Chapter 18

Santana was standing backstage feeling like her heart and stomach were both in her throat. She was gripping so tightly onto Brittany's hand that she thought if she let it go she might just collapse. How was she supposed to go out on stage in less than ten minutes without her? Why was she going without her? Everything she was Brittany had made her.

"Britt why won't you come out with me?" She asked for what felt like the hundredth time. Her voice was shaking horribly and she cringed as she spoke. She could not talk like this on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Brittany sighed sadly. "Santana we've already talked about this. This is about you, and it's for you. You have to make a name for yourself that is separate from your relationship with me. Emma has already said that it's not a good idea because I was there on your first show at the mall and I was there at your first concert. You have to do this alone." She sounded genuinely sad about it so Santana dropped it, promising herself that she wouldn't suggest it again.

"I wish I didn't have to do it alone though. I'd do so much better with you there with me." Santana was glad to hear that her voice was not sounding as weak as before.

"You're going to do amazing baby. We prepped the whole way here, and you have the best personality for this. You just need to make sure you don't let your nerves get the best of you."

"I love you Britt" Santana said seriously. Brittany turned away from the monitor she had been watching Jimmy Kimmel on and looked at Santana. When she did so Santana noticed that she was paler than usual. "Hey are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah…just really nervous if I'm being honest" Brittany said, her voice now the one shaking.

"Yeah. I think we'll both relax when I'm actually out on stage. Hopefully." Santana was now gripping both of Brittany's hands in her own. Brittany leaned forward and rested her head against Santana's. They stood in silence like that until someone came to usher Santana to her position.

"Wait Santana!" Brittany yelled as Santana walked away. Santana stopped and looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"I love you too"

Santana smiled and put her hand to her heart, then she was being pulled away and round a corner, taking her out of sight. Brittany took in a deep breath and put her hand to her chest as Santana had.

"You got this baby" she said to herself, as she heard Jimmy Kimmel announce,

:"…New indie music sensation Santana Lopez"

Brittany watched Santana walk up to the stage. She was wearing a tight black dress with leather strips down the sides, that fell three inches from her knees, a long silver necklace with a purple pendant that rested above her belly button, and black velvet high heels that wrapped around her ankle. She had three small French braids on both sides of her head, leaving the rest of her hair to fall in long waves. Her right hand was covered in metal and leather bracelets, but her left hand had only the charm bracelet Brittany had given her in the ninth grade that she never took off. She had on very little make-up, just some lightly applied purple eye shadow, lipstick and black eyeliner.

Throughout her entire performance, Brittany could not take her eyes off her. She was struck, not for the first time, with the realisation that Santana was incredible beautiful. It was a beauty that was not noticed often, because Santana always liked to show off how 'hot' she was. She would dress in sexy outfits that show off her boobs or her abs or her ass, she'd put on loads of make-up and hair extensions, or dye her hair blonde. With all of these, she definitely was 'hot' and 'sexy', but when she was the way she was now, Brittany thought she was the most beautiful of all. When she was simple, when she was scared and vulnerable but trying to be brave. When she was just being herself. Brittany could not take her eyes off her. It was like she was lost in a trance, not even really listening to the song she was singing. This is why she was confused to see Santana walking away from the stage and towards the couches where Jimmy Kimmel stood in front of his desk. Suddenly it was like the sound was turned back on. Brittany heard loud clapping, whistling and cheering, numerous 'I love you Santana's, and then the sound of Jimmy Kimmel shouting.

"Yes! Yes! That was definitely amazing. Do try to show some appreciation will you. She might thing you don't like her."

Everyone laughed.

"No of course I'm just kidding. Santana that was better applause than I got…I'm not saying I'm jealous but…" Kimmel spoke as he hugged Santana. Santana laughed nervously.

"Well…I'm not saying I'm better than you but…" everyone laughed again, and Brittany let out a sigh. Santana's voice was not shaky. In fact, other than the fact that she was a shade darker than usual, something only Brittany would notice, she looked completely comfortable.

"I mean, just wait until I go up there and start singing in Spanish, then we'll see who is better"

Santana laughed and motioned towards the stage with a small bow of her head. "The stage is all yours"

"Not right now. You're the guest, I don't want to embarrass you."

"Oh of course. Thank you so much for that I appreciate it." Santana pursed her lips and looked at the audience as she spoke.

