Chapter 2
Joining the Cheerios had been Quinn's idea. If there was one thing she knew, it was that the Cheerios would make them the top bitches at McKinley High, and they spent the whole summer before high school training for tryouts. Brittany agreed because she loved dancing more than anything (except maybe Santana) and gymnastics had been an extension of that and Cheerios felt like a natural progression. Santana agreed because she wasn't scared of heights, could flip like nobody's business, Brittany wanted to, and because she wore her popularity like a shield going into high school. Where she'd once been quiet, Santana turned cold. Her insults grew so sharp that even at the threat of saying something could send people running. Quinn and Brittany noticed, and Quinn might have been confused by the sharp turn, but she would just smile at Santana and match her whenever Santana turned words against her. Quinn never backed down, and with her to fight with, Santana was less likely to turn that attention on their other classmates. Brittany wasn't confused. She never was when it came to Santana. Santana was mean to Finn Hudson because, even though he hadn't said it to her face since kindergarten, he thought Brittany was stupid and he wasn't afraid to say it (as long as it wasn't to Santana). Brittany also knew that Santana's parents had split (though Santana wouldn't say why) and that her mom was gone more (Santana always shrugged it off as work, and said she liked having the house to herself, but Brittany could see that was a lie in the way her eyes grew sharp in that way they always did when she was being defensive).
By the time they started high school, Santana was dating Puck, the word lesbian had crossed her mind but never her lips, and the Unholy Trinity were the only three freshmen who made the Cheerios.
When Quinn started dating Finn, it wasn't because she liked him. She told Santana as much when he asked her out for the first time, but she still said yes because he was the quarterback of the football team. Santana rolled her eyes, but Quinn knew she understood. Brittany wasn't sure, but when the three of them got invited to an upperclassmen party, she knew as well as Santana and Quinn did that popularity had its perks, so she told Quinn she was happy for her and asked Santana if she could borrow a top for the party.
Quinn and Brittany both told their parents they were spending the night at Santana's the Friday of the party. Brittany showed up wearing her Levi shorts and her favorite cardigan. She grinned at Santana before disappearing into her closet, emerging not even five minutes later wearing a sheer black crop top. Santana was wearing tight leather shorts with a tight red top. She smirked at their reflections in the mirror.
"We look hot Britt Britt." Brittany's face broke into a wide smile, and she nodded her agreement. "Oh, wait, Britt I have something that will be absolutely perfect for you." Santana turned away from Brittany, rummaging through her jewelry box until she emerged with a beaded orange necklace. She turned towards Brittany, who smiled and moved her hair out of the way, silently asking Santana to put it on her. She moved behind Brittany and undid the clasp, gently fastening it around her neck. "It's Amber. My abuela gave it to me a couple years ago and said it represents sunlight, which I think is perfect for you." She finished and took a step back from Brittany. "It really makes your eyes pop too." Santana hadn't meant to say that part out loud, but she couldn't help but stare at Brittany's bright blue eyes as they looked first at the necklace now around her neck, then caught Santana's in the mirror.
The moment was broken at the sound of Quinn on the stairs, yelling at Santana to "start locking your door! I could be a serial killer San!" Brittany practically snorted, and Santana managed to roll her eyes and take a step back from Brittany before Quinn came in the room. Quinn greeted Santana with a hug neither would admit they both loved before turning to wrap Brittany in a tight hug too. She dropped her stuff in the corner before turning to both of them with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Who's ready to get this party started?" All three of them laughed, pretending they weren't nervous for their first high school party, and turned to walk out the door, Quinn first and Santana and Brittany behind her, pinkies linked.
