#but like honestly this is so. it’s like santana looking back on their progression

[3xm-draconic]

JoJo's Bizarre little Adventure. Chapter 20: Work In Progress.

GORE WARNING/BUG EATING AHEAD!

Chapter 20: Work In Progress.

“I’am really proud of you bossu, have fun on your first day!” Doppio cheered as he handed Diavolo his bag lunch, “thanks Doppio, I’ll be back home at around 7”, “I honestly thought you were all joking when you said you are getting jobs… I half to say this is a little out of character for you” Kira chuckled, DIO scoffed and dramatically rolled his eyes “oh please! I, DIO will bring in enough money tonight so we won't have to worry about rent for the next month!”

“So who is going to be watching funsize?” Diego turned to the others, “my fellow pillars will be watching her alongside DIO’s followers Tarence and Vanilla Ice”, Karz replied, “oh ok, I called HP and she’ll be dropping by incase they need anything”. Valentine looked at Diego “oh that reminds me, I called Blackmoore and he will be joining them too, I’am a little scared about last time” he sighed worriedly.

Pucci patted the former president’s shoulder reassuringly “don’t worry Funny, I am sure she will be safe”.

Pucci, Kira and Doppio drove their regular route to work while the others took the bus or in Diego’s case he just transformed into Scary Monsters and ran.

DIO and Karz found Moriho City College of Art to be a quite…interesting place.

It was a small building consisting of a renovated old fire station, the top floor was the college residency area, the main floor was the kitchen and cafeteria, the basement had been turned into a storage room and the garage was now the art studio. However…the decorations in this place were rather bizarre.

The walls of the building, both inside and out, looked like frescos of acid-fueled fever dreams. There was a ginormous lama constructed out of junkyard scrap standing guard by the front door and there was a section in the studio where Karz was 99% sure various bottles of paint had exploded.

“Oh hello! Welcome to M.C.C.O.A are you here for our free creative writing classes?” The overly cheerful desk lady chirped, her coffee stained teeth on full display, “um…no. I, DIO, am here to model for the artists!” DIO said with all the flare of a soap opera drama queen, “we heard from Santana that you are looking for live models to paint” Karz smirked. “Wonderful!, just sign in and enter one of the smaller rooms towards the back and we will get you started soon”.

Karz and DIO fought over the pen for a few seconds before writing down their names and wandering over into the small art room where several people sat at easels around a small platform, “hello everyone and welcome back to live nude model painting!” the instructor, another overly cheerful and probably over-caffeinated woman called.

 DIO’s mouth broke into a wide grin, “d..did I hear you right?, did you say nude models?”, the instructor turned to him “oh yes…are you..er uncomfortable with this?” she said worriedly, DIO’s grin just got wider “nope”.

Diego was having the time of his life!                                                                               

He felt like he was back in his glory days as a famous jockey…except he’s now a yellow and cyan utahraptor currently bobbing his way through downtown traffic off to deliver pizzas. Diego loved all the fame and good publicity he was getting, Moriho was a crazy bizarre town full of noise and…well..weird stuff. Seeing a raptor in a pizza delivery hat with a delivery bag saddled onto his back strangely fit in.

People were taking videos, pictures and tik-toks (is that what those are called?) of him running past or of him dropping off food and collecting tips. Diego was making his way through the local park to his next delivery, enjoying the fresh air “I’ve missed this, the admiration of everyone, the spotlight, the cheers…even if most people think I’am some sort of animatronic, it’s still fun” he thought to himself as he zipped past a familiar blond asshole in a wheelchair.

“GYRO! YOU SAW HIM NEARLY CRASH INTO ME!” Johnny protested, “I saw him…what do you want me to do about it?” Gyro chuckled, “WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE, WHEEL ME AFTER HIM!” Johnny snarled, Gyro sighed and started to chase after Diego while pushing Johnny in front of him, “seriously?” Diego rolled his eyes, he couldn’t tell them to leave him alone due to him being unable to speak in his full raptor form but he could annoy them by going places Johnny couldn’t…like the stairs to the park pavilion.

The two men and raptor raced through the park, dogging pedestrians, trash cans and shrubs as the prehistoric pizza delivered dino lept from the bottom step all the way to the top. 

“GET BACK HERE YOU OVERSIZED ANCIENT CHICKEN-NUGGET!” Johnny cursed, Diego stood at the top of the steps shaking his tail at him “just try and catch me Jostar!” he smugly growled.

Diavolo was about to die…from boredom.

Practically no one was shopping at the sephora besides some teenagers and a small group middle aged woman and elderly ladies, “God this is so fucking boreing” he whined. For almost three hours there was nothing to do besides watch people and occasionally ring items up at the register, Diavolo swore he had more fun in the infinite death loop than doing this job.

“Oh hi Dia how are things going?” Valentine said as Diavolo sat next to him in the mall food court “not great Val, I would rather relive my 88th death than go back to work”, “oh, how’d you die in that one?” Valentine looked at the ex-don with concern and curiosity, “eaten alive by a giant version of myself…in which he died choking on me” Dia grumbled back as he took out the packed lunch doppio made him, “........oh….” Valentine replied with a mixed look of horror and humor.

“How is your end of the job hunt going?” Diavolo asked as he ate, “I got one almost immediately” Valentine grinned excitedly “it’s at the moriho zoo cleaning the food court”, “moriho has a zoo?” Karz interjected excitedly, “hey big bird nice to see you and banana man are back from the art college” Diavolo snarked. 

DIO huffed “they payed us quite well, 180$ in fact”, “I got kicked out” Karz snarled, “how’d that happen?”, Valentine and Diavolo asked in unison, “I transformed parts of my body into various plants and animals….and that scared them”, “ah yeah I can see how that would alarm people…weird they did that considering moriho’s reputation for crazy shit” Diavolo sighed, “I’am going back next week” DIO said with a cheeky grin “no doubt I’ve made an impression”. Valentine turned to Karz “hey maybe you’d like to work with me at the zoo?, I heard they have an opening at the gifshop”, “I would enjoy being around animals but I don’t like humans asking things from me, I’ll try over in the Barns and Nobles, I’ve always loved books”.

Meanwhile at the Apartment…

“DAMN IT TARRENCE!” Vanilla Ice howled as the younger darby hit his racer with a red shell, “sorry Ice” he chucked back, “this game is irksome” Wammu growled as he narrowly swerved his racer away from a banana trap, “I think it’s fun” Santana smiled as he finished first, “who knew thousands of year old vampire gods could play mario kart?” Tarrence laughed.

“Y-you think there is a way for Mirtillo to play?” Blackmoor stuttered as he took the pizza rolls from the oven, “it’s ok, I like watching them play more” Mirtillo chirped back from her seat on the coffee table, “alright Ice you lost this round, it’s my turn” HotPants chuckled as she took the controller from him, “I hate this stupid game” Vanilla Ice hissed.

Mirtillo snacked on a piece of caramel corn while watching the others play the game Tarrence brought over, “hey Mr Wammu, how did you get to be such a good fighter?” Mirtillo squeaked, “I trained under my masters, Lord Esidisi and Lord Karz” Wammu said proudly, “do you think if I trained with them I could be as good as you?” Mirtillo said, her big eyes shimmering with excitement, “perhaps little one, I can tell you have a strong spirit in you and hope it is nurtured well”.

After the villains had returned home and said goodbye to their fellow antagonists they sat down for dinner, it was pizza Diego had brought from his work.

“So how did everything go?” Pucci asked, “good…at least we have enough to cover rent for this month and hopefully we will have enough saved up for christmas” DIO reassured him.

Late into the night while they slept Mirtillo laid wide awake, her whole body hurt and ached but that’s not what was keeping her up. Mirtillo struggled to sit up and looked out the window above the nightstand her bed sat on, she’d had another nightmare about Sting…but this time Cioccolata was there, once again she was helpless to protect them and herself, they were all the same nightmare.

Mirtillo would be back in her village that day, the day everything went to shit. She would be in the mushroom patch with her mother collecting tiny shrooms to pickle, roast or grill and eat later when the warning horn would blow signaling an oncoming raid. Mirtillo would relive her mother and father’s deaths but after Sting would come in and slice off her wings the scene would change, she would then be falling, falling away from Valentine, Karz, DIO and the others. Deeper and Deeper she would plummet straight into the maw of Cioccolata, only his mouth was that of a sharks, it had row upon row of mangled misshapen teeth that spiraled down his throat. She could only watch as the villains and the light faded from view and she was crushed into suffocating darkness.

Mirtillo hated it, she hated how she would cry every night because of these nightmares.

Mirtillo whipped hot tears from her eyes as she looked out at the moon from the window, it was pushed up slightly open.

Mirtillo folded her tiny hands together like how she had seen Pucci do “I don’t know if you can hear me or if you will even listen to me but I know Pucci talks to you, he asks you to watch over us and to give him strength…I ask you to give me strength too. I ask that you make me bigger and stronger so that I can defend them and myself…please”.

When Mirtillo opened her eyes she saw the strangest sight coming towards her. A little glowing blue moth, it fluttered in through the window and rested at the edge of her bed, she could feel something coming from it.

A strong energy pulsed from within it drawing her to try and catch it, Mirtillo crouched down and although it hurt tremendously she held her tongue and watched the moth closely, it reminded her when her father took her cricket hunting. She watched it crept along and when the time was right she pounced, throwing her body into the moth, sending both it and her to the nightstand and pinning it under her. Mirtillo looked around to see if she had awakened anyone but found Valentine and Diego both sound asleep.

The moth bussed frantically, pinned beneath her knees, she stared at it, entranced by it’s soft cerulean glow. 

Mirtillo was reminded of a bedtime story her mother would tell her, about a folk hero called Hob the clever good fellow eating the mystical glowing heart of a golden fish that gave her incredible powers, she could run as fast as a gale of wind, out witt evil spirits and monsters, stop rivers or create them and tame or slay fierce beasts. 

She could even grow as tall as a human (Mirtillo learned that’s what tallfolk call themselves) and was strong enough to move mountains…

Mirtillo eyed the glowing moth…hungrily.

Mirtillo rested her hand on the moth’s abdomen, she could feel it’s little heart racing beneath it’s carapace, she unsheathed her claws and in one swift motion she plunged her hand into it’s body. The moth shrieked in pain but it was too low pitched for anyone but Mirtillo to hear.

It’s still-beating glowing heart dripped lapis colored blood down her hands and arms, Mirtillo opened her mouth wide and ate the heart raw. 

Once she had finished Mirtillo dragged the moth corps over to the ledge behind the nightstand and dropped it over the side hiding it, she then whipped the blood from her hands on the curtain and went back to bed.

[gleekto]

Fic: Crush Into Me (7/?)

Summary:  Third year NYADA student, Kurt, returns to Lima for an internship coaching the Glee club. The leather jacket and eyebrow ring-clad senior, Blaine, thinks he’s cute.

slightly older teacher-ish!Kurt/ badboy!Blaine

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six

Day Seven (Blaine) (word: rhythm):

The next week Blaine waits outside the choir room for the Glee club to let out. Santana usually comes to meet him after Glee under the bleachers but it’s cold out today so he’ll just wait inside. Even though he’s pretty sure Santana left at lunch time for a dentist appointment.

“Oh! Hey Blaine,” Mercedes exits the choir room, surprised at the unexpected guest. “Have you changed your mind and decided to grace us with your presence at Glee this year? We could use another tenor, you know. But I’m afraid rehearsal is over for the day.”

“Thanks Mercedes, but no. Just waiting for Santana.”

“Oh Santana’s not here. She left for an appointment,” Kurt says as he follows Mercedes out.

“Damn,” Blaine shakes his head and looks at Kurt. “Guess I forgot.” He starts to walk down the hall in step with him. “Now there’s no one to tell me this week’s assignment. To practice in my shower, of course. I did kind of nail ‘Crush’, right?” He smiles playfully at Kurt. He may be laying it on a bit thick but he’s sure he saw Kurt staring with surprised approval when he sang with Puck. And he wants Kurt to see that he’s not just some flunking kid with a bad attitude. He may look good in leather but he’s acing math and he can sing. Which is no doubt important to a third year NYADA student. 

Kurt smiles but bites his lip quickly almost to stop himself. “You certainly can sing, Blaine. But the whole thinking you’re too cool for the Glee club vibe isn’t going to impress Mercedes and me. We are literally here to run the Glee club, remember?”

“I don’t think I’m too cool for the Glee club,” Blaine is genuinely surprised. He doesn’t.

“‘Not really my scene,’” Kurt quotes him back to himself as Blaine follows him into the parking lot of the school. 

Blaine knows how he can sound. He sounds that way on purpose. There’s a rhythm to his demeanor - cool, aloof. Laying low and has no time for all this school spirit stuff. But that was the deal with his parents. And to keep a low profile he has to at least have an aura of mystique to him - the alternative as the quiet earnest kid in preppy clothes would be social suicide. And likely have the opposite effect.  Bully target guaranteed. “Yeah, well. I had to transfer schools in my senior year. And part of the deal was to stay out of trouble.”

“Because Glee club leads to a life of petty crime?” Kurt’s not quite getting it. “Or failing grades?”

“Or a slushie in the face?” 

Kurt stops in his tracks, looking questioningly at Blaine and finally nods. “Ahh I see. But with all that attitude you look like you had to transfer because you threw the slushies.”

“Ha!” Blaine shakes his head. “Definitely not. My parents made me transfer, not the school, when the resident bullies decided they had enough of the out gay kid.” Blaine looks down. Vulnerability is way harder than bravado. Then he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Blaine. Honestly. If it helps, no slushies for being gay in the choir room. I helped make sure of that.” Kurt knocks gently into his side. It’s nice.  “Worst consequence in Glee is having to sit through a singer with mediocre rhythm or who just can’t harmonize. And your look at least makes you seem like you could kick any bully’s ass, by the way. Even if it’s not true.” Blaine will take that compliment.

“Oh I can,” Blaine says flatly, bravado slightly back. But he’s smiling. “I took up boxing. You can come watch me spar one day.” 

Kurt rolls his eyes but Blaine sees affection this time. It’s progress. “How about you join the Glee club instead?”

“How about we meet for coffee at the Lima Bean and you can tell me about  the Glee club and coming out in sophomore year at McKinley and all that,” Blaine continues before Kurt can react. “Santana told me.”

“Thanks Mr. Schue,” Kurt sighs. “I guess my life history is common Glee club knowledge now.” Kurt pauses and crosses his arms. He seems to be searching Blaine’s face for something. He’s leaning on a car that Blaine assumes is his and that he is about to make his exit in. “Look Blaine,  I remember being out in high school and alone. If you want a friend to share the McKinley history of triumphs and tribulations, let’s do coffee.”

“I do, want a friend,” Blaine repeats, a bit giddy. “And a coffee.”

“Yes,” Kurt looks at Blaine meaningfully. “A friend. Because Blaine?” Blaine bites his lip to keep from smiling too widely. “This week’s Glee club theme is,” Kurt looks at him pointedly. “Unrequited.”

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Kismet {11}

Henry Cavill x Famous OFC Aliya Taylor

Warning: Plot, Slow Burn, Mild Cursing, Dialogue Heavy

Words: 7k

Summary: Aliya is a singer turned model turned actress. Since she was fifteen, she’s been creating her empire in the entertainment world. As the daughter of a famous fashion model/designer and Hollywood director, you’d think life is easy for her, but her past has been anything but easy. Due to past trauma, she’s forever changed and no longer trusts any man that is not in her family and a select few in her team. She’s sworn off love and serious relationships and has planned never to fall again, but love isn’t something that can be planned. It just happens when it’s meant to. Can Aliya outrun a love that seems hellbent on holding tight to her, a love that is Kismet?

Note: The musical notes emoji 🎶 signifies a song being sung. They are the lyrics.

If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG!! 😘  

As always, thank you so much for reading. ❤️❤️

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

***Interactive***

Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 

🎶 “But I don't wanna give up. Baby, I just want you to get up. Lately, I've been a little fed up. Wish you would just focus on—me. Can you focus on me? Baby, can you focus on me?”

 The sounds of H.E.R filled the semi-rustic kitchen as you moved around it, checking on the multiple things you were making. Her album was one of your go-to things for mellowing out. You sang along and got lost vocalizing along with her. It didn’t take long for you to forget what time it was and that you weren’t exactly alone in the house. As the song ended and the next came on, you held your hands in the air, already feeling the opening of Girls Need Love Too.

  🎶 “Honestly, I'm tryna stay focused. You must think I've got to be joking when I say. I don't think I can wait. I just need it now. Better swing my way.”

 The lyrics were hitting you as right as gospel right about now. Pulling open the oven, you checked on the treats inside, making sure they were rising just the way they needed to. After you were pleased with their progress, you checked your pots on the stove one more time, then went back to the pitcher you were mixing your famous mimosas. That was when DSVN came on, and the hypnotizing sound of the lyrics with the beat made your mind drift back to Henry, especially when the hook came on. It sounded like it was made just for you in this situation.

 For the next few minutes, you focused on trying not to burn breakfast rather than dancing or singing. That was until Santana came on, and you couldn’t help but bust out your best salsa moves to Carlos’ electric guitar and Latin flare. The song was so catchy that you quickly got carried away winding your hips and doing your best Shakira impersonation. If she were standing in front of you, you thought she’d be proud because you gave it everything you had. Before you knew it, the song was almost over, and you’d forgotten about being quiet, and were now singing along to the song as you danced around the kitchen.

 “Someone woke up on the right side of the bed.”

Your scream was loud, so loud it bounced off the walls of the room. Your head nearly snapped off your neck from the force of which you spun around.

 “Oh my god!”

 Henry stood there pinching his lips, trying to stop himself from laughing at you.

 “You scared me half to death.”

 “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I um—I smelled food and heard music, and here you are,” Henry explained.

 “Oh no, no. How long were you standing there?”

 Another smile spread across his face, and it was all you needed to know he’d probably seen the whole thing. Embarrassment filled you.

 “Oh god, no.”

 “Don’t be embarrassed. You can dance and sing. I enjoyed the show.”

 You snorted while shaking your head, trying to overcome your embarrassment. When you met his eyes again, you still saw the amusement there.

 “Good morning,” you began.

 “Good morning. What’s—what’s going on?”

 He motioned to the organized chaos around you.

 “Oh, breakfast.”

 “Did you order?”

 “Nope. One hundred percent handmade but these hands,” you replied, holding up your hands and flexing your fingers for emphasis.

 Henry’s eyebrows shot up as he approached the kitchen island.

 “You cook.”

 Approaching the same island on the opposite side, you nodded. “I cook and bake and mix and clean, iron, and do laundry.”

 Henry snorted and nodded, clearly amused by the sarcasm in your voice.

 “Cute.”

 You smiled and leaned against it, resting your elbows on the wooden island keeping your eyes on him.

 “I know I don’t look it, but they do say never judge a book by its cover,” you replied.

 Henry nodded before he spoke. “For the record, I’ve never judged you.”

 You studied him for several moments before your eyes drifted over him, taking in his tan linen pants and cream shirt. He looked good, and you almost got lost in that before you snapped out of it. Clearing your throat, you pushed off the island and looked around.

 “I’m almost done.”

 “What’s for breakfast, chef Taylor?”

 You smiled, “I’m glad you asked Mr. Cavill. We have lavender vanilla  bean beignets, scrambled eggs, sausages, and of course mimosas.”

 Henry’s eyebrows again shot up. “Wow. How long have you been up?”

 Turning from him, you dropped a few mint leaves into the pitcher you’d just mixed. “Well, I actually haven’t slept yet.”

 “So you’ve been up all night?”

 “Yep.”

 Sliding to the right, you turned off the oven and took out the beignets to place them on the stove to cool.

 “Why? Is everything all right?”

 “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’m a night—insomniac.”

 He was going to find out one way or another throughout this vacation anyway, you reasoned with yourself.

 “Really?”

 He sounded hesitant but also surprised.

 “Yeah, most of the time.”

 You used the time he stood there in a state of shock to finish up what you were doing before turning back to him.

 “Are you going to pass out later or soon?”

 “Nope. Come on. All done. Can you grab those two?”

 You nodded your head to the two platters on the stove as you took the others walking out of the kitchen to the outdoor dining table he’d shown you yesterday. Once he saw the table that had two other platters and set place settings, he exclaimed.

“Wow.”

 “I know, but I like to cook.”

 “Everything smells incredible,” Henry complimented as he stood at one of the Rattan chairs waiting for you to sit first.

 Once you sat down, you motioned for him to begin. “Dig in.”

 A few minutes passed with the two of you loading your plates with various items. Once you were finished, you took up the pitcher and poured drinks for you both. When he brought one of your beignets to his mouth, you paused and watched him sink his teeth into it. As soon as he did, he moaned so loud it filled the space and drifted off.

 “Holy--,” he began but never finished because he took several more bites finishing his first one. Once he’d swallowed and reached for another, he continued. “How did you learn to make beignets?”

 “Well, it began with my Gramaw, but eventually, it was experimenting.”

 He bit into another and rolled his eyes into the back of his head, and groaned. “These are heaven.”

 “I’m glad you like them.”

 Covering his food-filled mouth, he spoke, “Love them, get it correct.”

 You snorted and nodded as you began to eat. The view before you caught your eye once again, and getting lost was easy. The morning was beautiful, warm, and calm, with a gentle breeze that carried the salt in the air from the nearby sea. You didn’t know who wouldn’t love waking up to this every day. It was then you realized how badly you’d needed a vacation after all.

 “You stare out a lot.”

 Henry’s voice brought your eyes back to him to find his already on you.

 “I’m sorry,” you began with a soft smile. “Another thing about me, I do that—a lot.”

 “What’re you thinking about?”

 You looked out again and nudged your head to the view. “How incredible this view is and that I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve taken a vacation,” you confessed.

 “Tell me about it. I was literally running on fumes. I have no idea how I made it this far,” Henry said.

 You continued to eat and fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.

 “Was there anything particular you wanted to do today?”

 “Like what?”

 “There’s so much to do. I know a good spa. There’s diving, boat tours of this incredible lagoon, wine tasting, touring, driving along cote d'Azur. You name it, and it can be done,” he listed off.

 “A lot of choices.”

 You brought your legs up and hugged them to your body as you continued to eat while thinking about your options.

 “What do you feel like doing?”

 “I don’t mind either way,” Henry quickly responded.

 That didn’t help you one bit, but you made the decision all the same. “Nothing screams vacation like a bikini, and a beach, so let’s live it up.”

 He smiled as he nodded. “All right. We have a plan then,” he said, clapping his hands.

 The rest of breakfast was comfortable and peaceful. Neither of you seemed to mind that conversation fell to the wayside because you were both lost in the food and scenery before you. After breakfast, you and Henry managed to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen together as you endured his teasing on the multitude of things you’d used to cook. As you cleaned, you caught his eyes on your body a few times, but he kept his physical distance for the most part. After you separated to get yourselves ready for your day in the sun.

