softly, "have you ever been in love before?"

A short silence followed the question and Brittany hesitantly opened her mouth, but Santana reassured her with a soft smile and a tiny shake of her head. "It's okay, B," Santana told her, "but to answer your question, no, I don't think I have."

"No?" Brittany asked with a small head tilt.

"Well, I came out quite late, like, when I was in college and every girl that I started to like just wanted to experiment and I just figured that I shouldn't even try anymore because I didn't want to get hurt. The then I met this girl, Elaine," Santana spoke softly, "we grew really close and we ended up getting together. Things didn't work out with us, we ended up being better as friends. I loved her but I don't think I was in love with her."

"Why do you say that?" Brittany asked curiously, and Santana just smiled.

"Because the feelings I felt for her don't even compare to the feelings that I feel for you," Santana admitted in a whisper. "I never knew feelings like this could even exist, I'm learning so much, and sometimes it's really overwhelming. But I love it, and I really really like you," Santana stopped her rambling when she noticed Brittany just staring at her with the widest smile.

"Wanna know something?" Brittany asked quietly.

Santana nodded, "yeah."

"I'm falling, too, for the first time: like really falling."

---

New York, 13th July, 5:30pm

Santana entered her parents house and called out to her mother, "Mami!" She shouted, hearing her mother call back from in the kitchen. She walked with a small bounce in her step, smiling a little as her afternoon chat with Brittany still replayed over again in her mind.

"In here, Santana!" Her mother shouted back. "You're here earlier than I thought."

"Hey, Mami, Rachel came by the store, helped with a few things so I could get out quicker," Santana told her with a shrug, smiling wider as Maribel brought her into a tight embrace.

"That's kind of her," Maribel said, "I'm glad to see you survived being alone with her and still came out smiling for once." Santana rolled her eyes at her mother's joke and sat down onto the bar stool at the island.

"We wasn't really alone. I had my friend on the phone, too!" Santana explained with a laugh. Maribel sent Santana a questioning glance. Santana could see the beginning of an interrogation approaching and grinned nervously, picking up the napkins and tablecloths on the worktop. "What's all this for? Another dinner?"

Maribel grinned, "ah, yes!" She clapped her hands, the distraction tactic working completely, and turned her attention to the pastel-coloured rainbow cloths. Santana thought they were cute, and then in a second thought, she thought Brittany would think they were cute too. "Susan's daughter is due back. They are having a celebratory welcome home dinner. Actually- she told me to extend the invite to you. She's been asking about you, you made quite the impression."

Santana nodded instantly. Despite hating those dinners, she figured that she could push that aside because she really did enjoy being around Susan. Plus, Santana briefly recalled Susan telling her that Santana would get along well with her daughter, and Santana wanted to meet her.

"Sounds like fun," Santana agreed.

"Wait, that's it? You're coming? Are you feeling okay?" Maribel asked in shock.

"Yeah?" Santana asked slowly.

"Normally you hate them and it takes me days to convince you to come. I didn't even have to mention Quinn or Rachel." Maribel looked at Santana suspiciously, "are you okay?"

Santana groaned, "pfft, whatever Mami," she side eyed Maribel and folded her arms. "I liked Susan," she defended herself, "when is it?"

"21st," Maribel tells her and Santana frowns slightly before the date mentally registers, the day Brittany comes home. "Are you free?"

"Yeah. I'm busy the 22nd," Santana tells her with a smile, thinking that this dinner would be a great distraction from Brittany and thinking about their date the night after.

Santana was already nervous, she couldn't imagine how nervous she would feel the night before.

For the last two months, Santana had gone to bed every night with a goodnight message or phone call from Brittany. Knowing that in less than ten days, she would finally be able to say everything to Brittany in person, she felt restless.

The days had gotten longer and Santana was looking for distractions to settle her nerves. Which was why she was even over at her parent's house in the first place.