The party was at an upperclassmen's house who Santana had never heard of, but it turned out he only lived a few blocks away from her, so it was a short walk from her house. By the time they got there, the party was already in full swing. The three girls shared a look with each other before pushing back their shoulders and walking into the house. Puck saw them first, and greeted Quinn and Britt with quick hugs before dropping his arm over Santana's shoulder and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey babe." He smirked at her, and Santana broke her scowl to give him a genuine smile and hit him in the side. He pretended like it hurt, but he didn't drop his arm, and Santana leaned into his side, her pinky still linked with Brittany. "Come on, let's get you fine ladies some drinks!" Puck led them into the kitchen and mixed out a vodka cranberry for Santana while Santana mixed Brittany a drink with a lot of lemonade and a gentler pour of vodka than she would've given herself, sliding it across the counter before taking a long sip of the drink Puck had made her. Brittany smiled gratefully at her. Quinn was able to convince Puck to make her a vodka cranberry too, and the three girls toasted each other before sipping their drinks. The four of them went out to where everyone was dancing, and Quinn started dancing with Finn while Puck pulled Santana in to dance. She glanced back at Brittany, and saw she was smiling, so she wrapped her arms around Puck's neck and started dancing with him. They were all dancing together when the song changed, and when they heard the first notes, they all immediately flashed each other grins before clearing Puck and Finn out of the way. With a few well-placed glares by Quinn and Santana, they'd cleared space in seconds, and fell into formation as 'Toxic' became recognizable over the speakers. The girls broke into a well-rehearsed routine that they'd made up over the summer to prepare for Cheerios, and finished the song leaning all over each other and laughing while the crowd around them whooped and clapped and they took playful bows.
Quinn pulled both of them off the dance floor to get more drinks, still laughing along the way. Santana was the only one who knew how to mix a drink, because she was dating Noah Puckerman after all, and mixed up two cranberry vodkas for herself and Quinn. She took a sip before pulling out the lemonade to make a drink for Brittany. Brittany was already tipsy, and she reached out and took Santana's drink from her hand, taking a sip before almost spitting it back into the cup as her nose wrinkled in disgust. Santana looked at her and laughed when Brittany smacked at her arm.
"San, that's disgusting." Santana just laughed and Brittany's face turned to a pout.
"Britt, that's why I'm making yours with lemonade, you hate cranberry juice." With that Brittany smiled and held out her hands for her new drink, taking a long drink when Santana handed it to her and making an approving noise mid-sip. From the other room, the girls could hear people starting to get together to play a game, and Puck peeked into the kitchen with a devilish look on his face, calling Santana to come play spin the bottle with them, Quinn and Brittany close at her heels. Finn wasn't playing, so Quinn sat down on his lap and ushered Santana and Brittany on, Santana sitting down next to Puck while Brittany ended up across the circle from her. Santana was well on her way to being drunk, and she told herself that's why cheered when her boyfriend stuck his tongue down the throat of the Cheerios captain before he pulled back with a proud smile and dropped his arm around her shoulder. Santana was having a lot of fun, and she didn't hesitate to practically slide into Puck's lap when he spun the bottle to her, slipping her tongue in his mouth to the whoops of the football team around them. Ultimately it was Quinn leaning over to smack her in the shoulder that got them apart and kept the game moving, and she threw a smirk over her shoulder at the girl before reaching forward to spin the bottle, only for it to land on... Brittany.
The crowd cheering snapped Santana out of her daze (Although Quinn's foot gently but sharply connecting with her back was probably also a factor. Santana looked up to see Brittany already crawling across the circle towards her before dumping herself in Santana's lap--and wow those drinks had hit Brittany hard, though Santana was hardly one to talk right now--and Brittany was bringing her hand up to Santana's jaw before pulling her into a kiss that completely threw Santana off guard despite knowing it was coming. She put her hands on Brittany's hips to keep the girl from falling over, moving her lips back against Brittany's when the girl bit down on her lower lip. Santana gasped into her, and her mouth opened enough for Brittany to gently dip her tongue into Santana's mouth. Then, just as quickly as it had started, Brittany was already back across on her side of the circle, spinning the bottle and landing on Dave Karofsky. Santana hoped the way her cheeks were flushed and her pupils blown could be attributed to all the alcohol she'd been drinking, but she knew her ragged breathing was noticed by Quinn when she felt the pressure of her foot again on her back, and she leaned into it gratefully before snapping back into the game they were playing.
She tuned in just in time to hear Karofsky whining about how he wasn't gonna kiss another dude because he wasn't a queer. Santana practically winced at his words, but had spent enough time hiding her emotions not to show it. Nobody wanted to continue after Karofsky killed the mood, so they all got up and slowly headed to the kitchen to get more drinks or back to the other room to dance. Santana looked up to see Brittany standing in front of her, reaching down a hand for her and pulling her to her feet.
"Come to the bathroom with me?" Santana would've rolled her eyes if anyone other than Brittany had asked, but she let a gentle smile play at her lips and let herself be pulled upstairs to the bathroom. She was still in her own world, and she only registered that they'd made it to the bathroom when she felt herself pressed against the door which Brittany quickly locked before pressing her lips to Santana's in a searing kiss. Santana immediately responded before she was even aware what was happening. She pulled Brittany closer by her hips, running one hand up to tangle in the girl's hair, pulling gently. When Brittany moaned into her mouth, Santana realized what they were doing and pulled back with a dazed look on her face. Brittany's pupils were blown and she was out of breath, her lips slightly swollen from kissing Santana.
