#dash: brittany pierce

[jacobbenisreal]

@brittspierce-wmu replied to your post:

Rory has an attractive face!!!

His face card is not accepted at all major retailers, I’m afraid. But don’t tell him I said that.

[addiedevereaux]

confused about what? honey bee, it's the end of october, school started in september. it's okay, though. we can get ya all caught up.

oh, no. daisy wasn't my type. so you can rest assured your fling with daisy was special. i did happen to fool around with goofy, though. he really knows how to a-hyuck.

...no, i think you're a little confused. that's okay, though, i've been there.

omg, wait, you didn't hook up with daisy duck, did you? i thought i was special, but what if i'm just another blonde on her list?

[manilafm]

mw characters?

So, there aren't a lot of taken characters in this RPG at this time, but our members would absolutely love to see Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Daphne Greengrass, Astoria Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, Luna Lovegood, Andromeda Black, Katie Bell, Cho Chang, Marlene McKinnon, Neville Longbottom, Molly Prewett, Fleur Delacour, Narcissa Black, Angelina Johnson, George Weasley, Percy Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Bill Weasley, Romilda Vane, and Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter ; Kirk Cameron 'K.C.' Guthrie, Mia Jones, Craig Manning, Sean Cameron, Jenna Middleton, Zoë Rivas, Clare Edwards, Paige Michalchuk, Fiona Coyne, Darcy Edwards, Imogen Moreno, Emma Nelson, Lola Pacini, Holly J. Sinclair, Manuella 'Manny' Santos, Anya MacPherson, Eleanor 'Ellie' Nash, and Katlynn 'Katie' Matlin from Degrassi: The Next Generation / Degrassi: The Next Class ; Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Spike, and Discord from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ; Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Cheryl Blossom, Jughead Jones, and Toni Topaz from Riverdale ; Timmy Turner, Denzel Crocker, Timmy Turner's unnamed mother, Timmy Turner's unnamed father, Wanda Fairywinkle-Cosma, Poof Fairywinkle-Cosma, Cosmo Cosma, Anti-Cosmo, Anti-Wanda, Sparky, Trixie Tang, Chloe Carmichael, Chester McBadBat, A.J., Mark Chang, Vicky, Chip Skylark, and Britney Britney from The Fairly OddParents ; Katniss Everdeen, Annie Cresta, Madge Undersee, and Clove Kentwell from The Hunger Games ; And we would absolutely love to see Brittany S. Pierce, Lucy ‘Quinn’ Fabray, Santana Lopez, Sam Evans, and Finn Hudson from Glee !! But if you have any specific fandoms in mind, please send us an ask with the full name of the fandom that the characters are from !!

[mckinleyhq]

another week has come and gone !! thank you to everyone for your participation this week, i am so excited about how many of you posted as part of the weekly theme task fill and i love, love, love to see the dash moving every day !!

new members.

during our ninth week open, we welcomed ella, lynn & amy to the group - we have loved getting to know your portrayals of santana lopez, kurt hummel & madison mccarthy so far, and we can't to see what's in store !!

weekly tasks & events.

this week, mckinley hosted it's annual student council elections - running for, and taking office - hunter clarington & sugar motta - their campaign was hard fought and well won - strategy meets sparkle !! now we just have to see if they can follow through on all the promises they made (and potential bribes they took).

our eighth weekly task & glee club assignment was posted, our theme this week was of course - student council elections and passion !! we had great participation this week, especially in glee club and with our power point presentation task ; check them out - sugar motta, kyle christopherson, sebastian smythe, mason mccarthy, taylor lincoln, david karofsky  !!

we hosted another successful ask wednesday this week, thank you to everyone who participated !!

this week we hosted two birthdays, so once again a very happy birthday to: adrian cruz-dumont & sebastian smythe !!

important links.

mhqinspo › weekly edit tag

mhqinspo › weekly glee assignment tag

roleplay notices.

we've decided to cap our mun count at twenty players, we are currently sitting at eighteen players, meaning we have two open mun spot left.

open starter round up

here are all the open starters that were posted during this week, feel free to check it out again and reply to any open starters with less notes - this will be a weekly practice !!

brittany pierce › is living in another time-space continuum !!

david karofsky › his pronouns are N E W D I R E C T I O N S !!

keke akana › is feeling a little lost !!

kurt hummel › is living for the drama !!

lizzie jules › is throwing shade at loud talkers !!

mason mccarthy › has a message for the new directions !!

scott parker › is a menace to the school grounds !!

sebastian smythe › *adults in charlie brown vc* !!

sebastian smythe › had a little birthday shindig !!

[tuiyla]

Accidental Bartie analysis because why not

So now that I rewatched all of season 2 one of the things I’ve gained a new perspective on is the Bartie relationship. I think they’re fine as a couple, just fine, and even cute at times but there was always this thing that made me think they were much better off as friends. And yes, part of that thing is admittedly my Brittana bias, that’s fair. But even beyond that what I realized during this rewatch and especially in Rumours and Prom Queen as we bury romantic Bartie, is that I think Artie has always loved the idea of Brittany.

Artie is the uncool guy at school, not just because of his wheelchair but his general nerd status and, I’d argue, because of the way he sees himself as thoroughly uncool. He, like the other original Glee Clubbers is a misfit who finds belonging with the other misfits. And after his first relationship with Tina falls apart - because she leaves him for cool guy Mike, no less - Artie begins season 2 bitter over the breakup and wanting bigger and better things but not knowing how to get them. And then Brittany enters the picture, completely unrelated to anything Artie has done before. And sure they’ve been in Glee Club together for a year but with Artie more than most there’s a sense that him and the Unholy Trinity are still two wildly different worlds and it’s safe to assume he’s yet to spend some quality time with the Cheerios at this point. So when Brittany shows sudden interest in him, he can’t even believe it at first. Before he knows it they go from zero to sex real fast, which is a casual thing to Brittany but a big deal for Artie. Huuge deal. Cheerleaders have barely acknowledged his existence before and now he’s in Brittany room, having sex with her?

It doesn’t take long for Santana to push him down from that particular high and it hurts. Of course it hurts Artie because he felt special and to find out he isn’t, not to Brittany, it just sucks. But he can’t help being hung up on her because the meaning to him still remains. But even here, do you see that it isn’t really Brittany he’s after? By Never Been Kissed Artie talks about her as if he’s in love and desperately wants to have something with her for real but it’s that high he chases. The high of being the special one for once, and not in the way he ususally is where he has special needs and has to raise extra funds for a bus that could take him to Sectionals. No, this time a girl made him feel special and not just any girl, but one of the most popular Cheerios who’s beautiful and funny and chose him, even if his illusions of that being a unique encounter were shattered. But Artie still feels like what they’ve started is special so of course he takes Puck up on his offer to help him get Brittany for real.

And it is real, for a while. My goal with all of this isn’t to dismiss Bartie as a couple completely or to say any and all feelings Artie might have had for Brittany are invalid just because he liked the idea of her more than the actual person. Why would I say that, anyway? Sure, at first he might have been overwhelmed by the notion of her being this hot and popular Cheerio and failed to realize Britt’s perspective - just as she failed to see his - but that doesn’t mean that moving forward he didn’t love her. Well, I think Artie loved Brittany but never in a romantic way. I think he grew to care for her as a person and accept and even like her eccentricities, but honestly I think most of that was post-breakup. He accepted her while dating, too, but that was less of the kind of love you have when you’re truly in it for each other. When Brittany’s quirks aren’t just things to be handwaved away but things you actively look forward to. A cat fun fact brightening your day or her slight confusion and subsequent outside the box approach making you go “shit, she’s right”. I think Artie liked her to begin with and liked hanging out, but when it came to being in love it was the idea of the hot popular girl paying him attention and wanting to be with him, of all people, not Brittany the ditzy genius.

