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"This is really kinda hot, San." Brittany licked her lips as a well built man in a blue, gold and white horizontally striped shirt and white shorts ran down the field. His shorts were white at the beginning of the match at least, they had progressively grown darker throughout the match to the point where they were nearly brown in that way that rain and mud has of mixing on clothes. He threw a large, oval shaped, ball to his teammate before being solidly met by an opponent, in what used to be powder blue and white, with a loud wet thud. The teammate was instantly brought down, landing face first in a muddy puddle. Boys of both teams fought for the ball. The referee, in a neon yellow shirt, blew his whistle and the teams positioned themselves facing each other, ready for the ball to be put into action again. The ball was put into play and the two teams immediately converged with a thud and chorus of grunts. Their cleats slid in the mud, trying to be the first to gain purchase and win the scrum.
"You've been spending too much time in the Castro with your dancer friends, babe." Santana couldn't avert her eyes either. The tight shirts and short shorts on these well built men were quite captivating. Not quite in the same way that she knew Brittany was thinking of them, but it's hard to deny the beauty of the human form at its athletic pinnacle. She briefly wondered what Puckerman would've looked like in those short shorts, but her mind immediately flashes back to that time in Glee club: when he put on a dress and a blonde wig like the ultimate bro that he was. Santana will need to call him soon and see what he's been getting up to.
"They're all grunty and slippery, San." Brittany shrugged then immediately sprang up out of her seat, and shouted, "GO SAMMY!"
Santana turned to see who she thinks is Sam run down the field, it's hard to tell with the rain and the mud hiding the number on his blue and white jersey, but the gait and hair certainly seem like him. She jumped up from her seat to cheer him on; ignoring the people around them giving evil glares. It's not like they've been rooting for UCLA or anything, just Sam. Santana and Brittany are in their Cal rain gear and have been cheering for their school's team, but Sam is Sam. He's the reason that they're even sitting in the shitty weather, when they could be in their apartment, sitting in their bay window that overlooks the streets of Berkeley while getting their lady cuddles on in the dim glow of their electric fireplace. They’re going to cheer for their boy.
It's not like it even matters. Cal's winning 103 to... well, 24, now that Sam just slid across the end line and followed it up with a good kick of the ball through the crossbars. There's about a minute left on the clock, it's not like cheering for UCLA would even help them win. It's not the Bruin's fault, really. Cal's Varsity Rugby team is regularly ranked at number one in the nation.
Santana was trying to figure out when and where the game was going to be on their website and came across that fact. Rally Committee keeps them up with most sports, but they don't cover all events (thankfully, otherwise she'd never make it to any of her classes). She never stops being impressed by her university.
The ref blows his whistle to signal the end of the match. Brittany and Santana stand up and make their way off the bleachers and head toward UCLA's end of the field.
"Their heads are constantly in other guys' crotch areas." Brittany had her thinking face on. Santana let out a snort and rolled her eyes. "It's like how the Quarterback in football is always putting his hands on the center's balls and then the football."
"I don't think I want to follow your particular train of thought, Britt."
"Well, you would think they'd be more comfortable with various sexualities, you know?" Brittany shrugged and leaned against the chain link fence. If Santana tried that, even with her wearing her hiking boots, she'd slip and fall on her ass in a second. Leave it to Brittany to perfect leaning on slippery ground. It’s like gravity doesn’t even exist around her. "They're obviously not getting boners and stuff all the time, you know? And, like, even when it happens they know that it's just something that is uncontrollable at times and has nothing to do with attraction necessarily."
"Sam needs to hurry his trouty ass up." Santana mumbled, not fully sure she wanted to continue hearing Brittany's train of thought.
"I just don't get why it's okay to love each other on the field, but they seem to have issues with it everywhere else." Brittany's brow scrunched and she bit her lip in thought. It's Santana's second favorite look on Brittany. She couldn’t help herself from the step forward that she took nor could she resist putting her arms around Brittany’s neck. With Brittany leaning against the fence like she was, they're the same height and Santana took advantage of it and leaned in for a tender meeting of lips, noses and eyelashes. Santana breathed in rain and Brittany's skin as she pulled away from the kiss.
"I love you." Santana's smile was soft as she looked into Brittany's eyes.
"Always." Brittany replied with a mirrored gaze. They're both completely drenched from the rain, even with their rain gear on, but to each other they look like the cutest puppies that have just learned how much fun puddles could be.
A throat being cleared broke their moment and brought them back to reality. They looked over to find a smiling Sam, still in his obscenely short shorts, but now wearing an UCLA jacket.
