Just A Girl - Epilogue
Title: Just A Girl - Epilogue
Author: Race122VE (Coll)
Pairing: Santana/Brittany
Rating: R (mostly language, then violence and some semi sexiness as the fic goes on)
Summary: “But…you’re just a girl.” Glee AU fic.
Word Count: Just about 4800 (Overall, 58.251)
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Author's Notes: Just wanted to take this time to thank everyone for sticking with me and reading this. Especially to yankeefreak132 who started beta'ing this and to gogogorilla who kinda helped out in the later chapters (namely the epilogue) Apologies to some of the really late updates and not always replying to comments. I read and appreciate every single one though and they do help me to keep going. I've got a few things in the works (as well as a sequel outlined out for this one) so hopefully you'll enjoy those. Thanks again for reading!
Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11
One Week Later
Things are going well.
Too well, but Santana finds it is easy to ignore the sense that something dark and ominous is hanging over her head when Brittany kisses her.
Brittany touching her in any way pretty much makes her forget that she’s the Slayer, and they’ve had a whole week of forgetting.
After the attack at school that got Rachel and Brittany kidnapped and Puck in a hospital bed for a couple days, the police pretty much shut down the McKinley and opened a full on investigation. It didn’t help that Carmel High’s Glee Club also disappeared the same night. All of that coupled with the increasing number of missing students that had accumulated over the past month forced the cops to get off their asses and actually try to do something.
Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done and they just ended up going around in circles. They’re going to keep running around in circles because the investigations won’t close anytime soon and there won’t be any new information to gain.
The day after everything went down, Brittany and Santana met up with Mr. Schue, Sue, Rachel, and Quinn because Quinn was about to get dragged into multiple questioning sessions and they had to get their stories straight. They all agreed on something and Quinn talked to Puck, but Quinn got put through the wringer even though she didn’t know anything and Puck ended up becoming a kind of local hero or something, surviving the attack when so many others vanished without a trace.
Santana hadn’t gotten a chance to see him since kneeling next his body, but they had texted back and forth saying they were both busy and happy to be alive and blah blah blah. Neither of them had ever been good with verbalizing their mutual liking of one another. Santana was still, technically, grounded (though her mom had been allowing Brittany over to hang out because Brittany’s really good at convincing parents to give her what she wants) and Puck was probably using his near death experience to get as much ass as humanly possible anyway, so it didn’t matter too much that they hadn’t seen each other.
The first day back was quiet. Everyone steered clear of her because now she has this reputation of being a delinquent but she kind of likes the peace being a loner brings. Sure, she has Brittany and Quinn and Glee Club, but only their extracurricular activities were to blame for them seeing each other all day.
Before Brittany was forced into her supernatural world and they got together, Santana enjoyed not seeing the blonde all day. It made it easier to avoid her.
Now?
Now she hates it.
As soon as her last class let’s out Santana sets up camp outside the locker room and waits for the Cheerios to finish their practice.
Sue Sylvester may be her Watcher and understand why she quit the Cheerios in the first place (hell, she was going to kick her off the team herself had Santana not beat her to it), but she still enforces the rule that no one is allowed in the Cheerios locker room for any reason.
It sucks and Santana would sneak in and get her mack on before Glee, but Sue has secret cameras installed. Not all the girls know about it, obviously, but Santana’s accidentally stumbled upon a wall of monitors behind one of Sue’s trophy cases that show the locker room. It’s the main reason she picked the back row of lockers for her, Brittany, and Quinn.
There’s ten minutes left before Brittany comes bursting out of the door and into her arms and she’s trying to read up about this stone that supposedly allows a vampire to walk in sunlight or something (Mr. Schue talks a lot and she knows it’s important to know these kinds of things but it’s all really boring and she’s better at the hitting thing anyways) but she can’t focus. She’s both worried and anxious about being with Brittany.
Sure the blonde is known for her promiscuous tendencies (most of them are exaggerated and, if anything, Brittany’s really just a make out slut) and blindness to gender and it’s stupid because she could give a shit about what people think of her, but she’s still kind of worried about being public with her relationship. They’ve been in this kind of bubble where the only people who know that they’re together for sure are Quinn and Rachel.
And Mr. Schue too, she guesses.
They did walk into that meeting with their fingers laced together and Brittany practically in her lap the whole time. You’d have to be an idiot not to realize that their friendship has turned into something more.
Being back at school though, and under the constant scrutiny of her peers, just makes everything so much more real. It shouldn’t matter that Brittany’s a girl; there are more important things, more life threatening things, to worry about, but she can’t help it.
All she ever wanted from life was a sense of normalcy and all she’s gotten is different. From her dad leaving her and her mom, to becoming a Slayer, to falling for her best friend. All three of those things are scary for their own reasons, but Brittany makes it easy for her to forget her fear.
That’s why her leg is bouncing up and down and her eyes are staring intently at the door to the locker room and it’s also why she nearly jumps out of her skin when Puck plops down right next to her.
“Sup?”
“Well, well…look at you, all alive and shit,” Santana greets with a smirk. “What are you doing here? Waiting to grab the first Cheerio you see?”
“I’m waiting for a Cheerio, yes,” he responds, mirroring her smirk. “I was also hoping to catch up with you at some point before Glee Club. Should’ve known you’d be waiting for Brittany.”
Santana laughs, “Am I that obvious?”
“You both are,” he corrects her, laughing along before turning serious. “Anyway, um…I’ve been wanting to…you know…thank you…”
“Thank me?”
Puck nods, “Yeah. I don’t know any other chicks that have super powers and kill vampires.”
She shushes him because they may be the only two people outside of the locker room, but Puck’s using his regular, loud voice and she can’t chance anything. Things have been quiet, she’s only been out patrolling twice and come across a handful of vampires, but she doesn’t want to jinx anything. Mr. Schue keeps saying that’s it’s always quietest before the storm or whatever, and she knows he’s right.