And you know, Artie was what 15 or 16 at the time? We all project at some point in our lives. We all have those relationships where the person paying attention to us is more important than the person themself. Because Artie was a nerdy, outcast teenage boy whose first relationship with a girl ended in her leaving him for a much ~better~ guy in all regards he thought he could never have. And I think Brittany loved Artie, too, although once again I don’t think I’d say she loved him romantically. Brittany can be very open and honest with her heart and even though there is the situation where, while she was with Artie, she spent much of the relationship also sorta-kinda being with Santana. And all conversations of how well she realized it was cheating aside, that hurt Artie and his pain is perfectly valid in that. But I think the beauty of Bartie as a midgame is that even though they end up hurting each other in some ways, it’s never malicious and there is genuine care there.

The final reason why I think we can say Artie loved Brittany as an idea rather than a person is in those last two episodes, in the breakup itself and the catalyst for it. Whether calling Brittany stupid was really that severe of a mistake is not my question here and not something I ever liked debating - because ultimately, it hurt Brittany and she made the call to end their relationship because of that. And I think her holding her ground like that is admirable. But what’s interesting to me is that yes, Artie does say it out of frustration and yes, he has a right to be upset about the Santana situation. The issue with calling her stupid is, even if it was born from rightful frustration, that it reveals what I talked about earlier. That Artie liked hanging with Brittany and did like her, but the quirks are more things he tolerated to be with this hot girl and things he looked past in those earlier days of limerence. Not things he actively loved, just things he tolerated. And yes, here Artie isn’t calling Brittany’s everlasting confusion of words stupid; he’s calling what he perceives as Brittany’s naivety when it comes to Santana stupid.

Even though he’s rightfully frustrated by all that, this crosses a line for Brittany because understanding her, loving her, means loving all those quirks and understanding that she’s not gonna turn her back on or betray Santana in any way. Not because she’s being manipulated or is acting stupid, but because she believes with her whole heart in people she loves and she loves Santana, whether they’re sleeping together or are dating or are best friends or not. Diminishing that, even in the heat of an argument is not cool in her book and not something Artie should have done. And I should note here, before anyone asks: so should a partner just accept and actively love all of Brittany’s oddities? Should they stand by as they’re being cheated on, as this other person in Brittany’s life takes and takes without, seemingly, giving much? And the answer is no, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m sure Santana will get frustrated at Brittany at some point in their married life. I’m sure she’ll snap and say things she regrets and I’m sure, like she did just before their wedding, she’ll put her foot down when Britt’s eccentricity gets too much. But Santana loves Brittany not despite; she loves her because. With, including all of that. And in that way, Bartie couldn’t compare and wasn’t mean to be.

Even though Artie loved what Brittany represented and she brought to his life, she was still a valuable person for him and there’s no bad blood between them moving forward. Artie’s last attempt at getting the girl who’s made him feel so special back fails, but Brittany doesn’t reject him in any way I’d consider to be malicious or bitter. And sure, Artie overreacts and says he has nothing else to live for, because he’s a teenage boy surrounded by overly dramatic people. But their moment at the end of prom proves so much. He shyly goes up to Brittany and she smiles and beckons him. They end up getting the dance and even their picture taken. They aren’t back together and they never will be. But they are friends and, perhaps, moving forward they both know themselves just a little bit better. Artie is more honest with himself about the things he’s looking for in a relationship, even if being honest with his partners needs a little work.

[jacobbenisreal]

Well, I'm not gonna tell them I ship them. Are you?

And how is it that you just happen to know that? Never mind, it don't matter. But cool, got it on the record now, thanks. We are good, but if something else comes up, I know where to find you.

Yeah, so, again, it makes things weird between people when you ship them together.

I had Sebastian's old roommate as a secret Valentine. I think some nerdy freshman had Sam.

Anything else you need to know about me and Sam or are we good?

[angelhummel]

june 30 :)

tell me your bday and i’ll give you a glee calendar quote!

[karofskyy]

~

[writeblrfantasy]

excerpt from iwitby: jam and toast

i am forever impressed with how garbage tumblr makes images, so please click for better quality. i'm hesitant to make the font bigger or fewer words per screenshot because that would make these long excerpts even longer on your dash, but if you would like that, please let me know

transcript and taglist under the cut

When I come back to reality, I exclaim, “Wait. You’re sitting on the island?”

He freezes, bread halfway to his mouth. “Why not?”

“You seem too proper for it.”

He shrugs. ‘No one’s here to tell us no. Like you said, nothing matters in the House of Gerwyn.”

Nothing matters. That almost certainly means he doesn’t care about what we’ve been doing—it’s either to please the House, or he’s just bored. Everything matters to me, but who cares? It’s all the same. I’ll get my heart broken either way, even though I’ll never tell him everything. That will stay locked in me forever.

I smile, helpless in bliss for the moment.

“My sister loved exactly this kind of jam,” Cassius says through a full mouth. I freeze.

“You—you have a sister?”

“Yes. You didn’t know that?”

I suck in a breath. “No.” I’m scared of seeming too interested once again to ask questions, though my head is full of them. Her name? What was she like? How did you survive leaving her, because I didn’t survive leaving mine.

“I miss her,” he says idly, oblivious to the effect he’s having on me.

My eyes shut against a wave of grief. Victoria does not cross my mind often—I don’t allow her to—for exactly this reason. Her face, bright and optimistic, is there behind my eyelids, her dark eyes full of hope. The warmth of her grubby little hand in mine is a ghost I long for.

“Sarpedon?”

I open my eyes to dark reality again, pierced by a golden mask and red hair. “Yeah?”

“You looked…” He shakes his head, but I don’t let him get away with it this time.

“No. What were you going to say?”

I know he’s staring at me, I know he is, searching my eyes for answers. I try to close them off, make things harder for him.

“You looked sad.”

Such a simple phrase, like something a child would say.

“Why?” he asks.

“My sister—she and I got separated when we were kids.” My voice is tight, my words clipped. The room is dark, but I feel like the spotlight of heaven is shining on me, exposing me. I’ve never told anyone this story. I never thought Cassius Pyrrha would be the first to know.

“Her name?”

“Vic—Victoria.” I stare at my fingers, unable to face him, even masked. I wish I had a mask.

“Sebastian and Victoria.” Another shudder goes through me as he says my name. Names do not have power like flame and darkness do, but there’s something indescribable about hearing mine pass his lips. “Where were your parents?”

“Dead. We’d just left their bodies behind. We were trying to get to the mainland when we, um. When we got separated.”

“Let me guess. You sought revenge on the person who took her from you and got a taste for blood?”

Blissful wonder is quickly replaced by red hot anger. After everything we’ve done, I’d hoped he might see me differently, but apparently not. His voice cuts like a ruthless knife, like the knife I didn’t use. “I don’t want to hurt people who don’t deserve it. I want to hurt the people who do. I get no joy out of harming innocents. Let’s clear that up right now.”

He’s quiet. I finally face him to demand an explanation, but the way he’s ducking his head, clearly deep in thought, makes me pause.

“Why do you harm anyone?” he asks, repeating his question from earlier. “What happened to you to make you this way? If your sister was taken from you, why don’t you want to help others who’ve lost their families?”

I take a deep breath. We are at the crux of the issue that divides us. “You can help as many people who are screwed by the system as you want, but as long as it still exists, people will never stop getting screwed. Nothing more, nothing less than that.”

I stand and cross my arms, waiting for his reaction. What am I hoping for, approval? I don’t need anyone’s approval, much less Cassius Pyrrha’s. We’ve been fighting for years over how much he disapproves of me.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, “that you had to go through that.”