"Yes you're welcome. That's the kind of nice guy I am" Jimmy tilted his head and placed both hands on his chest.

"So I've heard. Nice to see you live up to your name"

Jimmy laughed and dropped his hands.

"Very nice to have you on the show Santana Lopez" He said with a warm smile. The audience clapped and cheered again.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. It's really so crazy that I'm here." Santana was smiling, but shaking her head slowly, something she had been doing regularly since getting the news that she was going to be on the show.

"We just had to have you. I was told…now listen to this everyone because it really is crazy that she is here…I was called yesterday afternoon by you know….them"

"The higher ups yeah…them"

"Yes the higher ups" Jimmy laughed "I love that. So I was called by the higher ups yesterday afternoon and they say to me 'Kimmel, there's no show tomorrow unless you get Santana Lopez'. Now I have to admit something scandalous…." He looked guiltily at the audience and then at Santana.

"You didn't know who I was" Santana said smiling.

"I didn't…I know it's crazy" Jimmy said as the crowd laughed and some booed him.

"Alright That's it" Santana joked, throwing her hands up in mock tantrum and standing up from her chair as if to walk away. Then she sat back down laughing along with the audience. "No I'm just kidding of course you didn't know who I was. You probably still don't know who I am."

Jimmy was laughing hard, but shook his head. "No that's not true…that's not true…I know who you are now. I can say I am a hardcore fan of yours."

"No you're not Jimmy" Santana said laughing.

"I am, but we've lost the story"

"Oh yeah sorry. Please continue"

"Ok so, they tell me I have to get you, and I'm thinking to myself, 'okay, how am I going to prep for some new young talent in a couple of hours?' I thought you would be like a youtube star or something like that and I'd have to watch a few really weird videos with trends I don't understand at all. But then I searched you up and my gosh was I wrong."

"Nooo you're just saying that to make up for the fact that you didn't know me" Santana said, blushing now slightly more visibly.

"No I swear I'm not. I watched videos of your concerts and I just kept feeling like, this is music I can get into. It's modern but it has old school themes as well you know? And I may not look like it, but I'm an old guy."

Santana raised her eyebrows. Jimmy stared at her for a moment and then looked at the audience.

"That's where you say…'No Jimmy you can't be more than 25…'" He said, turning back to Santana, who was laughing.

"Oh yeah sorry! My bad." Santana said once she recovered from her laughing. "No jimmy you can't be more than 25" she said in a monotone. The audience burst into laughter and even Jimmy had to join them.

Brittany stood backstage watching the monitors, smiling so hard that her cheeks were hurting.

Jimmy narrowed his eyes at Santana and then looked at the audience in feigned exasperation.

"Anywaaay" he drew out. "I was watching all your videos and ended up listening to all of your songs."

"Wow really? All of them?" Santana asked seriously. Jimmy wiggled his eyebrows impressively.

"All of them. Even the covers, which by the way are some of the best I've ever heard."

Santana shook her head slowly again but smiled. "Thank you, that means a lot to me."

"You're welcome. But you know what really peaked my interest?"

"What?" Santana asked.

"When I say all of your videos, I do mean all. Not just your most recent ones."

Santana's smile faded slightly and she looked quickly to her right where Eve was standing, then back at Jimmy, who was now wearing a devilish grin.

"Something called glee club?" he asked, still smiling. Santana groaned and covered her face. Jimmy laughed. "If we all look to the screens, we'll see one of my favourite performances of your glee club"

Santana shrieked and removed her hands from her face, looking incredulously at Jimmy.

"You can't be serious Jimmy. Please don't" Jimmy was laughing.

"I'm sure you regret calling me old now" Santana laughed and squeezed her eyes shut. "No no you have to watch, I'm going to have questions."

Santana opened her eyes and looked at the screen. "Fine. Just play it…dios mio"

Brittany was laughing loudly backstage, watching as she and the rest of the glee club sang 'you can't always get what you want'.

When the song was over, Santana turned slowly to Jimmy, trying to frown but failing horribly. Her smile was just as big as Brittany's.

"Well there you go Jimmy…After completely humiliating me, what do you have to say about that?"

"I love it. You look so young and full of hope for the future." Santana laughed and covered her face again. "How old were you here?"

