fic: operation dancing queen
Pairing: Santana/Brittany, side Rachel/Quinn
Rating: PG-13
Length: 2231 words
Spoilers: None
Summary: Santana makes a grand gesture.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, obviously.
Author's Note: It's unbeta'd. Please comment!
Santana and Brittany had been dating secretly for about a month. Though they had reluctantly told the Glee kids after Brittany’s slip-up on the phone, nobody else knew. Santana had made damn sure of that, calmly warning Puck - who was the biggest gossip monger of them all - that she would hold him personally accountable if the news spread. Not surprisingly, Puck went on lockdown. Once, overhearing Kurt and Mercedes talking about it a little too loudly, he had frantically slushied himself in the middle of the hallway just to distract people. Messy, but it was far better than facing Santana’s wrath.
Things went on fairly normally. Santana continued to drape herself on Puck’s arm and Brittany let Mike Chang pretend to court her in public. Mike hadn’t been too thrilled with the idea that it was never going to go anywhere, but for Brittany, he (and pretty much everybody else) would do just about anything.
Things changed when Mike developed a serious crush on a new transfer student. Her name was Giovanna and she had just moved from New York to Lima with her father after her parents had gotten a divorce. Mike offered to tutor her in Spanish and the two never looked back.
Brittany was thrilled that he was so happy. Santana, on the other hand, was pissed. Not that Mike had found a real relationship to be in; not even she was that ridiculous. It was more the fact that Brittany was now considered free game that made her completely furious.
Not a day went by that Brittany wasn’t approached by some muscled meathead trying to get lucky. One day, when Karofsky was making yet another lame attempt to offer Brittany a ride home, Puck sauntered over and stood against the lockers next to a fuming Santana.
“I’ve been trying to talk them out of it,” he said. “But I couldn’t tell them why. And I didn’t think you’d want me spreading a rumor about me and her doing the nasty.”
Santana spun around, growling, and fisted her hand in the collar of his shirt.
“Relax, Lopez, I didn’t do it!” Puck said, his eyes wide and nervously twitching.
Santana grunted and turned back around to watch Brittany delicately decline Karofsky’s advances.
“Santana,” Puck said, softly. “Maybe…maybe you should think about making thing with you and Brittany official. It’d be so much easier for the two of you. And, let’s face it; I wouldn’t have to walk around fearing for the safety of my balls every day.”
Puck walked away without waiting for her response. Immediately, Santana dismissed the idea. Even though she was pretty sure that she could terrorize people into acceptance, Lima was a small town and the students at McKinley would turn on her in an instant. Sooner or later, somebody would try something on her. Or worse, on Brittany. And that wasn’t something she was willing to risk, not just because she had finally vaulted the social hierarchy after Quinn’s fall from grace, but because Brittany was just so sensitive. Santana was absolutely, bone-chillingly terrified that Brittany wouldn’t be able to handle it once the insults and slushies were hurling at them. And they would, at least for a little while. So, no, Santana wasn’t ready to make it official. She wanted to keep her girlfriend, even as a secret girlfriend, rather than lose her all together.
It wasn’t until two months later, in April, that Santana began to change her mind. She had thought that, after the countless refusals, the boys would give up and leave Brittany alone, but unfortunately, Santana just wasn’t that lucky. With the Spring Formal coming up, the boys at McKinley High had begun coming up with ridiculous schemes to get Brittany to go out with them. Karofsky even serenaded Brittany over the school’s loudspeaker once. Brittany had sat in homeroom silently blushing; luckily, the giggles coming from the rest of the classroom drowned out the sound of Santana’s teeth clenching.
On their way to first period, Santana dragged Brittany into an empty bathroom and locked the door.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she hissed, slamming Brittany against the door.
“Walking to class! S, what’s wrong?” Brittany said, wide-eyed.
“You’re just encouraging them! The blushing, the giggling, they’re never going to stop if you don’t turn them down!”
“I always turn them down,” Brittany said, cupping Santana’s cheek. “You know I only want you.”
