Five Years Later
Brittany groaned as she collapsed onto her couch, her bags still hanging from her arms.
Sara giggled. "You look like a human luggage carrier."
"I feel like one," Brittany replied. "What time is it?"
"It's just past three."
"I'm going to crash. Wake me up at eight? I want to go out. I need to remind myself what it's like to be home for good."
Sara nodded and smiled. After dragging herself to the bedroom she hardly spent time in and closing the door, Brittany just fell onto the bed. After three years of constantly being on the road with various artists and productions, it felt good to be home.
"Santanita!" Emilio exclaimed as he spotted them walking through the door of Miggie's, Bella's favorite restaurant.
"Hola Papi." Santana kissed him on the cheek. "Where's Mami?"
"Bathroom. She needed to check her makeup." He rolled his eyes.
Chuckling, Santana helped Bella out of her coat before shrugging out of her own.
"Mija, where's Bella?" Emilio asked with a straight face. "I want to hug my little granddaughter."
"I'm right here!" Bella giggled, waving at him.
"Surely not?" Emilio said with exaggerated disbelief. "The Bella I remember wasn't such a grown-up girl!"
"I'm six today," Bella replied sternly. "I'm halfway to a grown-up."
Santana snorted in laughter and pretended to look through her phone when her daughter turned to glare at her.
"I guess almost grown-up girls should get almost grown-up presents, then," Emilio said, smiling at his granddaughter.
Bella clapped her hands in delight. She loved being spoiled and was definitely not left wanting in that department when it came to her grandparents.
"We should wait for your abuela though," Emilio continued in a low voice. "She'll be mad if I give you your presents without her."
Seeing her daughter pout, Santana tried to distract her. "Mija, sit down and decide what you want to eat while we wait," she said in Spanish.
Santana had been adamant that Bella be bilingual, the same as her. However, Bella wasn't that fluent yet, because she only ever spoke Spanish with her mother, which hadn't been very often as of late due to finals.
To the surprise of everyone, even herself, Santana had decided to make a move into education. She wanted to be an English teacher. After much deliberation, most of which was done in raised tones, Santana had managed to get her father to agree to her keeping her job and taking night classes to get her degree. That way, she still had her own independence, but her parents could help out.
Now, five years later, she had passed her final exam and was about to get her diploma and teaching certification.
"Abuela!" Bella said happily, smiling as Maribel hurried towards their table.
Maribel kissed her daughter and granddaughter on the forehead and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry I'm late."
"She's here! Can I open my present now?' Bella asked eagerly.
"Patience, mija," Santana warned in Spanish.
"Oh, let her be excited," Emilio said. "It's not everyday that your only granddaughter turns six."
Sitting back, the three adults watched Bella rip the paper off her presents and squeal at every single one. Santana had to admit that her parents had a great eye when it came to gift-giving. She remembered always getting awesome gifts as a kid.
When they finished eating, Santana and Maribel, as usual, started arguing over who was going to pay. Without either of them seeing, Emilio sneakily took care of it.
"Okay, let's bounce," Santana said after finally beating her mother down. She looked on the table for the bill. "Where's the…Papi!"
"Relax, Santanita," Emilio chuckled. "You have this argument every time we come down here. You should know by now that it's pointless to argue."
"He's right, Mommy," Bella agreed.
"What is this, gang-up-on-Santana day?" Santana joked, smiling and holding up her hands in surrender.
"No, it's my birthday," Bella reminded her sternly.
"So it is." Maribel smiled, then glanced at her husband. "And you got your presents, little Bella, but now it's time for Santana's present."
"My what?" Santana asked in bewilderment. "My birthday isn't until August."
"This is your graduation present." Emilio reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box.
"But…" Words failed Santana.
"Why can't she say anything?" Bella whispered loudly to Maribel. "That never happens."
Maribel chuckled. "Sometimes, when she's very surprised, she doesn't know what to say."
"Oh." Bella nodded in understanding. Her mother always had an answer for everything. Seeing her speechless was…interesting. "Open the box, Mommy," she urged.
