A/N: So here's some sort of happy chapter, I think I owe you guys something less emotionally draining! Thank you to alexwilliamson101 my lovely beta :)

Soundtrack: Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap

Chapter 8

Present

"No. No way. Nuh-uh."

"C'mon San, pleeeeeeease?"

Santana gulped nervously, her palms were sweating and her stomach lurched forward. She was scared shitless and all she was doing was looking.

"B-Britt I can't do it," Santana stammered, "I just can't."

"It won't be that bad, I pinkie promise!" Brittany assured. She came up behind Santana, wrapping her arms around the brunette's stomach and, resting her head on Santana's shoulder, nuzzled her neck. She breathed in her ear, "I'll hold you the entire time! You don't have to be scared."

Santana shook her head slowly. Why had she agreed to this? This was fucking insane.

"You'll be fine, you can do this," Brittany whispered, placing a soft warm kiss on Santana's shoulder, "please?"

Santana twisted her head to look at Brittany. Blue orbs stared back with such an excited and hopeful intensity it made Santana's heart stutter. She sighed in defeat, earning her a dazzling wide grin from Brittany. Santana rolled her eyes at their silent communication.

"It's so...big." Santana murmured turning back look at the scene in front of her.

The two girls stared silently for a moment at the giant hot air balloon being inflated in front of them, the edges of it rippling as air eased inside of it. A young man was bent over attaching the burner to the basket and fiddling with the mechanism. Santana's breath came in short quick gasps, her whole body felt tingly – but not in the good way. It was the bad kind of tingly sensation; the kind that made the hairs on your arm rise, constricts your throat and you feel like at any moment your stomach is going to fall out of your mouth.

She couldn't believe she was going to do this. The shit I'd do for Brittany, Santana thought, almost bitterly.

"It looks like a fucking picnic basket," Santana whined in a low voice, surely that thing wasn't even safe. Why would people subject themselves to this? She was certain this had to be classed as some sort of suicidal act of desperation. Maybe all this shit had gotten into Brittany's and her head and they were really going bat-shit crazy.

"Stop being such a baby," Brittany teased and squeezed lightly around Santana's waist.

"Not helping." Santana muttered. She swallowed thickly, trying to shove away the crippling fear that had taken over her body. She almost laughed at her pathetic self; here she was, fearless Santana bad-ass Lopez, cowering in fear over a stupid hot air balloon ride. Pathetic. But ever since she was little she had been terrified, completely consumed by this fear of heights. She'd even get nervous standing on a fucking escalator in the mall; always having to grip the side rail tightly; just in case, she had told herself.

"C'mon," Brittany urged, dropping her hands to grab Santana's hand instead, lacing their fingers together and pulling the reluctant Latina along towards the pilot.

"It's a bit windy don't you think?" Santana said hopefully, "it's probably too windy."

Brittany rolled her eyes, not feeling the faintest breeze on her skin. The sun was lowering in the sky, bathing the soft long grass in a warm orange light and everything was oddly peaceful - except for Santana's heart which seemed to be racing at a million miles an hour. The basket was now sitting upright, the fire lit and the hot air pushing the balloon upwards, only to be held down by a few ropes. The pilot was talking into his radio transmitter, giving the two approaching girls a warm smile as he glanced up at them. His hair was a chocolate brown, messily swaying in the breeze and his eyes were a vivid blue, his slightly chubby cheeks pinching in the corners as he smiled; he was sort of cute in a dorky way.

"Af'noon ladies," he said in a thick Irish accent that Santana found hard to understand, beaming at them as he held out his hand, Brittany shaking it first and then Santana, "me names Rory, I'll be accompanying you on your trip today."

"Hi, I'm Brittany," Brittany smiled back warmly, looping her arm through Santana's.

"Santana," Santana offered shortly, too preoccupied with the nervous jitters in her stomach to make any attempt at small talk.

"Wonderful, are we excited?" Rory asked.

"Very!" Brittany giggled and Santana just gulped again. She couldn't help but notice how the wires of the hot air balloon seemed to shudder against the wind or how the menacing power lines above their heads seemed extremely threatening to their safety.