“Yeah, but they don’t know that,” Santana sighed, leaning into Brittany’s hand.
“Do you want them to?” Brittany asked, letting a trickle of hope sound through her voice.
God, she did. She really did. Santana was this close to grabbing Brittany’s hand, walking into the middle of the packed hallway, and kissing her senseless. But then she imagined blue corn syrup flying through the air and hitting Brittany. She imagined Brittany crying,
Desperately pushing down her own desires, Santana leaned over and kissed Brittany softly on the lips.
“I can’t,” she said, unlocking the bathroom door and walking out, leaving Brittany alone.
Several days passed.
Santana tried not to see the sadness in Brittany’s eyes whenever they were together. After a little while, it just got too hard and, eventually, Santana began to avoid Brittany as much as she could.
The night before the spring formal, after Brittany left Glee rehearsal alone again, Puck decided to put his balls on the line.
“You’re screwing this up, Lopez,” he said, standing behind her as she packed her bag.
“Shut up, Puck. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“He’s right,” Rachel said, keeping a safe distance from Santana while Finn, Mercedes, Artie, Tina, Mike, and Matt left in a hurry. “I happen to know that she accepted David Karofsky’s invitation to the formal tomorrow. She tried to talk to you about it, but you walked away before she could.”
Santana turned and started towards Rachel, her fists clenched. Rachel backed up into the wall and squeaked until Quinn put down her backpack and stepped in front of her.
“Watch it, Lopez,” she said, her eyebrows raised in challenge. “You can hurt your girlfriend all you want, but take one more step towards mine and I’ll end you.”
Santana stared defiantly into Quinn’s eyes for a brief moment and then, sighing, backed down.
“Quinn, how many times have you been slushied this week?” Santana asked, leaning against the piano.
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Quinn responded.
“Just answer the question.”
“Five.”
“Rachel?”
“Um, seven.”
“And how many times did you get slushied while you were holding hands?”
Rachel and Quinn simultaneously sighed.
“Four times,” Rachel admitted.
“And how many times did somebody yell dyke, lesbo, carpet muncher, or whatever when they threw it.”
“Santana, that’s beside the point,” Rachel began.
“How many times, Berry?”
“All of them.”
“So there’s your answer,” Santana said, standing up and gathering her things.
“You’re afraid of being slushied?” Puck said tauntingly. “I thought you had more backbone then that, Lopez.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about, you colossal moron.”
“Brittany is stronger than she seems, S,” Quinn said, moving to stand next to Santana.
“I don’t want to lose her, okay?” Santana yelled, pushing herself from the piano and beginning to pace. “If she starts getting made fun of and slushied every day she’s going to…I’m not good enough for her.”
“Santana, first of all, Brittany chose you for a reason. Obviously, you’re worth it to her. And…don’t hit me…but aren’t you already losing her?” Rachel suggested quietly.
“She’s right, S,” Quinn said.
“I know. I just don’t know what to do.”
“You decide,” Puck said, standing in front of Santana and placing her hands on her shoulders. “Is it worse to risk losing a secret girlfriend or taking the chance to have a real one?”
Santana grumbled something unintelligible.
“What was that?” Quinn asked, smirking.
Santana repeated herself, slightly louder.
“Still can’t hear you,” Puck said laughing.
“Jesus Christ, I said you’re right, okay?! I’ll go talk to her.”
“You most certainly will not,” Kurt said, speaking up for the first time from the back of the room. “Don’t you have one bit of drama in that perfectly toned body of yours?”
“What are you talking about, Liza,” Santana growled.
“I’m talking about being romantic! You can’t just go to her and say, la di dah, I’m sorry I’m such a repressed lesbian. You need to show her, not tell her, that you’re serious!”
Rachel and Quinn nodded excitedly. Puck just grinned.
“What did you have in mind?” Santana asked reluctantly.
“You’re going to win the Spring Queen crown,” he replied, smiling.
“I don’t think I’m even nominated for that, Kurt.”
“You are now. Puck?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Puck replied and walked out of the room.