"Uum…" Santana looked right again expecting to see Brittany then back at Jimmy, remembering Brittany was backstage. "We were…well I think I was fifteen…"

"Wow so that's like…ten years ago?"

Santana laughed. "No, more like seven years ago" Jimmy stared at her.

"You're 22 years old?" he asked in disbelief.

"I thought you said you were a hardcore fan Jimmy." Santana asked. Jimmy laughed.

"Ok so tell us a little about this glee club." Santana groaned. "What, not a good experience?"

"No it was fine…it was great…just, high school."

"Oh not one of the popular were you?" Jimmy asked sympathetically. Santana laughed again shaking her head. "I find that hard to believe."

"Good, cause it's not true. I was one of the 'popular' actually" Santana said, trying hard to sound modest. "Glee club didn't help that at all though"

"Of course not" Jimmy said in exaggerated seriousness. "So tell. Who are all these people, are you still friends with them?"

"Well, okay give me a still image I'll tell you." Jimmy pulled out a blown up picture from under his desk and placed it upright on the table so the audience could see.

"Ok, well this is me, obviously. That's Brittany standing next to me"

"Brittany is your girlfriend right?"

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend."

"Is she here?"

"She's backstage yes" the audience applauded and Santana blushed.

"Aww that's nice. Was she your girlfriend when you took this photo?" Santana shook her head with pursed lips.

"Nope she was not. I was dating Puck actually." She pointed to Puck in the photo.

"Oh, but he's… a he"

"Yes he is" Santana said laughing. "I was very firmly in the closet then." Jimmy nodded and made an 'aahh' sound of understanding. "I was in love with her though."

"Was she in love with you?"

Santana cringed, crinkling up her face and laughed nervously. "I like to think so yeah. But it was complicated." Jimmy nodded again. "She was dating Mike," she pointed out Mike. Then she pointed out and named everyone else in the photo.

"What exactly is a glee club, for those who don't know?"

"It's like…it's like a performing club. We sing and dance and go for competitions."

"Like competitive choir?"

"No" Santana laughed, shaking her head and her hands as the audience laughed as well. "No. not a choir. We danced a lot more than a choir would and we sang actual songs and had a band."

"It sounds like a lot of fun"

"It was. It really was. I denied it for a while cause I was trying to be the cool cheerleader, but it was great."

"And are you friends with any of them now?"

"Well I think people know I'm friends with Puck and Quinn, they were both at most of my shows and I performed with them at some in the beginning."

"Oh yeah I saw the videos" Jimmy said importantly, nodding at the audience.

"Yes you did." Santana said laughing. "Um…other than that, not really. I used to live with a few of them in New York, but when Brittany and I moved here we kind of haven't talked…as much."

"Yeah well life gets busy you know? You've definitely been busy."

"I have been busy yes. Especially the first uh…six or something months when we moved here. My gosh, I think Brittany and I were seeing each other for like an hour a day. It was so crazy."

"Wow I bet. But the hard work has paid off for sure. Your music is incredible and from what I can tell, you have quite a few fans."

"Oh man yeah. Thank you. I mean my fans…it still feels weird to think that I have my own fans but, yeah, they are amazing. I'm just so so grateful."

"That's why you spend as much time as you can with them right?"

"Yeah, well it kind of started at my first show, it was really small, I think 30 or 40 people in the mall. And they were just shopping, but they decided to stop and listen to me. So when it was over I went over to talk to a few, ask them what they thought and how they were doing and stuff like that. And I ended up really vibing with some of them. You meet some really interesting people you know. So I kept doing it at my next shows and I've just kind of decided that regardless of how big the shows get, I'm still going to keep that ritual of talking to people afterwards. It becomes really interesting because sometimes I meet people I've met before and we catch up like we're old friends. It's really great."

"Wow, you actually remember the people you meet? Like their names?"

"More than their names. It's hard to forget someone you jammed out with in a mall at your first show, or someone you talked to about how important music is in their lives or someone who told you they were learning Spanish so they could understand your songs. I obviously don't remember everyone, like if I met a large group of people and they all just told me their names and asked for a picture. But it's easier if you can link something to them, you know? Something we talked about or something we did."

"Wow. I mean that's so amazing. I don't think I know any celebrity that puts in that much effort to get to know their fans. Isn't that amazing?" Jimmy asked the audience. There was loud cheering and clapping.

