#santana stepped up and helped and knocked some sense into her | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wheresmynaya · 3 years

Text

Lost in the Lights Ch.1 | Brittana

Looks like I’m back at it again! Honestly it’s only because it’s currently (American) football season and I’ve been wanting to write QB!Britt for SO LONG and Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince gave me lots of feelings about it.

Also the Steelers are still undefeated so I’ve been in a good mood.

Summary: Brittany S. Pierce is new to WMHS and quickly finds that the students there aren't as open-minded as the ones she's used to, especially when she takes over as the Titans' starting quarterback. Many heads are turned including Cheerios Co-Captain Santana Lopez who has some obstacles of her own to tackle.

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x)

Once Brittany taped up the last box and set it aside for the movers to take, she took the rare moment she had alone and reminisced. She knew this day was bound to come. Since her father’s passing earlier in the year, Brittany’s mother – Whitney – had begun making the arrangements to move closer to Brittany’s grandparents in Ohio. Aside from a handful of friends, they didn’t really have anyone else close by and with Brittany’s little brother – Pete – still too young to stay home alone and Brittany busy with school, Whitney needed the extra help.

The move made sense, but Brittany dreaded it in silence. She was going into her Senior year and being the new kid at school wasn’t how she planned on spending it. She kept her feelings in check though as she boxed up her whole life and said goodbye.

Brittany didn’t want to make things harder by digging in her heels, so she put on a brave face for the sake of her family and finished her Junior year without making any complaints. Instead, Brittany did everything she could to help make the transition a little easier.

With a light knock on Brittany’s door, Whitney made her presence known.

“You ready to go, Britt?” Whitney asked gently.

Brittany could feel her throat tightening. Was she ready? The answer was obvious and deep down, Whitney knew that. She closed the distance and gave her daughter a hug.

“I’m sorry, kiddo,” Whitney whispered.

Brittany just nodded and held on tighter.

It had been a long drive and it seemed like everything started to look a little greener the further they got from the coast. Even the trees changed from the bushy palms Brittany grew up with to tall oaks, but after what felt like a million hours the Pierce Family finally made it to their destination.

“It’s a good looking house, right kids?” Whitney asked cheerfully as the family stretched their achy limbs in front of their new home.

It wasn’t anything special, just a typical three bedroom, two bath. The siding was white, the shutters were blue and the wooden fence looked relatively knew. At a quick glance, the house looked like any other on the block. Brittany didn’t have any complaints though and when she glanced down at Pete, neither did he.

“It’s cute,” Brittany agreed with a smile then nudged her brother, “What do you think, Petey?”

“I like the windows,” Pete pointed up at the shutters, “Blue’s my favorite color.”

“Mine too,” Brittany winked.

“Well, go pick your rooms,” Whitney instructed.

She didn’t get a chance to tell them that they were the exact same size, one just faces the backyard and the other faces the front. The two took off towards the house giggling the whole way while Whitney just shook her head and trailed after them.

It took them a couple weeks to settle into their new place with the help of Brittany’s grandparents, but it was finally starting to feel like home even if she felt like something was missing.

Or rather, someone.

Some nights she could hear the soft whimpers coming from her mother’s room and some nights Petey makes his way into Brittany’s bed because the dreams keep him up at night. Everyone misses him and that makes the transition a little harder. The nights are usually hard for everyone, but they manage to get by together.

It’s better during the day when it’s light out and there’s less time to overthink things. An Ohio summer has nothing on a Florida one, but Brittany doesn’t complain about that either. She can catch a tan wherever the sun shines, so she does just that.

She and Pete find a park within walking distance of their house and visit often while Whitney is out job hunting. Most days, Pete has more energy than Brittany can keep up with so the park really comes in handy. On the rare occasion, Pete sometimes would rather sit with Brittany on a blanket under one of the big trees there and color.

Sometimes, Brittany joins him because as Pete would say, “You’re never too old for coloring.”

One day while they’re at the park, Brittany spots a couple of guys that look to be around her age. They’re a little ways away, tossing a football back and forth. She can just barely hear their voices, but they’re muffled and mix with the sound of her music playing from her phone.

“How’s this look, Britt?” Pete asks as he holds up his coloring book.

Brittany nods, “Excellent color choice for the hair.”

“I thought so too,” Pete grins and goes back to his scribbling while Brittany lazily flips through the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.

She switches from reading articles to watching the guys play. She notes their form and posture and she can’t help but critique them. Their throws are pretty average, but they aren’t too bad and she goes back to reading.

“Watch out!” Brittany hears one of the guys yell. She braces herself and holds out a protective arm over Pete’s head. Soon a football bounces down just a couple feet away from her blanket and rolls to a wobbly stop beside her.

“Way to go, Sam! You almost hit them,” The lean guy yells back to the shaggy-haired blonde.

“I thought you had that!”

“It was overthrown! Do you think I’m seven feet tall?”

“You could’ve jumped.”

“This is why you’re third string when we don’t even have a second.”

“Whatever Mike, I’m just having an off day,” The blonde grumbles as he trails his friend.

“You always say that,” Mike shakes his head and starts to jog over to Brittany and Pete, “Sorry about that!”

“That’s alright,” Brittany smiles as she reaches for the ball and pushes to stand. The leather feels familiar in her hands and it’s just now that she realizes she hasn’t picked up a ball in so long. Her fingers automatically slide into position between the laces though like they’re magnets being drawn together.

Brittany sets her eyes on Mike and draws her arm back to throw a perfect spiral.

The pass connects with the intended target – obviously – but the looks on both of the guys’ faces is priceless. Brittany smiles proudly as they whoop and holler. She didn’t realize she kind of misses that.

“Show off,” Pete teases though he matches her proud smile.

“That was an awesome throw!” Mike applauds as he rushes over, “Like Woah! Sorry, I’m Mike. That’s my friend, Sam.”

Sam’s still a little ways away but he waves as he jogs over, his blonde shaggy hair bouncing with every step. He kind of reminds Brittany of a golden retriever, eager and a little dorky.

“I’m Brittany,” Brittany greets and pats Pete’s head, “This is my brother, Pete. We just moved here.”

“Oh, I think we’re neighbors!” Mike grins, “The house with the blue shutters?”

“Yeah, that’s us.”

Sam finally joins the group, “Great throw! Can you do that again?”

Brittany shrugs casually, “Yeah. Probably.”

Mike and Sam drop their jaws in disbelief.

“My sister’s a quarterback,” Pete informs them, “She’s the best at school.”

“I was the best at our old school,” Brittany corrects and ruffles up his blonde hair.

“You were a,” Sam blinks, “I’ve never met a girl quarterback.”

Brittany tries to keep from gritting her teeth at the way he says girl. She knows he didn’t mean any disrespect, but it still makes her skin crawl. She forgets that some places aren’t as progressive as her old school, so she keeps the polite smile on her face.

“You have to try out,” Sam insists, “You’re better than half of those guys and no girl has ever tried out before. It would be so cool!”

“You saw me throw one time,” Brittany chuckles.

“Exactly, that’s how much we suck!”

“Hey!” Mike shakes his head and gives Brittany an encouraging smile, “You’d be great on the team.”

Mike seems genuine enough, they both do, but Brittany’s unsure of how she’ll be received here. She’s already going to be the new kid in school, she didn’t really want to add on to that by being the first girl to try out for the team.

“I don’t know,” Brittany looks unsure and glances down at Pete, “I wasn’t planning on playing this year.”

“You’ve got to,” Mike adds, “You have a killer arm.”

“Would totally bench Hudson,” Sam jokes with Mike.

Mike nods, “Without a doubt.”

“Is Hudson your current QB?” Brittany wonders.

“Yeah, for three years and we haven’t made a single playoffs appearance,” Sam answers with the shake of his head.

“Sam was going to try and play him for the starting position,” Mike explains, “Clearly he needs some work though.”

Sam scoffs and punches at Mike’s shoulder.

“Clearly,” Brittany chuckled. She liked these guys. They were kind of dorks but harmless and they seemed friendly.

“Well, we don’t want to pressure you if you don’t want to play,” Mike says a little more seriously, “But if you change your mind, try-outs are next Tuesday at William McKinley High at noon. See Coach Beiste.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Brittany replies, “Thanks.”

“Cool. Well, how about one more for the road?” Mike suggests and holds out the ball to Brittany.

Brittany was happy to oblige and slaps her palm against the leather, “Go long.”

The guys took off running, playfully shoving at each other as Brittany took her stance and got into position. She let them get a few more yards further before drawing back and letting the ball fly.

Again, it was a perfect throw.

When Sam caught it this time, Mike cheered while Sam did a celebratory dance. It wasn’t the smoothest thing Brittany had ever seen, but it was the funniest and it had her and Pete laughing harder than they had in awhile.

That night at the dinner table with Whitney, Pete talked animatedly about his and Brittany’s day. Brittany always loved how excited he got about the smallest things and he always told stories with so much detail. They were worried that it would fade with their dad’s passing but Pete was still so full of love and light.

“We made friends at the park today too!” Pete said which piqued Whitney’s interest.

“Oh really?” Whitney smiled and looked to Brittany, “Making friends already?”

“I wouldn’t call them that,” Brittany chuckled as she picked mindlessly at her plate, “A couple guys from the high school here were playing catch. Apparently one of them is our neighbor too.”

“Mike!” Pete clarified.

“Yeah, Mike and Sam. They tried talking me into trying out for the football team,” Brittany explained, “I don’t think I’m going to play this year though.”

“What? Why not?” Whitney asked worriedly, “You’ve played every year since middle school.”

“I know, but I want to be able to help out here if you need me to,” Brittany reasons and glances over at Pete, “I don’t want to get stuck with football like I always do.”

“You love it, Britt, and you’re good at it,” Whitney tells her, “You should try out.”

“What about Pete?” Brittany questions, “No one will be home when he finishes school.”

“Gran will pick him up,” Whitney suggests easily.

“But – “

“No buts,” Whitney gives her a stern look, “It’s your Senior year and you love the game. If you want to play, you should. Isn’t that what your dad always said?”

Brittany feels something clench in the pit of her stomach and she isn’t sure if it’s a good feeling or a bad one. She can still hear her dad’s voice gently guiding her and maybe that’s what helps her decide this time too.

“Okay yeah, I’ll try out,” Brittany announces and it’s the first time she finally feels like herself again since moving to Ohio.

It’s a muggy Summer’s day when Brittany arrives at her new school for try-outs. She can already feel all eyes on her as she walks through the gate and joins the others on the field. She spots Mike and Sam with a few others and they wave at her while the others give her curious looks. Brittany gives them a nod but stays focused. It feels like it’s a hundred degrees there, but she’s use to the heat after growing up in Florida. She stands tall with her chin held high as she makes her way over to the Coach.

She’s pleasantly surprised when she finds that the Coach is also a woman.

“Coach Beiste?”

“Cheerios try-outs are held in the gym,” The woman tells her without a second glance.

Brittany bites her lip and tries to shake the nerves, “I’m not here for a cereal ad, Coach. I want to try-out for the team.”

The woman pauses and eyes Brittany curiously as she says, “This is football try-outs.”

“I know,” Brittany nods resolutely, “I’ve played before.”

“Position?”

“Quarterback.”

Coach looks impressed, “What string?”

Brittany smirks, “I was the starter.”

The woman blinks and it’s similar to the look Sam gave her.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Brittany. Brittany S. Pierce.”

“You just move here or something?” Beiste asks as she jots down Brittany’s name on the clipboard, “I haven’t seen you around.”

“Yes,” Brittany nods, “I just moved here from Florida.”

“Alright. Well, you won’t get any special treatment on my field,” Beiste tells her sternly, “You’ll run the drills, same as everyone else and I’ll see how you go. You throw up, it’s an automatic out.”

“Of course,” Brittany grins, “I don’t want it any other way.”

It’s no surprise to Brittany when she aces try-outs. She’s always been pretty athletic and she starts every morning with a run so she’s in tip-top shape and breezes through the drills. Even the team’s resident quarterback – Finn Hudson – struggles to keep up with the others. Brittany notes how uncoordinated his movements are and starts to understand why the team hasn’t made a playoff appearance.

Finn’s saving grace though is that he has a pretty good arm, but Brittany is confident that hers is better. Actually, she knows it is. If they’re going to compare stats, Brittany has him beat in every category but she lets her talent speak for itself. No one likes a cocky new kid on the block.

“You’re promising, Pierce,” Coach Beiste tells her after the third day of try-outs, “Between you and me, you can run circles around Hudson and I have no doubt you can outshine him.”

“I appreciate that, Coach.”

“But, he’s been our starter for nearly three years now. He’s got the team’s respect and trust,” Coach Beiste reasons.

Brittany nods. She hates how she has to start from scratch here. At her old school, she didn’t have to prove anything to anyone, they just knew she was talented because they grew up with her. Here, they don’t know anything about her and that puts her at a real disadvantage.

“You can’t just come in like a bat outta hell and snatch it from him,” Coach continues, “You’re going to have to play for it; prove yourself to me and the team that you can do a better job. You’ve got to really earn this.”

Brittany saw that coming too so she nods, “I understand.”

“I took a look at your record. I hope you don’t mind,” Coach Beiste says, “It’s very impressive, Pierce. I haven’t seen talent like yours in awhile around here. I almost forgot what it was like to see stats like yours.”

“Thank you. I’ve been playing for a long time.”

“I can tell, so this is what I’m going to do. There’s a pre-season game coming up,” Beiste tells her, “I want to put you in, see what you can do. If I like what I see, you might just be able to nudge Hudson out. There are a lot of Seniors on this team, I know they’d love to see the Championships and I think you can get them there.”

“I know I can,” Brittany says without a second thought.

Coach pats her hard on the shoulder pad, “That’s what I like to hear. Go get cleaned up.”

While Brittany gets packed up a little while later, she feels someone standing close by. She waits for some off-handed comment – she’s heard a few of the guys mumble them under their breath – but it never comes. She figures it’s either Mike or Sam but when she turns, it’s neither of them.

“Hi,” The guy greets. His voice is meek, almost angelic and it takes Brittany by surprise.

“Hi,” Brittany smiles back though as she stands.

“I’m Kurt,” He says and does a showy kick, “I’m the kicker.”

Brittany notes his small stature compared to the other guys. There’s not an ounce of muscle on him it looks like, typical for someone on special teams.

“I’m Brittany,” She replies, “Not sure what I am just yet.”

“I hope you’re going to be our knew QB,” Kurt grins and takes a seat next to Brittany’s duffle as she continues packing up, “I’m rooting for you. I know there are a few others that are too, they just don’t want you to know about it. I don’t really understand the point, we all want to win.”

“Thanks.”

“Sure,” Kurt nods and starts to admire Brittany’s keychain, “Oh! We play for the same team.”

“Obviously or this would be pretty embarrassing,” Brittany says with a straight face.

“No, I meant – “

Brittany grins slyly as she watches his face turn red. She glances down at her rainbow unicorn keychain in his hand and meets his gaze, “I know what you meant.”

Kurt laughs it off awkwardly and tries to recover, “It’s nice to finally have someone to talk to on the team.”

Brittany can hear just a hint of sadness in his tone and looks up, “They don’t talk to you?”

“They do, but it’s not the same. We don’t have much in common. All they want to talk about are video games and hot chicks,” Kurt scrunches his nose like there’s a bad taste in his mouth but then he looks at Brittany and relaxes, “Then again, you might be able to relate with that last one.”

Brittany chuckles as she reties up her hair, “You think so?”

Kurt eyes her and nods to the keychain again, “I don’t know many female quarterbacks that are straight. Actually, I don’t know any female quarterbacks.” Kurt ponders for a moment then looks to Brittany apologetically, “I’m sorry, that was intrusive. I apologize.”

Brittany gives him a pat on the knee as she stands. She pulls up her heavy duffle and adjusts the strap on her shoulder, “You’re not wrong, but I’m here to play football. Not drool over girls, no matter how pretty they are.”

Kurt smiles, “Good to hear. It would be nice to win for a change.”

“I’ll do my best,” Brittany tells him, “I’ll see you at practice.”

Whitney and Pete are in the stands along with Brittany’s grandparents on the day of the game against Crawford County Day. Brittany’s been sitting on the bench for a whole quarter and her knees are bouncing at the opportunity to get on the field.

She watches her team in action and it’s almost embarrassing how ununified they are. It’s like no one’s taking charge – no one’s leading – and it hurts to watch.

“Blitz! Blitz!” Coach yells, “Watch the blitz!”

Brittany can see it coming, but Finn doesn’t change plays.

The ball is hiked and Finn hands it off to their Running Back – Noah Puckerman – but the defense slips through from all sides. Puckerman is swallowed up in an instant.

It’s a loss of three yards, third down.

Brittany glances over at Coach and her face is beet red.

The next play is even worse. It’s meant to be a simple slant pass, but the lack of communication between Finn and the receivers – Mike and Sam – has everyone on different pages. When Finn drops back, no one is open and the pocket collapses in on him for a sack.

Brittany cringes at the hard hit and shakes her head.

“Damn it, Hudson!” Coach snaps and throws her hat on the ground.

The Titans finish the half down by 13 points.

It’s the longest twenty-minute halftime Brittany has ever endured. Coach just tears into the team for being so sloppy. Apparently Crawford County Day is meant to be one of the easiest teams on their roster so the fact that the Titans are behind already isn’t really a good sign.

“Good thing this is just a scrimmage!” Beiste yells, “I’ve never seen so many poorly executed plays in my entire career. What the hell was that out there?”

“They’ve gotten better, Coach.”

Brittany presses her lips tight together to keep from laughing at Finn’s excuse.

“I am captain of the U.S.S. Kick Ass, not the U.S.S. Back Talk,” Beiste said pointedly and looked at Brittany, “Pierce, your starting.”

“Wait, Coach!” Finn argued, “You can’t start her, she’s…she’s –“

Brittany arched her brow at him, waiting for a lame insult to come tumbling out.

“She’s gunning for your job, Hudson,” Beiste cut in.

“You can’t be serious!” Finn crossed his arms, “We don’t even know if she can play.”

“You just keep your eyes on me then,” Brittany smirked as she pulled on her helmet, “I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“Woah!” Sam cheered and high fived Mike.

“Shut up,” Puck shoved at them both, “Have some respect.”

“You’re one to talk,” Kurt replied meekly.

Puck rounded on him, “What was that, Hummel?”

Kurt just lifted a dainty hand and admired his nails quietly.

Brittany just smirked. Maybe she didn’t have the entire team on her side yet, but she liked her odds so far.

At first, things were a little rocky. It seemed that the offense wasn’t use to someone taking charge – they weren’t use to her taking charge – but Brittany kept at it and it started to pay off.

Once she got into her groove, she could read the defense so easily and adjust accordingly. She’d hear the grunts of disbelief whenever she’d call an audible, but by the last quarter she felt like she had finally made ground and gained some of the team’s trust.

Because by the last quarter, the Titans were up by 3 points.

She could play it safe with just seconds to go, but this was just a scrimmage and she wanted to make a lasting impression. She didn’t just want to win with a field goal attempt, she was confident that she could put more points on the board before the final.

Brittany straightened up and motioned for a timeout. The ref blew the whistle and Brittany gathered the team for a huddle. She took out her mouthguard and looked around at her teammates.

“I want to try Blue 80,” Brittany tells them.

“You’re ballsy, Pierce!” Matt Rutherford – the Tight End – said but it came out as a compliment.

Mike and Sam looked between each other before Mike spoke up, “We’ve never made a completion with this play.”

“Guess we should change that,” Brittany shrugged.

“You really want to blow the lead?” Dave Karofsky – the Right Guard – mocked.

“It’s the last play of the game,” Sam defended, “The worse that could happen is it gets intercepted and they run it all the way –“

“Shut up, Evans!” Azimio – the Left Guard – snapped, “Don’t jinx us.”

“It’s all or nothing,” Brittany reasoned, “Scared QBs don’t make plays and I think we can put more points on the board. You with me?”

She held out her gloved fist and waited for the other’s to join her.

Puck was the first to hold out his fist, “You pull this off, Pierce, and I’ll tell Finn myself that you’re the better QB.”

“You’re on,” Brittany smirked and watched as the rest of the team joined her, “Titans on three. One…two…three!”

“Titans!” They yelled out in unison. Brittany was impressed, she was already making them a more cohesive team.

Everyone got into their positions, what looked to be a simple running play. The defense fell right for it and adjusted accordingly. When the ball was snapped, Brittany faked the hand off to Puck and swiftly dropped back, watching as the other team went after him instead of realizing she still had the ball in her possession.

Meanwhile, Mike and Sam broke away from their defenders and jetted up the field. Both were wide open, but Mike crossed into the endzone just before Sam did. While the pocket still held, Brittany made her decision and let the ball fly before it could collapse in on her.

She hoped and wished and prayed to anyone who was listening that Mike would catch this thing. So much was riding on this; the team’s trust, their respect, solidifying her position as the new quarterback. Mike needed to catch this.

The relief she felt when he did was unmatched!

The crowd roared and Brittany’s chest swelled with pride. She glanced up at the sky and smiled, her dad would’ve loved that play.

Soon she was swarmed by her new team and they hoisted her up on their shoulders as they chanted her name, “Pierce! Pierce! Pierce!”

“Hate to say it, bro,” Puck said as they carried Brittany off to the sideline where Finn was close to throwing a tantrum, “But the girl’s got mad skill. She’s got my vote.”

“Who cares about a vote. That’s not how we do things,” Finn scoffs, “It’s up to Coach.”

“Easy, Hudson, you could learn a lot from her. Kid’s on fire,” Coach Beiste smiled proudly and patted Brittany on her helmet, “You got the job, Pierce. Titans, your new quarterback.”

“Thanks, Coach!” Brittany grinned while most of the team cheered.

After the game once everyone had changed out of their uniforms, Brittany was surprised to see Puck approach her with an interesting offer.

“Yo Pierce! Wait up,” He called after her.

“Hey,” Brittany nodded.

“I’m throwing a party this weekend before school starts up again,” He says, “I wasn’t going to invite you because didn’t know if you were cool yet.”

Brittany gives him an unbelieving look but it goes over his head.

“The whole team’s going and considering you’re our QB now I figured it was only right that I let you in on it,” Puck then gave her a sly grin, “Lots of hot babes will be there if that’s your thing. Is it your thing?”

Brittany chose to ignore the question, “Thanks for the invite. I’ll try to swing by if I can.”

“Not to brag, but my parties are usually pretty awesome,” Puck flaunted, “If you want to start off on the right foot at this school – being the new kid and all – you’re gonna want to show up.”

She couldn’t decide if that was meant to be a threat or that he just sucks at persuading, but Brittany shrugged it off. She was beginning to get the impression that Lima might live up to the stereotype of being a small town.

Brittany didn’t waver though, “I’ll keep that in mind, Puck. I’ll see you around.”

\\\\\

As a Cheerios Co-Captain, Santana Lopez knew that there were certain social obligations that she had to keep up with. One of those obligations being the End of Summer party Puck always threw. Only the top dogs of McKinley were allowed to attend and if you didn’t it was basically social suicide.

With everything that happened last year, Santana couldn’t afford to miss it no matter how much she hated going. It was like her reputation had been in freefall and she was barely holding on. She couldn’t have that – not for her Senior year – so she sucked it up and told her parents she was sleeping over her best friend’s house.

Quinn Fabray – the other Co-Captain of the Cheerios – was the only person it seemed like that kept Santana sane. They considered themselves the hottest bitches McKinley had to offer and most of the student body couldn’t help but agree. They had the looks, the smarts, the snark; they were the perfect duo and were set on ruling the school.

Santana hoped that last year was just a minor blip in their legacy. She had high hopes coming into Senior year, she already felt like she had hit rock bottom and she was over feeling sorry for herself.

The best way to feel on top again? Attend Puck’s party.

Of course, it was easier said than done.

The music is loud and there are people everywhere. Honestly, Santana has no idea how these things have never been shut down. She thinks maybe the dopes down at the Lima Police Department are just too swamped with real crime-fighting to deal with Puck and his shenanigans for the millionth time.

That’s obviously a joke. Nothing interesting ever happens in Lima, the LPD are just a bunch of lazy fucks who apparently don’t care about a couple dozen kids drinking underage.

Santana sits with Quinn at the edge of Puck’s pool and they just people-watch as they dangle their feet in the cool water. It’s a hot night and there are already a couple drunken idiots wading in the shallow end, singing along to the music at the top of their lungs.

She looks down at her red solo cup and swirls the amber liquid. She barely has a buzz so she takes another gulp in hopes that she’ll catch up and finally start enjoying the party.

Quinn watches her wearily but does the same. Neither of them want to be there but appearances are important, especially to them.

Speaking of appearances, Santana spots a leggy blonde across the way through the glass double-doors. She’s dressed casually in cut-off jean shorts and a white t-shirt. Santana raises her brow; she wishes she could show up to a party looking like that. It took her an hour alone to do her make up, let alone pick out the right outfit.

Santana continues to watch her – though she feels a little weird for it. She’s never seen the girl around here before and decides that’s the reason why she can’t take her eyes off of her – she’s just curious. A little piece of her deep down inside calls her out for lying.

Still, Santana just assumes the blonde came with one of the football players since that’s who she seems to gravitate to. She notices the familiar faces from the football team – Sam Evans in particular – and watches as he hands the blonde a red cup.

The girl smiles in return and wow, Santana’s a little star-struck by its brilliance. Sam must’ve said something dorky because now the girl’s laughing and shaking her head at him. Santana’s never seen someone so effortlessly beautiful and she has to bite her cheek to keep from smiling too. This girl, she has one of those infection kind of smiles and it’s trouble.

Mike Chang walks up next and clinks his cup against the girl’s and together they begin to chat.

Santana quickly glances to Quinn to catch her reaction. Mike and Quinn aren’t exactly official, but it’s obvious they have a thing for each other.

Quinn’s not looking though and Santana feels a little relief. She can’t deal with a jealous Quinn tonight, and a little part of her doesn’t want this new girl to have to deal with that either.

When Santana glances back, she recognizes Sugar Motta – McKinley’s resident Richie Bitch – pulling the blonde girl in to dance and suddenly Santana’s watching a little too closely.

This girl can clearly dance and the way she moves with Sugar is so graceful. Sugar on the other hand isn’t as fluid, but their hands smooth over each other teasingly. When the blonde’s hands land on Sugar’s hips, they start to sway together and Santana can just tell that the blonde’s the one leading now.

Santana can feel this coil within her tightening the longer she watches, her mouth getting drier at the way she takes control.

Then the song changes and the two laugh and carry on so carefreely as if nothing happened. Their moves mimic the steady rhythm and they start to bounce with their fists pumping at the air in time to the pounding bass.

Santana frowns at the slight pang of jealousy; she used to be like that, so uncaring and full of life. She danced with whoever she wanted – boy or girl – and it didn’t matter, but now…now it does.

“Who’s she?” Quinn asks, her gazing lining up with the blonde talking to Sugar.

“No idea.”

“Should I ask around?”

“No!” Santana blurts and Quinn eyes her suspiciously. Santana adjusts, “No. I’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later. She’s hanging around Sugar and you know she can’t keep her mouth shut for more than two seconds.”

Quinn smirks, “True.”

When Puck finally rears his ugly mug, Santana’s surprised they were able to dodge him for so long.

“Hey ladies,” He greets with his signature smirk, “I’m not interrupting, am I?”

There are beer stains on his open button-down and Santana can smell the tanning oil on him from where she sits. He’s got a nice body or whatever, but that doesn’t mean he needs to strut around basted in Hawaiian Tropic. She can’t really talk though, she and Quinn have both made out with him at some point in time.

“Scram, Puckerman,” Santana replies with a roll of her eyes, “I’m not drunk enough to deal with your lame ass.”

“Is that any way to talk to the host?” Puck mocks and squeezes in to sit between the Co-Captains.

Santana groans and shuffles away from him, but he throws a heavy arm around her and Quinn’s shoulders. She can smell something stronger than beer on his breath and scoffs as she gets out from underneath his arm, “You’re gross.”

“Whatever. I’m not here for you anyway,” Puck brushes off and leans heavily against Quinn instead, “I know you’re not on the menu anymore or has that changed?”

Santana’s taken aback but her heart begins to pound wildly at the accusation.

“Choose your next words carefully,” Santana warns.

“What?” Puck laughs, “You still trying to hold out on me?”

“Puck,” Quinn snaps and shrugs out from under him too.

He’s too drunk and wrapped up in his own bullshit to notice that he’s crossed a line, but his voice grabs the attention of those surrounding them.

Santana suddenly feels small, trapped even. It feels like everyone’s staring now and listening to Puck’s drunken words.

“All I wanna know is if that phase is over with now?” He says and it’s like the final blow for Santana.

She shrinks back and her vicious words that use to come so easily for her die on her tongue. There’s a crowd gathering now and she notices the blonde girl from before eyeing them too.

“It’s not a phase, asshole,” Quinn snaps and surprises everyone watching by pushing him into the pool.

Santana’s eyes go wide as she sees the big splash. She’s never been so thankful to have Quinn as her best friend.

“What the hell, Quinn!” Puck grumbles as he resurfaces, “I had my phone on me still!”

“Shouldn’t have been a dick then,” Quinn shrugs and hooks her arm with Santana’s, “Let’s go, the beer’s flat here anyway.”

Santana finally kicks into gear and nods, “Yeah. I’m not trying to be hungover for practice tomorrow.”

Santana doesn’t know why, but as they turn to leave she looks around for the mysterious blonde. To her disappointment, she’s nowhere to be found.

They make their way to the street and begin the short walk home in silence. Santana’s heart is still racing even though they’re so far away now that she can’t even hear the low thrum of the music emanating from Puck’s place. She hopes that no one saw her choke on her words, maybe they’ll be too distracted by Quinn’s actions to remember.

It’s not until another ten minutes later when they’ve arrived at Quinn’s house that Santana finally finds her voice again.

“Thanks Q,” She says quietly. She knows she doesn’t need to elaborate and she’s thankful for that too.

Quinn only lifts her shoulder in a lazy shrug, “You would’ve done the same for me.”

\\\\\

The first day of school rolls around quickly for Brittany, but despite being the new kid she makes friends relatively easy. Kurt’s in her first class and she’s honestly so relieved to see a familiar face.

He takes it upon himself to show her around and introduce Brittany to his friends. So far, Brittany’s met a Tonya or Taylor – she’s not very good with names – but she’s nice. There’s also Mercedes – she remembers that name – who Brittany met in her Astronomy class and alongside Kurt guide, they guide Brittany through McKinley High.

It’s a total Mean Girls moment and Brittany finds herself laughing at how eager they are to show her around.

When they get to lunch, she notices that everyone is pretty cliquey which is something she isn’t use to. At her old school, everyone mingled with everyone. It didn’t matter if you played sports or if you were considered cool, people just hung out with whoever they wanted.

At McKinley High, that’s clearly not the case.

All the football players sit together but instead of joining them, Kurt leads Brittany and Mercedes to a different table close by. They get a couple of curious looks, but all Brittany can focus on is what they’re wearing.

“Why have they got on their letterman jackets?” Brittany questions with a laugh, “It’s so hot outside, they have to be melting.”

“How else do expect them to establish dominance?” Kurt says sarcastically, “I only wear mine on game days. You don’t have one yet, right?”

“No,” Brittany answers, “But I do have my own number now.”

“Oh good,” Kurt grins, “It’s official now.”

Kurt and Mercedes are still trying to give her the rundown, but Brittany’s starting to reach her peak when it comes to taking in all the new info. Whatever they’re saying now is kind of going in one ear and out the other, the only thing that brings her back is spotting the familiar brunette she saw at Puck’s party.

Even if Brittany drank a little more than she anticipated, she was still sober enough to remember the saddest looking girl at the party.

“And those are the Cheerios,” Mercedes tells Brittany as if she could read her mind, “McKinley’s cheerleading squad and top of the social food chain.”

“I haven’t seen them at any of the games,” Brittany looks to Kurt for an explanation.

“They don’t bother with pre-season,” Kurt answers, “They’re basically the only ones here winning any titles. Coach Sylvester practically lets them get away with murder.”

Brittany notes all the high ponies and uniforms, everyone’s make up is on point and there’s not a single hair out of place. They all look immaculate, but Brittany focuses on the two that she’s most familiar with.

“Who are they?” She asks.

“The blonde one is Quinn Fabray,” Kurt informs her in a hushed tone, “She’s Co-Captain along with the brunette – Santana Lopez – and both of their families are loaded. They’ve been best friends since ever, you rarely see one without the other. Quinn’s kind of a prude and Santana’s – “

“A complete bitch for no reason most of the time,” Mercedes finishes for him.

Kurt shakes his head, “She has a reason.”

His cryptic words interest Brittany. Hell, she’s been interested ever since she saw Quinn push Puckerman into the pool.

“Doesn’t give her an excuse to terrorize us,” Mercedes reasons, “The girl is trouble.”

Kurt bobbles his head from side to side and looks back at Brittany, “It’s best if you stay out of her way, Brittany. It’ll make your life a whole lot easier.”

“You think?” Mercedes asks, “She’s on the football team, the quarterback even. You think Santana will mess with her?”

Kurt shrugs, “She still messes with me doesn’t, she?”

“That’s true,” Mercedes frowns.

Brittany just nods, but that doesn’t extinguish the curiosity that has blossomed within her.

And maybe someone above is testing her, because when Brittany arrives to her final class of the day she finds the exact person Kurt and Mercedes have been warning her against interacting with: Santana Lopez.

