Unintentionally Under The Mistletoe
Title: Unitentionally Under The Mistletoe
Author: Race122VE (Coll)
Pairing: Santana/Brittany, mentions of Brittany/Artie
Rating: R (for language)
Summary: Santana and Brittany have a moment under the mistletoe. Drabble. One shot.
Word Count: about 2400
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 Note: Tag to 2.10. I had the general mistletoe idea then decided to fit it to the show. This is probably the most canon thing I've written. Thanks to Mal (gogogorilla ) for the beta and for everyone who reads!
When Santana rounds the corner and walks up to the choir room, she freezes.
Everyone's in there, still decorating and laughing and just being happy and she's running late because she had to pick up Coach Sylvester's dry cleaning from two towns over since they use fabric softener imported from Asia or somewhere foreign. You'd think after half a school year of doing pretty much anything Sue told her to she'd have moved up from the bottom, but she hasn't.
Yet another thing that was taken away from her.
Her eyes immediately go to the one place she doesn't want to look.
Brittany's sitting in Artie's lap, hands linked around his neck as his hands rest snugly on her waist, as they talk to the rest of the club about…something. There's so much joy and it's loud so it all kind of mixes together in her ears as she stands there and puts herself through some kind of sick torture.
Actually, things aren't so bad.
Brittany seems really happy and she doesn't really talk about Artie so much when they hang out. It's like someone hit this reset button on their friendship and it's like it was before they hooked up. Puck being out of juvie makes it easier, makes her not want to go do something crazy like break them up again.
Though she doesn't think she could do that again. Santana hadn't really paid attention to what her own rejection did to Brittany until she started dating Artie, but she got a firsthand look at what his rejection did to her.
Santana never wants to see that look ever again.
The real problem with the whole thing is that Brittany has someone and she doesn't.
Puck counts, but not really and she doesn't think he ever will. He's just comfortable and they play their little game and both of them get off at the end of it all, so it's easy to put up with his shit.
Then there's the Arian Twins and their perfect relationship, along with the Asians who aren't as annoying as she thought they would be.
And, finally, Finn and Rachel.
Or what's left of them. Finn may have broken up with her because she made out with Puck, but there's no way that'll stick. After that news broke a part of her thought about making him her boyfriend, but he's still a total prude and he just think she's hot and it just doesn't seem worth her time to whip him into boyfriend material worthy enough of Santana Lopez.
Any other guy in the school just wants to fuck her (which is fine if he's got something good to offer; aka a trip to BreadstiX) or wants nothing to do with her thanks to Glee Club. Being a Cheerio and in Glee really only guarantees that you won't get a slushie facial because if the Cheerios uniform is besmirched for any reason, even for trashing Glee Club, Sue Sylvester will have your head.
None of this mattered because she never really thought about it, and that was because of Brittany. Brittany would drop whatever she was doing for the chance to hang out with Santana. Sometimes they fucked, sometimes they watched a movie and cuddled, every time, Santana now realizes, she took it for granted.
Now, Brittany was…well, not blowing her off, per se, just busy.
It wasn't something she paid much attention to till she walked in on that 'Glee girls with boyfriends' meeting Rachel fucking Berry had without her. Before that, Brittany and Artie were dating. After that, they were together and Santana felt something in her chest that she never felt before.
After the wedding and Sectionals she realized that it was an ache, and it was because she missed Brittany so much that it started to hurt.
Santana's not a moron, she knows that there was a little something more between them. First and forever foremost, they're friends. Then they had sex and there has to be some kind of small, underlying feeling deep down to want to do that with someone.
And being super hot counts, too.
No, they were never naïve about what they were, not even Brittany, which is why they kept doing it. It's not like they were gay or anything, they both still got plenty of play, it was just something that became a part of what they did sometimes. Santana never even thought about having actual non-friend feelings about Brittany until she wanted to partner up with her.