“Don’t patronize me,” I snap, my hands itching for something to grab onto, something to fiddle with. I hate this feeling. It makes me want to run and hide and never come out where another’s eyes can see me. Vulnerability.

IWITBY taglist (lmk to be added/removed) @magic-is-something-we-create @ashen-crest @inherentlywritten @justthehopeleft @a-forgotten-dusk @tangled-brambles-in-a-wild-wood @aelenko @47crayons @cielhelm @mel-writes-with-her-dragons @brittany-diamond @indecentpause @myhusbandsasemni @bronwennjames

[fanfictionfaberrycentral]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Glee Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Santana Lopez/Rachel Berry, Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce, Kurt Hummel/Blaine Anderson, minor Santana Lopez/Sam Evans, Artie Abrams/Kitty Wilde Characters: Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, Kurt Hummel, Brittany S. Pierce, Will Schuester, Mercedes Jones, Sam Evans, Quinn Fabray, Blaine Anderson, Tina Cohen-Chang, Artie Abrams, Kitty Wilde Additional Tags: the glee parks & rec AU nobody asked for, pezberry chaos, eventual brittana probably, a dash of faberry, everyone is just really gay Summary:

Rachel Berry, a mid-level bureaucrat from the Parks and Recreation Department in Lima, Ohio, hopes to beautify her town (and boost her own career) by helping local resident Santana Lopez turn an abandoned construction site into a community park. However, what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbours, governmental red tape, and a myriad of other challenges.

Glee, but make it Pawnee...

[talkwith-kvrthvmmel]

I think I lost the plot and I don't know how to get back on track. So ⎯ let me quit while I'm ahead? Where ever you are in the world, doing whatever it is you do, I hope you're staying well hydrated with water in this heat and you come out on the other side of summer unscathed.

Doors have hinges. Lego, like... "I'm solid," like, that's a thing people say sometimes, right? Just saying "graduation" isn't specific enough. And I'm not wearing a hat.

[gleeblondie1]

I’M TORN

                                                I’M NOT

                                                                                          I’M BRITTANY!

independent && selective brittany s. pierce  dash only / sideblog  written by lauren

[hqmckinley]

(please ignore that this says task #3 instead of #4 i just noticed and was too lazy to fix the graphic)

This week Principal Schuester has decided to spice things up a bit and it’s going to be mentor week! This means that every faculty member has been paired up with a student (given the ratio every faculty member has more than one mentee). The goal of this week is to have some sort of f2f interaction between the mentor or mentee (this can be a para, a normal dash interaction, whatever you want) and the mentee has to do one of three things, if they are in a glee club they will sing a song that their mentor sang during their time in the glee club. Their mentor wasn’t in Glee? No problem! Then your character will just perform a song where they take their mentor’s advice into account when choosing a song, and if you’re mentee is not in a glee club then they are advised to just do some sort of self-para (can also be a diary entry) where they take that advice into account (or not into account). You will have the entire week to work on this and as always have fun!

If you do a Glee task tag it as #mckinleyglee and throw it in the task channel on discord and if you do a self-para/journal entry do the same thing except tag it as #mckinleytask!

Under the cut you will find the mentor/mentee list. Keep in mind some were paired based on personality while others were just randomly placed

Sam Evans: Tommy O’Dell & Tosha Campbell

Noah Puckerman: Jaxon Harmon & Mira Baizen

Quinn Fabray: Celeste Lowell & Adam Francis 

Blaine Anderson: Jeremiah Dunn & Stevie Evans

Kurt Hummel: Lena Becker & Stacey Evans 

Alec Moreno: Mason Brooks & Vinny Hart & Christian Gomez

Hunter Adleman: Elle Smythe & Sarah Puckerman

Santana Lopez: Kaylie Silva

Brittany Pierce: Delilah Rhodes

Eva Dean:

Marley Rose:

[owenepierce]

switchybrittany​:

Okay so this place is totally not what i expected but like… It’s fine or whatever. Anyways!! I’m Brittany S Pierce, and I know it’s shocking to see me but you probably figured I’d be along eventually since the second and third most iconic people showed up before me. Alsooo Im a switch now, so can someone pretty person help me unpack my room pleaseeee? Thanks!

Originally posted by wujupeach

Britt! Hi! I’m definitely the second most iconic person, right? Don’t worry, I pinky-promise not to tell Stella.

[echoes-of-realities]

it takes so much tremble to love

* * *

[Fanfiction] // [ao3]

Summary:  “So where are we going for this date?” Brittany asks.

“It’s a surprise,” Santana says, grinning at the thought of what she has planned.

“Is it a carwash?” Brittany deadpans.

Santana gasps and glares at her in mock insult. “As if I’d take you on a date to a carwash.”

Brittany shrugs. “Why else would you pick me up in a dirty truck?” she teases.

Or: Now that Santana knows that this whole thing they’ve been doing since the summer was dating, she has the perfect plan to take Brittany out on their official first date where they both know that they’re girlfriends.

Notes: Guess who’s finally back :)

I just finished the last semester of my degree (which is So Weird) and wrote this to get me back into the Groove of writing again! I’m planning on finishing off the last seasons fic next before I move onto Longer fics!!

The excerpt and title is possibly my all time favourite quote from Andrea Gibson. (I have half a mind to do a Small Series based on my favourite quotes by her tbh……)

///

call in your royal heart

tell it bravery cannot be measured by a lack of fear

it takes guts to tremble

it takes so much tremble to love

every first date is a fucking earthquake

— Andrea Gibson, “Royal Heart”

///

Santana borrows her cousin’s truck because he owes her for that time she didn’t tell his mom that he went on a bender last Easter instead of coming to dinner with the family; Santana never forgets when people owe her favours.

It’s this dusty old pickup with fading red paint and mud up the sides from a surprise autumn rain a couple days ago. The windshield is cracked in about four places and Santana worries a bit because she’s pretty sure that it will completely shatter if it gets hit another rock. The passenger door sticks more often than not and the backseat behind the driver’s side has a long rip in it that Santana would rather not think about. Teenage boy garbage covers the floor and Santana grumbles as she cleans it all out, wrinkling her nose as she finds a pair of panties that definitely don’t belong to her cousin. She carefully extracts them with her hands wrapped in paper towel and seriously debates burning the fabric off and replacing it for tonight. She eventually decides against it (but only because they don’t have a fire pit in the backyard) and adds using industrial level disinfectant to her mental To Do list. She stares at the plastic dancing Hawaiian girl bobblehead stuck to the dash and immediately decides it has to go. Not just for her intended purposes, but because its possibly the worst thing in the entire truck, including Jane Doe’s panties back there. She’s just tossing the bobblehead in the garbage when she realizes the time and curses, haphazardly finishing up before hurrying inside to get ready.

Her mom is in the process of pulling on her shoes to head to work for the first night shift of her rotation and Santana gives her a cursory greeting as she heads further into the house, having every intention of immediately jumping in the shower so her mom can’t question her.

“Where are you going with Gabriel’s truck?” her mom asks as she’s halfway in the clear.

“Oh,” Santana says blankly, pausing in the living room. She kind of forgot about this part. “Uh, Britt and I are, um—”

Something’s looking out for her because her mom’s phone rings at that exact moment, giving Santana precious few seconds to think up a solid idea.

Her mom sighs as she hangs up on a telemarketer and shoves her phone back in her pocket, turning back to pulling on her running shoes before glancing up at Santana expectantly.

“Britt and I wanna go to the mall and movies. And then to sleepover at her house later,” Santana says easily, lying right through her teeth, “And since you’re working tonight and Brittany’s car is in the shop, Gabriel said I could borrow his truck since he’s out of town with his girlfriend for the weekend.”