"Great, I'll let Susan know. She'll be glad," Maribel told her with a smile, taking in Santana's away-with-the-fairies look. "How's everything going with the store?" She asked her daughter, snapping Santana out of her apparent disassociation.

"I'm almost done finalising everything. Next week, I don't have to do as much because the construction workers will be in finishing off. I should be good to get everything done pretty quickly after that." Santana grinned as Maribel smiled fondly at her daughter's excitement.

"It'll be done in no time, Mija, you've made us so proud. It's going to look amazing," Maribel told her.

"Thanks Mami," She said shyly. "What time is Papi due back home?"

"Him and Mark are out looking at properties. He said to expect him around six-thirty," Maribel told her then added, "they are such a lovely family."

"Yeah, they are. I bet their daughter is just like them," Santana agreed with a smile.

"Want to watch some reality tv while we wait for Papi? Food is in the oven already," Maribel asked Santana, who nodded instantly and jumped off of the barstool.

"Don't have to ask me twice, Mami."

---

New York, 21st July, 4:04pm

4:04pm Brittany: landed back on home turf. finally in the same time zone!

4:05pm Santana: finally! How was your flight?

4:05pm Brittany: not too bad, just happy to be back home in New York.

4:06pm Santana: I can't believe you're going to be not even thirty minutes away from me and I can't see you for another 24 hours.

4:07pm Brittany: hey, who's fault is that? I was all for bailing on my fam and coming to see you straight away.

4:08pm Santana: don't tempt me, Britt.

4:09pm Brittany: if my mom wasn't already on her way to pick me up from the airport, then I would be all for throwing the plan out of the window and coming straight to you.

4:09pm Brittany: but for what it's worth, I'm very tempted to.

4:10pm Santana: one more day.

4:10pm Brittany: one more day, baby, we can do it.

"Britt!" Brittany's attention jumped from her phone to the familiar voice calling her name. A bashful smile took over her face and she stuffed her phone into her pocket before jumping to her feet. "Oh my goodness, Brittany! You're really here!"

She rolled her eyes playfully at her mother's overly dramatic emotions and embraced the smaller, but older, version of herself into a bone crushing bear hug. "Hi mom," Brittany grinned, squeezing her mother for effect, "yeah, I'm really here."

Her mom pulled away from her and lightly slapped her shoulder. Brittany rubbed the spot with a pout and her mother chuckled, "don't ever leave us for that long again!"

"Sorry," she laughed, "where's dad?"

"He got out of work too late, probably too busy chatting to Antonio," Susan chuckled. "Anyway he should be getting home now. I told him to finish up some final bits at the house. We're gonna have a welcome home dinner with a few people from work," her mom explained and Brittany internally groaned.

No wonder Santana hates dinner parties, Brittany thought.

All she wanted to do was go home and rest, maybe have a take-out with her parents. But, Brittany knew that they meant well and had probably gone through a lot of effort for this all to be perfect for her. Plus, they've been so excited about her dad's new job and their new friends which made Brittany want to suck it up and do this for them.

So, Brittany sucked it up and smiled. "That sounds great, mom. What time is everyone getting there?"

"Around 8.30pm. I thought you could do with some rest before people arrived, after travelling all day," her mom's blue eyes were shining as she gave Brittany a gentle smile, and Brittany nodded gratefully. "Did Kurt not need a ride home, honey?" She asked Brittany as they pulled up to her car.

"I got it…" Brittany told her mom after she had opened the trunk, and lifted her suitcases into the car before closing it again. "Blaine picked Kurt up about ten minutes before you got here, it was sickeningly cute."

Her mom laughed and raised her eyebrow as Brittany settled into the passenger seat. "What about you?" She asked.

Brittany shifted in her seat while her mom pulled out of the parking lot, "what do you mean?"

"Did you find somebody in LA?" Her mom asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Brittany's cheeks burned with embarrassment and she avoided looking at her mother for a few seconds. Because how was she going to explain Santana? Technically she did find her whilst she was in LA- it just so happened that Santana was still in New York. "No…." Brittany lied instead.

