Chapter 20

(Flashback)

Brittany felt her eyes start to sting. She felt as tears welled up and slowly trickled down her face, yet she was looking into deep mocha eyes that were as calm as ever.

"Just blink Britt" Santana said, grinning smugly.

"No" Brittany said firmly, straining so hard to keep her eyes open that her eyebrows were raising.

"Give up you can't beat me" Santana told her.

"You'll feel the burn eventually, then we'll see"

"By the time I feel the burn your eyes will be bleeding and you won't be able to see." Santana replied, laughing.

"You closed your eyes" Brittany said quickly, pointing an accusatory finger.

"No I didn't, they just get all scrunchy at the sides when I laugh, you know that."

"I do know that. And it's so cute." Brittany smiled.

"I'm not cute, stop saying that. Puck almost heard you in English yesterday."

"Sorry" Brittany said quietly.

"It's ok B, I just don't need people getting the wrong idea about me"

Brittany didn't say anything. She had a feeling that Santana was the one that had the wrong idea about herself, but instead of pushing the issue decided to focus her energy on keeping her now furiously fluttering eyes open.

"Your eyes are so red Britt, just blink. Please" Santana said laughing. Brittany shook her head, looking up at the sky and opening her eyes wider still.

"What are you guys doing?" a voice suddenly asked. Santana snapped her eyes from Brittany's to the intruder, and Brittany, taking this to mean their staring contest was over, slammed her eyes shut and covered them with her hands.

"None of your damn business pork chops" Santana snapped, glaring at the girl who was standing above them.

"What's wrong with Brittany?"

"The better question is whether you really thought bangs would hide the disgusting set of pimples on your gigantic forehead."

The girl continued to stare at Brittany, though one of her hands slowly found its way to her forehead, where she smoothed down her hair. Santana scoffed, then smoothly stood up from her cross-legged position on the ground and folded her arms over her chest, blocking the girl's line of vision to Brittany.

"As much as I understand wanting to stare at us, considering the way you look, it's creepy as hell. I'm giving you five seconds to tell me what brought you here."

The girl took a step back and refocused on Santana, a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Uhh…Coach Tanaka wants…he was wondering…he sent me to ask you…he wants to know why you're sitting on the grass when he gave us laps." She rushed through the last part quickly as if scared Santana would attack her for questioning her actions.

Santana rolled her eyes. "We finished them" Brittany said, finally removing her hands from her eyes and blinking them open. "Oh hi Ashley".

"My name's Kelsey" the girl said in a monotone, "we did a biology project together Brittany. I told you my name so many times." Brittany looked up at her confused, then stood up.

"I'd remember that if it was true" she said. Santana stifled a laugh at Kelsey's expression.

"Why are you still here?" She asked when it was clear that she didn't have anything else to add. Kelsey seemed to be startled out of her thoughts, then she turned and jogged across the field to where Coach Tanaka was sitting.

Santana turned to Brittany breaking into a huge smile. "I win" she said.

"We were interrupted. It doesn't count. I want a rematch." Brittany said indignantly.

"I don't think your eyes can take another rematch right now Britt"

"They so could, but we can't. Tanaka is calling us over" Brittany pointed behind Santana to their gym teacher, who was blowing his whistle and calling everyone over to him. Santana groaned.

"I feel like being in the cheerios should be enough to get a gym exemption." Santana mumbled, turning around and beginning a slow walk to the other side of the field. Brittany nodded, pouting. She was an energetic person and loved sports, but even she hated gym. They were always split into teams so that she was either on an all cheerios/football players team, and beating the other team was just too easy, or she was forced onto a team with sports averse geeks or girls who screamed whenever a ball came towards them, something that meant the game had to keep stopping and annoyed her to no end. The only times she enjoyed gym was when the teacher made them do laps and then left them alone for the rest of the class, because this usually meant that she and Santana had time to goof off.

"Girls could you possibly be walking any slower?" they heard Coach Tanaka yelling through the megaphone. "Move it"

Santana groaned and rolled her eyes, but made no effort to walk faster. Brittany smiled in anticipation.

"I said move it Santana!" the coach yelled. Santana narrowed her eyes at him and then stopped walking, crossing her arms over her chest. Brittany stopped as well, turning to look at Santana, then she crossed her arms as well and stared at Coach Tanaka. They heard someone, probably Puck Brittany suspected, say 'oooh yeesss'.

