I had been working at 'Coffee & Crumbs' since I was fourteen.

What started out as a weekend job to help out my parents and to make myself some money, quickly became the best part of my week. Even through my college years, I would come home for the holidays and would slip right back into place behind the counter with my black apron hugging my hips and the smell of fresh coffee beans filling my nostrils with a familiarity that I loved. Now, at twenty-three, I was still serving coffees, except now, I owned that small coffee shop.

I loved it, being in the heart of the community and not knowing what kind of people I was going to meet walking into the shop. I loved meeting new people, I loved reading people just from their orders and how much sugar they put into their drinks. I enjoyed watching all types of different people come in to the rustic coffee shop, every one of them with a different story, and normally, I could create a story for every single person that walked through the doors.

I was never the best academically, aside from being a mathematical genius, I just seemed to struggle with everything else.

But I was always people smart and I prided myself on being able to read somebody quite quickly and accurately after meeting them.

Which is why I was so frustrated whenever that one particular customer came in.

Despite seeing the brunette every day for the past month, I still couldn't read her. She would come in at the same time everyday, at exactly twelve thirty, and it had admittedly became the best ten minutes of my day.

Her brown eyes were hard and guarded, and she would do whatever she could to avoid looking directly at me. She would either have her phone clutched to her ear or she would pretend to be looking at the menu as she ordered, even though I knew that she ordered the same drink every single time. I would watch her closely with a smile as she fumbled to add her sugar to her coffee under my stare and how her cheeks would flush whenever she glanced at me from the corner of her eyes before leaving in a hurry.

I couldn't read her whatsoever, all I knew was that she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. I had never had a customer quite like the brunette, so mysterious and yet so damn sexy, and I wanted to know everything about her.

Something about her was drawing me in, closer and closer and I had this overwhelming need to figure out what kind of story she had.

"Britt, your girl is here," I jumped at the voice interrupting my train of thought and shot a pointed glare over to Quinn, who sat behind the counter with a knowing smirk on her face.

I hated that look. It was like Quinn knew exactly what I was thinking about. She probably did.

"She's not my girl," I mumbled as my eyes flickered over to where she had indeed walked in. My heart started thumping erratically in my chest as I let my eyes quickly take in her appearance. Always dressed in jeans and a blazer, she was so sexy.

"But you want her to be," Quinn teased.

"Fuck you," I said with a roll of my eyes and threw a cloth at Quinn, "why don't you go and do some work anyway if you're going to be here annoying me?"

Quinn sniggered in amusement, sliding off her chair and wiggling her eyebrows at me playfully. I just huffed with annoyance at her antics before making my way to the counter, plastering a smile on my face in an attempt to mask my sudden nerves.

As expected, mystery woman had her phone pressed to her ear as she lingered near the door. Her hands were moving wildly in the air and her cheeks were flushed. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but she could hear the harshness of her tone and it made me bite her lip slightly. She sounded angry and I thought that even though her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes were narrowed, she was still so fucking cute.

After a couple of minutes of just watching her, she abruptly ended the call and stuffed her phone into the pocket of her leather jacket. I watched with awe filled blue eyes as she ran a tanned hand through her silky hair and quickly adverted her eyes as she began approaching the counter.

I hated that she wouldn't look at me, never directly at me. I wanted to see what was behind those guarded brown eyes, I wanted to see her story and indulge in it like it was the best novel ever made.

I gulped, swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat and plastered on my usual cheery smile. "Good afternoon," I beamed as the woman immediately looked down at the menu. "Let me guess, a medium vanilla latte with an extra shot of expresso?"

The woman instantly snapped her head up, the surprise evident on her face and I internally high-fived herself as the woman finally looked at her. She still avoided eye contact, but I could see her pretty face more clearly now and it took my breath away for a second. I smirked, my eyes taking in just how beautiful she looked up close, and I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"How did you know?" The woman chuckled lightly.

I tried not to have an obvious gay-panic at the sound of the raspy voice purposely speaking directly to me and shrugged my shoulders. "Please, you've been coming in here for like a month now. You really think I haven't memorised your order by now?"

"Maybe I was going to change it up today," The woman spoke defensively, still avoiding eye contact and glancing back down at the menu.

"Well, are you?" I asked knowingly, because I already knew the answer to that.

"No," She mumbled and I laughed loudly in amusement at the annoyed look on her face.

She looked like she was trying hard to stay frowning as she bit down on her lip. My eyes followed her teeth and I zoned in on her bottom lip, momentarily wondering what it would feel like against mine. I swallowed at the thought, feeling a warmth travelling through my body.

"One vanilla latte coming right up," I winked after regaining my ability to speak, "anything else?"

"No, thank you," She whispered quietly and handed me the cash, before shuffling down to wait for her coffee at the other end of the counter.

I grinned to myself and went to work on making what had quickly became my favourite drink to make. I fought the urge to glance back at the woman and instead looked to where Quinn had been wiping down tables nearby, looking with exasperation. Quinn obnoxiously gave me two thumbs up and I resisted from giving her friend a middle finger in return at the lack of encouragement.

"Here you go, gorgeous," I smiled, settling the drink down in front of the woman.

The woman's body visibly froze and I thought that I had overstepped the boundary, before a soft, "thanks," was whispered back to me.

"See you tomorrow," I giggled.

I watched as the woman nodded stiffly in acknowledgement before hurrying out of the coffee shop without another word and sighed dreamily, before smiling to myself. It wasn't much but it was the most I had ever gotten out of the brunette and that was a win in my eyes.

Quinn sniggered as she approached me, "you look like you've just fallen in love and she barely spoke five words to you."

"Whatever, Quinny," I sang playfully. "She can't resist me forever," I added, determinedly.