Santana laughed. "Well…I'm not really a celebrity so I guess…"

"Hold on…Hold on a minute… you're not a celebrity?" Jimmy interrupted her.

Santana looked at him shocked for a moment, and then laughed. "I mean no…I'm not"

"Well ookay then. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He tried to keep a straight face but failed, and ended up bursting out laughing. "What do you mean you're not a celebrity? What do you think you're doing here?"

"I have no idea what I'm doing here that's what I'm trying to tell you!" Santana said laughing. "I have no idea how I ended up here. There must have been a mistake or something."

"Oh I assure you…no mistake at all." Jimmy said seriously. "You're here because people are in love with your music, and with you."

Santana blushed slightly and smiled, not really sure what to say.

"Why don't you tell us about the creative process behind your music because it's definitely interesting to hear the results."

"Well, I'm Latina, so I definitely wanted that to be a part of my music. I try to keep in some of that Hispanic sound you know? Cause it's more than just speaking Spanish, but at the same time, it's not all that I am, so we also integrate a lot of what's called 'Western' sounding themes." Jimmy nodded along with her as she spoke. "But there's also some really old influence in there, like you said. My music taste, and I think this is really thanks to the glee club, is really classic stuff you know? So Amy whinehouse and Joan Jett and Steve Nicks, that kind of sound, so you'll probably hear a lot of that in my music too."

"So what you're saying is you're what Stevie Nicks would sound like now if she sang in Spanish?"

"Yeah exactly" Santana said laughing.

"Well, it's really awesome stuff."

"Thank you"

"What does Brittany think about it? I google translated your songs"

"Oh did you?" Santana said laughing. "All of them?"

"No not all of them. The English ones I could figure out" Jimmy said laughing and shaking his head.

"Ok and why did you do this?"

"Well I wanted to know what they were about" Jimmy said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah of course. Silly me" Santana said, rolling her eyes as well.

"And I discovered, that a lot of them are coded love songs."

"Coded love songs" Santana repeated with a smile.

"That's what I've decided to call them yes."

"I love that. Well I guess you'd have to ask her, but I think Britt loves my songs."

"Does she get a preview or does she hear them along with the rest of us?"

"I play them for her as we write them. Most of them anyway. But she doesn't hear the full thing until just before it's released."

"What does she think about the coded love songs aspect?"

"I don't sing directly to or about a person like a normal love song would be. So my songs aren't really to or about her, but that's because I don't think they should apply only to romantic relationships. You know…I'm lucky enough to have found the love of my life in high school, not a lot of people do"

"Yeah that's true"

"Yeah, but even with her right there, coming out was still something that seemed impossible to do. I was angry and I lost myself. I missed out on friendships and high school experiences because I was hiding and lying and pretending to be someone else. So I think that the kind of pain or love, or 'heart's desires' that I sing about can be more broadly applied to things like that. Trying to love yourself, trying to love your life, your body, your friends, your career, your family, these are things people can relate to. Not everyone listening to my music knows about heart break or true love, but these other things we all struggle with one way or another. I mean I didn't have a great relationship with my parents, but I had Brittany's family, you know, that was my love triangle."

Jimmy made an 'mmmhh' sound to show he was following her.

"Yeah, so that's why the songs are codded…and I think that Brittany really loves that. She's always trying to tell me about how my music can help people and touch them and stuff"

"And it definitely does" Jimmy said. "You mentioned she's your high school sweetheart, but you weren't dating in that video we just saw…"

Santana sighed and nodded, pursing her lips.

"So when did you start dating?"

"Oh man," Santana chuckled and ran her hand through her hair. Backstage Brittany smiled. "Technically we started dating the summer before senior year."

"Technically?" Jimmy asked laughing.

"Yeah technically" Santana said, laughing as well. Jimmy looked towards the audience then back at Santana.

"Care to elaborate?" he asked, laughing again.

"Well…I know you're just going to laugh at me Jimmy" Santana said shyly. The audience laughed, and backstage so did Brittany.

"I won't. Look I'm as serious as ever" he pressed his lips shut and crossed his arms. Santana laughed nervously, running her hand through her hair again.

"Ok well, she says…Brittany says, that we started dating in July, like towards the end of July of 2011." Santana started. Jimmy nodded but didn't speak. "But I didn't know that we were dating until I asked her in September what we were doing."

