Blame it on the Mistletoe

Chapter 5

Four long days have gone by since Santana last saw Brittany at the Understudy. It's not that she's actively avoiding her – okay maybe she is. What she did with the waffles that night was meant to be a big fuck you but really, it awakened something entirely different. It reminded her of little tricks they would play on each other, tricks that would lead to stolen kisses in the walk-in or quickies in the backseat of Brittany's car. It's exactly why she needs to keep her distance. For them, there's a very fine line between doing petty things to irk the other person and flirting.

The whole reasons Santana and Brittany even started talking was because Brittany would secretly move all of Santana's prep to the top shelf where she knew Santana couldn't reach. It was supposed to be her way of getting Santana to ask her for help because she had this crush. It went on for weeks, Santana would get so pissed about it – threatening every other line chef except Brittany since she was too innocent to do such a thing. Brittany thought it was hilarious until she caught Santana scaling the wire shelving trying to get things down herself. She nearly plummeted to her death from the two-foot drop if it wasn't for Brittany being in the right place at the right time.

From then on, they did little things to get back at each other – nothing ever too serious because it was all about the teasing. It became their love language and Santana knows from personal experience how easy it is to fall into that pattern with her again.

Scary thing is that she is starting to want to.

For good measure, Santana avoids Market Days since they seem to be a hotspot for them and instead sends Quinn in her place. Miss Maggie isn't happy about it, but she still sends Quinn back to the restaurant with a little treat in hopes it'll entice Santana to venture out.

It's tempting, but Santana stays put. She can't go jumping into things just because she misses being with Brittany. For all she knows, it might be the holidays playing with her head. If only there was some sign that could point her in the right direction!

"Hey Santana," Rachel greets as she enters the kitchen. "There's a VIP out here wanting to see you."

Santana grumbles to herself; this isn't the kind of sign she was talking about.

"Stop calling Brittany a VIP."

"She's not – "

"Rachel, I don't want to see her." Santana turns her back on Rachel in favor of continuing her last few checks before service starts. She'd be lying if she said her heart didn't race a little knowing Brittany was out there though.

"I'll let her know then," Rachel says before heading back out to the front of house. The peace lasts for less than a minute before Rachel returns. "Sorry Santana, she's insisting."

"So am I!" Santana snaps as she whirls around. "Service starts in twenty minutes and we have actual VIPs booked in tonight. One of them could be a reviewer so I don't have time for this!"

Rachel lifts her hands in defense and backs away slowly. "Okay, I'll let her know."

"Thank you." Santana returns to the Pass and continues her work in silence. She can feel her crew's eyes on her but she ignores it so she can focus.

"Hey, you can't go back there!" It's Rachel's voice followed by the sound of the doors being slammed open again.

Santana looks up worriedly only to find Chef Holly Holliday is the one busting through the doors with Rachel close behind.

"This how you treat your beloved mentor?" Holly asks through a smirk. "Where's my welcome wagon?"

"Shit. Sorry, Chef." Santana scrambles to meet Holly halfway.