"You're delusional," Quinn told me dryly.

"Nope, I'm just irresistible," I disagreed.

Quinn snorted and I glared at her. "Do you even know her name?"

I frowned with a small pout when Quinn raised her eyebrows at me, folding her arms over her chest expectantly. "No," I groaned, "but I'll find out, I bet it's something beautiful."

"You can have anybody you want, Britt. Loads of girls try and get with you, what's so special about a girl that doesn't even look at you?" Quinn sighed, pulling herself to sit on the counter.

"I don't even know, there's just something about her," I admitted and lifted my hand to squat at Quinn's arm, "and would you get down. What if a customer walks in and your ass is sat all up where we make the coffees?"

"They'll be lucky," Quinn grumbled but slid back down anyway. "Maybe you just need to get laid and forget about her. What about that blonde girl, Emily, that always comes in? She's into you."

My eyes widened and I scrunched my face in disgust at the thought. "Ew," I fake gagged. "For one, you know I don't just sleep around for the fun of it and two, I'm really not that into blondes. Why do you think we haven't ever slept together?"

Quinn looked horrified, "uh- maybe because I'm straight?"

I smirked at Quinn's expression and bumped my hip into Quinn's playfully, "like that has ever stopped me."

"You're gross," Quinn pushed me away from her with a laugh, and then softened. "Just be careful, yeah? I don't want you to get hurt," She told me, "she just doesn't seem like she's going to be falling at your feet any time soon."

"Geez, thanks for the words of encouragement. I'll sure make sure to come to you next time I'm in need of some motivation," I said sarcastically as I moved around the counter to start prepping for the mid-day rush.

"It's not that, Britt," Quinn said and gave me a look which made me sigh. "I know how much love you have to give and I just don't want you to get caught up in giving it to the wrong person."

I smiled at her protectiveness and shook my head, "I know what I'm doing, Q. Please just trust me."

Quinn nodded and I breathed out in relief at her dropping the conversation because truthfully, I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that there was just something about this woman, something that I couldn't seem to just brush to the side and that intrigued me.

I had never felt like this, especially towards somebody I barely knew. I couldn't shake away the way that I wanted to know more about her, in fact, I wanted to know everything about this woman and I wasn't going to stop trying until I did.

So, with a new found determination, I started counting down the next twenty-four hours until the mystery woman turned up again.

/

I ran breathlessly to the coffee shop the next morning. I had overslept, something that didn't happen quite often, and I cursed myself for possibly missing the brunette coming in for her daily coffee. My sneaker clad feet were practically tripping over each other as I hurried through the door, the bell above signaling my entrance and when I looked up to find amused brown eyes staring back at me, I frantically straightened herself up in attempt to look a bit more presentable and bit down on my lip to stop the shriek of shock from falling out of my mouth.

I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment when I heard the woman let out a small chuckle to herself and I just offered her a tight-lipped smile as I quickly made her way around the counter.

"You're late," Quinn commented playfully with a smug expression and I just glared at her.

"No shit, captain obvious," I groaned as I discarded my jacket and replaced it with my apron. I noticed Quinn's entertained expression and rolled my eyes, "what?"

"She's been here for ten minutes, just waiting by the door," Quinn whispered, her eyes flicking to the woman to make sure that she was still a respectable distance away. "I think that she was about to leave because as soon as she looked at me and noticed that I wasn't you, she just stopped walking."

My eyes widened and I felt my heart beginning to race. The tips of my ears were beginning to burn as I glanced across to see the brunette approaching me at the counter. I nodded to myself, shaking off my nerves, and turned to give the beautiful woman my full attention.

"Hey, almost missed my favourite customer," I joked with a big smile.

"Couldn't have that, could we?" A smooth voice playfully responded and I was shocked, because usually all of my flirtatious comments usually went over the woman's head.

"N-No," I stuttered, shaking my head slightly.

I could hear Quinn laughing behind me, probably from my lack of response, but focused on brown eyes that finally fluttered up from the menu to meet mine. My heart raced quicker, almost frantically, as brown eyes looked directly at me for the first time and I gulped as my throat became dry at the intensity of the woman's stare. Now, I understood why she would always avoid looking at me because it was like I could see directly into the woman's soul through her eyes.

My smile widened at the first glimpse into who this woman was, the usual stormy frown that usually caused her eyes to scrunch up slightly was replaced by small smile and the rainclouds behind her dark eyes glimmered with beams of golden sunshine.

The woman just tilted her head to the side bashfully. "You're cute," She commented and I just about melted, trying to stop my smile from growing wider.

"I… you-" I stuttered and took a deep breath to try and get my words out, "W-What… what can get for y-you?"

"I thought that you knew my order?" The woman teased with a small smirk growing on her lips.

"I do," I confirmed shortly with a nod.

"That's funny, normally you're the chatty one," She laughed.

I couldn't look away from her as her eyes squinted slightly and her cheeks bunched up adorably. I thought that it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and made a silent agreement with myself that I needed to make this woman laugh more; even if that meant making a complete idiot out of myself.

I cleared my throat after a few seconds of just completely staring at her in a daze, "sorry," I mumbled shyly before grabbing a coffee cup to start preparing the order for her.

I could feel eyes burning into me as I moved around silently, willing myself not to drop anything as my entire body felt like it was vibrating under her stare. It was so unlike her to be doing this, to be staring at me so freely and without trying to cover it up, and I certainly wasn't prepared for this kind of interaction with her when I stumbled through the doors of the coffee shop.

When I finally turned around to give the woman her coffee, our fingers brushed against each other and my breath hitched from the warm skin. I pulled my hand back quickly and awkwardly, smiling shyly at the floor and avoiding looking at the woman.

"Brittany?"