"So I'm jus' goin' to go through some safety precautions," Rory said clapping his hands together, "make sure ta keep your hands and feet inside the 'vehicle' at all times and when you're taking photos keep the wristband tight around yer wrist. When we land, we actually come down at a 45 degree angle so -"

"What!" Santana gasped. Oh she was not okay with that.

Rory laughed, "don' worry it isn't as scary as it sounds -"

"- The hell it isn't -"

"Santana," Brittany said sternly, "don't be rude."

"Trust me, it's quiet fun. And you'll be safe, you kind of jus' lie down and there's a rope and rail to hold onto so you won't fall out." Rory assured but Santana's mouth fell open, her face paling. Her body was quivering with dread, and she could feel the panic escalating so fast she thought her heart was going to pop. She was sticky with cold sweat and there was a distant ringing in her ears that had her worried she was about to faint.

Brittany leaned over and kissed her gently on cheek. "You're going to be fine," she whispered and rubbed Santana's arm soothingly.

"I need a drink." was all Santana said, the blonde laughed and Santana tried to relax.

"Okay, well! Shall we get this show on the road – or in the air I should say," Rory deadpanned but Santana didn't ease up. In fact it had the opposite effect, instead she was just reminded that in just a few moments she'd be boxed up in a floating picnic basket with no parachute, no harness, absolutely nothing to save her from an inevitable death. She clutched Brittany's hand in hers fiercely, needing any kind of support she could get. She felt as if at any given moment, her knees would give out from beneath her.

Rory walked over to the basket and opened the gate, gesturing for them to enter. Santana just stood there frozen with Brittany trying to nudge her along.

"P-promise you'll hold me?" Santana said in a weak voice.

"The whole time," Brittany promised, and wrapped both arms around Santana as if to prove her point. "You ready?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Oh. Oh!" Santana gasped, she gripped the rails of the basket desperately as it slowly began to rise. "Shit! SHIT!"

She didn't like this. Not one bit. The hot air balloon began its climb upwards and Santana felt like somebody had pulled all her guts out of her body. She felt weightless, as if she was standing on air – on nothing – and she didn't have the slightest amount of control over her body, it was just floating up and up against her will - like one of those nightmares.

"Santana," Brittany laughed, hugging her tightly, "open your eyes."

"No." Santana refused, shaking her head profusely.

"Look Santana," Brittany breathed, "it's beautiful."

Santana groaned as she slowly tried to peak open one eye, leaning her back against Brittany who had her arms wrapped around Santana from behind. Through the small gap between her lids she saw an expanse of green valleys and clear blue sky, they were still rising. With much will power, she forced both eyes open, her breathing hitched and she had to admit, the view was breathtaking.

The small rolls and gentle curves of the hills seemed to meld into the soft blue at the horizon, the sun blurring the lines to where earth ended and heaven began. Everything seemed to glow orange as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky and for just a moment, with Brittany's arms holding her safe like that, Santana forgot all her fears. It was so eerily peaceful. Up here, in the almost tauntingly grand expanse of the sky, the world below seemed incredibly insignificant. It was as if everything, all their problems, were left behind; forgotten on the ground, shrinking smaller and smaller like the cars on the highway and Santana felt sudden relief, like the chains had been lifted from her body. She felt free.

"Beautiful," Santana echoed.

"You are," Brittany said softly, making Santana's heart skip a beat. Santana turned to look at her girlfriend, her heart thrumming rapidly for an entire different reason and, as she looked into Brittany's eyes, she had to think that the world was nothing compared to what was right in front of her. To call Brittany beautiful was a harsh understatement; an insult, ridiculing what Brittany truly was...

"Perfect," Santana said aloud. Brittany quirked an eyebrow and looked at her curiously, as if pressing her to clarify. "You're perfect."