So, Santana wants to enjoy that quiet for as long as she can.
“You don’t have to thank me, you know,” she tells him. “Quinn’s the one that got you to a hospital. I got myself covered in your blood and had a nervous breakdown.”
“You chased off the vampires, they would’ve found Quinn, they would’ve drained me,” he insists in a hushed whisper. “You saved us all that night and you’ve been keeping this secret and…”
She sees him getting worked up and clenching his fists in frustration so she reaches over and wraps her hand around one of them. Puck’s head is hung low, his eyes fixated on the ugly tiling on the floor. She scoffs and leans her body into his, bumping their shoulders together as she releases her hand and pats his thigh a couple times. “I kind of didn’t have a choice,” she jokes, hoping to lighten the mood. “I have to save everyone, even assholes like you.”
Puck looks back up at her and can’t help but grin. “You love me.”
“I put up with you,” she says back. “Doesn’t mean I love you.”
Puck’s smile only gets bigger, and more suggestive. “Whatever. You’re going to miss seeing me every day.”
“I already see you every day,” she reminds him.
“I’m talking about Glee Club,” he says. “It’s our last meeting. We didn’t go to Regionals which means we didn’t win Regionals which means bye-bye club.”
Santana’s mouth hangs open for a few seconds before she snaps it shut and shakes her head. “No,” she shoots back, unable to believe that the one normal thing left she has could possibly be over. “No way. Mr. Schue wouldn’t let Figgins do that.”
“You think it’s up to Figgins?” Puck argues. “It’s fucking Sue Sylvester. I know she’s your Watcher or some shit, but that doesn’t change the fact that she still hates Glee Club.”
“No. No, it’s not fair-”
“Not about what’s fair,” Puck cuts in, pausing to glance up at the door as a few Cheerios start filing out of the locker room. “You should know that better than anyone else. Nothing about what’s happened to you is fair.”
She’s ready to argue further, but the bell rings and there’s Cheerios everywhere and now is not a good time to get into it. Puck shrugs as he pushes himself off the floor and holds his arms open. Santana’s too lost in the reality of what’s about to happen to care that Puck and some chick are sucking on each other’s faces as she sits on the ground.
This can’t be the last Glee Club meeting.
Well, technically it can be because summer break is right around the corner.
But Santana had started entertaining the idea that her two lives could coexist and her high school career wasn’t going to be wasted as just some girl with a bad reputation.
Just like that, Noah Puckerman had burst her bubble and sent her crashing down into reality.
She pushes herself up to her feet, ready to sock him in the shoulder for good measure and scare away whatever girl was dumb enough to fall for his hero bit by suggesting that he had some sort of highly contagious STD but stops when she notices a familiar head of blonde hair.
“Quinn?!?”
Quinn pulls away from Puck and turns to look at Santana while her hands still rest on his shoulders and his arms hug her waist close to his body.
“What the fuck?”
“Hey, S,” she says sheepishly, her cheeks flush and her lips trying not to smile broadly. “How’d the first day back go?”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you started hooking up with this loser?”
“Hey,” they both say back at the same time before Quinn goes on. “Because we weren’t hooking up until the weekend, and you’ve been busy with your own blonde.”
Santana rolls her eyes, “But it’s Puck. You hate Puck.”
Quinn steps back but her hand comes down and slides into Puck’s. “A lot’s changed, Santana…and I went to see him a lot in the hospital and we talked and…it just happened.”
“This kind of shit doesn’t happen unless there’s like…underlying feelings or something.”
She’s being weirdly irrational, but this just doesn’t seem like something to come out of left field. The virgin ice queen getting together with the bad boy player is not a good mix and not something that just happens. “There, um,” Quinn pauses to clear her throat and look back at Puck timidly. “There may have been some feelings.”
The way Quinn says it seems like a question and Puck looks back at her with the same dopey expression and Santana can’t stop the way her lip curls up in a sneer as he tells her, “Definitely some feelings, babe.”
There’s some kind of remark on her tongue (really there’s several things swirling in her mind that she wants to comment on because she’s been bombarded with a lot of pressing information in the past five minutes) but, thankfully, another familiar blonde catches her off guard.
The last week has been surprisingly helpful in Santana’s ongoing quest of learning how to properly master her skills. She’s good, but she’s still very new so sometimes she’ll slip and pull a door off its hinges or accidentally shove a dork too hard when she pushes her way through the halls. So when her and Brittany became pretty much inseparable this past week, Santana had to readjust her senses.
The blonde was prone to jumping up behind you and surprises and Santana didn’t think it was a good idea to give her girlfriend a black eye so she worked really hard on being hyper aware of Brittany. Now, just like she can sense vampires when they’re near she’s tuned herself into Brittany. She still finds herself getting pushed against walls and moaning loudly at the way Brittany’s tongue licks the roof of her mouth (much like what is happening now) but at least there’s no knee jerk reaction to shove the girl off of her and through a wall.
No, the only reaction she has now is to forget that anyone else exists except for the girl in her arms. Any negative thoughts about being open with their relationship, about the possible end of Glee Club, or the train wreck that is Puck and Quinn are gone and Santana smiles into the kiss as Brittany nips her bottom lip and tugs.
“Holy shit this is fucking hot.”
As she leans her head against the wall and Brittany turns to look over at the pair, Quinn’s fist slams hard into Puck’s chest.
“Ow!”
“Don’t gawk at them, perv.”
“They’re two hot chicks who I made out with making out in front of me. What am I supposed to- Ow, ow ow!”
After Quinn pounds Puck a few more times she grabs his hand and yanks him away from them, heading towards the choir room. “See you at Glee,” she calls back to them as Puck grumbles.
Brittany waves back at them, giggling still at Puck, before she turns her attention back to Santana. “Hi.”
“Hey,” she says back, all too aware of how close their faces are and how good Brittany smells even after an hour of Cheerio’s practice. “How was your day?”