My head lifted instantly at the sound of my name being called and I looked at the woman expectedly, "yeah?"

"You didn't charge me," The woman laughed and slid the cash across the counter towards me and I blushed. "See you tomorrow," With that she winked at me and turned around, walking out of the coffee shop without a glance behind her.

"Oh my god-" I gasped when the door shut and she could no longer see her, all the air that had been sucked out of my lungs from her presence returning all at once. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my fucking god, Quinn! Did you hear that?"

"Don't get your panties all wet, all she did was say your name," Quinn laughed as I clutched at my chest, trying to regulate my breathing.

"She knows my name," I whispered to myself in shock with a dazed expression, completely losing all of the composure that I had left.

My eyes stayed glued on the door, waiting for the woman to turn around and walk right back in, my chest rising and falling as I replayed the conversation in her mind. I lost focus on Quinn being beside me and any other customers that were sat in the shop, a loud squeal suddenly leaving my lips as I began hopping up and down with excitement.

I blindly reached out to hit Quinn's arm, "she knows my name!" I repeated with a smile.

"Ouch, Britt," Quinn laughed, dodging my firm slaps, "look," she encouraged, reaching over to gently tap at the side of my chest.

I immediately stopped jumping when I looked down and under Quinn's fingertip to reveal my silver name badge, my smile dropping. "You're such a party pooper," I groaned.

"And you need to step up your game if you want her because all of that stuttering bullshit? That's not you," Quinn told me pointedly, reminding me of my failed responses to this woman actually engaging in a conversation with me.

"I just didn't expect that," I defended myself with a small pout. "She looked at me, Quinn! Like finally, proper in the eyes looking at me."

"It's progress-"

"Totally gonna have her wrapped around my finger," I smirked, pumping my fist in the air.

"If after what I've just seen continues, she's going to have you wrapped her finger," Quinn laughed.

"You're supposed to be my friend," I moaned with annoyance at how Quinn apparently always knew just what to say her to wind me up.

"I am and I will tell you how I see it, you need to get her to want to know you as much as you want to know her."

I loved Quinn, I really did, we had been best friends our entire life. Plus, there was also that time where Quinn moved in with us during high school when she got pregnant, so we were basically kind of sisters. But, that meant that our boundaries had been overlapped for years and we knew exactly what to do to push each other's buttons.

Times like this, I wanted to slap Quinn for pushing them in all of the right places and it was partly because I knew that Quinn was entirely right.

I had the opportunity to actually have a conversation with this woman, a moment that I had been trying to pry out of her for an entire month, and finally when the woman decides to cooperate, I couldn't even speak an entire sentence without stuttering. I rolled her eyes, because Quinn was not wrong, I really needed to step up my game because I couldn't mess this up for myself.

"I don't know hers," I suddenly frowned as my thoughts drifted to thinking about the woman.

"Her what?" Quinn asked with confusion.

"Her name," I told her with a frown, "I don't even know her name but I can't get her out of my freaking mind."

"That's kinda cute," Quinn visibly softened and I just smiled shyly with rosy cheeks. "Look, you can do this. You're a catch, she'll be crazy not to like you."

"Thanks, Quinny!" I grinned, wrapping my arms around Quinn.

"Also, why were you even late anyway?" Quinn asked with confusion as I pulled out of the hug and moved around the counter to finally straighten myself up properly since arriving.

I looked at my reflection in the coffee machine, straightening out my clothing and running my hands through my hair to smoothen it out. "I didn't get home until really late last night. I had to get my parents from the airport because they arrived in really late and I didn't want them waiting around for a cab during the night," I explained. "You know what mom's like, she didn't let me sleep until my eyes were practically bleeding."

"Oh, crap. I forgot they were in town this week!" Quinn laughed, "surprised they could take a break from living the fabulous life of travelling! They really are out there living the best life," She teased.

"Tell me about it, they were literally just eating lunch on a beach in Hawaii," I agreed with a chuckle. My parents had wanted to travel for a long time, but they decided to wait until after I finished college. So, as soon as I graduated, they signed over ownership of Coffee & Crumbs to me and they were suddenly exploring the world together. "But it's mom's 50th birthday and she promised me that she would come home for that."

"I hope that I'm as cool and hot as your mom is when I turn fifty," Quinn commented with a shrug and I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Are you sure that you're straight?"

"Maybe not for your mom," Quinn laughed.

"I hate you," I grimaced, throwing a towel at Quinn across the counter. "You're just as bad as her. Are you going to come out for dinner on Thursday with us?"

"Sure, I miss them," Quinn shrugged. She spent so much time around my family growing up, especially when all the shit went down with her own parents in high school, that Quinn was quite close to my parents. "I can't wait to tell them about you crushing hard on this mystery woman who you know absolutely nothing about."

"I know enough," I told her with a glare.

It was the best that I could say, because I did know enough. Theoretically I didn't know much about this woman, all I knew was that she had the most intriguing story of all and that was enough for me. A story that only she knew, a story that she didn't let many people try to figure out and one that she kept guarded. But, I could see it ever since I first saw her, I knew it was there… but I just couldn't quite make out what it was about yet.

She was beautiful, mysterious, and I was hooked. Call it curiosity, call it enjoying this woman's energy, I just felt like she deserved everything and I wanted to be the one to give it to her.

"I need to go to work," Quinn told me when her eyes flickered over to the clock on the wall, taking the apron off and replacing it with her jacket.

"Thanks for staying and helping out Marley," I grinned thankfully.

"You're lucky I decided to stop by before work," Quinn laughed with a pointed look.

"I know, you're a life saver. I'm probably going to have to start paying you soon with how much you help out around here," I teased and she just looked at me with a look that was silently calling out my bullshit, making me laugh a little.

