Author's Note:

Here's a tiny Brittana oneshot from me to you. Enjoy! Do I need to warn for Ghost Santana? Well, consider yourself warned :-)

I Knew You'd Be Beautiful

Santana cursed under her breath when she heard the realtor's perky voice float up to her. Again? The previous tenants had run out of the apartment like it was burning after she'd teased them a bit. It usually took very little. The first ever person to take Santana's apartment after she'd died had been so spooked by Santana knocking on their headboard at night, opening and closing windows at random, laughing straight in their ear and hiding their keys and glasses, that they had babbled on and on about the place being haunted to everyone in the neighbourhood, and had invited all sorts of people to get rid of Santana's ghost. None of the charlatans who'd turned up and waved wands or strewed sand or salt or holy water had managed to get rid of her, but it had certainly helped her reputation grow.

Soon, all it took was a shoe floating three feet above the floor or a glass of water tipping over to send them screaming. Yet the realtor didn't give up, and kept sending new people her way. He didn't seem to be bothered by the apartment being haunted at all. When Santana had playfully popped his suspenders one day, he'd just rolled his eyes and fastened them again.

Yep, Mr Perky was on his spiel all right, pointing out the beautiful hardwood floors, the abundance of natural light coming in, the spacious kitchen and living room, the lovely view and the close proximity to Juilliard – oh, interesting, a musician? – and the subway. "And there's a laundromat next door, and a convenience store just around the block, and a coffee shop as well. They have the BEST biscotti anywhere in New York, you just have to try them."

The prospective tenant hummed in answer.

"Was there anything more you wanted to know?" Mr Perky asked. The way his voice went slightly higher showed that he was clearly bracing himself for questions about the apartment being haunted.

There was silence for a beat. Then a soft voice said, "Oh… Uhm… Yes! Are pets allowed here? Last time I forgot to ask and then I had to stay at a friend's for months until I found another place."

Huh? No mention of me at all? Who is this person?

Curious, Santana slid off the reading nook in the bedroom and joined the two others in the living room, where Mr Perky, now grinning ear to ear, was assuring his client that she most certainly could keep pets in the apartment, if she wanted to.

Ha! We'll see about that!

When the woman beamed at Mr Perky, though, Santana's fighting spirit flagged a little. Wow, she was stunning. Tall and graceful and blonde, and her smile sparked something in Santana's blood that she would have sworn was lost to her when she'd died.

There were no more questions after that, and Mr Perky invited the beautiful blonde to come sign the lease at his office. "If you need to hire movers, I can call a moving company for you, if you like?"

A week later, the new tenant moved in. Her name proved to be Brittany, and the pets she'd brought along were called Lord and Lady Tubbington. Ridiculous. The cats were about as big as Puss in Boots in Shrek Forever After, and no wonder – Brittany waited on them hand and foot and fed them pretty much constantly.

As soon as Santana had gotten the hang of Brittany's schedule, she started haunting her.

First, she took to stomping on the creaky floorboards in the living room when she knew Brittany had just gone to bed.

But all Brittany did was call out, "Stop it, Lord Tubbington, I'm trying to sleep."

And when Santana kept going, "You too, Lady Tubbington! Be quiet!"

And when Santana still didn't let up, "Okay, that's it, no treats for you tomorrow! Now, where are my earplugs?"

Santana tried it again in the middle of the night, but Brittany didn't so much as stir. And when she made the floorboards creak early in the morning, Brittany just muttered, "What is it, Tubs? Did you poop? I'll clean it up when it's time to get up, now let me sleep."

Even when Santana upped the ante and made several mugs and plates fall off the table or the kitchen counter, one of the cats always got blamed. Maybe Santana should have felt guilty about the amount of treats they were missing out on these days, but she figured a little less food wouldn't hurt them.

The next thing Santana tried was hiding Brittany's belongings: her phone in the kitchen drawer, its charger in the laundry hamper, and Brittany's purse underneath the bed.

Brittany, however, patiently searched for the lost items, and when she found them, she just said, "Now why did I put that there? No wonder I couldn't find it!"

Frustrated, Santana started levitating things in Brittany's presence, but the beautiful blonde never even noticed. Either she was dancing, which was so mesmerising to watch that Santana had trouble remembering her haunting plans at all, or she was daydreaming her way through all other day-to-day tasks.

When a plate with cookies, which had been standing on the coffee table two feet away, nudged her elbow while she was reading, Brittany took one absently and bit off a chunk, wiping away the crumbs that had landed on her book and reading on.

A few days later, Brittany was putting her coat on to go grocery-shopping, and Santana made her scarf float in mid-air, right in front of her. Brittany just took the scarf and put it on.

It was maddening not to get any reaction at all, so Santana went further than she'd ever gone before, even venturing outside of the apartment to haunt Brittany everywhere she went.

On a hot summer's day, she sent a strong gust of wind at Brittany to make her dress fly up. But instead of looking around fearfully, Brittany closed her eyes and smiled, basking in the sudden breeze, and twirling around delightedly.

Next, she took to joining in whenever Brittany started singing. Again, the only reaction she got was a blinding smile, but she kind of liked duetting with Brittany, so she kept doing it.

A few times, she even prevented Brittany from stepping onto the street right in front of a speeding car or from knocking into a ladder she hadn't even noticed was there. Brittany, however, didn't so much as bat an eyelash, side-stepping the car or the ladder and continuing on her way, a smile playing about her lips.

In the end, Santana decided she had no other choice left than to show herself to Brittany. That was sure to scare her away. Why the thought of Brittany leaving sent a pang through her chest, she had no idea. She'd be glad to be rid of her, as all the others before her, wouldn't she? It wasn't like she was counting the times that Brittany smiled at her – well, because of her – and died on the days that she didn't, right? Right.

So, the next time they were duetting in the shower, Santana waited for Brittany to open her eyes after she'd shampooed her hair, and then materialised in front of her.

Brittany, instead of shrieking and running away, grinned at her. "Hey. You're beautiful. I knew you would, with a voice like yours. What's your name? Mine is Brittany."