“OK,” Brittany shrugs; a small, adorable pout on her lips. “I missed you though.”
Santana kisses the pout away. “I know,” she tells her, pulling away. “We just have to put up with it until summer and then try to make sure we have similar schedules next year.”
“You think we could?”
“I think I’ll threaten someone and then it’ll happen,” she smirks, but Brittany looks serious and worried. “Don’t worry, I won’t actually hurt anyone alive.”
“You better not,” Brittany jokes and Santana tries to smile back but her thoughts creep up on her again and her brow furrows. Brittany, being Brittany, catches it immediately. “What?”
She tries to brush it off. “Nothing. Just…thinking about something Puck said.”
“About how we’re hot?” Santana laughs because Brittany makes her feel better, but her girlfriend was just loosening her up. “Tell me.”
“About Glee Club,” she finally admits. “We didn’t win Regionals…”
“But there wasn’t a Regionals to win,” Brittany reminds her even though Santana’s painfully aware. “What does he think? That they’re going to get rid of Glee Club?”
“Figgins said we had to place at Regionals and Sue’s still hates us and Mr. Schue,” she says. “The fact that she’s one of my Watchers hasn’t changed that.”
Brittany tries to think of something to say, but sighs in defeat as her she tilts her head down and rests her forehead against Santana’s. “It’ll be OK.”
Her hands run up Brittany’s sides, sliding all the way up to her long, slender neck. She runs her fingers over the two small dots on Brittany’s neck. Her chest tightens and suddenly Brittany’s too close so she moves her hands down to rest on her shoulder and she gently pushes her back. “I chose Glee Club over the Cheerios,” she tells her. “It’s what I want; it’s all I have left except for making sure my grades are high enough to graduate-”
“You have me,” Brittany interrupts softly.
“I know, I didn’t mean…” Santana takes a deep breath, trying not to screw her words up. “in that one hour and all the rehearsal time we put in…I’m not a vampire Slayer. It helps me forget for a little bit.” Brittany opens her mouth to argue more, but Santana rushes on. “You do that too, you do, but sometimes I’ll close my eyes and I’ll see Matt and his fangs and your neck and…”
Blue eyes travel back up to hers and she takes a breath to steady herself. “I just didn’t think it would be over, that’s all.”
Brittany’s face softens and she nods. “Well we don’t know anything yet, right?” Santana shakes her head. “So let’s go and we’ll be sad about it when we have to be.”
“But I don’t want to be sad about it,” Santana whines, even though her tone is light and playful.
It gets a chuckle out of Brittany though. “Then I’ll have to make you unsad.” Brittany leans forward, catching Santana’s lips quickly before pulling away and tangling their fingers together. “Come on. We’re going to be late.”
Santana lets herself get dragged down the hall. They turn the corner heading towards the choir room. At first they fight through the sea of students trying to leave for the day, but eventually they part and stare at Brittany and Santana and their interlocked hands. Brittany walks a step ahead of her, head held high, pony tail bouncing with each step, and a smile plastered on to her face. Santana trails, squeezing her girlfriend’s hand every so often when she hears a too loud whisper. She hunches her shoulders and hangs her head low, hating the way she wants to rip her hand away and just disappear.
The looks don’t stop once Brittany leads them into the choir room. Eight sets of eyes collectively snap up as they enter and Santana freezes. Brittany stumbles a bit when she keeps going forward and turns to look at Santana. She raises her eyebrows. “S…?”
She clears her throat and tries to remember that she’s a badass and shouldn’t care about what people think of her, but everything’s so different now. Majority of the Glee Club now knows the truth about who she is and what kind of world they live in while the other’s go on in ignorant bliss, simply disappointed that they couldn’t compete at Regionals.
Maybe, she muses, that’s why she’s so worried about Glee Club’s future. Sure, she loves it, but worrying about something as trivial as a singing group is the kind of thing she should be worrying about.
It’s normal.
Brittany sits down next to Quinn and Santana glances at the rest of the group before sitting next to Brittany and sliding her seat closer. Artie and Tina are sitting on the other side of Quinn and Puck, trying to pretend that they weren’t just staring at her and Brittany. Mercedes and Kurt are behind them with the same guilty looks and Rachel’s next to them giving her a wide, bright smile. She rolls her eyes because she knows that she’s going to have to actually talk to Rachel Berry now and the tiny girl thinks she owes Santana or something.
It’s so annoying.
Finn’s in the back row with his eyes squeezed shut as his mouth continues to mumble something over and over again. It’s only thanks to her super heightened hearing that she recognizes the word “mailman” and she sneers briefly at that before her eyes move over to Mike.
Mike Chang is the quietest guy she’s even known, so much so that she was convinced he was a mute for a good three months after they met at a party shortly after high school started. That was also when she met Matt and that was the same night that Mike and Matt became just as inseparable as Santana and Brittany.
With all the shit going on in her own life, she never got a chance to see how Matt’s “disappearance” affected the rest of Glee Club. Now she can’t help but see it because while everyone in Glee Club was focusing on her hand in Brittany’s, Mike was just staring blankly ahead. The police had assured the good citizens of Lima, Ohio that they would continue searching for the missing kids until they found evidence to stop, but Santana knew the truth. Santana killed Matt personally and she’s looking at Mike and he seems incomplete, like he lost an arm or something.
They weren’t gay or anything (not that Santana hadn’t started her own rumors in the past about that subject just for kicks) but they were close enough where Matt’s death has broken Mike. It makes her miss the days of being a bitch and not caring about anything except status. A part of her wants to pull him aside and tell him the truth, give him some kind of peace of mind, but that would mean telling him everything and the last thing she needs is for another person to know the truth.
Though Mr. Schue and Sue didn’t say it out loud, she can just tell how neither is happy that four people know who she is.