And to make matters even worse, the only available seat left in the room just so happens to be the one right next to her. Brittany shakes her head and glances at the board to double check she’s in the right place.

Creative Writing – Miss Holliday Room 215

Brittany’s definitely in the right place and lets out a sigh.

Might as well bite the bullet, Brittany thinks as musters all the confidence she has left and she approaches the table. She’s been rushed at by guys ten times the brunette’s size moving at full speed on the football field and yet, she can’t help but feel a little nervous when she comes to stand before the Co-Captain.

“Hi,” Brittany greets with a polite smile, “Can I sit here?”

Santana glances up at her like she can’t believe the audacity Brittany has. She eyes her up and down then goes back to filing her nails, “No.”

Brittany nods, so Kurt and Mercedes might’ve been right.

“There aren’t any other seats left,” Brittany adds.

Santana doesn’t even look up this time, “Sounds like a personal problem to me.”

Brittany has to bite her cheek to keep from laughing. This girl is something else but Brittany’s never been one to back down.

Unfortunately her teacher – Miss Holliday – approaches, “Are you seriously starting off the year by being a pain in my ass, Lopez? Don’t give the new kid a hard time. Move over.”

“Fine,” Santana rolls her eyes and slides her books closer to her side of the table.

Brittany looks back at the teacher and smiles, “Thanks.”

“All good,” The woman says casually. She’s young and reminds Brittany of one of her favorite teachers at her old school, “Have a seat, Sweet Cheeks.”

Brittany does as she’s told and gets settled next to Santana. She can feel the tension radiating off the Cheerio, but tries to ease it by introducing herself.

“I’m Brittany,” She tells the brunette and adds a friendly smile for emphasis. If she’s going to be stuck sitting next to her for the rest of the year, they can at least be civil. Right?

Wrong.

“I didn’t ask,” Santana retorts and spends the rest of class giving Brittany the cold shoulder.

For some reason though, that only makes Brittany want to get to know Santana even more.

Afterall, she loves a challenge.

\\\\\

It’s the last Cheerios practice indoors and Santana and Quinn soak up the privilege of conditioning in a space with A.C. There are many reasons why Santana dreads having to join football team outdoors for practice, one being that it’s hot as hell still during this time of year and also she can’t stand the cat-calling.

With Coach Beiste as the acting head coach now, the guys are a lot more tame but Santana still hates how she feels like she’s being watched all the time. Some of the other girls on the squad don’t mind it too much though, they’re all about teasing and the pleasing apparently.

“How’s your schedule this year?” Quinn asks between stretches.

“It’s alright,” Santana shrugs, “Super easy. I got Holliday and Schuester again.”

“Lucky!” Quinn says, “I got Hagberg. I wish she would just retire already.”

Santana agrees then she remembers her last class of the day and how the mysterious blonde from Puck’s party now has a name, “Hey. Remember that girl we saw at Puck’s?”

“The blonde one?”

“Yeah, her. Brittany,” Santana murmurs the name, “I have a class with her.”

“Oh! Is she cool or something?” Quinn’s intrigued, “She’s pretty and she’s got some moves. We could get her on the squad?”

Pretty, Santana thinks it’s an understatement now that she’s seen her up close. She’s never seen eyes so damn blue and that smile – again, wow.

Quinn catches her swept up in her thoughts and quickly plays it off, “Hell no.”

“Really? Why not?”

“She’s just…,” Santana racks her brain for an excuse but she’s blanking, “She’s just not Cheerios material.”

Quinn calls her bluff, “How would you know?”

“I just do,” Santana scoffs and continues to struggle for a reason, “There’s something different about her, okay?”

“Different is good though, right? We could use that.”

“God Quinn, just drop it alright?” Santana snaps and walks off.

Quinn just laughs in disbelief, “You’re the one that brought her up!”

The rest of the week is a little of the same. Santana goes through the motions of her day although a hidden piece of her longs for her last class with Brittany. She still ignores the blonde’s attempts to make conversation, but it doesn’t seem like the girl is giving up anytime soon.

Quinn still presses for Brittany to join the squad, but Santana’s not having any of that either.

Quinn can’t understand why Santana’s being so adamant about the decision. Santana doesn’t know why either. In fact, there are a lot of things Santana doesn’t understand when it comes to Brittany, but she’s not exactly ready to unpack any of that.

If anything, she’s afraid of what it all could mean.

It isn’t until Friday night that things begin to get a little clearer for them all.

It’s the first regular season game which means it’s the first game the Cheerios make an appearance in. The Titans are pumped but Santana isn’t sure what’s gotten into them, they never win so cheering for them always feels like a waste of time. There’s a different air about the team this year though, but Santana doesn’t think much of it as the game kicks off.

Santana and Quinn and the rest of the Cheerios do what they do best and breathe life into the crowd like always, but they find that they don’t need to work as hard to keep morale up because the Titans are actually winning for a change.

In fact, Santana has to check the score twice to make sure she’s reading it correctly.

Home: 9 Away: 0

“What the hell?” Santana bumps Quinn with her pompom, “We’re winning?”

“Weird, right?” Quinn replies and nods over to the Titans’ bench, “Wonder if it has anything to do with that?”

Santana blinks, “Is that Finnocence?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Santana snaps back to the field, “Then who’s out there?”

“Sam?” Quinn questions but they know he’s #6 and #6 is on the other side of the field catching a perfectly thrown pass.

They both look to the quarterback and Santana asks, “Who’s #12?”

“No idea,” Quinn shrugs, “But he’s killing it!”

Santana doesn’t know much about football but she does know a lot about winning and whatever this guy is doing seems to be working.

Santana and Quinn spend the rest of the game trying to figure out who’s beneath #12’s helmet, but decide that someone already on the team must’ve been given a new number with the promotion to quarterback.

There’s really no other explanation.

All that though is quickly forgotten as the game ends and the Titans come away with their first win of the regular season. It’s practically unheard of considering their losing streak. The stands erupt in applause and Santana watches as the Titans go wild too. Sam and Mike hoist #12 onto their shoulders as the quarterback pulls of his helmet.

When Santana sees long blonde hair cascade out from underneath it, she just about faints because the Titans’ new quarterback isn’t some random guy: it’s Brittany.

“Well,” Quinn’s equally surprised and bumps Santana with her shoulder, “Looks like you were right about her being different.”

#cant stop wont stop lol #no really its bc im still unemployed and writing is the only thing that makes me feel like i'm doing something productive while i job hunt #Lost in the Lights #Brittana #Brittana fanfiction

47 notes · View notes

leigh-kelly · 4 years

Text

The Nanny

So the last thing I should be doing is writing a new fic, but this is a gift for @yourstreetserenade who has been an absolute gift to this fandom especially during such a difficult time. I’m not sure how frequent updates will be, but they will come!

Just after finishing with four separate brides in the bridal shop she works at in Flushing, Queens, Brittany Pierce hops up on the counter and crosses her legs, tossing her head back. Sugar Motta grabs a bottle of water and thrusts it into Brittany’s hand, before jumping up on the counter next to her. The two of them sit in silence for several minutes, taking in the fact that they have no customers, before the bell on the door tinkles and Brittany takes a swig out of the bottle and climbs down, smoothing her dress.

“Oh, hey Dani.” She grins, walking over to her girlfriend. Before she can give her a kiss, Dani puts her hand up, and Brittany furrows her brow.

“No kiss?”

“Look, Brittany, we need to talk.”

“Uh, sure, shoot.”

“Somewhere private.” Dani gestures over to Sugar, who makes herself look busy with her boss’ presence in the store.

“Don’t worry, no one’s in here.” Sugar pops her gum and sticks a pin into the dress on one of the mannequins.

“You are, Sugar. Brittany, let’s go into my office.”

“Aw c’mon Dan, I’ve told you a thousand times, if you tell me something, I’m just going to tell Sugar anyway, you may as well just say it. Besides, we’ve had a real rush in here today, and I don’t wanna leave her stranded if it happens again.”

“Fine.” Dani sighs, exasperated. “We’ve had a good run, Britt, but there’s someone else.”

“Someone else? What are you talking about? We’re pre-engaged.”

“Yeah!” Sugar agrees. “We’ve already been picking out Brittany’s wedding dress.”

“Sugar, this is really a couple’s conversation.”

“How are you going to say it’s a couple’s conversation if you just said we’re not a couple anymore?” Brittany tries to hold back her tears, but she finds that she’s failing miserably. “How could you do this?”

“It just happened, Quinn and I ran into each other a few weeks ago at—”

“Quinn? You’re breaking up with me for Quinn Fabray? How am I supposed to work here knowing that you’re sleeping with that shameless hussy?”

“You sound a little like your mother, Britt.” Sugar interjects.

“Shut up, Sugar.”

“Well, about that.” Dani wrings her hands in front of her body. “Quinn needs a job, and, well…”

“So not only are you breaking up with me, you’re firing me?” Brittany grabs her purse from behind the counter and makes toward the door as Dani reaches for her. “Don’t touch me. You can’t fire me, I quit!” She pushes the door open, gets halfway through and turns around. “No, you fired me, that way I can collect unemployment.”

----

“Kurt!” Santana Lopez calls out, sitting behind the desk in her home office and shuffling through a stack of paperwork. “Come in here!”

“You bellowed, Ms. Lopez?” Kurt opens the door, adjusting his tie.

“Have any of the prospective nannies arrived yet? Rachel is on me—”

“She wishes.” He mutters under his breath.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.”

“Rachel is on me about the party on Saturday night. If Tyler scares one more nanny away, I’m sending him to boarding school.”

Santana puts her head in her hands on continues to go through her paperwork. Ever since her wife died five years ago, she’s been overwhelmed by the demands of her career and taking care of her three children. Valerie, the oldest, had been thrust into puberty and is off the walls with her emotions, Tyler does everything in his power to force anyone who came into the house to leave, and Abigail, the baby, is in therapy twice a week and trying to deal with the fact that she barely remembers her mother at all, but sometimes Santana thinks it’s making her worse, not better. On top of all that, she has Rachel who is constantly demanding every moment of her attention, and she’s been through eight nannies who just can’t seem to manage her children, so she can give the focus she needs to her career.

“There’s the bell.” Kurt breaks her from her thoughts. “Let’s hope the ninth time’s the charm and this nanny that the agency sent over can actually manage Master Tyler.”

“Tell her I’ll be with her in a minute, I just need to finish up in here.”

“Yes, Ms. Lopez.”

Kurt exits the room and goes to answer the door. Standing before him is a leggy blonde in a bright pink mini dress and stiletto heels. She’s not exactly what he expected from the agency and is certainly a far cry from any of the other nannies they’ve seen over the past five years, but he steps back and lets her in.

“Ms. Lopez says she’ll be right with you. I expect you have your resume?”

“Resume? I—uh…” The blonde clutches the makeup kit she carries close to her chest and looks around.

“Yes, resume. You know, the list of your previous experience as a nanny, which I presume you have quite a bit of?”

“Resume. Nanny. Right. Yeah, I, uh…totally have it. Say, butler man, do you think I could get a glass of water?”

“As you wish.”

When Kurt leaves the room to get her a glass of water, Brittany scrambles through her makeup kit. She had no intention of applying for a job as a nanny, she was just at this gorgeous mansion to try and sell makeup so she could get out of her parents’ house, now that she was no longer living with Dani, but like she always thought, when opportunity knocks, she’s got to answer. Unfortunately, all she has with her is an order form and a few tubes of lipstick, but she’ll make do, quickly scribbling her name and phone number in Monroe Red along the back of the form and trying to write down her years of working at Dani’s Discount Bridal before the butler comes back with her water. She’s just about finished when a dark-haired boy bursts into the room clutching a knife to his chest and collapses on the floor with a pool of ketchup staining his white shirt.

“Eh, mediocre performance.” She stands over his twitching body and his eyes pop open. “Next time, you want to get some of that fake costume blood off of Amazon. Ketchup is so 1990s.”

“I’ll have you know.” The boy feigns a gasp. “I’m dying here.”

“We’re all dying, kid.” Brittany laughs. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“What business is it of yours?”

“I’m just making conversation. So, you live here, or what?”

“No.” He deadpans. “I just hang around random mansions looking to scare unsuspecting nannies.”

“You’ve really gotta get better at this scaring thing. I’m telling you, I could give you some tips that’ll have you winning Academy Awards.”

“I’ll have you know I’ve scared off seven nannies in five years, and if you’d stop messing with my plan, you’d be number eight.”

“I don’t scare easily, you’ve never met my mother. Trust me, she’ll tell you the story of the time she thought she had to poop, gave birth to me in a barn and wrapped me up in a Mr. Submarine wrapper, and you’ll be scarred for life.”

“Ew.” The boy sticks out his tongue. “That’s disgusting, and I don’t think my mother would appreciate you telling me that story.”

“Your mother will make that decision.” Brittany’s jaw nearly hits the floor when a gorgeous brunette in a pencil skirt and blazer steps into the room. “Santana Lopez, it’s a pleasure to meet you Miss—”

“Pierce. Brittany Pierce.”

“Miss Pierce. Now what was this story you were telling my son?”

“Oh…I…uh…never mind.” Brittany stammers. “We were just getting to know each other.”

“Well, you haven’t run screaming from the house yet, so I suppose that’s going well. Tyler, go get Valerie and Abigail.”

“But Mom—”

“Go.” She shoos him off, and Brittany can’t help but stare at the woman in front of her.

“Santana—”

“I’d prefer if you call me Ms. Lopez, thank you.”

“Right, sorry, Ms. Lopez. Um…he’s a character.”

“That’s one way to put it.” She sighs. “Your resume, please.”

“Oh…yeah. Well, I kind of forgot to bring one with me, but I have this.” Brittany hands over the lipstick scrawled paper, and Santana holds it between two fingers.

“So, you came to an interview without a resume? Is that lipstick?”

“Well, I’m kind of having a bad week, you know how that goes.” She bites her lip, figuring she may as well just show herself the door.

“You’re not here for the interview, are you?”

“I—look, I wasn’t exactly called her for an interview, but I’m telling you, I’m great with kids. I have like…thirty-six little cousins, and I could totally be a nanny.”

“Yet you have no experience. I see here that you worked for…Dani’s Discount Bridal?”

“Mom!” A little girl with her hair in long braids tumbles into the room, and Brittany smiles at how much she looks like San—Ms. Lopez. “Tyler pushed me again!”

“Kid, what’s your deal?” Brittany asks him. “Why do you want everyone not to like you?”

“You can’t talk to me like that! Mom, tell her she can’t talk to me like that!”

“She’s not wrong Tyler. How many times have I had to tell you to keep your hands off your sister?”

“I don’t know.” He rolls his eyes. “About a billion.”

“Look, Miss Pierce, clearly I need more help here than you’re qualified to give. Thank you for coming, I’ll have Kurt see you out.”

“But—”

“I’m sorry. Thank you for your time.”

Kurt enters the living room again holding Brittany’s water, which he immediately sets down on the coffee table, sensing the tone of the room. While he’s escorting Brittany to the door, she catches a glimpse of the oldest Lopez child and she sighs, thinking that she probably could have made some kind of difference in their lives, even if she doesn’t necessarily have any formal training as a nanny. When she gets to the door, another short brunette enters, who gives her a dirty look, and she just exits without another word.

“Santana!” Rachel cries out, looking at the ketchup on Tyler’s shirt with disgust before the kids all scatter from the room in her wake. “I’ve been on the phone all morning with the caterer for Saturday night. I’m telling you, if this party is a disaster, then we’re never going to get the funding we need for our play. They’re going to immediately jump ship and support the next Lin Manuel Miranda production, and we’ll be out in the cold again.”

“Rachel, it’s going to be fine. I just have to focus on getting a nanny for these kids today, and then Saturday will go off without a hitch.”

“What was the matter with that one? Scared off again by Lord Ketchup?”

“No.” Santana looks to the door, feeling like perhaps she’s made some kind of mistake just as the phone rings. “She’s just not right for our family.”

“Well, you better find someone who’s right. We have three million dollars riding on Saturday night being a success, and as much as I adore your children, I just don’t think having them run around our cocktail party will do anyone any favors.”

“Yes, I’m aware, you’ve told me that about forty-six times this week.”

“Ms. Lopez.” Kurt interrupts. “It’s the nanny agency on the phone for you.”

“Rachel, I have to take this. Go into my office and look over the notes for our pitch.”

“You know that I’m your partner, not your employee, right?”

“Okay.” Santana pinches the bridge of her nose. “Decide if you want to look over the notes for our pitch so you can be prepared for Saturday night.”

“I think that sounds like a great idea.” Rachel chirps. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Great.” She takes the phone from Kurt and sinks down onto the couch. “Santana Lopez speaking.”

“Ms. Lopez, this is Mindy from the agency. Unfortunately, the interviewee we were sending out to you today was offered another job and has decided to cancel. I can get someone else to you on Monday, maybe Tuesday.”

“Monday or Tuesday isn’t good enough.” Santana snaps. “I’ve told you a dozen times that I need someone for this weekend.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do that.”

“You have got to be kidding me. I have three kids who need a nanny, and I have an event Saturday night. Next week is unacceptable.”

“I’ll do what I can, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it work.”

“Goddamnit.” Santana hangs up the phone and looks at Kurt desperately. “Why is it so hard to find good help in this town?”

“I believe I can still decipher the lipstick on Miss Pierce’s ‘resume.’” Kurt offers. “Maybe you ought to give her a shot. She certainly wasn’t afraid of Master Tyler.”

“She has no experience. And did you see what she was wearing? What kind of influence on Valerie would I be bringing into this house?”

“You certainly seemed a little…preoccupied with her wardrobe if I do say so myself.”

“Honestly, shut up.”

“You need a nanny before Saturday, and she clearly needs a job. Hire her on a trial basis, then you at least have yourself covered and you can resume your interviews next week.”

#brittana #the nanny #new fic

110 notes · View notes

kyleoreillysknee · 4 years

Text

Blue Tinted World

Part 1/?

Pairing: Orange Cassidy x Ophelia “Lia” Freeman

Word Count: 2036

Warnings: ABO, hints of emotional baggage, Orange holds a baby

Tag Squad: @snarkandsarcasmftw @adampage @cowboyshit @unabashedwrestlefics @cabotcoves @rampagewriting @goodnaito (bolded means you got a cameo in here)

A/N: Special shout out to Aj who encouraged the shit out of me.

Spiraling had such a deceptive name. It sounded like fun. Like something exciting. Carefree. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t spiraling. She couldn’t be spiraling. She was running late.

Snatching her finger away from tracing the kaleidoscope of blues etched into her forearm she gave the contents of the baby bag one last look over before taking her keys off the counter. Lia exhaled sharply before leaving her apartment, dropping a gentle kiss to the newborn strapped to her chest as she locked the door. This was going to be an awkward conversation with Charlie.

Once she got to the arena, she kept her eyes down to avoid all the strange looks and double takes. It was like no one had seen a baby before. Not wanting to let the tension fester, she followed her nose and found Charlie inspecting some rigging and jotting notes on a clipboard. She didn't have to wait long and watched his shoulders tense before he shifted to sniff at the air a few times. The broad smile on his face stuck awkwardly as he turned and dropped his gaze to the baby blowing drool bubbles against her collarbone. She could only shrug.

“So. Immaculate conception?” Charlie tried, folding his arms across his chest.

“Nephew. Godson, actually.” Lia mumbled, fighting against the nervous tick of reaching over to her forearm. Silent recognition crossed over her manager's features before he gave a small nod.

“I … can’t afford to miss any more work.” Especially now was left unsaid but lingered in the air between them. After a beat she felt a giant hand roughly pat her head and when she looked up Charlie had a soft smile on his face.

“Obviously no climbing the racking, but there’s still a shit ton that needs to get done. Glad to have you back.” Charlie pulled out his phone and she felt a buzz in her pocket, “Sent you Ash’s number. Her and Viv run a daycare, reach out and see if they can take him in.”

Lia’s breath caught in her throat and a rush of heat burned her eyes but she set her mouth in a flat line to push it back, “I- thank you.”

Charlie crouched down to meet her eyes, “I’m here if you need anything, alright?”

With a sniff, she nodded and managed to try at a smile. It was pathetic but this new life didn’t come with a manual or anything so of course the first time anyone offered the bare minimum of help it struck her raw heart.

“What’s his name?” Without her realizing, Charlie had taken the baby bag from her and she naturally fell into step beside him as they walked to the lighting area.

“Sam. Short for Samson.” Lia finally felt like she could breathe and she knew it was Charlie letting out some of his alpha pheromones. Sometimes having a giant overprotective softie for a boss was a good thing. The baby currently trying to snuggle deeper into her skin was probably triggering some deep rooted omega thing in her too but she didn’t want to dwell on that.

After Charlie made sure she was situated comfortably in the booth, he went back to doing his rounds and barking and whoever needed barking to get the show running. Lia let out a happy sigh as she hovered her hands over the switches and dimmers for a second, settling back into the familiar for the first time in what felt like forever. Grabbing the walkie, she announced the start of testing and received a string of cheers of her name from the rest of the tech crew.

Letting the cycles start, Lia sat back and absently rubbed along Sam’s back through the harness as she scanned the program for tonight. Sam let out a gurgle as she felt a slight tickle of air against her shoulder, causing her to flinch as aqua blue sunglasses crept into her periphery. That pure shot of fear caused every muscle in her to tense but she still had the sense to not shout, not wanting to disturb Sam.

Orange immediately went ramrod straight, his hand shooting up to pinch his nostrils closed. Stumbling backwards, he leaned against a nearby barricade and waited until they both had their bearings. Lia almost felt bad, knowing that he just got a metric ton dose of pure omega pheromones slammed into him but he could’ve at least knocked or made any noise. It didn’t help that he was a void of scent, which led to many instances of him suddenly appearing beside her and nearly getting punched.

“For fucks sake, Orange.” Lia sighed, pushing a clump of hair out of her face as she turned to look at him. He gave his head a shake before sinking his hands into his pockets and giving her a shrug. It was the closest thing to an apology she ever seemed to get from him so she accepted it as her body slumped in her chair now devoid of any adrenaline.

“Cool baby.” He mumbled as if he was complimenting her getting new shoes or a haircut.

Lia just stared at him, trying to figure out where he was looking at behind his sunglasses but all she got was her own bewildered expression mirrored back at her, “thanks?”

His head snapped to the side and she could hear a faint low rumble come from him that only confused her more. Is he growling? Lia didn't need to follow his gaze to know that the Inner Circle sans Jericho prowling around the equipment. The heavy cloud of cologne and spicy unrestrained alpha scent was heavy in the air. She had started expecting Orange to show up in places he wasn't supposed to but the Inner Circle pack only came here for one reason: to annoy the shit out of her. Sammy deemed it that she owed him a date because she looked at him once after he nearly knocked her over while vlogging and now she couldn't go a day without having to reject him. She could feel a headache forming and sighed as Sammy finally saw her and they all thundered over.

"Heard your sweet little voice over the radio- ew." Sammy grimaced at the sight of Sam which had her seeing red. She felt a warmth draw closer as Orange placed a hand on the back of her chair and stood beside her.

Hager had to elbow Sammy before he could recover and he was soon flashing his giant toothy smile, "if you just agreed to be my princess you wouldn't have to babysit. I'd take care of you."

"I'm not babysitting. He's my nephew." She snapped, letting her anger pulsate off her in sour waves. Orange tilted his head slightly and Lia realized that what she said wasn't much of an explanation. But it was the truth. He was her nephew and she was his … aunt? Guardian? Mom?

"It's complicated." She whispered, mainly for Orange's benefit. She didn't give a shit what the Inner Circle thought. He gave a barely perceptible nod before shifting his attention back to the now fuming Sammy. Clearly he didn't like the spotlight being moved from him a few centimeters.

"What are you doing here?" Sammy sneered and Hager stood straighter and cracked his knuckles in a display of dominance. Lia felt a slight shake from Orange's hand as her shoulder brushed against it as they both struggled to not burst out laughing at the pathetic peacocking.

"Chilling." Orange muttered simply as he couldn't help himself and made a show of copying Hager. Lia finally couldn't contain it and let out a giggle that she had to slap a hand over her mouth to stifle. Prompting Orange to break and snort as the corner of his mouth twitched into a small grin.

The Inner Circle just stared at them as if they both grew an extra head before Sammy got tired and dismissed them with a wave of his hand and left. Hager frowned at them before plodding after Sammy and Ortiz had to pull Santana away from trying very hard to get a peek at Sam. Now alone again, Lia smiled up at Orange who was trying to rub away his grin and settle back into his perpetually cool stance.

"Thanks," she said softly, realizing that whole scenario would've played out very differently without him here.

"Wasn't for free," as he spoke he flopped into the chair beside her, close enough that she could feel the warmth emanating from him but they were not actually touching.

Lia simply raised an eyebrow at him that morphed into genuine surprise as he took off his sunglasses and placed them on the table. When he looked back at her she swore he was a little sheepish.

"Can I hold the cool baby?"

There was such an earnest gleam in his eyes that it took her breath away. They were so blue. It had to be an omega thing that was making her heart race. Any man showing a bit of interest in children and that whole caregiver bullshit. Right?

"Sorry. Stupid question." He mumbled, eyes downcast as he reached for his sunglasses.

"No!" Lia blurted out, suddenly very unhappy at the idea of not seeing his full face. That thought did not at all make any heat rush up to the tips of her ears, "sorry. It's ok. I just … not used to seeing your eyes. Or something."

His head perked up as she carefully moved to unstrap Sam from her. All that understated confidence melted off him as she stood and gently slid the harness away revealing a snuggly swaddled bundle of baby blue dinosaur print. If she wasn't so taken with staring at Sam's face she would've noticed the slight tremor in Orange's hands as he moved them to his lap. As she stood, she hesitated for a moment and Orange just silently watched as a myriad of emotions flitted across her face for split seconds each. Remembering herself, she found a small smile and shifted to place Sam in his perfectly positioned waiting hands.

The expression became genuine as she watched Orange expertly adjust so that Sam was securely nestled in the crook of his elbow. His motions oddly practiced until he started using his other hand to trace absently along Sam's back.

"Hey cool baby," he muttered softly, head bowing to let Sam take up his entire vision. She wrestled down the urge to coo at the sight, instead wrapping her arms around herself feeling a bit of a chill in the arena.

"Sam," Lia softly provided, only now recognizing that she was still standing and moved to sit. Nudging her chair a little closer, their knees ended up touching but neither made a move away. She relished in the contact, letting his warmth seep into her as she draped herself across her chair arm. All those sleepless stressful nights finally catching up to her now that she was allowed a moment to not be vigilant.

"Hey cool baby Sam," Orange corrected, utterly captivated. Peeking over at Lia, he watched her struggle against her eyelids and shifted so that she could see Sam better resulting in their shoulders almost touching. A distantly familiar ache settled in his chest as her head rested against his bicep after she finally lost against her exhaustion. He ignored the eruption of itch that took over his forearm, specifically the swirl of vibrant blues that covered his inner arm hidden beneath his guard.

Charlie later found them all asleep in the booth 30 minutes before recording. Orange with his cheek resting against the top of Lia's head as Sam mouthed at the tip of his finger was the first to wake. Lia was roused by the rumble he let out for a moment before catching himself. He tried to play it off as a yawn but Charlie flashed him a knowing look that he ignored. In under a minute Orange had placed Sam back in Lia's arms and was sauntering out of the equipment area with a lackadaisical flick of his wrist to push his sunglasses back in place.

#My writing #orange cassidy fic #orange cassidy x ofc #orange cassidy #aew imagine #aew fanfiction #aew imagines #orange cassidy imagine

75 notes · View notes

alphabees-writes · 4 years

Text

Glee - S1 E1 (Pilot)

Is it a smart idea to rewatch glee again? No.

Am I going to do it anyway? You bet your sweet bippy I am!

Am I going to liveblog my garbage monkey brain thoughts along the way even though nobody asked for it? Hell yeah.

Here goes!

Wow. The first frame of this entire show is literally of a woman who looks like she’s about 10 years above the natural lifespan of a Cheerio. Then again, I’m sure Sue’s not above holding back her best recruits for multiple years because Ohio high schools are apparently just Like That™

I also never notice this opening song was a remix of Keep Me Hangin On, wow. That’s actually kind of interesting foreshadowing of sorts, like, kind of smart. I’m glad I’m watching the part of Glee that was kind of smart.

This scene also doesn’t feature any of the Unholy Trinity as far as I can see. Are they a JV squad? Am I putting too much thought into this?

Sign #1 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Really, my guy? Driving around with your muffler dragging on the ground so bad it’s making sparks? That’s not very Road Safety of you. Fuck off.

Sign #2 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Wow, there’s going to be a lot of these, huh? Anyway, anybody with working eyes would clearly see how scared Kurt is right now. “Making some new friends Kurt?” Fuck off.

KURT. FIRST SIGHTING OF THE BOY. What a delight. But also, not a delight, because he’s being bullied and he deserves better. Look at his outfit. Iconic from day fucking one.

Finn, you’re a himbo. What’re you doing with these assholes?

Puck’s first line in the whole series is “It’s hammer time!” What a fucking dork? Who made this boy popular.

DO MORE THAN TAKE HIS COAT, FINN. LET HIM GOOOOO!!!

I paused while they were tossing Kurt in the dumpster and, wow, got the most hilarious frame where the guy who isn’t Puck is getting a meticulously polished boot to the face. Netflix let me take screenshots, you coward.

The first shot of Quinn... My wlw bones are shaking.

Why would they use that photo for Lillian Adler...? WHO WAS BORN IN 1937, MIGHT I ADD. THAT’S NOT A REAL YEAR.

It’s weird to see Mr Schue actually speaking competent Spanish. Why did they veto that later? The ONE likeable thing about him was his competence as a school teacher, and they really threw it out the window huh?

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THE MEMBERS OF SANDY RYERSON’S GLEE CLUB??? This kid seems to really like singing. Also, welcome to the beginning of Ryerson being annoying as all hell.

Oh my gosh, the background choir stuff. This show really had style back in the day!!!

R A C H E L B E R R Y Y O U R M A K E U P ! ! !

Ken Tanaka walked so incels could run.

Jane Lynch you beauty. You absolutely impeccable beauty.

“Since when are cheerleaders performers?” Uh... Emma...? I get that Sue’s going ham on her budget but, like, be nice to the students? They perform their butts off!

Sue really just BRAGGED about having an iPhone. I was 9 when this came out. Why do I feel old...

Sign #3 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: He hears his coworker, presumably of several years, just got fired and doesn’t even ask why. He just jumps on the glee club like a frog on hot asphalt.

He really wants to Make The Glee Club Great Again, huh?

MySpace was really a thing, huh? And why does this grown-ass male teacher know so much about the students having them?

I know nothing about actual American schools, but I do know that they sure as shit don’t work like this. Why does a club have to win EVERY competition to be considered an asset?

Mr Shoe really lying awake at night half-naked next to his wife thinking about the glee club already? Yeah sounds about right. Also, of course you’d think up Nude Erections for a name, you asshole. Put some clothes on.

R E S P E C T MERCEDES YES!!!

Brad the piano player was really here from day ONE... Icon.

Cellophane, Mr Cellophane... Yes Kurt bby you killed it.

Chris Colfer looks so YOUNG here!!!

The hair fix... I C O N I C !

Tina really wrote her stutter down, huh? And nobody ever saw through it? Amazing.

The goth Tina look, too... Perfect... Never change...

Say what you want about Rachel Berry being generally insufferable, but I really fucking feel it when she sings On My Own. The monologue kind of kills The Drama of it, but they really solidly established her character by layering them. She really is a gold star right now.

The first-ever on-screen slushie!

The way she walks down that hall. My God you can just see how terrible she is to be around.

Never forget Rachel staring at photos of her with two men who turned out to not be her dads. Who are they? What are their stories? We’ll never know.

God, I love this stupid scene of Quinn, Santana, and a bunch of Cheerios cartoonishly typing hate comments on Rachel’s MySpace video and laughing like knock-off Disney villains.

I like watching season 1 Artie because season 1 Artie was a good character. Mostly. And he KILLED Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat. Rachel wasn’t asking for a male lead who could keep up with her vocally, she was being straight up ableist and that’s a fact. I love Cory, but Kevin McHale was always a better singer.

Mercedes picking up and spinning Rachel for this little routine is something I never really appreciated before, it’s cute even though they don’t like each other yet!

I really don’t get why Rachel says they suck. Yeah, sure, she’s gunning for a solo, but the vocals were solid there. The choreo was just a little janky, possibly because it’s their first EVER rehearsal?

“There is NOTHING ironic about show choir!” Incredible.

How long did it take Mr Shoe to find Rachel out on the bleachers? Did he search the whole school first?

ARTIE! CAN! KEEP! UP! WITH! YOU! VOCALLY!

I never understood Rachel quitting so soon. How long was she in the old glee club for? Surely they were never popular either?

Ah, the first “My hands are tied” for the series. Mr Figgins is a garbage principal.

Not going to advise the principal against referring to Artie as a cripple, William Shoestir? Alright.

How did the Schuester marriage last as long as it has? Do Will and Terri’s insufferable personalities just cancel one another out?

Sandy Ryerson really just openly brags about cheating the system for medical marijuana and dealing it?

Matt Morrison 100% has lip fillers. Nobody’s smile curls like that naturally.

“Terri and I are trying to get pregnant” What a weird way to phrase it. What is it, a race? Who’s going to get knocked up first!

A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN, HOW I’VE MISSED YOU... The sound design of this show at this point is just... *Chef hand kiss*

“What you’re doing right now is called blurring the lines” Oh just wait until season 4, Sue... Just you wait.