"I'm not going to tell you again princess"

"Why don't you come over here coach? You need the exercise more than I do." Santana said. She didn't shout, but her voice carried enough for everyone to get the gist.

"What did you say to me?"

"I don't need to be a part of whatever stupid game you've chosen for us to play today because unlike most of the people here" she paused and looked around at her classmates, looking back at the coach for a moment before continuing, "I'm actually in shape. Not that participating in the game would help even if I wasn't"

For a moment the coach looked stunned, then he walked forward till he was a few feet from Santana. The rest of the class moved forward as well, wanting to hear what would happen.

"You'll play whatever game I choose because I say you will. In this class it doesn't matter what team you belong to, you run laps and you follow my instructions. Am I clear?"

"No" Santana said. "Why should I listen to you when I'm pretty sure I could run laps around you?"

"Because I'm not the one who needs to pass this class to graduate" Tanaka said coldly, smirking. Santana scowled at him. "To make my point clear, you have detention for the next three days."

It was Santana's turn to smirk this time. "I have cheerios practice."

"I don't care!" the coach roared, making a few people flinch and Santana's eyes to widen in amusement. Antagonizing this teacher was one of her favourite things to do. She loved to watch the vein on the side of his neck pop out.

"Anything else to add Brittany?" he said, rounding on her.

Brittany was silent for a few seconds. "Gym is dumb" she finally said.

"Detention for you too. You can both spend your time thinking about the fastest ways to walk across this football field. You can also both run laps for the rest of the lesson."

Brittany and Santana smiled and looked at each other. "If you say so" Santana said, in a voice that made Tanaka uncomfortable.

"And I'm going to be watching you to make sure you're running the whole time" the earlier confidence in his voice was fading as Brittany and Santana's smiles grew even wider.

"You do that" Brittany said. She and Santana turned to walk away.

"Keeping track of us will probably be the most exercise you get all year" Santana said, as she and Brittany broke into a run.

"Another three days detention Lopez!" the coach shouted, as the class broke into laughter.

"I wonder why he never sends you to Figgins" Brittany mused, as she skipped to the track.

"He wants to prove he's top dog. I bet he was bullied a lot in high school, so he has some weird power trip now. Feels like he rules high school the way he wished he did back in his day."

"Yuck, I don't want to think of a teenage Tanaka. I bet he was always drenched in sweat"

"Gross Britt" Santana said laughing. "How am I going to get that image out of my mind?"

"I have a way" Brittany said, smirking as she took position on the starting line.

Santana eyed her suspiciously. "How?" she asked.

"You can focus on my sexy ass as I smoke you in laps" she said, breaking into a run. Santana had to force herself forward, trying desperately not to actually look at Brittany's ass, but she couldn't ignore the jolt of excitement the statement had brought her. It was the same jolt she got when she was in the middle of a cheerios routine and caught Brittany watching her, or when she'd be sitting at the back of the choir room and Brittany would turn and smile at her. She couldn't understand this feeling, but it made her feel alive in a strange way. She was terrified about what it meant, or that people would somehow find out about her thoughts, but at the same time she tried to find herself in as many situations like those as possible, relishing the feeling, even if it was only for a few seconds.

Santana shook her head to clear her thoughts and tore off after Brittany, who was looking over her shoulder to see where she was.

"Slow poke" Brittany yelled.

"I was giving you a head start" Santana yelled back, closing the distance between them.

"HA" Brittany barked out, turning around again. She jumped slightly when she saw how close Santana was getting. Santana smirked and pushed herself to run faster. When she got close enough she tapped Brittany on the shoulder.

"Got you" she said, now running besides Brittany. Brittany laughed and slowed down to a jog.

"I always forget how fast you are" she said. Santana shrugged.

"I don't sprint often"

"You're fast" Brittany repeated. Santana shrugged again. "Let's play tag" Brittany suggested.

"Just the two of us?"

"Yeah, but with a twist."

Santana smiled and shook her head. "There always is with you" Brittany laughed.

"So wanna play?" she asked.

Santana raised her eyebrow. "Aren't you going to tell me what the twist is?"