Santana bolted that day because she wanted some stix and because Brittany, apparently, needed a reminder of what they were. Santana had been so disappointed in herself that she didn't see the feelings coming from Brittany. Days after she racked her mind for slight hints that Brittany maybe started seeing them as something more and hoped that, even though they were sort of fighting, things weren't completely screwed up.
She couldn't have been more wrong.
Fucking feelings crept up on her and kicked her ass these past couple of months and it's mostly about Brittany and she doesn't know what to do except what she's already been doing: continue to be an utter and complete bitch. Which is what she's been doing since high school started.
Another loud uproar of cheery laughter shakes her out of her trance and she turns on her heel, ready to just ditch the rest of the day and go tanning or something but she remains at the door with her back turned on the group, that hasn't even noticed she'd been standing there for at least two minutes, and lets out a long, deep exhale.
This is stupid. Running away is stupid. Having these feelings is stupid and she's never let them affect her like this before and she's sure as shit not going to let them affect her now.
Santana spins around again, only this time she collides with a warm, soft body. Strong, nimble fingers wrap around her biceps and Santana looks up into sparkling, blue eyes that just make the smile on Brittany's face that much wider and genuine.
She can't help but smile back, mostly cause she's chuckling nervously at inadvertently being caught by the person she'd been thinking about, and hopes that Brittany remains her usual, oblivious self and doesn't notice the warm flush that's worked its way up her neck and is settling on her cheeks.
"Hi!" Brittany greets cheerfully, pulling their bodies as close together as they can get and squeezing once before stepping away. "How are you? Where've you been? Why were you standing in the door backwards?"
Santana blinks at the sudden onslaught of questions and takes a deep breath before addressing each. "Good. Running errands for Coach. And…I…forgot something…in my locker. I was going to go get it-"
"OK, but hey," Brittany cuts her off and Santana doesn't mind because, clearly, Brittany has something important to tell her judging by the way the balls of her feet have suddenly turned into tiny trampolines that she's bouncing up and down on. "So…Artie thinks it'd be cool if everyone goes see Santa tomorrow."
"Oh," she replies with a tight smile. "Cool."
"Totally," Brittany agrees, unaware of Santana's sarcasm. "I mean…it's really good for him because he didn't mail his letter to Santa and…wait. You mailed your letter, right?"
Santana nods immediately. "Day after Thanksgiving."
Brittany breathes a sigh of relief. "Good. I mean, I figured…you always do, but…anyway…um…what was I talking about?"
"Santa," she supplies.
"Right," Brittany smiles. "We're all gonna go later so it's, like, perfect timing that you show up when we're figuring out how to get to the mall."
"Um…"
Santana has never really been 'Yay Christmas!'
The whole vibe ends up infecting her anyway and she's less of a bitch around the holidays, but she's nowhere close to the level Brittany's on. Still believing in Santa aside, Brittany gets really into decorating and shopping and parties and that kind of junk. Her family is pretty tight and stable and Santana supposes that's where it all really comes from.
It's different from her own 'we celebrate when your father makes it home from work' kind of thing, but that's not really the point. It's not like she's from this broken, unloving home. Santana totally gets her father's work ethic and what drives him to be successful and hard working. It's them, his family, but, again, it's different than Brittany's.
She's also pretty sure that, deep down, Brittany doesn't believe in Santa Claus so much as the magic behind it. It's something that, after all their years of being friends, Santana just goes along with. She doesn't try to burst Brittany's bubble, nor inflate it more, she just tries to make her friend happy and, normally, she'd be down with checking out the Santa at the mall.
But something about this being Artie's idea grates on her nerves and she doesn't really want to go. Brittany senses it right away, all with that one 'um.'
"Santana…"
She's shaking her head and muttering Brittany's name back to her before the blonde rushes on. "Come on! You have to come with us! It'll be so much fun! We'll get to hang out and you can personally tell Santa what you want and we can go shopping and get a pretzel-"
"OK," Santana holds up her hands and laughs in spite of herself. "OK…fine. You convinced me, I'll go."