“Okay,” Maribel says skeptically, having listened to people lie at triage for most of her adult life. She knows what teenagers are like, but she’s running a little late and doesn’t have time for an argument with the most stubborn teenager she’s ever known right now (and, okay, the stubborn thing is probably Maribel’s own fault, but she ignores that fact). At the very least Brittany will be with her daughter, and Maribel trusts her with Santana’s wellbeing because she has a good head on her shoulders; has every since her and Santana got lost at the mall when they were eight and she went and found an employee to help them while Santana just cried into Brittany’s shoulder.

She sighs and checks her watch. She does really need to get going. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Maribel finally concedes, stepping forward to give Santana a quick hug and kiss on her forehead.

“Yes, mamí,” Santana says obediently, having no intention of listening.

Maribel shakes her head as she turns to leave, listening to Santana scamper down the stairs with suspicious eagerness.

Teenagers.

//

Santana forgot about the mud until she’s heading out the door to pick Brittany up, cursing under her breath because she definitely doesn’t have time to take it through the carwash. Which means she’s going to have to pick up her girlfriend for their first official date—the first one where they both know it’s a date because now they both know they’re dating—in a dirty old truck.

She debates calling a taxi, but dismisses the idea immediately. This whole date thing hinges on Santana having her own vehicle, even if it’s muddy. She tosses her stuff in the backseat on the passenger side, out of sight of curious blue eyes, before quickly rounding the truck. She’s not going to be late or anything, but she hurries because it’s been three whole hours since she last saw Brittany and that’s far too long.

As she drives to the Pierce’s house, she resigns herself to the fact that this whole first official date thing is going to happen in a muddy truck.

She just hopes Brittany doesn’t notice.

//

Brittany notices.

Santana spots her heading out of the house and quickly bounces out of the driver’s seat, stumbling a little because she’s not used to exiting vehicles so high. She greets Brittany with a shy smile because Brittany is beautiful in her jeans and sweater and beanie and that knowing smirk of hers. Santana makes a small fool of herself as she yanks the door open and gives Brittany a mock bow when the door finally cooperates, delighting in Brittany’s bright giggles.

She only got out to open the door because she knows the trick to getting it unstuck and Brittany doesn’t, and maybe because she wants to check Brittany out a little bit, but not for any other reason at all. Definitely not.

(Okay, fine, maybe the real reason is that she’s trying to be a gentlewoman because that’s what girlfriends do, right? She’s still new to this whole thing and she can’t think of anything worse than all those smarmy teenage boys doing the same thing on the first date and expecting something in return for being polite but this— This is different. Because Brittany is already her girlfriend and Santana’s pretty sure that this is, like, the chivalrous thing to do or whatever and— And, well, the quick kiss Brittany gives her cheek kind of makes Santana want to follow Brittany around and open all her doors for her forever, cause, that part is kind of really, really nice.)

Once Brittany’s settled Santana lets her close the door herself because she knows that Brittany hates it when people close car doors for her, ever since that boy in sophomore year who did just that and caught her foot in the door. Brittany had to miss dance class for almost two weeks because of the bruise and the boy started to skip English class because of how much Santana glared at him.

Santana rounds the truck and climbs into the driver’s seat and smiles softly at Brittany. She really really wants to kiss her senseless right now because she’s so adorable in that beanie, but it’s still light out and Santana can feel the familiar churn of fear in her stomach at the thought of the Pierces seeing her kissing their daughter in their driveway. She forcefully pushes the fear away and pulls out of the Pierce’s driveway, knowing that everything will soon fade away in Brittany’s comforting presence.

“So where are we going?” Brittany asks, and Santana forces herself to not even glance in Brittany’s direction because she just knows she’ll cave and tell her with just one look at Brittany’s killer pout.

“It’s a surprise,” Santana says, grinning at the thought of what she has planned (and ignoring the lingering butterflies because, seriously, Brittany’s already her girlfriend, you’d think they’d calm down just a little).

“Is it a carwash?” Brittany deadpans.

Santana gasps and glares at her in mock insult. “As if I’d take you on a date to a carwash.”

Brittany shrugs, her blue eyes sparkling bright and teasing in the evening light, the sunbeams streaming in through the window behind her turning her hair to spun gold. “Why else would you pick me up in a dirty truck?” she teases.

Santana groans and resolutely doesn’t glance at Brittany, knowing she’s failing to fight her smile as Brittany giggles and continues to tease her from the passenger seat.

Brittany waits until the exact moment they pass the Thank you for visiting Lima sign before casually reaching over to grab Santana’s hands in hers. She brings it up to her lips for a quick kiss before settling their clasped hands in her lap, absently playing with Santana’s fingers as she fiddles with the radio.

Santana’s pretty sure she’s never loved Brittany more than she does in that moment.

//

Brittany grows more curious the further they drive from Lima, and Santana is secretly glad that Brittany has such an awful sense of direction because otherwise she would definitely guess where they’re going. Santana just grins as Brittany turns confused eyes on her once they’ve been driving for almost forty minutes, sealing her lips and stroking the back of Brittany’s hand with her thumb.

It’s not until the lake comes into view that Brittany sits up a little straighter, glancing sidelong at Santana with wide eyes. “You didn’t,” she gasps.

Santana shrugs. “My aunt has a cabin out here,” she explains, biting back a smug grin for planning possibly the best official first date in the history of the world, “She doesn’t care if we use it.”

Brittany shakes her head, eyes glowing softly as Santana turns off the highway and chicken trails across the backroads she still remembers from childhood trips out here. “You,” she says simply, shaking her head. Santana knows that Brittany really wants to kiss her now, but she’s driving on dirt roads now and trying to make sure she takes the right turns. Instead, Brittany just lifts their still clasped hands and presses a long kiss to Santana’s knuckles, never taking her eyes off the girl in the driver’s seat. Santana spares Brittany a glance, smiling widely and knowing that, despite how many mistakes and stumbling steps she’s taken over the last couple years, she definitely got this one right.

//

Santana parks to the side of the driveway, under a tree that still has most of its orange and red leaves clinging to its branches, and out of sight of the main road; she’d rather not advertise that there’s anyone here to random passerbys.

“We’re here,” Santana says unnecessarily. Brittany unbuckles her seatbelt and before Santana can blink she has a lapful of her girlfriend and soft lips pressed against hers. Santana sighs at the welcome feeling, having not been able to kiss her girlfriend since Brittany picked them up for school that morning. Brittany’s hands are cupping her jaw to tilt her face for a better angle and Santana just submits to Brittany’s direction, sliding her own hands up Brittany’s thighs and around to her back until she can scratch softly at Brittany’s skin under her shirt. Brittany shivers and kisses her harder, both of them lost in each other until a horn honking startles them apart.

It takes a moment for them to realize it was Brittany who accidentally scared them, and they both giggle against each other’s mouth as their lips find each other again.

“Hi,” Brittany mumbles against her mouth.

Santana’s laughter vibrates their lips as she slides her hands along Brittany’s back, revelling in the stretch of warm skin under her palms. “Hi,” she manages to mutter in between kisses, “I missed you.”

Brittany laughs against her jaw as she trails kisses across her skin. “You saw me, like, all day.”

“I know,” Santana whines, guiding Brittany back to her mouth, “But—”

“Yeah,” Brittany whispers just before recapturing her lips, “Me too.”

It takes them long moments to finally break away from each other, and even longer moments for them to untangle and get out of the truck. The autumn air is unseasonably warm and the leaves crunch under Santana’s sneakers as she hopes out. She kind of has a feeling that this date will probably be perfect.