"No" Brittany said, smiling cheekily. "I'll be it."

"What are you going to do to me?" Santana asked wearily.

"You'll see. Now go. I'll count to five before I chase you." Brittany stopped running.

Santana slowed to a walk, but then Brittany started counting, and seeing the mischievous glint in her eyes that always meant trouble, she broke into a sprint.

"FIVE" Brittany yelled, tearing after her as fast as she could. Santana turned back and squealed, seeing Brittany gaining on her. She faced forward and picked up her speed, shoving Finn, who was standing on the track talking to the coach.

"Hey, what the-" he yelled, cut off as Brittany came barrelling past, shoving him as well. "What the hell are you guys doing?" he yelled. There was no reply.

Santana was now screaming. She could hear Brittany's footsteps behind her, and not knowing what was coming was making their game scarier than it really needed to be. She turned around again to see where Brittany was, but saw nothing as she was tackled to the ground, a blond curtain of hair falling over her face. When the initial shock of the impact wore off, she realised that Brittany had cushioned her fall, so she was lying on top of her, Brittany's arms wrapped around her waist.

"BRITT" she screamed, laughing hard. This was one of those moments she secretly lived for. Brittany's arms around her, her laughter in her ear, and nobody to see or judge.

"TAG" Brittany yelled, making Santana shout out and cover her ear, which was right by Brittany's mouth. "Sorry" she said more quietly, kissing Santana's temple.

Santana felt like her whole heart was going to explode. The breath caught in her throat and she froze. Brittany exhaled happily, not noticing Santana's reaction, or not caring, and tightened her arms around Santana for a moment, before letting go and pushing Santana off her so she fell to the floor.

"You're it!" she yelled, already running away. Santana exhaled loudly, then grinned and ran after Brittany.

***

It turned out that Santana and Brittany didn't actually have to serve their detentions. When they had told Coach Sylvester who had given it to them and why, she had laughed, and then told them that they were expected at practice regardless. Santana had taken that as an opportunity to further embarrass Coach Tanaka, and had walked onto the field in the middle of football training, announcing loudly that like she had told him in gym, she would not be going to any of his detentions, because of cheerios practice, and that Coach Sylvester welcomed him to go take up any issues he had with her. She also told him that she had said that she didn't want her cheerios getting injured playing games in gym, so if they wanted to sit out, they were allowed. Again, he could take up any issues he had with her. This last part was a lie, but Santana felt confident that Tanaka would not be talking to Sue any time soon to confirm her story. She walked off the field smirking and winking at some of the football players as they tried to hide their laughter from the rapidly reddening coach.

"Coach doesn't want us getting injured huh?" Brittany asked, laughing and falling into step with Santana.

"Hey I just got us out of basketball with Rachel Berry" she said in an important voice. Brittany groaned at the thought.

"You're the best. I love you" she said, linking her pinkie with Santana's.

Santana didn't reply, focusing all her energy on keeping her heart beating. Brittany was going to be the death of her one day.

********************************************************************************

"The pin on Quinn's bag" Santana said, frowning heavily.

Brittany shook her head, thoroughly pleased.

"Nope, guess again!"

Santana looked around her, trying not to draw attention to her staring at strangers on a plane.

"That woman's blanket" she said, pointing to a seat a row in front of her and Brittany to the right.

Brittany shook her head again, tutting. "You're really bad at this babe" she remarked.

"I'm not" Santana said indignantly. "You're cheating" Brittany laughed.

"How could I possibly be cheating?" she asked.

"I don't know. You're sure it's something I can see as well?" She asked. The last time she had played 'eye spy with Brittany she had chosen things like the pupil of Santana's eye or the beauty spot on her neck. Brittany frowned. "I knew it! I can't see it can I?"

"You can" Brittany assured. "If you tried hard enough" she added with a smirk. Santana frowned now. What did that mean? 'If you tried hard enough'.

"I don't know Britt" Santana whined. "Just tell me" Brittany giggled.

"I'll give you a hint" she offered.

"Ok" Santana said nodding her head.

"We both have two sets of them" Brittany smirked, looking directly into Santana's eyes and holding her eye contact. Santana grinned.

"Lips?" she asked, already knowing she was right. Brittany nodded slowly, sitting up to kiss Santana.