"It's gonna be so much fun," Brittany claps. "You'll see."
"It better be," she fires back, but her fake glare falters under Brittany's general brightness and she just ends up laughing with the blonde. "Anyway…"
Santana moves to walk into the room to join the group, but Brittany grabs her arm and tugs her back. Her hand travels down the rest of the way and she tangles their fingers together and starts swinging their hands back and forth.
"What?"
Brittany's eyes flicker up and Santana arches an eyebrow in response. Her eyes do the same thing again and Santana briefly closes her eyes and tries not to think about the warmth spreading through her body, originating from Brittany's soft hand holding on tight to her own. "Are you having a stroke or something?"
Brittany groans, rolls her eyes, and jerks her chin towards the ceiling. "Look up."
Ugh. Great. Mistletoe. Shit.
"Mistletoe," she says, her tone nonchalant and exactly the opposite of the internal freak out she's experiencing. "Isn't it, like…poisonous or something?"
"S-"
"What?" she asks innocently. "If you eat it you die or something…"
"Well we're not going to eat it," Brittany laughs. "Well…I'm not. Not anymore…but, come on, it's traditional."
She shouldn't do this, but then Brittany's lower lip starts to jut out and Santana bobs her head once before Brittany goes into full pout and then Brittany's kissing her.
In her head, she imagined there would be this slow build up. That Brittany would let go of her hand and bring her palms up to cup her face and step into Santana's personal space, forcing their bodies together and eliminating all space as Brittany's blue eyes darken and her gaze shifts from her eyes and back down to her lips again.
Brittany would dip her head down, just a little because she would be craning her neck up, and her mouth would just hover over her lips, the corners turning upwards into a sexy smirk before Santana wouldn't be able to take it anymore. She'd close the gap and press their lips together, hard at first before they just linger there and find a comfortable way of breathing without breaking apart.
One of their mouths would open wider. Probably Brittany, especially if her hands were still on either side of her face, anchoring her in the moment. Santana would respond accordingly, tilting her head a little more to the left and welcoming Brittany's tongue with her own. Tentative at first, and soft, and then they would both explode with want at the same time. Brittany's hand would snake around her neck, urging their mouths closer so their tongues could have access to lick and probe.
Santana moans at the thought, but it's actually a whimper because Brittany has pulled back and she realizes she missed the kiss completely.
Not that there was anything to miss.
The actual kiss was feather light, innocent, and just Brittany brushing her lips over Santana's slack mouth. She's pretty sure she returned a little pressure because Brittany's lips are a shade darker then what they were, but that's it. It was over before it started and, even though Brittany's licking her lips, Santana knows that's probably all she gets from now on.
Actually, that's probably it with the way things are going…and she wasn't even rooted into the moment.
But then Brittany brings her face close again, and Santana closes her eyes instinctually and reopens them a second later when there's no kiss, only Brittany whispering, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Santana shakes her head cause, no…that wasn't bad. Far from it.
In fact she wants to grab Brittany's face and pull her in for more, but then the realization that they're not alone hits her in the face like a bucket of water and her head jerks towards the group.
They didn't notice, or if they saw something they're ignoring it. She doesn't think they saw, though. Puck would have some comment, Finn would be jizzing in his pants, Artie would be all mopey because Brittany cheated on him, etc.
Brittany takes advantage of her head turned to scope out the group and kisses her on the cheek before bouncing further into the room and plopping herself back on to Artie's lap, her legs kicking out happily and her hands moving around in the air as she begins talking animatedly about something.
Wow. Merry freakin Christmas…
The ache in her chest replaces the warmth that had spread throughout her entire body and now there's a dull throb of pain and loneliness prepared to linger for a while.
But she ignores it, turns her back on it because if she thinks about it for too long she's going to get consumed by it and that is the last thing she needs right now.
So she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and walks into the choir room, sitting down next to Mercedes and trying to avoid looking at Brittany and Artie.