Brittany pulls their joined hands into her lap, covering them with her free hand and giving Santana a smile when she looks over. It should make her feel better, it certainly helps, but she’s thinking about how much Mike must be hurting and how hurt she would’ve been if she didn’t save Brittany.
Luckily, Mr. Schue walks in and saves her from her grim thoughts. “Alright guys, welcome back,” he starts, looking over at Santana first before moving his gaze to Puck. “I think it’s safe to say we’re all glad to see each other, despite past differences, and I for one am happy to see Noah Puckerman back.”
He starts clapping and everyone joins in, even Mike. “It’s been a rough week for everyone,” he goes on after everyone settles. “There’s been a lot of recuperating and I know that Regionals was cancelled and some of you may be wondering if this is our last meeting or not.” Santana takes in a deep breath and squeezes Brittany’s hand a little too hard. “I’m happy to say it’s not.”
They’re all sort of frozen in shock with the news at first until Rachel Berry jumps up and screams. Everyone takes another moment to process the news. Santana takes the longest, her jaw still hanging open as she stares at Mr. Schuester. He’s smiling as everyone jumps around and hugs each other. Rachel runs up and throws herself into his arms. It’s all happening in slow motion and the only thing that breaks her out of her daze is when Brittany leans down and pecks her lips. “You heard him, right?”
Santana nods like a crazy person as she stands and pulls Brittany into a hug. “See,” Brittany says into her shoulder, her voice muffled and happy. “I told you it would be OK.”
“You have to say stuff like that,” Santana teases as she pulls back.
Brittany’s still smiling. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t believe it.”
Their exchange goes unnoticed and Santana likes it that way.
“What happened?” Quinn breaks the silence, addressing Mr. Schuester and still hanging on to Puck. “How did you convince Principal Figgins?”
“I had some help,” Mr. Schue says. “From Sue.”
The entire room stops and stares back at him, jaws wide open in shock. “What?” Rachel gasps.
Schue just nods. “Yeah, I was arguing my case with Figgins and Sue strolls in and offers to give the Glee Club the funds that it needs for another year,” he tells them. “I caught up with her after she left and tried to ask her why but she just insulted my hair, so I didn’t press.”
“I can’t believe it,” Santana mutters.
“Believe it,” he says back with a nod that’s meant just for her. “But don’t mention it to Sue, let’s not jinx it. Anyway…I think you kids deserve a break, get out of here, and enjoy your summers.”
Everyone cheers and hugs once more before collecting their things and filing out of the choir room. Santana (along with Brittany, Quinn, Puck, and Rachel) takes a little bit longer, silently knowing somehow that they should all hang back to talk with Mr. Schuester. They all watch as Tina rolls Artie out of the room before addressing each other.
Well, they kind of just look around at each other and open and close their mouths every now and again but never really say anything.
After all, what’s there really to say that they haven’t talked about?
“Coach Sylvester is really responsible for another year of Glee Club?” Rachel asks, her voice sounding loud and mammoth as it cuts through the silence.
“I told you guys exactly what happened,” he confirms. “I can’t guarantee that the abuse will stop, but for whatever reason she’s keeping us afloat.
“That’s not what’s important though,” he says more seriously. “I know where we landed after we all got together; minus Noah, but I wanted to make sure that everyone’s still doing alright now that you know…what you know.”
Everyone nods and there’s a chorus of murmured agreement before Mr. Schue talks again. “Good. Because it’s really important that no one knows what Santana is and what she fights. I’m not going to stand here and say that I’m thrilled so many of you know about vampires and demons now but I am glad you’re all a group of kids I can trust. I know that you guys get how important this is and that’s why I’m not worried…”
He trails off, his eyes going to the back of the room where Rachel is still seated. Santana turns and groans when she sees her with her hand raised in the air, begging to be called on. “Rachel?”
“I’d actually like to say something to all of you,” she responds, clearing her throat before she moves to the piano and stands next to Mr. Schue. “If that’s…alright…”
Mr. Schue nods politely and walks to stand with everyone else. His hand comes down on Santana’s shoulder and squeezes briefly and she rolls her eyes at him even though Mr. Schuester is kind of awesome. Brittany’s palm slides against her own and she looks over to see the blonde watching Rachel. Santana looks up at the girl and sees her take a deep breath, trying to compose herself, before looking up at the group.
“I’ll try to be brief,” Rachel begins, her voice shaky and nervous which is not something Santana expects from her. “I know that I don’t belong here, that none of you like me and that if Santana could make someone forget her secret it would be me-”
“Rachel…”
“Please, Mr. Schuester,” she stops him from whatever interruption he had, takes another deep breath, and continues. “Anyway, I just…wanted to offer my help in any way that I can. I’ve seen what vampires are capable of.” Rachel pauses to glance at Puck. “I could’ve been in a worse position than I was but you saved me. You saved me and I know how hard that must have been for you because I know that there was only one thing on your mind that night.”
Her hand squeezes Brittany’s without any thought as her eyes remain on Rachel. She turns to look at Santana and gives her a watery smile. “I know that I can’t do what you do, but if you need anything I want to help,” she goes on. “I can’t keep going on, knowing what I know, and just be useless. So, I’m officially at your service. Consider it a thank you.”
“Ditto,” Puck chimes in, winking at her.
Quinn smiles as she leans back against him and Brittany leans over to kiss her cheek, lingering a few moments before pulling back and whispering, “We’re not going anywhere.”
Warmth spreads throughout her body and it’s different from what Brittany’s been making her feel all week. If she had to put a word on it, she’d call it hope. Accepting her destiny meant that she shut out any chance of happiness or a life outside of this world and now…
Now she has her best friend as her girlfriend and Glee Club and friends (even if those friends include Rachel Berry) that know her deepest, darkest secret and love her anyway. More than that, they want to help her in any way that they can. Santana can’t remember ever feeling this happy before in her entire life.
Standing in this room and being with these people, she thinks she could get used to it.