WHY is Mr Schuester so ridiculously sweaty? I didn’t need to think about that?

EVERYONE on the football team is 30.

William Schuester you can’t just watCH TEENAGE STUDENTS SING IN THE SHOWER YOU ARE A TEACHER WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR LICENSE?!

Hearing Cory sing this always makes me emotional. What a talent!

Sign #4 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: I don’t think I need to say why using the weed to blackmail Finn is a shitty thing to do, do I?

“I’ll pee in a cup! ...I’ll pee...” I love Cory’s delivery.

PRIORITY #1: HELP THE KIDS Oh season 1... I love you so.

Mr Schue you WISH you were anything like Finn Hudson. You never will be.

Ah... Finn’s first monologue. He’s such a sweetheart. AND SO IS CAROLE. Carole is a queen I will stan forever. YOU THROW THAT MILK BB!!!

All Finn wants to do is make his mom proud. What a sweetheart. Mr Schue you do NOT deserve him.

These POV shots really enhance things, why the fuck did they stop using them?

Subtly having Kurt look at Finn in the same shot as Rachel was a nice touch indeed!

RACHEL WAS REALLY DOWN WITH ROLLING ARTIE RIGHT OFF THE STAGE HUH?

Terri’s a straight up hoarder, huh? Like a raccoon but instead of collecting edible garbage, it’s monogrammed garbage.

Surely you can’t just... BECOME an accountant, right? You need some serious qualifications for that right?

Also say what you want about how insufferable Terri is but her actress is ridiculously talented and absolutely steals every scene she’s in.

Now the background choir is doing Soul Bossa Nova and I am L I V I N G why didn’t they keep that motif!!! It was so ICONIC!

I don’t need my prostate removed. RIP Carole Hudson but I’m different :/

NO MEANS NO, KEN! TAKE THE L AND MOVE ON! Way to take out the fact that a girl won’t date you on everybody else around you! Toxic bastard. The absolute stench of melodrama on this bastard is noxious.

I was going to ask why Rachel didn’t know about Finn and Quinn if they’d already been together for 4 months, but then I remembered gossiping requires friends...

“Terri rides me. Hard. And I’ve always appreciated it!” Why don’t we talk about how this line sounds more. Why doesn’t Emma bat an eye at it oh my god

HERE COMES VOCAL ADRENALINE!!! And Jesse St. James is nowhere to be seen. How convenient. Also, they’re all 30. I’m sensing a pattern.

Sorry VA, all songs popularised my Amy Winehouse legally belong to Santana Lopez

Puck, if you were stupid enough to fall for the prostate excuse, that’s on you. Or maybe it’s on the education system...

You can do better that Mr Schue, kids. Don’t mourn him.

Ok, what the fuck is this scene where he’s filling out the job app to become an accountant? There’s a dude in the row in front off him just throwing crisps around? What is this place?? Why are you here sir???

“Accounting is sexy” shut up you horrible married man

The Cheerios sure did have straight ponytails for like, one episode, huh?

Finn is such a good boy. He doesn’t know it yet, but he is, and saving Artie from that portapotty is his first step to figuring it out.

This shot of Finn just wheeling Artie out of there... Ugh. My HEART.

KURT WHAT ARE THOSE LAYERS? SWEATER SHIRT SWEATER? HELLO???

Pee balloons. Nailing the lawn furniture to the roof. Finn, you’re better than that!!! Stop your dudebros.

They really had Artie be a guitar player, and a pretty good one at that, but they never mentioned it again? Artie had such potential SMH. (Also, Netflix subtitles are telling me it’s Arty, but I categorically refuse to spell it that way.)

Whyyyyy didn’t he go to KURT for the costumes as well? Look at his outfit, Finn. He clearly wants in on that job.

Will Schuester really is just desperately clinging to his glory days in high school. I’d feel bad for him if he wasn’t such a creep about it.

Emma, meaningfully: Do you know who that is? That’s you, Will... [FRANTIC DISCO MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND]

I find it hilarious how the audio of Don’t Stop Believin’ just DOES NOT match the characters except for the solos... Also wow, autotune city. Am I awful for genuinely not liking this cover?

I like watching them perform it though. Kurt’s adorable little shimmy... Rachel and Tina smiling at each other like that... Everybody having a blast... I’m here for it

LOOK AT MY BABIES TILTING THOSE MIC STANDS...

Ok the way Rachel and Finn look at each other here is making me FEEL

I know Puck’s about to join anyway but WHY is he there watching... Just to have a mysterious bad boy moment? Lol you dramatic bastard

Please let them win nationals without you, Will.

So, yeah! There’s that! Those are my thoughts and feelings, basic though they may be. Episode one is fantastic, the kids are fantastic, and William Schuester can suck a toe.

#Glee #Glee seasson 1 #Rosie watches things and then says things about the thing

13 notes · View notes

gotmattitude · 5 years

Text

leave me with a price to pay

WHO: Santana Lopez ( @trickstersantana ) & Matt Rutherford.

WHAT: Santana has something important to tell Matt.

WHEN: May 28th, 2019.

WHERE: Sciron 106.

WARNINGS: stabbing, racism, transphobia, dysphoria, dehumanization, murder, gore, body image issues.

Santana tries really hard to not run to Matt's sciron door, but she definetivelly walks fasts. The place is a disaster after the earthquakes, but it's now or never. Later the security would be too much. She carries desperation, anger, exitement, helpleness and a knife in her bag. Next to her Hamlet book and a talisman. Before knocking at the door, she adjust her sunglasses. I can't wait to crush them on the floor when I stop needing them. She knows she didn't prepare Matt as she did with Elise or Ryder, but it has to be now before her fake family does something or Matt decides to go to doppel camp. "...hi?" She says really high and softly. She can't even talk because of the nerves. She tries again. "Open the fucking door!"

Matt grumbles under his breath when he hears Santana's voice, almost falling out of the chair as he makes his way to the door. "Jesus, I'm coming," he says, but shakes it off as he pulls it open. She said it was important, and there hadn't even been some biting comment about Marley ending the world or anything. He wonders what it's about. "Hey," he greets, and steps aside to let her in. "What's up?"

Santana enters without saying anything, and closes the door behind her. Then locks it. Then she looks at Matt, wondering where to start. "Alright so, as I have been telling you sometimes, I need help for...a really important thing. That I have been wanting to do for years." She says, very serious and still nervous, like a little girl on her birthday wondering if she is finally tall enough to ride the rollercoaster. One little girl that takes rollercoaster really seriously as her main goal in life. That wasn't a good metaphor. She tries to continue. "And for that I need your trust, my friend." And your kidney. "For me this is death or life, alright? Will you do it, Matt?"

Matt finds himself crossing his arms over his chest as the aura kicks in, but he pushes through it. Behind the aura, the uncertainty, and probably just straight-up nervousness at seeing his friend like this, serious and a little vulnerable, there's the friendship, the history. "I trust you with my goddamn life, Santana." A cascade of doubt starts nudging against him. What if she asks him to kill someone? What if she's just fucking with him? What if she's been manipulating him into thinking they're friends just for this--That's just the aura. It's the aura. It's only the aura. "What do you need?"

Santana tries to contain her smile, but she can't. She hopes it doesn't look suspicious, or too evil."Ha ha...thank you, my dear friend." That's just what I need. She takes Matt's right hand with her hands. Holding it, looking at them. Then at him, hoping he won't laught. "I need you to help me become a human being."

Matt's chest jolts when she smiles, and he's not sure what that means. He squeezes her hand with his, not taking his eyes off of hers, holding his breath. And when she does look at him, another jolt. Is it fear? Hesitation? Endearment? He can't make sense of anything he's feeling, and he breathes out slowly. His eyebrows are furrowed and his gaze shifts down to their hands for a moment. This is years in the making and she's asking him. He looks back up to her, and swallows, steadying his voice. "How are we gonna do that?"

Santana keeps staring at him, but not really looking, when he answers. Why do you accept it so easily? No questioning. Of course she wants to be a human. Why would anyone question that, even if she never talked about it with almost anyone. This is just what you wanted it."I..." She stops holding Matt's hand to search in her bag for the book of Hamlet. She shows Matt, even when she knows it wouldn't mean anything to him. "There is a magic ritual for it. But it needs like, true trust for it. A trust already hard to get for normal people, so you can imagine how hard is for tricksters." She explains, nervously, hugging the book again.

Matt looks at the book, as he gets increasingly nervous. His magic, ordinary and popular, already uses pieces of death to perform spells. What does a magical ritual to transform someone into a human being entail? Massive amounts of energy. His energy? His body? It takes him a second of processing to really hear what Santana's saying. "The aura," he says, biting on the inside of his cheek, and stays quiet for a long second. He understands, he guesses. But she'd never given him a reason not to trust her, and a spark of bitterness rises up from his stomach. Normal people, she'd said. Not an animal. "This is what you want, right? That's how you see yourself."

Santana opens the book. For Matt, it couldn't look more normal. If he tries to read it, it's just Shakespeare's Hamlet. She sees the illusion that floats above the pages, showing the shared knowledge of thousand of tricksters. She moves her hand to go to her favorite page: Human Sacrifices Rituals. She puts the book open on top of Matt's bed. Obviously, she knows it from memory. But only tricksters could see the illusion. If she can see the book as just a book after it, she knows it worked. "Yes. This is what I want. I never wanted anything more in my life than this." She says. "Do you have charcoal or chalk or something? I have to draw a circle in the floor." She doesn't, but that way it looks more real. "I'll clean it after it."

Matt's heart is gaining speed, palms sweaty. He glances down at the book and raises an eyebrow. "Did Shakespeare hide messages in all of his books?" It's a stupid question, and his laugh at the end of it is nervous, but the tension has been building steadily since Santana sent that text, and a part of him is craving easiness right now. When she confirms this is what she wants, he takes one of her hands, and nods. "Then I guess this is what we're doing today." At her request, he digs through his hoodoo altar to the side of the room, and scoops up pieces of loose charcoal, and hands them to Santana. A charcoal circle is vaguely familiar, unlike the rest of the ritual, so it provides a sort of relief. "Sorry it's not in great shape." He chews on his lip for a moment, gears turning. "What should I do?"

Santana laughs a bit, not genuine, the laugh you give to a person who is trying to make a fun joke and fails, but you laugh because you are friends with that person. "Hahaha, no. It's just a cover. I think it's Hamlet because of the infinite m...an infinite whatever theorem. I don't think it matters much." She mentions while taking the charcoal, she doesn't mind the shape, and drawing some fancy magic circle with a lot of details. She actually didn't know how to draw, so she illusioned an actual nice drawing. "Hey, it's a trust ritual. It's all about that. So I can't tell you what's about. You have to trust me." She says. "So if there is a point you don't, tell me. Pretending you do won't work." She explains, unsure. She finishes the pretending drawing. She stands up and points at it. "Lie there. Face up."

Matt didn't know Santana could draw, and it's captivating to look at her adding more detail to the circle, so he sits on his bed, watching her. It adds to his confidence that she knows what she's doing. "Okay," he says, wiping off the sweat from his palms on his pants while she's distracted with the drawing. "No questions." He follows her around with his eyes as she draws, a light chuckle trapped in his chest. "I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm nervous. And yeah, the aura's there. But I don't have to pretend." He's supposed to lie on the circle. Of course. Because this is a magic ritual. He thinks of Quinn for a moment, trapped in her own body. Would that happen to him too? The aura. It's the aura. Santana is badass, and great at her magic. It's just the aura talking. He stands from his spot on the bed, and lowers himself onto the circle, vaguely aware the charcoal is going to get on his clothes. Once he's flat on the ground, he glances in her direction. "Lied down. Face up." He breathes out slowly. I trust her. I trust her. I trust her. I trust her.

Santana wonders if that is what real trust is. No questions? Is this how its suppose to be? She takes from her bag the last and only useful thing Mike Chang has ever done, giving him a silent talisman. She puts it on the door. It's supposed to create a silent room. No one would hear any scream. This is the third time she tried this. She lied to Elise, telling her it was because she needed a kidney to keep living. Ryder knew how cool was being a human and how crap was stop being it. *Third is the charm. It's all going perfectly. This is the closest I had been to this. She doesn't answer Matt saying he's nervous, she just goes to pick up her knife without him seeing her, hiding it behind her back on one hand. She sits on the floor next to him, on his side. "Show me your stomach." She says, remembering all the surgery videos she has memorized for this. "And look, this might look scary and suspicious, but...trust me on this, Matt. I know what I am doing."

Matt is sweating all over now. What is this ritual? Is it even real? He could trust Santana all he wanted, but what if she believes in something that is designed not to work? Truth be told, he's let her down more than she ever has. He owes her a fair chance--he wants to give her a fair chance. What if the purpose of the ritual is to build up a fuckton of tension, and then in the end it's nothing but a tickle? He lifts up his shirt, and tries to even his breaths. Scary and suspicious. He can prepare himself for scary and suspicious. "I trust you," he says, and places his hands at his sides. "You know what you're doing." She knows what she's doing. She knows what she's doing. She knows what she's doing.

Santana lifts his shirt more. And puts her hand on his stomach, calculating the cut. The knife still at her back. "Alright Matt, now something is going to happen, and you might think it's scary. But just stay still, and trust me." She says, letting him a time to breathe. A time for him to prepare. She takes the knife out. "Now. Don't move."

Matt breathes. Scary. Suspicious. Trust me. What could possibly be more scary than the anticipation? "Okay," he whispers, taking a second to close his eyes. When he opens his eyes, she has a knife. "Fuck," his voice wavers. This is it. What happens now? Does she pretend she's going to stab him, and then thank him for his trust? Does she stab him, like the O kid and her "dad" had warned him about? Does she take his blood? He squeezes his eyes shut, and clenches his fists. "ItrustyouItrustyou," he mutters, his breathing picking up speed. She wouldn't kill him. She wouldn't. She wouldn't.

Santana looks at him. Alright. He isn't running. This is good. She just as to stab the knife, take the kidney, and eat it. Ew. She thinks. She actually hopes this is like the binding of Isaac and some kind of God stop her last minute and make it work, because if not, it's going to be a mess. She holds the knife closer to Matt stomach, still not stabbing him. This is it. Now just fucking do it. Just fucking do it. This is what you always wanted. Nothing is stopping you. "I'm going to do it. It's going to be over soon. Thank you, my dearest friend." She smiles, and holds the knife higher.

Matt squeezes his eyes shut even tighter, and his thoughts are racing. Over soon? Is she going to kill him? No. No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't kill him. She won't. She means her pain, her suffering, her struggle.... right? Why does she want his stomach exposed? What if she tries to take some blood, and he dies right there, like an idiot, and he still doesn't know James's family? His family? No, no, she knows what she's doing. She said she did. She said so. But does she? Does she really know what she's doing? She's his age. She's in Naturalization. Ah, fuck. She doesn't know what she's doing. His eyes fly open, and he finds her with the fucking knife in her hand, and a smile in her face. "Wait," he blurts out. "I don't... I'm sorry. I can't do this."

"Oh, thank God." Santana blurts out, letting out a breath. Wait, what? What the fuck did I just said? No! This is a betrayal! I am dissapointed! I felt hurt! She looks at her reflection on the blade, still sitting next to Matt, not moving away. Or reacting anymore. "...I...didn't expected this. I thought... this is so... disapointing?" She still looks at the knife in her hand. "What the hell?"

Matt is bracing himself for a speech, or tears, or for Santana to not hear him and stab his ass anyway, so when he hears her sound relieved, he pushes himself onto his elbows. "Did you just say thank God?" he asks, shifting between looking at her face and the knife, the remnants of adrenaline making his heart pump in his ears. She seems confused. "Santana?" Matt asks gently as he sits up. "What do you mean?"

Santana leaves out the longest "Mmmmm..." while still looking at the knife. "That was weird. I'm sure I didn't say that. I'm actually very angry and hurt right now." She says, deadpan. She looks at the book of Hamlet. She still can see the illusions. "Hey Matt, can I ask you a question...about your dark secret magic?"

Matt decides it's probably not in his best interest to insist she did, while she still held a knife in her hand, which she had intended to use on him. He doesn't comment on it just yet. She looks like she's in shock, anyway. His heart sinks lightly when she asks about his magic. He kind of feels like he's walking into a trap, but it's not like she doesn't already know his secret. "What about it?"

Santana plays with the knife on her hands. "You said Puck found about it. On Brownstone." She stands up, and picks up her Hamlet book. "Who did you used it against?"

Matt looks down. He opens his mouth, and closes it again. The incident had been pushed so far behind in his mind that he rarely thinks about it, and when he does, he can shut it down just as quickly as the thought had emerged. He shut his eyes, and pushed himself away from Santana. "The selkies," he whispers. "I used my magic against the selkies."

Santana smiles. "Ah, just as I thought." She says, holds the knife blade down, and leaves it fall, nail down to the floor. "Is that? You wanted to help, and be a nice friend, and don't let poor little me suffer the same fate, wouldn't you?" She asks him. "You know a real human would had survive that, right? A real human would survive that because a real human wouldn't had get attacked in the first place, isn't it, Matt?" She comments, approaching him. "But in the end, you couldn't do it. You know I'll be way happier and safer that way, but you can't do it, right?"

Matt flinches back, and the tremors in his muscles from the adrenaline intensify. This, this is what he thought would happen, and now he doesn't feel ready at all. "You're right," he says, and he doesn't try to conceal the unsteadiness in his voice. "You're right. If they'd been human we would have been out of that room as soon as we realized Kurt wasn't there. I got Puck's gun against my head because he thought I was a monster, like he thought they were fucking monsters. You're right." Matt shuffles backwards slightly, and Aether, fuck, God, this is exactly like right after Brownstone, when he'd been afraid of her for the first time. "No, I can't fucking do it. I'm not going to bleed out on my floor because you think it's gonna solve your fucking mental health problems!"

Santana stares at him. "But you have it better, you know? You always look like a human." She laughs, bitterly. "Mental health problems? Is that what you think it is?" She stops laughing, and frows. "You liar." She grabs him from the neck of his shirt. "Did my health problems trapped me there, Matt? Is that? Is my mind creating all of those people trying to kill me? I can't believe it! It was my health problems oppresing me all this time!" She says, letting him go."It was a trust ritual, not a blood ritual, Matt." She lies as if she really believed it. "It wasn't going to happend. But let's go with your theory..." She walks around. "Do you think that's what's going to fucking fix everything for me? Boom, magic, all your problems vanish now! I want to change my entire being, and you are like...sure! No questions asked. Why ask what would that mean for me? I-is that going to fucking change my entire personality? Am I going to be reborn or whatever into a person? What the hell becoming human means?" She starts to ramble, angry.

Matt sighs forcefully, and gestures with one hand. "I fucking know that! I'm an ignorant fucking dick that took glamour for two whole shitfuck minutes and whined about it to you. I know, and I'm sorry about that shit. I know it's easier." He holds his breath as Santana grabs him, trying and failing to keep his expression neutral. "Don't fucking lecture me about oppression. Don't. You still think you're an animal and that's why you want to be human. You think I don't get it? Wanting to change your body so people will fucking just stop?" Stepping back, he laughs, empty. "You were fucking relieved when I said no. Fucking admit that. You said 'thank God', and you're not fooling me when you deny that shit." Matt crosses his arms over his chest, and rolls his eyes. The fuck is she talking about? "You said you'd been planning this shit for years! I thought you knew what you were talking about! I don't fucking know what becoming human means. You tell me. What did you think it meant?"

Santana is glad she put the fucking talisman because she is going to scream. "You don't know anything. Oh! Sure! It's the fucking same! Changing your body and getting a whole new one, because you are actually a fucking 34cm rat! They're fucking different species, Matt!" She pushes him. "And I was fucking disappointed when you said yes!" She closes her fists. "You know, it's fucking shit when the whole world hates you, and you hate you even more, but still I won't fucking mind if at least my friends wouldn't agree! Without being certain there's a chance they'll probably murder me if I was on my animal form.” She starts to tear up. "Yes, Santana, you should change!, You have potential! Why is never Why would you want to change, there is nothing wrong with you?" She get rids of some tears. "Exactly! You don't fucking know! And you didn't even care to ask!" She doesn't know want to answer that question. And she is tired. "Anything more to say? Because if not, I'm fucking leaving."

Matt can't say anything for a long time. Santana pushes him physically once, but it's like she keeps doing it, over and over, with every sentence that rings too true to him. It dawns upon him that he thought he understood Santana as someone who knew exactly what she wanted and needed, that her demons were similar to his, colored in a different shade. He blinks for a second in perplexed silence, until she says she's leaving. "Wait, I..." Matt swallows. "I fucking love you, alright? And that's not a... I would love you if you were different. I love you. I thought you... I thought you knew better than me. I don't know." It strikes him, not quite for the first time, that maybe he's been doing this friendship thing completely wrong. "I have to think about this. I don't know if I should be the guy that decides whether or not it's cool for you to want something I don't fucking understand. I thought I was..." What? Being a hero? Superior to anyone who wouldn't lie there waiting to be stabbed to prove he's a good person? "I don't know." He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry."

Santana picks up her stuff, but leaves the knife. She didn't expect that. She stays, looking at the door, giving her back to Matt. Grabbing her bag. "Oh, love." She had a dozen complains about it. "If you think I knew better, would you stick at knowing worse?" Of course he doesn't have to decide. "I'm not asking you to chose, I was... I'm...I'm leaving." She said, removing the talisman, getting out and slamming the door when she gets out.

#para: all #para: trickstersantana #trickstersantana: all #para: leave me with a price to pay #para: 040 #trickstersantana

11 notes · View notes

formerlyrunephoenix6769 · 5 years

Text

Shelby Deveruex, or rather Sarah as she was known in certain circles before she had married, was not a privileged woman, however that did not mean that she was not comfortable. She was the wife of a successful and respected merchant, his business sometimes carrying him off to the far corners of the known world for months on end.

Ask anyone in the bustling hub of the trading town nestled in the Harque region and they would tell you that Shelby was a good individual. She taught the Sunday school, paying extra attention to those that struggled. She was courteous and polite, regardless of anyone's station. She and her husband would always stock the apples for the apple bobbing stall at the Harvest dance and they would always be willing over look a payment on groceries if a family fell on hard times.

All in all, she was a kind natured soul. And she was, but as with all things, there are always two sides to a tale.

Unbeknownst to her neighbours she had for a brief period been under the tutelage of a Grand High Mystic, before he had been brutally murdered, burnt at the stake for heresy and witchcraft. He had kept his tongue, refusing to name his brethren, giving her chance to get away and find herself a new life.

Now, she kept her beliefs and practises under firm wraps. She busied herself with the Church and the goings on of the locals to throw off suspicion. She even went so far as to dress down and not draw attention to her striking features. She would pull her long, silky dark brown hair into a braid and wear clothes that allowed very little skin to show.

Nobody pointed a finger and made accusations of witch craft as fast as a jealous, attention starved wife.

She would laugh internally at the Father on the pulpit at Mass, mouth foaming with fanaticism as he ranted and raved about the goings on of the Witches.

She couldn't ever remember being naked, dancing round a fire in the dead of night. Well there was that one time at the Summer Solstice but that had been her initiation, she had been quite drunk on mead so that didn't count. She most certainly didn't eat children and she had no idea what enjoyment anyone would derive from cursing a cow.

Animals got sick, just the same as people.

Being she was ever cautious, she could not pay homage to Gaia as much as she would like, too afraid that she would be discovered, but was one part of her heritage that she could openly embrace and she did.

Her familiar.

Her majestic white dove, Ashel.

Many of the townsfolk commented that the sight of Ashel perched upon the roof of Shelby's dwelling, or high up on the Church tower brought them a sense of peace and well being. Ashel truly was a sign.

Shelby's husband had bought a pair and she had explained to the fascinated townsfolk that the breeding pair would help her and her husband communicate. They could tie tiny scrolls to their legs and the cock would fly off to find its hen. There had been a chorus of warm sighs and aww's .

It was a pile of codswallop.

Her husband had been intercepted by one of her fellow Mystics and encouraged to buy the pair, there by delivering her new familiar straight to her door.

If her husband had cared to look he would have seen that the birds weren't even the same breed. Her dove was almost twice the size of the other.

When her husband had left with his, she had muttered good riddance. Needless to say, a 'dove letter' never arrived and she feigned sympathy at her husband's loss when he returned and found his cock had not.

However her dove Ashel did do her job to perfection, flying fair and wide over the countryside delivering her words to her scattered sisters and returning with the important news.

One such scroll had done just that.

She tossed a handful of grain out onto the thoroughfare outside her shop for the hungry birds. Ashel bobbed and weaved amongst the red feathered hens that clucked and pecked at the bright yellow kernels amongst the dry earth.

"Hi Mrs D" a small boy called out as he led his bare foot little sister down the road.

"Bonjour Pascal,." She replied with a grin and a wave. " I have something for Celine and you.”

She leaned over the counter and retrieved the parchment, with its raised dots and divets, grooves and swirls and two apples.

“For you , both.”

Pascal swiftly took the apples, one disappearing and the other firmly clamped between his teeth. Shelby watched as he made a show of sniffing the offered fruit , his eyes darting to and fro, and offering the apple back out,

“You bite it first!”

Shelby bit deeply. Her nose crinkled, her eyes went wide. She couldn’t breath. Sweeping his sister behind him, Pascal took a few steps back.

Shelby coughed, her eyes watered.

A small hand reached out for the fabric or her dress..

“Miss,-”

Shelby chewed and swallowed,

“Was expecting it to be sweeter!”

She offered it back to Pascal, who eagerly bit into it, tasting it before offering the rest to his sister.

Kneeling down, she regarded the girl,

“Celine, I have a little something,.. Just for you ..And your..”

Reaching out, finger tips touched parchment.

“What is it?”

“Feel it..”

Unrolling it, her finger tips explored the surface. Her brows crinkled before breaking into a smile,

“Merci, Ms Deveruex.”

Taking the apple out of her brother’s unexpected grasp she giggled, before taking a bite and tossing it back at him.

Pascal fumbled,

“what does it say?? Show me.. “

“Noo, why should I?”

“Cause I wanna see!”

“duuh, that’s the whole point, dum dum.”

Shelby called out,

“Make sure you know all the Saints by morning."

He returned it with a gapped toothed smile and an enthusiastic wave of his own hand.

"I will. ..See you tomorrow."

Celine laughed,

“But I wont!”

Shelby watched with a warm smile as the two began playing catch up, the footbeats keeping time with each other.

Checking the coast was clear, Shelby leant back against the warm brickwork, slowly teasing open the miniscule scroll.

If found by prying eyes, it would look like a jumble of simple words. However the seemingly random words held more meaning to those that could decipher them. Shelby had learnt plenty under her tutor's watchful eye and she had turned into a more than competent Mystic.

She was fluent in a her own languages , merchant sign, and feter speak.

The news upon the parchment was distressing indeed.

Everybody in the region knew of the story of the place that was hidden with in the streets of the neighbouring trading town.

For nearly thirty years the residence had remained empty. Bold teenage boys did not dare each other to prove their manliness and even vagabonds dare not seek shelter with in its walls.

Shelby herself would have been but a teenager when word of the vile atrocity had been whispered and murmured by merchants and tradesmen in the ale houses of her village.

Small papers had been written and pictures drawn. Townsfolk and farmers alike crowding round those that could read, listening in hushed silence,

In the early morning an apprentice ostler from one of the inns had come running to retrieve the Doctor and had stumbled upon an horrific scene.

The room was in disarray, furniture splintered, tables over turned. Blood lined the walls and even dripped from the ceiling. Amongst the chaos lay the bodies of the family, drenched in their own blood.

One of the boys had been so brutally beaten, his skull caved, he was completely recognizable. Another had had his throat torn out, as if gnawed on by a savage hound. Their limbs snapped and bent at eye watering angles.

The most heart wrenching part had been the infant sister. Beneath the broken and mutilated bodies of her brothers and Father, she had been discovered curled in a ball, wearing her older sister's sleep shirt. The five year old little girl looked as if she was sleeping, still clutching her teddy to her chest. The shit and urine stains on her shirt tail the only outward indication that she had witnessed the horror which would be her last memories on earth.

The rumor mill had gone into over drive, washer women and midwifes gossiping amongst themselves.

Some speculated a robbery gone wrong. Passing bandits or mercenaries thinking a Doctor must have riches.

Others, a deranged patient, wild and feral with madness.

Some held the travelling gypsies responsible.

Disturbingly, some claimed that Doctor himself had killed his family consumed with grief due to the tragic loss of his eldest and by all accounts the apple of his eye, his wilful, eldest Daughter.

The culprit was never found or brought to justice. So many new faces based through the hub of the large trading town on a daily basis the sheriff had no idea where to begin his investigation. Instead the crime had slipped into obscurity, whispered as a grim fairytale to frighten wilful children.

"If you don't go to sleep the Doctor with come and gobble you up!"

Somebody had painstakingly tended to their graves over the long years and the locals sighed that at least the Lopez clan had reunited in the afterlife

But the tiny scrap of paper in the palm of Shelby's hand said other wise.

Santana was alive, well as alive as a vampire could be.

Shelby knew that many of the cunning folk were vehement purists and would not hesitate to exterminate the Undesirable, she viewed them as lacking vision for their future.

But times had changed, they were in the middle of a war and they were losing.

The Mystic covens were weak and were too few. They had been hunted to the brink of extinction. Apprentices no longer came knocking on their door, eager to learn herb lore and the ways of the Orders.

Once over, finding youngsters with a knack or natural talent had been easy, now the boys listened to gold and the girls doted on husbands and possessions. People no longer cared for the flow of energies that came from the land. They no longer paid homage to Gaia or the Horned One on the Solstice.

The cunning folks power and knowledge passed via the word of mouth, if there was nobody to pass it to, all would be lost.

Maybe a creature like Santana was exactly what they needed to change the tide?

Who knew the power that her blood might hold? Who knew the potions and charms that could be created from it.

Shelby had heard tale that some Vampires had abilities and she wondered for a moment if they might carry through.

They had to get to Santana first and the Vagabond would be perfect man in mind for the job.

Quickly, she made her way inside into the gloom the shop. She clicked her fingers and muttered a quick charm in Swato, causing the lantern on the counter to ignite. Deftly she plucked the quill out of the ink well, beside the accounts ledger ignoring how the ink dribbled upon the stained wood.

Hurriedly, she wrote out a message on the back of the small scroll, signing it with her usual code. Abandoning the feather upon the counter, she rolled the paper as tightly as she could before making her way back outside.

Shelby clucked her tongue. Ashel gave a small flap of her dazzling white wings, alighting on her Mistress' outreached arm. The bird purred and blinked, patiently waiting. As Shelby began to affix the letter into the miniscule holder on the dove's leg, she affectionately coo'ed,

"I know my sweet.." The bird bobbed her head, narrowing her eyes. Shelby continued, "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

The white bird gave a flicker of its wings as the Hedge witch stroked its head lovingly. Bringing Ashel closer to her lips, she uttered, faintly,

"Find the Vagabond."

With a swing of her arm, she helped launch her beloved guardian into the air, marvelling how effortless the bird moved. She remained in the thoroughfare, staring up into the summer evening sky until Ashel became a speck, lost against the back drop of lazy clouds.

6 notes · View notes

vcg73 · 5 years

Text

Witch!Kurt #36: Be My Valentine

~*~*~*~*~

Watching friends and loved ones file into his apartment in pairs and groups, Kurt realized that Adam had been right about this being a party. Everyone was smiling and bright-eyed, and each made a point to stop and say a few words to both grooms, to hug or kiss them, and congratulate them on making it to the big day. Everyone had an air of palpable joy and for the first time, Kurt really understood why the Joining was more important to the magical members of his community than an actual wedding ceremony.

Kurt’s dad, currently the only Standard member of the group, also seemed to sense that this was a very special event, and something that he was privileged to be witnessing. His round face fairly glowed with pride as he hugged his son and soon to be son-in-law, explaining that Carole and Sam would be along soon.

“Sam understands what you’re going to try and do today,” Burt explained. “We made sure of that, and that he was really okay with it. I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t just agreeing because he didn’t want to disappoint everyone. No offense, but I wouldn’t put him through something like this, not even for Finn, if I wasn’t sure he was on board.”

Adam nodded. “Agreed. We all hope that this works, and that it provides a true benefit to Sam in arresting the damage Blaine has done to him, but he is still doing an enormous kindness in allowing himself to be used as a vessel for another soul. If he wasn’t willing, for any reason, then we couldn’t go forward with this.”

“The last thing we want to do is traumatize Sam any more,” Kurt added, voice soft as he remembered the description Adam, Santana, and Brittany had given him of his old friend’s wasted state. He had not had a chance to see Sam for himself, but even when Sam lived in New York he had recognized that something had fundamentally changed in him. For a while he had wondered if Sam might be on drugs, but Blaine had slapped him down so firmly the one time he brought it up that Kurt had never mentioned it again. (The injured and indignant act had caused Kurt to back off on most things by then, just to avoid the inevitable blame-game fight that always seemed to follow it.) He had never once suspected that the drug Sam was suffering from might actually be Blaine. He had just been looking for a logical reason behind his sudden laziness, apathy, and significant drop in IQ. “He’s been through a lot. Even more than I ever knew.”

Adam squeezed his shoulder, telling him without words that he was not to blame, but Kurt could not help but feel that he was, just a tiny little bit.

“And Carole?” Adam asked Burt, gracefully changing the subject. “Is she all right with what’s happening? I can only imagine how she must be feeling today.”