 You spent longer than necessary trying to decide on the right bikini. You didn’t know if you should go demure princess or buxom goddess. You were moving and making decisions by reading him. You told yourself the night before that you’d go at his pace and take your cues from him. If he initiated touching, you’d reciprocate. If he kissed you, you’d kiss him back. If he stayed away, you would too. You didn’t want to do the wrong thing or anything, especially since you didn’t know where you stood with him. Letting your self-doubt win, you chose the middle ground on the bikini.

 Thirty minutes later, you stepped outside the villa to find Henry waiting patiently at a white Fiat convertible.  

 “Wow. Is this yours?”

 “Yep.”

 “I don’t know why I’m surprised. We have established that you’re a car man.”

 He smiled as his eyes trailed over you. “Wow. The short shorts come out, huh.”

 You looked over yourself, then back to him. “This is short? Ha, just you wait. I have even shorter.”

 “I bet you do,” Henry chided as he held open the passenger door for you.

 “It’s about a ten-minute drive to the beach, maybe eight if the cliffside isn’t flooded.”

 “Wow, you’re right there, huh.”

 He smiled and nodded as you slipped into the car.

 “All right, let’s go. I have a goal to be kissed plentifully by this French sun, so in two weeks' time, I’m showing every bit of the melanin my ancestors blessed me with,” you joked.

 Henry shut your door and walked around to the driver’s side. Once in, he pressed the start button.

 “Bring it on. I happened to really like yours…it’s sexy,” he slipped in, meeting your eyes for a few moments.

 “Did you just call me sexy, Mr. Cavill?”

 His smile was wide before he slipped on his sunglasses. “Did I? Maybe, maybe not,” he said before he pulled off, beginning the journey.

 As he drove, you relished the breeze and sun on your skin and waved your hands in the air, fully enjoying the carefree vibes you felt. Before long, you’d pulled out your phone and began snapping a multitude of pictures of the scenery, the people, and occasionally even Henry, though he probably had no idea. You didn’t want to miss the chance to see how perfect he looked behind the wheel.

When you got close to the beach, Henry parked along the cliff as plenty other cars had done. According to him, no one made a fuss about small things like that; as long as people could still pass it was all right. The laidback style was already agreeing with you. With him carrying all the bags like the gentleman he was, you allowed him to lead you across the road toward the sands of the beach and then down the shore to find the perfect spot. It took a few minutes, but when you found it, you staked your claim, stomping in the sand, marking it as yours. Henry took the initiative, spreading the oversized beach blanket using the items you’d brought with you as anchors for the corners.

 Once he’d gotten it perfect, you wasted no time pulling off your tank then peeling off the shorts your wore. You tried to keep your eyes away from him, though you really wanted to know if you had his undivided attention. The middle ground bikini you’d chosen was still a look. The cut complimented your curves, while the color complimented your complexion. You wanted to take it at his pace, but you also had to show him you were still hot.

 When you lied back on the blanket, you gawked at the ocean before you and marveled at its sparkle while the sun reflected off of it. Looking beside you to him, you found his eyes on you and his jaw slightly ajar.

 “This is so beautiful.”

 Henry snapped his head away from you and looked at the view you were just staring at. “Very,” he replied, his voice constrained as if his throat were closing. He held your bag out to you, but he didn’t look at you again.

 “Thank you.”

 You dug through it looking for your sunscreen spray. Once you’d found it, you began spraying along your arms and shoulders, rubbing the mist in working your way to your chest.

 “Why France?”

 “Huh? Excuse me?”

 “France. Why France for buying a house?”

 “Well, I have some French blood-ties; the Channel Islands has its history of it, and France is smack in the middle of there and London. I fell in love with it,” he explained.

 “Why Bandol?”

 “Oh, that’s easy. It’s still luxurious enough like St. Tropez but not as high profile. I can be Henry here and not worry someone is taking my picture.”

 You nodded and understood perfectly. It was hard being on all the time. You’d gotten so used to it that you often forgot how to be off.

 “I get it. It’s the same reason why I’ll always choose Australia and Ireland overall,” you explained.

 “I’ve only seen Ireland a few times. I think I need to go back,” Henry added.

 You smiled as fond memories washed over you of your time in Ireland. “You definitely should.”

 You sprayed your shoulder closest to him and began rubbing in the liquid.

 “Ehm, need some help?”

 Your eyes met, and you fought back your smirk. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

 “Yeah, I can help. It’s no problem,” Henry assured.

 You handed him the bottle, then turned your back to him and waited. He didn’t touch you for several moments.

 “How many tattoos do you have?”

 “Um—not sure, seven, eight maybe,” you said while anxiously waiting for him to begin.

 “That’s quite a bit.”

 “Not too much. They’re all strategically placed,” you explained.

 When you felt the sprays on your back, you held your breath and waited for him to touch you. As Soon As he did, you bit your bottom lip, trying to ignore the feeling of completeness that washed over you. You liked the feel of his hands on your skin.

 “Have you—ehm, have you ever thought about tattoos?”

 “I have,” Henry began, his voice deeper than it had been moments before. his hands trailed lower to the small of your back, and you hunched over even more, giving him more access. “I’ve just never gotten around to it,” he finished.

 Turning your head to rest your cheek on the tops of your knees, you smiled. “Too much work?”

 A soft chuckle escaped him, and you felt his thump trail up your spine until he reached the back of your neck. Two sprays hit your skin, and he began rubbing into your shoulders. A weak moan slipped out, but he didn’t pull away. The kneading of his hands became more forceful then. You were quickly losing your nerve and grip on reality. Another moan slipped from your throat, and that was when Henry’s hands stilled and rested at your shoulder blades. You felt his fingertips trace the softest pattern onto your skin before they were gone.

 “All done.”

 By then, your heart was racing, and the butterflies in your gut were fluttering below your waist. Clearing your throat, you turned back to the ocean.

 “Thanks.”

 “No problem,” Henry said before he stood and discarded his shirt.

 The action didn’t help you at all. Your jaw hit the floor as you took in every inch of him you’d spent all night since seeing the sprigs of hair peeking out his shirt. Plenty of dark hair decorated his chest and trailed down his abs until it disappeared behind his pants. A soft gasp drifted out of you, but your eyes refused to stop ogling. So you sat there looking at him and counting each of his eight ab muscles. The man had an eight pack; you thought to yourself as your throat painfully tightened.

“What’s wrong?”

 Jerking your head up to his face, you shook your head, trying to find words.

 “Wrong? Huh, nothing—um—you uh—you’re—you’re--.”

 Henry smiled as he cocked his brow, waiting for you to say something intelligible. You had nothing, though.

 “Cat got your tongue?” The humor in his voice was so obvious, and you felt like an idiot.

 “And my brain cells, it would seem.”

 His smile made you smile while trying to avert your eyes from the rock hard statue that he was.

 “Sorry.”

 Henry scoffed. “It’s okay,” he said.

 “No, it’s not. You’re a person, not a piece of meat,” you clarified, feeling awful. You were doing the same thing to him that you hated men doing to you.

 “Wait, you think I’m a piece of meat?”

 Looking back at him, you spoke, “No, but I’m sure women look at you like you’re a piece of meat and in turn treat you like it.”

 He nodded, “They have in the past.”

 Your eyes again drifted downward, but you caught yourself before they got to his massive pecs. Clearing your throat, you stood.

 “Do you burn easily?”

 “I’m a white British man, of course, I do,” Henry joked, making you snort loudly.

 “Wow, do you want some?”

 He held his hands up as if to shield himself from you. “Are you looking for an excuse to feel me up?”

 “What!?”

 Henry snorted and laughed loudly.

 “You’re kidding,” you surmised.

 “Yes. You should have seen your face.”

 You shook your head while burying your face in your hands. “Wow. That’s not cool.”

 “You were an easy target,” Henry said, turning his back to you. “Oil me up, baby.”

 You had every intention to, but the side of him from the back stopped you in your tracks for a few moments. As you slowly approached him, you accessed the entire meal that was him before you, unsure where to start. You sprayed over his back then slowly began rubbing across his skin. You couldn’t believe that even his back was as toned as an Olympian. Your brain was slowly short-circuiting with every inch of skin you touched. When you brought your hands down his spine to his tailbone, Henry groaned, and you fought the urge to go lower.

 “All—done,” you said slightly above a whisper.

 “Not quite,” Henry said, turning to face you. “My chest burns easily too.”

 Face to face with temptation; you knew you were destined to give in. it was only a matter of time.

 “I thought you could--.”

 “—Nope. You started the job, so you should finish it.”

 Smiling, you bit your bottom lip. “Does that go for my chest too?”

 Henry’s eyes dropped to your breasts and rested there for a few seconds before he looked back into your eyes with a completely cheeky expression on his face. “Well—that is entirely up to you, Ms. Taylor.”

 Like a child, you giggled most uncharacteristically. Slapping your hand across your mouth, Henry laughed at you. “Oh god.”

 You sprayed across his chest and abs but hesitated touching him. Instead, you stood there gawking at the way his chest glistened. It’s not that you didn’t want to feel. You really, really wanted to feel. You just didn’t think you would be able to not come across as a thirsty fiend. Henry waited patiently waited no doubt taking notice of how you were beginning to hyperventilate. After a minute, he took a step back.

 “Here, I’ll finish the job—this time.”

 You dropped to the blanket and laid back, trying to recover. You couldn’t believe this was life right now. You’d never been attracted to anyone like this. You never struggled like this with anyone, and that reality was a little alarming. Peeking up, you watched as Henry finished rubbing the sunscreen into his chest, spreading it along his swollen shoulders and bulging arms. Your mouth ran dry while another part of you was anything but.

 While proving to be a heightened temptation, a day at the beach was just what the vacation doctors ordered. The roaring sun, the breeze with the salt in the air, and the screams and laughs of people enjoying themselves were wonderful. You didn’t think about work not once, or anything beyond the man beside you reading a book and the book you were reading while the soft sounds of jazz drifted between you. It was perfect.

 Every so often, your eyes drifted to Henry and took in different parts of him. Everything you saw you liked, and the fact that you liked it, only helped your brain daydream even more. There were a few times he caught you staring at him just as you caught him staring at you or parts of your body. When you did catch him, it only emboldened you to play up different parts of your body. You were relieved to know he at least still found you attractive.

 When he goaded you into the water, the two of you played in the waves. The first time Henry splashed you and got water in your hair, you made gasped and pretended to make a big deal about it, which prompted him to apologize profusely. You considered it payback until you tackled him in the water, holding him underneath until he lifted you in his arms like he was Goliath. Your eyes locked, and there was a moment you thought he would kiss you, but instead, he tossed you into the water. That one action began a water war that he easily won thanks to his colossal size and overpowering strength. You didn’t mind.

 By the time you’d sat to enjoy the picnic lunch Henry had packed, only a handful of people had recognized the two of you and asked for autographs and pictures. It really was the perfect first day of vacation, and you already didn’t want it to end. After lunch, you and Henry were walking along the shore, enjoying the lull of water crashing onto your ankles like you had no cares in the world.

  ~~~~~~~~

 -Henry-

 You were gorgeous, more gorgeous than you’d ever been. You were drop dead with make-up on, but without you were a knockout. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you, and he knew you had to know. There was no way that you didn’t. He didn’t start the day with any expectations because he really didn’t know what to expect, but it had turned out to be a great day. He looked across to you and took in your curled and coiled hair that framed your face and gave you an even more youthful glow.

 “So your hair is naturally curly?”

 You smiled and nodded as you turned to look at him.

 “Curly, coiled, kinky, it’s a bunch of stuff.”

 “So you straighten it.”

 “Yeah,” you confirmed.

 He was confused.  “Why?”

 With your brows knitted together, you took him in. “What do you mean why?”

 “Why? I can imagine it takes a lot of time. So, why do you do it?”

 You scoffed but didn’t speak right away. He allowed you the time to think.

 “Well—in the business, it’s easier. As horrible as it is, there are not many people who will cast the black actress with unruly hair or will have the right people who can do it properly. It’s a huge thing for black actresses, and unfortunately, can be the reason why many don’t get a role. So for me—I guess I got used to directors or photographers preferring the sleek look, so I just—maintain it. No one really cares for this,” you said, motioning to your hair.

 He understood what you were saying. Hollywood was fickle; he was living through it right now but couldn’t believe people's ignorance.

 “I like your hair right now. I like how free and beautiful it is. You don’t look—bound. You look free.”

 Your eyes met his, but he couldn’t read the look in them.

 “Oh uh—thank—you.”

 “You’re welcome,” he replied with a smile. “You should just leave it alone from now on.”

 You snorted. “Oh, is this how you want to see me?”

 He could hear the tease in your tone, “Free and beautiful? Absolutely.”

 Again the look in your eyes stumped him. Before he could ask you what you were thinking, you looked away and back out to the water.

 “What if I want to see you like this from now on?”

 He chuckled, “What, shirtless with bad hair?”

 You laughed with him for a few seconds. “Well, nothing wrong with this view at all,” you said, making him blush.

 “Oh, and for the record, your hair is anything but bad. When it’s all slicked to perfection, you look put together, but—I like the more…distressed you. You look free and boundless.”

 The smile on his lips hadn’t slipped since you’d begun your walk, and staring at you, he didn’t think it would slip. You looked away and cleared your throat, something you’d been doing a lot the entire day.

 “I’ll make a deal with you. You keep this look going, and I’ll keep this look going,” you proposed piquing his interest.

 “Do we have a deal?”

 “All right, we have a deal,” he sealed, holding out his hand for you to shake. When you did, you smiled mischievously.

 “Good,” you said before you pushed him into the water and the incoming wave.

 Shock flooded him though he should have known from the glint in your eye he’d picked up.

 “Did you really?”

 With pride and joy, you nodded, “I sure did.”

 As he stood, he wiped his face of the water and chuckled to himself.

 “As a gentleman, I will give you a four-second head start,” he announced.

 “Four seconds?”

 “Three now.”

 You squealed and ran down the beach, trying to put as much distance between you as possible. It was futile. He was fast. Once he’d counted down, he took off after you. When you looked back to see him coming, you screamed louder and tried to pick up the speed, but as he said, he was fast. In a few short seconds, he caught you and immediately began tickling you, making you scream even louder.

 “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” you shouted through bouts of laughter and screams.

 “No, no, too late for that.”

 With you in his arms, he brought you to the water facing you out so you could see the massive wave coming in. You screamed again while kicking your legs, trying to get him to drop you, but it was no use. Seeing there was no way out, you stopped screaming, but when he tossed you into the wave, you screamed until the water engulfed you. He stepped back and waited for you to wash up on the shore. When you did, he proceeded to tickle you some more until you tripped him and rolled onto him to retaliate.

 Though he hadn’t let on that he was ticklish, you figured it out and exploited it mercilessly. The tickling led to both of you playfully throwing wet sand at each other while waves knocked you down. When he grabbed you, he smeared the wet sand across your chest below your collar, making you scream. That was when you coated his chest down to his waist. He pulled you to him rubbing his chest over yours to make sure you were as lathered as he was.

 “Oh my god!”

 A wave crashed over the two of you, nearly drowning you—nearly. When the water receded, you were still there in his arms, practically underneath him. he took in your beauty, and all he wanted to do was kiss you. he almost did before he stopped remembering what had led you to this point. He was tired of proving and showing you he wanted you—wanted to be with you. It was your turn to prove to him that you wanted him just as much as he wanted you. That was when another wave washed over you, dampening the mood. He was thankful for it.

 Once he was standing, he pulled you upright.

 “Ready to go?”

 You nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

   ~~~~~~~~~

-Y/N-

 After leaving the beach, the two of you walked along the shops that decorated the surrounding area. He pointed out all the places he’d visited over the last few days. He knew some of the shop owners by their names, and it was something you liked for some reason. After the first few shops, you decided to pick up something for dinner and spent the next few minutes trying to decide just what to get.

 “Any special requests?”

 Henry’s surprise only lasted a few minutes before the smile you were getting so used to appeared.

 “You’re cooking?”

 “Yep.”

 His surprise turned to awe as he circled you once. “You can pick whatever you want,” he whispered in your ear before he walked to a stack of cans.

 “Are you sure?”

 He nodded, assuring you that you were good to make the decision.

 “Do you eat a lot?”

 “Do you?”

 “Hell yeah, I do,” you said in an exaggerated tone that had Henry laughing.

 As you walked around the store, you placed various items in the basket that Henry carried. Some peppers, scallions, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and plenty of herbs followed before you walked across the way to a seafood shop. You thought about something simple like salmon but changed your mind when you saw lobsters and said what the hell. You were only going to get two, but Henry piped up and tricked you into four, citing your insatiable appetite. Deep down, you wondered what appetite exactly he was referring to, for food or him. A trip to the local spirits shop had you stocked for more than just one night.

 When you made it back to the villa, Henry was the one to carry the bags to the kitchen, not letting you lift anything but the beach bag you’d left with at the start of your day. You met him in the kitchen in time to see him hoist everything onto the island.

 “All right, you’re all set there.”

 “Thank you, Superman.”

 He smiled and helped you unpack the items in the bags, laying them out on the counters and the island. Once that was finished, you made a move to the door.

 “I’m going to take a shower. I can feel sand everywhere.”

 What was to be a relatively quick shower quickly turned long because you needed to wash your hair and treat it, so you didn’t have any residual salt damage. No one liked breaking hair. That alone usually took almost an hour. Instead of going for the full experience, you cut a few corners in the routine but still managed to complete it. After throwing on a pair of shorts and a tank, you made your way back to the kitchen, ready to cook one of the best meals he’d ever have.

 With soft music playing and a towel wrapped around your hair while your leave-in heat treatment did what it was made to, you began prepping the ingredients. The soft music and time alone gave you more time to process the perfect day you’d just had. There was nothing about it that you’d change, even down to the intense tension that was constantly between you. If another day played out the same way, you still would think it was perfect.

 “All right, I’m clean now. Would you like some help?”

 Henry stood behind you in a tank and sweats with his hair full of curls.

 “Sure, you can actually prove to me that you know what you’re doing in here,” you teased as he approached your side.

 “I’m about to knock your knickers off.”

 You snorted and peeped at him. “Promise.”

 The flustered look on his face said he just realized the land mind he’s just stepped into. Pushing it to the side, you focused on the chives you were chopping.

 “What would you like me to do?”

 Looking around the kitchen, you assessed everything that needed to be done then delegated.

 “Those veggies need to be rough diced and washed.”

 “Consider it done,” Henry replied, stepping away to begin prep. Before he began, though, he walked to one of the bottles of wine you’d just gotten, popped it, and poured two glasses.

 “A little vino for you.”

 Smiling, you took the glass. “Thank you.”

 The two of you worked together chopping, dicing, and slicing the vegetables and herbs and the seafood for dinner. Every few minutes, your eyes met, and you giggled. Once the cooking began, Henry teased you about your towel wrapped hair, saying that was how magazine covers should show you. You watched his form and how he handled his knives and liked how he moved. He handled knives like he’d been doing it his whole life.

 When you saw him perfectly Julianne cut the cucumbers you practically drooled and were ready to push him against that island. You loved a man who could handle himself in the kitchen. Pumping iron and weights and a nice body was great, but cooking dinner for someone because you care, was a supreme turn on.

 When the lobster was steaming and the potatoes boiling, you leaned beside him and watched him kneed the dough he was prepping for what he called his famous sugar rolls.

 “So mentioned you have nieces or nephews? I don’t remember which,” you began.

 “Yes. Three nephews, no nieces.”

 “Cool. What’re their names?”

 Henry smiled as he spoke, “James and Peter and Lucas.”

 “Strong names.”

 “Yeah, Nik and Charlie picked them,” he said.

 “Nik—he’s the older brother, right?”

 “Oldest. I’m surprised you remember.”

 “No girl?”

 “Ha, Charlie really wants a girl. He has a son Lucas but dreams about having a daughter.”

 “Nice. I have two nephews, Niko and Milo, and a niece Aloa, my oldest sister Miesha,” you added.

 The way Henry smiled, you could tell he liked kids. “That’s nice. Do you see them a lot?”

 “I try. It’s hard, though, with my schedule.”

 He nodded, then shifted to the sink to rinse off the cucumbers before beginning with the carrots.

 “I understand.”

 With your curiosity piqued, you decided to dive right in. “So you like kids.”

 “Love kids,” he replied. “You?”

 “Uh—yeah. They’re precious.”

 “I’m guessing you’re close to your brothers.”

 “Oh god, yes, really, really close. We talk several times a day. They’re my first call when something good or bad happens, and it’s the same for them.”

 “That’s good. I’m close to mine too. We don’t talk every day, but I try. I do have a twin, so we don’t need to talk. We just know what’s going on with each other,” you explained.

 “How is that having a twin?”

 You shrugged and put a piece of cucumber into your mouth. “It’s everyday like for me. I don’t know what to say,” you said with a small chuckle.

 “Are all the clichés true?”

 You scoffed and went back to keeping yourself busy. “What clichés exactly?”

 “Oh, you know that you feel each other’s pain and feel what the other feels, oh that you know what they’re thinking.”

 You couldn’t help but laugh a little. “It’s not like I fall down the stairs, and he feels me fall. That’s just impossible.”

 Henry nodded and moved to rinse the carrots.

 “Yeah, it’s more like a constant presence I feel. You—you never really feel alone, sort of like this constant connection or feeling like someone always has your back. We can feel what the other feels a lot of the time, but it’s sort of like a gut feeling more than an actual physical feeling. There are times he’ll feel when I’m sad and crying, and it’s incredibly annoying.”

 “I can imagine,” Henry started.

 Feeling his eyes on you, you turned to face him and waited for him to speak.

 “Does he feel everything—your moments of happiness or—pleasure?”

 Snorting, you laughed loudly, unable to keep it in.

 “Happiness, I think there could be valid proof to that. As for pleasure, no idea. It’s never been brought up but kinda creepy to think about that.”

 You both busted out laughing, realizing just how creepy it would be if there were any validity to that. Cooking together turned out to be really fun. Usually, you hated people in your space, but with Henry, you didn’t mind it at all. You didn’t mind the subtle way his body brushed yours whenever he passed you. You didn’t mind the sly looks across the kitchen when he took a sip of his wine. You didn’t mind the flirtation in the air, and when he watched you make your lemon cake for dessert, you didn’t mind that he was learning one of your secret recipes. It was something you felt you could get used to.

 Two hours later, you were bringing out one of the platters to the dining table in the yard just in time to catch Henry putting a clay vase filled with beautiful lavender and rapeseed flowers. The purple and yellow combo was so bright it looked like it belonged with the décor around you.

“Wow, would you look at that,” you began eyeing the perfectly set table. “You can set a table too.”