"Trouty, those shorts are making me blush." Santana walked up to Sam and punched him in the shoulder. He rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up in a giant bear hug. Santana squeezed extra hard, and told herself that it was in case he dropped her (but she knew better).
"Hey, Sammy Bear." Brittany pounced on Sam as soon as he placed Santana back on the ground and let go. He caught her and spun them around, laughing.
"I've missed your faces." He smiled at them, and held Brittany with one arm as her legs remained wrapped around his waist, like she was a toddler. Rugby's been amazing for Sam if he wasn't even strained at holding Brittany up. Santana's never been able to carry Brittany for long. Her girl is fit, but all muscle. Heavy, heavy muscle. Sam motioned with his head for them to move, not letting Brittany down and she giggled.
"We've missed you too, Trouty." Santana picked up his duffle, and placed her empty hand in his as they started walking. "It sucks that we're in the same state, but so fuckin far away."
"You're, like, a million miles away, Sam." Brittany laid her head down on his shoulder. "You need to get drafted to Cal's team, you're too good for UCLA."
"Y'all just want me nearby to help you carry things uphill." Sam chuckled, but his voice betrayed how much he wished he could be in Berkeley with them.
"Speaking of, you might wanna put our girl down. As cute as you two look, it's a long trek. Especially in this rain."
"We're walking?" Sam's eyes bulged and he nearly dropped Brittany, who giggled and jumped off of him. "Maybe it's not too late to crash in the team's hotel room."
"Please, it's only a buck and a half. Downhill." Santana scoffed.
"It's a mile and a half walk?" Sam gaped. When Santana nodded, his mouth seemed to grow in size due to the gaping void formed by his jaw dropping. "In the rain."
“Ugh, SoCal people.” Santana rolled her eyes.
"Nobody walks in L.A." Sam was floundering, which would’ve been funny (and Santana did store it away to be amused with later), but he's wasn’t moving at all and their gear was waterproof, but only to a certain extent and she didn't want to get pneumonia. She especially didn't want Brittany getting sick because then Santana wouldn’t be able to go to any of her classes 'cause she still couldn't resist those blues in that puppy power pout.
"Please, you lived in Ohio, where there's snow." Santana's done with standing in the rain and tugged harshly on Sam's hand. Brittany grabbed his other hand and helped to drag him along.
"But..."
"You were broke and lived in a motel room with your entire family. You didn't have a car. You used to walk to school every day. Until that day when Santana stayed home for lady reasons and I got lost on my way to school and saw you and picked you up." Brittany shrugged. Santana's sure that Brittany had raised her eyebrows at Sam, but they were currently covered up by her blue and gold fleece beanie.
"I was dressed for snow then! It's freezing, now."
"Don't worry, your package won’t fall off, Trouty."
"What Santana means to say," Brittany sent a look at Santana that implied that she wasn’t helping. Santana shrugged, it's not like she was the nice one in this relationship. Brittany continued, "is that if you pick up your pace, we'll run with you to warm you up and you can consider it your cool down run."
"How'd you know about my cool down?"
"We know everything about every single person we've ever made out with."
"Or more."
"Especially when there's more."
"Santana likes background and credit checks."
"Life is so much easier when you're with only one person and you can trust them completely."
"How does that explain..." Sam always got a bit confused when they did that whole finishing each other's sentences thing. It made him feel like a pinball.
"We watched you before..."
"..during..."
"...and after practice, back in high school." Brittany smiled.
"Sue had the Cheerio's on campus pretty much twenty four seven. You and your cool down runs were a welcome eye candy distraction." Santana shrugged. "So, we gonna do this?"
"Uh, sure." Sam quirked a side of his mouth up, he knew he didn't actually have a choice in this.
"Okay." Brittany took the duffle from Santana and strapped it on her back. "We're used to this, Sam. I'll run ahead of you, put your feet where I put my feet and you won’t slip or trip over a root or anything."
"Uh, I know how to run." Sam chuckled.
"Boys." Santana shook her head.
"Yeah, we know that, but this is, like, super tricky ground. There's places that look flat, but are totally wonky and places that look wonky, but are totally flat."
"All right, lead on."
"I'll be behind you to pick your guppy ass up when you fall." Santana couldn't help herself. Brittany started their run, her laugh echoed in the silence around them.
----
It was the first time he'd been able to visit, and they were serious about their campaign to get Sam to come to Berkeley with them. It'd be an easy enough transfer, they were sister schools after all...sort of (just don't mention the school songs to the band).