Burt sighed, running a hand over his scalp. “It’s been hard. Ever since you told us what you’d be trying to do today, she’s been caught between hoping and being afraid to hope. She’s nervous for Kurt too, knowing what a risk he’s taking to try this. So am I, frankly. She needed a minute to compose herself, and I wanted to keep Sam back from the magical pressure as long as possible, so I suggested they stop by that flower shop on the corner and grab you some extra. Elliott told us flowers are a big deal in witch-world.”

Glancing around the room at the wealth of fresh flowers that his friends had also provided for the occasion, along with an assortment of heart-shaped balloons that had been randomly scattered throughout the apartment, Kurt nodded. “Thanks for that. Whether we need flowers or not, it’s a good choice. Sam and the florist’s dog were great pals when he lived here. She’ll make a great distraction from his nerves. Carole’s too. She likes dogs, and Garner loves everybody.”

Burt frowned a little. “Garner is a girl?”

“Named for Jennifer Garner,” Adam explained.

“Garner also has a cat-brother named Bristow,” Kurt added with a grin, knowing his dad would get the reference. One of the things Kurt and Carole had bonded over when his father’s new girlfriend had started coming around often was a shared love of the TV show ‘Alias’.

Burt laughed. “Carole will love that.”

“Is she really okay with all this?” Kurt asked, fidgeting in place as he glanced at the door, and lowering his voice as if he expected his step-mother to burst through the door and overhear him. “She’s been avoiding my calls, I think, and I’ve been afraid to push.”

“She’s not avoiding you,” Burt promised. “She’s just distracting herself from the fear that this won’t change anything. On the plus side, she’s been taking the opportunity to mother-hen the hell out of Sam and he seems to be doing a little better. I mean, the shields you put around our house probably helped too, but Carole needed someone to fuss over, especially since that cat will only take petting on his own terms.”

“Literal petting?” Adam asked with a laugh.

He shrugged. “Mostly. He’s sneaky about it, but I’ve noticed he’s taken to sitting on the floor in human form when we watch TV at night and letting her stroke his hair.”

“That’s sweet,” Kurt said, glancing over at Sebastian, who was deeply engrossed in conversation with Adam’s father and brother. They were standing by the breakfast bar energetically arguing the merits of something called Chelsea FC versus Manchester United. Kurt had no idea what they were blathering about, but he gathered from the body language that it was something sports-related.

Just the speed at which he had ingratiated himself within the group today made it obvious that Kurt’s former rival had come a long way since settling into the role of Familiar, and he was glad of it. It was becoming easier all the time to trust Sebastian. When he had arrived today, he and Tubbington, neither of whom was usually given to PDA, had walked in and given a slight bow, then solemnly and firmly embraced Kurt before doing the same to Adam. No snark, no sarcasm, just a show of approval and friendship.

Luckily, Adam had warned him this would probably happen. There were rules the witch community lived by when it came to significant rites like a Joining. By coming out of their 'Truth Time' vigil still carrying every intention of going on with today’s dual ceremonies, they had earned the full support of both Familiars. LT had long since given his, but Kurt felt proud to have it displayed so openly today, and still somewhat shocked to have the same respect shown by Sebastian.

A brief knock sounded and the door opened. Carole stuck her head in and grinned at Kurt and Adam, rather mysteriously coming no farther. “Happy Joining Day!” she said. “I checked with your group to make sure it was okay if Sam and I brought you a surprise from Lima. It just arrived but I need you to lower the wards for a second.”

Burt grinned brightly, rubbing Kurt’s back with one broad hand. “And there may have been one other reason they were late today,” he confessed.

Kurt looked at Adam, who seemed equally clueless but offered an amused shrug. The barrier had originally been created to block only those with magical ability, but after discovering that Blaine was using Standards to his own advantage, Tubbington had advised strengthening the wards to include anyone to whom Kurt or Adam had not expressly granted entry. Trusting Carole not to have brought anyone who was not safe with her, Kurt nodded his head sharply and the protective barrier around his home dropped.

Practically dancing with the joy of her surprise, Carole came inside, followed by a grinning Sam Evans who held the hand of, “Mercedes!” Kurt shouted, launching himself forward to hug his grinning friend. “Oh my god, what are you doing here!”

“I came to see my boy get married, of course!” she replied, hugging him with all her might. “And to see what all this big bad witch business was about.”

He pulled back, astonished. “You know about that?”

With her heavily church influenced upbringing, Kurt had never been quite comfortable sharing the news of his recently changed status with his teenage best friend, but at his flabbergasted question, she just laughed. “Of course I know. I never said anything because I didn’t know you knew either, much less that you were a witch, but I know all about this stuff. I don’t have any magic, unfortunately, but my Grandma Adele is a witch and so is my dad, my Auntie Patricia, and my brother Steven.” She shrugged. “Sucks that I didn’t get Potential, but I got the good looks and the pipes, while they can’t sing a lick, so fair trade, right?”

Her twinkling brown eyes gave away that she was joking, and Kurt couldn’t resist hugging her again, just from sheer relief that she was not going to turn her back on him over this any more than she had the day she had found out why her schoolgirl crush on him was doomed to hopelessness.

“But how did you find out my power had manifest?” he asked, after pausing to give his stepmother and his friend Sam each a welcome as well.

“Oh, uh, that was my fault, dude,” Sam told him, with a sheepish shrug. “She was in Lima for a visit and came by the house when she found out I was living with your folks again. I kinda spilled the beans.”

She smiled and squeezed Sam’s hand, then reached her other hand out to clasp Kurt’s. “Once the cat was out of the bag, he and Carole told me everything. I knew something was wrong before, but I didn’t push for answers. I really regret that now, because as awful as it is, it all makes so much sense. I hope you don’t mind that I know, or that I invited myself to be a part of your big day.”

“Of course I don’t mind,” he said truthfully. “I really wanted you here and it hurt that I couldn’t invite you to one of the biggest events of my life, but I didn’t know how you’d feel about all this, or if you’d even want to be a part of it. You didn’t take my being an atheist too well. How were you going to feel about finding out I was a witch? And that I’m marrying another witch and getting ready to do a magical rite that involves trying to pull a lost soul from another dimension with the help of my very own coven? That’s kind of a lot to throw at someone.”

Mercedes nodded. “So you just sent an RSVP for the wedding reception and figured you’d leave it at that. I get it. But I’m here now, and if there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know. Because I’m sorry about the way I treated you.” She put her finger to his lips to stop the automatic protest and looked at him seriously. “I don’t just mean with Blaine. I mean all the times you needed me to help you, or just to see what you were going through. Especially that time your dad was in the hospital. I owe you a long-overdue apology for that, and since I understand that today is all about being open with the people you love, I wanted to clear the air. I’m sorry, and I love you, and from here on out I’m here for you Kurt. And you too,” she said, nodding to Adam who was looking on with a beaming smile. She held out her right hand. “I don’t think we ever got to meet officially. I’m Mercedes Jones.”

He shook the offered hand, and then pulled her into a hug. “Adam Crawford, and I’m delighted to finally meet you. Thank you for coming share our special day. I know seeing you means the world to Kurt, so you are most welcome. We’ve got a few moments before we begin. Could I take you around and introduce you to everyone?”

Watching Mercedes accept his fiance’s gallantly offered elbow, Kurt smiled. He recognized that Mercedes was wasting no time with that promise to be here for him. She was taking the opportunity to get to know the man Kurt loved. He remembered offering to introduce them once before, on a visit that had never happened once his relationship became secretly, magically sabotaged by Blaine.

Kurt sniffled and dashed at his nose, silently thanking whatever beneficent power might be out there in the universe, be it God, Fate, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, for giving them all a second chance to make things right.

Before he could decide what to do next, a pointed throat-clearing grabbed his attention. Tubbington was standing a few feet away, weight on one foot, arms crossed over his round belly, and head tipped towards the front door.

Realizing he had forgotten to raise the barrier again after letting his newest guest inside, Kurt blushed, “Sorry, LT. I was a little distracted.”

“S’okay, kid. I know you got a lot a lot going on, but keep your head in the game a little. Okay?”

“Understood,” he said, and he did. It would be very easy to treat this gathering like a big party and leave all of his responsibilities to other people, and he had no doubt that they would all forgive him if he did so, but Kurt was slowly coming around to the fact that while he considered them all equals and friends, he was this coven’s leader, and that meant being always a little bit “on”, even during one of the most special days of his life.

With that in mind, he turned his attention to Sam. His friend had wandered off to look around the apartment and pick at the waiting buffet. Fighting down a little frisson of dread, Kurt blinked his Sight on. He had to know.

When Sam came into focus through the lens of magic, Kurt gasped, for the first time really understanding the damage that Adam and the girls had described as Sam’s healthy exterior gave way to another image of a man who was withering away, sick and starving, like the end-stages victim of a terrible wasting illness.

“God,” Kurt whispered, blinking hurriedly back to normal sight. “How could Blaine have done this to his supposed best friend?”

He jumped when he realized that Adam had rejoined him, having left Mercedes chatting with their old McKinley crew, gripping his shoulders gently as he replied, “I want to believe he didn’t realize the damage. As far as we know, that one doesn’t have the gift of Sight.”

Reaching up to give the hand on his left shoulder a light squeeze, he sighed. “That’s true, but I’m not so sure it would have made any difference if he had. I can think of too many other times he hurt people casually and without an ounce of remorse, because taking something away from them didn’t matter as long as it benefited him.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to think about Blaine anymore right now. This day is about us. It’s about you and me, together, and I won’t let him ruin that.”

The unspoken word ‘again’ lingered in the air.

Adam’s hands released his shoulders but turned him around to wrap Kurt in a loving embrace. “Me either. Everyone here is on our side. They love us, and they care about us, and we can and should open ourselves to all of that positive energy all day. Can you feel it, Kurt?”

Letting the last of his tension fade, Kurt returned the embrace, closing his eyes and dropping his shields completely for once. He could feel it. Excitement, joy, eagerness, love; the latter most of all. It surrounded and enveloped them, the energy buoyed by the power of High Magic, siphoned into the atmosphere from all the outpourings of emotion being shared throughout the world on this day, until Kurt could feel the magic singing through his veins.

Kurt could not help himself. Opening his eyes, he met Adam’s smiling ones and let go a peal of laughter, feeling a little high from the surging of positive emotion. “Can the rest of you feel this?”

“Of course,” Adam said with a fond grin. “Why do you think we count the High Magic days as being so very special?”

“Is it always like this?”

Adam tipped his head left and right, considering. “Not exactly, but close enough. This is why we wanted to wait until now to try summoning your brother’s spirit to join with Sam’s. Things can be done today that we might never successfully accomplish on a normal day.”

Reminded of his purpose, Kurt looked at Sam again. “We have to make that happen, Adam. We have to save them both.”

“And we will do our best,” Adam said. “But darling? In spite of what you’ve just seen, there is still time to reverse the damage for Sam just as you did for me. And if this idea doesn’t work out, then we’ll find another way.”

Kurt’s chin lifted, a sense of certainty filling his heart. “Yes. We will.”

Adam smiled, recognizing the determination in his lover’s eyes. “Right. Now, the first thing we need to concentrate on is us, and solidifying our union. We need to focus on ourselves and the joy of this occasion. Trust the preparations we’ve made, the power of this day, and in our love for one another. The rest will fall into place.”

Taking Adam’s face between his hands, Kurt kissed him hard. “I’m ready. I think you’d better marry me now.”

#witch!kurt #okay so i'm breaking the big day up into small pieces instead of one big chapter #give me some encouragement if you can!#kadam fic #next up: the joining

14 notes · View notes

im5ftbutmythroat66 · 6 years

Text

Drunken disaster (11) A genuine surprise part two

The past few weeks you were feeling sick with body aches, throwing up, and feeling fatigued. Having to miss work two days in a row you felt it necessary to go to the doctor’s office. You Felt like you had the flu, the weather changed from hot to cold drastically and this weather usually makes you sick. Erik had to work an event for the Outreach center so he couldn’t bring you to the appointment, Instead he got a chauffeur to drive you to the doctor.

“Good morning Mrs. Stevens, I will be your transportation for today. Sit back and relax I have the address to the doctor’s office.” he says opening the car door for you. You pull your seat belt on while he gets in the car and pulls onto the stree .

Your were so busy texting Erik, you didn’t see an armored truck speeding towards the car. Spinning out of control you held onto the seat belt as your body flew back and forth in the seat. Crashing into a pole your head flew towards the window shattering it and knocking you unconscious.

All of a sudden you heard the car door open a masked person forcefully pulled you from the vehicle. You struggled against the person, trying to break free from their when they struck you in the face knocking you out cold.

When your eyes open a sharp pain travels through your head. Trying to move your body you realize your limbs were tied to a chair. Making an effort to twist yourself out the rope the rope became tighter squeezing your body tighter.

“Help! Please! Help me someone !.” I screamed.

Suddenly a bone chilling laugh erupted in the room, sending chills down your spine.

“You up beautiful?” a deep voice spoke in the darkness, looking in the direction I can only see a body no face.

“Y/n you up” a second more familiar voice spoke up.

“Shawn is that you?” you call out.

“Yes, y/n” he answers you. “it’s me.”

“Shawn please let me go.” pleading with your ex.

“You not going anywhere baby” the first voice spoke up again, stepping into the light revealing himself.

“S-Santana?” you spoke “How do you know each other?”

“We had some common interests so we decided to work together.” he smiles widely. “ I’m more surprised you remember me baby”

“Please let me go don’t do this” you plead to him, hoping he had better sense than Shawn.

“You’re not leaving until your lil boyfriend gets here,” Santana spoke.

Their was a brief pause, and Shawn spoke again.

“To be honest y/n. you won’t be leaving here alive” he said with a smile on his face. “ you stupid whore.” he smacked you hard.. The force knocking you back in the chair. When the chair hits the floor he starts kicking you in the face, stomach and ribs.

“PLEASE! STOP!” you cry out but he continues as Santana watches. He foot comes down on your face making you scream out.

“You fucking bitch you knew how much I loved you and you leave me for that thug. You stupid bi-” he raises his foot again to kick you in the face but Santana grabs him, knocking him back.

“You trying to kill her man chill.” Santana spoke, as he lifted my chair from the floor. Blood dripped from your mouth and it was difficult to breath.

Tears ran down your face as you struggled to catch your breath. Sobbing uncontrollably you hear Santana and Shawn arguing among each other. You can’t make out what their saying because of the intense pain you were in. Suddenly a gun shot rang out and a hard thud sounded through the room making you cry harder.

“See niggas don’t listen. I told his ass to chill.” he pauses staring at your face Are you okay?” Santana walks up to you cupping your cheek. “Sorry baby, I should have stopped him, but he just needed to relieve some anger.” Santana said dropping my face from his hand. He walked out the room leaving you alone.

You silently cried until you were to tired to stay awake, you fell asleep badly beaten and strapped to a chair.

Opening your eyes you hear the sound of bullets and things crashing, you try to stand forgetting you were strapped to a chair, you falling back you hit your head. You were sprawled out on the floor when your stomach started to cramp horribly. You cried out in pain, just then the door opened a person in a black body suit with a cat face came into view. Scared you try to scoot away from the imposing figure when another man busts through the door shooting at the man in the body suit. The bullets bounced off the suit, you were in shock, trying to get away from both of the men. He walks up to the shooter and grips his throat, throwing him into the wall and starts towards you again. This time you speak out.

“Don’t hurt me.” you plead crying.

Suddenly Erik comes running in the room, blood covering his clothes and face.

“Erik!” you cry out.

“T what’s taking you so long, why she still tied up.” Erik questions T’challa. The mask disappears revealing T’challa’s face as he bends down to cut you free.

Your body was so beat up you couldn’t move. Erik bends down to pick you up and you collapse again blacking out.

When you awake you notice machines and tubes all over your body. As you adjusted your eyes you see Erik bawled up on a couch looking closer you notice he has on blooded clothes.

“Erik” you croak out, your voice dry and hoarse. He hasn’t moved so you call out to him again.

“Erik” it comes out a little louder. He slowly opens his eyes and sees your awakes he jumps up and runs into the hallway.

“Get a doctor she’s awake!” running back into the room he grabs me holding me tightly.

“How long I been here?” you ask

“Two days. I knew you were gonna pull through for me.” You see the tears falling from his eyes.

“It’s alright, i’m alright baby.” rubbing his face and kissing his lips.

The Doctor and nurse enter the room

“Hi y/n. I’m Dr. Reed. How are you feeling” he says grabbing your chart.

“I’m fine. A little sore but I’m good”

“ After all you’ve been through I’m sorry that you lost your baby?” he says taking his flashlight off his stethoscope and looking in your eyes. “We need to run some test and monitor you and the over the next week and then you can leave.”

“Baby?” you look to Erik with a confused expression. “What Baby?”

“Yes. you were pregnant with my baby and” he pauses more tears falling from his eyes. “ When we found you, you were having a miscarriage.” he inhales deeply. “I’m sorry baby.”

A baby, you were going to be a mom, but they tore that away from you. Tears start to fall from your eyes out of grief you didn’t know but you wanted your baby. How could the baby survive the beating that Shawn gave you? Time seemed to stop and so did you. Turning away from Erik you held yourself and cried silently. You knew it wasn’t his fault but you were too sad too care.

“Can I be alone.” you snuffled.

“Don’t shut down on me” he huffed out. “I’ll give you your space, I’ll be back later.” he says walking out the room. You had a lot to think about. Did you really want to stay with Erik after this situation. That thought crossed your time a thousand times that night, you didn’t know what to do.

Note: So leave ya thoughts below.

tags:

@myboyfriendgiriboy @chaneajoyyy @slimmiyagi @vikkidc @leahnicole1219 @harleycativy @iamrheaspeaks @3nmxnxt3r @another-imaginesblog @bitemyxxx @blackgirloneshots @niggarachi15 @destinio1 @imagine-mbaku @hearteyes-for-killmonger @misswakanda2018 @dameshaemonique @wakandawinning @theunsweetenedtruth @loosewindmill

#erikkillmonger #erik stevens #erik x reader #fluff #angst #lovve #hurt #trust #drunken mistakes #drunkendisaster

104 notes · View notes

ranwing · 6 years

Text

Kadam Fic: Learning to Fly (7/?)

Title: Learning to Fly Series: A New Direction (was Season Four Remix) Pairing(s), Characters(s): Kadam, Kurt Hummel, Adam Crawford, Burt Hummel, Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, Carmen Tibideaux, Cassandra July, Artie Abrams, Tina Cohen-Chang, Elliot “Starchild” Gilbert, Dani, Adam’s Apples, Original Characters Rating: PG13 Genre(s): canon divergence. Parts: 7/? Summary: As another school year starts at NYADA, Kurt seemed to have it all. The respect of his teachers, a group of wonderful friends and best of all, getting to live with the man that he’d come to love. So of course the universe would throw a few curve balls in his direction.

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six

On AOE

There was something oddly comforting about waking up at his old home. In his old bed, Kurt considered as he slowly came awake. It helped ease the feeling of displacement and feeling totally adrift in the world. The home that he’d shared with Adam no longer existed and his lover was no longer close at hand to reassure him that everything was going to be all right. For someone who’d always prided himself on being so self-sufficient, this sense of vulnerability was extremely disquieting.

He and Adam had spoken on the phone the previous night for what seemed like hours. The Englishman was settled into the hotel room he was sharing with Nialls and told Kurt about how interesting Boston was and that he and the others in the cast planned to spend a day or two sightseeing before they went into tech and all of their free time vanished. He was glad that Kurt was taking a bit of time to spend with his family before the school term began.

It’ll be good for you, sweetheart, the older man had insisted when Kurt had first proposed his plans to visit while his father was home on winter recess. I don’t want you to be alone right now.

Better to crawl home to lick his wounds than hide away in his dorm room in a nearly empty school, Kurt thought petulantly as he curled up under the heavy layer of blankets that provided a warm nest and pulled a pillow to his chest. He would be content to hide there for the duration of his visit.

A knock on his bedroom door roused his unwilling attention. All he wanted to do was huddle under the blankets like he did when he was a child and the outside world became just too much to bear.

“Kurt?” he heard his father’s voice call out gently. “You awake, buddy?”

Despite himself, he sat up and emerged from the covered. He didn’t want to worry his father unnecessarily. “Yeah..,” he answered, his voice sounding wan even to his own ears.

His father opened the door and peeked in to make sure that Kurt was decent before coming in and sighed when he saw that he was still in bed. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “How are you holding up?” he asked gently, sitting down on the edge of Kurt’s bed.

Kurt shrugged, feeling too mentally and physically tired to feign otherwise.

“Did you get any sleep at all?”

Kurt shook his head. “Not really,” he admitted, knowing that it wouldn’t do any good to lie. His father would know from the dark circles under his eyes that he’d been tossing and turning most of the night.

Burt sighed in sympathy. “I know that telling you that everything is going to work out isn’t going to make you feel at all better, so I’m not going to try,” he said. “But you can’t hide away from the world the whole time Adam is away. And you’re going to have to get your head back on straight before you head back to school. Adam wouldn’t appreciate you letting your grades slide because you miss him.”

Kurt couldn’t help from smiling a tiny bit at his father’s blunt form of comfort. It was kind of gentle kick in the pants that he needed.

“I know,” he granted. “I just need to feel sorry for myself for a little while.”

“That’s okay. You’re allowed under the circumstances,” Burt granted. “But not too long. Got that?”

Kurt nodded, inhaling deeply. He knew that however much he wanted to wallow, his own nature would push him to push past his pain and shift his focus on his education. But right now, he just hurt.

“Why don’t you get dressed and come downstairs,” Burt suggested, though there was just the slight edge of command in his tone. “Carole’s making breakfast. Just between you and me, I think that she’s looking forward to feeding you up while you’re here.”

Kurt couldn’t help from smiling. His stepmother apparently missed having boys around to take care of and he could look forward to plenty of home cooking and hearty meals during his visit. He’d have to make sure that he went running every day if the weather permitted, otherwise he’s probably gain twenty pounds before he returned to New York.

“I’ll be down in just a little bit,” Kurt assured his father. “I just need… Let me just wash up.” He needed a bit of space to get his mental feet under him.

“You got it, sport. Better get a move on while there’s food left,” Burt said, pleased that he at least was able to get Kurt out of bed. He ruffled Kurt’s hair playfully, hoping to coax another smile out of him before leaving his son to make himself suitably human.

“Don’t eat all the bacon before I get there,” Kurt called out, hearing his father chuckle at the not-so-playful admonishment. His father did still need to watch his diet and now that he was home for a little bit, Kurt was going to remind him of his dietary restrictions.

He arrived in the kitchen about fifteen minutes later, his face washed and teeth brushed, a soft robe wrapped comfortingly about his body. The warm scents of coffee and cinnamon greeted him and he went right for the coffee pot to pour himself a mug. The kitchen table was already set with plates and a bowl of fresh fruit salad.

Carole was standing at the counter in front of an electric skillet, turning over the pancakes she was cooking. At seeing Kurt, she placed down her spatula and pulled him into a warm embrace. “Good morning, sweetie,” she greeted gently, seeing immediately that he wasn’t his usual chipper self. “How are you feeling?”

He wasn’t going to lie to her. This was the one place where he felt that he could let down his shields and admit how much he was hurting. “Not so good. I didn’t sleep much and… I miss Adam.”

Carole smiled understandably and pressed a kiss to Kurt’s forehead. “I know you do, honey. But he’ll be back before you know it. And I’m sure that he misses you just as much,” she insisted kindly.

Kurt felt himself smiling a little sadly. “I know he does,” he granted. “It just hurts… being away from him like this.”

Carole hugged him again. “Why don’t you sit down? Breakfast is almost ready. You’ll feel better after you get some food into you.”

His stepmother’s cooking skills hadn’t deteriorated since he was home the last time, Kurt noted. And while she had prepared what she’s hoped would be comfort food for her stepson, she did it with a nod towards Kurt’s normal eating habits and her husband’s health. The pancakes were whole wheat, studded liberally with blueberries and accompanied by a plate of turkey bacon.

“This looks great, Carole,” Kurt complimented, feeling his appetite start to kindle. He took two pancakes and some fruit onto his plate, along with several strips of bacon. After pouring a healthy amount of syrup onto his pancakes, he took a bite and made an appreciative moan. “I missed your cooking.”

His stepmother smiled broadly as she served herself. “Well, if you came to visit every now and then, or came down to Washington while we’re there...,” she hinted playfully,

“Carole, let the boy be,” Burt admonished gently, chuckling at her teasing. “He’s got school and work to worry about.”

“Thanks Dad,” Kurt grinned and nibbled on a piece of bacon.

Carole huffed with mock indignance, but offered her stepson a tolerant smile. “Well, I’ll just have to send a few extra care packages your way. Especially since you’re going to be living on dorm food for the duration.”

“I won’t say no,” Kurt said agreeably, sipping at his coffee. While the dorm cafeteria kept the eating habits of their student body in mind with lots of healthy options, he was sure that it would get boring after a while. Between Carole and Ellie Crawford, he’d be the envy of all the dorm residents.

“Do you have any plans for today?” Burt asked, looking at his son pointedly. It was clear that he did not want to see Kurt moping around the house, feeling sorry for himself during the whole duration of his visit.

Kurt sighed, knowing that he needed to find something to occupy himself with besides quality family time. Thankfully McKinley High School was out for winter break, so he wouldn’t be tempted to pop in on New Directions. He’d made some tentative plans to meet up with Tina and Artie while they were all home, but he really need to find something to occupy himself with. And at the moment, he needed something to clear his head.

“I thought I’d head over to the garage this morning,” he proposed. “I kind of want something to tear apart and put back together again. I’m sure they’ve got something I can get my hands into.”

Burt nodded approvingly. “That sounds like a great idea,” he agreed. “I was going to stop by later on, but I’m sure the guys won’t mind you going in to help out.”

Having a goal now perked Kurt’s spirits up a bit. “I figured that some of the guys might be taking some time off for the holidays and they might need some help. And it’ll feel good to get my hands dirty for a little bit.”

Carole chuckled brightly at Kurt’s apparent enthusiasm. “It’ll also give you an excuse to treat yourself to a manicure,” she teased.

Kurt couldn’t help from laughing a little bit. “Well, I do have to keep myself in good condition,” he advised. Oil under his fingernails and obvious calluses would not help his employment options as audiences liked their actors to be pretty.

After finishing breakfast and helping to clean up, Kurt returned to his room to find something suitable to wear to the garage. He was sure that he had a set of coveralls in the back, but he didn’t want to risk any of his good clothes with stains that he knew from experience would never come out. He found an old pair of jeans in the back of his closet and pulled them on, wondering if they still fit.

They were a bit short since he’d bought them before his last growth spurt and a little snug about his thighs, but he definitely needed a belt because they were loose in the waist. Squatting a few times, he thought that they’d be comfortable enough to work in. Topped with an old henley that stretched across his shoulders, he realized just how much he’d changed since leaving for New York. The physical changes were just as profound as his mental and emotional ones, and he felt a certain amount of gratification that he was so far from the boy he’d been just a few years ago. He liked who and what he’d become.

Tugging on an old pair of Doc Martins, he headed downstairs. His father and Carole were lingering over another cup of coffee and talking quietly when he entered the kitchen. “Dad, I’m going to head over to the garage now.”

“Okay, sport. Tell the guys that I’ll by a later this afternoon,” Burt advised, sipping at his coffee. “Have fun destroying something.”

Kurt grinned and gave them a quick wave before bundling up to face the bitter Ohio winter. The drive to the garage went quickly, the route permanently imbedded in Kurt’s memory and he parked behind the building in the employee area. Dodging slush puddles and snow piles, he walked into the garage area where several of the mechanics were already at work.

The manager spotted Kurt as he entered and exclaimed happily, “Kurt! We were hoping you’d stop by!” Bill hurried over to hug the younger man warmly.

“Hey Bill. Good to see you,” Kurt greeted, smiling at the man who’d been mentor and baby sitter for a good portion of his childhood. He accepted the hug, feeling a sense of comfort to be around friendly faces and a familiar setting.

The other mechanics came over to offer their own welcome, glad to see Kurt. Greg leaned against the Ford SUV that he was working on and looked to him expectantly. “Your dad warned that you were in town for a little while,” he said, wiping his dirty hands on a rag.

Kurt nodded, letting himself relax a bit. “I’m on winter break and Adam had to go out of town for work so I thought I’d come home for a little bit.”

“And you’re doing well in school?” Bill asked, making his near-parental concern clear.

Kurt thought back to his winter critiques and let himself nod confidently. “It’s hard work, but I’m doing okay. We’ve got a big musical this spring and I got cast as an understudy for one of the major roles.”

“That’s great, kid,” Greg complimented. The mechanics might not know all that much about musical theater but they knew enough to understand that being cast as an understudy at this stage was no small thing.

“I was kind of hoping to get my hands into something,” Kurt explained, looking about the garage. “I need a little automotive therapy.”

Bill nodded understandingly. “I think there’s a set of your old coveralls are in the back room,” he offered. “Go get changed and I’ll see what we’ve got around for you to play with.”

Kurt smiled appreciative and headed to the staff room. Pulling on the heavy cotton material felt comforting in its own strange way and he marveled that he could still be as comfortable in an oil stained jumpsuit as he could in the most elegant couture fashion. Adam would just smile and say that it was an example of how complex a person he was.

Thoughts of his boyfriend dimmed his smile a bit. He really needed to get his hands on an engine and start taking it apart so he could clear his head a little bit.

Returning to the work area, Bill pointed him in the direction of an Audi that had clearly been on the wrong end of a significant accident. The whole front end was crunched in and the airbag had been inflated, warning that the impact had been substantial. Hopefully the driver was not seriously injured.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Kurt cooed sympathetically to the car, running his hand over a crushed bumper. It was an absolutely crime for such a beautiful vehicle to be in such sorry condition. “What happened to you?”

“This just came in yesterday,” Bill explained, amused at how Kurt always treated damaged cars like he would a wounded kitten. “Got into a fight with a lamp post after skidding on some ice and I think the lamp post won. Think you can you get started on the diagnostic so it can be submitted to the insurance?”

Kurt nodded, feeling his mood start to improve. This was exactly the kind of thing he needed. Rolling up his sleeves, he pulled a tool cart over to where the damaged car sat and carefully popped open the hood to get a look at the engine and see what needed to be done.

Running the diagnostics gave Kurt something to focus on, taking his mind away from his loneliness. He had to pay attention to what the instruments were telling him and what his own eyes were seeing. This was the part of working with cars that he’d always found the most interesting; trying to figure out just what was wrong and how to fix it in a way that was economical for the customer. It was like working out a large, greasy puzzle and he’d always been pretty good at it.

He took his time, going over the entire car and made careful notes of all the things that were wrong and needed immediate repair. There was a good crack in the radiator that he wasn’t sure could just be repaired and might need a complete replacement. Several hoses were torn or pulled loose, but those were easy fixes. One of the engine mounts was missing and definitely would need to be replaced, otherwise the owner would hit a bump and end up with the engine in his lap.

The rest of the engine seemed okay, he needed to check out the undercarriage and make sure there was no other damage. Getting a creeper board and hanging light, he lay down and slid under the car to see what was going on.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any damage to the major structures and while the repairs would be considerable, the owner was lucky that the car wouldn’t have to be junked. Sliding out from unde the car, he wiped off his hands and wrote up the report to be submitted to the owner’s insurance.

There were other jobs on the list that he took over to give the guys a little breathing room. It felt good to do simple tasks like oil changes and brake jobs where he got a bit dirty but was able to keep his head clear. Focusing on the tools in his hands and the machinery in front of him prevented him from dwelling too much on the other things in his life. Here there were no worries about the pressures of school or the loneliness of Adam being away. One of the guys turned on a radio and Kurt found himself humming along with the classic rock tunes, dancing a bit as he worked.

“I don’t hear any singing,” Greg complained from his station, where he was elbows deep in the engine of a Dodge Charger. “What do we have to do around here to get some entertainment?”

Bill laughed, giving Kurt a playful nudge. “Come on, kid,” he urged. “Give us a little show while we still can afford to see you.”

Kurt couldn’t help from grinning at their urging. They’d always been so supportive of him when he was growing up, despite the fact that he couldn’t be more different from them. When he came out, it was probably not much more of a surprise to them as it had been for his father and they never treated him any differently. The teasing was good natured and affectionate and he would always have a place here, no matter where life took him.

“Oh, Mama, I’m in fear for my life from the long arm of the law,” he began, using the lower end of his register. He was standing underneath a classic Chevy, draining the old oil into a disposal pail. He could certainly sing while he worked and gave his father’s employees the show that they wanted.

Kurt left the garage a few hours later after having lunch with the guys and returned home to clean up. He was feeling a bit better about things now that he had a chance to clear his head a little bit. He washed his hands in the kitchen sink with a bar of abrasive soap that his father kept there to scrub the stains off his hands, using a nail brush to get the grime out from under his fingernails. He would need to seriously moisturize his hands afterwards because the soap was so harsh on his skin, but by the time he was done, his hands were in pristine condition. A quick shower and a change of clothes left him fit to face the world again.

Coffee, he decided. He needed coffee and something sweet. It had been over a year since he last went to the Lima Bean and hoped that they were still serving the gingerbread loaf cake that he’d always loved. With a vanilla latte. That would be just the kind of pick-me-up he needed.