Jimmy looked at her stone faced for a few seconds, and then a huge smile broke out.

"Just laugh Jimmy you know you want to. Just laugh" At her words Jimmy let out a laugh, shaking his head.

"How could you not know you were dating?" He asked her incredulously.

"Well, it sounds stupid, but my relationship with Brittany had always been so confusing that it honestly wasn't easy to distinguish when we had crossed the line into officially dating." Santana said this in a way that made it clear to Jimmy that she wasn't going to elaborate on what she meant by 'confusing.'

"Ok so how did you find out?" Jimmy asked, still laughing.

"Well we were on a date, well what I know now was a date, and I just asked her 'so what are we? Is this a date?" Jimmy nodded, a huge smile on his face, a few people in the audience laughed, "and Britt…Brittany looks at me like I'm crazy and she's like, 'wait isn't this a date? Aren't you paying? cause I ordered shrimp." Santana, Jimmy, the audience, and Brittany all burst out laughing at this.

"Amazing" Jimmy said, sobering up first. "And you've been together since?"

Santana smiled sadly. "Uh no…we broke up for a few months after graduation." Jimmy nodded in understanding.

"But you're engaged now right?" Santana broke into a huge smile.

"Yes we are engaged." She told him happily.

"When's the wedding?" Jimmy asked, looking at the audience cheekily. Santana laughed.

"Like I'm going to tell you that on live television Jimmy!"

Jimmy laughed. "You're really something else Santana Lopez. You're an amazing singer and artist, congratulations on your engagement and" he looked at the crowd, "on your songs' successes. I look forward to hearing your future work."

"Thank you so much Jimmy. Thank you so much for having me here too"

"Well I told you, it was our honour to have you come. And on such short notice."

Jimmy stood up and hugged Santana.

"Santana Lopez everybody. Her music is available on itunes, spotify and other music streaming services, go check them out they're really awesome."

Santana waved to the crowd and then walked off the stage to the backstage area, where Emma, Eve and Brittany were standing waiting for her.

"That was AMAZING S" Brittany shrieked, pulling Santana into a crushing hug. Santana allowed herself to relax into Brittany's embrace, letting go of the tension and stress that had built up before and during the show. Both girls let out deep sighs.

"Really?" She mumbled into Brittany's neck.

"Really really good. You looked natural and you were funny, and you sang just…beautifully." Brittany affirmed, still holding on to her.

"She's right Santana. Well done" Emma said from somewhere behind Brittany. Santana stayed encased in Brittany's arms for a few more minutes, soaking up as much comfort as she could, then she pulled back.

"Thank you Emma."

"Are you okay?" Eve asked. She and Emma were standing about two feet away from them, as though they had taken a few steps back.

"Yeah I'm ok. I'm exhausted though" Santana told her sincerely. she had not slept well the night before, and the high intensity of the days emotions had worn her out so much that she could not stand to be anywhere but a bed anymore.

"Let's go to the hotel." Brittany said, looping her arm with Santana's.

"We have a couple of things we need to talk about though" Emma said quickly.

"You can talk about them tomorrow Emma. She needs to rest." Brittany said sternly.

Emma gave Santana a meaningful look and Santana sighed deeply. "It's ok Britt. It'll be better if I just get it over with now then I won't have to worry about it tomorrow."

Brittany was not listening however. She had already started making her way out of the building, dragging Santana along with her.

"Brittany"

"Emma I already told you, you can talk about it tomorrow. We'll still be here and she won't be tired so it will probably be a more productive conversation for everyone."

"Brittany"

"Eve, you can message her with details about when to meet and where and so on right?"

Eve looked from Brittany to Emma and then nodded her head hesitantly.

"Great" Brittany said, "We'll see you guys tomorrow."

Santana smirked and shrugged at Emma when she gave her a reproachful look. Then she turned to face Brittany. "I love you so much do you know that?"

"I think I heard that I was the love of your life on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show actually"

"Did you? Well I was on there recently so that would make sense."

"I liked how you avoided saying anything about the glee club"

"Yeah I'm glad he forgot about that. Dios mio, that wouldn't have been fun."

"Yeah. But it was funny watching the video. I haven't ever seen them you know?"

"I didn't even know they were on YouTube."

"Me neither. It'll be fun when we can show them to our kids though."

"Uhh…I don't know about that. I don't want my kids seeing me like that?"