 His smile was wide. “I sure can.”

 “With the proper place settings. I’m impressed.”

 He ran his fingers through his hair and slowly licked his lips as he shrugged. “I didn’t go to finishing school or anything but--,” Henry trailed off, making you laugh at the sly reference to you.

 “Oh, okay, Mr. Cavill.”

 You backed away with your hands raised, making your way back to the kitchen with him following close behind. You pointed to him the items to go, and he walked with you back outside.

 “I know you think I eat a lot, but--.”

 “Oh, stop it. I am sure you have to have a high-calorie intake to maintain your Superman shape, so—ta-da,” you said, giving him jazz hands in front of the food-filled table.

 “Oh, so you’re looking out for me, huh.”

 “Of course. What else is your girlfriend supposed to do?”

 Henry’s smile slowly slipped before it reappeared but only for a second. “Girlfriend, huh?”

 Just like that, your stomach fell through the floor, fully realizing what you’d said. Now you felt like an idiot especially seeing his reaction.

 “Um—well--.”

 Not waiting for you to respond, Henry walked to your chair and pulled it out for you.

 “Uh—give me a second,” you said, bending forward to pull the towel off of your head.

 It had been well past the forty-five minutes you usually kept it on for, and you didn’t want to eat with this heavy thing on your head. Using your fingers, you combed through your curls then stood up to face him. This was practically the first time you stood before a man that wasn’t part of your family with your hair natural. You hated that you felt self-conscience about it. The look on his face was a lot different this time. His eyes were wide, and his mouth ajar.

 “Sorry. Thanks,” you said, slipping into the chair.

 Once he’d pushed you in, he sat across from you.

 “So I know you love your beer and steak,” you began with a smile. “So the steak is cooked in Guinness—a lot of Guinness.”

 Henry chuckled and assessed the steak on his plate while nodding.

 “Bon appetite.”

 Once henry put a slice of the steak in his mouth, he moaned and gave you the chef’s kiss. You knew exactly what it meant, the good ol seal of approval.

 “This is really good.”

 “I’m glad you like it.”

 After putting another slice of steak into his mouth, he nodded. “I love it. you’re a great cook.”

 “Thank you. I tried to tell you.”

 Henry chuckled, giving you a slight roll of his eyes before he continued eating. He was right dinner was good. While you ate, you enjoyed the setting sun and conversation about music, good food, and good wine. One bottle of wine quickly finished, then you were cracking open another and another. When dinner was finished, you sat there listening to the stories of his childhood where his mother played referee between five boys. The way he talked about her made her sound like a saint. It was clear to see how much he admired and loved her. That made you like him even more.

 By the time you climbed into bed for the night, your mind was racing a mile a minute, and all your thoughts were of Henry and the probability that he just might be the perfect man. That thought scared you even more than there being something wrong with him. If he were perfect, then it meant he was perfect for you, and perfect for you meant commitment, complications, and vulnerability while opening the stage for possible heartbreak. Even through the fear, one constant remained—you wanted him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***If you want to be tagged/untagged please SEND AN ASK SO IT WILL BE EASIER FOR ME TO KEEP TRACK OF. Thank you for reading!!!***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TagList:

@dangerouslovefanfic​ @jamesbarnesappreciationclub @momobaby227 @naturalthrone22​ @emjayewrites @chaneajoyyy​ @caramara3 @caplover22​@kikimiyazaki @sonjashuterbugjohnson @minton131​ @aar-journey​ @sincerelyglowing @theonewithherheadintheclouds @shar74nett​ @livinglifeformemyselfandi​ @night-of-the-living-shred @munteanhorewrites @kittykatlow @give-me-a-million-dollars-pls @simply-heaven @winchwm @maximumninjavoid​ @offrostandstarlight @angrybirdcr​ @maxcullen​

@sausagefest1996 @tenaciousperfectionunknown​ @bellaamor88​ @alyxkbrl @hello-therree @mery-be @that-chick212 @smuttywriter​ @ljstraightnochaser @jd-now-jq @mrsbarnes-rogers @melanicia @live-laugh-love-ki @deadpixie22 @asiaaisa77 @queenshikongo3​ @queenreignssupreme @liquorlaughslove​​ @queenoftheworldisdead​ @kittykatlow @cltex84​  @pricklypear  

@helenasmirkedno @areubeingserved @petty-bitch-akira​ @rynabarnesrogers-reading​ @themeforanudebeach​ @i-just-like-fanfics​ @october505​ @msblkfire84​ @msbrightsidestuff​ @youremysuperstar​ @storiestoldbyjazz​ @xsweetdellzx @themeforanudebeach​  @live-laugh-love-ki​ @labella420 @maeleeme @coldmuffinbanditshoe @pricklypear @becauseyourenoangeleitherbaby 

[wheresmynaya]

Lost in the Lights Ch.10|Brittana

A/N - Am I heartbroken about that embarrassment of a game I had to witness last week? Yes. Do I wanna talk about it? God, no LOL. Hopefully the McKinley Titans do a better job in the playoffs! Might even mess around and make QB!Britt’s Game Day playlist 🤷🏽‍♀️

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & under the cut

Santana stomps her way over to Quinn’s locker and slams it shut in one big huff. Quinn looks up from packing her duffle bag, annoyed confusion written all over her face.

“Problem, Lopez?”

Santana continues to grimace but looks hesitantly around the locker room, her brows furrowed and her shoulders stiff. Her chest feels tight with everything she’s been holding in and she swears she’s about to burst at the seams if she doesn’t say something soon.

The squad filtered out minutes before and Brittany’s still practicing on the field with the Titans, but she can never be too sure. Someone’s always listening it seems and she can’t be burned a second time.

“Hello?” Quinn waves her hand at Santana, “Is there a reason that you’re going around slamming lockers?”

Santana can hear the annoyance in her tone but her facial expression says differently when their eyes finally meet. For as long as they’ve known each other, all it takes is one look to realized something deeper is going on.

Quinn softens, “Shit. What happened?”

Santana shakes her head and lets out the tiniest whimper, “I’m fucking this up.”

Quinn catches Santana just as she stars to slide down the lockers in trembling mess. She pushes Santana to sit on the bench instead.

Hot tears start to stream down Santana’s cheeks like the floodgates have finally opened. She hasn’t let herself feel the brunt of everything yet, not until now. It’s a little relieving, but it’s not enough.

“What are you talking about?” Quinn asks.

“I’m fucking this up.”

Quinn lets out a sigh but keeps holding Santana up as she continues to sob. Instead of pressuring her to talk, Quinn just let’s the girl cry it out first.

\\

Once Santana has finally settled down some, Quinn hands her a couple tissues from the travel pack she keeps in her duffle. She eyes her wearily before trying to get an answer out of Santana again.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on now?”

Santana’s averts her gaze to the ground. Her jaw is set and her lips are sealed as she wipes the angry tears from her face.

The reluctance to talk has Quinn rolling her eyes.

“Don’t be stubborn. You’ve been in a bad mood all day then you go and do that,” Quinn gestures to her locker, “Just tell me. Is it about your dad? Is he giving you a hard time again?”

Santana shakes her head.

Quinn thinks, “Is this about JBI’s blog? Because I doubt anyone is believing a word he says after his whole tater tot conspiracy was a bust. He’s already lost a ton of followers, I think he’s just reaching now.”

“It’s not that.”

“Okay…then what is it?”

Santana lets out a deep sigh, “She just wanted to talk and I couldn’t even do that.”

“Brittany?” Quinn asks hesitantly.

Santana nods.

“What’d she want to talk about?”

Santana threads her fingers together and squeezes, “Us.”

Quinn looks confused, “And you couldn’t talk about that because…”

“Why do you think?” Santana grumbles, “Because I’m a goddamn coward, that’s why. She wanted to talk about us and what we were doing and I just – I couldn’t.”

Quinn sighs and starts to rub Santana’s back.

“I knew it was coming. She’s been wanting to talk for weeks now I think. I just – I did what I always do,” Santana admits, “I got in my head about it. I let that stupid little voice take over. I told her I didn’t feel the same way she did. I told her that I wasn’t looking for something serious.”

Quinn stays quiet as Santana continues to rant.

“I don’t know why the fuck I said that! I thought I was getting better at this. I thought I was making progress but I still ended up doing the same thing!” Santana adds, “I fucked this up and now she’s done with me, Q. I didn’t think she’d do it. I thought I’d have more time to figure everything out.”

“What’s there to figure out?” Quinn wonders.

“I don’t know,” Santana shrugs, “How to have a girlfriend when most of the student body here are assholes? How to have a relationship with someone that isn’t solely based on sex or how to boost my reputation? How to do any of this when my dad can barely look at me because I’m gay! How am I meant to be any good for her when I can barely look at myself sometimes? I’m ready and I’m not and that’s the worst fucking thing about this. I’m my own goddamn enemy.”

Quinn looks a little surprised by Santana’s honesty but she nods like she gets it.

Santana moves to hold her head in her hands. That might’ve been the first time she’s ever owned her sexuality so easily but she can’t even enjoy it right now.

“What do you want to do?” Quinn asks but Santana only shrugs again.

She’s been thinking about that all night and day, but there’s only one thing that keeps coming to mind and it isn’t really an answer. It’s more like a realization that’s probably been in the back of her mind for a long time now, maybe since the Homecoming dance.

She doesn’t know how it’ll help now. This isn’t some rom-com movie where all it takes is this grand gesture, a profession of her true feelings and all is right in the world. No, there’s real work to be done first and she hasn’t a clue where to start.

“I don’t want to lose her,” Santana replies softly.

“Well, fix it then?” Quinn suggests which earns her a disbelieving look, “What? You’re Santana Lopez, resident bad bitch of McKinley. You’re not supposed to be afraid of anything, yet here you are letting all of these fears push you around.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Santana, you literally just said – “

“I know what I said!” Santana snaps.

Quinn purses her lips but relaxes, “We’ve had this conversation so many times. When you don’t try, you let them win. You want that? You want these people to be the reason why you can’t go out on that field tomorrow night and kiss the girl that you love?”

Santana doesn’t even waver at the word, she just wonders how long Quinn’s known.

“No.”

“Well then…”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Sure it is.”

“Tell that to Kurt,” Santana huffs, “He gets a slushie facial on the regular. Remember that kid everyone thought he was dating? He was bullied so badly that he had to transfer schools! I can’t deal with that. If I get into one more fight, that’s it for me. Honestly, I don’t think I could handle going through the rest of this year dealing with that shit and I can’t drag her down with me. She’s so much better than this place and everyone in it.”

Quinn narrows her eyes, “Well for starters, Brittany put a stop to slushie facials. There hasn’t been an incident in months.”

“That you know of,” Santana replies, “The football team isn’t the only ones capable of throwing a slushie in my grill.”

“You act like you’re taking on the entire world by yourself,” Quinn argues, “You realize you don’t have to do that, right?”

Santana frowns, “What are you talking about?”

“You’re trying to protect her and that’s thoughtful and all, but did it ever occur to you that she doesn’t need it?” Quinn replies, “You keep putting yourself in this position, but you don’t have to be in it. You have more people than you know that are rooting for you. Lean on them because you don’t have to face these people alone.”

Santana laughs bitterly at that, “You and who else? My mom? You guys going to create a secret service to follow me around everywhere to make sure nothing happens to me?”

Quinn lets out a frustrated sigh, “Well what now then? You just going to let them dictate your life? Just like your dad?”

Santana’s jaw tightens at that. She knows Quinn struck that nerve on purpose and she both hates and loves her for that.

“You can’t compare yourself to Kurt,” Quinn adds, “What you’ve both gone through is different so you can’t use him as an excuse.”

“He doesn’t deserve the way people treat him,” Santana replies, “The way I’ve treated him.”

“And neither do you, but there will always be assholes wherever you go,” Quinn says, “The difference between you and him is that one of you isn’t going to let them win. One of you is still trying.”

Santana’s at a loss for words and they both fall into silence.

“You said you don’t want to lose her?” Quinn mentions a moment later, “Well it doesn’t look like that from where I’m standing.”

“I don’t want to lose her,” Santana reiterates.

“Then you should probably talk to her before you give her the wrong idea, genius.”

Santana shakes her head and lets out a bitter laugh, “You make it sound like it’s the easiest thing in the world to do.”

“It is.”

“Says the girl that has practically dated Mike Chang for months yet refused to put a label on it until two weeks ago!”

Quinn purses her lips at Santana’s outburst, “We didn’t put a label on it because Mike’s parents didn’t want him dating during his Senior year. It had nothing to do with what we wanted, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about you and Brittany.”

Santana sucks in a breath to calm herself down. It’s like a quiet apology that only she and Quinn share after years of friendship. They just sit together for awhile in silence while Santana’s mind works through it all.

“I don’t do relationships, Q,” Santana admits softly.

“You have an excuse for everything,” Quinn laughs, “You don’t do them because you’ve been dating boys this whole time when you’re gay as hell.”

Santana smiles at that.

“Are you really considering stepping back in the closet just because you’re too afraid to go out of your comfort zone?” Quinn asks, “Because that’s the kind of message you’re sending.”

“I don’t know,” Santana huffs.

“Jesus,” Quinn groans as she goes to face Santana fully, “The answer is no. You’re not going to do that. You’re a fighter, Santana. I don’t know when you forgot that but you are.”

Santana sits a little straighter. She doesn’t know when she forgot either.

“We’ve been friends for so long and I’ve seen the difference in how you are with Brittany versus all the dumbass guys you’ve dated,” Quinn says, “It’s a good different and you deserve it. After all that bullshit you went through last year, you deserve to have someone too. I don’t know how many times I need to tell you that before it gets through.”

Santana feels a different kind of loved, a kind that only longtime friends can share, as she takes in Quinn’s advice. There’s few people in her life that she can trust to give it to her straight and Quinn’s one of those people.

“You hear me, Lopez?” Quinn urges, “You deserve this and so help me God, if anyone tries to  say anything to you or her I’ll – “

“Okay, okay,” Santana pauses her with a chuckle, “I get it.”

Quinn relaxes and gives her an encouraging smile, “Talk to her.”

“Tomorrow’s that big game or whatever,” Santana frowns, “I don’t want to be a distraction.”

“Then do it after?” Quinn suggests, “Whatever. The sooner the better though.”

\\

That night, Santana paces her room trying to screw her head on straight. It’s pep talk after pep talk, anything to ease the anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. If she’s prepared well enough, then maybe it won’t be so scary to put her heart on the line like this?

At least, that’s what she’s trying to tell herself.

Tomorrow’s the final game of the Playoffs and she knows how important that is for Brittany, so she doesn’t want to cloud her concentration. She’ll keep to herself and leave Brittany be for now.

Santana decides that she’s going to approach Brittany after the game like Quinn suggested. Hopefully she’ll be in high spirits after a big win and Santana won’t have to compete with the blues of losing.  

Who is Santana kidding? She knows that if anyone can take the Titans all the way, it’s Brittany.

\\\\\

As Brittany returns home after her morning run, she’s surprised to see her mom up and about in the kitchen. She takes out her headphones and kicks off her sneakers just in time to hear her mom call out to her.

“Morning kiddo!” Whitney calls out cheerfully. She’s wearing her polka dotted apron and there’s a spatula in one hand, a frying pan in the other.

“Morning,” Brittany smiles as she ventures in. Her stomach grumbles at the smell of bacon, “You’re up early.”

“Got the day off today,” Whitney tells her, “Thought you could use a real breakfast to start off the day. It’s an important one.”

Brittany smiles before going to grab a water. She was hoping the run would help clear her head since her thoughts have been running a muck since her conversation with Santana in the locker room. It helped a little, but the brunette still lingered in the back of Brittany’s mind.

Santana was a mystery to her. A beautiful, frustrating mystery.

“Everything alright?” Whitney asks with her brows furrowed.

Brittany continues to stare off in space, “Totally.”

“Then maybe you should shut the fridge,” Whitney teases, “You’re letting out all the cold.”

Brittany snaps out of it and realizes that she’s just been standing there with her bottle in hand. She tries to laugh it off and fills her mouth with water before turning to watch Whitney cook.

She’s cracking eggs into a mixing bowl with one hand now, Brittany always thought that was so cool, but Whitney still looks at her skeptically.

“You nervous about the game today?” She asks.

Brittany has to think. She’s always a little nervous before a game, but those are good nerves and she’s use to those. The feeling inside her now though isn’t something she’s familiar with. She kind of feels suspended, still stuck in this limbo with Santana even though they’ve talked.

If you can even call it that.

Maybe that’s what it is? Nothing feels resolved, none of her questions have been answered. If anything, there’s even more of them! It’s not a good mindset going into the final game of the playoffs. She’s been trying to tell herself that all night, but it hasn’t seemed to work.

She’s hurt and a little disappointed by how everything turned out. She hasn’t liked someone so much before and it’s been so long since she has gotten attached to anyone. It’s hard having to be around Santana now; what is she supposed to do with all the little things she has learned about her? It seems wrong to throw them away, but she doesn’t know what the point is in keeping them.

She’s not gonna need them anyway at this rate, but that also makes her wonder. Was that it for them? A whirlwind two weeks then this? Is that all they are meant to be?

Call it crazy optimism but as much as Brittany wants to throw her hands up and call it quits, she can’t. She’s never been a quitter and this thing that pulls her and Santana together is too strong to ignore. She could barely go a day without speaking to her, let alone the rest of her time in Lima. Maybe she should try again, but that also opens her up to getting hurt a second time.

When she sees Whitney look up at her from the corner of her eye, she realizes she hasn’t answered yet.

“My head’s just full of other things right now,” Brittany admits as she plays with the latch on her water bottle, “It’s hard to concentrate.”

Whitney quirks her brow at that, “What’s going on?”

Brittany only shrugs.

“Boy drama?”

Brittany shakes her head.

“Girl drama?”

Brittany hesitates before shaking her head, “I don’t really want to talk about it yet.”

“Okay,” Whitney nods, “You aren’t in any trouble, right?”

Brittany smiles at that, “No, mom, I’m not in any trouble.”

“I’m just checking,” Whitney chuckles as she cracks the last egg into the bowl. She pauses for a moment before looking to Brittany, “Well kiddo, focus on one thing at a time. You don’t have to go solving all your problems at once, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I know I don’t need to tell you that,” Whitney adds, “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, but everyone needs a little reminder every now and then. Whatever it is, it’ll work out.”

Brittany feels a tiny spark of hope within her and nods, “One thing at a time.”

“Exactly,” Whitney winks, “Now go shower. Check on your brother too, these eggs won’t take long.”

\\

Brittany decides one thing at a time means winning this game before anything else. Football is what she’s good at, it’s where she thrives and now is as good of a time as any to get back to that.

Being apart of the Titans and getting them this far was her first commitment when she came to McKinley and it’s only right that she sees it through.

\\

It’s the last day before Thanksgiving break so a lot the students – and even some of the faculty – have already checked out. With it being a half day, classes are also on a shortened schedule on top of the Pep Rally at the end of the day. Most people are super excited for the game later; everyone’s decked out in their McKinley High spirit gear and the Titans walk around in their home jerseys.

Everyone offers Brittany and the Titans their luck too – everyone except for the Hockey Team. They just stare bitterly from the outskirts of the crowd where they will always stay if they continue to keep a losing record.

Brittany doesn’t pay any attention to them. She just attends her classes as normal and tries to avoid running into Santana for a second day. Thankfully, she has done a pretty good job of doing just that. She doesn’t even look her way in the cafeteria during lunch although she knows Santana’s there. Like always, she can feel her eyes on her but she doesn’t give in – not this time.

It’s always a different story when she gets to her last class of the day.

\\

Ms. Holliday greets Brittany with a knowing smile as the quarterback enters the classroom. The English teacher is dressed in jeans and a McKinley Titans spirit shirt with her hair tied up with a frilly red and white scrunchie.

“Exciting day,” Ms. Holliday says.

Brittany nods, “Definitely.”

“You’re gonna crush it,” She replies with a pat on Brittany’s shoulder before handing her a worksheet.

Brittany heads to her usual seat, a little thankful that Santana isn’t there yet. She’s been anticipating this moment all day, wondering if it’ll be different than the day before.

Yesterday, they didn’t speak. They didn’t even look at each other. They just sat in a long uncomfortable silence until the bell rang and they both could get the hell out of there as fast as they could.

But Brittany feels different about today and she doesn’t know why.

She knows she should be focusing on the game ahead, but she won’t lie and say it’s easy to go another day without talking to Santana. She’s been the best part of her day for awhile now, it feels off to be without her – especially on Game Day.

Brittany shifts into gear as she sees Santana enter the room from the corner of her eye. She looks up and watches the Co-Captain near their table; her books are hugged to her chest but her eyes stay glued to the floor. It’s the same as yesterday and it has Brittany feeling a little deflated.

But it doesn’t last for long.

“Hi,” Santana whispers as she starts to get settled.

Brittany’s eyes widen and she’s so surprised by the unexpected greeting that she almost forgets to return it.

“Hey.”

“How are you today?”

Brittany tilts her head and smiles even though Santana misses it, “Good. Nervous, but good.”

“You don’t have anything to be nervous about,” Santana tells her like it’s fact, “You’ll be great.”

Brittany softens, “Thanks.”

Santana continues to busy herself with getting her materials out while Brittany patiently waits to see if something more will happen, but nothing does.

It’s another class of sitting in silence, but it feels different this time. It’s not as heavy as it felt yesterday and Brittany’s grateful for that. Really, Brittany just feels a little relieved as she watches Santana get dismissed early for the Pep Rally.

“I’ll see you later,” Santana says and it’s another surprise, “Good luck if I don’t.”

Brittany only smiles, “Thanks.”

\\

The Pep Rally comes and goes and now it’s just a countdown until showtime. Brittany does everything she normally would in preparation for a game and even heads to the locker room early to get ready.

It’s different without Santana there, but it’s for the best.

The Titans need her all because this kind of game is about all or nothing. With a loss, that’s it for them. Their season’s over and for a lot of Seniors on the team, this is it. This is potentially the last game they ever play in their high school career and Brittany can’t have that on her conscience if she doesn’t give it her all.

She gets dressed to the sounds of her Game Day playlist which never fails to get her in the mood to kick some ass. With having the whole locker room to herself, it’s easy to get lost in the music as she continues to get ready. She makes sure she grabs her lucky towel and tucks it into the waistband of her pants before sliding on her left glove.

All that’s left now is a bit of eye black and her helmet before she’s ready to go.

\\

When she and the Titans take to the field for the first time, the feeling is like no other. The crowd is a sea of red and white and it’s the loudest it has ever been. The team rips through the banner and pulses with unwavering determination.

They’re hungry for a win and they’ll take down anyone in their path.