Their run followed a sort of zig zag pattern, but Brittany style. She'd spent a lot of time exploring the nooks and crannies of the campus. She called it her "First Real Big Exploration" and had even purchased a blank page moleskine for her adventure. Santana found it adorable and then ended up being amazed by the accuracy of the maps that Brittany drew on the pages. When Brittany was sure that she'd thoroughly explored the campus, and wouldn't find any more treasures, the book was only half full of her notes and maps. So, she decided to expand her explorations to the area around the campus. Santana's fairly sure that not even the forest rangers know Strawberry Canyon as well as Brittany does. (Actually, Santana knows this for a fact since the head Ranger sought Brittany out and asked if he could buy a map from her.)
They started by running past The Greek, they both knew how much of a Rock n Roll buff Sam was and that he wouldn't want to pass up seeing where so many of his favorite artists held some of their best concerts. Brittany actually snuck them in so they could see the amphitheater, which Santana had thought was impossible (though she never really tried) until she was standing on the center of the stage looking at the rows of concrete. She thought it beautiful during the bonfire rallies, when the giant pyre would cast its orange glow on all the students and alumni who were there, but seeing it empty with two of the most important people in her world, brought a completely different kind of beauty to it. (She also spared a moment to pretend what it'd be like for her to be the one giving the concert that filled the seats. One day that'd be her and maybe Sam could play guitar and Britt would dance around them.)
"You'd be famous on campus, Sammy." Brittany said as she led them down past Evans Hall. She moved them south, so they could show Capanile to Sam.
"I know, it's just a bell tower or whatever." Santana shrugged, when Brittany stopped to show it to him.
"No, it's totally cool." Sam's mouth opened as he stared up at the third largest bell tower in the world. The rain had turned into a light mist, which allowed him to freely look up without getting drops in his eyes. "I bet you could see everything from up there."
"You totally can, especially on a clear day." Brittany nodded.
"We goin up?" Sam took a step towards the entrance, but Brittany stopped him with her hand to his arm.
"Not today, maybe when you move here." Brittany bit her lip and looked down.
"We've only gone up once," Santana said softly. "It's like, a rite of passage for a Cal student, or it should be.” She shrugged. “The elevator takes you nearly to the observation deck, but there's stairs to get there." Santana looked up at the giant clock on the face of the stone just below the deck. "It probably seems silly, but while we were up there seeing this amazing view, we thought of Artie and how he wouldn't be able to unless someone carried him."
"Oh. Yeah, man. I get that." Sam nodded and wrapped his arms around their shoulders.
"So, we only go up there if it's for a special occasion. Not that you're not a special occasion, it's just that we plan on convincing you to move here, and it's like, added incentive." Brittany winked. "Look at this shiny carrot we're dangling in front of you." She waved her arm up and down, like she was showing off a prize on the Price is Right.
"Man, y'all are going hard, aren't you?" Sam chuckled.
"Like we do it any other way." Santana's voice seemed to purr as she grinned like the Cheshire cat. "C'mon, the next stop is one of Brittany's favorites."
Brittany bounced and clapped her hands before readjusting the duffel she was carrying and taking off on a very short jog west.
"This is Doe Library." Brittany gestured towards a fairly large building with grey stone walls and lots of windows.
"Uhm, okay?" Not that Sam didn't think it was a cool looking building, but it wasn't that much different than all of the other buildings they had run past on their little tour, he didn’t understand why Brittany would love the outside of a library so much.
"Britts here is a campus celebrity 'cause of this building." Santana smiled proudly.
"What did you two get caught doing?" Sam raised his eyebrows; he knew that they liked experimenting, but getting caught in a library? He would think that they'd have enough experience to not be caught by now.
"Mind out of the gutter, Trouty." Santana snorted and rolled her eyes.
"I'm the only person who can do the tranquilizer." Brittany grinned.
"Traverse, babe." Santana corrected with a soft smile.
"Yeah, that."
"Still lost, ladies."
"It's this climbing thing... we heard about it from this chick in one of my architecture classes. She's some kind of rock climber or something, didn't really pay too much attention to her."
"She had hairy armpits that smelled like gold." Brittany supplied.
"Anyway, there's these people who climb buildings for fun, apparently." Santana looked at Sam, not understanding why people would do such a thing. "People who can't get laid, obviously."
"San, don't be mean. I did it, and you lay me all the time."
Sam coughed to hide his laugh behind his hand and pretended that he didn't notice the faint tinting that had made its way onto Santana's skin.
"Our class went on this, like, walking field trip to study certain architectural features throughout campus. While we were walking by Doe, she told me about it." Santana pointed at the scuff marks on the wall from the sneakers of all the people who've attempted it before. "I knew Britt was doing her whole mapping the campus thing and mentioned it to her. The next thing I knew, I was out here with the video camera, filming her as she did it."