Quinn technically didn't work at Crumbs anymore. She worked alongside me growing up, both of us reveling in being able to work and make money together from such a young age, and then after graduating with a law degree, Quinn found a job at a firm whereas I decided to get a business degree and take over with the shop. Quinn usually worked afternoons and evenings at the firm, which meant that she usually ended up back at 'Coffee & Crumbs' on a morning to keep me company or just to help around the shop.

I didn't usually need the help because the shop was typically quiet in the mornings, but the company of my best friend was always welcomed and times like today, where I ended up being late, it was appreciated that much more.

Quinn just rolled her eyes, "what are friends for?"

"Aside from teasing me about my crushes?" I snorted sarcastically.

"You love it really," Quinn winked and then quickly hugged me. I reluctantly hugged her back and Quinn sniggered, "bye, Britt."

"Bye, Q. Have fun shouting at people!" I said playfully and watched as a smirking Quinn made her way out of the shop.

I sat behind the counter with a sigh. It was Tuesday afternoon, and the shop was quiet so I decided to scroll on her phone in search for a local bakery. With my parents coming back to town, I had spent the last couple of days cleaning my apartment and getting things ready for their arrival and hadn't done anything else that I was supposed to do

I was supposed to organize some cupcakes for my mom's birthday on Thursday but hadn't yet had chance to order any. I hoped that I hadn't left it too late; this was Lima, there wasn't many places to chose from and I knew that most bakeries in the area usually had an 'order in advance' policy.

I was scrolling through google when I came across a store that I hadn't heard of before. When I clicked on to the website and my mouth watered as I looked through the different cupcakes that they made, all of the different variations and tastes looked delicious. "Yummy," I grinned and instantly clicked on the phone number of the shop when I noticed that it was only located around the corner from the coffee shop.

I pressed the phone to my ear and within the second ring, it was being answered. "Good afternoon, this is Sweet Snix's. My name is Rachel, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm just wondering if it is possible to order a box of twelve cupcakes to collect on Thursday afternoon?" I asked politely.

"Please hold on one moment, I'll just double check availability for you," I heard shuffling on the other side of the phone and then a whispered, "Santana, somebody is asking for twelve cupcakes for Thursday afternoon. Can you do that?" I stayed silent and began fiddling with the straws in front of me as I waited, chewing on my lip. "Hello?"

"Hi," I replied hopefully.

"We can do that for you. Do you want any particular cupcakes?"

"They are for my mom's birthday, her name is Whitney and she's turning fifty, although she really doesn't seem like it. Maybe something fun, because she's really fun," I explained with a slight ramble. "Just any that you recommend or are the most popular, she isn't really fussy about any flavors. They can be all of the same or they can be a mix of different ones, but if possible could they have those cute little birthday decorations and fifties on them?" I asked, hoping that I wasn't asking for too much in such a short period of time.

"Of course," Rachel confirmed cheerily. "They should be ready to be collected after four on Thursday. Is that okay for you?"

I nodded, "definitely. That's perfect, thank you so much for your help."

"Thank you! See you Thursday!"

"Bye," I hung up the phone and ran my fingers through my hair, breathing out in relief; at least I had managed to arrange something that I was supposed to. "That's one less thing to sort out," I mumbled to myself, before putting my phone back into my pocket when I heard the bell chime above the door to signal a customer coming in.

The rest of my shift went by quite quickly and before I knew it, I was walking through the door of my apartment to be greeted by the smell of a home-cooked dinner. I grinned at the aroma of my mom's cooking, something I hadn't had for almost a year, and slipped off my shoes, despite my god-awful mood that had developed at around the same time Quinn had left the shop this afternoon. I threw down my bag and keys onto the small table, and made my way through to the kitchen.

"Oh, Brittany!" My mom, Whitney, cheered from behind the stove when she noticed me approaching her. "We were wondering when you would be back, dinner is almost done!"

"You didn't have to cook, mom, we could have ordered in," I told her and kissed her cheek, before pulling myself up to sit on the counter, "but thank you. What are we having?"

"Get off there," Whitney chastised me and squatted at my leg, making me roll my eyes.

"It's my apartment," I mumbled under my breath but slid down of the counter anyway, because if my mom was telling me to get off the counter then I'm going to get down off the damn counter.

I leaned her back against it and folded my arms over her chest, as in an attempt to protest against the action of getting down.

Whitney smirked but instead of commenting, she carefully tilted the pot she was stirring and showed me the contents. "It's just a tomato soup. Your dad and I have been learning to make our own bread so we wanted to get your opinion," She told me.

I cocked an eyebrow at her before I looked between my parents with an amused kind of fascination. My dad glanced over to us from where he was watching tv on the couch in the living room, and I mouthed 'Bread?" I chuckled when my dad just shrugged his shoulders, silently telling me not to question it, and went back to watching the tv.

They never failed to surprise me with the kind of activities that they spend their time doing now that they were travelling, I always found that they were doing the most random things.

Honestly, It was mostly my mom. Whitney was a wild and free spirit at heart, she always has been, and well my dad just could never say no to her. It would just take a simple, 'hey, Danny, I think that we should do this,' and then suddenly he would be agreeing to go backpacking around Europe or volunteering Asia or Africa, taking cooking classes in every state and learning how to ski. Whitney got Daniel to do everything she wanted and he would do anything, as long as it was with her.

I admittedly grew up around a type of love so strong that all I ever dreamed about was finding a love of my own exactly like that. I liked that my dad doesn't take away Whitney's fun or try to dim her light, that he only seems to encourage it. But, that didn't make it any less infuriating when I was in a room with the two of them after a long day.