Brittany can feel the roar of the spectators in her chest and pumps her fist in the air as she admires the packed stands. It’s one of the coldest nights so far in November but she feels warm beneath the stadium lights. She knows it won’t last long though and keeps her hands tucked in her handwarmer pouch as she makes her way to the Titans sidelines.

It’s kind of inevitable that she sees Santana and the Cheerios there too.

They’re facing the crowd and waving their pompoms as they call out cheers to get the crowd even more pumped. Santana and Quinn are front and center and Brittany can’t help but steal a glance in the brunette’s direction. It’s only a quick one – enough to catch the brilliant smile she wears – before players interrupt her view.

“Pierce!” Coach Beiste calls out, “Coin Toss.”

Brittany nods and jogs out onto the field with Mike and Matt to meet the referee and the Team Captain from Crawford County Day along with their two elected players. They shake hands and introduce themselves first before the Ref goes over their usual speech about sportsmanship.

Everyone agrees to do their part in keeping the game fair before the Ref asks the visiting team whether they want heads or tails.

“Heads,” The Team Captain calls out.

The Ref tosses the coin in the air.

Everyone watches it spin several times before it lands to the turf. They look to the ground and the Ref bends to call out the outcome.

“Tails!” He says before gesturing to the Titans, “Titans it is your call.”

“Defer,” Brittany replies, trying to keep the smirk from showing. Winning the toss is kind of like a good omen, but she’s not counting her lucky ducks just yet.

The Ref nods and announces the Titans’ decision before the players leave the field.

Crawford County Day’s special teams comes out and the Titans’ special teams does the same. Brittany hangs back by Coach Beiste as they watch Kurt kick the ball away, signaling the official start of the game.

They hadn’t played Crawford County since the early weeks of the season, back when Brittany was still working on her relationship with the team. It was a rough start back then, but the Titans were able to secure a win in the end. They’re in a much better place than they were so Brittany’s excited to see what this game offers.

\\

Crawford County ends up being an even better competitor than Brittany thought.

It seems like the Titans weren’t the only ones working on their rhythm and communication since their last matchup. The Titans trail Crawford County by two touchdowns. It’s like every time they score, Brittany and the Titans aren’t that far behind with one of their own.

However, the Titans were shut down in their last drive and came up without any points.

It’s an offense-led game, but Brittany doesn’t like the idea of playing catch up all night. Not when there’s a Championship Game on the line. She wants to get into a better position going into the half because she knows they’ll be getting the ball afterwards. By then, she hopes it’ll be a blow out once again but she can only judge it one play at a time.

\\

There’s still 6 minutes left in the first half which is a lot of time depending on what you can do with it, especially when you’ve got the ball – and right now, the Titans don’t. If Crawford County was smart, they’d waste as much time as possible so the Titans won’t have much to work with by the time they receive the ball again.

Judging by the current situation, Brittany thinks that’s exactly what they’re going to do.

“Shit,” Brittany mutters as she waits anxiously on the sidelines. She can faintly hear the Cheerios cheering and it makes her want to look over. She’s been doing well so far, why mess that up now?

Brittany doesn’t have a reason. She just looks over instead like it’s second nature.

And like always, Santana’s already looking back at her.

It’s cliché to say, but she steals Brittany’s breath away. She’s waving her pompoms and going through the motions, but her pretty brown eyes never leave Brittany’s.

There’s a hint of a smile on Santana’s lips, it’s barely there but Brittany knows it all too well. She knows all kinds of Santana’s smiles but this is the one she doesn’t see very often. The last time she saw it was the Homecoming bonfire. She can’t remember what they were talking about, but she definitely remembers the way Santana looked at her that night.

It has Brittany smiling back and for a moment it feels like it’s just them on the field. It makes her happy just as much as it makes her sad, because they could’ve been so great together.

“Damnit!” Coach Beiste curses when Crawford County gets another first down.

It jolts Brittany out of her staring contest with Santana and forces her head back into the game.

They need a miracle because at this rate, the Titans are going to be down by three coming out of the half. That’s not the worst scenario possible, but Brittany doesn’t need them getting ahead anymore than they already are.

She watches the ball get snapped and the opposing team’s QB drops back. He searches for a target and launches the ball downfield, but something miraculous happens – a Titan defender catches it.

The crowd goes crazy and the sidelines are even rowdier as Matt takes off with the intercepted ball. He zips through the other players until he’s ultimately dragged down by their quarterback of all people. They’re in great field position now and Brittany can’t be any happier.

“Do something with this, Pierce,” Coach Beiste tells her with a hard pat on her back.

“Yes Coach,” Brittany replies before tugging on her helmet and getting back out there.

\\

The Titans are able to score once more before the half is called thanks to Matt’s interception. They leave the field in high spirits despite still being behind on the scoreboard by a single touchdown.

Well, most of the team is in high spirits.

“I don’t know why we can’t run the ball more!” Karofsky complains, “Lady Lips can’t catch for sh–“

“Hey!” Sam snaps.

“What?” Karofsky flinches at him, “It’s true.”

“It’s not.”

“You’re right,” Karofsky frowns as he turns to Brittany, “I thought you said you were taking us to the Championship?”

“You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink,” Brittany replies coolly.

“Did you just call me a damn horse?”

Brittany shakes her head, “I’m saying this is a team effort. I can only do so much. It helps no one by tearing each other down.”

“Your head is in the clouds and we can all see it,” Azimio says.

Brittany’s stunned, “What?”

“You’re distracted,” Karofsky answers, “You’ve been like that for awhile.”

“Shit, I would be too if I was hooking up with Lopez on the low,” Azimio mutters beneath his breath.

That puts Brittany over the edge and she’s rounding on him before she realizes it.

“You don’t know anything!” Brittany shoves at him so hard that he nearly falls off the bench. The amount of strength behind the shove shocks everyone because Azimio isn’t a small guy.

“Yo! Chill out!” Azimio pushes her away.

“Talk about her one more time,” Brittany shoves at his hands as Mike starts to pull her back, “I dare you. Talk about her one more time.”

“He was just talking shit,” Karofsky defends with a smirk, “But looks like he might be on to something.”

“That’s enough,” Coach Beiste says before looking warily at Brittany, “Easy, Pierce. Whatever that is, deal with it later.”

Brittany regains her composure while Azimio and Karofsky do the same.

“I give everything to this team,” Brittany states, “I put in extra time on the field. I show up early, I’m the last one to leave. Who else here takes that kind of initiative? I can’t do everything!”

Karofsky waves her off but that just makes Sam even more annoyed.

“You’re such an ass,” Sam tells him, “You’ve been holding up this team’s progress since Britt got here. Who knows if you really want to win this thing.”

“What are you yapping about now, Evans?” Karofsky rolls his eyes.

“You don’t put in the work!” Sam says, “Britt would’ve thrown at least three TD passes by now if she had more time in the pocket but you’re so crap at blocking!”

“What?” Karofsky scoffs, “Let’s count how many times she’s been sacked this game. Oh wait, you can’t because she hasn’t!”

“That’s not because of you!” Sam replies, “She’s slippery, she gets out on her own no thanks to you.”

“What about knockdowns?” Kurt asks, “There’s been a few of those.”

Sam nods, “Yeah, that too!”

“Maybe you just need to be faster?” Azimio cuts in, “All that Bieber hair is probably weighing you down.”

Brittany lets out a sigh as they all start to argue. One thing she hates about being on a team full of guys, their arguments are usually ridiculous and pointless.

“That’s stupid,” Sam grumbles as he fixes his shaggy hair, “Britt needs better protection from both of you. We can’t get downfield because you – “

“We’re doing our job!” Karofsky yells.

“Bullshit,” Puck grumbles, “We have to rely on the passing game because neither of you can create a gap in their D. I’ve been getting snuffed out all night!”

“That’s definitely not on me,” Azimio brushes off, “You couldn’t get yardage if you were the only one on the damn field!”

“The hell you say to me?” Puck snaps and lunges at Azimio.

“Hey!” Coach Beiste booms, “How about focusing on your own roles, huh? If anyone’s going to call out what’s going wrong with this team right now, it’s me. I’m the one coaching this team, not you so cut it out.”

Everyone quiets down but Karofsky continues to stew in his annoyance. It’s nothing new to Brittany, as soon as they’re down – no matter the amount they’re behind – Karofsky and Azimio never fail to complain. Instead of taking ownership, they point the finger at anyone else in the room and Brittany hates that.

“I don’t want to hear anymore of you blaming one another. Each and every one of you are responsible for the outcome of this game,” Coach says, “No one is above or below anyone. You share this load so you better be doing your part. If one of you fails, everyone does. You hear me?”

“Yes Coach,” The team says in unison.

“We might be behind right now, but we’re gaining on them,” Beiste says, “This team is in much better shape and they’re getting worn out. Keep at it and we’ll come out of this on top. You all know what to do, you’ve proved it time and time again. Stay focused. Just keep going, keep putting that pressure on them.”

Brittany inhales a calming breath. She’s done a good job of staying calm and cool under the pressure, she’s done a good job of not telling Azimio and Karofsky’s crap get to her, she can’t stop now. They’re so close to a victory, she can taste it.

Coach Beiste eyes everyone, her gaze steely with her fists resting on her hips. She looks larger than life in front of them, “This is your moment, Titans, take it!”

\\

The Titans take to the field once more after halftime and Brittany remains optimistic about their situation. They’ll be starting the second half by receiving the ball, so it’s the perfect opportunity to tie things up. She tries to forget about the arguing and Karofsky and Azimio’s claims about Santana and get her head back in the game.

\\

The Titans end up on thin ice after their opening drive of the third quarter is a bust.

Brittany was really banking on it to tie the score but Crawford County’s pass rush is too intense. She’s starting to see her O-Line getting worn down despite everyone thinking it would be Crawford County whose fatigue would start to show by now.

It’s been scoreless on both sides as the game clock continues to eat up the third quarter. The Titans are still a TD away from tying things up and Brittany really wants that to happen before they enter the fourth quarter.

They need a big play to get a new set of downs but like Puck said in the half, he’s been getting shut down all night. The first down is only a couple yards away and a running play would be perfect but it might as well be a mile against the re-energized defense.

They need something Crawford County wouldn’t expect, something sneaky.

So in the huddle, Brittany calls the play despite Coach’s detest. It was all or nothing, and this would be just enough to get momentum going again. They need a spark, something that would breathe life back into this team after the morale has been slowly chipped away.

This was the only way she knew how to do that.

“Peek-a-boo,” Brittany says and looks everyone in the eye to make sure they’re with her.

Her teammates look surprised but they nod.

“Alright,” Brittany nodded resolutely, “Titans on three. One…two…three!”

“Titans!” They yelled out in unison with a clap before getting back to the line of scrimmage.

Her heart was racing but this is exactly what she loves about the game. It’s all about the adrenaline and making every play count. She can do this.

Puck gets into position beside Brittany as she readies herself for the snap. Her eyes stay searching the defense for any movement, always scanning.

“Down…hut,” She says lowly. She watches her inflection and thanks her lucky stars that no one on her O-Line flinches, “Down…hut.”

Again, her O-Line are statues. She was hoping she could draw an offsides from the opposing team, but they don’t move either. She stomps her left foot and Puck changes positions, “Down…HUT!”

The ball is snapped perfectly and she quickly fakes the handoff to Puck before he charges to the left. Brittany watches the mob of players move along with him before she’s tucking the ball and taking off in the opposite direction. She just needs a few yards to get the first down and she runs like hell towards it.

She can see in her peripheral that Crawford County’s safety and corner have started to gain on her. Her feet move faster and she jolts her arm out in a stiff arm that connects with one of the players.

The corner tumbles to the ground but there’s still one more Brittany has to worry about. The safety wraps gives her a hard shove but she outstretches the ball in hopes that she can still land the first down before she falls out of bounds.

Brittany hits the turf hard and the ball pops out but she can hear the Ref’s whistle blowing. She glances up in time to see him signal the first down and suddenly her shoulder doesn’t hurt all that bad.

She hops up from the ground as her teammates rush her, but even in the swarm of red and white jerseys Brittany finds herself glancing to the sidelines where Santana looks visibly relieved. Her pompoms are clutched to her chest but when she sees that Brittany is okay, Santana narrows her eyes almost as if to say don’t do that again.

Even if things are weird between them right now, it’s still nice to know Santana worries about her. Brittany smirks though at the chastising look and mouths an apologetic, “I’m sorry.”

But Brittany isn’t, not really. The smile she wears after making an incredible play can probably be seen from space, but they’re not done yet.

“Hell yeah!” Puck shouts excitedly as he slaps Brittany’s on the helmet, “That was so awesome!”

“Let’s do something with this,” Brittany says as determined as ever before getting her team back to their new line of scrimmage. She calls the next play but she wants to keep this momentum going and calls out, “Hurry! Hurry!”

Mike and Sam are set up with Matt on the opposite side. Puck’s next to her again to offer extra coverage as the ball is snapped. She drops back and searches for an open receiver but the linebackers are quickly closing in. The more time she sits in the pocket, the bigger chance she has of someone on her team getting penalized for holding. She has to act now!

Suddenly Matt gets open and Brittany fires the ball into his open hands. It’s like a laser beam but he makes the catch and brings it into his chest before getting tackled to the turf. It was a nice grab for a good chunk of yardage, another first down.

“Let’s go!” Mike cheers as everyone gets back into position.

The clock continues to tick away but they’re in way better field position now, Brittany has to make something of it. The endzone is right there, if she can’t get a strike she’s going to be really disappointed in herself.

In the huddle, she calls a play that’s well-practiced amongst the receivers but the challenge is whether or not her receivers can put enough distance between them and their defenders. A pass like this could be easily picked off and if it does, that’ll be a big blow to the Titans’ morale.

“Down…” Brittany calls out as she readies for the snap, “Down, HUT!”

Similar to the play before, her receivers take off but instead of running up field they make quick slants in different directions. Brittany looks for the most promising target and fires towards them. This time it’s Mike and he leaps into the air to make the catch. The ball continues to stay secured in his arms as he drops back to the turf and heads for the endzone.

Brittany watches it all happen in slow motion. One step, two step, three step, SCORE!

The stands erupt in applause while the team celebrates. Brittany rushes down to join them and for the first time all quarter, she feels like she can recognize her team again. They head to their sidelines as the special team is brought out for the extra point.

While everyone watches and waits to see what Kurt can do, Brittany’s glancing to Santana again. At first, she’s looking at the kicking team too but then she turns to Brittany almost as if she could feel her watching.

Santana quirks her brow and tilts her head toward the field but Brittany keeps staring. Maybe that hit earlier has knocked a couple screw loose but Brittany can’t find it in her to look away. She’s been depriving herself for the past two days now and in this moment, while she’s surrounded by her teammates and she’s meant to be tuned into the game, she just wants to look at Santana.

And she knows she shouldn’t want to go over there and kiss her either, but she can’t help what her heart wants.

The crowd cheering again after Kurt’s kick is good is the only thing that breaks Brittany’s concentration. The Titans have now tied with Crawford County and there’s still a whole quarter left in the game. Everyone looks revived and Brittany has such a good feeling about what’s coming next once they get the ball back.

\\

Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Titans lead by a field goal and they’re already closing in on another TD but again Crawford County’s D isn’t letting that happen so easily. They’re on third down and short but Karofsky’s already started up with his bullshit again after another pass was batted to the ground.

“I knew you’d choke,” Karofsky scolds after Brittany calls a timeout, “What the hell was that?”

Brittany shakes her head but continues to keep her cool, “It looked like they got the jump on you. Maybe you need to keep a better eye on your man.”

“I had my eye on him!”

Puck laughs, “I bet you did.”

Karofsky shoves at him and Puck shoves back. Matt quickly gets in between them and pushes them apart.

“You’re blowing this for us,” Karofsky claims as he glares at Brittany, “You were just all talk! Now that you’re here, you’re choking.”

Brittany frowns. She knows he’s just taking out his frustrations on her because she’s the leader of this team, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less. She doesn’t usually believe a thing he says, but the more he runs his mouth the less she starts to believe in herself.

Is she blowing this for them? Should she be doing more? What more could she possibly do?

“How about you take some ownership?” Brittany says instead, “As soon as something doesn’t go our way, it’s my fault. Well, what about you? What are you doing to make this team work? What’s your contribution?”

“This is bullshit,” Karofsky growls as he takes a step closer to her.

Brittany doesn’t waver, “Yeah. It is.”

She just keeps her chin held high and her fists tight by her sides. She could go off right about now, unleash all the pent up feelings she has about him and his shitty attitude and the comments he’s made about Santana.

She could do it, but she won’t. For the sake of this team and for Santana, she won’t. She’s better than him and she can’t stoop to his level no matter how bad she wants to.

“It’s not her fault you’re outmatched,” Sam replies as he pushes Karofsky back to his side of the huddle.

“I’m getting tired of you always defending in her!” Azimio snaps.

“We’re a team, that’s what we do! We have each other’s back.”

Karofsky just shakes his head before Brittany takes back the huddle. She calls her next play and tries to rally a bit of support but she can see her O-Line is tired and it doesn’t help that Karofsky keeps making things negative.

“Let’s just focus here,” Brittany tells them, “One thing at a time.”

So Brittany and most of the Titans do just that.

It’s one play at a time, one touchdown, one win. That’s all they need to do to come out of this on top.

Brittany sets up another play action and has Puck get into position next to her. The ball is snapped and she fakes it to Puck but #87 for Crawford County is in her face in an instant. It happens a lot quicker than it usually does so she has to scramble. She tries to duck and dodge him while looking for someone to offload the ball, but then she’s blindsided by #99 coming in from the opposite side.

She’s hit hard once again and drops to the ground with two defenders wrapped around her. Miraculously, Brittany was able to hang onto the ball during that sack but she’s slow to get up.

Actually, she’s slow to even move.

[kendelias]

✖️?💖

(this is ofc excluding our faves already <3)

glee:

billie ramos & joy schuester: billie, every time joy starts shit: GO BEST FRIEND GO. no but sincerely she would love her so fucking much; billie’s motto is very much “i support women’s rights but more importantly i support women’s wrongs” so she would bail joy out at every opportunity and back her up at all times. 

vi avery & dolly corcoran: i want queen bee vocal adrenaline besties is there anything wrong with that??? i want POWERHOUSE QUEENS!!!

vi avery & marilyn pillsbury: vi falls in with quinn, santana, and brittany for a little bit when she shows up to school, so she and marilyn would definitely hang, and queen bees gotta stick together. also no one knows struggling with sexuality quite like virginia avery so they could definitely relate there.

teen wolf:

adam argent & alexis argent: okay so ik we’ve talked about this a little bit before but SOME MORE THOUGHTS: lexi being so excited to move every time they did and cheering adam up about it, filling adam in about the supernatural before the family “decides” it’s okay. like just siblings man all my love for Them

adam argent & arianne martin: not enough content about the younger sibling squad. their own scooby doo gang WHEN? them hanging out when allison and lydia hang out, adam being Completely starstruck,,, just them head empty

adam argent & kailani mahealani: okay but these two becoming friends before him and danny,,, kailani being the biggest adanny shipper,,, just think on it just reminisce

adam argent & raegan stilinski: when will she adopt him pls,,, he had such a shit relationship with his mom he needs it okay. him teaching her sign language,,, her telling him he’s perfect as is,,, (also family dinners with stiles would be so funny and awkward)

maya lynn & eden dunbar: okay but maya being besties with not one but BOTH of the dunbar twins??? iconique! outsells! “it’s always been the three of us” type vibes! no but seriously maya needs more positive female friendships in her life and she and eden would get along like a house on fire i know it

maya lynn & lanie benson: them finding out about the supernatural TOGETHER??? maya wholeheartedly stanning lanie/liam (save her being a tad overprotective of him in the beginning probably but if they talked it out she’d get there). once again maya and female friends pls

oliver clark & scout stilinski: i love some popular besties tbh. oliver, after ribbing on stiles for three hours straight: not you though scout you’re an angel and we’re lucky to have you. also the angst of him keeping secrets about the supernatural while stiles knows... oof.

titans:

phoebe barrett & vanessa kline: dick grayson (honorific) and jason todd (honorific) for phoebe so she’d Love vanessa. she’d also think she’s such a badass and look up to her so much. all she’s ever wanted was to be a hero and vanessa is exactly what she envisioned!! 

phoebe barrett & tracey abbott: traumatized and with daddy issues? love that for them! i could see tracey taking phoebe under her wing and looking after her unlike anybody had done for her.

girl meets world:

gus minkus & hope matthews: can you say BEST SIBLING IN LAWS? also gus knows what it’s like to be overshadowed by a sibling (although in his case he doesn’t think of it as a bad thing quite yet). he would def be closer to her than riley tbh (he loves riley but like... hope just Gets It ya know) and would very gently call out all the riley favoritism (getting progressively louder about it as the show goes on). i just know in my heart they’d be besties tbh

gus minkus & katelyn shumaker: gus canonically does stage crew for every show farkle does, so he def would have met kate!! katelyn introducing gus to the other class and expanding his friend group would mean SO MUCH to him tbh.

supernatural:

maude song & elle winchester: honestly girlie lives with the winchesters for years and needs someone even Slightly closer to her age around. (all of her friends are adults like 10+ years older than her LSDNFFNKLF) since she’s just like dean, they’d get on like a house on fire tbh. also i feel like elle could sympathize with maude about like... not knowing who her father is/having a complicated relationship with him, losing her loved ones, etc. i need these traumatized besties in my life xoxo

honestly there’s probably more that’s just the one that jumped out at me!!

send me an ✖️ for some crossovers!

[slipping-through-my-fingertips]

mad woman

part of my folklore series

Summary: Kurt is concerned that Santana has lost her voice; Blaine helps her get it back. 

Notes: I really feel that this song embodies Santana. I can’t explain it but it just reminds me so much of her. HAPPY 1 YEAR OF FOLKLORE!!!!!

AO3

Anytime he heard Santana singing in the shower, Kurt wondered why she gave up performing. Sure, she had the Spotlight Diner shifts but she was seldom a soloist. More likely, Santana opted to be backup vocals unless she was feuding with Rachel that day. It was like glee all over again. Her voice silenced or drowned out by the attention seekers. She didn’t fight for it as she had during her short-lived time as a member of the Treble Tones. Hell, she wasn’t into the music as much as Elliott and Dani were when One Tree Hill had been a quintet. 

Kurt was worried about her. Though she’d deny it, Santana loved to sing. She needed glee just as much as the rest of them. The problem was since she moved to New York it was like she lost her voice. 

He remembers feeling like that when he first arrived. Without NYADA, Kurt was another drop in the huge sea of city folk. No longer did he stand out for his bold fashion choices or being gay. Here, the things that once made him eccentric were just another thing people tried to ignore as they went about their days. No one in the city had time to pick on or compliment a newcomer from a small town in Ohio. 