"Right." Santana snapped out of her surprise and looked up at her parents. "You've done so much already. You really didn't have to do this."
Upon opening the box, her eyes widened as she pulled out a set of keys.
"You didn't," she stuttered, looking at her parents in disbelief. "What? Why? How? When?"
Maribel laughed. "New York is a big city, mija. It's quite easy for us to go apartment hunting unnoticed."
"I'm…I'm blown away," Santana breathed. "You got us an apartment?"
"A new apartment?" Bella piped up. "So we won't live with Kurt and Rachel and Finn anymore?" She stuck her bottom lip out in protest.
"Well, your abuelo and I know how much you love staying with them, so your new apartment is only a few blocks from them," Maribel said quickly.
"So they can come visit whenever they want?" Bella asked hopefully, looking up at Santana, who was still completely shocked. When Bella received no reply, she nudged her, and Santana blinked.
"Yeah. Of course they can, baby girl. Anytime. Mami, Papi, I…I love you so much. Thank you. I can't tell you how much this means to me."
"It is our pleasure," Emilio said happily. "My two little girls are taken care of, and that's all I care about."
"We have one more thing," Maribel said mysteriously. "Look at the bottom of the box."
Santana hadn't even looked further than the keys. Pulling out a business card, she read, "Griffin Hill Academy." She looked up. "Papi, this is a very upper class private school. Are you planning to send Bella there?"
"Well, that would be your decision, mija," Maribel replied, a huge grin spreading across her face. "After all, you'll be teaching there."
"What?!" Santana exclaimed loudly, causing people at the tables around them to look over in alarm. "Are you kidding me?" she asked in a quieter voice. Training her eyes on her father, she pointed at him with the card in her fingers. "I know you had something to do with this."
"I got you an interview." Emilio shrugged. "I may have praised you a little, but that's all. Principal Henry DeCosta is expecting you at 10 AM on Friday for an interview."
Santana blinked. Could this day get any more surreal? "Pinch me, baby," she muttered. Bella obliged. "Ow! Thank you."
"Did you think you were dreaming?" Bella queried.
"I really did," Santana murmured.
Her parents chuckled. "Alright, enough of that," Emilio said seriously. "Your mother and I would like to ask you something."
"Anything," Santana breathed. "Seriously, after this, you can have anything."
Maribel laughed. "You've worked non-stop for over five years, and it's time you had a break. So, I spoke with Kurt and Rachel, and they are taking you out tonight, and Bella will come and spend the night with us."
Bella squealed in delight. "Oh, please, can I, Mommy? Please, please, please?"
"Doesn't sound like I have much of a choice." Santana smirked, running a finger across Bella's forehead. "Of course you can, baby girl."
"Yay!" Bella cheered. "Are we going to a hotel?"
"We are, but I was thinking we could go and walk around Central Park first? I've always wanted to do that," Maribel suggested.
"Mommy and I do that every weekend," Bella replied. "It's loads of fun. I'll show you!"
Santana smiled adoringly. Finally, everything in her life was falling into place.
"Britt, where you headed tonight?" Sara asked, putting the final touches on her makeup.
"I'm not sure," Brittany replied, pulling on a top and admiring the result in her mirror. "Luke told me about this new place on 7th that's supposed to be pretty awesome."
"How about I join you there after my shift?" Sara purred, slipping her arms around Brittany's waist.
She frowned. "Sara, we've talked about this. I don't want a relationship with you. The sex is fun and all, but I just came back home, and I need to find my feet."
Sara huffed and stepped away from the blonde. "So it's fine for you to fuck me every time you come back into the city, but I'm not good enough to be in a relationship with? Come on, Brittany. It's been over six years."
Brittany sighed. "That's just how it is. Don't pretend you didn't know my views on the matter from the beginning, because you did. I made myself very clear. No strings attached. Just sex."
Sara sighed. "Fine. I'll take what I can get, I guess. Let me know if you're still at the club, and we can hook up after I finish work?"