The End.
Author: Race122VE (Coll)
Pairing: Santana/Brittany
Rating: R (mostly language, then violence and some semi sexiness as the fic goes on)
Summary: “But…you’re just a girl.” Glee AU fic.
Word Count: Just about 4800 (Overall, 58.251)
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Author's Notes: Just wanted to take this time to thank everyone for sticking with me and reading this. Especially to yankeefreak132 who started beta'ing this and to gogogorilla who kinda helped out in the later chapters (namely the epilogue) Apologies to some of the really late updates and not always replying to comments. I read and appreciate every single one though and they do help me to keep going. I've got a few things in the works (as well as a sequel outlined out for this one) so hopefully you'll enjoy those. Thanks again for reading!
Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11
One Week Later
Things are going well.
Too well, but Santana finds it is easy to ignore the sense that something dark and ominous is hanging over her head when Brittany kisses her.
Brittany touching her in any way pretty much makes her forget that she’s the Slayer, and they’ve had a whole week of forgetting.
After the attack at school that got Rachel and Brittany kidnapped and Puck in a hospital bed for a couple days, the police pretty much shut down the McKinley and opened a full on investigation. It didn’t help that Carmel High’s Glee Club also disappeared the same night. All of that coupled with the increasing number of missing students that had accumulated over the past month forced the cops to get off their asses and actually try to do something.
Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done and they just ended up going around in circles. They’re going to keep running around in circles because the investigations won’t close anytime soon and there won’t be any new information to gain.
The day after everything went down, Brittany and Santana met up with Mr. Schue, Sue, Rachel, and Quinn because Quinn was about to get dragged into multiple questioning sessions and they had to get their stories straight. They all agreed on something and Quinn talked to Puck, but Quinn got put through the wringer even though she didn’t know anything and Puck ended up becoming a kind of local hero or something, surviving the attack when so many others vanished without a trace.
Santana hadn’t gotten a chance to see him since kneeling next his body, but they had texted back and forth saying they were both busy and happy to be alive and blah blah blah. Neither of them had ever been good with verbalizing their mutual liking of one another. Santana was still, technically, grounded (though her mom had been allowing Brittany over to hang out because Brittany’s really good at convincing parents to give her what she wants) and Puck was probably using his near death experience to get as much ass as humanly possible anyway, so it didn’t matter too much that they hadn’t seen each other.
The first day back was quiet. Everyone steered clear of her because now she has this reputation of being a delinquent but she kind of likes the peace being a loner brings. Sure, she has Brittany and Quinn and Glee Club, but only their extracurricular activities were to blame for them seeing each other all day.
Before Brittany was forced into her supernatural world and they got together, Santana enjoyed not seeing the blonde all day. It made it easier to avoid her.
Now?
Now she hates it.
As soon as her last class let’s out Santana sets up camp outside the locker room and waits for the Cheerios to finish their practice.
Sue Sylvester may be her Watcher and understand why she quit the Cheerios in the first place (hell, she was going to kick her off the team herself had Santana not beat her to it), but she still enforces the rule that no one is allowed in the Cheerios locker room for any reason.
It sucks and Santana would sneak in and get her mack on before Glee, but Sue has secret cameras installed. Not all the girls know about it, obviously, but Santana’s accidentally stumbled upon a wall of monitors behind one of Sue’s trophy cases that show the locker room. It’s the main reason she picked the back row of lockers for her, Brittany, and Quinn.
There’s ten minutes left before Brittany comes bursting out of the door and into her arms and she’s trying to read up about this stone that supposedly allows a vampire to walk in sunlight or something (Mr. Schue talks a lot and she knows it’s important to know these kinds of things but it’s all really boring and she’s better at the hitting thing anyways) but she can’t focus. She’s both worried and anxious about being with Brittany.
Sure the blonde is known for her promiscuous tendencies (most of them are exaggerated and, if anything, Brittany’s really just a make out slut) and blindness to gender and it’s stupid because she could give a shit about what people think of her, but she’s still kind of worried about being public with her relationship. They’ve been in this kind of bubble where the only people who know that they’re together for sure are Quinn and Rachel.
And Mr. Schue too, she guesses.
They did walk into that meeting with their fingers laced together and Brittany practically in her lap the whole time. You’d have to be an idiot not to realize that their friendship has turned into something more.
Being back at school though, and under the constant scrutiny of her peers, just makes everything so much more real. It shouldn’t matter that Brittany’s a girl; there are more important things, more life threatening things, to worry about, but she can’t help it.
All she ever wanted from life was a sense of normalcy and all she’s gotten is different. From her dad leaving her and her mom, to becoming a Slayer, to falling for her best friend. All three of those things are scary for their own reasons, but Brittany makes it easy for her to forget her fear.
That’s why her leg is bouncing up and down and her eyes are staring intently at the door to the locker room and it’s also why she nearly jumps out of her skin when Puck plops down right next to her.
“Sup?”
“Well, well…look at you, all alive and shit,” Santana greets with a smirk. “What are you doing here? Waiting to grab the first Cheerio you see?”
“I’m waiting for a Cheerio, yes,” he responds, mirroring her smirk. “I was also hoping to catch up with you at some point before Glee Club. Should’ve known you’d be waiting for Brittany.”
Santana laughs, “Am I that obvious?”
“You both are,” he corrects her, laughing along before turning serious. “Anyway, um…I’ve been wanting to…you know…thank you…”
“Thank me?”
Puck nods, “Yeah. I don’t know any other chicks that have super powers and kill vampires.”
She shushes him because they may be the only two people outside of the locker room, but Puck’s using his regular, loud voice and she can’t chance anything. Things have been quiet, she’s only been out patrolling twice and come across a handful of vampires, but she doesn’t want to jinx anything. Mr. Schue keeps saying that’s it’s always quietest before the storm or whatever, and she knows he’s right.