She’s already collected the duffle bag of their clothes (they’ve been best friends—and now girlfriends—for so long that they always have necessary stuff at each other houses, so Santana just packed for Brittany and delighted in how domestic it felt) from the backseat by the time she realizes that Brittany is still sitting in the passenger seat, staring down at the door handle in confusion.

Santana chuckles at the look on her face, slinging the duffle bag strap over her shoulder before she comes to Brittany’s rescue. The door finally yanks open on the fourth tug and sends Santana stumbling backwards a little bit.

“Well that was rude,” Brittany says to the door. Santana just grins and slams it shut, locking the truck before grabbing Brittany’s hand and leading her to the cabin. The path winds around to the front door that overlooks the lake, and Brittany stares around in awe at how pretty the place is; Santana just stares in awe at Brittany and tries to fight the butterflies trying to crawl up into her throat.

Santana’s hands are shaking and she doesn’t even realize it until Brittany stops them. She gently guides Santana to face her and takes both of Santana’s hands in hers. They halt on the dirt road; the absence of gravel crunching under their feet makes the peaceful night sound shockingly silent. A small tendril of fear races up the back of Santana’s neck as she realizes how horror-movie-y this could get.

“You’re trembling,” Brittany whispers. She stills Santana’s hands and presses their foreheads together, just letting Santana breathe her in until she’s settled again. “Why are you nervous?” Santana shrugs a little, sighing when Brittany presses a soft kiss to her lips.

“This is like, you know, kind of a big deal,” Santana murmurs when they pull apart.

“We’ve been on hundreds of dates before,” Brittany soothes, releasing Santana’s hands only to slowly trail her warm palms up and down Santana’s arms.

“I know but I never— I mean this time it’s—” Santana struggles to articulate herself before shrugging and dropping Brittany’s gaze. “This time I know that for sure and I don’t want to fuck it up.”

When she finds the courage to meet Brittany’s eyes, they are so warm and soft that Santana melts into them. Brittany lifts one hand to cup Santana’s jaw, tilting her head back until she can kiss Santana long and gentle and deep.

“I love you,” she whispers as soon as she pulls away, “so much.”

Santana swallows thickly and smiles, amazed that this girl is somehow inexplicably and completely hers. “I love you, too.”

Brittany’s smile is small but her eyes shine, bright and adoring, in the evening sunlight. “Tonight will be perfect because we’re both here, so just breathe and relax, okay?”

Santana nods and quickly presses a chaste kiss to Brittany’s lips before drawing back and taking one of Brittany’s hands again.

“You know,” Brittany says conversationally as they continue down the driveway, “you couldn’t fuck it up even if you did take me to the carwash.”

Santana sputters a laugh and elbows Brittany’s side, right where she’s the most ticklish, and grins as Brittany giggles and tries to dance out of the way.

“Careful, you’re going to give me second date ideas,” Santana warns.

Brittany glances up with a grin so hopeful that Santana falls in love all over again. “I can’t wait.”

//

Brittany gasps as they walk in the front door, taking in the living room that’s decorated like it’s the height of the nineties. “It’s so tacky I love it!”

Santana giggles and directs Brittany to the bathroom when she asks. She used to spend summer weekends out here with Gabriel and their other cousins while her mom worked and Gabriel’s parents went on business trips all over the country. Her and Gabriel used to share a room when they stayed out here and they were by far the closest out of all their cousins. Sometimes she misses those days when everything was simple and her greatest wish in the world was that she could bring Brittany out here too because she would have loved the lake.

Now, even after so much has changed, she finally gets to fulfill that greatest wish from when she was a kid, and she’s almost giddy with excitement.

Gabriel already stocked up the fridge for her with food and alcohol. She grins, glad that he was dumb enough to let slip why he wasn’t coming home for Easter last spring and that she was smart enough to save that little tidbit of information until now. He thinks she’s just throwing a party with some of her friends not bringing her girlfriend out for a romantic date night, so there’s probably too much of everything in the fridge, but Santana figures she’ll just leave it for Gabriel when he inevitably brings his girlfriend around next weekend.

The cabin is their cool aunt’s, the one who is always travelling and bringing back wild trinkets and even wilder stories. She’s cool with her nieces and nephews using the place for whatever they want so long as it stays in one piece, and while Santana has never taken advantage of it before—because the Lopezes only have one car and she can’t imagine her mom would be cool with her taking their old Honda Civic all the way out here without adult supervision—she’s glad that her aunt gave all the nieces and nephews keys to this place years ago, and even more glad that her and Gabriel are the only ones still in Lima that are old enough to use this place.

She’s still looking through the fridge when two strong arms wrap around her and a chin finds its rest on her shoulder. Santana grins and sinks back into Brittany’s embrace, tangling their fingers together. “Whatcha doing?” Brittany asks, kissing Santana’s jaw as they look through the fridge together.

“Figuring out supper,” Santana answers. Brittany hums and Santana wonders if she adores how domestic this feels too. “I didn’t tell Gabriel exactly what I was doing out here so he apparently stocked the fridge for a party.”

Brittany giggles into Santana’s ear before nuzzling it with her nose. “I’m good with sandwiches.”

Santana grins and nods. “Good, because we’re having a picnic.”

Brittany gasps and wiggles in excitement behind her, and Santana just grins harder.

//

“I wanna go swimming,” Brittany announces after they’re finished eating.

They’re sprawled on the grass at the end of her aunt’s lawn, the retaining wall just a few feet away to separate the grass from the sand cooling in the setting sun. It’s still surprisingly warm, but her and Brittany are still cuddling close together under the spare blanket Santana found in a closet. It smells of mothballs and dust, but it keeps their body heat trapped between them and makes the evening feel even warmer. The sun has already dipped below the far shore of the lake in the distance, turning the trees miles away completely black in the growing night, the pink of the setting sun on the water already faded into inky darkness.

Santana laughs and shakes her head. “The water’ll be fucking freezing, Britt-Britt. Plus we don’t have swimsuits.”

Brittany throws the blanket off her shoulders and stands up so abruptly that Santana falls over into her now vacated spot. “Who says we need swimsuits?” she teases, and before Santana can respond there’s a shirt covering her head. She sputters as she emerges from beneath Brittany’s growing pile of clothes, her protests getting caught in her throat as she takes in the sight of Brittany in the moonlight, her skin glowing like porcelain and her hair wild and staticky.

Santana’s about to say something else—or swallow her tongue, most likely—when a bra hits her in the face. She groans and hears a splash, scrambling up to stare at the ripples disturbing the otherwise smooth surface of the lake. Brittany comes up laughing and gasping for air a couple feet from the end of the old wooden dock, turning over to float on her back with a satisfied chuckle.

“You’re going to catch hypothermia and die, Britt!” Santana shouts, “And then I’ll have to somehow explain to your parents why you got naked in the middle of nowhere! And then I’ll die of embarrassment!”

“Then you better come and warm me up before that happens,” Brittany calls back, all seduction and suggestion and Santana has no clue how she lost control of this date so quickly.

Santana curses under her breath, but already knows she’s going to join Brittany because she’s not strong enough to ever say no to her. She grumbles to herself even as her face flushes under Brittany’s appreciative wolf whistles. The cool night breeze makes goosebumps rise up all her body over before she’s even touched the water that she knows will be absolutely freezing.

“Only you’re crazy enough to jump into a lake in November,” Santana complains as she hurries down to the dock, half-way hoping that Brittany will climb out and she won’t have to actually jump in the water.

Brittany eyes her appraisingly and smirks knowingly. “And only you’re crazy enough to join me.”

Santana shakes her head and barks out a laugh before bracing herself. Brittany starts cheering her on like the complete goof she is, her voice echoing across the silent lake around them, and then Santana is jumping through the air and cursing herself for actually doing this.