Santana smiled as she watched the blush rise in Brittany's pale cheeks. The blonde didn't say anything; instead she leant forward and pressed a soft chaste kiss against Santana's lips, their lips sliding perfectly together. Electricity pulsed quickly through Santana's body, sending the good kind of tingles to the ends of her fingertips. No matter how many times they kissed, it always felt like their first.

Brittany pulled away, resting their foreheads against each other, enjoying the way their warm breath mixed with each other. "When did you turn into such a cheese?" Brittany teased lightly.

"It's all you Britt," Santana replied with a lopsided grin.

"Oh!" Brittany said suddenly and dug through the pocket of her jacket, she smiled as she pulled out her small digital pink camera. "Pictures!"

"Don' forget yer wrist strap," Rory reminded and Santana jumped, she had forgotten he was even there. The man just smiled warmly at the pair before turning back to face the horizon.

Brittany slipped her wrist into the strap and tightened it. The small LCD lit up as she turned the camera on. She held the camera out in front of them, the lens facing their faces.

"Smile!" Brittany ordered and Santana lent against Brittany's cheek, a lazy grin on her face as the shutters closed and opened again with a click.

Brittany turned her face to pucker her lips against Santana's cheek and snapped another photo, and then another where their lips were just barely grazing. They started pulling faces at the camera, not bothering to look at the outcome and just enjoying the poses.

"You know, people usually take photos of the view – not each other." Santana pointed out with a laugh.

"But why take a picture of that when something a billion times prettier is right here next to me?" Brittany said and Santana grinned largely at her girlfriend echoing her previous thoughts.

Then the basket swayed gently with the breeze.

"Fuck!" Santana yelped, terrified and practically jumped on top of Brittany, "we're going to die!"

The perfect moment shattered as her gut-wrenching fear found its way into her body, crippling her calm, serene demeanour. She felt like she had just fell off the peak of a roller coaster as her stomach seemed to plummet to the ground below, leaving her body entirely. And she felt, once again, like she was floating with no control over how her body moved.

"Santana, it's okay!" Brittany said, encircling her arms around the shaking Latina.

"The wind! The wind!" Santana screamed frantically as a soft wind barely rocked the basket, her eyes were wide in panic. It was going to tip, she was sure of it. Her legs tangled around Brittany's, clutching on for dear life. "I don't want to die Britt! I'm too young to die!"

There was a brief moment of silence as Brittany and Rory glanced at each other before bursting out into hysterical fits of laughter. Santana just stared wildly at them.

"This is not funny!" Santana shrieked, only making Brittany and Rory laugh harder, the two going red in the face as tears swelled in the corner of their eyes. Santana shook in Brittany's arms as the blonde was completely over taken with giggles, Santana blushed furiously.

"It's...just... a breeze S-Santana!" Brittany choked out between chuckles, squeezing her tightly as she laughed into Santana's hair.

"It wasn't just a fucking breeze! We could have tipped! We almost died, I swear!" Santana fumed, embarrassed, "And stop laughing!"

"I'm s-sorry," Brittany giggled, and bit down on her lip, "it's just, you're so adorable!"

"'I'm too young to die!'" Rory imitated in his thick accent and both Brittany and he erupted into another round of uncontrollable giggles.

"Fuck the both of you." Santana mumbled as Brittany started kissing the top of her head, Rory and her still shaking with laughter.

"This one is definitely my favourite." Brittany said as the image of Santana and her with their lips lightly touching and both their eyes open and peeking at the lens was displayed on her camera's LCD screen. Santana sat next to her in a booth at Burger King, their bodies pressed close together as they hunched over to look at the small camera.

"I thought you said the 'duck face one' was your favourite one?" Santana asked, bringing the cup of soft drink to her lips and taking a sip.

"No, it's my favourite silly face photo," Brittany corrected her, "this is my overall favourite."

"Me too," Santana agreed and sighed contently. "Thank you by the way, for today."

Brittany smiled, "so you're not still mad?"

"Nah," Santana said. She had gotten over the whole hot air balloon situation, even though the landing had gone far from smooth to her. It was bumpy and the basket that felt as solid as paper shook so violently that it left Santana in a screaming and utterly terrified mess. It didn't take much for her to break out into sobs and Brittany had finally gotten a hold on her laughter long enough to actually comfort her. "But I might have to kick leprechaun's ass for almost killing mine."