So, Santana wants to enjoy that quiet for as long as she can.
“You don’t have to thank me, you know,” she tells him. “Quinn’s the one that got you to a hospital. I got myself covered in your blood and had a nervous breakdown.”
“You chased off the vampires, they would’ve found Quinn, they would’ve drained me,” he insists in a hushed whisper. “You saved us all that night and you’ve been keeping this secret and…”
She sees him getting worked up and clenching his fists in frustration so she reaches over and wraps her hand around one of them. Puck’s head is hung low, his eyes fixated on the ugly tiling on the floor. She scoffs and leans her body into his, bumping their shoulders together as she releases her hand and pats his thigh a couple times. “I kind of didn’t have a choice,” she jokes, hoping to lighten the mood. “I have to save everyone, even assholes like you.”
Puck looks back up at her and can’t help but grin. “You love me.”
“I put up with you,” she says back. “Doesn’t mean I love you.”
Puck’s smile only gets bigger, and more suggestive. “Whatever. You’re going to miss seeing me every day.”
“I already see you every day,” she reminds him.
“I’m talking about Glee Club,” he says. “It’s our last meeting. We didn’t go to Regionals which means we didn’t win Regionals which means bye-bye club.”
Santana’s mouth hangs open for a few seconds before she snaps it shut and shakes her head. “No,” she shoots back, unable to believe that the one normal thing left she has could possibly be over. “No way. Mr. Schue wouldn’t let Figgins do that.”
“You think it’s up to Figgins?” Puck argues. “It’s fucking Sue Sylvester. I know she’s your Watcher or some shit, but that doesn’t change the fact that she still hates Glee Club.”
“No. No, it’s not fair-”
“Not about what’s fair,” Puck cuts in, pausing to glance up at the door as a few Cheerios start filing out of the locker room. “You should know that better than anyone else. Nothing about what’s happened to you is fair.”
She’s ready to argue further, but the bell rings and there’s Cheerios everywhere and now is not a good time to get into it. Puck shrugs as he pushes himself off the floor and holds his arms open. Santana’s too lost in the reality of what’s about to happen to care that Puck and some chick are sucking on each other’s faces as she sits on the ground.
This can’t be the last Glee Club meeting.
Well, technically it can be because summer break is right around the corner.
But Santana had started entertaining the idea that her two lives could coexist and her high school career wasn’t going to be wasted as just some girl with a bad reputation.
Just like that, Noah Puckerman had burst her bubble and sent her crashing down into reality.
She pushes herself up to her feet, ready to sock him in the shoulder for good measure and scare away whatever girl was dumb enough to fall for his hero bit by suggesting that he had some sort of highly contagious STD but stops when she notices a familiar head of blonde hair.
“Quinn?!?”
Quinn pulls away from Puck and turns to look at Santana while her hands still rest on his shoulders and his arms hug her waist close to his body.
“What the fuck?”
“Hey, S,” she says sheepishly, her cheeks flush and her lips trying not to smile broadly. “How’d the first day back go?”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you started hooking up with this loser?”
“Hey,” they both say back at the same time before Quinn goes on. “Because we weren’t hooking up until the weekend, and you’ve been busy with your own blonde.”
Santana rolls her eyes, “But it’s Puck. You hate Puck.”
Quinn steps back but her hand comes down and slides into Puck’s. “A lot’s changed, Santana…and I went to see him a lot in the hospital and we talked and…it just happened.”
“This kind of shit doesn’t happen unless there’s like…underlying feelings or something.”
She’s being weirdly irrational, but this just doesn’t seem like something to come out of left field. The virgin ice queen getting together with the bad boy player is not a good mix and not something that just happens. “There, um,” Quinn pauses to clear her throat and look back at Puck timidly. “There may have been some feelings.”
The way Quinn says it seems like a question and Puck looks back at her with the same dopey expression and Santana can’t stop the way her lip curls up in a sneer as he tells her, “Definitely some feelings, babe.”
There’s some kind of remark on her tongue (really there’s several things swirling in her mind that she wants to comment on because she’s been bombarded with a lot of pressing information in the past five minutes) but, thankfully, another familiar blonde catches her off guard.
The last week has been surprisingly helpful in Santana’s ongoing quest of learning how to properly master her skills. She’s good, but she’s still very new so sometimes she’ll slip and pull a door off its hinges or accidentally shove a dork too hard when she pushes her way through the halls. So when her and Brittany became pretty much inseparable this past week, Santana had to readjust her senses.
The blonde was prone to jumping up behind you and surprises and Santana didn’t think it was a good idea to give her girlfriend a black eye so she worked really hard on being hyper aware of Brittany. Now, just like she can sense vampires when they’re near she’s tuned herself into Brittany. She still finds herself getting pushed against walls and moaning loudly at the way Brittany’s tongue licks the roof of her mouth (much like what is happening now) but at least there’s no knee jerk reaction to shove the girl off of her and through a wall.
No, the only reaction she has now is to forget that anyone else exists except for the girl in her arms. Any negative thoughts about being open with their relationship, about the possible end of Glee Club, or the train wreck that is Puck and Quinn are gone and Santana smiles into the kiss as Brittany nips her bottom lip and tugs.
“Holy shit this is fucking hot.”
As she leans her head against the wall and Brittany turns to look over at the pair, Quinn’s fist slams hard into Puck’s chest.
“Ow!”
“Don’t gawk at them, perv.”
“They’re two hot chicks who I made out with making out in front of me. What am I supposed to- Ow, ow ow!”
After Quinn pounds Puck a few more times she grabs his hand and yanks him away from them, heading towards the choir room. “See you at Glee,” she calls back to them as Puck grumbles.
Brittany waves back at them, giggling still at Puck, before she turns her attention back to Santana. “Hi.”
“Hey,” she says back, all too aware of how close their faces are and how good Brittany smells even after an hour of Cheerio’s practice. “How was your day?”