Driving to the café, he slipped back into instinct. He knew the way like the back of his hand, having followed the path hundreds of times before leaving this town for good. It still felt a bit strange that he was now starting to see Lima through a visitor’s eyes and not that of boy desperate to leave. Now he was more aware of the charms of the town and less focused on its obvious shortcomings. The feeling of nostalgia was almost pleasant.

The Lima Bean seemed much the same as it ever was; brightly lit and clean, the display cases filled with appetizing treats and smiling baristas preparing drinks. For a moment when he walked through the doors he felt a flash of the panic he’d felt when he’d worn one of those aprons. He’d lived in absolute anguish, fearful that he was doomed to spend his life trapped in Lima and working here because he didn’t have any other options. It had just been something to do that filled his days until he managed to find the courage in him to take the plunge and leave nearly everything and everyone that he knew in order to chase his dreams.

Going to New York without a place or plan had been terrifying, but less frightening than being stuck behind that counter with a fake smile pasted on his face so that the customers would never know that he was screaming inside. Thankfully he had escaped this trap and now felt that could walk in with his head held proudly. He wondered if the day would come when he no longer saw his hometown as a place just waiting to snare him and drag him back.

He was still seeking the balance, Kurt realized as he pulled himself mentally together. He didn’t have many fantastic memories of life in Lima, so coming back home was still hard in a lot of ways. But he had family here and it would always be a part of him no matter where his career took him in the future. Be it a Broadway stage or touring the country the way Adam was, Lima would always be a huge part of his past. It helped make him who he was.

Looking over the offerings in the case, he was torn between the gingerbread that he’d been craving and an absolutely scrumptious looking cranberry scone. He couldn’t afford to eat both, not with the way Carole was going to be stuffing him the whole time he was home. There was no way he would dare show up back at school having gained an ounce because Ms. July would certainly notice and make him suffer the consequences. One treat only.

He ordered the gingerbread since he could get scones back in New York anytime he wanted, along with the much-needed latte. The café was pretty full with the afternoon rush and there didn’t seem to be empty tables. Maybe he could find someone who would be willing to share so he could enjoy his afternoon snack.

He smiled to himself when he saw a tall blond woman sitting at the table in the back reading a magazine while nursing a large coffee that Kurt knew from past history would be black with no fewer than five packets of sugar.

Taking his plate and cup, he walked over to the table. “Mind if I join you?” he asked to get her attention.

She looked up at him with a sharp-eyed glare and prepared to launch what was probably a viciously worded refusal that would have left him gathering up his own entrails when she realized who was standing there. Her blue eyes widened in shock and, Kurt suspected, pleasure.

“Porcelain,” Coach Sylvester said softly, very clearly surprised by his presence. Her mouth drew into a wide smile. “Sit that tight little tush down right now.”

Kurt couldn’t help from smiling at the command in her voice. He placed his food down and took the chair opposite her. “It’s good to see you, Coach. Even if you are out of uniform.” It felt odd to see her dressed in anything other than her customary track suit.

“I’m off duty right now, and I’m not your coach anymore,” she reminded him playfully. “You can call me Sue if you want.”

Kurt recognized this for the honor that it was. There were moments when he felt like he was one of the few students that she’d not only genuinely liked, but respected in some way.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked. “I would have thought that the only way you’d ever come back to this town would be dragged kicking and screaming. You were already halfway out the door during your sophomore year.”

Kurt was reminded that for all her cutting comments and bizarre behavior, Sue had been one of his chief supporters while he was in high school. He’d never forgotten the lengths that she went through to protect him during the worst of the bullying he’d suffered and he knew that she’d been very upset during her stint as principal that she hadn’t been able to do more. Even after he gave up being a Cheerio, he remained one of her chosen few.

“Just here for a little while on winter break,” he explained. “I start classes again in a few weeks so I thought I’d enjoy a little family time. Dad’s home on recess, so it seemed like a perfect time.”

She nodded understandingly. If there was anyone who appreciated the need for family, it was Sue. “And that gorgeous hunk of English beefcake that looked like he’d follow you to the ends of the earth?”

Kurt couldn’t help from sighing. “He graduated last June and he got cast in a show that’s doing a national tour,” he explained. “We’re going to be doing the long-distance thing for a couple of months.”

His former coach gave him a sympathetic stare. “Well, if he gives you any problems, you let me know. I have several highly skilled and very discreet assassins on retainer if you need a referral.”

Kurt could only stare at her in surprise, but the twinkle in her eyes betrayed her and he realized that she was joking a little bit. He couldn’t help from laughing. He’d long suspected that Sue’s outrageous behavior at school was something of an act, but this confirmed it for him.

At least, he hoped that it did.

He nodded his head at the magazine, seeing an overly perky cheerleader photographed in mid-leap on the cover. “Professional research?” he asked, not hiding his amusement. “I assume that you’re going to be gearing up for Nationals when school restarts, right?”

She chuckled, nodding. “Just getting a sense of what some of the other teams may have in mind,” she explained. “You know, considering what a few of them tried last year trying to outdo me, my plan to shoot Brittany from a cannon wasn’t that insane.”

“Well, you were always a trail blazer,” Kurt reminded her, taking a taste of his gingerbread. It tasted just the way he remembered, the bite of ginger and cloves perfectly tempered by the creamy glaze.

“I don’t think we ever did so well as when we had you on the team. Your Celine Dion solo was a total showstopper that no one has been able to match,” she reminisced fondly. “What I wouldn’t give to have you back and doing a ten-minute Italian aria while doing a perfect handstand at the top of the formation.” She sighed happily at the concept.

“How NYADA is treating you? I’m assuming that you’re doing well there.”

Kurt smiled. “It’s good,” he insisted. “I’m learning a lot and we’re doing this huge musical in the spring. It’s a pretty amazing place.”

“And you’re looking awfully fit,” she noted admiringly. “It’s a shame I can’t steal you back for the team.”

Kurt couldn’t help from feeling flattered at her appraisal. “I run now pretty regularly and I’ve been doing a lot of upper body work. And I’ve got dance three times a week with a teacher that I would love to run a DNA test on, because there is no way that she’s not related to you in some way.”

“And she’s going to let you get away with eating that?” Sue asked archly, pointing to Kurt’s cake. “Because I would have had you doing jumping jacks until your limbs came flying off.”

“I usually burn it off pretty quickly because I’m so active, and I’m keeping up on my physical regimen while I’m here,” he assured her. “Ms. July will personally cut off any flab she sees with a letter opener so I need to take care of myself. My body is one of my instruments, after all.”

Sue nodded approvingly. “Well, whatever you’re doing, the results are certainly impressive,” she complimented, eyeing the breadth of his shoulders appreciatively. “You look like you could probably toss any of our fliers one handed now.”

Knowing how rarely Sue gave unvarnished approval gave Kurt a sense of pride at her positive appraisal. “We did a lot of pairs work in dance the past semester and I wasn’t always matched with the lightest girl,” he admitted. “Missing a lift always ends up with Ms. July bitching us out in the middle of class and no one wants that. And I’m taking stage combat this semester so I really need to be in good shape.”

“Now that is something I would look forward to seeing you do,” Sue chuckled, mentally picturing him wielding a sword and slicing through the bullies that had tormented him when he was younger. She paused to look at him, her eyes softening in a way that Kurt rarely remembered her showing to anyone other than her sister.

“Oh Porcelain… I’m glad to see you doing so well,” Sue claimed with clear sincerity. “I never doubted that you’d manage to find your way out of Lima. I think that you would have crawled out of here on your hands and knees if that’s what it took. If only to spite anyone who ever tried to make you feel like nothing.”

Kurt nodded, knowing that there was more than a grain of truth there. All the times he’d ended up atop a pile of trash in a dumpster, the times when he did laundry as soon as he got home from school so that his father wouldn’t see the stains from food being thrown at him or the time when he spent several weeks’ worth of allowance money to buy a designer sweater to replace the one that his father had given him as a gift and ended up destroyed… it had all been fuel to Kurt’s determination to escape Lima.

“And that was something I always appreciated about you,” she explained. “You didn’t need anyone carrying your ass the way Berry did. I mean, Schuster all but ferried her to New York on his back.”

Kurt winced a bit internally, not liking to hear the harsh reminder of how unfair an advantage Rachel had back then and not surprised that Sue still had a rather unforgiving opinion about his friend, but she hadn’t seen how Rachel had matured since coming to New York. His friend had a better understanding of her own flaws and Rachel was constantly striving to prove to Kurt that she could be the kind of friend that she wanted to be. He hoped that in time others might see that shift.

“I’ve run into your father a few times, when he’s in town,” Sue confessed. “I always liked Burt. He’s always talking about how well you’re doing, which is the best ‘screw you’ to everyone in this town that looked down on you. He mentioned that you were in some plays this past summer. I would have liked to have seen that.”

“I’m sorry,” Kurt answered softly, surprised at her statement. “I didn’t even think…”

“It’s okay. I’ll forgive the lapse this one time,” Sue assured him, a touch of teasing in her voice. “I checked out some videos on line and your dad gave me a program for the Cheerio display at McKinley. You’re definitely turning out to be one of our prouder legacies.”

Kurt wouldn’t put it past Sue to wanting to brag about him, setting up the constant reminder that someone who she had personally chosen had been mocked and put down so harshly was now succeeding. It didn’t matter that he’d only been on the squad for a few months. In Sue Sylvester’s eyes, no one ever stopped being a Cheerio once they donned the uniform.

“And next time you’re in a show, I expect that you will tell me and have a ticket for me,” she said warningly, a familiar spark that bordered on madness in her eyes. “Because if you don’t, I will personally carve out your right kidney with a grapefruit spoon and sell it on the black market to compensate my hurt feelings. Am I clear?”

He couldn’t help from laughing a bit. “Yes. I promise,” he assured her.

“Good, because I don’t think your boyfriend will be happy to be visiting you in the dialysis unit,” Sue warned playfully.

Kurt’s phone beeped for his attention and he quickly checked it in case it was something important. “Speak of the devil,” he pronounced at seeing that it was a message from Adam.

Sue smiled, amused at the way Kurt’s expression brightened at just receiving a text from his lover. It gratified her that her protégé had found someone worthy of him. “What does he have to say?” she asked, chuckling to herself at the starry-eyed look on Kurt’s face.

Kurt opened up the message and immediately started to laugh. He pressed his hand over his mouth to keep from disturbing the entire café. Adam had texted a photo of him and Nialls at what looked like Boston Commons, both of them with their hands raised in surrender because a man dressed in a colonial military uniform was guarding them at musket point. Adam had added a quick caption, Bad day to be a Brit in Boston.

Kurt handed Sue his phone and watched as she chuckled at Adam’s silly antics, but not in a way that felt like his boyfriend was being mocked.

“I’m glad that you found someone more on your level,” she insisted, handing him back his phone. “He looks like he can keep up with you.”

Kurt nodded. “I’m very happy with him,” he stated confidently.

“Good. I’m glad about that. Otherwise I’d have to take steps,” Sue warned with apparent seriousness. “I have friends in several government agencies that could have him shipped back to England before he could finish his tea.”

“Well, as much as I appreciate the gesture, that won’t be necessary,” Kurt chuckled. “He treats me like absolute royalty and besides… he can’t be deported.”

“Oh?” Sue questioned, one thin eyebrow rising in query.

Kurt couldn’t help from grinning, knowing that he was going to be surprising her. “He’s got dual citizenship,” he boasted, popping the last bit of gingerbread into his mouth.

Sue cocked her head, the surprise apparent in her expression. “Does he now? Well… that does raise my opinion of him a bit.”

“He’s not Blaine,” he assured his former coach. “Not by the furthest stretch of the imagination.”

She nodded evenly, her eyes softening. “That’s good, because if I had any inclination that he was anything at all like that weaselly Muppet that you foolishly allowed yourself to become enamored with, I’d have to arrange for your immediate kidnapping and deprogramming. I know people at Langley that excel in such matters, but I suppose that would put a crimp in your Broadway career aspirations,” she mused.

Kurt laughed at her outlandish threat, accepting that at least the sentiment was sincere. “I think that it would, so I’ll avoid doing anything to warrant such drastic actions,” he promised.

Sue laughed riotously and got a few stares turned in her direction, but she clearly didn’t care about anyone looking. She gazed at him adoringly, reaching out to touch his cheek. “Oh, I’ve missed you. You, Lopez and Fabray… you were my special ones. I saw a lot of me in all of you.”

Kurt smiled, smart enough to recognize what an honor that actually was in Sue’s estimation.

“So make sure that you enjoy your visit here,” she advised. “Take a look around and see how far you’ve come. Because as time goes by, you’re only going to push further away from this place.”

Kurt felt himself nodding, having had very much the same thoughts since he arrived in Lima. He’d long ago made the decision not to let Lima become a trap for him. There was so much waiting for him in New York. Hard work, to be sure, and undoubtedly disappointments with no promise of success. But it was what he hungered for.

He knew that in a few days, he’d be returning to New York. Classes would be starting at the end of the month and he would be moving towards the future he wanted. He looked to his former coach, deeply grateful for all that she had given him.

“I have to thank you,” he said sincerely. “I don’t know if I would have made it out of here if it weren’t for the help you gave me over the years. Or if I’d be able to survive NYADA if I hadn’t experienced learning with you. Surviving you gave me the kind of tough skin I needed.”

Sue chuckled ironically, a touch of color reaching her cheeks. She seemed touched by his statement and a bit at a loss for words. He doubted that too many people thanked her for the insults and teasing, but he recognized how it was helping him now.

“I’d better get going,” he said reluctantly. “I promised my dad that I’d be home for dinner tonight.”

Sue just smiled. “Go on,” she urged. “And say ‘hi’ to Burt for me.”

Kurt nodded and gathered up his trash. Impulsively he bent to quickly kiss Sue on her cheek. “Thank you for everything,” he said again. “I’ll let you know about my next shows.”

It took Sue a moment to recover her wits, but she reached for her wallet and pulled out a business card. “Here’s my personal information,” she said, a suspicious hoarseness in her voice as she tried to maintain her customary air of detachment. “If you need my help… or just to brag about what you’re doing so I can rub it in Schuster’s face.”

Kurt snickered, knowing too well that she would do just that given half a chance.

* * *

“Are you kidding?” Finn asked, astonished at what his stepbrother was telling him. “Sue Sylvester?”

Kurt nodded, laughing out loud. “Finn, I’m telling you that beneath that diamond-hard exterior beats a heart that is pure marshmallow.”

“For you maybe,” Finn said cautiously. “She threatened to rip my spleen out when she thought I’d knocked up Quinn and I didn’t even know what my spleen was at the time.”

“Oh, she’s not that bad,” Kurt insisted, only to be cut off by Finn’s laughter.

“To you! You were one of her favorites,” Finn pointed out. “She would have happily murdered anyone else.”

Kurt leaned back and looked at his brother’s laughing expression on his computer monitor. “Oh, I miss you so much,” he sighed fondly. Finn had always been able to get Kurt to smile. “How are things going down there? The job working out?”

Finn nodded enthusiastically. “It’s been great. You would love it here,” he insisted.

Austin certainly seemed to be agreeing with Finn. He looked tanned and fit and really happy with things. Happier than Kurt could remember him being in quite some time. He seemed to have made some progress on finding his own path, which gratified Kurt tremendously. He’d hated how Finn had felt so lost, but he appeared to be much more secure with himself now.

“And the new apartment is okay?” Kurt asked, glad that his brother had managed to find better accommodations. The one room that he and Puck had managed to find when they first arrived in Austin was neither comfortable nor safe, and Kurt was relieved when they quickly moved out.

“It’s fine,” Finn assured him. “And work has been really great. Our boss has been teaching us a lot and we’ve been going out on a lot of jobs with him. There’s this mansion that we’ve been working on that’s really amazing. Robb, our boss, said that we’re doing so well that he’s giving us a raise and wants us to stay on for good.”

Finn paused, looking a bit contemplative. “You know, I didn’t expect things to turn out this way but I think that it’s really working out well for us. Robb said that we can really do well as craftsmen and I like the work,” he assured Kurt. “He said that if you find something that you’re good at and you like it, you can really be successful if you work hard. And I think I can really see myself this.”

“That’s great, Finn,” Kurt praised happily, delighted that Finn finally seemed to be finding a pathway for himself. “Austin really seems to suit you.”

Finn nodded. “We really like it here. I mean, the people are great and it’s fun and there’s all kinds of stuff to do. Puck and I are looking to put a band together,” he confided. “There are so many clubs down here and the music scene is amazing. We think we might be able to get something going. Just for fun. And we seem to have found another guitarist so we’re off to a good start.”

“I’m so glad, Finn. That sounds amazing!” Kurt said sincerely. He could understand how the two of them might miss music and even if the band turned out to be nothing more than a hobby, it would be good for the both of them.

Finn chuckled to himself. “It’s kind of cool because he moved in with Puck and me. We can share expenses and jam whenever we want,” he explained. “And Robb gave him a job so we can afford to stay here.”

Finn cocked his head. “You want to meet him?” Before Kurt could answer, Finn turned his head and called out, “Hey! I’ve got Kurt on Skype!”

There was a bit of jostling on Finn’s end as the computer image shook and Puck’s face came into view. “Hey, little dude!” he greeted happily. “Good to see you!”

“Hi, Puck!” Kurt couldn’t help from grinning at the sight of his old friend. Like Finn, Puck was looking healthy, tan and happy. Getting out of Lima has definitely been to both of their benefits.

The image on Finn’s end jostled again as the boys shifted so that a third man could squeeze in. Kurt felt his jaw drop in shock at seeing a familiar blond head come into view.

“Sam? Is that you?” he gasped.

Sam’s familiar wide smile came into focus. “Hi Kurt,” he greeted happily. “Bet you’re surprised.”

Kurt nodded, his eyes wide with shock. “You could say that,” he admitted. “How did this happen?”

Sam cocked his head towards the other boys, who sat behind him laughing at Kurt’s reaction. “Well, I’ve been keeping in touch with these bozos and they called me up one day that their boss was looking for more workers and if I was interested in a change of scenery. So, I flew down to Texas last week and the rest is history.”

Finn leaned forward, throwing an arm around Sam’s broad’s shoulders. “It’s really cool,” he told his stepbrother happily. “It’s kind of like us having our own New Directions offshoot down here. All we need is a bassist and we’ll have a proper band.”

Kurt looked at their smiling faces and felt a sense of relief for them. “That’s great,” he stated. “I’m so glad that it’s working out for the three of you.”

Puck gave Finn a playful nudge. “And tell him about Jane,” he urged.

That sparked Kurt’s curiosity. “Jane? Who’s Jane.”

Finn began to blush so deeply that Kurt could see it over his computer, and that got some teasing laughter from the other boys. “I… I kind of started seeing someone,” he confided shyly.

Kurt’s smile widened. “Oh? Tell me more…,” he urged.

“She’s a student over at the university, studying to be a social worker,” he explained. “I met her at this bar where she works as a waitress and we started talking. You’d like her…. She’s really cute and smart and…” His voice trailed off and he started blushing again.

Kurt remembered how moony he’d been when he first met Adam and fully understood what Finn was feeling. “She’s sounds nice,” he agreed. This was the first girl that Finn seemed to be really interested in since his break up with Rachel and Kurt grasped just how big a deal it was for him. It was the last step in Finn moving on.

His phone began to ring for his attention and Kurt quickly checked to see who it was. “Oh, I’ve got Adam trying to call me,” he explained. “Gotta go.”

Finn nodded understandingly. “Okay… say hi to him for us,” he urged.

“I’ll talk to you guys soon,” Kurt promised. “Sam, you keep those two out of trouble!”

“I will,” Sam assured him. “Talk to you soon.”

“Bye Kurt!” Puck chimed in before Finn ended the connection.

Kurt shook his head in amusement at their antics before answering his phone. “Hi sweetie!” he greeted happily, putting his laptop aside.

“Hello darling,” Adam answered and Kurt could all but hear the smile in his voice. “Oh, I miss you!”

“It’s only been two days,” Kurt reminded him, though he wasn’t going to protest as he missed Adam just as much.

“I know,” Adam acquiesced. “But I still miss you.”

Kurt felt his eyes start to water from the emotions that he’d been pushing down all day. “I miss you too,” he confessed. “But you look like you’re having fun.”

Adam laughed a bit. “We had most of the day to ourselves so we did a bit of sightseeing about the city,” he explained. “We visited the Freedom Trail and Independence Hall… I’ll tell you, love, that there seems to be a bit of anti-British bias in all this.”

Kurt chuckled in amusement at the playfully hurt tone in his lover’s voice. “Imagine that,” he teased.

Adam sighed a bit dramatically. “Well, I suppose that’s to be expected,” he granted. “Admittedly this part of history gets a bit glossed over in school across the pond.”

“I assume that it would be,” Kurt laughed. “So, tell me everything. What do they have planned for all of you?”

He could hear Adam settling down more comfortably on the other end. “The hotel is quite nice and I’m rooming with Nialls. Apparently, the others decided that us ‘old marrieds’ should bunk together, but that’s fine. He and I get along well enough. Oh, and we saw the theater this morning and it’s huge! I’ve never performed in a venue this large before.”

“That’s so exciting,” Kurt said happily. “That sounds like it’s going to be amazing. Now what kind of schedule do they have for you?”

“Tomorrow we have a cast and crew meeting that’s probably going to take up a lot of the day,” Adam explained. “And in the afternoon, there’s a meet and greet with the local press so you’ll probably see some things in the next few days before our opening.

“Then we go right into tech and our final dress rehearsals before our opening night,” Adam sighed. “The producers have already warned that most of our run in Boston is selling out. It’s a bit intimidating.”

Kurt wished that he could reach through the phone and wrap his arms about the older man. It broke his heart that Adam was facing such a huge step in his career and that he wasn’t there to support him in person. He knew that Adam was capable of meeting this challenge and that he would be wildly successful, but he wanted to be at his lover’s side to encourage him.

“You have no idea how proud I am of you,” Kurt insisted. “You are going to be so amazing and everyone is going to see what I see in you. You deserve this so much.”

Adam didn’t answer for moment and Kurt thought that he could hear the older man sniffling. “Thank you, darling. But I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for you,” he insisted. “You’ve been so generous in encouraging me, even when it caused difficulty for you. I owe you so much…”

“Hush,” Kurt admonished gently, feeling his heart swell for this wonderful, gentle man. Adam had been so giving and supportive since the two of them first met that he couldn’t imagine not making the same effort for his lover’s benefit. “I’m fine and the next few months are going to go by so quickly for the both of us. Before we know it, your tour will be done and you’ll be back in New York with me.

“And you’ll be the big star that everyone will the clamoring to hire for their shows,” Kurt claimed. “It’ll be worth all the hard work in the end.”

“I hope so,” Adam sighed.

“It will be,” Kurt insisted gently, sensing that Adam needed a bit of metaphysical hand-holding.

He heard Adam huff a bit, as if trying to regain his composure. “Tell me what you’ve been doing, love,” he urged. “How are Burt and Carole?”

Kurt could see a deflection from a mile away but decided that it wasn’t worth pointing out. Adam was going to have to deal with his worries on his own for now. He didn’t want to start an argument right at the start of Adam’s trip.

They chatted quietly about the kind of small, unimportant things that they always discussed when together. Kurt listened to Adam’s amusing stories about the cast and updated him on his family’s antics. They laughed as they shared their stories, both of them wishing that they could be with their partner.

Kurt lay down on his bed and stretched out, cradling his phone against his cheek so he could hear Adam’s voice clearly. He closed his eyes as he listened to Adam regaling him to stories about a group of British expats on the wrong side of American patriotic exhibitions and feeling a bit on display to the other tourists.

“It was so absurd darling, but I thought that this flock of schoolchildren were actually going to demand that we personally apologize for the starting the war,” Adam laughed. “One little boy was eying me very angrily. I thought he was going to start kicking me.”

“You poor thing,” Kurt chuckled teasingly.

“Their teacher was most apologetic,” Adam reassured him. “She reminded her class that none of us had been born at the time and that we shouldn’t be held responsible for what Old King George did.

“Oh… and maybe you can clear up something for me,” he requested. “That bell… why didn’t anyone ever fix the crack? Because it’s looks so odd!”

Kurt just smiled, listening to Adam chatter about the things he’d seen and was content to let his boyfriend tell his stories. He kept his eyes closed so he could imagine that Adam was in the room with him and not several states away. And maybe if he waited long enough, he would feel Adam’s hand reaching out to touch his.

* * *

“See anything interesting?” Kurt asked as he thumbed through the racks of sheet music.

Tina shook her head. “Not really. I just don’t know what my teachers are going to be asking me to do,” she sighed.

The past few days of his vacation had gone quietly for Kurt as he’d settled into something of a routine. He would wake up early, have a cup of coffee and then go out for a quick run. He stopped by the garage a few times to help out, glad to have a chance to see the guys for a bit before he returned to New York and keep his mechanic skills up to snuff. He spent time with his father and preparing meals with Carole. He did some studying for school, rested a bit and talked with Adam every moment that Adam could steal away from his work.

To be honest, he was very much looking forward to getting back to school and what passed for normal in his life at this point. Being at loose ends was wearing on him and he wasn’t very good at coping with not having a hundred things to do at a time. He just wasn’t’ made for inactivity

He had been lazing in front of the television while his father and Carole were out for the day, feeling his brain cells dying one by one from too many hours of appalling stupid daytime television shows. Not sure if he could stand another moment of watching pathetic dramas about paternity claims, he was nearly delirious with gratitude when Tina had called to ask if he could join her at Between The Sheets to help choose some material for the upcoming semester.

Kurt looked at the stack that she’d picked, seeing that she had chosen an assortment of classic and contemporary musicals. “I think you’re off to a good start,” he consoled. “You’ve got a little of everything. Some of these are just perfect to showcase your voice.” And to push her a little out of her comfort zone, he added mentally.

She looked at the books and shrugged. “I guess,” she conceded. “I just wish that I knew myself as a performer a bit more. Rachel never had that problem.”

“That is not true,” he corrected. “Rachel thought that she did and learned the hard way that trying to copy he favorite performers wasn’t going to get her the career she wants. She’s trying to find herself just as much the rest of us are so don’t feel like you’re at a disadvantage. That’s what going to school is supposed to be about. Don’t be afraid to try new things.”

Tina looked over her selections, making sure that the music she had selected was in the key for her voice. “Did you find anything for yourself?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t need any classic musicals and they don’t have too much contemporary for my range,” he admitted. There was a decided lack of anything written specifically for a countertenor’s range, so he was concentrating on traditional tenor material. “I’m going to check out some other stuff.”

While Tina continued her search in the musical theater section, Kurt moved to where the books for other musical genres were kept. Working with the Apples had expanded his comfort zone and he wanted to utilize that more unorthodox material in his voice work in class to help him stand out from the other students. He pulled out a book of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas that looked promising and began to thumb through it. He’d like to be able to surprise his voice teachers with some unorthodox material.

“Kurt?”

He felt himself freeze at the tentative greeting, his shoulders instinctively stiffening. Taking a breath to maintain his calm, Kurt turned to find his ex-boyfriend standing too close for his comfort.

“Blaine,” he said with cool indifference, pleased that he was able to keep any anger out of his voice.

The shorter man gave Kurt a tentative smile. “Hi. I wasn’t sure if I would see you while I was in town,” he said carefully. “I’m home on winter break.”

Kurt nodded. “Dad’s home on winter recess from Congress so I thought I’d spend a little time with him before classes start.”

“That’s nice,” Blaine responded, still clearly trying to gage Kurt’s reactions.

Kurt looked Blaine over, seeing that his olive complexion was darker from the California sun and that he still had the tendency to dress like a color-blind geriatric. And he felt…. He was surprised that he felt nothing. No real anger or frustration or lingering affection. Just a bit of annoyance at being bothered when he had things to do.

It was as if he was looking at a stranger that he had no past or present contact with.

“Is… is your boyfriend with you?” Blaine asked carefully, obviously putting out feelers over Kurt’s current relationship status.

Kurt snorted, not surprised that Blaine either couldn’t be bothered to remember Adam’s name or couldn’t bring himself to actually use it.

“No, Adam is out of town right now on a job. He got cast in a play that’s doing a national tour,” he proclaimed proudly. “And yes, he and I are still together. Just in case you were wondering.”

“No! I mean…. That wasn’t…,” Blaine stammered, clearly caught off guard by Kurt’s blunt assessment of his motives. His cheeks began to burn red. “I just saw you and stopped to say hi. Nothing more, I swear.”

Kurt shrugged, honestly not caring what Blaine’s motives were. “Sam said that you’re going to school in California,” Kurt said indifferently, as if he was making polite party conversation. He eyed Blaine’s gelled helmet of a hairstyle and wondered what the hell he’d ever seen in his former boyfriend.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tina notice the unwanted intrusion on Kurt’s personal space and gave him a silent signal to see if he wanted her to step in. He shook his head, letting her know to keep her distance, aware that she didn’t want to be around Blaine any more than he did but he was grateful to see that she was ready to step in if needed.

Blaine seemed to brighten a bit at Kurt’s vague knowledge about his current activities, apparently mistaking neutral awareness for genuine interest. He still clearly lacked anything in the way of self-awareness, not realizing that the only real emotion Kurt felt was relief that Blaine was on the opposite side of the country and that he could avoid most of Blaine’s drama.

“Yeah, I’m living with Cooper while I go to UCLA,” he explained, displaying his usual pleasure in discussing anything revolving about himself. “It’s really amazing out there. I’m doing well there in my acting classes and am already being considered for television roles. I met an agent at one of Cooper’s parties and she’s convinced that she can get me a lead role.”

Somehow, Kurt doubted that, though he kept his opinion to himself. The boasting reminded him far too much of the way Rachel used to brag about her questionable achievements in a way to puff herself up when she wanted to impress others. And whether or not it was true, no longer mattered to him.

Kurt was surprised at the lack of anger and resentment he felt towards Blaine. He hadn’t forgotten what Blaine had done, but he realized that he had truly moved on. Blaine and his actions was no longer a factor in his life. The only emotion he felt was gladness that Blaine wasn’t in his life.

He felt himself nodding absently, offering the barest of compliments for whatever fortune Blaine was finding for himself without any emotional investment, good or bad. He didn’t wish any misfortune on Blaine, but he was thankful that that their lives were on completely separate tracks and would likely not be intersecting in anything other than the most superficial way ever again.

“Kurt, listen… It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. Why don’t we go grab a cup of coffee? My treat,” Blaine offered, a bit desperately in Kurt’s opinion. “We can talk… catch up a little…”

Kurt just shook his head. “No thanks. I’ve got to get going,” Kurt pronounced, a trace of firmness in his voice that warned Blaine not to try to argue him into lingering.

“Oh, come on Kurt,” Blaine whined. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, and…”

“I said no, Blaine,” Kurt said again, making the refusal as clear as possible since Blaine was determined to be obtuse. “Tina’s waiting for me, but good luck in L.A.”

Blaine’s expression fell at the realization that Kurt was so totally closed off to him. He could only nod in defeat and mutter, “It was good to see you, Kurt. I’ve missed you.”

Kurt didn’t say anything more, only gathering up his purchases to join Tina over by the cash register. She looked over to him with gentle concern while the cashier bagged up her purchases. “You okay?” she asked. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to cut in, but you seemed to be handling him.”

Kurt smiled brightly, openly displaying the emotions that he refused to with Blaine. “Oh, definitely,” he assured her. “Let me just pay for my stuff and we can go grab lunch. There’s a burger joint that opened up that the guys in the garage said is really amazing.”

“Sounds good,” she chirped, accepting the shopping bag with her music.

Neither of the bothered to look behind them to see Blaine’s longing stare, the final realization of just how much he’d lost evident on his face.

* * *

The moment Kurt and Tina walked into Brew & Que, Kurt knew that his father’s employees had it right. The smells coming out of the restaurant kitchen were amazing and Kurt found himself liking the casual atmosphere. The restaurant had been designed to look like a roadhouse, but it was clean and the staff appeared to be friendly.

Tina picked up the menu and looked it over. “Well, there goes my diet,” she laughed when she looked at all the choices. “This all looks so good.”

“You don’t need to diet,” Kurt assured her honestly as he looked over the options. He could see why the guys at the garage liked this place so much, as the overwhelming majority of the menu was meat-based and there didn’t seem to be a low-calorie option in sight. Well, there was a salad but given how woefully out of place it looked on the menu, Kurt decided that it probably wasn’t the best offering.

Once they gave the smiling waitress their orders, Tina settled back in her seat. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked. “I know that Blaine can be a pill and he didn’t look like he wanted to take ‘fuck off’ for an answer.”

Kurt couldn’t help from laughing at his friend’s words. He was so glad that they had reconciled and that he had given her the chance to regain his trust. “I’m starting to think that I’m never going to totally shake him,” he sighed dramatically. “I could be celebrating my ten-year anniversary and I’ll have him showing up, trying to serenade me with Katy Perry. I really wish that he’d meet someone else so he’ll forget about me.”

Tina smiled gently. “You are kind of unforgettable,” she advised. “And I know what it’s like to be hung up on an ex longer than is healthy.”

Kurt’s gaze softened. He hadn’t been around when Tina was dealing with the aftermath of her breakup with Mike, but he had been on the receiving end of some of her poor behavior. He was glad that she woke up and recognized what she’d been doing and only hurting herself before it was too late.

“So, tell me more about your classes,” he urged, changing the conversation to something more pleasant. He didn’t want to discuss Blaine any further.

He let Tina ramble on about her teachers and classmates while they waited for their lunch, giving her his full attention. On some things, NYU didn’t seem all that different than NYADA. Demanding teachers, challenging classes and competitive classmates. Tina was faced with the same challenges that he and Rachel faced; figuring out how to stand out in a school filled with talented students while developing her own unique gifts as a performer.