She comes up shrieking and sputtering. “Fuck that’s cold!”

Something brushes her lower back and she panics as she spins around and ends up shoving Brittany underwater in her terror. Brittany emerges unfazed but Santana’s eyes are wide and guilty. “Jeez, Britt, I didn’t mean to—”

Brittany stops her with sure hands at her waist and warmth in her eyes. Santana shivers but it has nothing to do with the freezing water. “I knew that would happen,” Brittany grins easily.

Santana sucks in a sharp breath and gets a little lost in Brittany’s eyes, dark and inky like the twilight sky in the pale light of the moon. “Still,” she says absently, trailing her fingers across Brittany’s collarbone and wanting to cover it in kisses. She realizes with delight that she can, and is thankful Brittany’s such a strong swimmer and treads water for them both as Santana ducks forward to nip gently at Brittany’s skin. Brittany gasps above her, hands sliding to hold Santana more firmly as she keeps their heads above water. “Sorry,” Santana mumbles against Brittany’s soft skin.

Brittany makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat in acknowledgement. Santana smirks into Brittany’s neck as she trails her lips up to Brittany’s ear, finally having regained control of the date.

Or, at least she thinks she has until Brittany’s hands slide up her back to her shoulders and dunks her under the water.

“Brittany Susan Pierce you are so dead!”

Brittany just giggles as she flees.

//

Eventually, they both grow accustomed to the chill but Santana manages to coax Brittany out of the water before they turn into icicles.

Both of their teeth are chattering by the time they get back to the sprawl of food and clothes on their picnic blanket. Brittany grabs the one they were using to cuddle under earlier and wraps it around her shoulders before opening her arms to Santana.

Santana doesn’t hesitate to step into Brittany’s embrace, their cold skin against each other doing nothing in terms of warming them up. “S’cold,” Santana mumbles, burying her face in Brittany’s chest.

Brittany hums and hugs Santana tighter. “We could have a warm bath,” she suggests.

Santana shakes her head and snakes her arms around Brittany’s torso. “No tub. Hot shower and fire?”

Brittany kisses the top of Santana’s head. “That sounds perfect. But we’ll have to actually move for that.”

Santana sighs and shakes her head, nuzzling against Brittany and dropping a soft kiss to the top of her breast. “Don’t wanna,” she whines childishly.

She can feel Brittany smile against the top of her head and it makes her feel warm inside—she’s still fucking freezing on the outside though. “You go get the shower running, I’ll clean up here.”

“But this was my date,” Santana protests half-heartedly, “I should be the one cleaning up and—” Soft lips on hers cut her off as Brittany quickly soothes her worries.

“And you did all this work already,” Brittany whispers as she pulls back, “So it’s my turn.” Santana sighs and concedes, letting Brittany wrap the blanket more fully around her before bending to grab the picnic blanket and wrapping it around herself. “Now go,” Brittany teases as she smacks Santana on the ass, “I expect there to be steam coming out of that bathroom when I get there.”

Santana just giggles as she hurries back to the cabin.

//

The shower ends up taking longer than probably necessary because, once Santana’s fingers aren’t completely frozen, she kind of can’t keep her hands off her girlfriend, which is totally okay because Brittany can’t either.

They dress up in the pjs and Cheerios hoodies Santana packed. Brittany makes them hot chocolate because she makes it the best, and Santana goes out to start the fire. Her aunt has two fire pits, one down in the grass and one on the deck surrounded by smooth wooden benches. She opts for the one on the deck and hunts for cushions in the storage box beside the house. She pulls out the fluffiest cushions and pillows and arranges them in the corner of the benches, still close enough to the fire that they’ll be nice and warm, piling the blankets she brought out on top. There’s roasting sticks hidden in the box too that Santana pulls out and sets on one of the other benches, hoping that Brittany doesn’t notice them. She finds dry wood around the side of the house and grabs a couple logs and stuff for kindling that’s tucked in beside the logs.

The fire is warm and strong by the time Brittany wanders out onto the deck, a steaming mug of hot chocolate in each hand and a bag of marshmallows under the other. Santana pouts as soon as she sees Brittany’s treasure.

“Those were supposed to be a surprise,” she whines.

Brittany chuckles and holds the mugs away from her body as she leans in to place a long, soft kiss against Santana’s lips. “They were,” she promises, “But I figured this would save you a trip inside.”

Santana sighs and concedes to Brittany’s logic and kisses. “I guess that’s fine,” she mumbles. Brittany laughs and pulls away. She sets the mugs down and crawls onto the cushions, pulling one blanket around her shoulders and stretching out so Santana can settle between her legs. The pass the mugs of hot chocolate back and forth as they settle and Santana pulls the second blanket over their legs, both of them deciding to save the marshmallows for after they’ve finished their hot chocolates without having to say a single word.

“This is nice,” Santana says as she sinks into Brittany’s embrace, but what she really means is I wanna do this forever.

Brittany just hums in agreement and tightens her arms around Santana. They sip their hot chocolates and watch the fire dance, gossiping and making fun of their classmates and stealing chocolatey kisses.

“I’ve been thinking about coming out,” Santana says suddenly, and her whole body tenses for a moment in Brittany’s arms until she feels a soft kiss against her temple.

“Yeah?” Brittany murmurs, and there’s so much patience and no pressure in the single word that Santana breathes out in relief.

“Yeah,” she whispers, watching sparks fly high into the sky, a flicker of defiant brightness against the darkness. “Not to— Not to everyone. But to— To my mom,” she says quietly.

Brittany lifts a hand to brush Santana’s dark hair to the side, her lips finding the skin of Santana’s neck, fire-warm and smooth. She presses a long kiss there before nuzzling her nose against the hinge of Santana’s jaw. A tension melts out of Santana that she didn’t even realize was there.

“And maybe, like, Mercedes,” Santana finally continues. “And I think— Gabriel would be— You know.”

Brittany sighs, soft and content, against Santana’s skin. “I’ll be right there with you,” she promises quietly.

“Yeah?” Santana whispers, her voice cracking a little.

“Always,” Brittany promises, “My brave, brave girl.”

Santana sucks in a sharp breath and lets it out slowly. Most of the time she doesn’t feel very brave, but with Brittany’s arms around her she feels a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger, a little bit more like the person she thinks she could be. “I’m glad that you’re insides match your outsides again,” Brittany admits quietly, “That you’re starting to show everyone your awesomeness.”

Santana sighs and snuggles further into Brittany. “Well, with a girlfriend like you I’ve got be pretty damn awesome.”

Brittany snorts and kisses the top of Santana’s head. “Jerk.”

“Your jerk,” Santana says cheekily.

Brittany rolls her eyes fondly and pinches Santana’s side, causing her to spasm and giggle in surprise. “Yeah,” Brittany finally says when Santana tips her head back to grin up at her, “my jerk.”

Santana’s eyes soften and she knows Brittany can see the sincerity and gratitude in them. She’s overcome with love for this girl holding her, with the fact that she’s her best friend in the whole world, with the fact that they can switch from serious to goofy and back again in the span of a few minutes, with the fact that Santana loves her with her entire being.

With the fact that she’s finally able to love her and be loved in return without the fear and the self-hate and the shame of sophomore and junior year; in fact, loving Brittany just might be the one thing that she is the most proud of in her whole life.

Brittany leans forward and kisses Santana firmly, upside down like Spiderman, and Santana can feel Brittany’s smile all the way to her bones.

//

Santana is only half awake as Brittany coaxes her up to stumble to the bedroom. She manages to find the duffle bag and locate her toothbrush, sleepily brushing her teeth as she waits for Brittany to finish putting the fire out. Brittany joins her a couple minutes later, far more awake than Santana is. She tickles at Santana’s elbow and gently shifts her to the side so she can brush her teeth too.