At first, Kurt liked it because the fear of being beaten for being himself had completely vanished within a few weeks of moving. That was all behind him. Way back in Lima. After a few months, the novelty wore off. He actually started to miss the stares from his classmates at McKinley High. 

He hated to admit it but Rachel may have been right when she said they were similar. Sometimes, Kurt felt like Tinkerbell too. He needed applause to live. Craved the attention. Then, he got it at the Winter Showcase. Madame Tibideaux handed the limelight to him on a silver platter. The entirety of the NYADA staff got to hear him sing. 

Of course, he could’ve thrown up because he was so nervous and completely unprepared. Yet, it had been exhilarating. That rush of being on stage with a captive audience. Combined with his attendance to NYADA being on the line, Kurt hadn’t felt this energized since he last saw Blaine in person. 

None of that seemed to faze Santana Lopez. 

Honestly, after pulling her into the band and having her quit, recommending the evening dance classes at NYADA, and taking her out to Callbacks on weekends, Kurt was out of ideas. She refused to get on stage. But he saw that small smile on her face when she hummed under her breath when she thought no one was listening. No matter how vehemently she denied it, she missed singing. So, Kurt called Blaine. 

“I don’t know, Kurt, it’s kinda hard to help when I’m not seeing the situation for myself.” Blaine sighs, likely bummed he can’t solve this. 

Kurt practically saw him pouting through the phone. Thank god, they weren’t on Skype. He hated seeing his boyfriend looking so defeated when he wasn’t there in person to kiss the top of his head. 

Blaine had become the self-proclaimed advice-giver of the New Directions since he transferred. 

He helped Mike Chang fix his relationship with Tina when they had a week-long fight about only eating at Asian restaurants on their date nights. Tina had been pissed. No simple apology was going to cut it.  Blaine single-handedly compiled a list of Tina’s favorite places to eat and added a few of his personal favorite date night places. 

When Finn would forget special dates and Rachel got fussy about how Finn never uses the couple calendars she made for them, Blaine stepped in and helped him set up a reminder alert on his phone. 

And there was that whole fiasco about Miss Pillsbury not-so-subtly hinting that she wanted to get engaged. Blaine was able to straighten Mr. Schue out pretty quickly that day. For the life of him, that man didn’t understand why Miss Pillsbury was acting so weird. 

“You don’t have to be so roundabout, you know?” Kurt told him. 

“Huh.” Playing dumb, typical.

“Just come up to the city, Blaine,” he said. “I know you want to ask.” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, boyfriend of mine,” Blaine huffed. “I have zero ulterior motives while being completely unhelpful to your current predicament.” 

“Uh-huh, I’m sure that’s the case. I’ll see you next week.” 

“Unless Cooper can find an earlier flight!” Blaine exclaimed. 

He had been using up the countless number of frequent flyer miles his older brother had racked up to make weekend trips to New York. After Cooper discovered their long-distance relationship (likely after one too many late-night calls from Blaine missing his boyfriend), he offered them to Blaine. 

Blaine arrived the following Friday. McKinley had some teacher’s day so Blaine was able to hop on a morning flight. He was waiting in the loft when Kurt finished classes for the day. 

“Okay, we’re going to Callbacks tonight,” Kurt said, removing his coat. 

“Hello to you too,” Blaine replied, standing up from the sofa. “How are you, Blaine? How was the flight, Blaine? I missed you so much, Blaine.” 

Kurt rolled his eyes and ignored his boyfriend. 

“This isn’t about you, Blaine,” he said, “it’s about Santana.” 

“Wow, Blaine, you look great! Aren’t those my yellow pants you’re borrowing?” Blaine crossed his arms. 

“Hey!” Kurt exclaimed. “Those are my pants!” 

“Yeah.” Blaine blushed. “I rolled them so they’d fit better.”

Kurt marched over to him and knocked him onto the couch. “You look hot in my clothes.” 

“I look better out of them.” 

Instead of verbally agreeing, Kurt unbuttoned his yellow pants. Blaine was quick to keep up removing his own shirt and attempting to pull off Kurt’s as well. However, Blaine was sitting on the couch and Kurt was kneeling between his legs. It was proving to be rather difficult a task. 

“Kurt…” Blaine groaned, “come up here with me.” 

“I can’t very well do what I want up there, Blaine.” 

He sat up straighter. “Is this payment for not properly greeting me because I’ll take a blowjob over ‘how do you do’ any day?” 

Kurt pressed his face into Blaine’s naked thigh. “So long as you aren’t accepting blowjobs from anyone but me.”

“No, I would…” Kurt licked around Blaine’s hip. “Never.” 

Within seconds, Blaine’s head was fully tipped over the back of the couch and the only thing coming from his mouth were moans. He couldn’t even force the word ‘Kurt’ from his lips. When Kurt finally gave in and decided Blaine had received efficient teasing, he sucked at the tip until Blaine screamed his name. 

They were quick to clean up their mess afterward, unsure of when the girls would be home. It was one thing to have sex in the living room, it was a whole other to get caught. Though, Kurt figured Rachel owned him after Brody paraded around naked for the few months they dated.  

“Okay, now that we’ve defiled Santana’s bed, can we focus on helping her?” 

“Step one, don’t tell her about this,” Blaine suggested. 

Kurt slapped Blaine’s chest. 

“Ow.” 

“Be helpful. You said if you were in New York, you’d be able to help better. So do it.” 

“FIne,” Blaine replied, “no Callbacks. I have a better idea.” 

Turns out that idea was a speciality club night of Alternative Tunes. 

“It’s open mic. There’s gonna be singers, poets, magicians, and I heard their harpist is opening tonight,” Blaine explained, as they waited in line. 

“Is that why she brought your violin?” Rachel questioned. 

“Yup!” Blaine held up his black case. “I haven’t played to an audience of more than one in a while.” 

Kurt smiled at him. He loved when Blaine performed just for him almost as much as he enjoyed watching Blaine in front of an audience. Something about his face just lit up on stage. The same way Santana’s did in front of a microphone. 

“As much as I love talking about violins…” She rolled her eyes, “is there alcohol at this place?” Santana asked, “because that’s like 90% the point of going out.” 

“Yes, there’s alcohol,” Kurt confirmed. 

He told Blaine they’d need at least two drinks into Santana before they brought up performing to her. Which proved true. After nursing two long island ice teas, Santana was finally talking to Blaine about being on stage. He hadn’t gone up yet and she was teasing him.

“Come on, you brought your own instrument and everything,” she said. “Give us a show and tell.” 

With that, Blaine stood up and walked to the stage. No one was in line so he went right up after the juggler finished. He tapped the microphone and introduced himself.

“I’d like to dedicate this first one to my boyfriend.” 

He mouthed an “I love you” towards Kurt, who blew a kiss back. 

Then, he was lost in the strings. The next song he did was for Santana. Blaine didn’t announce it or anything but he watched her face when he could during the progression of the song. When he finished his set, Blaine thanked the audience. Kurt whistled and clapped, Rachel was jumping up and down while screaming for an encore, and when Blaine was back at the table Santana offered to buy him a drink. 

Without Kurt even realizing it, the next performer on stage was Santana. Just her. She didn’t introduce herself as Blaine did, the piano music just started to play and then she was singing. 

“What do you sing on your drive home?

Do you see my face in the neighbor's lawn?

Does she smile?

Or does she mouth, ‘Fuck you forever’?” 

Kurt couldn’t say why exactly but the song suited her well. Santana was always one to command an audience when she soloed. Soft instrumental with harsher lyrics was always her style. 

While Santana had the audience and Kurt captivated, Blaine bounced back over to their table. He had two drinks in his hand. 

“For you,” he said, passing Kurt a mojito. 

In return, Kurt pecked his check. He really was so lucky. Then, his full attention went back to the stage. 

 “Every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy

What about that?

And when you say I seem angry, I get more angry

And there's nothing like a mad woman

What a shame she went mad

No one likes a mad woman

You made her like that”

 As Santana finished her song, Kurt and Rachel turned to Blaine, who was positively beaming. He’d done exactly what he had told Kurt he could do. 

“How?” Rachel asked. 

“I’m a smooth talker,” Blaine said with a smirk. 

Kurt rolled his eyes.

 If anything, his boyfriend was a clumsy mess. Romantic and adorable? Yes. Tripped over his words? Constantly. 

“Come on, Blaine, give it up,” Kurt said. 

“Magicians never reveal their secrets.” 

Rachel huffed. She had a glint in her eyes suggesting she wasn’t giving up. Rachel rarely did when she really wanted something. Kurt had a theory that she could pester anyone enough to get what she wanted. Example A, a ticket to NYADA by tracking down the head of admissions and inviting her to Chicago to watch a show choir competition.  

Before Kurt could tell Rachel to drop it, Santana returned. She had a new drink in her hand. 

“Compliments of the lady in red,” she told them. 

“Excellent song choice,” Kurt said.

“Blaine’s idea.” she shrugged, sipping her drink. 

Blaine was still beaming. 

“It’s perfect for her, isn’t it?” Blaine replied, “When I first heard it I knew I had to hear Santana do a cover of it.” 

Santana winked at him from across the table. 

“What is going on with you two?” Rachel asked. “The devil incarnate and the sun from teletubbies should not get along this well.” 

Santana shrugged. “He’s besties with Britt.” 

“It’s true.” Blaine nodded.  “She even called us the Sunshine Twins.” 

Kurt’s eyes drift to Blaine’s—his—yellow pants. “Yeah, that fits.” 

[amazonworrier]

top 5 favorite characters? (from any show/movie/book)

Only FIVE?? This is cruel, and I simply cannot narrow it down to five. I refuse. 

Here are eight, with some attempt at ranking them. I feel like I’ve betrayed another twenty-thirty (at least) characters by leaving them off this list though. 

1. Cristina Yang (TV - Grey’s Anatomy)

“If You Want Crappy Things To Stop Happening To You, Then Stop Accepting Crap And Demand Something More.”

Honestly I wish I could say there was more of a competition for number one, but the bottom line is Cristina Yang will always be the first person who springs to mind whenever anyone asks me who my favourite fictional character is. She’s witty, intelligent, independent, and unapologetically ambitious, because she knows what she deserves and she’s not afraid to go for it.  I’ve always felt guilty for being intelligent because I grew up being told that being a smart girl wasn’t always a good thing, and as such have a tendency to hold back in certain situations to make others more comfortable. Cristina Yang  reminds me every day not to feel bad for taking up space. You won’t always be liked for being yourself, but the right people will LOVE you for it, so screw everyone else and go get what you want. Whatever that may be.

(Also, Sandra Oh is brilliant. End of story).

2. Santana Lopez (TV - Glee)

“The only straight I am is straight-up bitch”

I mean... you follow me on here right? This feels like an obvious one. Glee has sooooo many shortcomings, and I'm not going to pretend Santana Lopez didn’t suffer the occasional spell of character regression because the writing team didn’t always know how to stop real life from seeping into their scripts (looking at you season 6 rant). She’s a bitch, sure, but she’s also a hardcore friend and went through a journey a lot of us could relate to growing up. She’s the person I first saw myself in as a teen, and yeah maybe I ignored that for several years because it was scary and I didn’t want to think about it yet, but guess what? She got through it all, even the tough stuff, and grew into a better person because of it. Also, she was given a happy ending. I dare you to find that elsewhere for a wlw on television, because it’s truly hard to come by even today when we’ve supposedly made a heap of progress.

And let’s not pretend Naya isn’t 95% to thank for Santana Lopez. It sucks that she’s gone, but make her proud. Be yourself. Always.

3. Ellie Linton (Book/Movie - Tomorrow When the War Began)

"I can’t tell if what I did was right or wrong. I’d like to think it was to save my friends, or as part of some noble crusade to save my country. Really, it just comes down to the fact that I valued my life over theirs, doesn’t it?"

What’s that? A strong female character in a YA novel who doesn’t get stuck in a messy love triangle and whose key conflict instead revolves around the trauma she suffers after leading the charge in a literal war for the freedom of her country? You’ve gotta be kidding, right? 

I loved the TWTWB books growing up, and I still re-read them from time to time. Ellie was the hero of the story, but she was also deeply flawed and made a tonne of mistakes that the book didn’t shy away from addressing. This series, and particularly this character, are the reason I wanted to become a writer. It was the first work I can remember stumbling across that showed me a woman’s story could be about something other than the man she was in love with, and if people aren’t going to create more stories like that for me to read then I guess I’ll just have to do it myself.

4. Raven Reyes (TV - The 100)

"Nothing Like A Little Pain To Remind You You're Alive."

I hate that I’ve included a character from t100 on this list because the thought of crediting those guys for ever creating anything good after what they did from 3x07 onwards makes me angry. BUT it’s not every day you get a smart, sassy, disabled character in a post-apocalyptic world who still kicks ass and makes it through the day, and gets to be affected (but NOT defined) by her impairments. I started watching this show around the same time I began dealing with some serious (and scary) medical problems as a teen, and seeing someone like Raven on TV every week was literally the difference between life and death some days. Representation matters, even if the writers screw you over with it later on. 

(Also, s7 was a shitshow but my gal got to be the one who saved the human race at the end of the day when one lead died and the other one failed. You’re doing amazing sweetie!)

5. Rizzo (Movie/Musical - Grease)

“Some people are so touchy.”

What can I say? She’s tough, she’s darkly witty, she’s vulnerable but self-reliant, and probably responsible for shaping about 50% of my sense of humour and getting me into a hell of a lot of trouble growing up. Also, Stockard Channing’s performance of ‘There are Worse Things I Could Do’ will never fail to make me feel things, even when nothing else does. 

Honourable Mentions:

1. JJ (TV - Criminal Minds)

Look, she is on here purely for being my bi awakening, but also this scene - which sums up everything I love about her, from her strength to her compassion to her ability to just damn-well tell it like it is.

2. Quinn King (TV - Unreal)

I simply want to be her when I grow up. For better or worse. Watch this show if you haven’t already. 

3. Sophia Petrillo (TV - The Golden Girls)

The woman is responsible for the other 50% of my sense of humour. I have no regrets.

[forabeatofadrum]

Myosotis sylvatica (18/24)

Notes: It’s been a while. Now that we’re in april, I’ve surpassed last year’s advent with writing time. Boy, a lot has changed since the last chapter. In a month, the entire world got turned upside down. I hope you all are safe and healthy and stay the hell inside.

I have been incredibly busy with university (doing an exchange during a pandemic is interesting) and, well, Animal Crossing. But here I am again with a new chapter. Everyone’s grown up and Kurt’s finally it.

AO3

---

REASONABLE

One day, Kurt gets a call. Lizzie reads the caller ID out loud. It’s Santana.

“Hello?” he says when he picks up, “Santana?”

“Sup bitch,” Santana says and Kurt realises that it’s the first time in months that he’s heard her voice. She doesn’t sound any different, but Kurt’s seen some photos. He knows that she’s grown older as well. She also dyes her hair blonde every now and then. Apparently, it is for no reason and Kurt doesn’t question it.

“Hi, how are you?” Kurt asks, because wow, he really wants to know. They’ve texted, just like Kurt texted with all the other New Directions members, but they haven’t really talked.

“Good, okay, let’s cut the crap,” Santana says quickly. Alright. No time to catch up. “I am calling for our annual meeting, but you probably don’t know about it and I’m not sure if your future hubby has told you.”

“Wait. What?” Kurt knows that it can’t be a professional meeting. Now that he’s back on stage, he also has access to his digital calendar and Santana isn’t on the list.

“So, every year, we drive up to New York to chill with you guys. Rachel, Jesse, Kitty and Roderick are obviously expecting us, but I decided to call you, just to be sure. Fuck, I can totally imagine that Blaine’s completely forgotten about it.”

“Oh, uhm, Blaine hasn’t said a word,” Kurt admits. Just like Santana, he can completely understand. “When will you be here?”

“Like, in three days? This weekend?”

“This weekend?” Kurt yells out. Just then, the front door opens and Blaine’s home from a meeting. He’s been having those a lot lately, since the album isn’t progressing as he’d hoped. A few seconds later, he steps into the living room and Kurt waves to get his attention. Santana is talking to him about hotels and restaurants, but he barely hears it.

Blaine makes a phone hand shape and he frowns.

“Santana is on the phone.”

Blaine’s face immediately changes. He must’ve realised why Santana is calling.

“Wait, Santana!” Kurt cuts her off, “Blaine is here.” He puts the phone on speakerphone and Blaine sits next to him. He looks slightly ashamed. He knows he could’ve prevented this information dump. Kurt squeezes his hand as a sign that he is not mad at him.

“Hey Santana,” Blaine says.

“Ah okay, so, you haven’t told Kurt about our annual tradition,” Santana sounds condescending, but Kurt doesn’t know if she’s joking or not. Santana’s vagueness hasn’t changed. “The three of us are coming this weekend, Blaine.”

“Ah. Yes. I must’ve forgotten.”

“Obviously,” Santana says and Kurt imagines her rolling her eyes, “But given the circumstances, I get why you forgot to tell your man. We’re all grasping in the dark as well. Isabel has no idea what to draw for this year.”

Isabel?

Blaine laughs a bit. “Maybe a Broadway theatre? Kurt had his debut a while ago.”

“And we’re damn proud of you, Kurt,” Santana says and they can hear Brittany cheer in the background. It warms his heart. They had also sent flowers and a nice card. They signed it with “love from the LoPierces”, which confirms that they’re married.

“Wait, go back to this annual thing. What is it?”

“Honestly, it is just a way for Rachel to show off,” Blaine says and Santana bursts into laughter.

“He’s not wrong!” she says through the laughter.

“Rachel started the tradition after Brittany and Santana settled in New Jersey. It’s close enough for an annual New York based reunion. But lately, she uses it to reveal big news.”

“Fuck, remember that time when she temporarily left New York for a shitty TV show?” Santana laughs again and Kurt knows about that. Rachel has told him with a lot of pain and regret in her voice. The show truly was bad. “Oh, that was some fucked up shit.”

“Language, Santana!” Brittany yells from the back, but it only makes everyone laugh. Santana would never watch her language.

Unless…

The three of us?

Blaine continues the explanation: “But basically, we hang out for the weekend and we also have a lunch at our place on Saturday-” Kurt’s head jerks towards Blaine “-and we try to see a show with Isabel and one without her. We try to keep it low profile, but Rachel always manages a way to upstage it.”

“Wait, why are we hosting a lunch?” Kurt says. He’s been to Rachel and Jesse’s apartment. It is even bigger, because they have two offices. Kurt has warmed up to the casual dinner parties, but why in his home?

Blaine looks at him in a funny way. “Because you insisted on it all those years ago.”

That shuts him up and to be fair, it makes sense. Kurt’s always hosted tea parties since he was a kid. He just never expected to grow a bit dissatisfied with it. It’s a sign of the amnesia. “Well, time to do groceries.”

Blaine looks apologetic. “I… I didn’t even notice that you hadn’t started yet. Usually, you plan this lunch a month beforehand but I-”

He turns back to the phone lying between them. Santana does not need to know that Blaine is not in a great headspace caused by a creative rut. His plans on releasing a new album are slowly dying out, since he cannot manage to put any lyrics on paper.

“I have been too busy,” he says instead and Kurt nods. It is a reasonable answer and Santana snorts.

“Yeah man, you’ve always been busy. Crazy times for you two right now, so that is why I thought I’d call,” she says. If she still thinks it is very weird, then she doesn’t let them know.

Suddenly, Kurt and Blaine hear a crash and Santana grumbles and curses.

“Isabel!” Brittany yells in the background, “How many times has mama told you not to touch that. Santana, can you get the vacuum cleaner from the hallway?”

And Kurt now knows for sure.

“Alright guys, looks like I gotta do damage control. See you on Friday!” Santana says and they hear a child start to wail.

“Go do the damage control,” Blaine sounds very fond.

Santana ends the phone call and Blaine shakes his head while smiling. “That kid is always up to something.” He touches Kurt’s knee before getting up. “Do you want some coffee?”

But Kurt is silent.

“Kurt?”

Kurt blinks a few time before saying: “They have a kid?”

Now, Blaine is stunned into silence as well. Brittany and Santana having a kid must be so normal for him.

“They have a kid?” Kurt asks again, louder this time. How did he not know this?

Well, it is very clear why he does not know this. But it’s kind of mind-blowing that in the past few months, it never came up. Damnit, Kurt is thirty-four, almost thirty-five, and so are his friends. Of course, it makes sense that of his friends have kids.

Married is one thing, but kids?

Kurt wracks his brain. What does he actually know of the New Directions alumni, based on Rachel and Kitty’s ramblings and the few conversations over message apps with the others? He knows that Artie and Tina are married. He knows that Sam and Mercedes have their weird relationship. Rachel and Jesse are together.

Puck and Quinn are together, but are they married? Do they have kids? What about Mike and his girlfriend? Or wife? Tina has mentioned that Mike is living with a woman who Kurt does not know.

Blaine puts his hand on Kurt’s shoulder. “Kurt?”

“Can I see her?”

Blaine is taken aback by his request, but he fishes his own phone out of his pocket and he taps the screen a couple of times. Then, he shows Kurt a photo of Brittany, Santana and a beautiful little girl. Blaine smiles fondly. “She’s growing so fast.”

Easy for him to say. He probably has seen her grow up, but Kurt feels like he’s been slapped in his face. Santana - his Santana – is a mother? The last time Kurt saw her, she threw up in Rachel’s designer bag after going out and there was a huge shouting match afterwards.

Kurt went to bed to ignore his roommate fighting and he woke up fifteen years later.

“How old is she?”

“She’ll turn five this year. She takes after Santana. This is why Brittany and Santana left the city. They got married and moved to New Jersey to start a family.”

The fact that it is probably easier for same-sex couples to have children should make Kurt feel delighted, but he is still a bit in shock.

“The thought of them settling down in order to start a family feels weird to me. They’re too young in my eyes.”

“Except that they aren’t.”

“I know that!”

Blaine backs away. “Okay, okay. Let it all out. I’m still going to brew that pot of coffee.”

Kurt sighs. “… I’ll join you later. I need to talk to my mom.”

--

Isabel is a menace.

A lovely menace, but a menace. She definitely takes after Santana.

Brittany and Santana have aged – obviously – and Kurt’s jaw drops when he sees that Brittany is now rocking a pixie cut. Santana wears a lot of make-up, but that is the current trend. Between them, there is a little girl with tanned skin and long black hair. She’s the splitting image of Santana, minus the eye colour. She has Brittany’s eye colour.

On Friday, Kurt gets to know the full story from their perspectives.

They never expected it either, but the want for a family overthrew them when they were in their late twenties. Santana never expected to settle down before her forties, but one day, they had a dance performance and a little boy sat in the audience with his parents and it just clicked.

By that point, they’d already gotten married. They quit their jobs, moved to the New Jersey suburbs, started IVF and started their own dance studio. Isabel was born in 2022. Kurt already loves her.