“OK,” Brittany shrugs; a small, adorable pout on her lips. “I missed you though.”
Santana kisses the pout away. “I know,” she tells her, pulling away. “We just have to put up with it until summer and then try to make sure we have similar schedules next year.”
“You think we could?”
“I think I’ll threaten someone and then it’ll happen,” she smirks, but Brittany looks serious and worried. “Don’t worry, I won’t actually hurt anyone alive.”
“You better not,” Brittany jokes and Santana tries to smile back but her thoughts creep up on her again and her brow furrows. Brittany, being Brittany, catches it immediately. “What?”
She tries to brush it off. “Nothing. Just…thinking about something Puck said.”
“About how we’re hot?” Santana laughs because Brittany makes her feel better, but her girlfriend was just loosening her up. “Tell me.”
“About Glee Club,” she finally admits. “We didn’t win Regionals…”
“But there wasn’t a Regionals to win,” Brittany reminds her even though Santana’s painfully aware. “What does he think? That they’re going to get rid of Glee Club?”
“Figgins said we had to place at Regionals and Sue’s still hates us and Mr. Schue,” she says. “The fact that she’s one of my Watchers hasn’t changed that.”
Brittany tries to think of something to say, but sighs in defeat as her she tilts her head down and rests her forehead against Santana’s. “It’ll be OK.”
Her hands run up Brittany’s sides, sliding all the way up to her long, slender neck. She runs her fingers over the two small dots on Brittany’s neck. Her chest tightens and suddenly Brittany’s too close so she moves her hands down to rest on her shoulder and she gently pushes her back. “I chose Glee Club over the Cheerios,” she tells her. “It’s what I want; it’s all I have left except for making sure my grades are high enough to graduate-”
“You have me,” Brittany interrupts softly.
“I know, I didn’t mean…” Santana takes a deep breath, trying not to screw her words up. “in that one hour and all the rehearsal time we put in…I’m not a vampire Slayer. It helps me forget for a little bit.” Brittany opens her mouth to argue more, but Santana rushes on. “You do that too, you do, but sometimes I’ll close my eyes and I’ll see Matt and his fangs and your neck and…”
Blue eyes travel back up to hers and she takes a breath to steady herself. “I just didn’t think it would be over, that’s all.”
Brittany’s face softens and she nods. “Well we don’t know anything yet, right?” Santana shakes her head. “So let’s go and we’ll be sad about it when we have to be.”
“But I don’t want to be sad about it,” Santana whines, even though her tone is light and playful.
It gets a chuckle out of Brittany though. “Then I’ll have to make you unsad.” Brittany leans forward, catching Santana’s lips quickly before pulling away and tangling their fingers together. “Come on. We’re going to be late.”
Santana lets herself get dragged down the hall. They turn the corner heading towards the choir room. At first they fight through the sea of students trying to leave for the day, but eventually they part and stare at Brittany and Santana and their interlocked hands. Brittany walks a step ahead of her, head held high, pony tail bouncing with each step, and a smile plastered on to her face. Santana trails, squeezing her girlfriend’s hand every so often when she hears a too loud whisper. She hunches her shoulders and hangs her head low, hating the way she wants to rip her hand away and just disappear.
The looks don’t stop once Brittany leads them into the choir room. Eight sets of eyes collectively snap up as they enter and Santana freezes. Brittany stumbles a bit when she keeps going forward and turns to look at Santana. She raises her eyebrows. “S…?”
She clears her throat and tries to remember that she’s a badass and shouldn’t care about what people think of her, but everything’s so different now. Majority of the Glee Club now knows the truth about who she is and what kind of world they live in while the other’s go on in ignorant bliss, simply disappointed that they couldn’t compete at Regionals.
Maybe, she muses, that’s why she’s so worried about Glee Club’s future. Sure, she loves it, but worrying about something as trivial as a singing group is the kind of thing she should be worrying about.
It’s normal.
Brittany sits down next to Quinn and Santana glances at the rest of the group before sitting next to Brittany and sliding her seat closer. Artie and Tina are sitting on the other side of Quinn and Puck, trying to pretend that they weren’t just staring at her and Brittany. Mercedes and Kurt are behind them with the same guilty looks and Rachel’s next to them giving her a wide, bright smile. She rolls her eyes because she knows that she’s going to have to actually talk to Rachel Berry now and the tiny girl thinks she owes Santana or something.
It’s so annoying.
Finn’s in the back row with his eyes squeezed shut as his mouth continues to mumble something over and over again. It’s only thanks to her super heightened hearing that she recognizes the word “mailman” and she sneers briefly at that before her eyes move over to Mike.
Mike Chang is the quietest guy she’s even known, so much so that she was convinced he was a mute for a good three months after they met at a party shortly after high school started. That was also when she met Matt and that was the same night that Mike and Matt became just as inseparable as Santana and Brittany.
With all the shit going on in her own life, she never got a chance to see how Matt’s “disappearance” affected the rest of Glee Club. Now she can’t help but see it because while everyone in Glee Club was focusing on her hand in Brittany’s, Mike was just staring blankly ahead. The police had assured the good citizens of Lima, Ohio that they would continue searching for the missing kids until they found evidence to stop, but Santana knew the truth. Santana killed Matt personally and she’s looking at Mike and he seems incomplete, like he lost an arm or something.
They weren’t gay or anything (not that Santana hadn’t started her own rumors in the past about that subject just for kicks) but they were close enough where Matt’s death has broken Mike. It makes her miss the days of being a bitch and not caring about anything except status. A part of her wants to pull him aside and tell him the truth, give him some kind of peace of mind, but that would mean telling him everything and the last thing she needs is for another person to know the truth.
Though Mr. Schue and Sue didn’t say it out loud, she can just tell how neither is happy that four people know who she is.