Santana smiles dreamily as she finishes, wrapping herself around Brittany’s from behind and nuzzling against her shoulder blade, making brushing her teeth decidedly more difficult for Brittany. She doesn’t complain, just pats at Santana’s arms as she leans forward to spit and finish up.

She guides Santana back to the bedroom, flicking off lights as they go, her hands warm and firm with intent against Santana’s waist, and Santana yawns and desperately tries to wake herself up more.

“I’m sorry I’m so—” her apology is interrupted by another yawn, making Brittany giggle as she guides them onto the bed, “sleepy.”

Brittany ducks her head down from where she hovers above Santana, pressing a trail of sucking kisses along Santana’s jaw. “I’ll wake you up,” she promises. Santana smiles and lazily runs her hands down Brittany’s back.

She has no doubt about that.

//

Santana wakes up to blonde hair in her mouth. She sleepily swats at her mouth to get it out and immediately curls further into Brittany’s side, yawning against her neck and smiling when Brittany grumbles in her sleep and tugs Santana closer, tangling them up in each other even more.

It takes her a moment, to remember where they are because neither of them have curtains that ugly. Her aunt is awesome and always brings her cool stuff from her travels, but she has godawful taste in patterns.

Brittany seems to sense Santana is awake far too early, because she turns further towards Santana and nuzzles into her hair, sighing out a deep breath and tightening her arms around Santana so she can’t escape.

Santana grins at the move, because as if she’d ever want to leave Brittany’s embrace. The sun is only just creeping up the sky and they don’t have to be back in Lima until the afternoon when her mom will wake up before her next night shift start to worry, so Santana just sighs and closes her eyes, nuzzling into Brittany’s bed-warm skin.

She can’t wait for thousands of mornings, just like this one, where there’s no worried parents to deal with.

Except they’ll have better taste in home decor.

[wheresmynaya]

Two Ghosts Ch. 16 | Brittana

Okay so, there’s on more chapter for this Thanksgiving saga I’m sorry LOL

“Alright girls, make way!” Maribel says as she comes into the dining room with the turkey. She sets it down in its place and asks, “Can you both help me bring in the other dishes while I try to carve this thing, please?”

“Sure,” Brittany answers and gives Santana one last look before leading the way into the kitchen.

Santana stays rooted in her spot near the record player, stuck in her thoughts, until Maribel calls her name and tells her to help Brittany. She nods and drops the needle before she quickly follows after her. They don’t say much as the pick up plates, not that it’s a bad thing, it’s a comfortable silence despite the fluttery feelings in Santana’s stomach.

They carry out the last of the side dishes as Maribel sets into carving the turkey, the soulful tunes of The Supremes playing in the background. Santana lights the candles and Brittany brings out one of the bottles she brought from the fridge and begins pouring into fresh wine glasses. Once Maribel tires of carving, the girls sit and Maribel asks Brittany if it’s okay that they pray first.

“Of course,” Brittany smiles and takes Maribel’s offered hand.

Santana reaches across the table, offering her hand as well, and it feels oddly familiar except there isn’t any napkin they need to hide under. When Brittany’s fingers slide over her own, there’s a jolt of electricity that runs up her arm. The three bow their heads for Maribel’s quick prayer before going to make their plates. There’s a warmth in the room that Santana had missed and as they settle in their chairs, the glow of the candles and Brittany wiggling a little in her seat to the soft tunes, Santana feels overwhelmed with happiness.

\\

Midway through dinner, Brittany gets a little more serious and asks, “Could I make a toast?”

“Of course, my dear,” Maribel says happily.

Santana nods too, curious as to what Brittany will say.

Brittany clears her throat and holds up her wine glass and it makes Santana smile because she’s tipsy and Brittany’s still cute when she’s a little nervous, “Okay so, I don’t really know how toasts work now that I think of it. I’ve never really given one before but this feels like a special occasion and I want to do something kind of special.” Brittany says and Santana can definitely tell now that Brittany’s tipsy just from all the rambling but she stays quiet as she begins to speak again, “I just want to say thank you to you both for having me. I didn’t think I was up for celebrating this year, I was fine with being alone with like a whole box of pizza and all these bottles of wine and maybe some murder doc on Netflix but that sounds kind of sad now that I say it out loud. I don’t know, I guess with my family in California and me being here still, I wasn’t in the mood. But then, Maribel, you welcomed me into your family- again- and I couldn’t really say no. It’s nice being here even though it’s different this time because of how things are-” Brittany pauses again as her eyes dart to Santana and she starts to look a little unsure of herself, “I think I’m getting off topic so I should probably sit down.”

“No it’s okay, Brittany, you’re doing fine.” Maribel chuckles but Santana just hangs on every word.

“Uhm, I guess all I’m trying to say is thanks for including me and being my stand-in family for the day. It has been really nice being around you guys again, it feels like old times even if I’m not allowed to do certain things I used to, but that’s okay too. I’m just really thankful Maribel found me in the frozen food aisle and invited me over here. I’ve had such a great day surrounded by great people and I even get to eat great food, so thank you both.”

“You’re welcome,” Maribel beams and places her hand over Brittany’s, “You are always welcome in my house.”

Santana is at a loss for words so she just smiles softly in return.

“Thank you,” Brittany finishes and clears her throat one more time before raising her glass, “Cheers!”

“Cheers!” Santana and Maribel say in unison then they all clink their glasses together before settling in again.

There’s hearty laughter and good conversation and Santana finds that for the first time in a long time she feels genuinely content. Maybe that feeling is aided by the wine, bottle number three now, but she can’t keep from smiling and stuffing her face, not when Brittany’s sitting across from her doing the same thing. She still can’t believe after all the panicking and overthinking that Brittany still managed to be here, spending the day with her and Maribel, and things are okay.

“I wish I had a selfie stick,” Maribel sighs a little while later.

“No mami, those are lame.” Santana teases, reaching for her glass.

“Hey, don’t be mean,” Brittany chastises lightly and turns to Maribel, “I think they’re super helpful.”

Maribel nods, “I just want to take a picture of this moment.”

“I can take it,” Brittany offers but Maribel shakes her head.

“No, I want you to be in it too.” Maribel says and Santana finds herself melting again because her mom is awesome and so welcoming, “It’s been awhile since I’ve had a Thanksgiving dinner here, I want to remember this moment.”

“Here, I’ll set my phone up here and I’ll put on a timer.” Santana suggests and gets Brittany to scoot in close on the other side of Maribel so they can all fit in the frame. Their smiles are beaming as the timer ticks down until the picture is taken. Santana hands her mom her phone and the three of them coo over how good of a picture it is, before Maribel gets up.

“Text that to me, Santana, I’m going to make your abuela a plate,” Maribel says and there’s a slight sadness in her tone, “I need to check in on her, but you two don’t wait for me to start on dessert.”

Santana catches Brittany looking at her like she’s waiting for something, but Santana feels too happy to let her abuela affect her this time so she just nods and says, “Okay, mami.”

“Hang on,” Brittany says and for a split second Santana’s heart lurches for what’s to come next, but she’s pleasantly surprised when Brittany just asks, “Are you okay to drive? You’ve been drinking..”

Maribel smiles softly, “Not nearly as much as you two. I barely got a glass out of any of those bottles you opened.”

Brittany blushes and Santana giggles because she had no idea she was drinking that much. While Maribel gets together a plate for abuela, the girls tidy up the left overs and set off to clean up the kitchen. It becomes a little bit of a difficult task as Santana realizes they’ve killed off one of Brittany’s bottles already, and it’s a little more embarrassing now that she knows Maribel hasn’t really been drinking any.

