The Girl Next Door (Brittana Fanfic)

Chapter 8

The dawn awoke much later, the air turned more crisp and the birds lullaby's soon began die out. Fall was definitely passing swiftly on and even though most kids were clinging onto their bedsheets, hoping to savour the last ounce of sleep they could get, Brittany was already up, bright-eyed and raving to go as this time of year was her favourite time of year; the count down to Christmas. She stands in her pyjamas at her open window, gazing out and into Santana's room and even though she couldn't see anything past the curtain, she counted down the seconds like she did every morning for the past few weeks. Five... four... three... two... one. The clock strikes 7am just in time, causing Brittany to grin widely. A couple of seconds later, the light from Santana's bedroom room switches on and without hesitation, she opens her window and climbs out in nothing put a night gown and onto the near naked oak tree.

"Ugh!" Santana groans, rolling around under her sheets, trying to muster the warmth. She was too damn comfortable to move but the drilling wail from her alarm had a different idea. "Okay!" She frowns with groggy sinuses and blurred eyes, feeling away at her bedside stand for her alarm with her head still half buried into her pillow. Once she successfully turns the device off, she clambers to her knees with her duvet still wrapped snugly around her, trying to calculate what day it was and lets out a petty cry when she realises it was Monday. However, the sound of a branch snapping grabs at her attention as she diverts her gaze to her window, and a smile quickly follows.

"You're late." Brittany announces disappointedly, dangling from the tree branches outside of Santana's window. Santana props her elbows against the ledge and rests her head in her hands.

"I still bet you last week." Santana shakes her head and rubs her eyes, still in the process of waking up. "So are you going to help me up into that tree you've shamelessly adopted?" She asks, extending her left arm out for Brittany to reach. Brittany bounces her weight from branch to branch and eyes her hand cautiously but slowly, she reaches out her own arm and spreads out her fingers as they edge closer to Santana's. She takes in a deep breath, holding it in as her hand becomes slower and closer to the other. She stops once she's couple of inches away from Santana's skin and closes her eyes, feeling the heat in the cool air that turns into electricity, causing tingles to run through her body. Santana watches their hands then up to Brittany and hopes that she will eventually get a little closer. Brittany opens her eyes again and her brows crease with concentration as the two girls linger for a moment; reaching out for one another and both hoping that they can connect.

"I can't!" Brittany snaps her hand away shoots a scorned look down to her feet.

"You're getting there... That's all that matters." Santana tries to comfort her but Brittany just replies with a tight-lipped smile and a heavy sigh. They watch as Brittany's breath mixes in with the morning frost in the atmosphere, creating a cloud of shapes like puffs of smoke in front of them. "I gotta get a shower; Coach Sylvester's got me working my ass off here and I sweat buckets just thinking about seeing her each morning." Santana complains before retreating away back into her room. Brittany stays in the branches as she waits for Santana to leave, swinging her feet and watching as a blackbird rustles awake in it's nest, a few branches above.

Brittany ties her laces and makes sure the knots are tight enough and the loops are exactly the same size, she slowly pulls her platinum bangs back with her headband as the teeth massage her scalp. She straightens out her navy jacket and fits on her green mittens before examining herself in the mirror. A small smile creeps up on her face.

Brittany had only been living in Ohio for a month, but already she was feeling more at home than she ever did in Arizona. She was no longer the 'new girl' at school and people would now walked idly by her, too concerned over their own teenage issues to give Brittany a second glance. It was better this way; after all, this is what she had always wanted; not to be recognised or questioned or even acknowledged. She even found herself raising her head more often in the corridor, instead of the breathtaking view of her own two feet that she learned to admire and watch grow over the past years. She noticed how much the colour red was embedded into the school and luckily, red was Brittany's favourite colour. Red meant a lot of things: anger, blood, rage, romance but to Brittany, it meant love the most, so she must have done something right to be surrounded by it. Even ever since listening to the show choir a couple of weeks ago, Brittany found time each lunch period to stop by and listen to the kids sing. Singing had always been an important part of Brittany's life; whenever she was truly down - even after her incident - she always managed to find a quiet spot to sit alone and sing a couple of lyrics that meant a lot to her that time, over and over again. It felt good to be in that zone again, to feel like she couldn't be bothered by anyone. Even Quinn Fabray was shooting polite smiles every now and again when they passed in the corridor. However, Brittany's ultimate favourite part of the day was sharing Biology class with Santana.