“Are you taking any dance classes this year?” Kurt asked, sipping at his iced tea. “You should do well in that.”

She nodded. “Dance, voice and acting,” she confirmed. “I’m going to have a pretty full schedule.”

“How are your teachers?”

Tina couldn’t help wincing. “Tough,” she sighed.

“That’s good,” he assured her. “I know that it doesn’t feel like it at times, but the tougher they are, the better a performer you’re going to become. The key is to learn to take criticism and use it to grow. Not let it demoralize you.

“You know, you can always talk to Elliot if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed,” he reminded her. “He’s still at NYU, and I’m sure he’d be glad to help.”

Tina smiled gratefully. “Thanks,” she said sincerely. “There are times when I envy you and Rachel being able to support one another at school. I feel kind of on my own.”

“Well, you’re not,” Kurt promised. “Just because I’m at NYADA doesn’t mean that I can’t be there if you need me. NYU isn’t that far away.”

Tina couldn’t resist reaching out to grasp his hand in gratitude. “Thank you, Kurt,” she said earnestly. “I’m so glad that we’re still friends. Especially after how I treated you. I was such a jerk, and…”

“Shush. It’s fine,” Kurt insisted gently. “We went through a rough patch, but we’re good now.”

And they were. Kurt recognized what a dark place Tina had been in and that Blaine had taken advantage of her vulnerability, playing with her feelings in order to make himself feel better about his lot in life. Holding a grudge would not do either one of them any good. And it would give Blaine a win by letting him destroy a friendship that Kurt had cherished. He was sure that Blaine must have been annoyed to see Tina with him and not willing to give him even a word of greeting.

He probably should feel a trace of sympathy for his ex. After all, he was the one exiled to the other end of the country with none of his old friends to support him, but Kurt didn’t have quite that much nobility in him. There was just enough vindictive pettiness within him to take a rare bit of pleasure in Blaine’s misfortune.

“Kurt Hummel! Is that you?”

Kurt looked up in surprise at the familiar voice calling his name and grinned when he saw Dave Karofsky approaching their table with a huge grin on his face.

“Oh my God,” Kurt exclaimed happily, letting the bigger man sweep him up into a hug. “How long has it been?”

“Too long,” Dave admitted, letting Kurt find his feet again. He looked Kurt over from head to toe. “Wow…. You look fantastic.”

“Thanks! So do you.” And Dave did look good, in Kurt’s opinion. He was still a big, brawny young man but he was solid muscle underneath his snug fitting shirt. But what made him good looking was the brightness of his brown eyes and the open smile that contained none of the anger that had so marked him back in high school.

“You remember Tina, right?” Kurt asked, motioning to his table-mate.

Dave nodded animatedly, offering her a warm smile. “It’s good to see you,” he greeted sincerely.

“So how are things at OSU?” Kurt asked curiously.

“Good… good,” Dave confirmed. “It’s been great there.”

“You still majoring in sports business?”

Before Dave could answer, a tall young man approached him with a warm smile. “Hey, I paid the check. Are you ready to go?”

Dave’s eyes softened at the other man’s approach. “Hey, come here… I’ve got someone I want you to meet. Taylor, this is Kurt… from my high school.”

He looked to Kurt, with a gentle smile on his face. “This is Taylor. My boyfriend.”

Kurt’s eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly remembered his manners and moved to shake the other man’s hand in greeting. “Hi! This is… wow… It is so good to meet you.”

Dave’s boyfriend was a good looking young man with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to glimmer with spirit. He appeared to be about Kurt’s and Dave’s age and was dressed neatly in a pair of dark wash jeans and a soft knit sweater that clung to surprisingly broad shoulders.

And it didn’t miss Kurt’s attention that Taylor bore more than a fleeting resemblance to himself, and he turned a teasing arched eyebrow to the larger man. Dave just gave a small shrug, as if to say, “Hey, I’ve got a type.”

Taylor seemed just as surprised at the unexpected introduction. “So, you’re the Kurt he’s always talking about,” he laughed. “Dave was always going on about you and how I reminded him of you a bit so I feel like I probably already know you.”

Kurt felt his cheeks warm. He probably shouldn’t be too surprised that Dave apparently still regarded him so strongly.

Dave placed his arm about Taylor’s shoulders and pulled him close. “Taylor’s also a student at OSU. We met when he came to see a rugby game that I was playing in.”

The other boy laughed brightly. “I was actually there to cheer on my cousin when I saw Dave. He was totally adorable pushing around the other guys and totally kicking butt.”

Dave blushed at his boyfriend’s compliments and Kurt noticed the way the slimmer man leaned in to nuzzle teasingly under Dave’s jaw. To see Dave so easily accepting physical affection warmed Kurt’s heart because he knew just how fearful Dave had been when he was younger. It was gratifying to see just how far Dave had come. And if he had any worries that Dave’s attraction to Taylor was because of any resemblance to Kurt, the genuine affection between the two of them put his mind at least. Dave clearly liked his boyfriend for himself and not any lingering torch he might have carried.

“You’re home visiting your folks?” Kurt asked. Dave looked so happy and he hoped that everything was well with his family.

“Yup,” the larger man confirmed. “I wanted them to meet Taylor since we’ve been together for a while. Dad’s just happy that I’m happy, and Mom… she’s learning to deal.”

Kurt nodded sympathetically, knowing that Mrs. Karofsky was still learning to accept that her son was gay. Still, it sounded like she was trying, which was a lot better than the outright rejection Dave had experienced when he was first outed.

“We’re going up to Dayton to spend a few days with Taylor’s family before we head back to school,” Dave explained. “This is kind of the ‘meet the mutual folks’ tour.”

“And they’re gonna love you,” Taylor insisted.

“So, what are you doing in Lima?” Dave asked. “I would think you’d have to be pried out of New York with a crowbar.”

He turned to his boyfriend and explained, “This guy is at the best singer you ever heard. He got into this super-elite theater school. It’s like the best in the country.”

Tina couldn’t help from laughing at Dave’s effusive praise of her friend. “Careful Kurofsky, or you’re going to make your boyfriend jealous,” she teased.

“You’re mine, big guy,” Taylor reminded his boyfriend possessively. “And I don’t share, so don’t forget it.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to do that,” Dave agreed, giving Taylor an affectionate glance. “We already saw what happens if he thinks that someone is poaching.”

Kurt found himself liking Dave’s guy, if only for the fact that he seemed completely head over heels for his former classmate.

Dave gave Kurt a rueful grin. “We were at Scandals the other night and ran into your ex,” he admitted. “Taylor was in the bathroom and Blaine… Well, he started hitting on me.”

He paused, gaging Kurt’s reaction to that bit of news but Kurt just sighed.

“I’m not surprised, to be honest,” Kurt said evenly. “That’s a primary reason why he’s my ex. Was he drunk?”

Dave nodded. “He’d definitely been drinking. And he was really pushy. He kept going on about… well, about what happened back in high school and that I could do so much better.”

Kurt couldn’t help from wincing. After the way Blaine had behaved at the music store, he was left wondering if Blaine had any real feelings at all besides his own immediate gratification. Trying to use Dave’s old crush to entice him seemed to be just the kind of childish pettiness that was up Blaine’s alley. And trying to use Dave to get back at Kurt for rejecting him really ticked him off.

“Anyway, this one,” Dave continued, giving his boyfriend a playful nudge. “He comes out of the bathroom and…”

“I see this badly dressed, drunk creep all over my boyfriend and I told him that if he didn’t remove his hands from my man, then I was going to rip his arms off and beat him over his greasy head with them.”

Taylor laughed wickedly. “You never saw someone back pedal so fast in your life!”

“And he would have done it!” Dave insisted, giving Taylor and affectionate look. Having someone that looked like him being treated with such possessiveness was more than a little satisfying.

Looking at Taylor’s hands, Kurt had to agree with Dave’s assessment. They were surprisingly strong-looking, with unexpected calluses on the fingers and palms that hinted at a lot of hard physical activity. The young man’s forearms were corded with powerful muscle and sinew. Paired with those strong shoulders, there was a lot of upper body strength there. Taylor looked like he could probably lift Dave without too much effort.

Dave couldn’t resist leaning close to Kurt and whispering confidingly, “He’s on the gymnastics team.”

Kurt cocked an eyebrow. “Impressive.”

Dave nodded, looking very pleased with himself. “He’s super bendy.”

Kurt couldn’t help from laughing. He was genuinely happy for Dave, glad that he was finally in a good place and seemed really content with his life. That was all Kurt could have ever wanted for him.

“Are you still seeing that guy you met at school?” Dave asked curiously.

Kurt nodded and got out his phone. “Yup. Adam’s working on a national tour right now, but we’re still together.”

“They’re disgustingly in love,” Tina inserted, giving her friend an affectionate smile.

Kurt pulled up a photo of the two of them from Thanksgiving and showed it to Dave and Taylor.

“Oh, he’s gorgeous,” Taylor cooed admiringly. He looked to Kurt and nodded in approval. “Very nice.”

Kurt smiled proudly. “We know how to pick the good ones,” he informed Taylor, causing Dave to blush.

And Dave was a good guy to Kurt. He’d come so far from the fearful, bullying boy he’d been and was now a man who was confident and open about who and what he was. It was wonderful to see.

When the waitress returned with Kurt’s and Tina’s lunch, Dave stepped back. “It was great to see the both of you, but we’d better get going,” he said graciously. “I promised my dad that we’d spend the afternoon with him.”

Kurt nodded, turning to shake Taylor’s hand again. “It was really great meeting you,” he insisted sincerely. “Take good care of the big guy here.”

Taylor nodded. “I will. Good luck back in New York.”

Kurt smiled appreciatively, glad to see that Dave had found himself a really good guy. He turned to give Dave a hug. “Take care of yourself,” he urged. “And let’s make sure that we keep in touch more.”

“You got it,” Dave confirmed. He glanced over to Tina and gave her a friendly wave. “It was nice to see you, Tina.”

She smiled back. “You too!”

Once the two men left, Dave’s arm casually thrown around the other man’s shoulders to keep him close, Kurt and Tina sat down to enjoy their lunch. Tina picked up a french fry and popped it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

“It’s funny,” she mused. “Some people change so much and others… they don’t really change at all. Do they?”

Kurt knew that Tina was talking about Blaine and sad realization that the behaviors he’d been displaying of late were his true colors showing through. And that he probably had been showing for a very long time. And that it hurt to have loved and trusted someone who clearly had been so unworthy of that consideration.

And he wasn’t the same person that he’d been when he first left Lima. He was discovering strengths and desires that he’d barely begun to tap. He could see the boy he’d been when his father first put him on a plane for New York and the man who had returned for a brief visit.

All they could do was take what they had learned from the experience and move on. Kurt took a bite from his burger and took a moment to savor the taste, putting Blaine from his mind. He had so much to look forward to in life and it was something of relief that his old relationship no longer haunted him quite so strongly.

Blaine, like Lima itself, could hold him back only if he permitted them to. And he had long since made the decision that they wouldn’t.

He had dreams to follow and Blaine had long since ceased to be a part of them.

* * *

The last days of Kurt’s visit home were pleasant and easy ones. He allowed Carole to mother him, and spent quiet hours with her and his father to reconnect. He rested and prepared for his upcoming classes and rehearsals. He hung around with his friends who were in town. And he spoke with Adam every moment that his boyfriend could spare during his tech preparations.

Still, he would be lying if he tried to claim that he wasn’t glad to be returning to New York. Back where he really belonged.

He nearly went back to the apartment that he’d shared with Adam, only recognizing after he stepped onto the subway with his luggage in tow that he couldn’t go back there again. A change of trains brought him to NYADA, which would now be his base of operations in all things

His room in the dorms was stark and bare, the only amenities being the bed, dresser and desk that had clearly seen a lot of wear and tear since they were installed. The cinderblock wall behind his bed was painted a clean white, providing him with a blank canvas that he could transform into his own space. The boxes and bags containing his possessions sat on the floor, waiting to be unpacked.

Kurt sighed to himself, the realization of what the next few months would really entail finally hitting him. But there was no use in moping, not when he had things to do. Adam needed him to be strong enough to stand on his own two feet while the older man was away and the last thing that Kurt wanted to do was disappoint him. He needed to be able to do this for the both of them.

With quiet resolve, he took up the box cutter and opened up the first box. A framed photo of himself and Adam took a prominent spot on the desk where he would be able to see it from anywhere in the room. After that, the rest of things would fall into place.

#kadam fic #kurt hummel #adam crawford #rachel berry #santana lopez #tina cohen chang #artie abrams #burt hummel #carole hudson #finn hudson #sam evans #noah puckerman #dave kurofsky #blaine anderson #not blaine or klaine friendly #original characters

30 notes · View notes

ryderreturns · 5 years

Text

Snapped || Sanderley

Tagged: Santana Lopez, Ryder Lynn, Marley Rose

When: 3rd November, around 5:30pm

Where: Sciron Square 405

Why: Santana goes to find Ryder, only to discover the state he is in. Marley, looking for her missing friend, comes across the same thing.

What: Major Trigger warnings for Drugs, Mental Illness, Mental Breakdown, Hallucinations, mentions of Animal Harm, Guns, Death

Santana waits for Ryder to answer his phone. She checks her phone every second. Waiting for Ryder to answer. 4 minutes later which feel like torture, she decides to pay him a visit to his own room. She gets out of her room, and hates she has to check it in person because she has to pretend to act normal. She knocks at Ryder's door. "Ryder! It's me, your best friend Santana. Open the door!" C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, or I will have to open it myself.

Ryder sits in his room that is more than just a complete mess. Birds, squirrels, raccoons, and rats move about freely. There's one in his hair. The only thing he keeps them away from is his mini fridge, which is running dangerously low. He looks up at the sound of knocking and calling. "That's Santana, my dude," he tells the room, repeating it in a set of different animal languages until everybody understands. He stands up and walks over to the door, not taking the common Starling from his head. As he opens it, he reveals the state of himself. His whole body is trembling, his eyes are open just a little too wide, and the whole room smells like pot and animals. "Hey, what's up?"

Santana covered her nose at the smell of dirty animals and pot, the worst combination of smells. 'You can't be like this, Ryder. You're supposed to help me,' she thought, desperate. "What the hell, Ryder?" she said, trying to sound more worried than desperate. "What's going on?"

Ryder stepped back into his room, going over to sit on his bed. "We're just hanging out. Lola," he said, pointing out a raccoon, "Was telling us about this mean guy she ran into while trash diving for food."

Santana fucking hate dirty raccoons. She hated this room full of dirty animals and was the last thing she wanted to see right now. But Ryder was the first thing she wanted to see right now. "Ryder. Ryder." She put her hands on her face, trying not to scream. Who cares about a fucking raccoon life. God, this is the fucking worse. She breathes, calming herself. "I didn't ask about the raccoon. What's going on with YOU? Why are you doing this? Something's obviously wrong," she says. "C'mon, Ryder, I'm your friend, please, just tell me."

Ryder doesn't lose his spaced out half-smile. "I'm just chilling," he shrugs. "Everything's good here, my dude." He looks around his room, vaguely aware he was missing something, but not sure what. Not his necklace, he has his necklace. So what? "San, do you smoke? I've got more," he offers, turning to root around in his nightstand for another joint. "Or I've got harder stuff. Trust me, it's good. Just makes it all go away." He gets distracted and looks to a squirrel, answering back in its language, "No, she doesn't have any nuts. Don't try to check her."

Marley feels pulled in a million directions presently between the collars and her own personal shit, but Ryder's never not answered a text from her. And given that it's been a week and a half since the last full moon, no answer leaves her feeling uncomfortable. So when Olivia leaves for a class, she takes her opportunity and ducks out of her dorm to head down the hall to his room. She's assaulted by an overwhelming potpourri of scents though that leaves her stomach churning the remnants of her meager breakfast. "Aether in all hell, Ry, how much have you been smo-" Her vocal admonishing cuts short at the sight of Santana in the doorway. She raises a brow, then moves to join her, just about stumbling over her own feet upon seeing what she sees. Animals. So many animals. And a haze that almost makes her eyes water. She can feel a headache already beginning to form behind her eyes between that and the smell. "... Ryder, what the hell happened here?" she asks in disbelief.

Santana is not even going to enter that room. "Is not. Running away won't make your problems go away," she says, with determination. Oh, escapism. Classic. "No, thanks. I like smelling good." She sighs, trying to not scream. "It's not... it doesn't go away. Ryder. You have a problem, we fix it, together." If any animal touches her, she will kill them. No, fuck, I can't do that. "C'mon, Ryder. Tell me what's the real problem." She glares at Marley. Just great. A room full of animals and Marley, her favourite combination. "Someone doesn't want to face his problems," she summarizes.

Ryder: As Santana gets angrier, a few of the animals begin to scamper out through the window. Ryder jumps up to call for them out of his window. "Wait, come back!" He turns around and glares at Santana, noticing Marley had joined her. "Jesus Christ, do you know how long I've waited for them to be cool with me again? After every fucking full moon, I have to work back to this." The flip in his mood doesn't just get thrown at the women. He turns and starts telling the others to leave in chirps and squeaks and growls until his room is emptied out except for the three of them. "What do you want?" he throws at them.

Marley's positive she's never been on the receiving end of so much yelling on his part before. It only serves to make her mad. "I tried texting you and you didn't text me back," she answers, realizing a split second later how lame she sounds. Whatever. "You always text me back. And if you don't, clearly something's amiss." She steps inside, looks around at the various stains and scuffs and evidence of the sheer number of animals that have trafficked their way through his room as of recent, the downturn of her lips becoming more pronounced. "How long have you been holed up in here?"

Santana feels so damn uncomfortable about this. But she has to endure. "What if you didn't have to wait anymore?" she asks, with a little bit of 'I'm asking but I know the answers, Ryder Lynn'. If Marley wasn't here, she would tell him more.

Ryder gets a lightbulb over his head. His phone, that's what he was missing. He turns and chews on his thumbnail, seeing more to his room than there was. "King, get off the ceiling," he says. "Say hi to them." His brow furrows when he doesn't spot his phone. Santana's confusing question has him shaking his head. "Nope, no. He said that. There's no gun. I don't want to - I can't do that."

Marley's eyes float to the ceiling, though why, she couldn't begin to tell you. King wasn't there. He wasn't in the room at all, actually, now that she was looking around again. Her gaze turns back to Santana, brow furrowing as she asks, "What the hell is he going on about?" She turns back to Ryder and asks, "How much have you had? To smoke? To drink?" To, Aether only knew what else.

Santana was frustrated. God, the Old Bastard was so fucking right, you scream for help but everyone is just in their own shit. "This is useless. Who is he? What gun? You can't do what?" she asked, but didn't have much hopes for a decent answer. She doesn't look at Marley to answer her. "I don't know. Ugh, let's just take him to Avicenna before the barricade starts."

Ryder closes his eyes, his face twitching. "If I stay in here, they can't get me. If I stay in here, I can't get me," he mumbles, shaking his head. A laugh leaves him, almost sounding like a choke. "Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? Big... bad... wolf." He spins on his feet, eyes opening to look at Santana and Marley. "Don't let me die. I don't want to, not really, honest."

It's like being doused in ice water, hearing those words. Marley purses her lips against whatever expression threatens to break through as her eyes now flit to empty, broken bottles on the floor. Potion bottles. There's no telling what exactly he's done to himself and it's nothing either her nor Santana can readily fix. "Alright, let's get him out of here," she agrees.

Santana tries to make some sense of the words. "You can't get yourself?" She will ask him later, when he is acting normal. Big bad wolf, that's what you have been reduced to, Ryder. Just a werewolf. "I would never let you die." Lied Santana like she really believed she could stare at Death in the eyes and tell her she was her bitch. Santana entered to pick up Ryder to take him out with Marley.

Ryder nods at that, confident in Santana in the moment and believing her. He takes his water flask out of his pocket, clasping it in his right hand as one of his arm goes around Santana's shoulders and the other around Marley's. "I'm hungry," he muses. "Can we go get food together?"

In any other instance, Marley would've found a way to brush off this behavior with the offer of donuts and pizza and all manner of junk food, but seeing Ryder like such a mess has her scared. She shouldn't have let it drag on for this long without talking to him about the drinking and the using. Clearly it had been to the detriment of something. "We have to go see a friend first," she told him, steering them towards his door and out into the hall. It wasn't a lie. Nurse Penny might as well be part of their weird, dysfunctional friend/family group at this point. "Then we can get donuts."

#trickstersantana #littlefaerose #para: Santana #para: Marley #tw: drugs #tw: mental illness #cw: mental break #tw: animal abuse #cw: gun mention #cw: hallucinations #tw: death

2 notes · View notes

wheresmynaya · 4 years

Text

Cupcake Battles Ch.3 | Brittana

Also available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & below the cut!

Tensions are high as we return to the Cupcake Battles arena where the remaining two teams duke it out for the opportunity to win $10,000 and have their final cupcake display featured as the centerpiece at the Annual Cheerios Breakfast Benefit. Reinforcements have been called upon and are hard at work assisting the teams with the task of producing 1,000 cupcakes in order to fill their displays.

After such a close call in the second round, Brittany and Sugar have a new sense of determination as they work and keep their usual antics to somewhat of a minimal.

Keyword: somewhat.

“Ugh, this isn’t right!” Sugar grumbles out in frustration to a ball of fondant before her. The color is all wrong but even she can’t fix it, so what does she do with a wrecked ball of fondant?

What any other person would do, of course, throw it at her enemies!

“Ow!” Tina yelps as she is pelted square in the chest. She looks down to her counterspace and finds the misshapen, discolored ball of sugar. She scoffs at it and snaps up to find Sugar pumping her fist triumphantly.

“Bullseye!” Sugar cheers and the sound makes Brittany look up from the frosting she is working on to see what the fuss is about.

“What did you do?” She drawls out behind a smirk and follows Sugar’s gaze to find Tina rubbing her chest, “You didn’t…”

“I did,” Sugar says proudly and dusts off her shoulder, “Right in the tit!”

Brittany chuckles as she reaches over for a high five, “Nice one.”

Over by the judges’ panel, Sam’s face is covered in the remnants of Mercedes and Artie’s cupcakes from the previous round. Through the smeared frosting and cupcake crumbs, there is a content smile.

Santana, Kurt and Sue just stare at him with pure judgement.

“How is it all over his face?” Santana questions from the opposite end of the table, “With a mouth like that I’m sure he could’ve unlocked his jaw and swallow the thing whole.”

“Someone get this man a napkin!” Kurt beckons but Sam’s already reaching for his – very expensive – pocket square.

“It’s okay guys,” Sam waves off, “I got one!”

Kurt looks on in horror as Sam uses it to wipe his face, “Dear God, not Versace.”

“It was hideous,” Santana brushes off and finally looks away from the scene, “He’s doing us all a favor.”

Kurt looks as scandalized as ever, but his comments get lost as the camera is back on Sam. He wipes away the remaining evidence but completely misses the bits that have somehow gotten in his hair as he scrambles to make his announcement.

“You’re almost out of time, bakers!” Sam calls out to the teams, “Just 30 more minutes before your fates are decided.”

Santana eyes drift over to Brittany’s station again and she watches as Team Batter Up Cupcakes continues to work at a steady pace. She’s never really rooted for anyone in particular when it comes to these things, it kind of defeats the purpose of her job, but this battle has been different for her in many ways. Of all the contestants she has met through the show, she has never met someone like Brittany. She can’t put her finger on it, but there’s just something special and she finds herself wanting to know more.

How she gets so wrapped up like this in a matter of hours, she’ll never understand.

She’s still going to judge fairly and remain unbiased like always, she’s proven that thus far, but deep down she’s hoping and wishing that Brittany and Sugar come out of this on top.

She wants them to win.

She wants Brittany to win.

She wants to reward her for being so damn talented and for being the first girl in a long time to make her blush, but when the reward in her mind doesn’t exactly match up with the prize money or the benefit she thinks she might be in a little trouble here.

So maybe Kurt is right and maybe she has a little bit of a crush on the baker but honestly, who wouldn’t? The girl is damn near perfect in Santana’s eyes.

It doesn’t help that Kurt is on to her now though and makes a comment about Santana’s leering every two seconds. She’s close to smacking him upside his head, but she manages to control herself and ignore most of the things he says like:

“I’m all for happiness, Santana.”

“Love is Love, Santana.”

“Let her touch your other boob, Santana.”

“Will you just shut up already!” Santana finally snaps, “I’m so close to beating you with this chair.”

Kurt frowns but quiets down anyway.

Brittany inhales deeply, trying to settle her rattling nerves as she glances up at the clock for the twentieth time in the last five minutes. The round is really zooming by and they’re making great time, but the pressure is still there. She has seen what happens when you don’t finish on time so she doesn’t want to give Bland and Tacky over there any help.

They need to be on point!

With the help of the reinforcements, there is no doubt they’ll finish strong but she just hopes that the adjustments she and Sugar decided to make to their recipes will pass over well with the judges. They’re confident though in what they’ve changed, so they at least have that going for them. Just another thing they do so much better than the competition.

There’s also just a little part of Brittany that she keeps to herself that wants to make Santana proud.

The co-judge sees something in them, something that sometimes goes over everyone else’s heads. Where others have called Brittany and Sugar weird or random or strange, Santana sees talent and sheer genius. It’s like Brittany finally feels understood and it’s such a great feeling, but at the same time she doesn’t want to let Santana down. She doesn’t want that faith in her to be misplaced or wasted.

The next time Brittany checks the time, she finds Santana’s eyes are on her. There’s a soft smile playing at her pouty lips and there’s this glimmer in deep brown eyes as she watches Brittany pause for a moment.

Something inside Brittany swells and she fills with a warmth that only seems to happen when Santana looks at her like that. It’s like the brunette only has eyes for her which is saying something since she’s supposed to be judging everyone but Brittany isn’t exactly complaining.

When Santana gives her a subtle nod, Brittany feels like her heart bottoms out and the smile she didn’t realize she wore grows bigger. She tries to stay focused though and turns back to her work, but not before sending Santana a wink as she goes.

“How’d we do?” Their designated builder, Rory, asks as he and a couple others roll out the display Brittany and Sugar had designed earlier in the round.

It’s this massive set up with differentiating heights for shelving and pops of color that fit in with the Cheerios’ theme along with the backlights lining the underside of the shelving. It’s flashy but not too much that it distracts from the main focus which will be their cupcakes.

Brittany and Sugar are ecstatic as they moon over how great it looks; meanwhile, Blaine and Tina’s display is presented too.

“Oh wow, amazing job guys!” Blaine compliments as he takes in their masterpiece.

It’s basically a wooden table with one stand in the center that is carved out to look like a cheerleader with pom-poms. No color, not lights, no excitement.

It’s so underwhelming that even the builder looks a little uneasy about it.

“You sure we can’t do anything else?” Jake the Builder asks but Blaine just shakes his head.

“No, this is exactly what we envisioned. It’s so perfect!”

Tina nods as well, “We didn’t want to be too obnoxious with our display. The cupcakes are the real focus here.”

Brittany and Sugar can tell who that comment is meant for judging by the quick glare Tina gives them, but they fake a snore and abruptly wake up when Tina adds, “Unlike some people here.”

“Were you saying something?” Brittany calls out to them innocently, “Your display put us to sleep.”

“Yeah, I knocked out for a good five minutes!” Sugar agrees.

“You’re just jealous!” Blaine replies in a huff, “We don’t have to rely on – “

Sugar lets out another loud faux-snore and Brittany fakes looking shocked as she turns to her partner then back to Blaine and Tina, “Great! Look what you’ve done. You put her asleep again!”

Tina only rolls her eyes and turns back to Blaine, “They’re ridiculous.”

“Yeah, well…your display makes my eyes hurt!” Blaine yells over and his face is already tinting a shade of pink from frustration.

Brittany and Sugar just laugh as the other team continues to try and insult them although nothing the say seem to bother the girls. A bit of trash talk never really fazed them anyway.

With just ten seconds left, it’s a mad dash to finish off the final touches to the teams’ displays. For Brittany and Sugar, everything is perfectly in place and they stand back to admire their work with seconds to spare.

Blaine and Tina looked as stressed as ever rushing around, occasionally bumping into each other and their helpers. It’s utter chaos and completely hectic which is so unusual for them since thus far they have been really great with time management.

Brittany and Sugar just stay huddled together as they join Sam in counting down the final seconds as loud as they can. They – of course – don’t miss Blaine and Tina tossing them dirty looks as they go.

“5…4…3…2…1!” Sam calls out then his voice turns deeper, “Step away from your displays, it is time for Judgement Day!”

Blaine is wiping his brow while Tina looks like an anxious mess. They both have somewhat of a worried look on their faces as they eye their display.

Brittany takes such a weighty moment to poke fun at them and gestures over to the left side of their display, “You missed a huge gap right there!”

Blaine’s eyes widen and he rushes around to look although he knows he isn’t allowed to make any changes. When he finds that Brittany was just messing with him – yet again – he rolls his eyes tiredly.

“This is the last time we’re competing against you guys,” He says grumpily.

“Awh don’t be like that!” Brittany replies through a sweet smile, “This is like our ritual. You make boring things and kiss everyone’s ass – “

“Gross,” Sugar interjects.

“And we make fun of you and win!” Brittany shrugs, “It’s the best.”

Blaine opts to stay silent and Tina just shakes her head as Sam brings around the judges to get a better look at their finished products. This time their first stop is Team Baking Dreams Come True and Brittany and Sugar lose the playful banter while they await their turn.

She’s a tad bit weary after listening to Santana completely demolish Blaine and Tina’s display for being, “A perfect example of what not to do if you’re claiming something is rustic. It’s not even that. It’s not even minimalist. It’s just uninteresting but I’m not surprised.”

For Blaine and Tina, their cupcakes better blow the judges away or else that’s it for them!

Brittany and Sugar’s display isn’t boring, that’s for sure, but being too busy can be just as bad. Regardless, she and Sugar are proud of their work no matter what the judges have to say. They’re proud of themselves for making it to the final round and they’ve had a ton of fun.

“Okay esteemed judges,” Sam says as the group approaches the final team, “Last stop: Team Batter Up Cupcakes.”

“Hey judges!” Brittany greets happily. She has miraculously regained some composure after the whole Chocolate Boob incident and keeps a level head as the judges have a look at their display. She and Sugar are off to the side on stand-by while the judges walk around it but as Santana rounds the corner, her eyes catches Brittany’s.

Brittany then sees her stop and turn to her with the same familiar soft smile as before.

“You’ve got a little,” Santana says and gestures to her own nose but her voice is so low that Brittany doesn’t hear what she’s trying to say and leans in closer for a better listen.

“Sorry?” She asks confusedly.

“There’s just some – “ Santana pauses then takes the back of her hand to brush gently against the tip of Brittany’s nose.

Brittany doesn’t blink, doesn’t breathe, she just lets it happen like she’s having some out of body experience. She’s just brushing something off of her nose, but there’s something oddly intimate about the whole thing. If she wasn’t on national tv right now, this would be the moment where she would shoot her shot but that’s not the case. She stays grounded where she stands, frozen by Santana’s touch.

When Santana finally pulls away, Brittany can see her visibly gulp.

“Flour,” Santana clarifies.

“Oh,” Brittany’s sure her entire face goes red, “Thanks.”

There’s a twitch of a smile before the trance is broken and Santana goes back to studying the display.

Brittany’s trying to process that but earns a backhanded slap against her arm, curtesy of Sugar. She has to mouth shut up to the other baker in fear of her going rogue and doing something embarrassing like telling Santana that Brittany thinks she’s drop dead gorgeous.

Sugar isn’t wrong, but like…now isn’t the time for that.

Kurt watches the whole scene like it’s the most racy thing he’s seen all day.

“What was that?” Kurt asks in a hushed whisper.

Santana surrounds herself with an air of indifference, “What was what?”

“That!”

“Yeah,” Santana chuckles as she turns away to focus on something else, “You’re gonna have to be a little more specific.”

Kurt catches up to her and lowers his voice even more, “I may be – as you say – the Queen of England, but even I know what an eye-fuck looks like.”

“Kurt!” Santana gasps then laughs, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say fuck before. That was amazing.”

“Don’t deflect,” Kurt says with narrowed eyes, “You need to dial back the obvious gay before you get accused of favoritism, especially with this kind of rivalry going on. You need to focus.”

Santana grits her teeth because he has a tiny bit of a point, but she’s not going to admit that to him. Instead she keeps her eyes on the team’s work as she smirks, “Can you say fuck again? I need a laugh.”

Kurt just lets out frustrated groan.

“Glad someone incorporated the Cheerios colors,” Sue agrees with her eyes still roaming the display, “Looks fine.”

“This came out really great and I spy a new cupcake too,” Kurt points out a moment later looking somewhat impressed, “Should I be nervous?”

Brittany smiles softly, “Well there are quite a few spices involved…”

“Great,” Kurt says but he lacks enthusiasm, “What is it?”

“So we took the judges’ feedback into consideration and got rid of the Piña Colada cupcake and replaced it with our take on a Dirty Chai,” Brittany tells them, “The cake batter is infused with classic chai spices, topped with an espresso whipped cream frosting and garnished with a chocolate covered coffee bean.”

“Oh!” Kurt looks to Santana in surprise before turning back to Brittany, “That actually sounds lovely.”

Brittany smiles proudly before Santana speaks up.