On Friday, they go and see a family friendly musical called The Rubbers (Santana has to stop herself from making a not family friendly joke) and Rachel has used her star power to get dinner reservations for everyone. She’s already showing off. Rachel knows how to throw people off-guard.

That is why, on Saturday morning, Rachel tells Kurt that she’s invited Sebastian, Adam, Mae and Wes to the lunch at Kurt’s place.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Rachel?” Kurt yells angrily.

“It has a reason!”

“Well, this is not reasonable!” Kurt shouts and Blaine just reads a book on the couch. This is apparently not a rare occurrence.

“Trust me, Kurt. They don’t even have to stay for lunch. I just have a big announcement!” Rachel says as if that is a justification. Typical Rachel. She can be selfish when needed.

He could’ve seen it coming. Santana did tell him about Rachel’s tendency to do dramatic reveals.

“That makes me look like a shit host and I’ve already worked my ass off in the past few days to get this ready.” Blaine’s obviously been helping, but still, it was a lot of preparation.

“They know what to expect, Kurt. No worries. Otherwise I can always hire extra catering.” It is meant as a reassurance, but to Kurt it feels like an insult. It wouldn’t have been necessary if it weren’t for her selfishness. He’s boiling with anger and annoyance. He catches his reflection in the glass window and the urge to straighten all his clothing overwhelms him. That is a new one.

“… Rachel, I am going to kill you.”

“When you hear the news, you’ll understand.”

Kurt really does not have the time to fight her, since he still has to get ready. “This better be good.”

Rachel squeals as if she’s just won a big battle. “Yes, Kurt, I love you so, so much!”

Kurt hangs up without saying another word. Blaine looks up from his book. “Rachel is at it again?”

Kurt just shakes his head. This better be good.

--

As an olive branch, Rachel has requested to other to come over after lunch. Kurt is still very annoyed by her, but they have a nice time.

Kitty and Rodrick are once again wearing matching bowling shirts. Isabel thinks it is old school that Kurt and Blaine still have photos. Brittany and Santana feed each other little bites. Jesse and Rachel are radiating with happiness.

He watches Isabel smash her food with her hands (much to her mothers’ distain) and yeah, everyone is growing up. They’re all in their thirties. Most of his friends have full-time jobs with the daily 9 to 5 grind.

The bell rings and the others have arrived for Rachel’s big announcement.

Rachel and Jesse tells everyone to sit down in Kurt and Blaine’s living room.

“Blaine, tell Mimi to put on celebratory music!” Rachel orders and Blaine follows it. When the music is playing, Rachel says: “Thank you all for coming. I wanted all of you to be here to hear our big news.”

“Drumroll please!” Jesse yells out and everyone starts drumming on surfaces. Even Kurt drums along. He’s still mad at her, but now he’s caught up in the excitement.

Then, Rachel puts her hand on her belly.

“I’m pregnant!”

Chaos erupts. Everyone is yelling and hooting and celebrating. Mae pulls Rachel into a big hug and Santana pats Jesse on the shoulder. Isabel asks to feel the belly. Blaine yells at Mimi to put on another more upbeat party song.

And Kurt? Well, he wishes he could join the others, but he just feels numb. They’re really growing up and maybe he isn’t handling it as well as he thought.

[too-many-kpop-hubands]

30 Day Fandom Challenge

I'm going with a musical fandom this time, one of my favorites and I still watch reruns from time to time.

As always tagging @domsberto

Day 8- Glee

1 & 2) Favorite Character & Most Relatable Character: Sam Evans [Close Call Honorable Mentions: Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Santana Lopez, Sebastian Smythe, Jesse St James....yes I have alot of favorites]

Reason: You guys should know first of all that this was a really freaking hard decision but I had always planned to put Sam as my most relatable character. The more I went back through my rewatch of Glee not to long ago the more I realized that the Southern Dork had my heart more than I realized. Sam can be a bit of a himbo most of the time but he has a heart of gold that got trampled on time and time again. He was willing to do whatever he could to be there for his friends and sometimes came up with insane conspiracy theories that were sometimes true, like when he theorized that the Warblers were juicing and it turned out he was right. He was a talented guy, able to sing and play guitar, and always managed to brighten up anyone's day no matter how shitty it was with one of his jokes and impressions. Sam got the short end of the stick in terms of an endgame ship, everyone he had ever been in a relationship with either cheated on him or left him. He literally stood right next to two of his ex girlfriends when they married *each other* and was still happy for them. Despite his family losing everything when the market crashed, he was grateful for what little he did have even if it meant he had to wear clothes given to him by friends or cheap items. He proved that he would literally do anything to help his family, like when he found a job as a male stripper to make extra cash to help his family afford certain luxuries they wouldn't be able to without extra help. He would also do anything for his friends, like when he helped Blaine gather all the rival glee clubs together to help him propose to Kurt. He could also be self conscious at times. He would often brag about his body but when no one was looking he found flaws that he didn't like about himself. Sam was an easy going, sweet, funny, closet romantic and I stan the hell out of him.

3) Most Underrated Character: Elliott Gilbert

Reason: The beautiful Adam Lambert only graced us with his presence on the show as Elliott for a very short time but it was enough to make an impact on me. He was very talented and a good friend to our Gleeks living in New York at the time. He sometimes acted as the voice of reason, being an unbiased middle man when Rachel and Santana were fighting. He refused to pick sides when his friends were fighting but gave them someone to talk to and vent to. He was a fun person to be around and have a way about him that made anyone at ease once they got to know him. When Blaine moved to New York, he felt threatened by Elliott and his friendship with Kurt but Elliott reassured both Blaine and Kurt that he believed in their relationship and wasn't out to come between them. He was a chill dude who was just an all around great person to be around and I missed him when he was written off the show so that Adam could go back to his music career. I loved Elliott so much.

4) Most Overrated Character: Rachel Berry

Reason: First of all Lea Michele has an amazing voice but her character Rachel is overrated because she *knows* she has an amazing voice and tends to rub it in everyone's face every chance she gets. She is always on about how she's going to be a star and how she's so much better than everyone but let's look at the facts. There are better, or equally as talented, characters on the show and when Rachel had the chance at her dream role on Broadway, she left it too soon to do a TV show that flopped after only one episode causing her to run back home with her tail between her legs to revamp the Glee Club. Sure she made it in the end after she decided to go to college (and married Jesse....yes!) But she became more humble after she lost everything and got knocked off of her high horse. I still thought she was an overrated character.

5) Least Favorite Character: Tina Cohen-Chang

Reason: Tina Cohen-Agitator as Kitty once dubbed her was one of the most annoying characters on the show. She was self absorbed, even more so at time than Rachel, and constantly whined because she wasn't the center of attention. She hurt people without any remorse, like when she dumped Artie for Mike Chang or when she dropped Sam as a prom date when he didn't get nominated as prom king. She also had her weird tendencies, like rubbing vaporub on Blaine's chest when he was asleep and trying to propose to Mike when they weren't even together. She complained about *everything* and it just grated on my nerves. I really couldn't stand her. Sorry not sorry.

6) Favorite Canon Ship: Quick- Quinn Fabray & Noah Puckerman [Honorable Mentions: Brittana (Brittany & Santana), Klaine (Kurt & Blaine), and St Berry (Rachel & Jesse)]

Reason: Before I start this, I know Mark Salling did some shitty things before his suicide and that is not ok but this reflects on his *character* Noah Puckerman, not Mark personally.

From the moment Quinn found out she was pregnant with Puck's baby and we the fans first see them alone together onscreen the chemistry insane. They loved each other but they never *really* dated despite having a daughter together and making out a few times. It wasn't until later, after Quinn went on the Yale and Puck joined the Air Force that they finally officially got together but even throughout the seasons you could see their love for one another. They were a beautiful couple who had a beautiful daughter (who they have up for adoption to give her a better life since they were only 16 when they had her), and probably more later after the show ended.

7) Favorite Non-Canon Pairing: Blam- Blaine Anderson & Sam Evans

Reason: They were best friends and there are alot of great romances that grow from friendship. While in the show Blaine had feelings for Sam that Sam didn't return because he was straight, in the eyes of the fans they were in love. They had undeniable chemistry and were cute together. They looked out for each other and would do anything for the other. I stan Blam so much. And honestly when Blaine sang "Against all Odds" to Sam, I adored that moment because Sam saw him and even though he didn't return the feelings, though I still say Sam was in denial because later he was way too focused on the fact that Blaine wanted to do him.

8) Least Favorite Pairing: Rachel Berry & Sam Evans

Reason: I thought Rachel and Sam was such a random pairing. Yeah they had their cute moments but the chemistry felt forced between the two of them, especially since Sam was still in love with Mercedes and Rachel hadn't been with anyone since Finn died. Honestly when they eventually broke up, and Rachel ended up with Jesse (yasss), I wasn't that upset by it. I was just upset my man Sam ended up being the only one left unpaired by the end of the show, minus Mercedes.

9) Favorite Part/Moment: The Double Rainbow Wedding

Reason: I stan both Brittana and Klaine so much. When Santana proposed to Brittany in the final season I was like yassss Queen because I adore them so much, though I was still kind of salty like Kurt was that Klaine called off their engagement. The day of the wedding, or days leading up to the wedding, however saw my other pairing getting back together and the reunion of Klaine was epic as always. Fast Forward to the day of the Brittana wedding and Brittany, with the approval of Santana and Sue, made Klaine an offer they couldn't refuse. They surprised everyone when they made their way to the alter walking Brittany and Santana and actually staying so that they could get married to. It was a beautiful ceremony that left me with one of my favorite quotes that I plan to get tattooed on my wrist "I'm a work in progress". It was moving, shocking and beautiful and I love this moment so much.

10) Least Favorite Part/Moment: The Quarterback - Finn's Death

Reason: First of all, Rest in Peace Cory! You left an impact and will always be missed.

Because of the unexpected death of Cory Monteith, the writers had to kill Finn Hudson off on the show as well which lead to one of the saddest and most emotional episodes of Glee ever. It is my least favorite because I can't watch it without sobbing like a baby because you can tell the emotions of everyone in the episode are genuine. It was a sad time for us Glee fans.

[santoteez]

A Manhattan Tale - Seonghwa (4)

Parts: 4 of ?

Masterlist HERE

Genre: Chef!Seonghwa, FormerDrugdealer!Seonghwa, FormerKingpin!Hongjoong, Bad boy/ Good Girl kinda??

Warnings: Love interest is a Black Female, sexual contact (kissing and stuff), swearing, eventual smut, mentions of abandonment (kinda)

Requested: yes

NOTE: This fic does NOT, in any way, shape, or form, portray the way I view any member of Ateez nor does it depict their true personalities or actions. This AU is just that. An AU. All family members are FICTIONAL.

They walked into Seonghwa’s studio apartment after retrieving Zelie’s things. The curly-haired girl looked around before setting her bag down. Seonghwa’s place wasn’t much, but it was home. A full-sized bed in one corner, with menu drafts and a laptop on the nightstand. The other side was the kitchen/ dining area, where clean pots and pans sat atop of the stove, and a set of knives tucked away on the marble countertop. Along the one was a small, black leather couch.

“I know it’s not as nice as your place is. Or…was.” Seonghwa said, his footsteps resonating on the hardwood floor.

Zelie shook her head. “No! This is a great place!”

Seonghwa chuckled. “I know you’re just saying that, but thanks.”

“I’m serious. It’s great because it’s yours. You took an empty space and made it a home. Even if it was a cardboard box, you should be proud.”

Seonghwa sighed. “I said I was going to explain the situation to you when we got here. Have a seat.”

Zelie sat down on the bed. “You look like you’re sweating. Maybe we should turn the air on?”

Seonghwa shook his head. “I’m fine. I just haven’t acknowledged this part of my past in a long time.” He sighed. “It started when I was 17. I had recently graduated high school. I didn’t want to go to med school and become a doctor like everyone in my family. My parents were furious when they found out I wanted to go to culinary school. Said I should be more like my older sister. The great Dr. Minseo Park. When they found out I was enrolled in culinary school, they kicked me out. Said to find my own way to put myself through school. I ended up on the streets, didn’t even bother to show up to class. With what money? Supplies? I pickpocketed, attended soup kitchens, did what I could to survive. But it wasn’t enough. My health was deteriorating, and despite the free food, I still starved. So, I swallowed my pride and when in search of my sister.”

Zelie frowned. “That’s a lot to handle at that age. Did she help you?”

Seonghwa scoffed. “Like hell she did. She saw me from the glass door outside her private practice and sent her receptionist to escort me out. I broke down in tears. Begged her for help. A dollar for a slice of pizza, anything. She told me enrolling in med school would help. That my parents might take me back in. But that she couldn’t help me. I couldn’t stay with her and her snooty ass husband. Told me to leave. That I was disturbing her patients.” Seonghwa rubbed his knuckles, remembering the ordeal.

“But you managed to make it through culinary school. You’ve made a whole life for yourself. How did you do it?” Zelie tilted her head in confusion.

“That’s the part I’ve been afraid to tell you. One night, I was wandering around the streets. Starving. Filthy. I was dizzy from lack of food, and I bumped into this man. He told me to watch where I was going. I told him to fuck off. So the guy that was walking with him whipped a gun out and pointed it to my face. I was terrified, but I refused to flinch or let it show. Man said ‘Look at that, boss. He ain’t flinchin or nothin.’ The man asked me what I was doing on the streets, I said I was hungry and needed a shower. He said his name was Big Ross, and that he could help me.”

“Isn’t Big Ross that kingpin that disappeared off the face of the earth a couple years ago?” Zelie asked.

Seonghwa nodded. “He took me to Subway, bought me a sandwich. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a good meal. I dogged that shit immediately. Big Ross said, ‘If you work for me, you can have that and more.’”

“Woah, wait. So, you…?”

“Yup. He brought me back to his warehouse, gave me some clothes and let me shower. Said he saw something in me he needed on his team. He took me under his wing, showed me the ropes. I learned how to make product. Sell it. A couple months later, another guy came in, and we became close. Like the brother I never had.”

“Something tells me that’s the guy I met last night. HJ?”

“Beauty and brains. That’s him. I won’t get into every little detail, but he was appointed kingpin when Big Ross left, and during an errand, he got caught up in some shit. They had him up in Sing Sing for something he didn’t do. The problem is this: Someone has it in for us. We don’t know who or why. A customer came in yesterday, questioned why I wasn’t arrested for my involvement. How did I avoid jail time, and what would the city think if they found out my restaurant was bought with dirty money.”

“Dirty money? So you mean you bought a restaurant with drug dealer money which probably wasn’t in circulation for years?”

“Mhm.”

Zelie shook her head. “As cute as you are, you sure are dumb. I still don’t get where I come in.”

“HJ and I believe that it’s more than just us they’re after. It’s everyone around us. Friends, loved ones. HJ received a threat regarding Santana and their baby. My best guess is that I was unknowingly being followed when I saw you on the street. When they saw me drop you off and walk you in, they must’ve assumed you were my girl or something. Old drug dealer trick.”

She nodded. “A hustler is most vulnerable around his woman.” She sighed. “Well, how do you plan on fixing all this? Not to complain, but I can’t just hide here forever. Won’t me being here cause your house to be targeted too?”

“Nah. HJ received a threat written on a rock left on his doorstep. Whoever it is, they’re smart enough to not enter our actual houses. That’s another thing Big Ross taught me. Always meet in a neutral place. Meeting in one’s home makes the other vulnerable. Plus, HJ and I already spoke to an old friend, who’s gathering intel.”

“An old friend that’s still in the business?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you afraid this will just drag you right back in?”

He shrugged. “Honestly, I’m afraid this is always gonna be my life. I thought I could run from it; forget it ever happened. Three years later, this shit happens. Maybe this is just destined to follow me no matter what. And that’s why I’m so cold with people. I’m a bad person. I only bring toxicity wherever I go. That’s why I don’t want to get close to you. And you should stop trying too.”

Zelie stood up, walking over to where Seonghwa stood. “Seonghwa. If I may, and excuse my French, tell you why that is absolute bullshit. First off, I’m a grown-ass woman. I will associate myself with whoever I feel like it. Two, you have to stop putting yourself down. You are not a bad person. I was just a student fresh out of culinary school, no experience and you were willing to give me a chance. I fucked up time and time again and even when you could’ve fired me, you didn’t. You said ‘Fire up the grill. Try it again.’ And let me tell you, bad people don’t sponsor soup kitchens and donate the end of the day servings to homeless shelters. Your story makes so much more sense now. You know what it’s like to go without, so you want to help those who have none. If anything, I like you even more than before.” She reached up to cup his face, causing him to flinch slightly. “You’re just a work in progress, that’s all.”

Seonghwa looked deep into her eyes. He saw sincerity. Honesty, and compassion. Before he could realize, he was leaning in.

Zelie was taken aback when their lips met, but she recovered quickly, kissing him back passionately. Her hands moved from his face to the back of his neck, tugging his hair lightly. Seonghwa groaned, his hands grabbing onto her waist and pulling her closer. He hadn’t felt this way in forever. He lowered his hands to her ass, deepening the kiss.

Just as Zelie’s hands crept further into his hair, Seonghwa’s phone rang. The pair jumped apart, startled not only by the phone call but by their actions.

“Shit. Sorry. I-, sorry.” Seonghwa said, fishing into his pocket. He checked the caller ID. “It’s HJ.” He said, confused. “Didn’t we just leave?”

“Then it must be important. Answer it.” Zelie said, still catching her breath.

“Hello. Slow down, I can’t understand a word you’re saying. Wait, what? By who? Where are they taking him? Fuck. Shit. Okay, okay. We’re on our way. Just hang on.” He hung up, running his hands through his hair. “C’mon Zelie.” He said, frantically rushing out of the room.

“Where are we going?” Zelie asked, right behind him.

“The hospital. It’s Minjoon.”

Stephie here! Just a quick update until I can write again, which will probably be in 2 days or so. I know I’m still dragging it out but it’ll all make sense next chapter so please please bare with me!

[spaceorphan18]

Finding Kurt Hummel: What The World Needs Now

Masterpost

6x06: What The World Needs Now

So - after what’s been a really strong Kurt (Klaine) story - we’re going to pause a second and talk about Brittana (and Rachel).  And - it’s fine.  I think this episode is underrated a little because of the lack of Kurt and Blaine in it.  And this is really Brittana’s last big episode, and they don’t get many, so I won’t begrudge them that.  Plus - it makes my job easier for an episode - even if the Klaine story does feel like it’s coming to a grinding halt for an episode.  (I suppose when you watch these all together though, it doesn’t feel like such a road bump).  

Exposition

Kurt’s back and here to remind you that a minor win is a good thing and introduce the theme of the week -- Burt Bacharach.  Cause y’all know who that is, lol.  Well - you’ve probably heard a billion of his songs, but didn’t really know that he wrote them.  It’s a little weird for a final tribute episode, but it feels like Ryan Murphy wants to get out all his guilty pleasures before the show ends.  

Kurt’s also there to welcome back Mercedes.  Who - btw, is there to be okay with Rachel dating Sam, and help Rachel out emotionally.  Basically - she now has Kurt’s old job, and thank god.  I mean - I’m sorry Mercedes is relegated to this role, but it does free up Kurt from the shackles that is normal Hummelberry.  

Though honestly - Hummelberry has been... fine.  They’ve kinda been in their own little worlds when they aren’t teaching.  It’s almost... Healthy.  

And anyway - it’s actually nice to see Rachel and Mercedes be supportive friends.  There just isn’t enough positive f/f friendships on the show. 

Project Rachel

Mercedes has it in her head that while it’s nice the glee club is going again - Rachel needs to be back in New York again cause that’s where she’s supposed to be.  And while I don’t think she’s wrong, I am rolling my eyes at the one last time the show is going to coddle Rachel.  

I should note - there’s a quick mention that Kurt’s working on his ‘thesis’ for NYADA.  It’s an afterthought - sure, but at least the show remembers the other reason why he’s there.  But it’s also a reminder that coaching is only a temporary thing for Kurt, too.  I kind of wish the show didn’t gloss over it so easily.  But the point is - one of the reasons the show isn’t (unfortunately) focusing on Kurt’s career is that he’s not needing the push to go back to New York.  Returning really isn’t a question in his book.  His push is back towards Blaine - his version of home.  

See - way back in Loser Like Me, Kurt, Rachel, and Blaine are back in Lima because they needed to have a reset (like the glee club itself) and the point of season 6 is to get that reset.  Rachel’s eventually gonna get back on her path towards a performance career, while Kurt and Blaine get back on their path - wherever it might lead, together.  And the glee club will continue on and forward like it always should have.  It’s a whole full circle thing the writers were going for in this last season, while (questionably) tying up all the loose ends. 

Whether you find it satisfying or not I suppose is up to you. 

Anyway - Mercedes mentions she has a plan for Rachel to fall back in love with New York, and she apologizes (not really) to Kurt for bringing Blaine in.  Kurt kinda reacts - like - oh, so we’re gonna do that.  But I mean, nothing really comes of it.  I do like how flippant Mercedes is about it.  Just get your shit together, boys, there are other things to worry about.  Like the main character of the series. 

I kind of love that they call New York ‘endgame’ for Rachel, lol.  Also love that the only time Kurt’s on screen during this number is when he’s next to Blaine at the piano.  Nice touch! Unfortunately, he doesn’t sing at all - so boo! 

Alfie

So, um, Kurt I suppose is technically in this scene - faux singing backup in the background.  I don’t really like this song, nor do I really want to get into the Brittana of it all (do you guys care about my thoughts on Brittana? No? Didn’t think so).  So - this is here for completion purposes. 

Oh - I suppose though cause I’m feeling it - the one thing about Brittana that I want to say is -- Brittany’s speech to Santana’s grandmother is perfect, and I kinda wish they had let the story go at that instead of go the happily ever after route with the grandma in the wedding episode.  But ah well, it’s glee.  Happily Ever After is what they do. 

Family

Kurt: Family embraces you with open arms no matter what.   Blaine: They can see the pain in your eyes even when you’re fooling everyone else. 

So, long story short - we get a full Glee speech about the real meaning of family, The context is about Brittana - but I like to think it means more than just them supporting the girls and their wedding.  

Kurt says that family embraces you - and I like to think he’s talking from experience.  I mean look what Burt and Kurt have gone through throughout the series.  And how supportive they’ve been through everything that’s been thrown at him.  Santana, clearly, hasn’t had the same kind of upbringing - so this whole unconditional love thing seems almost a foreign concept. 

Meanwhile - Blaine mentions that family can see you for what you really are - and he looks to Kurt as he does so.  And I’ve always taken that to mean that despite their relationship issues, Kurt and Blaine can tell when the other one is hurting. (I mean - look at the previous episode - and despite their BS’ing words - their looks told another story - and they both knew it.) 

