Friday morning came early. As usual, Brittany was woken by the typical sounds of New York City, but this time, she fought hard to stay asleep. It probably had something to do with how comfortable and warm she was, snuggled up next to Santana Lopez. She kissed the brunette's shoulder lazily, content with remaining in this spot for a good while longer but knowing Santana would have to get up soon to get ready for work.
"Good morning, beautiful," Brittany said, her voice scratchy.
Santana hummed happily in response. It was definitely now one of Brittany's favorite sounds.
"I guess we need to get up soon. You have to get to work," Brittany said reluctantly.
Santana rolled over to face her and reached up to brush wild blonde hair out of bright blue eyes.
"Yes, I need to get to work. I don't see why that means you have to get up though."
Brittany laughed. She supposed Santana hadn't fully woken up yet. "Because I don't live here, silly."
Santana chuckled and continued stroking her hair. "No, but I do. You should stay. Sleep in some more, watch movies later, be lazy."
Well, that sounded just fine with Brittany.
"I mean, if you want to go home, I'll take you there," Santana rushed on, backtracking, "but I thought it'd be really nice to come home to you."
Brittany smiled, basking in the butterflies.
"Have I told you how much I like it when you're sweet?"
"Once or twice," Santana said back with a wink. She got out of bed with a quick kiss to Brittany's lips. Nearly an hour later, she was out the door, leaving Brittany in her condo in a happy state of bliss that quickly turned back into dreaming.
After waking up again two hours later, Brittany finally decided to get up for the day. It was sort of odd at first, being in Santana's condo alone, but eventually, she realized this probably wouldn't be the last time she was here without Santana, so she helped herself to a blanket on Santana's couch and her vast collection of DVDs.
Despite the movie marathon she was having with herself, the day still passed slowly in tense anticipation. She checked her phone every few minutes, waiting for a text from Santana saying that her friend had called her back.
At almost 5:45, Santana walked through the front door, telling Brittany she'd heard nothing from her friend. They both knew this could take a little while, even for an investigator. Halfway through dinner (Thai again), Brittany was accepting the probability that tomorrow would be another day of waiting when Santana's phone started to ring. Throwing a glance at her screen, she looked back up at Brittany with a slightly alarmed expression.
"It's him."
Brittany nodded excitedly. "Answer it!"
For what felt like forever, but in reality only lasted a few brief minutes, Brittany watched Santana's face as her old friend talked. She could hear his voice but couldn't make out anything he was saying. Then, for some reason Brittany couldn't hear, Santana's facial expression changed to one of mild shock. "You're sure it's the same person?"
More incomprehensible babbling.
"Thank you so much. Send everything to my email."
After they'd exchanged goodbyes, Santana gingerly sat the phone back down on the table.
"Well?!" Brittany asked impatiently.
Looking up, still with that shocked expression on her face, Santana spoke. "She's alive."
Brittany was positive her expression mirrored the brunette's.
"Grace. She's alive," Santana repeated.
They stared at each other in silence, knowing that they had some decisions to make.
Should they contact her? Should they tell her about the journal? Would she even want to know?
The first thing to break the silence was the notification sound on Santana's phone, indicating she'd received a new email. Everything they had been searching for was right there, just waiting for them to piece together the rest of this 70-year old story.
"Let's look at what he sent in the morning," Santana said, surprising Brittany and finally being the first to speak. She was looking at Brittany with an expression the blonde couldn't quite decipher.
"Are you sure? Why do you want to wait?"
At these words, Santana stood and started unbuttoning her shirt slowly. Brittany's blue eyes widened, not daring to think about what this could possibly mean.
"Because we have something to celebrate tonight," she said confidently. "Would you care to join me in the bedroom?"
She finished unbuttoning her shirt and let it fall to the floor. With a very suggestive smile on her face, she turned her back and began making her way back to the king size bed Brittany knew they were about to share.
Incapable of waiting another second, Brittany followed, shedding her own shirt on the floor as she went.
Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion as Brittany walked down Santana's hallway, their discarded shirts laying somewhere behind them. Her heart beat harder and harder with each step she took toward Santana's bedroom door. Arriving at the threshold, she peered into the room. Santana had turned on a small bedside lamp, which cast a dim glow onto the white walls but gave just enough light. Brittany exhaled a silent breath of relief. She definitely didn't want to do this in the dark. She wanted to see every line, every curve of Santana's beautiful body.
Santana herself was standing in front of the massive bed, still in all her clothes except the shirt she'd cast off before. Smiling at Brittany standing in the threshold, she reached down to the button of her own pants and began unfastening it.
"Stop," Brittany said, surprised at both the authority in her voice and the fact she was even capable of speaking.
Santana looked up, frowning.
"Please don't make me wait anymore. I want you. Now."
Ignoring the surge of wetness in her underwear at these words, Brittany stepped into the room, walking steadily up to Santana.
"I'm not making you wait," Brittany said quietly. "I just want to be the one to undress you."
She replaced Santana's hands with her own, unfastening the button and pulling the zipper down. Without breaking eye contact, she slid her fingertips under the waistline of the woman's jeans. Santana's skin was as warm and smooth as ever. Pushing her hands down further, Santana's pants fell to the ground in a heap. Brittany looked down at her lacy red panties and let just a forefinger run along the waistband. She thought about the last time she'd seen Santana naked, the night they'd taken a shower together, and how hard it had been then to see but not touch. Now, as her finger roamed across the smooth skin just under Santana's panty line, she thought about how hard it was not to touch all at once.
Her eyes traveled up Santana's perfect body, and images of all the things she was going to do tonight flashed through her mind. Somehow, it gave her patience. She'd have time for it all. When they finally came to rest on Santana's face, she leaned in for a sweet kiss to the woman's lips.
"Brittany?" Santana asked quietly, looking down.
"Hmm?" the blonde asked back, wondering why Santana's voice suddenly sounded vulnerable.
"What if…what if I'm not any good at this? What if I forgot how?"
Brittany leaned down and started placing kisses along Santana's collarbone, her hands coming to rest on Santana's hips.
"Impossible."
Brittany felt warm hands roam across her back and smiled. There was no way Santana wasn't about to give her the best night of her life.