I wasn't in the mood for their all around joy for life right now because I was tired and moody, and all day I have been reminded of the fact that I completely bombed my first chance at a conversation with a particular brown eyed beauty.

"Why the hell have you been learning to make bread? That's like the most boring thing you could learn how to make," I frowned, tiredly rubbing my eyes.

"It's not boring, it's delicious," My mom told me pointedly. "And also very romantic and sexy," she added, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

I scrunched her face in disgust, "ew."

"Grow up," She laughed.

"You're the one that's like fifty," I chuckled.

"Ugh, don't remind me. Do I look fifty? Do I need to start getting Botox?" I rolled my eyes, realizing just how much that habit had been used in the past couple of days between her mom and Quinn, as my mom reached up to touch her face and turned to me with a panicked expression.

"You're beautiful," I told her softly and then laughed, "you don't need any Botox and plus dad is still pissed that you got your boobs done, he's hardly going to let you get any Botox any time soon."

"I bet I could persuade him," Whitney smirked with a swift glance across the room to my dad.

I heaved as I watched her eye him and looked at my mom with wide eyes, a look of horror crossing my face. "You are disgusting. I can't believe you're my mom."

"Whit, you need to stop embarrassing her," Daniel chuckled as he noticed the completely unimpressed expression my face, and the look of amusement on his wife's face.

"Can't help myself," Whitney laughed as she pinched my red cheeks. "She's just too easy."

"God, why is everybody so annoying lately? Have you spoke to Quinn recently because you're sound a lot like her right know. I don't see why you have to annoy me for your own entertainment," I groaned, throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation.

I suddenly regretted my outburst when my mom paused, looking at me knowingly. "What has Quinn been winding you up about now?" I rolled my eyes because even after a year of not seeing my mom, she still knew me, and she definitely knew what my relationship with Quinn was like. "I swear you two always get each other's panties in a twist, and not even in the good way," Whitney commented as an afterthought.

I covered my face with embarrassment and groaned loudly, "I really hate you."

"Whitney!" Daniel scolded through a laugh, "leave Brittany alone!"

"I'm kidding," Whitney tutted and waved her hand in the air. "Anyway isn't that kind of isn't allowed anyway since you guys are technically sisters, I know it's just by law but that's still gross," She continued.

"Can you not continue?" I interrupted with a gasp, wondering why my mother had a complete lack of filter. People thought I was bad for saying things without thinking, and then they meet my mom and everything always makes sense to them after that.

"Sorry," Whitney stopped her ramblings when Daniel just nodded his head to me pointedly. I watched as her face turned serious as she turned off the stove before turning to me fully. "What's going on baby? You're not fighting with Quinn, are you?"

"No," I sighed as I started to pull the bowls out of the cupboard. "It's not that. She's just been on top Q form this week and I'm tired and I've had an overwhelming day today," I admitted with a small pout, feeling all of the emotions of the day taking over my body.

"Overwhelming how?" Whitney chuckled quietly and I was so tired that I wasn't really sure if she was being sarcastic.

"Um, yeah," I said defensively. "First I wake up late and then I end up getting to work late. I even almost missed my favourite part of the day! My emotions have been out of control today and I'm probably either in a state of shock or I'm about to pass out at any given moment. On top of that I have Quinn teasing me about my complete lack of social skills and then I have you teasing me at home too," I rambled with frustration.

"Geez, I wonder where she gets her dramatics from," Daniel muttered.

I whipped my head to her dad in disbelief, looking at him accusingly. "I'm not dramatic!"

"What's your favourite part of the day?" Whitney asked with interest, completely ignoring my dad.

"Ha!" I laughed awkwardly as my cheeks lit up with a fiery heat. I had forgotten that I just so happened to share the 'lack of awareness for oversharing' gene with my mother, who I also inherited the 'being able to read people so well' gene from.

Whitney looked at me pointedly and even Daniel turned off the tv with interest.

"Just a new customer that's been coming in," I shrugged casually, trying to stay as calm as possible in front of my parents when really my mind was suddenly racing with thoughts of brown eyes and adorably dimpled cheeks. "She's just interesting."

"Are you crushing on her?" Whitney teased.

I shook my head, "pfft, no, I don't."

"You're still a terrible liar."

I scowled at Whitney. "Fine, I may have a tiny crush on her. But I was too shy to talk to her today when she actually spoke to me," I groaned as I remembered my embarrassing attempt of a conversation with her this morning.

Whitney bumped her hip against mine playfully as she reached for the bowls to fill them. "Hey, don't forget, you're Brittany Pierce," Whitney grinned, "you're so beautiful and she would be silly not to like you, you just have to give yourself a chance, baby."

"Your mom is right, Bee. Any girl would be lucky to have you," Daniel agreed as he walked over to help Whitney bring the soup over to the table, kissing his wife's cheek as he walked past.

"Thanks guys, I'm so happy that you're both here!" I grinned as we sat down at the table to eat. Despite Whitney being all about being fun and cracking jokes, I always appreciated that Whitney could slip easily from teasing me to comforting me and being the mom I needed when I needed it. I winked at her mom, suddenly feeling a little bit better, and admitted quietly, "can't wait to try your bread."

"You bet your sweet ass you can't!" Whitney laughed.

/

I arrived at work on Wednesday to find that the couple of buildings beside Coffee & Crumbs were undergoing renovations, and renovations meant construction workers who were always needing a supply of caffeine. Which was definitely good for business, and I wasn't complaining, I just didn't expect it.

Quinn had been called into work earlier than usual so Marley and I were the only two working. Which, officially was the case every day but Quinn had been making a habit of spending mornings at Crumbs lately, and I admittedly missed her company (as annoying as it was). And not just because we were a lot busier than usual today and the help would have been extra appreciated.