"Like what? Killing it on stage in your teens?" Brittany asked laughing.

"I don't look cool." Santana replied, pouting.

"You always look cool babes." Brittany said, kissing Santana's cheek as they stopped in front of the car they had arrived in.

"You have to say that. You're my girlfriend" Santana said, smirking and quirking her eyebrow.

"Fiance" Brittany sing-songed, wiggling the fingers on her left hand, brandishing her ring.

Santana laughed lightly and shook her head, pulling open the door and sliding into the left back seat. When Brittany had settled herself into the seat beside her the driver turned round.

"Have a good time Mrs Lopez? Mrs Pierce?" he asked with a warm smile.

Both Brittany and Santana smiled at him and nodded their heads. "Yes we did Jessie. Yourself?"

"Not bad. Been following sports news on the radio. Where are you heading to now?"

"The hotel" Brittany replied.

"So early?" He asked in surprise.

"It was an early morning on top of a long sleepless night, followed by an emotionally draining day."

Jessie nodded his head and clicked his tongue sympathetically. "Say no more then" and he turned back to the steering wheel. Santana lay her head down on Brittany's shoulder as the car began to move out of the parking lot, but sat bolt upright as they left the gate.

"Woah are these for you?" Brittany asked quietly. She too had sat up straighter in her seat, and both women were gazing out of the window with dumbfounded expressions. The street outside of the studio was lined with fans. When they began to notice that it was Santana who was in the car, a few of them started chasing the car, while others screamed and took out their phones trying to take a picture.

"You might want to close your window Mrs Lopez. You too Mrs Pierce." Jessie said. His voice had taken on a different tone from its usual dopey light hearted one. It was more serious, almost annoyed even. It made Santana and Brittany follow his order, (it was a suggestion but it sounded a lot like an order) almost immediately. As they closed the windows, they could hear many people screaming Santana's name. Some sounding like they were crying.

"Ok no no stop." Santana said to Jessie, tapping him on his shoulder.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"Stop the car I'm going to talk to them"

"No way" he said, sounding like he thought Santana was mad. "That's a large and uncontrolled group. There is no security-"

"Just stop the car Jessie" Santana said, her voice harsher than she intended. Jessie looked at her through the rear view mirror, sighed, and then pulled the car off to the side.

Before Santana could even open her door, the car was surrounded by dozens of people, and Brittany had to fight the urge to cover her ears to block out the sudden rise in volume around her. She looked over at Santana, who was trying to force her door open without hurting anyone.

"Hey gu-"Santana's words were drowned out by screaming, and this time Brittany did cover her ears.

"Santana I love you so much! I love you SO MUCH. I taped the show so I could run out and come catch you-"

"Santana you look amazing, and you and Brittany are my favourite couple in the un-"

"I love you"

"Marry me"

"Oh my god you're so sexy"

Santana looked back into the car to share an awkward smile with Brittany, only to find her laughing already. She frowned at her, and Brittany, giggling still harder, pushed herself forward till she could reach the horn, and then pressed down hard. The loud blaring caused the crowd closest to Santana to startle and step back, and while there was relative silence, Santana started talking.

"Hey. Gosh this is really great. You guys came out here when you saw me on the show?"

There were a few 'yeahs' but there were some girls shouting something else that Santana couldn't hear. She took a few steps forward, ignoring the screams of the people she ended up touching before they stepped back.

"Sorry what did you say?" she asked, pointing to the girl she had seen talking.

The girl's eyes widened comically, and she looked like she had frozen, but her friend pushed her forward harshly and she was shaken out of it.

"Uh...some of us…well uh my friends and I we were here first cause we saw your twitter post that you were going to be on the show. So we thought we'd catch you coming in, but we didn't"

Santana was bending forward, straining to hear what the girls was saying. "My twitter post?" she asked her confused. She hadn't posted anything.

"Yeah it was…" Santana couldn't hear anything else the girl said. There was still a lot of screaming and yelling coming from the people further back, and on the other side of the car.

Santana slowly made her way deeper into the crowd, trying to get closer to the girl.

"I couldn't hear you from over there" she said with a smile to the group of girls. "You saw my twitter post you said?"

The girls seemed to be fighting hard to stay conscious, all four of them had gone a deep shade of red, and the one girl who Santana was addressing was hyperventilating, but she replied none the less.