“Mercedes and Artie did a very good coffee-based cupcake last round,” Santana comments while looking straight at Brittany. There’s something different in her tone that Brittany can’t quite place, “So I have pretty high expectations.”

Brittany smiles confidently though despite the change and the moment they had just a few minutes ago, “I always come through for you, don’t I?”

“We’ll see if you can keep that up,” Santana smirks and it causes Brittany to perk up before it falters. Santana glances back to the display and her expression is unreadable, “It’s an okay design. The different heights are a nice touch.”

Brittany and Sugar share a look; so far their feedback has been okay – better than Blaine and Tina’s for sure– but okay nonetheless. The big thing that’ll earn them a win is taste though and they’re pretty confident they’ve got that in the bag.

Brittany and Sugar thank them before Sam is directing the judges back to the panel for the final tasting.

For maybe the first time ever, Brittany kind of feels bad for Blaine and Tina.

Team Baking Dreams Come True are up first and the judges have already gone through three of the four cupcakes Blaine and Tina decided to go with. Again, the feedback is all over the place but the biggest struggle is that Santana’s facial expressions are pretty unreadable and her remarks are either really positive or really negative.

There is no in between.

Sue continues with the bluntness while Kurt kind of smooths over their sharp words with his diplomatic critiques. Their flavors are there as well as the execution so at a surface-level, they did great but they’re just missing something. With everything considered, Brittany and Sugar have no idea how the judges truly feel about Team Baking Dreams Come True.

By the time Blaine and Tina are dismissed to their station again, Brittany’s stomach is in knots.

“We’re totally going to win this. We got this, Brittz!” Sugar whispers encouragingly as they walk the short distance over, holding onto each other’s hand tightly.

Brittany nods resolutely at the reminder and says, “Yeah we do.”

Brittany’s thinking so far so good as the judges work their way through the cupcakes.

Everyone’s feedback has been relatively positive! Kurt even thanked them for dialing back the cayenne pepper in the Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake because he could actually enjoy it now. Sue was a little disappointed that the Piña Colada cupcake had been replaced which the bakers found confusing since she was the one that said it wouldn’t go over well at the benefit.

And Santana…well, she’s unreadable still. Brittany had gotten use to the stolen glances and secret smiles but since the moment they shared near her team’s station, Santana has gone…cold? Brittany isn’t sure what it is.

It’s like Santana’s trying to keep her cards close to her chest with how short she’s being with her feedback and this newfound seriousness is making Brittany and Sugar nervous. There was this warmth Santana possessed when she spoke to them – to Brittany – but that’s gone now and Brittany wonders why that is.

Overall though, Santana has commended their high skill level and their ability to balance flavors perfectly…but that’s nothing new. Brittany and Sugar already know they’re awesome in those departments and Santana has spent the entire morning confirming that.

It’s not until they reach the team’s final cupcake – their new one inspired by a Dirty Chai – that a crack appears in Santana’s stiff exterior.

“You weren’t joking about the spice,” Kurt notes as they begin to taste, “But it’s not overpowering and the cake is deliciously moist. There’s a warmth to this one that I really love. I think it might be my favorite.”

Brittany’s heart skips a beat. Thus far, their cupcakes have been a hit or a miss when it came to Kurt so she’s glad that he speaks so highly of this one.

Sue chimes in next and she’s already halfway through the entire thing as she says bluntly, “I don’t hate this either.”

Brittany and Sugar share a look; that’s two out of three so far!

“What are you thinking, Santana?” Kurt prompts as he looks to the side at his co-judge.

She’s deep in thought as she drags the tip of her fork through the frosting before taking it to her lips for another taste. There’s a glimpse of her tongue against the metal and Brittany thinks she’s never been so jealous of a fork before.

“What was this called again?” Santana asks after running her tongue along the curve of her bottom lip.

Brittany’s zeroed in on the movement but blinks back into focus, “Dirty Chai. It’s one of my favorites to start the morning. I think it tastes like Christmas in a cup.”

Santana hums in response and looks down at the plate.

Brittany’s heart is racing faster than it has all day and she thinks that she has never wanted to be a mind reader more in her life. If Santana doesn’t say something soon, Brittany might actually pass out from anticipation.

“Christmas in a cup,” Santana repeats like she’s testing the words then she begins to smile. She finally meets Brittany’s gaze and her smile grows even wider, “That’s cute.”

“Cute?!” Kurt practically gasps and stares at Santana with this confused look, “Since when do you – “

“Don’t,” Santana cuts him off quickly with a glare before turning back to Brittany. She smiles again and the warmth is there but only briefly. The smile she wears slips away seconds later and the seriousness is back, “I think it was a very wise decision to replace your Piña Colada cupcake with this. It fits in perfectly with the rest you’ve chosen. It was bold of you to make such a drastic change in the final round, but it was well executed.”

Brittany fills with pride and she can’t help but ask, “And the frosting?”

Santana smirks at the forwardness but relents with a bow of her head, “Tastes like espresso.”

Brittany beams at her before looking to Sugar; there’s no way they’re leaving the arena without a win now, she’s sure of it!

“Well Brittany and Sugar,” Sam cuts in, already eyeing the judges’ leftovers, “You can return to your kitchen while the judges get to deliberating.”

When it’s time to announce the winner, it’s like Sam decides to take a dramatic pause after every single word and it’s complete torture. Sugar is close to losing it and just stomping over to read the little card herself, but Brittany keeps their hands joined as they wait it out.

When Sam finally says the winners’ names aloud, Brittany swears she blacks out for a good five seconds before she’s registering who the cheering and confetti cannon explosions are for. The excitement moves around her in a blur and her ears are ringing with the sound of We Are The Champions and she struggles to focus as a huge check is being guided into hers and Sugar’s hands.

Nothing makes sense though until her eyes land on Santana who stands just a few feet away from her wearing the proudest of smiles while she claps for them.

When Brittany blinks, suddenly everything is back to normal and she gets it.

“Holy shit,” She says as she looks down at the check then turns to Sugar, “We won.”

“Duh!” Sugar beams before weeding out Blaine and Tina with their sourpuss faces, “We’re rich, bitches!”

Blaine and Tina just rolls their eyes before sulking out of the arena.

Brittany laughs and pulls Sugar into a one-armed hug, “We’re so awesome!”

“Hell yeah we are,” Sugar agrees, “And now we get all dolled up and go to a swanky benefit!”

Brittany’s smile falters and her face fills with confusion, “Wait. We actually get to go to the benefit?”

“Yeah, didn’t you hear when Guppy Face was explaining?” Sugar asks before she begins to smirk, “Or were you too busy daydreaming about Santana…“

“I wasn’t daydreaming,” Brittany sighs and begins to explain, “I was just – “

“Op, heads up! Hot Judge alert,” Sugars rushes out just in time.

“Congratulations,” Santana says as she approaches and the rest of Brittany’s words die on her lips.

Sugar’s wearing this mischievous grin before suddenly disappearing, leaving Brittany to hold the giant check alone.

“Thanks,” Brittany replies with a shy grin, “We’ve had a lot of fun today. The money is cool too.”

Santana nods, “You definitely earned it.”

“Totally,” Brittany says as she looks down at the thing, “Just not sure how I’m meant to cash it.”

Santana chuckles at that, “We got rid of the money gun. Sam broke the thing last season.”

“Bummer,” Brittany jokes, “Would’ve loved to make it rain.”

Santana bites her lip, “I just wanted to come over and congratulate you myself. It was a pleasure to watch you work. You’re a very talented baker.”

“Thanks,” Brittany blushes but pushes through, “That’s really awesome coming from someone with your kind of experience.”

Santana ducks her head bashfully at the compliment before replying, “Well I’ll let you go to get ready for the benefit.”

Brittany barely gets a word out before the blonde is soon whisked away by stylists and rejoins Sugar in some room where they spend the next couple of hours getting primped.

It has been the longest day ever for Brittany, but when she and Sugar finally arrive to the benefit and spot the many guests admiring their cupcake display it’s all so worth it. They linger around it for the first thirty minutes or so, accepting various compliments and congratulations before they sneak off to the bar for a well-deserved drink.

“You think we can keep these outfits?” Sugar asks wistfully after the bartender places their drinks in front of them. Sugar is pointing her toe out and gliding her hand down her side, “I look hot in this jumpsuit. Plus it has pockets!”

Brittany snickers, “Well they didn’t say we have to give them back. Maybe we can keep them? I wouldn’t mind adding this dress to my wardrobe.”

Sugar nods and goes to clink her glass with Brittany’s, “You’re a total babe, Brittz!”

Brittany grins at the compliment as she brings the glass up to her lips. Sugar follows suit before her eyes drift around the room, “I wonder if there are any single people in here for me to – fuck!”

Brittany’s eyes widen at the smack she feels against her arm that causes her cocktail to slosh around, “Sug, you have got to stop doing that. We don’t waste alcohol.”

“Britt, look!” Sugar urges as her eyes stay glued on someone across the room.

Brittany reluctantly swivels around, still dabbing at her arm, “What?”

When she doesn’t get an explanation, she looks up to find what has Sugar’s attention this time. It doesn’t take Brittany long to figure it out though because the woman across the room is glowing. Brittany swallows dryly at the sight of a plunging neckline and the way shimmering black fabric clings to perfect curves. Again, she finds herself in a trance as she stares the brunette down.

“We aren’t the only honeys in this joint,” Sugar says in awe, “Santana cleans up good, huh Britt?”

Brittany’s speechless; she didn’t know the judges would be attending too but she just nods in response to Sugar. Her words don’t seem to be working right now anyway.

The crowd parts for Santana as she pauses to greet those that approach her and despite the reputation that proceeds her, she seems rather friendly with them. She looks genuinely happy to meet everyone and there’s this gleaming smile she wears that ignites the room. These people are like moths to a flame and if Brittany wasn’t so far away, she’d be right there with them getting burnt to a crisp.

Brittany can feel herself falling deeper and deeper and Santana hasn’t even looked her way yet. Who knows what’ll happen if she ever does?

She feels so silly about it because she’s only known the woman for a few hours and with all things considered, she really doesn’t stand a chance. The woman isn’t just some random she met at the grocery store. She’s Santana Lopez, the world renowned pastry chef and entrepreneur and Brittany is just…Brittany.

That’s not self-loathing or anything because Brittany knows that she’s special, but Santana is next-level. She’s famous and Brittany is just a small-town girl. What could she possibly offer someone like her? It’s that thought that has Brittany turning back to her drink with a sigh.

This is just a little crush and it’ll go away soon.

“What’s that for?” Sugar asks. She’s leaning her back against the bar top edge people-watching while she sips on her cocktail. When Brittany doesn’t answer right away, Sugar gives her a poke.

Brittany shakes her head and finally answers, “It’s nothing.”

“We haven’t known each other since like birth or anything and there’s a little bit of an age difference here, but show me a little respect…” Sugar says with her hand on her hip. She’s giving Brittany a look with her brow quirked, “You think I don’t know when my best friend is in a mood?”

Brittany frowns at that because of course Sugar notices everything. She thinks about her words carefully and what she’s feeling while she takes another sip of her drink.

Brittany has always been pretty secure with who she is. She has always been a risk-taker, always defied the laws of man and thought outside of the box, always known who she is. When it comes to women or men, Brittany has never had a problem before. Not to say that she’s some kind of player, but she can carry on a conversation pretty easily. She doesn’t usually get nervous around them either, but it’s different with Santana.

For the first time maybe, she’s kind of intimidated.

“This whole thing with Santana is ridiculous, right?” Brittany finally asks but she’s more so just thinking out loud. She takes another sip and adds, “Like I’m completely off my hammock for thinking something could happen? Like she’s totally out of my league?”

Sugar ponders for a moment before shrugging, “How? You’re hot. She’s hot. Why not be hot together?”

Brittany snorts, “I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“It totally is,” Sugar replies easily, “Just talk to her. You miss all of the shots you don’t take.”

“I don’t see how alcohol is involved here…” Brittany squints.

Sugar gives her a look, always well-tuned to when Brittany’s trying to troll her, “I love a good shot as much as the next person, especially if it’s free, but I think you know that’s not what I’m talking about here.”

“Yeah, I know,” Brittany’s aloof demeanor falters, “I don’t know what’s going on with me. I’m so off my game.”

“You’re just getting in your head about it,” Sugar says then downs the rest of her cocktail, “How about this? You finish off your drink and we’ll get you another then we’ll take a bunch of pics in the bathroom mirror and send them to Blaine and Tina to rub it in their faces?”

“I don’t know,” Brittany frowns, “I’m not really in the mood for that.”

“Come on Britt,” Sugar begs, “Nothing cheers you up like making fun of our archnemeses.”

Brittany just swirls the liquid around in her glass like she’s deep in thought until Sugar starts to chant, “Chug! Chug! Chug!”

That causes a grin to break out and soon Brittany’s tipping back her glass while Sugar claps excitedly beside her. They gain some attention from those that sit near them at the bar, but they don’t pay them any mind. They’re here for a good time, not a long time.

“Hey hottie!” Sugar calls out to the bartender with a wave, “Another around for us and make those babies doubles!” Brittany’s just about to protest when Sugar cuts her off, “I’m gonna grab us some snacks, brb.”

Then Sugar is gone in a flash before Brittany can say okay.

More than ten minutes go by and Sugar still isn’t back yet. Brittany wonders how far away these snacks are because she’s starting to get a little hungry but then suddenly a small plate topped with various hors d'oeuvres slides in front of her.

“Finally!” Brittany feigns annoyance as she begins to turn to Sugar, “Your drink is probably so wa – “

The rest of her words fall away because her best friend isn’t the one standing before her, it’s Santana. She wears this sexy, smug little grin and her dark brown eyes are dazzling as she stares right back.

“You’re…not Sugar,” Brittany points out without thinking but the comment makes Santana laugh.

“Unfortunately no,” Santana chuckles nervously.

Brittany chastises herself for being so rude, “I – I’m sorry. That came out wrong. Hey Santana, you…you look really beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Santana smiles coyly. “Sugar asked me to bring this to you,” Santana answers with a nod to the plate, “She also wanted me to tell you that she’s chatting up a hot DILF and she’ll be back soon. Honestly, she’s got her work cut out for her because Kurt had his eyes on him the moment we got here.”

Brittany chuckles at that, “Yeah…she likes a challenge. You should’ve seen her in college.”

Santana adds, “I can only imagine. She kind of just started rambling at me then passed me that plate. Your friend is a lot.”

“Yeah, that’s a thing she does,” Brittany says and presses her lips together to keep from laughing out in embarrassment, “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Santana grins then glances to the bar, “She said a drink would be waiting for me when I arrived – albeit watered down – as well as someone needing a little company while she’s off trying to score herself a man.”

Brittany facepalms; she can totally see where Sugar’s trying to go with this. She conveniently running into Santana and directing her over to the bar is just too big of a coincidence.

So much for taking bathroom selfies and blowing up Blaine and Tina’s phones.

“I’m sorry,” Brittany apologizes again, “She has a slight problem with boundaries and gets worked up around attractive people.”

“I can’t blame her,” Santana says around a smirk, “She didn’t say the person in need of some company would be drop dead gorgeous though and absolutely killing it in that dress.”

Brittany tries to fight off the blush and shy smile as she catches Santana’s eyes lingering on her legs. She’s really thanking whoever out there designed it because man, do they know how to craft a sexy leg slit. She’s totally going to try to smuggle it back to Lima after this thing.

“You look really great,” Santana adds earnestly.

Brittany brings her glass to her lips as if she’s trying to hide behind it as she says, “Don’t flatter me.”

“I’ll do as a like. Especially when it’s true,” Santana replies smoothly before giving Brittany a cheek-bunching grin. It’s a combination of sweet and smug but what really has Brittany struggling to keep her composure are Santana’s cute-as-hell dimples.

Brittany’s impressed by Santana’s forwardness though, she has always loved confidence on anyone and Santana does it so well. It has Brittany thinking that maybe she stands a chance after all if Santana is flirting with her like this but she’s still a little hesitant.

She and Sugar are meant to return to Lima tomorrow; what is she expecting to happen with Santana within the next 16 hours? Can’t be much.

“So,” Santana hums as she slides into Sugar’s vacant seat.

“What are you doing?” Brittany questions, mostly surprised that she’s choosing to stay.

“Keeping you company?”

“You don’t have to do that,” Brittany laughs, “I’m sure there are loads of people here you probably have to mingle with.”

“True,” Santana nods and from the corner of Brittany’s she can see Santana turn to her, “But I rather mingle with you instead.”

When Brittany looks back – just to check that she’s really there and she really said that – she’s momentarily distracted by Santana’s utter beauty. Sure, she was stunning back at the Cupcake Battles arena but here it has intensified ten fold. Santana is gorgeous, flawless even, like words can’t begin to describe how amazing she looks all done up and of all the seats in this place, she chooses the one next to Brittany.

How did Brittany get so lucky?

That familiar warmth from before surrounds Brittany and the crazy butterflies soon fill her stomach yet again. Her resolve is slowly starting to crumble the longer Santana stares at her, but she has to at least try to hang onto the last bit of dignity she possesses.

“You sure it’s not because Sugar bribed you with a drink?” Brittany smirks, her confidence slowly returning.

Santana shakes her head though and giggles, “I’m sure.”

From across the room, Sugar tucks away her phone after scoring the DILF’s number and grins proudly at her work taking place at the bar. She watches as Santana tosses her head back with a laugh because Brittany is freaking hilarious and she’s probably working that infamous Pierce Charm on her. Just a little push in the right direction was all Brittany needed, the most awesome wing-woman ever strikes again!

“Huh,” Kurt hums as he comes to stand next to Sugar. He’s holding a plate of hors d'oeuvres as they both watch everything unfold between Santana and Brittany from afar, “You’re a pro.”

“Of course I am,” Sugar says smugly as she swipes a pitted olive from his plate and pops it into her mouth. She scrunches her nose at the taste and spits it out somewhere off to the side, “Gross.”

Kurt just looks at her like she’s both amazing and horrifying.

Any of the nerves Brittany was struggling with before have long since vanished as she talks with Santana at the bar. They’ve both had a couple of drinks now so that might have something to do with the ease of conversation, Brittany thinks. She’s truly having a great time getting to know Santana and finds that the brunette is so easy to talk to, not to mention witty as hell.

Well, she knew that already from what she has seen on the show but it hits differently in person. Santana has been portrayed as this intimidating, no-nonsense judge who is prone to going all Lima Heights on anyone that challenges her critiques but the more Brittany gets to know her, the more she realizes that there’s a clear divide between her on-screen persona and what she’s like in person.

In person, Santana is sweet and little bashful at times and pulls the cutest faces when Brittany makes a joke. She has the greatest laugh and the most beautiful smile Brittany has ever seen. Not to mention those eyes, she could stare into them for hours on end.

It’s taking everything in her not to stare at Santana’s boobs though especially with that plunging neckline, but she also keeps catching Santana lingering longer on the exposed skin of her thigh or her lips and she’s kind of thankful that she isn’t the only one struggling. This leering thing is apparently a two-way street.

She also finds that they have so many things in common aside from the whole baking thing. They were both cheerleaders in high school, both relatively popular growing up, and both made drastic career choice changes. After giving Santana a little more backstory about her time at MIT, Brittany learns that Santana is a classically trained singer and before deciding on culinary school she wanted to pursue a career in music.

“My scholarship for culinary school covered more than anything I received for music so making the change was an obvious choice,” Santana says with a shrug.

“Do you still sing?” Brittany asks, ever so intrigued by all the little details she’s learning.

Santana nods, “Sometimes but mostly just at home in the kitchen or in the shower. I kind of miss it. I wonder what my life would’ve been like if I went that route instead, like would I be raking in the dough and topping charts or would I have been a flop?”

“You totally would’ve been a star,” Brittany says with a certainty that makes Santana chuckle.

“How can you be so sure?” She questions through a giggle, “You’ve never heard me sing.”

“I just know these things,” Brittany shrugs, “And you have to go with it, I’m kind of a certified genius you know.”

“Ah, who am I to argue then?” Santana relents as she starts to soften some. There’s this delicacy as she adds, “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that before, about my singing.”

“Well your secret is safe with me,” Brittany winks and it makes Santana blush.

“You’re very easy to talk to,” Santana admits a short while later.

It’s Brittany’s turn to blush then and she thinks if she spends any more time with the woman, she might just fall for her which is why she’s a little annoyed when Sugar finally returns with a loud, “Hey girl hey!”

Santana turns to her with this look that is a mix of annoyance and confusion, but it subsides when Brittany speaks up.

“Were you successful?” She asks remembering this DILF mission Sugar was wrapped up in while her friend orders herself another drink.

Sugar smirks, “You could say that.”

Brittany shakes her head and laughs, “They won’t know what hit’em.”

“Totally. What are we talking about?” Sugar asks while the bartender crafts her drink.

“We?” Santana questions and there’s just a touch of irritation behind her smile, “You’re staying?”

Sugar raises a brow at that, but before anything else can be said Brittany quickly intervenes with a subject change, “I was just telling Santana about the Great Eggs Benedict Debacle of 2016.”

Santana looks confused again and asks, “The great what?”

“Ooh, good story,” Sugar nods in approval, “Smackdown of the century, classic.”

Brittany doesn’t pay too much attention to Sugar’s comment and glances to Santana again to clarify, “The moment that solidified my dislike for all things breakfast.”

“Wait, you don’t like breakfast?” Santana has her nose cutely scrunched at that, “How come?”

“There are several things at play,” Brittany tells her, “For one, you can have it at any time of day – just look at this benefit – and that doesn’t make any sense to me. Lunch has a specific time of day and so does dinner. Why is it any different for breakfast? It’s dark out and that person over there is eating pancakes but it’s not considered dinner. It’s so confusing.”

“Make sense,” Santana nods and begins to grin, “You must not be a fan of 24 hour pancake parlors then?”

Brittany’s reply gets lost because the way Santana stares at her, almost tenderly, makes Brittany’s knees shake and she isn’t even standing. Sugar seems to notice too but miraculously stays quiet as the bartender places her drink in front of her.

“Santana!” Kurt calls out from somewhere close and the women turn to him as he approaches. He greets Brittany and Sugar before turning to his co-judge, “It’s almost time. We should head to our table.”

“Right. I’ll be there in a sec,” Santana says and goes to stand.

“I should grab us a spot too,” Sugar tells Brittany before she’s disappearing again with her drink without another word. Brittany looks between the two a little lost.

“These things wrap pretty quickly once the speeches get going,” Santana explains as she starts poking around in her clutch for something.

Brittany nods and looks over to where Sue Sylvester is already taking her place in front of the room. They don’t have much time left now.

“Take this,” Santana offers and Brittany looks down to find a card between her fingertips, “It’s my business card.”

“Oh,” Brittany accepts it with a surprised smile, “Thank you.”

“You know,” Santana starts and she almost looks nervous, “If you’re ever in L.A. again or need some business advice or whatever…give me a call?”

Brittany’s pretty sure she has stopped breathing and her words struggle to form at the gesture. Santana Lopez has just given her a business card containing her personal phone number, of course she can’t think straight at the moment!

“So yeah,” Santana chuckles nervously at Brittany’s silence then juts out her hand.

Brittany eyes it and takes it into her own and she swears sparks fly at the very touch. She grips Santana’s hand, and it’s soft and firm at the same time somehow.

“It was nice chatting with you,” Santana says politely as she pulls away from the handshake, “I hope I did well in keeping you company.”

Finally Brittany gets her words working again and replies, “Totally. Easily the highlight of my day.”

“You won a fat check and became a Cupcake Battles Victor, yet this was your highlight?”

“Well I’d rather be Victoria,” Brittany says with a shrug, “But yeah, it was. These competition wins are a dime a dozen, but I rarely get the chance to talk to someone like you.”

Santana gives her that look again from earlier and Brittany doesn’t know who swoons first, “You’re something else, Brittany.”

Brittany cocks her head to the side and smiles back bashfully.

“Santana!” Kurt calls out again and starts to wave the co-judge over, “Hurry up!”

Santana flicks him off and turns back to Brittany with an apologetic grin, “Sorry, duty calls. I’ll try to find you again after all of this?”

“Yeah sure,” Brittany replies with a bow of her head before Santana joins Kurt at their table. She feels like she’s on cloud nine and she knows Sugar is going to want every single detail but for now she just soaks this moment in.

Brittany spends the rest of the evening getting to know everyone at the table she and Sugar share. It’s great food and great company which makes for an awesome time, but Brittany can’t get Santana out of her head.

She finds herself glancing over to where Santana sits, watching the way she lights up around the other guests. The brunette seems swept up in conversation with some other prestigious pastry chefs that Brittany recognizes. Kurt sits next to Santana and the two bounce off of each other just as they do on the show, but a little part of Brittany wishes she could take his place.

Brittany doesn’t think she’s ever been quite so jealous of a gay man before, but the feeling stands. She wants to be the one sitting next to Santana, to be in her presence again and listen to the whispers of her snarky comments which says a lot because she already got a couple hours worth of alone time with her already. Maybe she was a little spoiled with all the attention Santana gave her at the bar, but she can’t help it.

Santana has her hooked.

If she’s lucky though, sometimes Santana glances her way too. When their eyes meet and the smile Santana wears matches her own, Brittany thinks maybe Santana is just as helpless.

True to Santana’s earlier prediction, the benefits wraps up quickly after the speeches take place. There are people everywhere and Brittany eventually loses sight of the brunette amongst the crowd with everyone standing now. She hangs back with Sugar though and they try their hardest to find the woman.

“She could’ve gone out the back way?” Sugar suggests, “A special exit for celebs?”

The word celebs sits funny with Brittany now that she has had the chance to get to know Santana a little better. The woman is known all over the world in the culinary industry and an esteemed judge on a popular tv show, but Brittany doesn’t consider her a celeb. Not anymore.

She’s just Santana; a beautiful girl who loves to bake and probably has the voice of an angel.

Yeah, Brittany is definitely in trouble.

“No. She said she would find me afterwards,” Brittany tells her and she kind of hates how hopeful she is.

“She must’ve gotten busy?” Sugar tries, “I don’t see her anywhere. Wait, give me a boost. You think this table will hold me?”

Sugar’s already scrambling up to stand on her chair while Brittany continues to look around.

“I have to say goodbye,” Brittany tells Sugar, “I didn’t get to before.”

Sugar frowns at her best friend for a moment, feeling a little sorry for her, before she’s back to vigilantly searching the room for the brunette in question.

Brittany starts to feel a twinge of sadness as she continues to scan the room with no avail. She doesn’t know why she’s getting so caught up in her feelings. It wasn’t as if Santana promised to come find her afterwards, it’s not like she owed it to her or anything. She just kind of wishes they had a proper goodbye, whatever proper means.

Brittany doesn’t quit until they’re being ushered into a car that’ll take them back to their hotel.

When The Turtles’ Happy Together starts to play through the speakers and Sugar starts to groove in her seat, Brittany thinks she might just punch a hole straight through the radio.

#Cupcake Battles #Brittana #Brittana Fanfiction #fanfics

34 notes · View notes

leigh-kelly · 5 years

Text

If the Fates Allow: Part 8/13

Thirteen part Christmas fic loosely based on Life As We Know It. After Santana and Brittany’s best friends die, leaving their two kids behind, the ex-girlfriends are forced to move in together and raise their godchildren.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

July:

Sometimes for Santana, the whole Brittany situation felt like whiplash. After the reunion, they stopped watching TV together at night, they started following the rules again, they just co-parented without any of the weird stuff between them. Santana wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, she wasn’t sure if she loved it or hated it, she just kind of felt like nothing was ever going to be right as long as this was the situation they were in. And even still, she didn’t think they’d be right being involved romantically, things were severely broken, mainly her heart, and she finally made plans to take Wendy out again, just wanting to get away from Brittany. She went on a bunch of dates, always on nights where she didn’t pick the kids up at school and always on nights where she had already promised Ava the next night would be extra special.

Because it was summer vacation, when Santana worked from home, she stopped working early in order to get Ava from camp. Brittany had arranged her classes around getting her on the days that she couldn’t and the afternoon after her date with Wendy, she was excited to see Ava since she hadn’t seen her since the morning before. Before she got Ava, she picked JJ up at daycare and strapped him into his car seat, then drove to Ava’s day camp. When she pulled up, she spotted Ava with her pigtails in the crowd and Santana smiled widely. Something about that kid just made her happy no matter how sad and mixed up she felt inside. Ava jumped up and down excitedly when she noticed Santana and the counselor opened up the door for her so she could get in the car. Santana leaned back and helped her with her buckle, then kissed her on the nose.

“I missed you, kiddo.”

“I missed you too! I have to tell you all about all of the stuff I did at camp and then help you cook dinner! Are you staying home tonight?”

“I am, just like I promised.”

“Do you have a new girlfriend, Aunt Santana? Are you gonna kiss her?”

“She’s not quite my girlfriend, Aves, but I like hanging out with her.”

“More than you like hanging out with me?”

“Never.” Santana smiled, turning around the drive them home. “There’s no one I’m ever going to like hanging out with more than I like hanging out with you.”

“Aunt Santana?”

“Yeah.”

“Georgianna got a dog. Can I get a dog?”

“Dog! Dog! Dog!” JJ yelled from his car seat, making Santana laugh every time he acquired a new word by listening to Ava.

“I think a dog is a lot of work, and neither Aunt Brittany or I have much time for that right now.”

“Can we go to the dog store and just look at them? Mommy used to let me.”

Those words always cut straight through Santana’s heart and she couldn’t say no. She was pretty sure, knowing Cassidy, that they went to the pound rather than a puppy store, so she looked up the closest animal shelter on her phone and drove there. Ava was singing happily in the back seat, making JJ laugh as she did, and it made Santana feel good to see the kids in such good spirits. She pulled into the parking lot and Ava yelled that it was the same place she went to with Cass, so Santana felt like she was absolutely doing the right thing. Sometimes it felt like everything she did was about keeping Cass and John alive for Ava, but deep within her heart of hearts, Santana felt like that was the most right thing she could possibly do.

“Look at this one! Look at this one!” Ava hung on the bars of one of the cages, where a small terrier lay on the floor. “Aunt Santana, she’s so sad!”

“She does look pretty sad, doesn’t she?” Santana shifted JJ on her hip and ruffled Ava’s hair.

“If you tell the lady we want to play with her, we’re allowed!”

“For ten minutes, okay? We have to go home and get started on dinner.”

“Okay, ten whole minutes!”

The worker at the animal shelter took the dog out of the pen and she brought her into a little room. Santana told Ava not to put her face near the dog and she let JJ stand up, keeping a close eye on both of them in case the dog wasn’t as nice as she seemed. But immediately after they settled down, the dog perked right up and she came over to Ava, licking her hand. Then, though Santana wasn’t exactly a dog person, the dog came right over to her and licked her face, making her laugh in a way she hadn’t expected. The dog was probably the sweetest thing she’d ever seen and the way Ava smiled just made Santana feel some kind of way.

“Aunt Santana! She loves us! She loves us!” Ava cried out as JJ took a fist full of the dog’s fur and she laid down at his feet. “Please, please, please can we take her to our house?”

“Ava—”

“Please Aunt Santana? I want to keep her so, so bad! She’s a good dog! And Aunt Brittany loves dogs!”

Looking at both Ava’s face and the dog’s face, Santana realized she couldn’t say no. Maybe Brittany was right, she was absolutely powerless when it came to Ava, but Ava was also right, Brittany did love dogs and she thought it would be perfectly fine if they brought this sweet girl home. She probably should have called her, but she knew she was at work anyway and wouldn’t be able to answer. It would be fine, Santana figured, she’d deal with the repercussions, and before she knew it, she was signing papers. Once everything was finished, Ava was grinning from ear to ear as they put the dog in the backseat of the car between her and JJ and Santana really felt like she had made the best choice she could ever possibly make.

“I want to call her Daisy because that’s like Daisy Duck!”

“Daisy.” Santana laughed. “I like that.”

“I’m going to help you walk her and feed her and cuddle her! She’s mine, right Aunt Santana?”

“I think she’s more like a family dog, Aves, since JJ might want to share her with you when he’s a little bit bigger but she’s definitely part yours.”

“I can’t wait to call Georgianna and tell her! Can I call her on the phone? Please, please?”

“You definitely can, but after we have dinner, okay?”

“Okay!”

Brittany was already home when they pulled into the driveway and Ava was anxious to get Daisy out of the car and into the house. Santana unbuckled JJ first, then she hooked Daisy’s leash to her and opened the door for Ava. She squealed with delight when Santana let her hold onto the leash, but when they got to the door, Brittany was out on the front steps and did not look happy. Santana swallowed hard, knowing that this was going to be like their frequent ice cream conversations only worse and she immediately realized that as much as she thought she could deal with the repercussions of her decision, maybe she wasn’t.

“Aunt Brittany! Look! It’s Daisy! Our dog!”

“I didn’t know we had a dog.” Brittany forced a smile for Ava, but the way she looked at Santana could kill. “Ava, honey, why don’t you go inside and wash your hands?”

“Daisy! Come with me!” Ava pulled on the leash and she disappeared inside with the dog trailing behind her.

“You have got to be kidding me right now.” Brittany lowered her voice and narrowed her eyes at Santana. “You got her a dog without even thinking about talking to me?”

“Why should I have talked to you when you were just going to end up saying no?”

“Um, I don’t know, because I live here too and am going to have to share the responsibility with you?”

“No one’s asking you to do anything, Brittany. I’ll take care of the damn dog.”

“That’s not even the point.” Brittany shook her head. “We’ve had this conversation before, you just give into everything she wants and I’m trying to maintain some sense of order around here.”