They were so busy that I didn't even have time to prepare myself for a familiar brunette walking through the doors. As soon as the bell chimed, I looked up and locked eyes with her past the queue of construction workers and pouted. I hated that I had a wait a couple of extra minutes before the Latina reached the counter; I needed my daily fix of a raspy voice and brown eyes.

I hurriedly tried to serve the next couple of customers in the line, my eyes flicking back and forth between the woman and taking orders, trying to rush through the line as quickly as possible.

After asking the final construction worker his name for his order- we only had to really ask for names when the shop was busy to stop us from getting confused and messing up the orders- I passed the empty cup to Marley to prepare it before taking a subconscious shuffle closer to the counter and batting my lashes at the next person in line.

"How's my favourite customer?" I flirted with a smile, breathing out in relief at seeing her looking at me with a tilted head and a small smile tugging at her lips.

"A lot better now," She said quietly as her eyes darted from my face before taking me in completely, and then she was smiling back at me. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks because I really didn't expect her to flirt back with me.

"I'm glad to hear," I smirked, suddenly feeling confident.

She was finally giving me signals back and I didn't actually feel like I was imagining it, and suddenly all of my doubts went out the window. I wanted this so badly, I wanted her so badly, and my mom's words from last night rang through my mind. 'You're Brittany Pierce', I reminded myself and I knew that I wouldn't stop until I knew everything about her story.

"You're pretty busy today," She commented as she nodded around to the busy coffee shop.

"Tell me about it, I'm exhausted already and it's only half past twelve," I complained with a sigh and brought my hand up to rub at my eyes tiredly.

"Didn't get enough sleep?" She asked curiously, leaning against the counter. She had something written on her face, something soft and I wish that I knew what she was trying to say.

"No," I admitted with a frown. "My parents are in town," I explained to her.

Her face changed to a knowing expression and she chuckled softly making me grin. "Ah yes, explains a lot! My mom totally tires me out too," She agreed, "what would we do without them though, right?"

I nodded, "right," because she was right. She was totally right, because as much as my parents were a whole truck load of crazy and as much as they make me feel completely sick from how much they love each other, I would be lost without them.

"Even when they are being annoying and we just want to go to bed," She said playfully, "you should enjoy your time with them, you should cherish every moment with them," She told me softly and brown eyes flicked up to mine.

I gasped as I had momentary access to the specks of sunshine hiding in her stormy eyes. My breath was taken away and I could feel it hitching in the back of my throat. It was an action so rare, real eye contact, that those fleeting moments of capturing it completely knocked the air out of me.

"Thanks for that," I giggled as she looked me and she bit her lip shyly, nodding her head. I grinned as she seemingly got the double meaning behind my words.

She knew that I wasn't just thanking her for the words of encouragement but for the real piece of comfort that this woman had just given me by a swift glimpse into the emotion held behind her eyes.

"Yeah," She whispered with flushed cheeks, almost like she was almost as surprised as me by the small exchange that had just happened.

"Latte?" I asked her shyly, when the bell to the shop rang and I noticed another customer lining up behind her, and she just shrugged with a small smile.

"I want to try your favourite," She told me.

"Mine?" I asked with wide eyes, heart racing.

She nodded with a giggle and I smiled at the sound; because that was a sound that I could listen to over and over again without getting bored. "Yes, yours," She told me.

"What if you don't like it," I asked her, "because then what if you're grumpy for the rest of the day because you had a really bad coffee? And then you're probably going to be grumpy with me because I made it for you-"

"Brittany," She cut off my rambling and I silenced at her saying my name. "As adorable as that was, I still want to try it. Hit me with it."

"I don't want to hit you," I refused, shaking my head as her words only slightly registering.

Honestly I think that I was in some kind of daze from her flirty comments mixed to how she was leaning over the counter slightly mixed with the way she was looking at me.

I was only snapped out of it when she laughed and clarified, "I want to try it."

I didn't miss the way her eyes briefly dropped to my lips as she said it and I could feel something tighten in my stomach. "Okay," I nodded, blushing and picking up one of the cups.

I hesitated as I looked at her and she smiled as she handed me the money, "Santana."

"Santana," I mumbled with a nod, seemingly committing the name to memory and associating everything I knew about her with her name; I wanted to remember everything about Santana.

I wrote her name down on the cup and passed it to Marley for her to prepare. "See you tomorrow, Brittany," Santana waved her fingers as she shuffled away from me to wait at the other end of the counter for her coffee.

"See you tomorrow, Santana," I sang playfully with a cheek bunching smile.

I cleared my throat as I served the next customer promptly and professionally, still aware of eyes burning into the side of me and I could feel her following my every moment. I didn't have to turn my head to check if she was watching because I already knew that she was.

I was certain that my cheeks were red and I could feel the heat rising up my neck, trying my hardest not to turn my head to look at her. It was hard because she was like this magnetic force that just pulled in my attention whenever she was around, and I wanted nothing more than to take her in while I could still get my daily dose. I internally cursed the construction workers for preventing our first somewhat successful conversation from continuing and I only turned around to look at Santana when Marley called out her name.

Santana took the drink from Marley with a small, "thanks," and then her eyes met mine across the room as she made her way out of the shop.

"Bye," I grinned with a flirty wave.

Santana just chuckled at with a shake of her head and she winked at me before she left.

I watched as she disappeared behind the closed door and frowned, suddenly feeling the weight of the busy atmosphere dawn back on me without having Santana to focus on. I glanced around, noticing that construction workers still littered around the shop amidst the other usual customers, and sighed.

"Looks like you're finally getting somewhere," Marley commented with a grin and I rolled my eyes.

"You're around Quinn too often," I replied through a small laugh. Marley just looked at me expectantly, "did it look like she was flirting or was I making that up in my head again?"