Pulling on her tight jeans, Brittany nodded wordlessly.
"You look hot, Britt," Sara said approvingly. "Don't run off with some dark-haired hottie before I get there, okay?" she teased.
Brittany's lips lifted, but it wasn't a smile. It was more like a grimace.
No. She wasn't going down that road tonight. She was going to meet up with her dancer friends, whom she hadn't seen in months, and she was going to have an awesome time. Then, if Sara was interesting enough and she hadn't found anyone else to fill the void by the end of the night, some good sex might keep her mind far away from any dark-haired hotties — or rather, one dark-haired hottie in particular.
Santana and Kurt roared with laughter and clutched each other as Rachel dribbled half the shot of tequila down her neck and onto her chest.
"It's not funny!" Rachel whined, gripping Finn's arm. "Baby, they're being mean."
"It's because they're tipsy," Finn soothed her. "I still think you're amazing."
"Oh God, get a room," Santana yelled. "Come on, Kurt. We're dancing."
He allowed himself to be pulled onto the dance floor and swallowed up by the crowd. They danced together for a few songs, Santana getting more than a few offers to dance but declining all of them.
Kurt pulled her close. "Why don't you dance with somebody?" he asked in her ear.
Santana froze involuntarily. She couldn't help it. Her body automatically reacted that way when a certain blonde popped into her memory.
I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me.
"I'm here with you guys," Santana replied, her voice a lot weaker than she wanted it to be. "I…I don't want to be around anyone else."
Pretending to understand, Kurt nodded and continued to dance with her. However, Santana wasn't feeling the vibe very much anymore, and motioned that she was going to get a drink. When she reached the table that Rachel and Finn were keeping occupied, she downed the two remaining tequila shots on the table.
"Everything okay?" Rachel asked.
Santana nodded. "Just thirsty."
Suddenly, she felt a strange sensation next to her breast and reached into her bra. It was then that she remembered she stored her phone there.
"It's my mom," Santana said with a frown. "I'll take it outside."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Kurt asked.
Santana shook her head and pushed her way to the exit as she answered the phone.
Brittany stopped mid-spin, her gaze locking onto a very familiar set of tanned legs. Her eyes traveled upwards, and she inhaled sharply at the short green dress that hugged the very sexy ass of one Santana Lopez. She watched as the Latina pulled her phone out from her usual spot in her bra and pushed her way to the entrance.
Without thinking, Brittany followed her, ignoring the calls of her friends. When she reached the door, she looked around, searching for any sign of Santana. She heard a familiar laugh that set her heart beating a million miles a minute. Santana was leaning against the corner of the building, laughing into the phone.
Brittany inched closer, half-hoping that Santana would turn around, half-praying that she would stay facing away.
Now, she was saying something in Spanish, and it made Brittany's knees weak. Santana speaking Spanish was possibly the sexiest sound in the world. The way the words just rolled off her tongue, especially when they were —
"Hey, baby."
Her words were soft and tender, and they made Brittany freeze.
"You getting ready for bed?" Santana asked into the phone, and Brittany could hear her smile in her voice. "I know, baby. I miss you too. But you'll be home tomorrow, and then we can stay up all night."
Brittany's throat constricted. How could she have been so stupid? Of course Santana was dating someone. Besides the fact that it had been almost seven years, had Brittany honestly been naïve enough to think that someone as beautiful and smart as Santana Lopez would stay single for long?
"I love you, Bella," Santana said tenderly. "Sweet dreams, baby."
As Santana started to turn, Brittany's eyes widened. Spinning around, she ducked back into the club in record time. She wove her way back to her friends, trying to shake the heartsore feeling in her chest.
"Did you just see what I saw?" Kurt asked Rachel in a low voice, his eyes following a familiar head of blonde hair.
"I did," Rachel said stonily.
"Things could get very bad if she's back for good," Kurt mused. "Santana can't know."
Rachel nodded, her eyes not leaving the clearly shaken blonde on the dance floor.