"You sure about that?" Her mom prodded with a knowing stare and Brittany regretted glancing at her because she could see that her mother was reading her like an open book.

"Okay, yes, maybe…" Brittany sighed and then clarified, "we have our first date tomorrow."

"That's nice, honey. Did you meet her on the project?" Her mom asked with a kind smile.

Brittany frowned and blew out a puff of air, shaking her head. "Nope," she let out a nervous laugh, "she's been in New York this whole time."

Brittany watched as her mother's eyebrows rose on her forehead, "oh?" Brittany had a tight lipped smiled and stiffly nodded in confirmation to what she knew her mother was putting together.

"Yeah…" she trailed off. "She drunk dialled my number one night and then she sober dialled me the day after. We've talked everyday since."

Her mother grinned as she took in Brittany's love-stuck expression, "and you really like her?"

Brittany nodded again with a more natural smile as she thought about Santana and agreed with her mom, "yup."

Suddenly, the Bluetooth connected to her Mother's car began signalling a call, interrupting their conversation. Her mom was too quick to answer it, and she didn't get to see the caller ID.

An unfamiliar, "hi Susan," sounded through the car with a think accent. Brittany grinned despite not knowing the voice, thinking how homey and strong the voice sounded.

"Ah, Mari, hello!" Her mother was grinning, "everything okay?"

Brittany listened curiously to the conversation, staying silent. "I'm just calling to let you know that Mark accidentally left the boxes of wine at the office for tonight, but Antonio brought it home with him when he left, so please tell him not to worry. We will bring it along with us!"

"What's he like!" Susan rolled her eyes playfully, amusement at her husband's forgetfulness. "Thank you, what would they do without us?"

"Ay, I don't even like to think about it," the other woman joked and Brittany cracked a smile, sniggering a bit under her breath. Her mom caught it and smiled warmly back at her. "I'll let you go now and spend some time with Brittany. I can't wait to meet her, see you tonight Susan!"

"Thanks again! See you later, bye-bye!" Susan disconnected the phone and turned her attention to a curious Brittany. "That was Antonio's wife. She's coming tonight with her daughter," Susan started to chuckle and Brittany frowned.

"What?" She asked suspiciously.

"I was gonna introduce you to her daughter because I thought you would be into her. She seems like somebody you would like. Turns out you're already all boo'd up." Brittany laughed at her mom and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sorry, I've already got my eyes on somebody. She would have to be perfect to get me to change my mind," Brittany told her with a smile.

"I can't wait to meet her one day. She must be special if you like her that much," Susan told her softly as they pulled up to the Pierce residence.

Brittany smiled, "she really is."

---

New York, 21st July, 8:42pm

All Santana had thought about for the past three months was Brittany.

Knowing that she would finally get to see her tomorrow, Santana was elated and her body was buzzing with an overwhelming energy as she internally anticipated this all happening. This was all suddenly much more real than Santana thought and all of the feelings were hitting her at full speed, breaks thrown out of the window.

But Santana also felt a happiness and an excitement that she had never felt, and she was enamoured by the fact that Brittany could bring all of this out of her without even really having to try.

Because from their first conversation, she had wanted more and more Brittany. And although she was disgustingly intoxicated, she can still remember every single emotion and feeling that drunken phone call gave to her, what Brittany gave to her then and the feelings she has continued to give her since. Ever since then, those feelings have amplified and increased in a way that Santana didn't even think was possible.

Santana was bubbling with a need to finally have Brittany with her, because all of the conversations over past three months have built up to this. To finally having her in New York, to have finally have a conversation in the same time zone, to finally being able to touch her.

Santana grinned widely as she stood outside of Susan's house, next to her Mami, with a box of wine in her arms. She was strangely looking forward to the night, she had loved Susan's kind and gentle aura when they met at the last dinner, and it had reminded her so much of the similar qualities she seen in Brittany.