"She was flirting," Marley agreed and I felt butterflies at her confirming words.

My cheeks bunched as I beamed with excitement, "hells yes!" I pumped my fist and Marley chuckled at me with amusement. "Totally gonna get her," I added.

"You know, a couple of weeks ago I didn't think so," Marley said, "but now, I would be surprised if she didn't crack tomorrow."

"You never know, Marls, one day I might just be marrying her," I teased and Marley cracked up.

"You're crazy, Pierce," She laughed as we sat back, enjoying the moment of rest from such a busy morning. I just shrugged my shoulders, trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of my stomach at the thought of marrying Santana.

/

I kept watching the clock, waiting for my favourite customer to make an appearance, but as time ticked on, Santana still hadn't arrived for her daily coffee. It was only ten minutes later than her usual time, but it still left me with a dull feeling in the pit of my stomach and a pout on my face.

It wasn't a surprise that my body reacted to Santana's presence, she was beautiful, but it took me a bit by surprise that my body would react to her when she wasn't even around. But, I couldn't deny the butterflies of anticipation that littered my stomach and my heart from racing frantically as my eyes stayed trained on the door.

"Don't look so sad, I'm sure that your lover girl is just running at bit late," Quinn laughed from beside me and I turned my stare from the door to glare at her.

"I'm not sad," I mumbled with a frown.

"Tell that to your face," She teased.

"I hate you," I lied and pushed Quinn away from me lightly, before crossing my arms over my chest and doing another quick check of the clock on the wall. Quinn laughed louder and I rolled my eyes, "sometimes I wonder why I keep you around."

"Because I'm hot and you loooove me," Quinn smirked and I just huffed in annoyance.

Instead of replying to Quinn, my eyes darted to the door as the bell chimed and I grinned instantly when noticing Santana rushing in, her phone clutched to her ear. Suddenly the bad mood that I had been feeling for the past ten minutes disappeared and it was replaced with a warmth, settling the swarm of butterflies and coating them with nerves; good nerves, though.

Santana gave me the type of nerves that had my body bubbling with excitement.

I straightened myself up, making my way to the counter and leaned forward against it with a smile. Santana lingered by the door, talking animatedly down the phone and I could make out the slight frustration in her voice. "Are you sure that you can't rearrange?" She asked, bringing her hand to her forehead. "I have an order that is getting collected at four, you'll have to bring him to the shop. Okay, thanks, Mami. Bye," She hung up the phone and sighed, and I adverted my eyes as she started approaching the counter.

"Good afternoon, Santana," I grinned sweetly once she was standing directly in front of me.

"Hey, Britt," She tried to force a smile, but I could see that it didn't reach her eyes and I frowned despite the fluttering feeling from her calling me 'Britt.'

"You okay?" I asked her softly.

She nodded her head weakly. "Yeah, just a little busy today," Santana told me.

I pouted, Santana's eyes noticeably dropped to my lips and I inwardly smirked. "That's okay, I can make you feel a little better," I told her and Santana's brown eyes widened, snapping up to meet mine. "With coffee," I clarified.

Santana blushed and nodded, "oh… yeah."

I chuckled but decided against teasing her because she already looked so adorably flustered, "you came for coffee, right?"

"Mhm," Santana nodded again but a bit more hesitantly. "I'll have what you gave me yesterday. What was it?"

"White chocolate latte with toffee cream," I told her with a grin. "It's good, right?"

"My new favourite," She admitted with a small smile tugging at her lips.

"You have a really pretty smile," I breathed out before I could stop myself and watched as her dimples appeared on her cheeks, the air in my lungs getting trapped.

Santana stopped fumbling with her purse and looked at me, brown eyes looking at me with a softness that made my heart skip a beat. "Thanks," She giggled, and I beamed at her, my own smile widening.

It fell silent between us for a few seconds, but not an awkward silence. It was a silence where I allowed myself to completely take her in- the browns of her eyes, her cheek bunching smile, and her lips that just looked so damn kissable.

"Britt," She called shyly, and I sucked in my lips as she rose her eyebrows at me.

"Sorry," I apologized, taking the money that she was holding out for me. "I hope that the rest of your day is good to you… and if it's not then come back here and I'll fix it for you."

"I might just take you up on that offer," Santana grinned at me and tilted her head, looking like she was contemplating her words, "somehow you're always happy and it's kind of infectious."

I blushed but before I could say something flirtatious back to her, Quinn snorted behind me and I turned to glare at her with wide eyes. "Can you like, go away?" I asked her with a frown.

Quinn smirked, wiggling her eyebrows, "aw… where's your happy face gone?" She said playfully.

"Fuck off," I mumbled, throwing the towel that was in apron at her. Quinn laughed loudly and moved to prepare Santana's drink. I turned back to Santana, who was watching Quinn and I with amusement.

"Sorry about her, she doesn't know how to be professional," Quinn called over her shoulder and my face was burning with embarrassment.

Santana just shrugged her shoulders and leaned her elbows onto the counter, her face coming closer to mine. I could feel my breathing speed up from her sudden close proximity and gulped back the whimper as my eyes fell to her pouty lips.

"I like you being unprofessional," Santana teased quietly.

"You- you do?"

"It's cute," Santana added, unguarded brown eyes meeting mine and flickering with hidden messages that I tried to piece together quickly before she adverted her gaze again.

"You're cute," I responded with a smile, still slightly dazed from her being so close to me, and Santana chuckled with a wink.

"Only you seem to think so, Britt," Santana told me and then thanked Quinn as she handed her the cup of coffee. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow," I confirmed with a smile.

"Thanks for cheering me up, ocean eyes," Santana winked and then was walking out of the coffee shop.