“Okay, Ms. Lopez, let’s go,’ Kurt said.
“Where are we going?” Santana asked, letting herself be led out of the room.
“Your house. We have a lot of work to do. Quinn, you’re on wardrobe. I’ll take hair and make-up. Rachel, you can...come with us.”
Quinn laughed and kissed the pout off of Rachel’s lips as they left the building.
The next evening, Kurt stood outside the door in a magenta tuxedo and watched as Brittany and Karofsky walked in to the gymnasium. Karofsky was grinning and Brittany was craning her neck, looking around the gym. When she didn’t spot who she was looking for, she sighed and settled into a chair. Kurt watched from the door as Brittany remained seated when Karofsky offered his hand, jerking his neck towards the dance floor. With a shrug, Karofsky walked away.
“The eagle has landed,” he hissed into his cell phone. “What? No, the eagle isn’t dancing! Just…get yourself ready, woman!”
Kurt hung up and dialed another number. “Okay, move, move, move! You’re on!” he whispered into his cell phone, bowing his head as Rachel and Quinn hurried into the gym and sat on either side of Brittany.
After about half an hour, Rachel began looking backwards at the door every few minutes. Quinn tried to get her attention but Brittany noticed before she could.
“What are you looking at?” Brittany asked, looking backwards in time to see a flash of magenta dash behind the door.
“Oh, um, nothing. I just - ‘
“Please take your seats!” Principal Figgins called out from the stage, saving Rachel from having to come up with a lie. “It’s time to announce the Spring King and Queen!”
“Alright, after a week of voting, you have decided to make Noah Puckerman your Spring King!”
Amongst raucous applause, Puck sauntered up to the stage and put his crown on.
“And the Spring Queen is…Santana Lopez!”
People cheered but Santana was nowhere to be seen.
“Santana Lopez?” Principal Figgins called out again.
After a few moments of silence, the sound of heels clicking filled the gym. The doors were pushed open and Santana walked in wearing a tight black dress with a plunging neckline and matching black stilettos heels. Her eyes were smoky with grey shadow and her hair was down, natural and wavy. Applause broke out again.
“Did you fix it for yourself, too?” she whispered quietly to Puck as she reached the stage.
“You’ll never know,” Puck said with a wink.
Santana shrugged and moved to the microphone, nudging Figgins out of the way.
“I’ve got something I need to say,” Santana said, quieting her classmates down. “Brittany, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I made you sad, I’m sorry that I’ve been too scared to admit what’s happening between us to everybody else. I just wanted to protect you but I realize now I was doing exactly the opposite. I’m in love with you. I know you love me too and I want to be your real, official girlfriend. And if anybody hurts her, if anybody even thinks about throwing a slushy at her or insulting her, I’ll make it my personal mission to see you cry every day for the rest of your high school career. And anybody that thinks about flirting with her - I’m looking at you, Karofsky - you know what you’ll be messing with. You’ve been warned.”
With that, Santana dropped the microphone, hopped off the stage and walked to Brittany who was standing up, beaming, a single tear falling down her cheek.
“I’m so sorry, babe,” Santana said, taking Brittany into her arms and holding her close. “I’ll never try to hide us again.”
“I know you won’t,” Brittany replied, laughing. “The whole school knows now anyway. They’re still watching us,” she added, looking around.
“Well, then, let’s give them a show,” Santana smirked, leaning in and capturing Brittany’s lips in a passionate kiss. Brittany was shocked at first, but after a brief moment, responded with fervor, swiping her tongue along Santana’s bottom lip and then taking it between her teeth.
After a few moments, Santana reluctantly pulled away. All the Glee kids began to applaud, followed shortly by everybody else.
“You wanna get out of here?” Brittany said, smiling.
“You bet. I’ve got plans for you tonight and, if you don’t mind, there are still some things I want to keep secret. Like this,’ Santana said, whispering in Brittany’s ear.
Brittany pulled back sharply, her eyes wide and her mouth open.
“Sorry guys gotta go!” she said to Rachel and Quinn, pulling Santana out of the gym.