“Right, I’m the terrible parent.”

“What’s even up with you lately? I thought we were becoming friends and then suddenly you don’t even look at me.”

“Is this about us being friends or about the dog? Make up your mind.”

“It’s about communication. You’re not communicating with me about anything and now you come home with a dog. A phone call would have been nice.”

“So take her back.”

“Right.” Brittany rolled her eyes. “Because that won’t make me the meanest person in the world if I take away the dog that you told Ava she could have.”

“I didn’t go to the animal shelter with the plan of bringing home a dog. I did it because Ava said Cass used to take her.”

“And managed to never bring home a dog!”

“Stop fighting! You’re not supposed to fight! Aunt Santana promised!” Ava screamed, standing in the doorway. “You’re makin’ me and Daisy sad! Aunt Brittany, are you gonna take Daisy away from me?”

“I’m not going to take Daisy away from you, Ava. You don’t have to worry about that.” Brittany sighed, looking down at Ava and the dog. Then, she looked back up at Santana and whispered, “I’m not done with this conversation.”

The tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife the whole night and after the kids were in bed, Santana really wanted to just hide in her bedroom and avoid any sort of conversation. But Brittany ended up knocking on her door and Santana was shocked by that. She’d never actually done that before and it felt really weird as Santana trudged to the door and opened it. Brittany was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest and Santana took a deep breath.

“We can’t fight with the kids sleeping.” Santana put her hands up to stop the incoming barrage of criticism.

“I am more than capable of having an adult conversation with my voice at a reasonable volume.”

“Don’t you understand that I’m just trying to make this kid happy? JJ doesn’t remember them probably already but Ava misses them so much and so what if we have a dog to help fill a hole in her life.”

“It’s not so what, Santana. Adults have conversations about big things like this. What happens when she’s a teenager and she decides she wants to date, are you just going to let her go out with someone without talking to me.”

“Oh, please, we were sleeping together when we were fifteen.”

“Why do you always have to bring up our past whenever I’m just trying to have a conversation about something unrelated?”

“You’re not trying to have a conversation. You’re trying to make me feel bad. Well guess what? I don’t. Goodnight, Brittany.”

“You can’t just say goodnight when you don’t want to talk about things. You keep doing that.”

“I can do whatever I want.”

“Oh, real mature. Are you going to stick your fingers in your ears too?”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Excuse me.” Brittany crossed her arms over her chest.

“You only want to talk when you think you’re going to win an argument. Whatever, you want to be right, you’re right. I shouldn’t have gotten the dog, but now it’s too late.”

“I’m not having this conversation to try to be right. I’m trying to talk to you so we can be better parents together.”

“Whatever, I’m not in the mood tonight.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“It’s how it works for me.” Santana stepped back, considering closing the door.

“I really don’t want to fight with you. I just want you to recognize what I’m trying to say.”

“I get it, okay. You’re the responsible one, I’m the irresponsible one. You win, I lose.”

“Seriously Santana, what’s up with you?”

“Nothing’s up, this is just who I am. You know, shitty. You decided that two years ago.”

“This isn’t about us.”

“Isn’t it always?”

#brittana #if the fates allow #itfa

78 notes · View notes

trickstersantana · 6 years

Text

PARA: Bet on it

Who: Santana and @alyricalberry Location: Undique Stadium Time: October 20th Summary: Santana and Rachel have their 4th fight, if Santana loses, she has to be nice to Rachel for a month. If Rachel loses, she has to give the money she won at the NAOs to Santana. Triggers/Notes: Violence and ghosts

Santana awaited for her prey at the entrance of the Gym. She had her back in hand, and was ready to gain some easy money. She wondered if there was something different, if Rachel actually trained or gain some new weird witch new powers. She hoped so. It was more fun to defeat your adversary when they had gotten better.

Rachel shouldn't have been nervous, but she was. She didn't want to lose to Santana. Again. She had to put those thoughts out of her mind. She just had to focus. She went to the gym and gave Santana a smile. "Hello. Are you ready to lose?"

Santana bursted into laughter with that question. After a while she could respond. "Oh, Barbarita... I hope that of all the thing you lost, you never lose that sense of humour" She said with a confident smile while entering the gym. "So, well, do you need any extra rules? Are we allowed to use items or that's cheating?"

Rachel raised a brow at Santana's laughter and just crossed her arms. "No items. Just our powers. Are there any rules you want?"

Santana smiles, facing Rachel. "I want this week, you can pay me in cash or transfer it to my bank account, I'm alright with both" She just said. "Show me your best, little witch" she said, ready to fight.

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 4

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 3

Rachel closed her eyes and put Santana's words out of her mind. She needed to focus, now more then ever. Then, all of a sudden, she felt a cool sense of calm pass over her, like everything was going to be okay. "You're on, Santana," Rachel said, opening her eyes again. She started singing <<Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter>> and created a sound bubble, throwing it right at Santana's chest.

Santana recieved Rachel's attack, not expecting it to make any effect. She gave a step back, and smiled again, but not as total confident as before. "My my, look like someone has trained... I hope you trained enough!" She said, preparing an illusion

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 5

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 1

Santana made a black illusory circle around Rachel, and made a whispering sound of children voices whispering Rachel's name. Saying 'Rachel help us'. Some crying noises sometimes, and some shadows surrounding the witch, and when the moment arise she activated the jumpscare as some creepy pale child ghost shouting to her face.

Rachel closed her eyes when Santana's illusion materialized. She tried to ignore it, but her voice wavered as she sang. She tried to create a strong enough spell, but when she tried to create a sound barrier to attack Santana, it was only able to disperse the illusion, barely able to touch Santana where she was standing a few feet away from Rachel. Rachel took a deep breath to try and calm herself. focus she whispered to herself.

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 3

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 1

Rachel took a deep breath. She had to get it together. She gathered her magic in her hands and formed a sound bubble. She began singing <<The Greatest Star>> into the bubble and then threw it to Santana, letting out a victorious yelp when it hit Santana square in the chest. "Ha! Take that!"

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 2

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 4

Santana tried to dodge it, but it's hard to dodge sounds. "Auch" she complained. "Not so bad, Berry Cake" she said with a smile, like this was all a part of her plan to make Rachel trust her victory and then go hard on the witch in the last moment. The important thing it was to Rachel to fear it. "What about this" she said preparing another ghostly illusion attack from the ground.

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 2

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 6

Rachel was waiting for Santana's attack and she managed to dodge it by throwing up a quick music shield. She raised a brow at Santana. She was actually doing well. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her spell. She figured she should switch things up. She'd been practicing her affinity magic. She felt confident in her fire magic now. She whispered <<fire burn bright>> and sent a fireball at Santana, sighing when it sputtered and died right before hitting her.

Santana laught at the tiny flame. "Problems dealing with hotness, Barbarita?" She asked while making a huge blue fire illusion around Rachel. "Let me show you how it's done!"

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 6

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 6

Rachel felt the heat of the fire knock her off balance and she groaned. Why did this always happen to her? She lashed back and send another large fireball hurling towards Santana.

Santana giggles and is surprised at the following real fireball. She made an illusion of herself to 'get the damage' while she dodges the fire. "That's more like it, Rachelle, now you just have to hit the target!"

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 5

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 2

Rachel rolled her eyes and tried to ignore Santana's taunts. This always happened. Santana got under her skin and she got distracted. She wasn't going to let it happen again. She started singing <<Don't Rain on My Parade>>, it was her best bet, and sent a sound

Santana knew that everybattle it was a wit battle. And Rachel could never be on her level. She dodged the next attack and sended another illusion of zombies attacking.

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 5

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 4

Rachel sent a stronger sound shield to try and dissipate the zombies and hopefully knock Santana back at the same time. That didn't work as the minute Rachel's spell hit the zombies, it faltered. She let out a frustrated grunt and sent another sound bubble towards Santana.

Santana dodged again the sound bubble, continuously moving around Rachel. She send another skelletons illusions to her. That was the key, just sending her illusions, tiring herself for her own magic. "Man, I can't wait to expend all those dollars I'm gonna win!!" she said with a big smile

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 1

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 3

Rachel rolled her eyes at Santana's words. "You're not going to win! I'm going to kick your butt, Santana," she shouted, sending another sound bubble at Santana, trying to ignore her illusions. Rachel could feel her power draining, though. She knew she was close to losing. Hopefully she could quickly defeat Santana or else Rachel knew she'd lose. Again. Which she could not stand.

Santana laugh again at Rachel's words. "I'm going to win again and again, amiga mía" she said, making fun of her "Talk less, show MORE!" Santana made another illusion oh just sounds around Rachel. It sounded like a crow booing, saying loser, saying she was a dissapointment.

Rachel closed her eyes and tried to block out the audio illusions. But of course, Santana knew how exactly what her weaknesses were. Rachel hated to admit it, but it was working. She scrambled for her grimoire to see if she had anything that could be used to help her, but she realized she had nothing. She let out another frustrated cry and put up a sound shield, just around her body to block out Santana's illusion. She needed time to breathe before she could form her next spell.

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 4

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 3

Santana was too distracted enjoying the show and didn't expected that last attack. "I'm glad you don't surrender, it makes it more interesting" she said preparing to see what Rachel will do next.

Rachel "I'm never going to surrender to you, Santana. I'm going to win," Rachel said. She dropped the shield and gathered up her magic, this time managing to summon a ring of fire around Santana, which slowly got closer and closer to Santana, trapping her in a small ring of fire.

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 6

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 2

Santana laught again, but it was quickly interrupted for a ring of fire around. "Shit shit shit" Well, she surely got burned. "Look, sometimes you can use fire and all!" She said, but the taunting tone was over. But of course, she was going to win.

Santana rolled a die. The die showed: 6

Rachel rolled a die. The die showed: 4

Rachel smirked when she saw Santana freak out. Finally, she was getting to her. Rachel focused on making her spell stronger, the wall of fire growing taller and taller and getting smaller and smaller. Finally, something was working.

Santana get out of the fire, hardly and almost falling, and did another illusion attack for a jumpscare ghosts to Rachel. She had to ruin the witch's focus.

Rachel was too busy focusing on her spell to notice the next illusion. Just like that, her focus shattered. She tried to send another fireball to Santana, but her spell went awry and she accidentally burned her own arm with the flame. She shouted and dropped the spell, putting her hand on her heart, breathing heavy. "I can't... I can't do it anymore. You win, Santana."

Santana looked at Rachel, a little surprised of the surrender. But of course, she was going to win. She illusionedsome tiny fireworks and applauses. And confetti. "Of course, of course, I keep winning. Forever" She looked at her own nails, getting closer to Rachel. "Well, you can send me the money on cash, if you prefer" She patted her head "Not bad, you are getting slowly better." Not enought as her, of course.

Rachel frowned at Santana, feeling her energy wane even more. She lost. Again. She couldn't believe it. "Whatever, Santana. Just leave me alone," she said, softly. "I'll give you the money later," she added as she stood up and walked away.

#alyricalberry #para: rachel #chara: rachel

11 notes · View notes

notarelationship · 7 years

Text

Clinging to This Hating Game 1/?

For the @prompt-a-klainefic blog’s 2017 Reverse Bang

Link to the art by @datshitrandom (I love it!)

the prompt:

Kurt and Blaine couldn't stand each other in high school, maybe one was a jock/cheerleader and the other a nerd/glee clubber. Or they were bitter rivals for competition solos if they were both in glee club. Now they both live in NY and their friends set them up on a blind date, not knowing they went to the same high school.

I did expand the prompt a bit, and I expect it to run about 5 chapters (maybe 6...). I should get one up every 2-3 days, if the universe cooperates (although Speedogate II has already put me a bit behind, lol).

I think here are a couple of other authors writing the same prompt, so look them up too!

High School AU, Cheerio!Kurt, Jock!Blaine Rating: Explicit Warnings: some bullying and homophobic language, teenage sex Word Count: ~4600

Thanks to superbeta @mshoneysucklepink who knocked me around a bit! Everything wonky is my fault.

AO3 link

Chapter One

Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce and Quinn Fabray were not easy friends to have, but they were loyal. Quinn had plucked him out of the sight lines of the school bullies in freshman year and found him a place on the cheerleading squad. By sophomore year, they had even joined Glee club with him. Kurt had been sure at the time it was so Quinn could keep an eye on her (now ex-) boyfriend - who happened to be Kurt’s step-brother Finn, and Rachel Berry, but Kurt appreciated having them around. And on top of that Quinn and Santana could really sing, which was great for the glee club. And what was good for the glee club was good for Kurt’s college applications.

Of course the bullying didn't stop completely - it was still the middle-of-nowhere Ohio - but a few football players even joined glee club, and for Kurt it made things a little better. Now that he was heading into his senior year of high school, and he still hadn’t so much as kissed another boy, he needed Quinn’s help with one last thing.

Kurt checked himself in the mirror one last time, putting finishing touches on his hair, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles on the Burberry asymmetrical checked shirt - turquoise accents, thank you very much (it was from two seasons ago, but he was pretty sure no one would notice where he was going) that he'd snagged off eBay. Quinn had scored them invites to a “kick off the year” party in Columbus, and while it was still Ohio and he hardly expected anyone with an especially evolved sense of fashion to be there, he did have his own standards to live up to.

He added a pair of snug denim shorts - distressed up the front but neatly hemmed (by his own hand) at the cuff - and decided he looked hot enough to score with a college guy.

Three years of cheerleading had turned his ass from a liability in a china shop into lean muscle, and the shorts did amazing things for his thighs. A pair of Jimmy Choo croc print espadrilles he’d scored off of ebay completed the look.

“Well, Kurt Hummel, if you can’t get a guy to want to make out with you in this getup in Ohio you’re never going to make it in New York.”

Kurt skimmed the stairs, hoping to sneak out without a judgmental eye from his dad. Burt knew he was going out with the girls tonight, and since he was only a few months shy of 18 he really didn't have a curfew.

“How late do you expect to be out, Kurt?”

Damn.

“Well, Quinn has to go to church tomorrow, so I think we’ll try to leave by midnight.” Burt grunted. “We should be home by two at the latest.”

“Who's the designated driver?”

Kurt raised his hand to shoulder height, wiggling his fingers. “Yours truly.” Kurt knew Burt always felt better if he drove.

“Okay.” Burt sighed and rubbed the top of his head. “I'm never going to get used to you being so grown up son. I mean, a year from now you’ll be gone.”

Quinn asked The Question during the drive to Columbus.

“How serious are you about this Kurt?”

“That will depend entirely on my options. You’re sure there will be gay guys at this party?”

“It’s being co-hosted by the drama frat at OSU, and Jordan said there would absolutely be a very diverse group attending.”

Santana leaned forward from her seat in the back. “As long as there’s booze and dancing, I’ll be happy.” Quinn turned and frowned at her.

“I love it when you’re happy Santana,” Brittany chirped from the back seat.

“And I am in full support of your getting some, my pretty pony.” Santana poked Kurt on the shoulder. “Sex is awesome.”

Kurt snorted. Santana had taken some getting used to at first, but dating Brittany had eased some of her anger, and lately she’d been encouraging Kurt to go hang out at Lima’s only gay bar and just ‘get it done.’

The truth was that Kurt was more than a little nervous about what he was planning - hoping really, to do at this party.

Kurt had always hoped that at some point he'd meet a nice guy at school, one who was sweet and romantic and out and brave enough to be with him. Someone who'd want to figure out things together, share French fries and movie dates and clothing tips, and various firsts of a sexual variety. But that guy never showed up, and in a year Kurt was moving to New York having possibly never even held another boy’s hand, much less kissed one. He intended that to change tonight.

There were a lot of cars parked on the street as they got near the party, so they parked a couple of blocks away and walked over.

“I told my dad we’d be on the road by midnight, which means we can probably push it to one am if we’re having a good time.”

“By good time do you mean if some junior frat boy is on his knees with his -”

“Santana!” Quinn hissed. Santana rolled her eyes and walked ahead, her pinkie finger linked with Britt. Quinn slipped her arm through Kurt’s as they made their way toward the house. The party looked to be in full swing. “There will be a lot of people there and it can get intimidating.”

“I have been to parties, Quinn.”

“Still, you’re looking to pick someone up - or get picked up -” She looked at him and batted her eyelashes knowingly - “and this is more or less a first for you. Remember - never drink anything someone hands you unless you watched them pour or open it - or open it yourself, and you don’t have to do anything that you don’t want. Ever. With anyone.”

“I’m driving so I won’t be drinking much at all -”

“People put things in soda too Kurt.” He supposed she had a point. “Just mingle for a while, see if you’re comfortable.”

Quinn gave the guy working the door her name, which he checked off a list and gave them each three drink tickets. “Have fun!” He said brightly as they trailed in. Definitely theater department, Kurt thought.

They did a lap around the party, all of them grabbing drinks when they got to the booze room. Kurt had decided earlier that he would have one beer to loosen up and maybe settle some of his nerves, but after that it would be water or soda. After leaving Quinn with the guy who had invited them, and an agreement to text each other at midnight to see where they were all at, Kurt went with Santana and Brittany to find the dance floor.

The frat house was predictably large, but for this end of summer blast they had set up a lighted dance floor in the back yard, complete with DJ and strings of mismatched lights strung up all around the dance area. There were tables and chairs off to either side for just hanging out, and an outside bar. It was a lot more civilized than Kurt had expected from his first official (and hopefully only) frat party.

Kurt finished his beer, then danced with the girls for a few songs, keeping his eyes open for any guys who might be interested. After a few songs a tall, blond, very attractive guy cut in, pulling Kurt away from the girls. They danced a couple of songs, but he didn't get too handsy, and Kurt switched him out for another partner, then another after that.

The dancing went on for a while, and while he was having a good time, Kurt hadn't connected with anyone in a way that made him want to drag him up to an empty bedroom somewhere. He did want another beer, but he wasn’t actually drunk enough off of the one he’d had to talk himself into it - he’d had road safety drilled into his head since before he could walk - so when he was ready for a break he grabbed a water from the outside bar and wandered back into the house.

It was hot inside, and the dancing had made him sweat. He did notice that there were a few cute, older looking guys eyeing him up, but he felt a little too gross and sweaty to let some stranger get too close, although they were just going to get sweaty anyway. Kurt shivered thinking about it, but he didn’t know if was excitement or nerves. Maybe he wasn’t really ready for this at all.

Kurt drained his water, but he was still hot and thirsty so he wandered to the bar room for a can of soda.

Standing in front of the bar was a guy he hadn't noticed earlier. He was talking to a girl with long dark hair, so Kurt took his time noticing him. He wore well fitted navy shorts and a retro patterned polo that Kurt immediately recognized as Brooks Brothers - where everyone else at the party was decked out in J Crew or Abercrombie. He was wearing sandals, which Kurt was willing to forgive only because of the excessive heat, and his hair was neatly combed and gelled down.

Kurt was still staring when the guy turned and noticed Kurt looking at him. He smiled with the corner of his mouth, but Kurt looked away, embarrassed for getting caught looking. When Kurt had no choice but to turn back as his turn came at the bar, both the guy and the girl he had been talking to were gone. Kurt sighed and took his mercifully freezing cold diet soda from the guy minding the bar and walked out to drink it on the front porch, hoping it would be a little quieter than inside the house.

When he finally made it outside, Kurt was surprised to find that the only person actually on the front porch was Mr. Brooks Brothers, from the bar. He had turned when Kurt opened the door, and was looking right at Kurt when he stepped out.

“Hi,” Mr. Brooks Brothers said.

Kurt blinked about a hundred times. “Uh, hi.” He looked down at his soda can and popped the top. He could already feel his mouth drying up. “Cool party.” The guy didn’t say anything, so Kurt kept talking. “Do you go to school here?”

Brooks Brothers stared for a moment, then seemed to realize it was his turn to say something, and nodded sharply. “Yeah, um, sophomore.”

God this guy was cute. Kurt kept staring. “Oh, cool.”

“What about you? Do you go here?”

Kurt had decided his cover story would be that he went to school at NYU - there would be less likelihood of ever running into someone in NY. And he was absolutely going to get in there anyway.

“No, I go to NYU. I'm here with some friends.”

Brooks Brothers nodded. “Ah.” They both stood silent for a moment, and Kurt had to wonder if he would ever have a not-awkward moment with a guy, when the guy spoke again. “I saw you dancing earlier - was going to cut in, but then you disappeared.”

Brooks Brothers took a couple of steps closer while he talked. He wasn't close enough to touch him or anything, but Kurt could see that they guy had quite pretty eyes, and biceps that threatened the integrity of the sleeves on the shirt he was wearing and oh wow pretty lips…that were still talking.

“I don't know if - you can say no if you don't, um, my car is parked just about a block away -” he shrugged, “if you maybe want to get away for a bit.” His confidence in what he was proposing was undermined somewhat by how nervously he was proposing it, but Kurt was sure when he asked that all of the hesitation about hooking up at this party that he’d had inside the house had disappeared.

“Okay,” he heard himself say, and he was rewarded with a smile that lit Brooks Brothers’ face all the way from his mouth to the tips of his sweetly triangular eyebrows. “Lead the way.”

Silently, Kurt followed Brooks Brothers to his car, which was parked around the corner from the frat house but in the opposite direction from where Kurt had parked his car earlier. There were other cars parked along the street on both sides, but it was secluded from view of the frat house by a large row of shrubs, and the street was darkened further due to a broken overhead street lamp. It seemed remarkably well concealed from prying eyes and Kurt wondered if the guy had parked here for exactly that reason. Kurt filed that idea away in case he ever found himself at a party looking to pick up virginal young high school students trying to pass themselves off as college. Brooks Brothers unlocked the car with a ‘blip blip’ and opened the back door, indicating for Kurt to get in, a small smile visible on his face.

Kurt slid into the back seat turning his body so that his left knee was folded on the seat and he could face Brooks Brothers, who slid in next to him. After auto locking the car and tossing the keys onto the center console in the front, he played with his phone and set it on the floor of the car. It was letting off a low glow that gave off some light allowing them to see each other, but not so bright that it lit up the car.

“Better,” he breathed, turning to Kurt and sliding an arm across the back of the seat. His left hand curved around Kurt’s right thigh, and without any preamble at all, he leaned in and pressed his mouth against Kurt’s.

For the first time in his life Kurt was kissing another boy, and he was so surprised by it that he let out an actual squeak. Brooks Brothers pulled back, looking at him in the near dark.

“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?”

Kurt was mortified. It might be the first time he’d had his lips on another boy, but the last thing he wanted was for the boy know that.

“No it’s fine,” Kurt said, forcing a smile. “Caught me off guard.” He gathered all the courage he had and leaned in, grateful that Brooks Brothers didn’t seem to be annoyed with him and went right back to what he’d been doing too. Which was kissing Kurt. Kurt parted his lips, tilting his head to get a better angle, and Brooks Brothers made a pleased noise and pushed closer. The hand across the back of the seat moved to Kurt’s shoulder, then around the back of his neck, long strong fingers holding him as they kissed harder. Kurt gasped when he felt a tongue slide alongside his own and without thinking he sucked lightly on it. The hand on his thigh drifted higher, stroking along Kurt’s leg until fingers teased into the holes Kurt had made in his jeans.

Kurt had been at an initial loss for where to put his hands, and pressed them against Brooks Brother’s (very firm) chest. He moved them up, over muscled shoulders, moaning without realizing it as he did.

“Mmm, wait, wait,” Brooks Brothers stopped just as Kurt was wriggling his hips to shift closer. “What’s your name?”

“My name?” Kurt asked between kisses. “What?” Kurt kept kissing and Brooks Brothers didn’t object. But he wasn’t done asking.

“Yeah, your name.” Kurt moved one hand down across Brooks Brothers’ chest and down, getting his own grip on the guy’s thigh.

“Does it matter?” Kurt kissed along his jaw, dragging his teeth below Brooks Brothers’ ear.

“What? Yes, yeah. I’m about to put my hand in your pants - at least I hope I am” he ducked his head with a bashful smile that Kurt found both sexy and endearing. “I want to know your name. It matters.” He paused. “My name’s Blaine.”

Kurt stopped kissing Blaine, pulling back to look into this boys eyes, panting just a little from the kissing. Back in sophomore year his dad had given him the sex talk, complete with actual how-to pamphlets and instructions to ask him if he had any questions. He didn't know whether his dad was hoping that Kurt would meet a boy, or was just completely clueless about the unlikelihood of that ever happening at McKinley High School in backwardsville Lima, Ohio. Either way, Kurt had been mortified at the entire thing, hiding in his room for the next several hours (okay, reading the pamphlets, but that hadn’t made the experience less mortifying). But Burt Hummel had said one thing that had stuck with him, and was sure would lead him to be incredibly disappointed with his son if he knew what he was doing right now. “Don't throw yourself around,” he'd said. “You matter, Kurt.” Kurt blinked and looked at Blaine.

“Kurt,” he said. “My name’s Kurt.”

Blaine grinned a smile so bright Kurt thought it could have lit the car from the inside all by itself.

“Kurt.” Blaine leaned in, his kiss swollen lips slotting onto Kurt's for a long brain melting moment. “I was calling you ‘hot guy’, you know, in my head,” he said, pulling away for just a moment.

“That's okay,” Kurt responded, kissing back. “I was calling you Brooks Brothers.” Blaine laughed, sharp and sweet, that same grin threatening to split his face in two.

He leaned back in, fingers now playing at the buttons on Kurt’s shirt. “May I?” He asked, kissing Kurt on the cheek.

Kurt nodded, nervous about how this was going to go, or what exactly was going to happen. He kissed Blaine as a distraction as Blaine unbuttoned his shirt, then groaned when Blaine put his hands on Kurt's bare chest. Kurt inhaled sharply, but leaned in so Blaine wouldn't pull away. He didn't know what he was doing, but he didn't want to stop. At least not yet.

They continued touching and kissing, each step closer to what, Kurt wasn't sure. The angle in the back seat made getting closer difficult, and the hard on in Kurt's shorts was getting uncomfortable.

But the making out was getting more intense. Blaine wriggled and slid under Kurt, his back on the back seat, and he tugged until Kurt was lying on top of him. They were both obviously hard. Kurt propped himself up with his elbows and looked down at Blaine who looked gorgeous and a little desperate in the odd light of the back seat. His hips churned little circles against the weight of Kurt on top of him.

“That feels good,” Kurt gasped, dropping his head to Blaine’s shoulder.

Blaine was panting against Kurt’s cheek. Kurt swore to himself that if he ever had the opportunity to make out in a car again he’d make sure he had his Navigator. “Yeah?”

“Uh huh.”

“Can I touch you?” Blaine was running a finger up and down the obvious bulge of Kurt's cock straining in his shorts. Kurt thought he might black out just at that.

“Yes, yes please.”

Blaine gripped Kurt by the hips, pushing him off just enough to get his hands between them. He rubbed firmly against Kurt’s erection, a quiet wow escaping his lips. Kurt stared at Blaine’s face as he slid each button on the fly of his shorts through its hole, breathing harder as Blaine opened his pants and slipped his hand inside, over the fabric of his underwear.

“Oh god,” Kurt thrust into Blaine's hand, once, twice, a third time. The blind pleasure of having another boy touch him rippled from his jaw down through his spine, leaving him jolting into the air when Blaine removed his hand.

“Wait, hang on,” Blaine said. He pushed Kurt to sit up a bit more, then pulled his own shirt over his head. Blaine dropped back to the seat of the car and then quickly unfastened his belt and undid his own shorts. Kurt watched as he wriggled them down just a bit past his hips. Then he reached back for Kurt's shorts, pushing them down until he could reach into his underwear and then he wrapped his hand around the bare flesh of Kurt's cock. Blaine whimpered, then pulled his own cock out of his underwear. Kurt put a hand on Blaine’s wrist.

“Can I?” He searched Blaine’s eyes for any hesitation, but it wasn't there. Blaine nodded, and Kurt lay the palm of his hand against Blaine’s cock, wrapping his fingers around it and stroking slowly. He felt like he should say something, compliment Blaine on how amazing his body felt or how gorgeous his cock was. Blaine moaned, tilting his head back, and Kurt didn't have the words.

Then Blaine wriggled again, positioning Kurt over him and then pushing on his lower back until his cock was pressed against Blaine’s.

Kurt gasped, and Blaine spit into his hand and wrapped it around both of their cocks as best he could, trapping them in the channel of his fist. Kurt wanted to be disgusted at Blaine using spit for lubricant, but honestly the whole thing was so hot and they looked so hot in Blaine’s hand as he rubbed them together that he just couldn't.

“Just - put your hands here,” Blaine said, placing Kurt’s hands on the back of the seat and the door handle behind him. ”Brace yourself. Let me take care of you.” Blaine smiled up at him, and Kurt was grateful he knew what he was doing. This had been a good idea.

After that it was all heavy breathing and the sound of rustling clothes and skin on skin until Kurt couldn't watch anymore. He closed his eyes, thrusting into Blaine's hand as he jerked them both off.

“Oh god,” Kurt moaned. He wanted to focus on what was happening. Another boy had his hand on Kurt's cock for the first time and he wanted to watch, wanted to know what he was experiencing. But Blaine's hand was so sure and his cock was so hard and it was all so so different from when he touched himself anywhere that he just couldn't. Blaine was grunting and making noises underneath Kurt and Kurt wanted to know what he was feeling, wished he would say something, could say something. It was all so much.

Then Blaine moaned and shifted, and Kurt had to brace his leg so he wouldn't slide right off the back seat and somehow it made Blaine lose his grip on them for a second - Kurt heard Blaine hiss no then replace his grip on them, twisting in a totally new way that caused Kurt to make a noise somewhere between a choke and a whine. He looked at Blaine, hoping he hadn't noticed Kurt's completely virginal reactions to what they were doing; he didn't want to let on that he’d never done anything like this before..

But Blaine had his head thrown back against the arm of the door, his eyes closed, his mouth open in a perfect ‘o’ and Blaine was coming in thick white stripes across his chest, over his fist, come smearing all over Kurt’s cock as he continued pushing through Blaine’s fist. It only took fractions of fractions of seconds for Kurt to make all these observations and then he felt the familiar whip-crack down his spine into his balls and he was coming all over Blaine’s chest, his release pooling with Blaine’s.

It took Kurt a few moments to come back to himself, the intensity of the experience both more and less than he'd expected, now that it was over. Blaine had stroked him through the last pulse of his orgasm, seemingly knowing just when to stop before it was too much. Kurt wondered if the whole thing had been too much, but Blaine was smiling up at him so sweetly, what looked like real feeling in his eyes, so Kurt didn't say anything. Blaine shifted up on one elbow and pressed the hand not covered in their come against Kurt’s cheek, holding him in place for a soft, closed mouth kiss that should have felt chaste but was anything but.

“That was amazing,” Blaine said, pulling away. His messy hand trailed circles through the come on his stomach.

Kurt blinked, his cock throbbing. “It was?”

Blaine looked up and frowned, a worried look instantly taking over his face. “You didn’t - you could have said if you wanted something else.”

Kurt couldn’t in that moment imagine what else he could have wanted. He shook his head, some need to reassure Blaine spiking in his chest.

“No, no it was, um great. You were great.” He tried to match Blaine’s smile, but wasn’t sure anyone could actually do that. “I’m glad you liked it,” Kurt said, cringing a little and sitting back on his heels, bumping his head on the roof of the car with a loud ‘oof’. He looked at Blaine and forced himself to grin. Be natural. “I’m always a little clumsy after a good orgasm.” Blaine giggled, but his eyes were wide. Smooth Hummel.

Now that they were both coming down from the rush of orgasm, their half naked state was starting to get awkward and Blaine made an attempt to sit up.

“I think there are some tissues under the seat there, do you think you can reach?” Blaine asked.

Kurt twisted around, finding the box and offering a handful to Blaine to clean himself up with. Eventually Kurt tucked himself back into his underwear and fastened up his pants, shifting so Blaine could free his legs and sit up. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Blaine eventually wriggled into his shorts, realizing in a panic that he didn’t have an exit plan. He couldn’t imagine etiquette called for him to hang around long. He was trying to think up some meaningful parting words when Blaine reached for his keys on the front console and unlocked the car doors.

“So, can I walk you back to the party?” He sounded fully composed. Was this all there was? Kurt wondered. They shake hands and leave?

“No, I have to get going.” Kurt shook his head, trying to offer a polite smile. He really had no idea what time it was, or what the girls were up to, but he didn’t think it was quite curfew yet. “Thanks.”

He reached for the door, pulling the handle and pushing the door open so he could step out. Blaine sat in the car, making no move to follow him, so Kurt leaned over to stick his head in the car to say goodbye.

Blaine jumped in his seat when Kurt reappeared. The light from Blaine’s phone shone more directly on his face, and he looked scared.

“Hey I just wanted to say good-bye.”

Blaine nodded, his smile back in an instant. “Yeah.” Blaine waved. “See you ‘round.”

Kurt had had enough of the party, and walked back to his car, his limbs still a little shaky. His body felt good, but his heart felt a little empty, and he didn’t know what to think about that. He hadn’t really expected to feel anything like that. He thought he would just feel experienced.

Kurt climbed into his car and checked his phone - there were two texts from Quinn and one from Santana. He texted that the combination of J.Crew and the oppressive August heat had put him off his original plan, and he had gone back to the car to keep from becoming sick. It was barely 11:30. He wanted to be alone for a while.

#clinging to this hating game #prompt-a-klaine-fic #prompt-a-klaine-fic reverse bang #artist: datshitrandom #klaine fic

86 notes · View notes