"You guys are so gross" Quinn suddenly said from the seat in front of them. "Why do you always have to be so gross? And loud? Why can't you be like normal people on a plane and sleep, or watch movies?" Quinn was sounding seriously annoyed, but Puck had sat up from his seat and turned to look at them, a huge smile on his face.

"Don't be that way Quinn, this is quality entertainment. Go on Brittany you were saying something about lips" he said.

Brittany rolled her eyes and Santana laughed.

"Why are you listening to us?" she asked Quinn, kicking her chair to get her attention. "Why aren't you sleeping, or watching a movie?"

"Like I could sleep with the constant jostling of my chair. What the hell are you doing anyway? We're in first class, so leg room isn't an issue." She turned around to face them as well and sighed. "Of course you did."

"What?" Brittany asked innocently. They had both reclined their chairs and lifted up the arm rest between them so that they could spread out on the seats. Santana was sitting with her back against the window, her feet stretched out in front of her and on top of Brittany. Brittany was lying with her head against a pillow on the armrest, her back flat on the chair and her legs on either side of Santana.

"Who sits like that in an airplane seriously?" Quinn asked, though her mouth was turned up in an amused smile.

"Cool people" Santana said, rubbing up and down Brittany's leg absent-mindedly. Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Just stop kicking my chair. I'm not going to spend the next three hours like that."

"Three hours" Puck shrieked. "You're telling me we still have three hours before landing?" he was looking helplessly at Quinn.

"Yeah" Santana said.

"Why did you guys have to choose somewhere so far away?" Puck whined, sitting back down dramatically.

"You'd think that since we're getting married in a few days they would be nicer to us" Santana said loudly, looking at Brittany, who laughed.

"Why? We knew this day was coming since junior year." Quinn said dismissively.

"Whatever" Santana said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back.

Brittany tapped a beat on her legs. "No you can't sleep S"

"I'm not sleeping Britt."

"You're eyes are closed."

"I'm just resting them"

"Why can't she sleep?" Puck asked.

"Because Britt can't sleep on planes" Santana told him

"So?" Quinn asked.

"Well no wonder you guys are both single" Santana said, cracking one eye open. Quinn turned round and glared at her.

"She doesn't want to leave me awake alone" Brittany said, smiling sweetly at Santana.

"Ugghhh so sweet" Quinn muttered, turning around in her seat.

"Is that jealousy I detect Fabray?" Santana teased. Quinn scoffed but didn't answer.

"Ok Britt come up with something else to do so I don't sleep"

Brittany scrunched up her nose as she thought, then a devilish grin spread across her face.

"What?" Santana said, sitting up straighter.

"I think you may need to stretch your legs."

"Wanky"

"Exactly" Brittany said, wiggling her eyebrows. Santana's eyes widened as she stared at Brittany, trying to determine if she was serious.

"For serious?" she asked.

"Yeah. It'll be fun. I've always wanted to" Brittany told her. Santana hastily dropped her legs from Brittany, kicking Quinn's chair in the process.

"Seriously Santana?!" Quinn nearly yelled. Santana wasn't listening though, she was struggling to remove herself from the tangled mess she and Brittany had become, eventually using the head rests of both her and Puck's seats to lift herself up and jump over Brittany's seat. "What the hell are you doing?" Quinn asked, watching Santana land in the isle.

Ignoring her Santana bent down so she was level with Brittany, who had propped herself up on her elbows, a huge grin on her face. "In the bathroom. Three minutes." She whispered, then she straightened up and walked casually to the bathroom.

**********************************************************************************

"I can't believe you guys did that!" Quinn said, scowling as they got off the plane.

"I can" Puck said, grinning. "And I'm totally jealous" Brittan blushed, pretending not to be litening to their conversation, but Santana smiled cockily.

"Why are you shocked Q? I don't know how I didn't suggest it as soon as we got on." Santana turned to Brittany and kissed her hand. "You're a genius Britt" Brittany blushed deeper, but smiled.

"You guys deserve each other, your both so gross" Quinn said.

"Gross and part of the mile high club" Santana said, groaning and rubbig her eyes.

"You want a piggie back baby?" Brittany asked, seeing how Santana was dragging her feet. Without waiting for Santana's reply she took the bag from Santana's shoulder handing it to Puck and bent down so Santan could jump onto her back.