Santana thought as she left Brittany to enjoy her family downtime, that she could bask in Susan's calm nature and use it to take her mind off of her internal Brittany-panic.

"Santana, are you sure you don't want help, Mija?" Maribel asked with amusement as Santana struggled to keep her balance as well as securely hold the box of wine bottles.

"I'm fine, Mami," Santana mumbled in determination, shifting her grip on the box. "Can you get the door please? If this box isn't on the counter within the next couple of minutes then everybody will be staying sober at this party!"

Maribel chuckled and reached to open the door, "we can't have that now, can we?" She asked.

Santana agreed; a dinner party was not something she could do sober… even despite how much she liked Susan.

When they slipped inside carefully, Maribel had her hand placed on Santana's lower back to hurriedly guide her struggling daughter into the kitchen. "Let me help you, Santana, honey!" Santana heard Susan's familiar voice from around the box but couldn't really see her, and then two hands were helping her lift the wine bottles onto the counter.

"Thanks," Santana said bashfully with a smile, smoothing out her floor length, tight red dress with her hands, before they naturally came up to smooth out her straightened hair. "Nice to see you!" Santana gushed and Susan pulled her into a hug.

"You too! You look beautiful," Susan complimented with a soft smile.

Santana blushed at the comment, "thanks. How does it feel to have your daughter back home?" Santana asked with a smile, watching as Susan's whole face lit up at the mention of her daughter.

"It's been a long time coming. I'm so glad she came back home, I thought for a while she would end up staying out in LA!" Susan laughed, and Santana's attention suddenly piked.

"LA?" She asked curiously, her heart speeding up.

Susan nodded obliviously, "yeah, that's where she was out working. Have you ever been?"

Santana shook her head with a smile, "no, but somebody I know has just been there. I'd love to go out there one day."

"Yeah, me too. She said they've got some really nice restaurants out there," Susan chuckled and Santana grinned widely. "She should be down soon actually, she's just finishing up getting changed. I think she's been napping. I'll get her to come and find you to say hi, maybe she can tell you the good places to go," Susan suggested.

Santana nodded with a smile, "yeah, I'd like that," Santana agreed and then caught sight of Quinn appearing in the kitchen. "No way, what are you doing here?"

Quinn shrugged with a smirk, "apparently all of our parents are all weirdly connected in one way or another which means surviving dinners alone is officially a thing of the past!"

"Quinn!" Quinn's smile faded when her mother glared at her slightly.

"Sorry," Quinn told her mother with a wide smile, before looking back at Santana with a knowing look.

Santana chuckled slightly at her friend and looked between her Mami and Susan, "excuse my friend. She doesn't know what she's talking about- I'll go and deal with her now." Santana grinned and inched closer to Quinn, dragging her by her arm to the outdoor patio.

"I think Berry's obnoxious personality is rubbing off on you, Q," Santana laughed. "Where is she tonight anyway? Is she coming because that's the last thing I need tonight?"

"Relax, she's at work, you're all good," Quinn told her. "Is this about Brittany?" She asked Santana after a second.

"What? No!" Santana exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "We can't get the usual super drunk tonight, this is Susan's first dinner party and it's for her daughter. We can't get crazy," she added.

"Since when do you actually like these parties?" Quinn asked with a laugh.

"I don't," Santana groaned, "but I like Susan."

"Boo," Quinn huffed. "Maybe I should have told Rachel to come with us."

"Nope, no, no," Santana shook her head, "definitely not. Let's not involve Berry in all of this."

"Mija, Susan's daughter is down here, come and meet her…" Santana and Quinn turned to the patio doors, where Maribel was poking her head out and gesturing them to come to her.

Santana nudged Quinn who looked as pissed as what Santana usually looked like at these parties. "We're coming, Mami," Santana told her, pulling Quinn along with her as they walked back into the house behind her mother.