Brittany snorted, "I liked him... he was nice. But your right, we wouldn't want anything bad to hurt your perfectly round ass now, would we?"

Santana had to bite back a grin, "exactly."

"I'm sorry though," Brittany said softly, "I shouldn't have pushed you so hard, I should've known you'd be frightened. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. Don't be sorry," Santana said, sensing that Brittany was talking about more than just today, "it was totally worth it."

"Yeah?" Brittany allowed a small hopeful smile.

"Of course," Santana said sincerely, "it was actually one of the best times of my life. You know, besides the whole almost dying thing." Brittany laughed and leant her head against Santana's shoulder. It was true what Santana had said - it really was one of the best times of her life but if she asked herself what made it so special she'd have to say it was Brittany.

When she was with Brittany, magical things seemed to happen, things she had never expected to; things like love and happiness - things she never planned on having but with Brittany she got more than she deserved. It was like Brittany was magic, enchanting, and somehow that magic broke through Santana's walls and found a way to steal her heart and turn her world upside down.

"Why 'ello again!"

Brittany and Santana looked up to see Rory smiling brightly at them at the end of their table carrying a tray of food, a smaller girl with long caramel hair and mousy facial features stood beside him, holding his hand and smiling at them too.

"Speak of the devil," Santana muttered but smiled kindly at the other couple.

"Rory!" Brittany greeted happily, "what are you doing here?"

"Just grabbing a bite with my girlfriend," Rory said, looking lovingly down at the girl beside him, "this 'ere is Sugar. Sugar, this is Brittany and Santana."

"Hi!" Sugar bubbled, bouncing a little where she stood. Santana eyed the girl skeptically; she seemed way too energetic for 8 o'clock at night.

"Hey," Brittany grinned, "do you guys want to eat with us?"

Santana suppressed a groan. She didn't really mind leprechaun or his hypo girlfriend but she was just in no mood to spend time with people other than Brittany. In fact, she was never really in the mood for anyone other than Brittany.

"Yeah sure, that'd be great!" Rory said and slid into the seat across to them, Sugar following suit.

The four of them ate their meals and chatted away, Brittany and Rory doing most of the talking. Santana felt a little uncomfortable when Sugar's eyes watched curiously as Brittany brought a napkin up to wipe at Santana's lower lip. Santana tried to ignore it, acting nonchalant. The conversation continued for a while, Brittany quickly lying about being on a road trip when Rory had asked about what brought them down here.

"Are you two like, lesbians?" Sugar asked suddenly.

Santana was taken aback as Brittany coughed on her drink, both girls gaping at Sugar, the table fell into an awkward silence.

"Sorry," Sugar said sheepishly, "I have Asperger's."

"That's okay," Brittany said slowly, "but yeah, we're together."

"Okay," Sugar said simply, "you know there's this awesome gay bar nearby. We should take you there."

"That's a great idea!" Rory agreed, nodding enthusiastically. Santana eyed them warily, these two were just way too happy all the time; it hurt her brain just thinking about how much they smiled. "So whaddya say?"

Brittany looked to Santana, a hopeful glint in her eye. Santana sighed, if Brittany wanted to go then there was nothing really that was going to stop her. Santana would do just about anything Brittany wanted, no matter how much she loathed the idea, but this idea at least seemed to mildly peak her interest. A bar meant drinking and dancing; the two things Santana and Brittany loved to do the most. And a gay bar, well.

That was just an added bonus.

So, Rory and Sugar weren't my planned surprise characters, but they sort of just found their way in those sneaky bastards. I'm still planning to introduce some more familiar faces but you'll just have to wait to see who ;)

And to answer a few questions: This is AU! I'm so silly I forgot to mention it in the summary and yes it WILL have a happy ending!

Did you like this chapter? Have any suggestions? Please tell me and REVIEW! :)

Or PM if you have any questions or requests!