"Are you guys serious?" Quinn asked. "This isn't high school gym anymore. When are you goin to grow up?"

"When are you going to stop being a grouch?" Brittany asked, adjusting Santana to a more comfortable position on her back.

"This is why we could never be friends in high school. I didn't have the patience for your sour attitude."

They continued walking to baggage claim, Quinn finally laughing at her friend's antics, when someone stopped them.

"Uh..Mrs Lopez?" a middle aged man called, walkng up to them. Santana frowned, trying to remember if she knew this man. Quinn and Puck turned to look at her.

"Yes?" Santana said cautiously. The man broke into a smile and walked closer to her. Brittany took a step back.

"My daughters" he pointed to two girls who were standing a few feet away from where they were with their phones out, "were wondering if you'd take a picture with them."

Santana's eyes widened and she slid off Brittany back slowly, trying to hide the embarassment she was feeling. Brittany too was turning a light pink. Quinn was grinning evily as she turned to Santana.

"Wow would you look at that S. some of your fans recognise you." She said, obviously trying not to laugh.

Ignoring her, Santana looked at the girls and waved. "Sure I don't mind taking some pictured with them." she said. When the man had waved his daughters over, they let out loud shrieks of excitement, which drew a lot more attention to Santana than she would have liked. She had not thought about being recognised at the airport, and now that it was happening she wanted to kick herself. She was dressed in Brittany's black sweatpants which were too long for her and slightly big, so she had bunched them just below her knees, a dark green crop top that she'd had for years so it was severely faded, and her hair was tied up in a loose and very messy pony tail. She didn't have on any make-up and she was sure her skin was glistening with sweat, a thought that made her want to burst into tears, as people took out their phones and started taking pitures of them. She was grateful that she had been wearing her sunglasses though. News of her arrival spread quickly, because after 15 minutes of taking pictures and signing aughtographs, the papparazzi showd up.

"Fucking hell" Puck said, stepping in front of Santana as a few of them got too close to her. He wanted to tell her that they should just leave, but there was so mch yelling that he could barely hear himself when he tried. Finally he reached behind him and tugged Santana so that she was closer to him and bent down.

"Let's get the hell out of here, I'm too tired for this" he said, trying not to be overheard by any of the people recording them. Santana nodded and took Brittany's hand, standing directly behind Puck so she could follow the path he created out.

When they got outside, they looked around frantically for the two dark red SUVs Eve had said would be waiting for them. As soon as they saw them, three men and a woman, all in suits emerged from both cars. They walked up to them, making an easier path for them to walk through, and three of them took Brittany, Quinn and Santana's suitcases, the fourth man walked beside Santana, keeping the papparazzi back. Before entering the car Santana waved to the few people she could see behind the cameras, then one of the body guards was opening the door and ushering her inside.

"That was fucking insane" she said to Brittany, who was leaning back with her head against the rest, her eyes closed.

"Yeah. How did we not think about that?" she said quietly.

"I don't know. Are you ok?" Santana asked concerned by Brittany's still very pink cheeks.

"It was just really noisy and a lot of flashing lights and stuff." Brittany told her, still using the hushed voice.

"Oh a headache?" Santana asked, lowering her voice as well. Brittany made a humming noise. "Sorry baby. I'll get you some water" Santana leaned forward so she could talk to the woman in the passenger seat in front of her, but was interrupted by her phone ringing.

"Hello?" she answered. "Oh hi Emma…yeah we're ok we just…yeah I didn't….yeah." Santana decided to just silently listen to what Emma was saying rather than trying to speak.

"You're trending on Twitter Santana. There's all these pictures…everywhere…of you at the airport. There's a video on instagram of you on Brittany's back" Santana couldn't tell if Emma sounded amused or annoyed, so she didn't know what to say. "I think they know you're there for the wedding, though they still have no idea when or where it is. We have to keep it that way. I've already updated Eve, she'll meet you guys at the hotel and tell you everything."

"What do you mean tell me everything?" Santana asked.

"Not just you, Puck, Brittany and Quinn too."

"I don't understand" Santana said frowning. "Why are you acting like we're in trouble?"