"What if she's like Rachel?" Quinn asked quietly as they walked, so only Santana could hear.

"Q, nobody is like Rachel," Santana laughed under her breath, "she operates on a level all of her own." Quinn snorted out a laugh at Santana's comment that made Santana finally let out a laugh.

"Santana?" Santana frowned because she knew that voice.

Her attention snapped instantly from Quinn to look ahead of her, and her mouth went dry and her eyes widened because there was no way that this was possible. Santana couldn't believe her eyes and was stunned into a frozen silence.

"Oh my fucking god," Santana barely heard Quinn whisper and all she could focus on was who was in front of her. Her heart raced the fastest it had ever raced, and Santana could hear the palpitations pounding and echoing in her ears. "Is that-"

Quinn cut herself off as Santana suddenly quickened her pace and threw herself into the arms of the woman staring back at her in shock.

"Brittany," Santana breathed out in realisation as the tall blonde, that she had been thinking about for the last three months, wrapped her arms around Santana to pull her in closer.

"You two know each other?" Santana heard her mother ask from somewhere next to them, but all Santana could do was bury her face further into Brittany's neck and sigh with contentment.

Brittany's vanilla body lotion filled Santana's nostrils and her head span from all of her senses that had been taken over. Santana pulled back slightly, looking at Brittany's blue eyes in fascination, "what are you doing here?"

Santana cracked a smile at Brittany, "boring dinner party," she giggled in explanation.

Brittany laughed, "you've been partying with my mom this whole time?" Santana frowned with confusion and pulled a bit more away from Brittany's embrace, her eyebrows shooting upwards as everything added up together in her head.

"No fucking way!" She gasped, looking from Brittany over to Susan. Susan and Maribel were looking at their daughters with confusion, "no wonder she reminded me of you."

Brittany giggled, "you're so silly."

"This is some movie shit," Quinn laughed in amusement, shaking her head at the scene in front of her.

"You already know Santana?" Susan asked her daughter with surprise.

Brittany blushed and Santana grinned, because a flustered Brittany in person was her new favourite thing. She watched as Brittany's sun-kissed cheeks turned rosy, and how she bit down shyly on her lip to avoid smiling too wide. Santana thought it was the cutest thing she had seen.

"Well, that's a long story," Brittany told her mom sheepishly and then explained vaguely, "I met Santana in LA."

"Santana's never been to LA, we just spoke about that earlier," Susan told her daughter with raised eyebrows, a bit confused.

"I was still in New York," Santana clarified with a nervous grin, looking between both of their mothers questioning stares.

"Wait- is this?" Susan asked as she put two and two together, following her conversation with Brittany earlier and looking at how closely Santana was still standing to her daughter despite pulling out of the tight embrace.

Brittany nodded stiffly, the redness of her cheeks deepening. "Y-yeah…"

Maribel looked at Susan and Brittany, and then to Santana who looked equally as flustered. "Mija, what?" She asked.

"Britt and I, Mami," Santana started, "we're- we-,"

"Santana drunk dialled Brittany a few months ago and she's been whipped ever since," Quinn's voice explained, cutting off Santana's stuttering, and Santana quickly turned her head around to glare at her friend. "Rachel is going to go insane about this! She's been going down rabbit holes about the invisible string theory for months now!"

"Thanks, Q," Santana sarcastically thanked her best friend, who was watching the whole thing unfold like she had just booked herself a ticket to the best movie of the year. She rolled her eyes at Quinn and Santana sighed and then rushed out in one long breath, "butyeahwhatQuinnsaid."

Maribel gave Santana a look of disbelief and then looked fondly at Brittany. Santana wanted the ground to swallow her up, and hoped in a second thought that Brittany would follow her.

"Small world," Maribel laughed and Santana nodded awkwardly, feeling as though all of the butterflies in her stomach were about to burst out of her mouth.