"Yeah" her voice was shaking dramatically. "I have my notifications turned on so even though it was super late, like super close to the time for the show, like I think two hours to the show time, we had to come" Santana was still confused, and it must have been evident on her face because the girl pulled out her phone, frantically typing on it, then she thrust her hand out to Santana. Santana craned her neck to see what was on the screen.

"You can take it if you want" the girl practically screamed at Santana, pushing the phone closer to her. Santana laughed but took the phone, supressing the giggles she wanted to let out when all the girls released high pitched screams as soon as her fingers closed around the phone. She looked down at the phone and saw a tweet, her tweet, but when she read it she understood. The wording and lack of emojis screamed Eve. She must not have noticed because of her nerves about the show. As she was handing the phone back to the girl, her eye caught something. 'Posted 4 hours ago'. She looked at the girls.

"You guys have been here since 8 AM? She asked them. They all nodded frantically. "Just cause you thought you might see me?" they nodded again. Without thinking Santana grabbed hold of the girl nearest her and pulled her back towards the car. She smiled to herself as the girls all screamed again.

"Britt" she said, once she reached the car. The door was closed, but Brittany was talking to some people through the now half open window. Brittany turned to look at her. "This girl and her friends have been here since 8 AM." She nodded for emphasis when she saw Brittany's eyes widen in shock.

"Wow" Brittany let out.

"It's not that big a deal" Said a black girl that Santana had not yet heard speak. "It's been fun really"

"Liar" Santana said laughing. "You've been standing outside for four hours watching cars pass by and-"but what Santana was going to say was drowned out by a loud shrill scream a foot or so away from her. She turned around quickly to see where the noise had come from, and then felt herself being pulled back so suddenly that she landed painfully against the passenger door. Not a second later there was a woman lying on the floor where Santana had been standing.

"Get in." Santana jumped significantly at the sound of Jessie's voice in her ear. Looking round she realised that he was the one who had pulled her backwards, and he still had his hand around her waist. He had opened the car door and was ushering her into it. She bent down and sat beside Brittany, who was looking at her with concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked her when the door had closed behind them and some of the noise had been drowned out.

"Yeah. But what the hell was that?" Santana asked, slightly annoyed.

"A woman tried to tackle you" Jessie said, having settled himself back in the car.

"Jessie was lightening quick. I didn't even see him pull you back, I thought she was going to get you" Brittany said. Santana noted the small quiver in her voice, and decided it was time to go. She turned to the window, and shouted over to the girls she had been talking to.

"You guys are really awesome…I'm sorry but I gotta go" she said apologetically. They all nodded in understanding, one of them looking around angrily for the woman who had tried to attack Santana. "Is there anything I can do for you guys? You've been here a really long time and I really appreciate that you love my music so much"

The girls all looked at each other in disbelief, then the one who had been talking the most looked at Santana timidly.

"Can I have a picture with you?" she asked, as though already anticipating a no. Santana looked at Brittany, who had jutted her lower lip out the way one would at a cute baby or puppy.

"Sure" she said, lowering the window all the way and sticking her head out as much as possible. The girl didn't move for a moment, looking to be in complete shock, then fumbled with her phone and walked to press herself up against the car. When she had taken the photo, she broke down into tears. "Aww…don't cry. Is it that bad?"

The people around the car laughed, many taking their phones out and asking for a picture too.

"No it's good, I just can't believe it…I can't fucking believe it." The girl was looking down at her phone in utter disbelief.

"Do you want one with your friends?" Santana asked, laughing lightly.

The girls all nodded frantically at her, moving closer to the car. Santana tried to push herself out of the window more. When the picture was taken and all the girls seemed satisfied, she sat back down.

"Have a good day girls…AND EVERYONE ELSE" she yelled as loudly as she could so that at least half the crowd heard her. They cheered even louder in response.

"Can we go now Mrs Lopez?" Jessie asked her, looking at her through the rear view mirror.

Santana gave one last wave to the crowd and then leaned back against Brittany. "Yeah we can go" Jessie nodded and then pulled the car into drive.

"Okay so are you going to explain?" Brittany asked Jessie when they had finally pulled away from the crowd. His eyes flickered to the mirror.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked, his voice back to its regular goofy one.

"Is there someone else in the car who has something to explain?" Santana asked.