"Britt, wait, what are you doing?" Santana tried to pull away, but her hands were gripping Brittany's hips, and she knew she was in a similar state to the other girl. Instead of replying, Brittany leaned in and kissed Santans' neck instead, elicting a sharp gasp from the other girl, holding her breath until Brittany wove a hand into her hair and pulled her head back, biting as her neck before running her tongue over the area and sliding her thigh between Santana's legs, pressing hard. Santana dropped her head against the door and tried to stifle her moan before she moved one of her hands to pull Brittany back into a deep kissing, running her tongue along the girl's lip and slipping her tongue into her mouth when Brittany moaned. Santana grinded her hips down into Brittany's thigh, causing the girl to bite down hard on her lip. Santana hissed but pulled Brittany in impossibly closer. Brittany slipped one of her hands under Santana's shirt, her fingers burning Santana's skin and causing her muscles to tense. Her hand was climbing higher and Santana inhaled sharply when Brittany's thumb brushed against the bottom of her bra--
A sharp knock at the door followed by Quinn's "I know you losers are in there, open up!" Brittany quickly pulled her hand out of Santana's shirt and jumped back as if burned before quickly unlocking the door and pulling Quinn inside.
"God, Q, I was peeing, what is it?" Quinn looked at Santana, eyes wide and cheeks flushed, quiet and still leaning against the door before slowly turning back to Brittany, whose lips were a little swollen but looked otherwise just like Brittany always looked. Quinn shook her head before responding.
"The party's starting to die down and we do not wanna be the last ones here, so let's bail. San, can we still stay at your place?" Santana nodded, still not trusting herself to talk, and she let herself be pulled out of the bathroom by Quinn, Brittany bouncing ahead of them while Quinn gave Santana's hand a squeeze and linked their elbows as they walked downstairs. Quinn had already said bye to Finn, and Santana said she would see Puck tomorrow, so the girls left the house to make the walk back to Santana's place, Santana's elbow still firmly locked in Quinn's as the girl half pulled her back to the house while Brittany ran head. Santana looked at her ahead of them and smiled at Brittany dancing in her Levi's, drunk under the streetlights in Lima, and thought she'd never looked as beautiful as she did then.
The walk back was mostly quiet except for Brittany's occasional yelling ahead of them that reminded Santana of when she would randomly yell when they were kids in the woods together and Brittany was trying to be ferocious. She smiled with adoration at her, and Quinn chose that moment to break the silence.
"S? I just want to say I love you. Always and no matter what. I know we don't say stuff like that a lot, but you're my best friend, okay?" Sometimes Quinn didn't get enough credit for how observant she was. And she was right, the two of them didn't say stuff like this to each other. That was how they were with Brittany. They said "I love you" with insults and scowls, but in that moment it was exactly what Santana needed, and she nodded and wiped away the lone tear spilling across her cheek.
"I love you too Q. Always." And it wasn't linked pinkies and cross my heart, and Santana's heart didn't flutter when Quinn was around and the bracelet around her wrist was her friendship bracelet for Brittany because they were best friends forever, and Santana had only ever had Brittany, but in that moment she thought always with Quinn and locked elbows and shared insults and scowls meaning the words they always meant but only said in the dark moments sounded a lot like best friend too, and she felt so full of love for these two girls with words like always and forever and she thought it didn't matter that she was in love with Brittany because she could live for the hope of it all, and wanting her was enough if it let her feel how she did right now. The air was lighter on the rest of the walk home, and they had just turned down Santana's block.
"Puck knows." Santana murmured. That hadn't been what she was trying to say, but she thinks Quinn knows that, because she just reaches down to squeeze her hand again. "He's known since just after our first date. I tried to talk to my parents about it, but... Well, I talked to Puck instead. Anyway, he knows. That's why we're..." She trailed off. "But it's just the two of you, Q, okay?"
Quinn nodded. "Okay, S." And it wasn't a promise, but the way she said it, Santana knew it would be. When they got back to Santana's they all changed into pajamas and fell into bed with each other, drifting quickly to sleep. Santana slept better than she had in years.