Meeting in the Middle

Chapter 3

The whole weekend goes by and Brittany's yet to see Santana since their encounter at Callbacks. Part of her is worried about the Latina, but the other is mainly curious. Brittany's always been curious, a real thinker as her mom liked to describe her, and Santana just feeds into that curiosity. She's never met someone so closed off from others, so guarded, but she assumes it's for a good reason. They mystery of Santana only makes Brittany want to figure her out.

Brittany goes about her days falling into the same routine, only this time she occasionally takes Mercedes' or Tina's offer of getting pizza after work. It's nice getting to know the girls. She didn't really have too many friends growing up, she was a little too eccentric for most, so it felt good to make new friends. It makes work a little more enjoyable, but she still finds herself jolting at the sound of the entry bells and hoping it's Santana.

It never is and she sulks back to doing whatever she had been.

/

When she does finally see Santana again, it's not really under the greatest circumstances.

Brittany's just come back from a PT session and she's completely wrecked. She can't wait to get home, shower, and never leave her couch again. She doesn't even care to check her mailbox as she heads straight to the lift.

But her heart skips a beat when she sees Santana by the lift furiously tapping at her phone.

Suddenly she doesn't feel so tired and tries to keep from running over.

"Hi." Brittany beams and Santana jolts a little, "Sorry."

Santana looks up from her phone and smiles, "Hey."

Brittany's just about to ask how her day's going when the lift doors chime.

"After you." Santana says, gesturing for Brittany to walk in first.

Brittany smiles again, it's embarrassing how much she does around Santana over nothing. She walks in and Santana follows after her; they both lean up against opposite sides and Santana goes right back to her phone. Brittany thinks to ask about her day now but she doesn't want to interrupt, so she stands there trying not to feel awkward in the silence when the lift suddenly slams to a stop.

Brittany's arms shoot up to brace herself and Santana does the same as the lights flicker and go out. Brittany hears a surprised gasp amongst the darkness and looks up as Santana's phone clatters to the floor. Santana quickly reaches for the phone and clutches it to her chest as her other hand grips the rail. The emergency lights come on soon after and they're barely bright enough for Brittany to see the look of complete fear on Santana's face.

Brittany's knee is sore from subconsciously bracing herself and she gently rubs at the brace while keeping an eye on Santana who looks like she's about to pass out.

"You okay?" Brittany asks tentatively but that just tips Santana off the edge.

"Does it look like I'm okay? I'm trapped in this fucking death trap and we could plummet to our deaths at any second!" She snaps and Brittany would usually snap right back if it weren't for how frightened Santana looked. She knows people can get a little dramatic when under serious stress so she doesn't take it personally.

"Hey, you're going to be okay." Brittany assures her in a calm voice but Santana doesn't really look eased.

"I don't need this shit right now!"

"It's fine, someone's probably down there trying to get us out right now." Brittany tries but Santana won't have it.

"How are you so sure? What if there's no one and we're trapped here forever? Or the thing that's keeping us suspended here just snaps? We can die at any moment!"