"I'm not…it's just that you guys are acting like you're not a famous celebrity, and that's dangerous. Not only can it ruin your wedding plans, but it's also physically dangerous. I've been meaning to talk to you about it since the day of the Jimmy Kimmel interview when you got out of the car. I know you want to be as close to your fans as possible, and during shows that's excellent, but when you're out in the world and there's no security…Santana you can get really hurt."

Santana didn't say anything. She knew Emma was right, but she couldn't reconcile that fact with the other fact that she was not going to stop interacting with her fans. After a moments silence Emma spoke again.

"Look, just talk to Eve when you get to the hotel, or whenever you can. She'll tell you everything."

"Ok" Santana said unenthusiastically.

"Don't leave the hotel until you've spoken to her ok?" Emma said seriously, as if not believeing Santana was going to talk to Eve at all.

"Yes ok Emma." Santana was getting slightly agitated, feeling like Emma was treating her like a child. She hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?" Brittany asked, opening her eyes for the first time since getting in the car.

"You'll see at the hotel" Santana told her. "Hey" she said to the woman in the front seat.

"Good evening ma'am. My name is Eryka, and this is James. We'll be your bodyguards and chauffers for the week." The woman said in a business like tone. Santana turned to Brittany, both of them frowning.

"We have body guards?" Brittany asked, sitting up.

"Yes" James responded. "Two of us are assigned to you Mrs Pierce, the other two to Mrs Lopez, but whenever you are around your two friends we are to separate as we have now."

Brittany continued to stare at Santana, her frown deepening.

"Why do we have bodyguards?" Brittany asked. The two guards looked at each other quickly.

"For…your protection-"

"She knows that" Santana snapped. Hating when people treated Brittany like an idiot. "Is Florida just that much more dangerous than California? Because we've never needed body guards before."

Brittany put her hand on Santana's leg to calm her down. The guards looked at each other again, clearly unsure of how to answer.

"Emma thinks we're wreckless" Santana told Brittany. "Do any of you guys have water?" she asked the two guards.

"Yes" the woman bent down to a bag on the floor and took out two bottles of water. "We also have anti-nausea pills if Mrs Pierce needs it." Santana looked at Brittany questioningly as she took the water. Brittany shook her head.

"No that's ok, but thanks" Santana told Eryka, sitting back in her seat.

"What do you mean she thinks we're wreckless?" Brittany asked after she'd drank about half of the bottle. "Did she say that?"

"No, but she's assigned us body guards and we're supposed to be meeting Eve at the hotel so she can give us some kind of information. We're not allowed to leave the hotel until we've met with her."

Brittay frowned.

"Look at this" Santana said laughing and showing Brittany her phone. She burst out laughing.

"They were recording the whole time?" Brittany gasped through giggles.

"Apparently. I think they must have recognised me on the plane. Oh god, we look like complete idiots"

Brittany nodded, unable to stop laughing as she watched herself swinging back and forth with Santana on her back, bending as far forward and back as she could to make Santana shriek and laugh.

"Do you think it's safe to read the comments?" Santana asked.

"I can't see how anyone could comment anything bad on it."

"It's the internet." Santana said, but clicked to see the comments anyway.

As it turned out, the comments weren't actually bad. In fact, they were overwhelmingly good. People apparently loved the idea that a celebrity couple was so goofy and comfortable in public. There were many comments that reminded Santana of Quinn, that said how her relationship with Brittany was ruining love for them.

"I don't blame them. we are a really cute couple" Brittany said, as she listened to Santana read out the comments.

Santana resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Yeah she was more comfortable with herself and her relationship with Brittany, but she still wasn't excited by the idea of being called cute. She was saved from needed to reply by her phone ringing.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Have you seen Twitter?" Quinn said, clearly recovering from a fit of giggles.

"Yeah, Britt and I are looking now." Santana said, switching the phone to speaker so Brittany could hear.

"Have you seen your face when you realised your fans had seen you on Britt's back" Puck yelled, howling with laughter. Santana ended the call so she could watch the video again.

"Call them on your phone Britt" she said. Brittany nodded, taking her eyes off Santana's phone so she could find Quinn's number. "Oh my…" Santana groaned.

"You look like a kid in trouble" Quinn said. Puck was laughing in the background.

