Brittana- Invisible String

Chapter 3

It was the morning after her 18th birthday and Santana woke up with a very sore head, to the sound of a knock on the door. The sunlight was beaming directly at her through a gap in the curtains and she winced and turned the other way. She could hear Brittany's voice downstairs along with her mothers.

"Brittany, do come in, you must have hosted sleepover of the year last night by the state Santana was in, and you yourself weren't much better" said Maribel with a raised eyebrow, casting her mind to the night before, where she had received a phone call from Whitney Pierce informing her that Santana had consumed a lot of alcohol.

Brittany had called her parents right after Santana fell, and the Pierce's had picked both girls up and brought them back to their house, before Whitney called Maribel apologetically at 3am. She said Santana was more than welcome to stay with them, but felt Maribel had a right to know, filling her in with everything. This included the fact they were at Finn Hudson's party, and not a sleepover.

Despite the Pierce's insistence that they were more than okay to keep hold of Santana until morning, Maribel didn't want them to have the burden of her drunken unruly daughter, especially when they had Brittany to deal with in a similar state. So, she drove the 5 minutes to the Pierce's house where Brittany and Santana were sprawled out on the sofa, both looking worse for wear. Maribel acted firm and cross as she hoisted Santana off the couch, apologising profusely to the Pierce's for having to go collect her in this state, but inside she was laughing slightly. She had been in this state herself at Santana's age, and hopefully the hangover she'd have in the morning would put her off at least until her 21st birthday. She was thankful her husband was on a night shift, as he would not see a funny side at all to his daughter's irresponsible behaviour.

"Mrs Lopez, I'm so sorry that we lied to you. How is she?". Brittany stuttered feeling very guilty. She never called Maribel 'Mrs Lopez', but felt in this moment she needed to be polite. She already knew her parents had told Maribel everything about their true whereabouts.

"She's still sleeping, I imagine she'll be feeling terrible. I'm hoping so anyway, means she's less likely to do it again. Anyway, I'm glad you're here to wake her, she's not sleeping all day and wasting the day."

"It was totally my fault, the whole thing!" Brittany blurted. She knew Santana's parents could be quite strict, especially her dad. She glanced around anxiously wondering where George was.

"I'd love to believe you Brittany, I really would, I just happen to know my own daughter" It was as if Maribel sensed Brittany's curiosity "It's lucky George was on a night shift and didn't see her in the state she was in. He went straight to bed so he's still none the wiser".

Their conversation was suddenly distracted by Santana herself appearing at the top of the stairs, looking as fragile as her mother had hoped, wrapped in her bedsheets.

"Why is everybody shouting?" she groaned.

Maribel shook her head at Santana before heading into the kitchen, giving the girls silent permission to go upstairs, she would talk with her daughter later.

"I'm so embarrassed about last night" Santana moaned, flopping back on to her bed.

"No San don't, you don't have to be" Brittany assured, following behind Santana and shutting the bedroom door to give them some much needed privacy.

"But I behaved so badly!" Santana shrieked, burying her head into her pillow.

Brittany giggled at her friend's dramatic behaviour and plopped down onto the bed next to her, resting her elbows on Santana's legs, which were covered by the bed sheets. She thought back to their kiss. She hadn't been able to get it out of her head.

"Well it could be good too" Brittany suggested. She didn't care if their behaviour ended up getting them grounded and potentially banned from senior prom, she was just so happy about the kiss. Something good had definitely come of the night. Santana suddenly turned to look at Brittany with a frown, as if she thought she was crazy.

"Good?" Santana questioned "I feel sick even thinking about it"

Brittany's face suddenly dropped. She had enjoyed their kiss so much she hadn't even considered that Santana might be feeling the complete opposite.

"Like...wh..which part?"

"All of it." Santana clarified, making Brittany's heart sink once more. "It never happened basically...you can't tell ANYONE"

Brittany felt like the wind had been sucked out of her. She had never felt this bad, not when she found her dad drinking 'Santa's milk' and found out that Santa was never real, not when her cheerleading coach had kicked her off the team temporarily for her poor grades, not even when she split up with Artie. But she had to carry on as normal for the sake of their 13-year friendship. Act unbothered, laugh it off.

"Right" Brittany laughed, before being interrupted by Santana's younger brother, Pablo.

"Sanny got drunk, Sanny got drunk!" he chanted "Hey Brittany she was sick all over Mami's car THREE times, and on the steps outside the house. I can't wait to tell Papi all about this."

"Shut up Pabby, you'll do nothing of the sort, unless you want me to tell him all about the magazines under your bed while we're here." Pablo looked down sheepishly. "Didn't think so".

Santana rolled her eyes as her little brother skulked out the room, before turning her attention back to an upset looking Brittany. Santana guessed she must be feeling pretty hungover too.

"How did we get home from the party?" asked Santana

"My parents picked us up, I had to call them, because they knew we were at Finn's anyway. They didn't know how much alcohol would be involved so I've had more than an earful this morning. They called your mom because they needed to let her know the state you were in and your mom insisted on coming to pick you up. Don't worry though, I told your mom it's all my fault, and that I'm a terrible influence"

"Oh well you are" Santana flirted, sitting up to touch Brittany's arm, causing Brittany to let out a sad smile.

"Anyway, my punishment is I have to spend 2 hours every day in the library for two weeks".

"Nightmare" Santana scrunched her face sympathetically.

"Well it could be worse, at least it will help get my grades up, it's a blessing in disguise" Brittany reasoned. Still shocked by Santana's earlier reaction to their kiss, Brittany decided to throw something in to test the waters.

"Sam Evans just got a job there"

"A job doing what? Using his giant pillow sized lips as a trampoline so people can bounce up on them when the books are too high to reach?" Santana scoffed. This was the 2nd time Brittany had mentioned the blonde guy from out of town, and she did not see the appeal at all. Brittany was way too elite for him.

"I think his lips are kind of cute. I think he's kind of cute in general" Brittany pushed. She wasn't lying, yes part of her was saying this to get a raise out of Santana but, she really did think he was cute.

Santana couldn't help the momentary frown spread across her face, before snapping back to her jokey self.

"Well go for it Brit" she laughed "But if you do end up making out with trouty mouth, please make sure you take a flashlight. I need you to be able to find your way out when his guppy face swallows you up, and you get lost in there"

Brittany laughed before grabbing a pillow and swatting Santana playfully. Soon the girls were both enveloped in laughter and play-fighting, hangovers swiftly forgotten about. The night before was just a taster for the life ahead of them at college in NYC in the fall, and both girls couldn't wait for it.