Brittany pulls their joined hands into her lap, covering them with her free hand and giving Santana a smile when she looks over. It should make her feel better, it certainly helps, but she’s thinking about how much Mike must be hurting and how hurt she would’ve been if she didn’t save Brittany.
Luckily, Mr. Schue walks in and saves her from her grim thoughts. “Alright guys, welcome back,” he starts, looking over at Santana first before moving his gaze to Puck. “I think it’s safe to say we’re all glad to see each other, despite past differences, and I for one am happy to see Noah Puckerman back.”
He starts clapping and everyone joins in, even Mike. “It’s been a rough week for everyone,” he goes on after everyone settles. “There’s been a lot of recuperating and I know that Regionals was cancelled and some of you may be wondering if this is our last meeting or not.” Santana takes in a deep breath and squeezes Brittany’s hand a little too hard. “I’m happy to say it’s not.”
They’re all sort of frozen in shock with the news at first until Rachel Berry jumps up and screams. Everyone takes another moment to process the news. Santana takes the longest, her jaw still hanging open as she stares at Mr. Schuester. He’s smiling as everyone jumps around and hugs each other. Rachel runs up and throws herself into his arms. It’s all happening in slow motion and the only thing that breaks her out of her daze is when Brittany leans down and pecks her lips. “You heard him, right?”
Santana nods like a crazy person as she stands and pulls Brittany into a hug. “See,” Brittany says into her shoulder, her voice muffled and happy. “I told you it would be OK.”
“You have to say stuff like that,” Santana teases as she pulls back.
Brittany’s still smiling. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t believe it.”
Their exchange goes unnoticed and Santana likes it that way.
“What happened?” Quinn breaks the silence, addressing Mr. Schuester and still hanging on to Puck. “How did you convince Principal Figgins?”
“I had some help,” Mr. Schue says. “From Sue.”
The entire room stops and stares back at him, jaws wide open in shock. “What?” Rachel gasps.
Schue just nods. “Yeah, I was arguing my case with Figgins and Sue strolls in and offers to give the Glee Club the funds that it needs for another year,” he tells them. “I caught up with her after she left and tried to ask her why but she just insulted my hair, so I didn’t press.”
“I can’t believe it,” Santana mutters.
“Believe it,” he says back with a nod that’s meant just for her. “But don’t mention it to Sue, let’s not jinx it. Anyway…I think you kids deserve a break, get out of here, and enjoy your summers.”
Everyone cheers and hugs once more before collecting their things and filing out of the choir room. Santana (along with Brittany, Quinn, Puck, and Rachel) takes a little bit longer, silently knowing somehow that they should all hang back to talk with Mr. Schuester. They all watch as Tina rolls Artie out of the room before addressing each other.
Well, they kind of just look around at each other and open and close their mouths every now and again but never really say anything.
After all, what’s there really to say that they haven’t talked about?
“Coach Sylvester is really responsible for another year of Glee Club?” Rachel asks, her voice sounding loud and mammoth as it cuts through the silence.
“I told you guys exactly what happened,” he confirms. “I can’t guarantee that the abuse will stop, but for whatever reason she’s keeping us afloat.
“That’s not what’s important though,” he says more seriously. “I know where we landed after we all got together; minus Noah, but I wanted to make sure that everyone’s still doing alright now that you know…what you know.”
Everyone nods and there’s a chorus of murmured agreement before Mr. Schue talks again. “Good. Because it’s really important that no one knows what Santana is and what she fights. I’m not going to stand here and say that I’m thrilled so many of you know about vampires and demons now but I am glad you’re all a group of kids I can trust. I know that you guys get how important this is and that’s why I’m not worried…”
He trails off, his eyes going to the back of the room where Rachel is still seated. Santana turns and groans when she sees her with her hand raised in the air, begging to be called on. “Rachel?”
“I’d actually like to say something to all of you,” she responds, clearing her throat before she moves to the piano and stands next to Mr. Schue. “If that’s…alright…”
Mr. Schue nods politely and walks to stand with everyone else. His hand comes down on Santana’s shoulder and squeezes briefly and she rolls her eyes at him even though Mr. Schuester is kind of awesome. Brittany’s palm slides against her own and she looks over to see the blonde watching Rachel. Santana looks up at the girl and sees her take a deep breath, trying to compose herself, before looking up at the group.
“I’ll try to be brief,” Rachel begins, her voice shaky and nervous which is not something Santana expects from her. “I know that I don’t belong here, that none of you like me and that if Santana could make someone forget her secret it would be me-”
“Rachel…”
“Please, Mr. Schuester,” she stops him from whatever interruption he had, takes another deep breath, and continues. “Anyway, I just…wanted to offer my help in any way that I can. I’ve seen what vampires are capable of.” Rachel pauses to glance at Puck. “I could’ve been in a worse position than I was but you saved me. You saved me and I know how hard that must have been for you because I know that there was only one thing on your mind that night.”
Her hand squeezes Brittany’s without any thought as her eyes remain on Rachel. She turns to look at Santana and gives her a watery smile. “I know that I can’t do what you do, but if you need anything I want to help,” she goes on. “I can’t keep going on, knowing what I know, and just be useless. So, I’m officially at your service. Consider it a thank you.”
“Ditto,” Puck chimes in, winking at her.
Quinn smiles as she leans back against him and Brittany leans over to kiss her cheek, lingering a few moments before pulling back and whispering, “We’re not going anywhere.”
Warmth spreads throughout her body and it’s different from what Brittany’s been making her feel all week. If she had to put a word on it, she’d call it hope. Accepting her destiny meant that she shut out any chance of happiness or a life outside of this world and now…
Now she has her best friend as her girlfriend and Glee Club and friends (even if those friends include Rachel Berry) that know her deepest, darkest secret and love her anyway. More than that, they want to help her in any way that they can. Santana can’t remember ever feeling this happy before in her entire life.
Standing in this room and being with these people, she thinks she could get used to it.
The End.