"She looks…" the word cute died in Brittany's throat as Santana narrowed her eys at her. "Uh...she…we all look super confused. Look at Puck"

They continued to laugh about the video, and a few others that Puck found for a few minutes, stopping once they reached the hotel.

There were thankfully only three paparazzi at the hotel, so it was easier for them to get out of the cars and into the lobby than it had been to exit the airport. As annoying as the paparazzi could be, Santana had to admit that when there were only two or three, they could be very amusing. Maybe because she could actually hear what they were saying.

"Santana don't you want to get back on Brittany's back?"

"What do you think of what people are saying about the pictures of you at the airport?"

"What are people saying?" Santana asked, genuinely curious.

"That you're one of the realest celebrities." Santana Puck and Quinn laughed.

"Really?" Brittany asked.

"And that you two are probably the most loved hollywood couple"

"Really?" This time it was Quinn who asked.

"What do you have to say about that?"

"I don't know" Santana said, "I mean I guess it's a good thing that people don't think I'm a stuck up bitch"

"Anymore" Quinn added, making everyone laugh.

"Are you here for the wedding?"

"When's the wedding?"

Brittany and Santana smiled but didn't say anything.

"Come on nothing? You're not gonna tell us anything?"

"We don't know" Brittany said.

"You don't know?" Brittany and Santana shook their heads.

"What about you two, how is it being best friends with the most loved couple right now?" Quinn laughed. "Are you the maid of honour?"

"Unfortunately" Quinn joked.

"Are you two dating?"

"No" Puck said quickly

"Have you ever dated?"

Thankfully, they had reached the revolving front doors, and no one noticed the awkward pause that followed the question, the paparazzi trying to fire off more questions while they could. Eventually their voices were drowned out.

"That's so crazy."

"What Britt?"

"That we're the most loved couple" Brittany said, reaching out for Santana's hand. Santana smiled adoringly at her. Quinn made a wreching noise.

"Joke all you want Fabray, but you heard it for yourself." Brittany said, as Santana smirked at her.

"Let's just go find Eve I'm tired" Puck said.

"How did you know we had to-"

"Emma called us" Quinn cut Santana off. "You're in big trouble missy. It's like being called into the principle's office."

"Hopefully it's more productive though" Santana said, shaking her head at the memory of all the times she was sent to Figgins and never got any actual punishment. They checked in quickly, and followed their body guards to their rooms 6 floors up. Puck and Quinn's rooms were down the hall from Brittany and Santana's.

"Why are you so far away?" Brittany asked.

"Because neither of us wanted to share a wall with you guys." Quinn said.

"Especially not this week" Puck added. Brittany turned away, pretending to look at the paintings on the walls as she felt the heat rising in her neck and up her cheeks.

"Ignore them baby, they're just jealous." Santana said, kissing Brittany's temple as Quinn and Puck laughed, walking to their rooms. "Eve's in room 6013. That's the other way from the elevators"

"Cool" Puck shouted back.

"Do you guys wanna walk over together or meet there?" Quinn asked.

"We can go together." Brittany said. "We're not really gonna be that long. We just want to like…use the bathroom and stuff. We'll shower after."

"Or tomorrow" Santana said, stiffling a yawn.

"Or after" Brittany said, looking at Santana from the corner of her eye, a hint of a smile on her face.

"Or after" Santana said quietly, understanding dawning on her.

**********************************************************************************

"Ok, so I don't want to keep you guys, I know you're probably tired." Eve said, once they had all finished greeting her. "Emma just wanted me to…" she paused as if looking for the right words.

"Scold Santana" Puck said.

"No no" she said quickly, shaking her head for emphasis. "It's not a scolding. It's just that Emma feels like you guys haven't fully accepted the realities of Santana's fame, and this is something that could potentially be really dangerous."

"Dangerous how?" Quinn asked, looking at Santana with concern.

"Well, you saw what happened after the Jimmy Kimmel show-"

"What happened?" Puck interrupted. Santana sighed.

"It wasn't that big of a deal" She said.

"What wasn't?" Quinn asked, frowning at her.

"A fan tried to tackle her" Eve said after a long moment of silence where she realised Santana was not going to tell the story.

"WHAT?!" Quinn and Puck both said in alarm.