Jessie was silent. "Jessie?" Britany asked, leaning forward in her seat and looking at his face.

"What?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

Santana and Brittany looked at each other and then burst out laughing.

"What the hell was that back there? You turned into some kind of ninja with crazy fast reflexes" Brittany said.

"And strength" Santana added, also sitting forward in her seat.

"And strength" Brittany echoed, nodding at Santana.

"So?" Jessie asked, turning his head slightly as he changed lanes.

"Sooo" Santana drawled out.

"Where did it come from?" Britany finished.

"Training I guess" Jessie replied simply.

"Ninja training?" Brittany asked in surprise.

Jessie laughed and turned to look at them as he stopped at a red light. "No Mrs Pierce, everyone at our agency has some level of body guard training, depending on the level of interaction we have with clients"

"Wow really?" Santana asked in awe. Jessie nodded. "So what level do you have?"

Jessie was silent again, continuing to drive as the light turned green.

"Jessie" Santana pushed.

"I'm not really supposed to say"

"Oh come on…who are we going to tell?" Brittany said, her voice pleading. Jessie sighed.

"The highest" his voice was so quiet that Brittany didn't hear him. Santana did though.

"The highest???" she nearly shouted. She couldn't believe that the goofy, playful Jessie who had driven her around every time she was in LA, was a skilled….ninja. Yeah he wasn't a ninja, but he could be for all they knew.

"What are you trained in?" Brittany asked. Jessie groaned.

"Come on Jessie, this is awesome! Why wouldn't you want us to know?" Santana asked him.

"It's supposed to be classified" he said, his voice sounding pained.

"Oh come on. Pleeaassee" Brittany begged. Jessie sighed again, rubbing his face with one hand.

"I am trained in martial arts, hand-to-hand combat, weapons use-"

"Like guns?" Santana cut in.

"Yeah guns, knives…" he trailed off, as if not wanting to say more.

Brittany let out a long whistle.

"So you're highly dangerous?" Santana asked seriously. Jessie didn't reply, but gave a short curt nod.

"Damn. So why aren't you out protecting big important people?" Brittany asked.

"I was a body guard for a few months, but it didn't really suit me. I don't know if it was the clients I got, but I preferred driving."

"Were your clients assholes?" Santana asked.

Jessie shrugged. "I guess….you could say that. They were just kind of snobbish. They didn't like it when I talked. They wanted it to be super formal, so I ended up being silent for practically the whole day for weeks. And that sucked."

"Why wouldn't they want to talk to you? That's stupid" Brittany said seriously, sitting back in her seat.

Jessie shrugged again.

"You just missed me didn't you?" Santana said, laughing.

"Yeah, I did miss you actually" Jessie said, he was laughing, but he also sounded serious. "You're my favourite client" he was blushing.

"Aaaww" Santana said, placing her hand over her heart. "Then why do you still keep calling me Mrs Lopez?"

"I have to"

"No you don't. We've told you so many times not to."

"It's the rules. My boss wouldn't be happy if she found out I was calling clients by their first names.

"Your boss wouldn't be happy if she found out that you had told clients about your ninja skills either" Brittany said, smirking.

Jessie laughed, inclining his head in defeat.

"Plus we're not just your clients, we're your friends….I hope" Santana said.

Jessie smiled, catching her eyes in the rear view mirror.

"If I needed a body guard would you come work for me?" Santana asked him.

"How could I decline protecting my friend?" he asked. Brittany and Santana smiled. "From what I've seen today though, that might be something you want to seriously think about."

Santana smacked his arm, but laughed. "I don't need a bodyguard, I'm from Lima Heights adjacent."

"What?" Jessie asked, pulling the car into park.

"Don't ask." Brittany advised him, rolling her eyes.

"Well okaayy" he said sceptically. "On that strange note, you're hotel awaits you ladies."

"Thank you secret ninja" Santana said, dragging herself out of the car. She was now feeling the full effects of her day.

"I'll see you tomorrow" He said. "Bright and early"

Santana glared at him. "You'll be waiting a long time if you come here in the morning" she began walking towards the hotel entrance.

"Bye ninja Jessie" Brittany called as she walked to catch up with Santana. He rolled his eyes.

"Bye Brittany" he called back. Santana spun around with a hurt expression on her face.

"Bye Santana" he added, laughing.