And... then we get a chorus of What The World Needs Now.  It’s love, btw, in case you didn’t catch on.  There’s also a bunch of commentary about gay rights in here, too - but I’ll probably save that for the wedding episode. 

We end with a party at Will’s house - where everyone is relaxing and having a good time, as the song goes on about the world needing more love in it.  

Kurt gets the door to invite Blaine in - and he’s delighted to see Blaine.  They hug - and it’s sweet, now super awkward like Loser Like Me, or finding their way again like in Hurt Locker Part 1.  They’re two people who are now comfortable again, and while not quite back to what they were - they’re in a good place with each other.  

And as Blaine comes in, Kurt’s noticing something else -- the distinct lack of someone accompanying Blaine, and he’s absolutely delighted about it.  Progress indeed. 

[wheresmynaya]

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.”

[justanotherdumpingground]

Chapter Reviews: March 5-9, 2019 + Thoughts on Upcoming Books

High School Story: Class Act Chapter 4:

Okay, so the bake sale went mostly well, and it's fun to sway Michael to vote for the twin, even though he originally supported Morgan. There are better candidates to vote for, boy. Still miffed that there's no substance to Cliff and Graham's romance together besides cutesy side stuff.

From what I've seen with Ajay's parents arguing, I think there will be a subplot that shows how arguing couples damage their children. While I applaud Picelberry's attempt to tackle this issue, I'm worried that it will be mishandled. The child abuse subplot involving Skye still needs a satisfying conclusion because the progress I've seen so far is Skye having Brenda as a parental substitute. I need to delve more into her home life and see to it that her story gets a satisfying conclusion.

Disappointed but not surprised that I have to pay diamonds just to learn about Ajay's home life. Look, I get that he's polarizing, but that doesn't excuse vital elements of his character being paywalled. Honestly, it's extremely stupid to pay diamonds just to learn more about a character, especially a love interest. I get that Pixelberry's a company, but in a game titled Choices, all plot and character arcs are supposed to be free to view, with premium options hiding mature content and other trivial things. Not doing so reeks of dishonesty.

The Heist: Monaco Chapter 14:

Dang, this is it, huh? It's like time flies by despite the incredible journey. I'm stoked and anxious at the same time for the journey ahead, now that the crown jewels are in my possession. It's super satisfying to see my crew trusting me despite my lack of premium options for most of them. I love seeing them bond together and having one another's backs during the heist.

So glad I picked the premium options to free Whisper and steal Ulrich's tools. I knew they'll come in handy for Sybil as well as me. And it was a relief I checked the blueprints and found the RGB clue on what to do to entee the vault. It indicates the color of the text I have to pick, and I sometimes thought I picked the wrong option whenever Sybil looks agitated.

It's satisfying to see Ansel locked in the car with Fabien driving him away. Good riddance to that smug snake.

Handcuffed by Sonia? This is gonna be good, especially since I like her enough to consider her a main love interest for my MC. I just hope her trust in me is enough.

Desire & Decorum Chapter 11:

After seeing another part of Briar's indecisiveness over who she'll pursue, I just wish she would make up her mind, because the setting up a character with someone reeks of lack of free will on the side characters' part and a blatant cash grab.

It's great to see my friends following me to Bath and look out after me. I appreciate them jumping at the call, but I also want them to work with me on the investigation freely instead of paywalling them. Also miffed that there's not much political intrigue and no incorporation of industrialization.

Not a surprise Duke Richards and Gideon are plotting to overthrow the Prince Regent, but I don't want the showdown against them to be anticlimactic. After all, the clues I've gathered so far should've had an edge in piecing together his ultimate motives and even gain bonuses along the way.

America's Most Eligible Chapter 8:

I still don't trust Ivy and consider her as much of a snake as Vince and Slater. She and Slater may not be on the same team, but that doesn't mean I fully embrace her. I admit that her plan sounds like an opportunity to discredit Slater for cheating, allowing me to act devious.

Can I say that the athletic outfit suits my MC well? Because he's a flirt, he should have no problems wearing enticing clothing that turns people's heads towards him. I think it would suit him more if the outfit's more revealing.

It baffles me that I have to pay diamonds to set other couples up. I know this practice exists since Choices's founding, but it still reeks of characters having no free will. I like Eden and Kiana together, but paying diamonds to ensure that reeks of greed and lack of logic.

At first, I'm not sure whether to win or not, but I ended up losing just to see more of Ivy's plan. Apparently, the winner gets to go on a date together. That made me think my MC would seduce Slater a bit, only for me to watch on YouTube that they get discredited if they won, and Derek and Kiana won anyway. It seemed that I dodged a bullet by not getting involved with Slater.

Open Heart Chapter 4:

This is an emotional chapter, and I love it. I get to see Ethan putting his energy on his patients, whom he genuinely care for, and seeing him sad at Dolores's death was heartbreaking. Even more so when her baby's revealed to be named after him. Since Dolores has sisters, this means baby Ethan will be raised by his aunts. I get that there are players who want the baby raised by Ethan himself, but if there are other family members willing to raise the child, then I say let them. Nevertheless, I hope this means he'll be more like Professor Enrique Vasquez through the use of tough love and nothing like Nick Peralta, whom I despise for being an ungrateful, disrespectful guest as well as a horrible boss.

After seeing people wanting Rafael Aveiro to be a love interest along with Kyra Santana and Sienna Trinh, I'd say nah. I'm more interested to see how my MC grows as a doctor than lust over any other characters. I like those three, but I think Ethan, Bryce, and Jackie are enough for me. Regarding people wanting Sienna as love interest, what if her boyfriend is really one of the nicest characters in the story and eventually dies in the hospital regardless?

As for Aurora, man, I'm shocked and horrified at her dismissal of Dolores's condition as smoke inhalation just because she wants a more interesting patient. I get that she wants to prove her worth as a doctor in her own right, but because she's a doctor whose job is to ensure the wellbeing of all patients regardless of condition, she has no right to be picky at which patients to treat.

Moreover, I'm even more disappointed at the writers for writing this. They could've used this opportunity to explore her even more, especially since the first three chapters show her chafing at living under her aunt's shadow, caring for Annie, being unable to treat her because she was summoned to her aunt's office, and giving some diagnosis on a patient. Pixelberry should've picked up from this and build her as a character who yearns to prove her worth by doing her job properly, not make her into someone people might as well continue to hate like handing Dolores to MC for having an "uninteresting" condition. This reminds me of the situation with Xanthe, but with differences. Xanthe's a courtesan who fits best as a love to hate character like Madeleine from TRR, built as a conniving strategist who has her political agendas that go beyond being merely mean and catty. As for Aurora, her appearances at the first three chapters shows that she didn't do anything remotely wrong aside from being aloof. It was this chapter that shows a crack in Pixelberry, who assumes the audience must continue to hate her even though she started as a mere rival with complex motivations. If Pixelberry's intention to bring Aurora down is to merely cater to their target audience with no regard to the unfortunate implications they've created, then they've succeeded. Now they just have to face the consequences.

Ride or Die Chapter 8:

Well, that confrontation with the dad is as heated as I thought. I understand that he doesn't want her daughter hanging out with criminals, but I think he's too overprotective of her daughter, such as keeping her sheltered even though she's now eighteen. That doesn't mean she should hang out with the MPC, but she should be taught to act with discernment and wisdom. In fact, I hate that the narrative wants me

As for Jason, I told the dad that he recruited MC as an informant, so now they're at odds with each other. That complicates the case with the MPC and the Brotherhood. It could be possible Jason or one of the detectives (the one with Russell Thibbs's model, to be exact). I'm leaning towards the latter.

I swear, Teppei Kaneko is dumb. His last meeting with the Brotherhood ended with him getting injured, and now he's going back to confront them again. Bah. Anyway, I rejected a tattoo (my MC's most like going to wear that sweater for the rest of the story) and ended up staying put (I would've spent diamonds to go with Mona to learn about the Brotherhood if the story is remotely any good, which it isn't).

Across the Void's return:

While a part of me is glad this story will progress to the end, I'm not super excited. There's too much focus on Pax and Eos in the first 13 chapters despite how annoying they are and how little they contribute to the story. Doing so keeps the story from exploring the setting, the plot from capturing my interest, and other important characters from developing properly. So far, Kepler's the only character we get to know, and we get to explore part of the setting through her, but I still want more than that. Other characters have potential, namely Lyra (because she's Senator Tauri) and Sol (because of his vast knowledge of various cultures).

The Elememtalist's return:

I'm pumped for this, though I'm also concerned that the quality will be worse, since the time gap between the first and second book is relatively short. I love how badass Shreya looks (Conjuring fire with just one finger instead of two hands? Awesome!), and I wish this second book will shed more light on the characters, explore the dynamics between the different races, and make Discount Dorian Pavus an interesting villain. Raife Highmore's a forgettable villain. By the way, why does the cover depict Beckett as kinda ugly? Maybe because of how thick his eyebrows are and the way he frowns.

New books and gender options:

I'm surprised and glad Nightbound and Passport to Romance will have the option to pick the protagonist's gender. That sounds like a long time coming, especially for Nightbound, which is a spinoff of Bloodbound. I like Bloodbound in some ways, but I'll always be irked at the inability to pick the protagonist's gender and the flimsy reason behind it. I get that Pixelberry thinks it will be a failure because of how clichéd it looks, hence why there's no option, but they've also released light-hearted stories with gender options. The funny thing about Nightbound is that I thought we'll have a co-protagonists system like TC&TF and MW. The man and woman fighting side by side gave me that impression.

I'm not super excited for Passport to Romance, even though it involves traveling and I get to pick the protagonist's gender. It would've been better if it's mainly an adventure book with romance kept to the sidelines. That way, one love interest won't hog the spotlight while offering little to no substance along the way.

Wishful Thinking being genderlocked and a romcom sounds like a disappointment, especially since it reminds me too much of #LoveHacks, which I dislike. Maybe it will surprise me, though.

After seeing the Q&A on Choices's subreddit, I saw a mention of a dark take on fairy tales, which captures my interest because I'd take a dark, gritty, and thought-provoking story any day. I also love the idea of a book where I rise to the top as some sort of "mean girl" for the sake of playing a conniving character who manipulates her way to the top, but I also want the protagonist to be a 3-dimensional character in her own right, and it would be cool if a worse outside threat is used as an opportunity to gain good publicity. Please make them happen someday.

[iloveyoupittsburghpirates-blog]

You Have Lost Me, Pittsburgh Pirates

My Dearest Pittsburgh Pirates,

I should be much more upset right now. This week had the ability to be the worst one in recent memory until you escaped with a win yesterday. Before that, this was one of the most embarrassing weeks to be a Pirates’ fan. I went to all three games at Dodgers’ Stadium and I watched you get swept in a by an overall score of 31-8. That included a mind-numbing 17-1 loss on Monday. After that series, I didn’t think the week could really get worse. Then on Friday you managed to exceed my expectations. You gave up 17 runs AGAIN to the Philadelphia Phillies in a 17-5 loss. What the hell? I didn’t look up the stats on this because it’s too depressing, but I can’t remember any Pirates’ team giving up 17 runs twice in one week. I honestly can’t remember any team doing that ever, though I’m sure (hope) they have. That was followed by a 3-2 loss in a game that you led 2-0 going into the 7th inning and that we will discuss more later. You salvaged the series with a win yesterday, but you have looked terribly out-matched by any viable team over the past two months. You are currently 41-48, you’re 12 ½ games out of first place, and 9 games out of the Wildcard spot. Barring some amazing progression, you will miss the playoffs for the third straight year and the 26 of the last 29 seasons. Great job…

Clint Hurdle made another questionable decision that arguably cost you a game on Saturday. Jameson Taillon had been cruising with a 2-0 lead until the seventh inning. With one out, Taillon gave up an infield single. He got a force out to get the second out before a triple and a single tied the game. There were still two outs and he was only at 77 pitches, so I figured you would just leave him in. Instead, you went to your laughably awful bullpen with a man on first and two outs rather than stick with Taillon who had only made two bad pitches the whole afternoon. Edgar Santana, who has seemed to give up a run every outing over the last six weeks, was brought in and gave up an RBI double on the first pitch and you lost 3-2. Your argument was that Taillon’s numbers his third time through the order have not been good enough and I can agree with that. OPS 1st time through - .673, 2nd time through - .620, and 3rd time through - .837. I think sometimes you should look at how this particular game has progressed to determine a decision like that. My bigger issue is how unequivocally bad your bullpen has been recently. You don’t trust Taillon to go the third time through the order, but you do trust anyone in that bullpen not named Crick or Vasquez? Makes no sense. Santana, Glasnow, and Brault have all struggled as of late and you’ve had to resort to using guys like Neverauskas, Smoker, and Holmes, none of which should even be in the majors. I’ll say it again, Taillon was at 77 pitches. I don’t care if your trust is wavering. He arguably has the most talent in your rotation and your bullpen has been a joke. I’d keep him in the game every time.

(Wild pitch count add) Fun-da-mentals. I literally can’t say it enough. I know I harp on this but after this week if felt necessary to mention again. Case in point: Monday night against the Dodgers. I was there in person to watch Nick Kingham’s first start since returning to the majors for an injured Chad Kuhl. I like Kingham a lot and his performance yesterday was definitely an improvement, but his first inning on Monday was as bad as it gets. The inning led off with him dropping a ball thrown right to his chest while covering first, putting the runner at second. He balked to send the runner to third and then a dribbler single in front of home plate scored the run. After another single puts runners at first and third, I saw something I’ve never seen in a major league baseball game previously. After a pitch, Elias Diaz threw the ball back to Kingham on the mound. Kingham was a little off balance and the throw was far from perfect. It hit off the top of Kingham’s glove and rolled towards third base allowing a run to score. You barely ever see that in Little League games, let alone a high school or college game. Allowing it to happen in a major league game is beyond embarrassing. I was speechless. Whether it was JHay fumbling a ball in the first inning on Friday, or a pop up directly in the front of the plate on Saturday that four players stood around and watched fall in (fortunately they could still get the force play at second), or the major league leading 59 wild pitches you have uncorked this season, you are a nightmare when it comes to doing the little things correctly. I’m not even surprised anymore when these things happen. The blame goes from top to bottom in the organization. I apologize for harping on this issue so much but these type of botched plays are the difference between good teams and bad teams.

The older I get, the less I care about the All Star game. The fact that fans pick the starters has always been an issue for me because the most popular players get picked even when they aren’t having a great year, like Bryce Harper. But maybe that’s the whole spirit of the game. It’s just for fun anyway. Why shouldn’t the fans be able to pick their favorite players? In that case, the prestige of being named should take a hit, but that’s another conversation. All Star teams were announced yesterday and I honestly couldn’t think of who on your team was deserving. Cervelli has been one of the best catchers in baseball this year but, probably because of his recent DL stint, he just missed it. Felipe Vasquez will be your lone representative in the 2018 All Star game. His 3.38 ERA and 1.31 WHIP are far from dominant. He has struck out 51 batters in 37 1/3 innings and opponents are only hitting .218 off him with a .571 OPS against plus 18 saves in 22 opportunities. I believe he is the only player on this roster who actually has the ability to be a top five player at their position, maybe even top three. That alone could technically make him our All Star. I’m not vehemently opposed to this choice especially when the ERA leader in the American League didn’t make it. In a year where no one on your team is truly deserving, except for maybe Cervelli, makes me conclude once again that the respect given to the people who make this game should only hold so much weight.

Here comes yet another week with the potential to go terribly wrong. The wildly under-performing Washington Nationals, a game over .500 and five games out of first place and the final Wildcard spot, come to town after winning three out of four this weekend against Miami and scoring 14 and 18 runs in two of those games. With our pitching woes recently, it seems like this could be a bad matchup. After that, the first place Milwaukee Brewers, who currently hold the best record in the National League, come in for a rare five game series with a double header on Saturday. They have won 7 of their last 10 and are a legitimate contender to represent the NL in the World Series with how they have been playing. This week is your last chance. It’s the week before the All Star break and, barring some miraculous week, you will be selling at the deadline. It’s what you should do. Trade Cervelli, Nova, Dickerson, Mercer, Freese, and JHay to get whatever you can in return. It’s time. A small market team can’t afford to be middling. Either you’re all in or you’re rebuilding. That should be it. I always root for you and I just want what’s best for you. Selling your assets to see if these young guys actually have any potential is the right move. Have a good week and get ready for some much needed rest. I know I will. Love you!

                                                            Exasperated For The Foreseeable Future,

                                                                                               Brad

P.S. If you do trade JHay and Mercer, then your most likely scenario is bringing up Kevin Newman and Kevin Kramer. People aren’t very excited about them right now but there is upside. Newman has an OPS of .748 and hit only his second homer of the season yesterday. He is batting .307 with an OBP of .355 and, most importantly, has 21 stolen bases on the season. If he can bat close to .300, play solid shortstop, and steal 30-plus bases, I’m totally fine with him as my everyday shortstop. Kramer has 11 homers and currently holds an OPS of .818. He does strikeout too much and has been slumping as of late, but even he has 7 stolen bases. I don’t think these two will be superstars but they could be decent at two positions where you rarely expect much offense anyway.

[jencey86]

Take My Pain Away - Chapter 19

*TRIGGER WARNING* This story contains narcotic abuse, self harm, mentions of eating disorder, and emotional abuse.

Title: Take My Pain Away Rating: Overall M due to Content

Pairing: Dani/Santana. Mentions of Finn/Rachel, Quinn/Puck Genre: Angst with eventual Romance

Chapter Word Count: 4,841

Take My Pain Away

Chapter 19 – Week 19

 December 29, Sunday – Lima General Hospital

 Maribel wrapped her hand tightly around Santana’s as she listened to the doctor explaining everything. “Are you sure this is what you want to do, Mija?”

 Santana nodded as she looked over the recovery paperwork. Each of the pages laid out the plan she would go through for her recovery. “How much school would I miss?” It was a legitimate question that caused the doctor to laugh some.

 “Santana, it would depend on how you responded to everything here, the anesthetic, your recovering here at the hospital and how quickly you started with your physical therapy.” The last bit caused the teen to groan softly. “Physical therapy is a requirement.”

 “But it hasn’t worked so far.”

 The doctor shook his head. “This will be more focused on you gaining strength and mobility back. But, following surgery you should be in a lot less pain than you were before.”

 Maribel continued to grip her daughter’s hand before speaking. “What will we have to do in order to help her through this?”

 “Help her out in any way possible. Ensure that she’s getting up and moving around while at home, that will prevent blood clots from forming in her leg that could travel up to her heart and be life threatening. Stairs will be slow coming. How many stairs do you have at your home?”

 “It’s a two story house. But there’s a bathroom on the first floor, thankfully. Other than that, there’s 5 or 6 steps to get up to the front porch.”

 “Then the steps out front should be limited at first. When do you go back to school?”

 “The 6th is when we go back from winter break.” Santana answered, finally looking up from her paperwork.

 “I’m going to recommend waiting an extra week before going back. It’s going to be a lot of stress on your body to be moving around so much. As of right now, we’re going to shoot for one week post-surgery before returning to school. But, I’ll be the final judge of that based on the progress you make with your physical therapy.”

 Santana nodded. The rest of the conversation faded away as she became lost in her own thoughts. She was terrified that the surgery would lead to bad things and would make it worse. It was why she didn’t want to do the surgery in the first place.  If it made it worse, she could end up in a wheelchair. She didn’t want to be 17 years old and in a wheelchair. People already picked on her for how she walked, how would they treat her if she ended up in a wheelchair due to a surgery that failed, or that could fail?

 “Mija?” Maribel’s voice drew Santana from her wandering thoughts. “He asked you a question. Is Thursday morning okay? You said you wanted to wait until after the New Year for surgery.”

 Santana nodded, “yes, I did… and yeah, Thursday is fine.” She smiled when the doctor made a note on her file. Her surgery would be scheduled. While she should be happy that there may be an end to her seemingly endless pain, she couldn’t feel it. The fear weighing on her mind pushed away any chance of happiness she felt.

 December 31, Tuesday – Noon – Dani’s House

 Rachel sipped from her mug of hot chocolate as she watched Dani and Tali running around in the snow. “Be careful, Dani! Santana would kill me if you got hurt in this.”

 Dani threw another snowball, smiling when her dog chased after it. Hearing her friend’s comment though, she sighed and went toward the back porch. “It’s me she would kill… though I kind of deserve it…”

 “What are you talking about?”

 Dani accepted the cup she was offered before sitting down on the swing beside Rachel. “It’s my fault she’s in the hospital right now. I never should have let her try to help me at Christmas.”

 Rachel sighed. She knew about what happened that led to Santana ending up in the hospital. “It’s nobody’s fault. You could have fallen on the ice. Your dad could have fallen. It just happened to be the worst person of all. It’s horrible that it happened, but don’t blame yourself for it.” She reached out to place her hand onto Dani’s shoulder. She also didn’t fault Dani for blaming herself. If the situation was different, Rachel knew she would have blamed herself as well.

 “But, if I didn’t let her help, she never would have fallen.”

 “Well, if you had stopped her, that wouldn’t have prevented her from falling at another time.”

 Dani scoffed. Even though Rachel was right, she was still blaming herself. Santana could have fallen at any time, but the fact that Dani was there to experience it weighed on her mind. She would have felt different if she hadn’t actually seen the fall. But ever since Christmas it played in her mind over and over again and she’s powerless to do anything to change it.

 “Look at the bright side,” Rachel paused when her friend glared in her direction. “Yes, there is a bright side to all of this. Santana’s getting the surgery that we all knew she needed.” Rachel watched the realization flash across Dani’s face for a moment. “And, once again, I am right about something.”

 Dani narrowed her eyes before she sighed. “You really didn’t need to throw that last bit in there.” She stood up then and started to pack together another snowball to throw out for Tali. “I wish the situation was different though.”

 “It all goes back to the guy that ran the red light. Her surgery has nothing to do with you. This is all on him.” Rachel tried to reason with Dani. The longer she watched her, the more she could see the gears turning in her friend’s head. “It’s not your fault, Dani.”

 The girl sighed as she looked back at Rachel. “It doesn’t stop me from feeling that way.”

 “I know that it doesn’t, but it should help.”

 “Yeah.” Dani smiled some at her friend. “Okay…” she tossed another snowball out for her dog to chase after. “Do you have plans tonight?” Dani needed to change the topic. As much as she wanted to continue to talk about her girlfriend, she didn’t want the constant reminder that she could have possibly prevented it.

 “Well, do you have plans? Santana can’t really do much, so are you taking the party to her?” Rachel returned.

 Rolling her eyes, Dani made her way back to the swing to sit beside her friend. “I asked you first. Are you going out with Finn?”

 “Actually no. We’re not going anywhere, I’m actually going to his house for dinner and to watch the ball drop.”