My eyes fell to her hips as she swayed them almost teasingly as she walked, making my lips dry when my jaw dropped open slightly. "She's so fucking sexy," I mumbled to myself.

I glanced back over to the clock on the wall, and it was only one in the afternoon, which meant I had to wait another twenty-three hours before I got to see Santana again. Honestly, seeing her for ten minutes a day really wasn't enough and I was slowly starting to want more. I couldn't get enough of her, she was like a drug that I was suddenly addicted to and I wanted to bask in the feeling for as long as I could.

"You've got it so bad, B," Quinn chuckled.

"Tell me something I don't know," I sighed in agreement, settling to admit the truth because I didn't have it in me right now to argue with Quinn about Santana. Especially not after a conversation like that with Santana.

"I know that I've been giving you a hard time, but I just wanted you to be sure," Quinn told me with a smile, "but these past couple of days, I've seen it between you two."

"You think I've got a chance?" I asked her nervously.

"Honey, you always had a chance," Quinn chuckled. "I was just waiting for her to realize and I think she's finally caught up."

I smirked at Quinn, nodding my head. "Told you that I'd get the girl," I said knowingly.

Quinn laughed, nudging me playfully, "you haven't got her yet."

With a shrug, I let out a small sigh, "yet is the key word there, Quinny!"

Quinn spent another hour teasing me about Santana before she was leaving to go to work. After my conversation with Santana earlier, my mood was still pretty great so I actually didn't mind it so much today. Partly because Quinn had finally acknowledged that Santana had been flirting back with me, partly because my stomach was all warm and fuzzy when I thought about Santana.

My shift went by pretty quickly after that and before I knew it, I was locking up Crumbs and heading to the bakery around the corner. Luckily, it was only a five minute walk away and I was outside before I had chance to freeze to death in the typical Lima weather.

I let my eyes scan over the building before entering and noted how well decorated it was. Everything was in place and as I looked through the window, I could see rows of cupcakes and different baked goods filling the counter.

I made my way inside and noticed a short brunette behind the counter, I presumed she was Rachel, different sweet scents filling my nostrils and I subconsciously licked my lips, suddenly feeling hungry. I walked over to her with a smile, "Hi, I came to collect some cupcakes. I think I spoke with you, I ordered them on Tuesday?" I asked her politely.

She looked up at me with a smile, "of course. 50th?" She asked and I nodded.

She disappeared through a door behind the counter and I let my eyes trail across the different treats lined up. They looked delicious and the person that made them definitely had a talent for baking- I knew that without even having to taste them.

I waited for a few minutes before Rachel reappeared with a smile. "They won't be a moment, she's just packing them up for you now," She told me.

"Thank you," I smiled. "Did you make all of these?"

"Not me," Rachel laughed, shaking her head. "I haven't got the patience for that." I laughed in agreement because everything looked so delicately prepared. "I just help out front when I'm available, San-"

Rachel is cut off by the door opening again and my eyes widened, "Santana," I breathed out in shock.

Brown eyes looked up from the box of cupcakes she had securely in her hold and I could hear her breath hitching as her lips parted. "Brittany," She whispered, almost disbelievingly, before a smile was taking over her lips. "What a nice surprise," Santana giggled with reddened cheeks.

"The best surprise," I flirted.

"So this is Brittany?" Rachel commented and Santana turned her head to glare at her.

"Shut up, Berry," She mumbled with wide eyes.

Rachel chuckled and disappeared into the back, leaving just me and Santana. "You made all of this?" I asked her, peering into the box of cupcakes that she was still holding.

Santana blushed and nodded her head, placing the box on the counter to allow me a proper look. "Wow," I was impressed, they were a mix of purples and pinks, each topped with glitter and small '50' lettering. "These are beautiful, thank you so much," I grinned. "How much do I owe you?"

"For you, just 20," She smiled and I gasped, shaking my head at her.

"Definitely not," I disagreed immediately, reaching into my pocket and pulling out two folded 20 bills. Santana opened her mouth to protest and I silenced her with another head shake and a pointed look. "Take it, please," I pouted, fluttering my lashes at her and Santana sighed, dropping her gaze.

"You shouldn't look at me like that, it's not fair," Santana told me softly and I smirked successfully when she took the money. "Thank you," She smiled.

"Can't wait to taste," I beamed and Santana just smirked.

"Wanky," She whispered and I looked at her with a small confused frown, but she just smirked wider. "Here, take one of these to try. It's a new recipe and I'm sure Rachel is tired of testing all my new creations," Santana reached behind her and came back with a singular cupcake.

"What is this?" I asked in fascination, looking at the fancy cupcake with wide eyes.

"It's just vanilla sponge with a white chocolate filling, topped with white chocolate buttercream and crushed dried raspberries," Santana explained shyly and I could feel my mouth watering.

She handed me the cupcake and I pulled back the case before biting into it. "Mmm," I moaned, my eyes rolling back in my head as the taste filled my mouth.

Santana's eyes widened, and I could see them following my movements as I licked my lips. "Good?" She chuckled with raised brows.

"Heavenly," I told her, "so good."

Santana giggled as I took another bite of the cupcake and her finger came up to swipe the tip of my nose. "Buttercream," She said quietly.

I blushed as I swallowed. "Don't be mad if I start to come by everyday for a cupcake," I told her.

"If it means I get to see you then I'll have you a cupcake prepared everyday," Santana's flirting always left me speechless, because every time, I wasn't expecting it.

I grinned as my stomach warmed from her words and I opened my mouth to flirt back with her, but was quickly silenced when the door opened. A tiny body came running past me and at Santana at full speed, crashing into her legs and looking up at her with a wide smile.

"Mama!"

Holy shit.