\\

               “Do you want to have a rematch?” Brittany calls from the living room while Santana preheats the oven for the apple pie.

             Santana can imagine Brittany’s proud smirk just judging by her tone and when she enters the room to see Brittany sitting next to the coffee table, she sees she wasn’t wrong.

Brittany’s smirk turns into a grin as she waves her hand towards the perfectly stacked tower, “It’s ready for you..to knock over.”

Santana just rolls her eyes as she plops down on the floor across from Brittany, “Game on, Pierce!”

They play enough games to even out their score but Brittany blames it on the alcohol, saying it’s the only reason for Santana’s suddenly awesome Jenga skills. Santana just wiggles her brows before taking another sip of wine and going to put the pie in.

She really does have a pretty strong buzz going and she hasn’t felt her lips since before they cleaned the kitchen, but being the pro that she is, which is also code for being kind of old now, she knows how to stay on this good feeling buzz plateau. She hasn’t been black out drunk since probably just after she moved to New York and that experience was enough to last her the rest of her life. She remembers being the annoyingly hysterical drunk back in high school too and she can proudly say she’s moved on from that. Now, she’s just a sleepy drunk but is that really an upgrade? So when Brittany tops up their glasses, the first pour of their last bottle, Santana wonders how in the world she’s lasting this long without falling asleep.

But then she remembers who she’s been drinking with and how they’re alone in this big house and that thought alone is enough to keep her wide awake. It’s a kind of a flashback to their high school days when Santana would beg her mom for Brittany to sleepover and they’d stay up all night binging tv shows and playing board games. Sometimes they’d even sneak into her dad’s liquor cabinet and make all sorts of weird concoctions. In their earlier days, those drinks are what gave Santana the courage to act on her feelings before she even knew that’s what they were. They’d hide downstairs under a pillow fort, cradling drinks that were way too strong, and they’d steal kisses and giggle about it until they fell asleep.

 \\

They’re in the middle of another close game when the buzzer for the apple pie goes off and Santana’s stumbling to her feet.

“How convenient, just as I was about to win.” Brittany teases as she watches Santana scramble to her feet.

“Don’t cheat while I’m gone!” Santana giggles and looks over her shoulder with narrowed eyes, “I’m watching you.”

“How? You’re in the kitchen!” Brittany calls after her.

Santana just chuckles and gets on her oven mitts so she can safely remove the pie. The room already smells like warm apple and cinnamon but as soon as she opens the oven door, the scent multiplies. It’s one of her favorite smells and she can’t help the smile that stretches across as she sets the pie down on the rack she laid out on the counter earlier to let it cool before dashing to the doorway into the living room to sneak a peek at Brittany.

“What?” Brittany giggles and throws her hands up defensively, “I’m not touching anything.”

“Better not be,” Santana tells her then turns back to start getting out the dessert plates and vanilla ice cream.

Once she’s able to cut the pie, Santana gets her and Brittany’s plates together before carrying them out.

“Hey, look what I found on!” Brittany cheers, pointing the remote to the tv, “It’s old episodes of Rizzoli and Isles, remember how much you used to love this show?”

“I loved it a little too much,” Santana admits coyly as she glances to the screen, “Oh, this is a good episode though. This one’s yours.”

“Wow, that smells so good,” Brittany compliments as Santana sets down the plate, “Awh, you made me a plate too. You’re so sweet.”

Santana knows Brittany’s just being her usual playful self and she shouldn’t get so worked up over a simple compliment, but she can’t fight the blush that creeps up her cheeks as she adds, “I gave you extra ice cream. I know how you like to drown it all until it’s a mushy mess.”

“Yup, just how I like it!” Brittany grins although she knows Santana’s teasing her then says, “I didn’t think I could eat anything else but..” She cuts a small piece off and combines it with the ice cream then takes a bite. She moans at the taste but the innocent sound makes Santana swallow dryly, recalling those same sounds when Brittany used to eat something other than pie.

Santana quickly tries thinking of anything other than those thoughts, remembering that’s another thing that happens when she hits a certain point in her buzz, but horniness has always been a side effect of hers. It explains the fact that she rarely left a party or club alone and she can’t decide if she’s proud or embarrassed of that fact, but now is not the time for it.

They move up onto the couch while they eat dessert, but they leave a comically large space between themselves as they focus on the screen. There’s a palpable amount of tension in the room and Santana keeps her eyes trained so hard on the screen like if she happened to glance in Brittany’s direction she might just combust.

What makes it worse is that every so often she can actually feel Brittany’s eyes on her and it warms her skin in the best ways and it makes her wonder what would happen if she did look back? What if she put her plate down and faced her? What if she scooted closer, ending the distance between them? What if she wondered what Brittany’s lips felt like, if they were still the softest lips she has ever kissed? What if she were to lean over and check, even if they’re covered in cinnamon and vanilla ice cream? Would Brittany let her? Would Brittany even mind?  

They’re about halfway through a second episode when Maribel returns. The keys jingling against the door knocks back Santana’s thoughts and she looks dazedly to the entry.

“I’m back! Did you two save me some apple pie?” Maribel teases after she hangs up her coat. She kisses the tops of their heads as she walks behind them on her way to the kitchen, something she always used to do whenever coming home back in their high school days and the act makes Santana’s stomach flip because it’s just another reminder of her and Brittany’s history and how well she fits in still.

“Yeah, it’s just on the counter.” Santana says, her voice a little raspier after going so long without speaking, too engrossed in the episode and her not so innocent thoughts.

“Thank you,” Maribel calls out, now in the kitchen, “And thank you for cleaning up! I’m still pretty full. I might just save it for tomorrow. Do you girls want anymore?”

“Do you?” Santana asks Brittany. The blonde looks to Santana and her eyes are a little half-lidded as she shakes her head. Santana calls out, “No thanks!” Then she turns back to Brittany, “You’re looking a little tired. Bored of Rizzoli and Isles?”

Brittany shakes her head and fights back a yawn as she says, “No, no. I’m just chilling,” Then she pauses and looks to Santana, “Unless that’s my cue to leave?”

Before Santana can say anything, Maribel reemerges, “Leave? I don’t think so.”

“Why? Am I being kidnapped?” Brittany deadpans and it makes Santana and Maribel laugh.

“No, but you’ve drinking and it’s way too late for you to drive home now.” Maribel answers and suddenly Santana isn’t laughing anymore. She gulps because she knows exactly where this is going and there’s nothing she can do about it.

“I-I haven’t had that much.” Brittany replies but even she knows that’s a lie, you can just tell by the tone of her voice, “Okay maybe I have.”

 Maribel just chuckles and says, “That’s what I thought. You’ll stay the night.”

“Uhh, are you sure that’s okay?” Brittany asks uncertainly, “I don’t want to be a bother. I already crashed your like whole day.”

“Of course it’s okay! What’s the other option?” Maribel asks a little sassily, “You sleep outside in your car until morning? No way, don’t be silly. We have a perfectly good guest room or there’s this comfy couch or Santana’s r-“

“Mami..” Santana warns and Maribel begins to smirk, “I’m tipsy but I’m not that tipsy.”

“I’m just joking. Geez!” Maribel sighs then says under her breath, “You know, there was once a time when I couldn’t separate you two for the life of me,” Then looks to Brittany and says in a kinder tone, “Take your pick, my dear, you know where everything is or ask Santana. I’m leaving it for you two to figure out, I’m tired and I’m going to bed now. Goodnight girls.”

“Goodnight,” Santana and Brittany say in unison again.

Santana just watches as Maribel heads up the stairs until she’s out of sight; leave it to her mother to stir the pot one last time.