"What is it with you two and filming things?" Sam shook his head.
"It's actually really fun, Sammy. I'd show you, but it's slippery out and I don't want to pull anything 'cause San had these plans to mphhms" Brittany got cut off by Santana's hand covering her mouth. Santana tried to smile innocently, but Sam knew better and just laughed at them.
"She was the first person to ever be able to do the whole thing. That anyone knows about, at least." Santana gave Brittany a quick squeeze before motioning that they should continue their journey down campus. "The video kinda went viral around campus."
"It was my second most popular youtube video ever." Brittany grinned.
Sam opened his mouth with a smirk.
"Don't even, Trouty or you're sleeping in Britt's dirty laundry."
"That's one of the entrances to the steam tunnels that no one is supposed to know about or go in. Shh." Brittany pointed as they ran by. "People were constantly coming up to me and trying to say that it was a fake or we did some video editing or whatever. It was making me a sad panda."
"So, naturally, I did what Santana does second best and threw a party outside Doe so people could come and see my girl do her thing."
"Cool." Sam nodded. He didn't need to ask what Santana did best; it was clear every time she looked at Brittany. "What's so hard about it?"
"This is Sather Gate, oooh green-bronzy-history." Brittany pointed out as they ran through it and pointed south as they turned to go west. "Over there is Telegraph Avenue, as well as the Student Union and Sproul Plaza."
"Which is basically where we live, we spend more time there with rally committee stuff than we actually get to spend in our apartment."
Sam nodded, more buildings, pretty and impressive, but still buildings. He's sure that he'd appreciate them more if he knew why the girls were pointing them out to him.
"You can't touch the ground. You can't wear special shoes or use chalk and, most importantly, to most people (I guess): you can't pull down with your grip." Brittany turned around and ran backwards to show Sam what she meant. She pointed her palm to him, her fingers pointing up, curled her fingers and shook her head no. Then she rolled her wrist ninety degrees and nodded yes.
"You have to get past all those angles and corners only to end up at a ten foot wall with no grip what so ever." Santana supplied.
"Which is why, like, I really don't see the point in the whole ‘no down grip’ rule." Brittany turned back around and pointed to her left. "We built you a diamond, Sammy."
Sam looked across the street to see a stone wall with blue gates in it. He could barely make out a green field through the slats. He didn't get it, but nodded anyway.
"It's Evans Diamond." Santana shrugged and her eyes did that thing they had a tendency to do whenever Brittany did something adorable. Sam smiled one of his big toothy grins.
"Thanks Britt."
There wasn't much of a tour after that. Brittany ran them through the eucalyptus grove (the route she took was totally out of the way, but Santana didn't mind and wasn't going to tell Sam), which is another of Brittany's favorite places to hang out, literally, on campus. Then it was a straight shot down University Avenue to their apartment.
---
Later, when they were warm and dry, after hanging out at Brittany and Santana’s apartment watching Teen Titans as they thawed from being in the wet chill for so long. After they took him to Fantastic Comics which was just down the block and around the corner from them and had some super rare and quality titles, they ended up at Triple Rock. Santana had introduced Jake to Sam as her brother from another mother. They had all laughed when Sam acted insulted.
“Are you going for the world record of lesbros, or something, Tana?”
“Please, I’ve got bros in different area codes.” Santana puffed her chest up and lifted her chin, to which everyone laughed.
At some point later, Sam leaned against the wall of the bar and took in the atmosphere. There was a certain vibe going on that he had never felt in Los Angeles. He felt kinda happy; the smile on his face wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. He moved his eyes to his girls and watched how the world seemed to revolve around them. They appeared to emit their own vibrant glow of happiness that affected everyone around them.
Sam remembers high school. He remembers when they didn’t shine. How it sometimes hurt to look at them. He remembers how they were going through so much, but still made time to ask him how he was doing. Even with all the pain they went through back then, they saw how others were hurting too. He knows that he’s one of the lucky ones, one of the few who actually got to experience what it was like to have them care about him. He saw their secret and how it dulled their shine. He kept it close to his chest, like Superman’s S, and because of that they let him in. He got to be a part of something truly amazing.
It was sweet that they felt the need to woo him to their school by giving him a tour of their favorite places. It was sweet, but he didn’t need it. The most compelling arguments were the sparkle in Santana’s eyes as she looked at Brittany, that special smile on Brittany’s lips that only appeared when she was smiling at Santana and the musical sound of their laughter being full of nothing but joy. If Sam was going to transfer schools, it’d be because he’d get to see them finally floating through life like the Angels he always saw them to be, not because of some pretty buildings.