Susan chuckled after a few silent seconds of them all gathering their thoughts together. She looked at her daughter, noticing how her eyes followed Santana's movements with longing and adoration. She also noticed how Santana looked down and shifted on her feet, as if to prevent herself from throwing her arms back around the woman standing directly beside her. "Britt, I was talking to Maribel earlier about our rum collection. Why don't you go and show Santana, Maribel said that rum is her favourite-"

"I know," Brittany chimed in with a small smile, and Santana's eyes lifted from the ground to look straight back at Brittany's with the softest of smiles. "Quinn, do you want to come?"

Brittany broke away from the eye contact Santana was holding with her after getting lost in them for a moment, turning to Quinn. She silently hoped that Quinn didn't have an interest in rum, and looked almost pleasingly at Santana's friend.

Quinn grinned, "I think I just heard my mom say something about bacon, plus I gotta call Rachel," she winked at Santana and shuffled out of the room. As she walked out, she mouthed a discreet, "good luck," to Santana.

Santana took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut tightly to compose herself. Then, she opened them to find Brittany still standing in front of her with that gorgeous beaming smile.

"Will you bring a bottle back with you, Brittany?" Susan asked her daughter with a smile then added, "don't hurry back."

Brittany groaned loudly at her mother and grabbed Santana's hand. Santana jumped as the skin on her hand burned from the contact of Brittany's hand in hers. "Come on, San," she whispered and pulled Santana through her house.

Santana let Brittany pull her down the hallway and towards the front of the house. Brittany opened a door just to the left of the front door and pulled Santana into the darkened room, before she reached around Santana to click the lock in place.

As the sound clicked loudly, Santana gulped. She could feel Brittany stood in front of her and the room was dark, but Santana knew that she was wedged between the door and the woman. Santana's breathing picked up and she closed her eyes, hearing a quieter click of Brittany turning the lights on.

"San, open your eyes," Brittany whispered, and Santana could feel Brittany's breath on her lips and her hands steadily holding her waist. Santana let out a shaky breath and her eyes were fluttering open to look directly into Brittany's.

"Is this actually happening or am I dreaming?" Santana whispered, afraid that if she spoke any louder then this would all fade away.

Brittany smiled, "you tell me, does this feel real?"

Santana started to frown but then Brittany was kissing her and she was humming against strawberry flavoured lips. "Hmm," she whispered, her hands instantly moving to cup Brittany's face to hold her in place.

Santana felt butterflies and could hear fireworks, and she had never felt so intoxicated from a first kiss with somebody.

But Brittany wasn't just anybody.

Brittany was understanding and would listen to her dramatically ranting about every small inconvenience that happened. Brittany was funny, and could make Santana the happiest she had been. Santana had never felt so accepted and so able to be completely herself.

Santana loved kissing Brittany, she loved how it felt to kiss Brittany and she loved the way Brittany swirled her tongue against hers to create a warmth that had her entire body crumbling.

"Brittany," she whispered against Brittany's lips, as Brittany's hands firmly held her body against the door to stop her from falling completely into Brittany. Brittany smiled into the kiss and pulled away breathlessly, leaning her head against Santana's as their heavy breathing mixed together.

Brittany grinned wider at Santana's flustered cheeks, "so?" She asked softly.

Santana smiled at Brittany affectionately and stroked a thumb across her cheek, "so real."

Brittany grinned, "score!" They both giggled and Brittany stepped back away from Santana to lead her into the room filled with rows of liquor, before pausing and turning back to Santana. "Can we still go on a date tomorrow?" She asked.

Santana smiled and leaned in for a small kiss, "we can go on as many dates as you want to, babe."

Brittany smiled bashfully at Santana and tilted her head to the side, "wanna know a secret?" She asked quiety. Santana instantly softened and nodded, "my mom was secretly trying to set us up."

"I knew I liked her for a reason!" Santana giggled and then gave Brittany a knowing look, "damn all of those invisible strings!"