Chapter Text
Santana’s been on numerous Pierce family trips, yet, right now she’s struggling with feeling a bit out of place.
To be frank, she hasn’t been around the Pierce family as a whole since her and Brittany started fighting, and they were fighting for a while. Before that, they slowly started to talk to each other less when Artie came along because Santana was too stuck up to sing Melissa Ethridge with Brittany.
(In reality, she wanted nothing more than to sing that stupid song. Santana thinks about this a lot, what if she just sang it? What if she wasn’t a coward? A whole lot would probably be different.)
It’s been a long time.
Now, fresh out of school, she’s sandwiched between Brittany and Speedy in the backseat while Mr. Pierce makes sure the trunk is all packed, she takes a deep sigh. Really, this shouldn’t feel like this, she shouldn’t be this nervous.
But, it does, and she is.
She has a lot to be nervous about, with not only Brittany’s parents, but with Brittany and Ashley too. All of a sudden, she feels a warm breath tickle her ear, and it sends shivers all over her body.
“Stop thinking so much.” Brittany chides, Santana turns to make eye contact with the blonde, and she immediately softens at her gaze.
She thinks that Brittany is made for summer. Her eyes are just a tiny bit more blue, her freckles are more pronounced and scattered across her face, her skin glows and dons a light tan with a hint of sunburn. She just feels like summer, being around her feels light and airy.
The trunk slams shut, and that jolts Santana back into reality. Brittany’s cheeks are pink, bashful from being admired, as their eyes lock.
Santana is so screwed.
Slightly embarrassed by their encounter, Santana shifts to rest her head on Brittany’s shoulder, feeling at peace for the first time since she got to the Pierce house this morning. Pierce Pierce enters the driver's seat, taking a brief look at the three girls behind him.
“Who’s ready!”
They all cheer, but Brittany’s voice is the loudest.
Getting off the ferry, they’ve finally reached their destination. Driving through downtown, Santana can’t help but get nostalgic. The last time she was in Put In Bay was the summer before freshman year, before cheerios and popularity took the forefront of their summer plans each year. She can’t help think about how much time has passed, how much things have changed, yet how the island town looks nearly identical.
“I’m hungry!” Ashley complains, her tablet died a long time ago, even though the ride was less than 3 hours.
Santana laughs, looking at the 8 year old fondly. She’s always loved Ashley, and Ashley has always gravitated to her. She feels bad, they went a long time without interacting, and she doesn’t know how to bring that up…or if she even should bring it up at all. She was so excited to see her when she arrived, almost tackling her at the door.
(When she asked where she'd been, Santana didn’t know how to respond. She hesitated for a second before enveloping the girl with a tight hug and an apology.)
“You eat like a garbage disposal, Speedy.” She remarks, “You just had some of Britt’s cheetos.”
(Santana gave Ashley the nickname Speedy after the rat in Looney Toones, which was one of her favorite cartoons when she was little. When the girl was born, she kinda reminded her of the mouse, just paler. The nickname stuck, and she’s the only person who calls her that.)
“Sanny, that was like 10 hours ago.” She groans, and Santana shakes her head in amusement.
(Ashley is legally the only person that’s allowed to call her Sanny.)
“You’ll live.” Brittany quips, slightly annoyed and groggy. She’s usually pretty cheery with Ash, but road trips are the one time they usually clash. Being enclosed in spaces this long makes her feel claustrophobic, she’s tired and bored of traveling, even though it really isn’t long. Brittany just likes to move freely.
Golf Carts whir around them, they’re the preferred method of transport on the island. Put In Bay isn’t very big, you can drive across it in about 30 minutes. But, they have so much stuff in the trunk with all their suitcases, and the coolers that are filled by food thats cheaper to bring than buy at the one grocery store in town. It’s easier for them to bring the car to the house, then use the carts for everything else.
As they get closer to their destination, Brittany livens up a little, She stares out the window curiously, almost as if she’s taking it all in. As they pull into the driveway of the condo style cabin, it finally sinks in for Santana.
She really has Brittany again.
After unpacking the kitchen, Brittany and Santana go to their room, which they’ve always shared all the previous times they’ve been here. It’s crazy, all the memories flow back as soon as she enters the purple and orange fish themed room, it makes her smile.
Brittany plops onto the bed with a sigh, exhausted. Santana just shakes her head at her as she lugs their bags in, what a diva. She soon lays right beside her, feet dangling off the bed.
“Do you remember what I’d always say about us and fishes?” Brittany verbalizes, slightly mumbling. Santana nods.
“You’d always say that if we were any animal, we’d be two fishes and we’d swim together forever.” Santana recalls, scooting closer to Brittany. Brittany has always loved fish, especially after Nemo, she never took an interest in fishing because she never wanted to hurt them.
They lay in comfortable silence after that, Santana thought Brittany would elaborate on her words, but she doesn’t. Suddenly, she feels a buzz in her pocket. She shimmies her phone out of her jean pocket as she stands up. It’s her mom.
“Hola Mami.”
“Santanita, you guys made it safe?” Santana can’t help but recognize the exhaustion evident in her voice, it’s something she’s so used to hearing from her mother. She sometimes hopes when she picks up the phone or sees her at home, it isn’t there, but it always is.
“Yeah, sorry, we’re all really tired, we unpacked and lost track of time.”
“It’s okay, I understand, I just wanted to make sure, mija.” Santana recognizes noise in the background, the whirring of some familiar hospital machine, and it makes her shoulders fall.
“You’re at work still?” Santana hopes she can’t hear the disappointment in her tone, she worries about her. She’s always picking up extra shifts when possible, sometimes it gets to a point where the hospital sends her home because she maxed out her hours for the week.
“Yes, I picked an extra shift up.”
“Oh, okay.” She doesn’t know what else to say, she shouldn’t be surprised at this anymore.
“I have to go, okay. Rounds are about to ensue for this next shift, I just wanted to check in.”
“Okay, Mami, te quiero mucho.”
“Te quiero mucho, Santana.” She hangs up and goes back on the bed with a huff. She's used to her mom working so much, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother her. At the end of the day, it’s what she has to do, her dad left a long time ago and he doesn’t pay a lick of child support. Compared to Brittany’s family, she’s dirt poor. Her mom works to not only keep them afloat, but to also help out her abuela. Because of her mom, Santana thankfully hasn’t known much struggle.
Brittany immediately takes Santana’s hand and gives it a tight squeeze, it grounds her. She doesn’t have to say much most of the time for Brittany to know how she feels, and that scares her. How does Brittany know her better than she knows herself?
“Do you wanna go annoy the munchkin before dinner?” Brittany asks, and Santana immediately sits up.
“Is that even a question?” Santana answers, giddy, temporarily forgetting about her worries.