 “Anything else?” Dani smirked toward Rachel. Her smirk grew into a wide smile when she saw a blush cover her friend’s face. “Are you going to sleep with him?”

 “What? No!”

 Dani chuckled some. “You want to. You seriously mean you two haven’t done the horizontal tango yet?”

 Rachel’s eyes grew wide. “No! I’m not ready for that.”

 “Well, when you are ready and finally give it up to him, please spare me the details. Or I’ll be sure to fill you in on just how amazing Santana is with-“

 “Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Danielle.”

 The blonde’s head snapped toward her friend. “Did you really just call me Danielle? You know that I hate that.”

 “And as your best friend, I would like to remind you of the simple fact that I can do whatever I want and there’s not a thing you can do about it.”

 Dani slowly smiled toward Rachel before standing back up. “Stand up.”

 “Why?”

 “Because I’m your best friend and can tell you to do whatever I want and there’s not a thing you can do about it,” she shot back. The moment Rachel stood up from the swing, Dani grabbed one of her hands and dragged her off the porch and toward a pile of snow.

 “Dani!” Rachel squealed as she landed on her back in the snow. “Oh my goodness.”

 “Don’t call me Danielle.”

 Rachel sat up with a huff. “I’ll call you rude. That’s my new name for you.” She started to brush off some of the snow from her jacket before getting to her feet and trying to get the rest of it off.

 “That’s what you get for calling me Danielle.” Dani smirked, proud of herself.

 December 31, Tuesday – 11:30PM – Hospital

 Dani made her way into Santana’s room after grabbing some food for them. “I have returned. I swear people are starting to party early.” She sat on the edge of Santana’s bed and started to sort out the burgers and fries.

 Santana winced slightly as she pushed herself to sit up slightly. “I was honestly wondering what was taking you so long. You’ve been gone an hour.”

 “Hey, hey… your bed adjusts, remember? And I’m sitting right here to help you.” Dani shifted some and helped her girlfriend. She moved the pillows down some to give Santana’s back some support. “Lean back now.”

 “Yes, mother.” Santana winced again as she did, but it did feel better. “Thanks,” she looked down for a moment before unwrapping her burger. “Are you going to be okay with this food?” Santana suddenly looked up. She hadn’t thought about it when she asked the blonde to get them some Burger King.

 Dani sighed softly. She was trying not to think about it, but now she was. “I’ll be okay with it. The fries are good at least.” She shifted just a little bit in order to lean against the pillows beside Santana. “I couldn’t tell you the last time I had Burger King,” Dani admitted softly as she unwrapped her chicken sandwich.

 The Latina took a bite of her food and moaned softly. “This is so much better than the shit they’ve been feeding me here.” She grabbed a fry then to eat, stopping when she caught Dani glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. “What? Look, I’ll make you eat the stuff they give me and see how much you appreciate a burger.”

 Dani leaned into the pillows again and took a bite of her sandwich. “Next time I’ll bring you a home cooked meal. This stuff is so horrible for you.”

 “Yes, I know but it’s delicious and I was craving it.”

 “Cravings? Are you pregnant or something?” Dani raised an eyebrow to her girlfriend, grinning some.

 “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that,” Santana placed her burger down on the paper that was on her lap. “Unless you have some magical way of impregnating me with your fingers,” her voice trailed off some as she reached up to cup Dani’s cheek.

 “I can assure you that I don’t have magical powers,” Dani responded, a smile on her face. She rested her hand on top of Santana’s and leaned into to meet her half way for a soft kiss. “I love you.” Dani whispered against her girlfriend’s lips before kissing her again. She let the second kiss linger for a little bit longer before pulling back, a smile on her face.

 “I wasn’t done kissing you.” Santana’s hand moved to the back of Dani’s head to pull her in a little bit closer to press their lips together.

 The sound of a woman clearing her throat caused the girls to pull apart. “I’m sorry to interrupt ladies.” She smiled when they both blushed. “I’m just here for my normal rounds to see if you need anything.”

 “Some privacy would be great,” Santana glared at the nurse.

 “I’ll be out of your hair in a minute, I’m just checking in.”

 Dani nudged Santana when she saw her girlfriend shooting glares at the nurse. “Be nice.”

 Santana rolled her eyes and picked the tomato off of her burger to eat it. “I’m just fine. You don’t need to check all those annoying little beeping things.”

 “These annoying little beeping things tell us that you’re still alive.”

 “Trust me, I’m still alive,” Santana shot back, causing Dani to laugh and playfully nudge her again. “What? I’m still alive, obviously, I was just kissing you… unless you’re into necrophilia or something.”

 Dani’s face scrunched up as she turned to look at the Latina in disgust. “Ew…”

 The nurse cracked up laughing at the pair before she wrote down a few things in Santana’s chart. “I’m done checking your annoying machines. I’ll be back in a few hours.” She glanced at her watch before smiling at them. “And happy New Year to you both.”

 “Thank you, happy New Year to you too.” Dani smiled as the nurse closed the door. “Why are you always so rude?”

 “Because I was trying to get frisky with you and she just walked in like she owned the place.” Santana leaned over again to kiss Dani but frowned when her girlfriend’s hand pushed her face away. “What?”

 “Eat.”

 “Party pooper.” Santana grumbled as she picked up her burger to take another bite.

 “You’re the one that sent me out on New Year’s Eve to get you a burger, so you’re going to eat it.” Dani scolded as she picked up a couple of her fries to eat them. She normally wasn’t one to eat fast food, but it was what Santana wanted.

 “Are you sure you want to spend your New Year’s here with me instead of at a party or something?” Santana looked down at her food as she spoke. She didn’t want to let her insecurities show, but she couldn’t stop it.

 That drew Dani’s attention. After swallowing the food that was in her mouth, she turned some to look at Santana. “Why wouldn’t I want to be here with you?”

 “Because I can’t even stand up right now? I’m trapped in a bed with this hideous cast on my legs and across my hips…” she reluctantly looked up when Dani’s hand rested on her cheek.

 “Baby… listen to me for a minute. I love you and even though you’re stuck in this hospital bed, that doesn’t negate the fact that there’s no place I would rather be than right here with you.” Dani cupped Santana’s cheek and ran her thump along her cheek. “I blame myself for all of this.” She finally admitted to her girlfriend.

 Santana put her food down then and turned her full attention to Dani. “Baby… no, don’t do that. It wasn’t your fault. I just wanted to help. Any of us could have fallen.”

 “But you falling, broke your hip.”

 The Latina leaned back against her bed and pulled Dani close to her. “Maybe I needed to fall sooner.” That definitely got Dani’s attention. “I needed the surgery, but I was terrified to do so. My doctor has brought it up several times since my wreck, but I was stubborn. I thought it would get better with time, but it hasn’t.” Santana closed her eyes and relaxed with Dani in her arms. “I wish I could properly hold you, but this cast up to my hip isn’t helping.”

 Dani ran her hand along Santana’s stomach as she rested her head on her shoulder. “I’ll be there to help you as much as I can. It’ll be hard when school starts back up and I can’t stay with you.”

 “They mentioned something about getting me a wheelchair to get around school. I can’t do the crutches all day. God, during the summer I had the worst bruises under my arms from having to use them.” She shook her head, remembering the pain in her arms each time she had to move around. “I don’t know what’s worse, the bruises from crutches or standing up from a chair without them.”

 Dani closed her eyes softly and slid her hand under Santana’s shirt to touch her skin as she relaxed into her girlfriend. “I still hate that you’re hurting so much.” Just as soon as she felt Santana’s hand move up into her hair, she heard some noise out in the hallway. Chuckling, she looked up at the clock on the wall. “Happy New Year baby.” Dani pushed herself up some and leaned down to kiss her girlfriend tenderly.

 “Happy New Year, Dani.” Santana whispered against her lips, completely forgetting her food as she became focused on Dani’s lips and happily returning her kiss.

 January 2, Thursday – 7:00 AM – Hospital

 Santana took a deep breath as she watched the anesthesiologist work to get the IV into the back of her right hand. “Shit that hurts.” She squeezed her mom’s hand tightly, thankful that Maribel ignored her use of language.

 “It always does, but there’s a little bit of numbing that will go in first to help with the throbbing, then we’ll start the fluids on you.” The man finished getting the needle in and inserted the port before taping it to the back of Santana’s hand to hold it in place. “I’ll be back in about a half an hour to add some medicine to help calm you down before they take you back.” He slipped off his gloves off and rested his hand on her shoulder. “You’ll do just fine, Santana, you’re young and healthy.”

 The Latina looked up at him and nodded before sinking back into her bed. They’d removed her cast early that morning so it was awkward not having this giant plaster attached to her body anymore. She’d just started to get used to it being there. “So, how will my hip be wrapped up after surgery?” She glanced up when the doctor came in.

 “So, it’s actually going to be a simple bandage. We can’t wrap it up to keep it immobile. The point is to keep the incision covered but to allow mobility because we’ll have you up walking tomorrow, if not late tonight to prevent blood clots from forming.” He closed the curtain behind them once a female nurse joined them in the room. “What I’m going to be doing,” he started off as he moved Santana’s blanket out of the way and lifted her gown up a little bit. “You’re going to cut in here, to here…” he traced with his fingers before pulling out a marker to mark the general area along her left hip. “We already went over the procedure itself, but if it helps I can explain it again to you.”

 Santana watched him as he made marks along her hip then hissed when he pressed in some to find the top of her hip bone before marking it. “Could you, please.” She whispered.

 The doctor smiled warmly to her, he could tell the girl was nervous and wanted to do everything in his power to help relax her some. Once he was finished marking Santana’s hip, he covered her back up and turned to grab the model from the counter.

 “San?”

 Santana felt another wave of relief come over her when she heard Dani’s voice outside the room. Maribel made sure her daughter was covered before pushing back the curtain to let the girl in with them. Dani smiled to the doctor, having met him the day before when he went over everything. “I’m sorry I’m late baby. I got caught in traffic. Apparently everybody goes back to work this morning.” She leaned down to kiss her girlfriend gently.

 “It’s nice to see you again, Dani. We’re just getting Santana all prepped. I was going to go over the procedure again with her.” He moved back in when he saw the girl nod. “I know your case is a little bit different, the damage to the bone doesn’t show up fully in the MRI. But standard procedure is to separate the hip bone from the joint and cut it down.” He showed by pulling apart the model. At this point Maribel was listening intently. She’d missed the consultation the day before, Jorge had been there with Santana then.

 “I’ll clean out the joint before replacing it with the metal joint. The part that made you cringe yesterday,” he teased, watching Santana’s face scrunch up and Dani to laugh, “is getting the replacement itself hammered into your femur once the bone is cleaned up. This is where things might get interesting because it depends on how damaged your leg actually is. I might have to cut down further and extend the size of the replacement in your leg. But the fusion will help it act just like your regular leg and hip.”

 Santana took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m ready.” She spoke confidently. Dani could see right through her as could Maribel.

 “We’ll be back to get you once we finish prepping the operating room for you.” He reached out to put the model back down before patting Santana’s leg gently.

 Once they were alone again, Santana closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. “I’m terrified.”

 “I know, baby.” Dani could tell that her girlfriend was terrified, and she didn’t blame her. Reaching out, she took Santana’s hand gently so she wouldn’t bother the IV that was there. If she was honest, she was terrified too. There was no guarantee that the hip replacement would even work because of the damage that was already done on top of the fresh break. “When are they coming to get you?” She finally asked.

 “Should be any minute. He said once they finished prepping the room.” Maribel answered when she noticed Santana had gone quiet. “Are you staying with me, Dani?””

 The other girl nodded. “Of course. I have a fully charged phone and tablet to keep me occupied for 4 hours.”

 Santana chuckled some and gave Dani’s hand a soft squeeze. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m scared.” She whispered again. It took a lot for her to admit that, but she knew her mom and girlfriend would never judge her for opening up.

 Dani leaned a little closer to Santana and gave her a soft kiss. “You’ll do just fine, baby. It’ll be over before you know it. And in like two days you’ll be back home in your own bed.”

 “We’re ready for you, Santana.” A nurse spoke softly as she came into the little room with them.

 The Latina took a deep breath as Maribel came over to give her a tight hug. “I love you, mija. We’ll see you in a few hours.” She kissed the top of her daughter’s head and pulled away to give the nurse some space to get Santana’s bed ready to go.

 Dani stood up and leaned over Santana to hug her. “I love you. You’ll do just fine, baby.” She whispered against the girl’s ear before cupping her cheek to kiss her gently. Dani was reluctant to pull away from her girlfriend, but she knew she needed to. The ten stayed close to Santana’s mother until the bed was out of sight.

 “Come on, let’s go get some coffee, my treat.” Maribel slid her arm around Dani’s shoulder to lead the girl out to head toward the cafeteria. Maribel still remembered the layout of the hospital from spending so much time there over the summer after Santana’s wreck.

 January 2, Thursday – Hospital – 5PM

 “You seriously want me to walk? I just had my hip torn apart and rebuilt this morning.” Santana looked at the therapist like he had two heads. It would be nice to get up and move around some, but the idea of doing it so soon after surgery scared her.

 “Well, you’re going to have bigger problems if a blood clot forms in your leg because you were too stubborn to get up and walk down to the nurse’s station.” He shot back at the teen before moving the walker in front of her for her to be able to stand up.

 Santana eyed it for a moment before sighing. At least whatever medicine they had running through her IV helped her to have little pain from her surgery that morning. “Fine,” she gave in and grabbed the handles to pull herself up. The minute she did though, she felt the muscles around her hip pulling and stretching. It wasn’t painful but more uncomfortable.

 “Just don’t rush it, this isn’t a race. I’ll be right there be here beside you. If you start hurting more than just a little throb, you have to tell me.” He rested his hand gently on her lower back and took slow steps beside her as they went out of her room.

 Santana groaned softly as she took each step. Her leg felt weak as she took slow steps down the hallway with him. “This feel weird, Jeff.” She stated to him.

 “Weird how?”

 “Like… I don’t really know. I just had my hip torn apart this morning but it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as it did a few days ago.” She sucked in a breath when she felt a shot of pain up her side, but as soon as it hit her it was gone.

 “Well isn’t this a sight to be seen. Santana Lopez using a walker.”

 Santana didn’t even need to look up to know it was her best friend’s voice. “Nice to see you too, Quinn.” She chuckled some, causing Jeff to smile. Santana did finally look up to see the blonde with a small teddy bear and balloon for Santana. “Aw, look at you being sweet for once.”

 Quinn rolled her eyes to her best friend before moving closer to give her a hug. “I’ll hang around in your room until you’re done.” She lingered for a moment to watch Santana keep walking down the hallway. She knew how scared Santana had been to have the surgery. But, seeing Santana up and walking, already better than she was before. Quinn smiled warmly to her, she had a good feeling that she’d make a full recovery from the surgery.

 January 4, Saturday – Santana’s House – Noon

 The medicine they gave to Santana for home did a lot for her pain, but they also did a lot to keep her asleep for most of the day. Dani had been staying with her since she got home the afternoon before. It was either release her on Friday afternoon or there would be a chance she’d be stuck there until Monday.

 “Baby, I got some lunch for you.” Dani closed Santana’s door behind her and went to sit on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

 The Latina cleared her throat as she fought off sleep. “I’m feeling sleepy.” She whispered to her but rolled onto her back to sit up anyway. “My hip is aching some.” Her face scrunched up some as she pushed her body up against her pillows. Santana smiled toward her girlfriend when she sat beside her and handed her one of the sandwiches from the plate.

 “That’s to be expected babe.” Dani shifted up some to prop against Santana’s pillows. “I’m happy you decided to go through with the surgery. It already seems to be helping you out.”

 Santana nodded some to her. “They know about my history too, mom told them so they made sure to put me on medicine that steps down. I have a week of the strong stuff, then the pain medicine is cut in half for a week.” She hurried to finish her sandwich so she could stretch out on her side and rest her head on Dani’s stomach. “I’ll miss you on Monday when you go back to school.”

 The other girl ran her free hand through Santana’s hair as she watched her girlfriend get comfortable against her. “I’ll miss you too. Do you want me to give the others an update on what happened?” She felt the girl nod against her stomach. “I’ll let them know in Glee then.”

 “I think Quinn wants to come over later. She texted me earlier. I told her I’d probably be sleeping, but she was adamant on making sure I was still alive.” She chuckled softly before sucking in a small breath. “This medicine really helps but I always feel tired.”

 “Well, at least when you’re sleeping you’re not hurting.” Dani finished off half of her sandwich before leaning back some more to hold Santana close. “Do you want to watch a movie when she comes over?” Again, she felt Santana nod. “Get some more sleep, baby. Will the TV bother you if I find something to watch?”

 The Latina shook her head before adjusting some and wrapping her arm around Dani’s middle to curl more into her. She’d found that she didn’t actually have to turn her body in strange ways now in order to get comfortable to sleep. She knew she’d been so scared before, but with each passing day since it was getting easier to walk around, she was thankful she went through with it.

[purrpickle]

Because I’m not feeling up to finishing any of my Christmas WIPs, here, have a preview of one of them instead:

The days passed, Rachel practically acting like nothing had happened, already having straightened everything and put it all back so it was cleaner than it had been in the first place by the time Santana and Kurt had come back from the bar near them that didn’t card. Santana, who came around every other day, couldn’t reconcile the girl with the creature of anxiety she had seen, and the one time she had tried to bring it up, Rachel had artfully waved it away, asking her to try the vegan spaghetti sauce she was making and did Santana want some dinner to take back to her hotel? When she talked to Kurt, he was even more lost, being intimately privy to his roommate’s willful avoidance.

“…so I’m just saying I think you could move back in after Christmas,” Kurt smiled tentatively at her, holding the door open for Santana to walk inside, “Rachel seems to have calmed down. The fact that she allowed you to stay overnight last week was a good sign.” He grunted as he wheeled the door shut behind them.

“Yeah,” Santana replied, shrugging off her coat to add it to the already bulging coat rack, “I was surprised she could handle my presence for that long. I was getting used to split seconds of friendliness and lowering of guard before she’d snap back into remembering she was barely tolerating me. When she went crazy was practically the longest time I’d talked to her in a while.” She smoothed her hair down, behind her shoulder, allowing an uncharacteristic hint of vulnerability to cross her face as she turned back to Kurt. “It’s getting expensive at the hotel. And I’m pretty sure the manager’s filming when I take a shower.”

Kurt gasped. “That’s terrible. Maybe you should switch hotels?”

“Hummel.” Santana levied a serious look at him. “It’s the cheapest hotel that has working locks anywhere near here and the diner. I can’t afford to move. Either money-wise or possessions-wise.”

Offering Santana a bottle of water from the refrigerator, Kurt sighed. “I’m sorry Elliot couldn’t take you in. You sure you and Dani won’t…?”

Santana almost coughed around her sip of water. “Ugh. Way to ask me when I’m drinking,” she gave him an unappreciative look, shaking her head and taking a deep breath as soon as she could breathe fully. “No. I’m not like your Warbler – not expecting my ex to take me back when I run off and sleep with someone else – even flirting with marrying that someone – before breaking it off.” She shrugged, “I’m mature enough to admit I didn’t handle any of that well.”

Kurt gave her a strained look. “He’s not ‘my Warbler’ anymore,” he said flatly.

“What? You guys broke up? And here I thought you two were so ‘destined’ that even Sue was planning your wedding!”

“What – Sue – ?” A weird look took over Kurt’s face, “Okay, that’s creepy. But for your information, yes, the last time I flew back to Lima, I broke up with him.”

A slow, real, pleased smile spread across Santana’s face. “Look at you, Porcelain, finally growing the balls you should have grown years ago.” She held up her hand for a high five. Once Kurt gave in, slapping it, she smirked at him. “I was beginning to think you’d be lost in Anderson’s unhealthy gravity for the rest of your life. Was even scripting my intervention, a la Plastic Gigolo.”

Kurt covered his face with his hand, badly hiding a smile. “Ohh, and I want you to move back in again why?”

“Because you love me and I’m the only one willing to call you out on your bullshit.” Santana tapped her nose, smiling.

Rolling his eyes, Kurt placed his water bottle back into the refrigerator. “Let’s just hope Rachel realizes that, too. If only so I don’t have to pay so much.”

“Yeah, you’re an intern. That’s the polite term for ‘buttmonkey we don’t have to pay’. Though, wait.” A giant grin stretched across Santana’s face. “Maybe you like that…?”

Kurt was saved from answering as the squeal and rumble of the door rolling open made them turn to watch Rachel back into the loft, barely stopping to strip herself from her jacket and gloves before twirling on her heel, greeting, “Good afternoon, Kurt, Santana,” as she breezed past them on her way to her “bedroom”. Watching her, and only turning back after the blanket swung closed, Santana met Kurt’s thoughtful frown. “Well, at least she said my name this time. Progress?”

Kurt nodded. “Definitely progress.”

Santana sighed. “Great.” Though she didn’t say it out loud, she was honestly starting to get truly fed up with the girl’s hypocrisy. Sure, she could hold a grudge like the next bitch, but this was ridiculous. And she hadn’t been lying – the hotel was eating up her funds. Hell, sometimes, when she was alone and listening to the constant boning of her next door neighbor, who just so happened to be a sex crier, ew, she even wondered if it was worth it trying to cater to Rachel’s ego. The girl had always been bat-shit insane. Santana didn’t even know why she was putting up with Dani’s cold shoulder at the diner just because she wanted back into her life, kickass loft aside.

But she did want back in to the strange family Kurtcheltana had been. Sighing again, Santana picked at the label of her water bottle. She wasn’t in the mood for conversation anymore.

A hesitant touch made her look up. Kurt smiled at her supportively. “After Christmas.”

Santana smiled back, but honestly wasn’t sure if she would be able to stick around that long. Her ill-advised spur-of-the-moment trip with Brittany had depleted her funds. What did it say that she was practically dependent on her ‘rents sending her money? God, she was acting beyond pathetic. Gross.

Rachel breezed back into the open space, expression tranquil and perfectly welcoming as she bypassed Santana and Kurt, pulling a container out of the refrigerator. “Should I leave this out?” she asked no one in particular.

“No,” Santana muttered, suddenly unable to feel up to being around the smaller girl, “I have a late shift.” Ignoring Kurt’s surprised look, she mustered a smile for Rachel when she turned to her, nodding at her offered, “Have a good evening, then.” “Right. …Night.”

Some ways, she thought, glancing back to see Rachel and Kurt conversing calmly behind her, slipping into her coat, Rachel’s casual dismissal was worse than righteous, overflowing animosity.

Oh well. She’d give it ‘til Christmas. If worse came to worse, she was sure Sue would hire her to whip the new Cheerios into shape, even if it was only for a penny a day. At least then she’d have a guaranteed place to stay at her parents’ house and a valid source of respectability.