"It wasn't a big deal. God you guys are all acting like I can't take care of myself. I'm not a child"

"No you're not" Eve said, "But you're a celebrity, and having everyone know who you are and have the fanatical kind of love for you that your fans have means that you have to be more careful than you were before."

Santana sighed again, crossing her arms.

"Baby, let's just hear what she wants to say. It wasn't a big deal, what happened at Jimmy Kimmel, but it could have been. I don't want you to get hurt." Brittany whispered to Santana, taking her hand into hers and rubbing it with her thumb.

"Ok, so what do you want from me?" Santana said. "Cause I'm not going to stop talking to my fans."

Eve was already shaking her head. "No we don't want that. It's a part of your image and we-"

"It's not an image" Brittany cut in. "Santana isn't some kind of merchandise with a brand that you have to cultivate and control. She's a free-spirited person, so whatever you're about to tell her better not be trying to change that." She finished sharply. Everyone but Santana stared at her for a moment. Santana smiled at her and mouthed 'thank you'.

Eve coughed, gathering her thoughts. "Uh…yes, well first I want to make it clear that we're not only telling Santana. We're telling all of you. Brittany you're famous as well, so this applies to you too. You have your own fans. Quinn and Puck, because you're so close to both of them, and are more often than not around them, fans are likely to badger you as well. So your safety is also an issue, though it may not be to the same extent."

"Okay…" Quinn said hesitantly.

"Well, this is the plan we've come up with for the week, but we'll have to meet and come up with a more permanent one when we get back to California."

"Okay just get on with it" Santana snapped.

"S" Brittany said, turning to Santana.

"Sorry. I'm just really irritated and the exhaustion doesn't help."

"That's ok. Ok so for the week, you should leave the hotel only when you're accompanied by the body guards we've assigned to you." They all nodded, having expected this. "Then, we think it's best that if you stop to talk to some fans, you shouldn't stay too long, for a few reasons. First, it gives time for the paparazzi to come in large numbers, and that's always going to be really awful for you, like at the airport." They nodded again, Puck groaning. "The second reason is that the longer you stay the larger crowds get, and therefore the more uncontrollable, and unpredictable. The larger the crowd the more confident people get, and that's when they start trying to touch you, which almost always leads to violence."

Santana, Quinn and Puck nodded, but Brittany looked slightly frightened, and was gripping Santana's hand tightly.

"Britt…what's wrong?" Santana asked, forcing Brittany to look at her.

"I just…I never thought it was dangerous. I know you were almost attacked before, but we were laughing about it. I thought it was like a one-time…like a crazy freak thing."

"I don't want you guys to be scared. By and large you're pretty safe. You just have to be more conscious of your surroundings. By all means continue to be yourselves. It's why we got you body guards for this week. We didn't want you stressing over how to act and where to go and so on. The fans love you for who you are, and we want you to keep being yourselves. But drawing too much attention to yourselves in public areas isn't advisable. Even in the best case scenario you can find yourselves stuck in a crowd of fans for hours, unable to leave." Eve said, looking at each of them as she spoke, trying to be reassuring.

Santana sighed again, now the one rubbing Brittany's hand soothingly.

"Ok, so for now, we go everywhere with the guards, don't talk to fans for too long and don't make scenes?" Quinn said.

"Yeah, pretty much" Eve confirmed.

"Ok then" Santana said standing up. "I'm going to bed." She pulled Brittany up by the hand she was holding and walked out of the room, not looking at anyone.

"Bye Eve" Brittany called half-heartedly.

Eve sighed, sitting down where Santana had been sitting.

"Don't worry. She heard you" Puck told her.

"But will she listen?" Eve asked.

"She'll listen" Quinn said.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Brittany" Puck said knowingly. Eve frowned in confusion.

"The way it hit her, and she was suddenly scared Santana would actually get hurt…" Eve nodded, "she practically assured that Santana would follow your rules. She'll want to make sure Brittany isn't scared anymore, as much as she may hate what she has to do." Quinn informed her.

"Now I understand" Eve said musingly.

"What?" Quinn asked.

"Why Emma told me that Brittany was of 'utmost importance' when I got the job as Santana's assistant."

Quinn and Puck laughed. "Yeah the best way to get to Santana is through Brittany" Puck said, standing up.