"If you want me, I'm here."

The thoughts echoed through Brittany's head, as she forced herself to turn around and walk away. She felt Santana's eyes on her back, watching her every move, but the girl didn't get up to follow her. It was okay. Santana always needed more time to think about big decisions like this. Brittany knew it wasn't exactly fair what she asked, but she couldn't help it. Being around Santana made her feel normal, and she hadn't felt normal in a long time. She'd known this for a while now, but she'd been trying to ignore it as much as possible. After all, Santana had found a new girl to give sweet lady kisses to now.

Had it been wrong to kiss her like that? She knew Santana had a girlfriend, and she still kissed her. By now she knew it wasn't okay to kiss people who were dating other people - that was considered cheating and she didn't want to mess with any relationship. But she did. She wanted Santana. No, she needed Santana. And the kiss only proved that further. Without Santana she didn't feel complete, and just a friendship wasn't enough anymore. The past few years she'd grown so used to always having Santana there for her that it was weird to know that, for the first time, she wasn't.

"Brittany," a soft voice came from behind. Brittany stopped walking, turning around on her heels. Santana was standing in the middle of the hallway, arms folded over her chest. By now, Brittany knew that meant she was protecting herself somehow. She was afraid of getting hurt - or maybe of what she was about to say.

"Yeah?" Brittany said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Santana bit her lip, looking at the ground, instead of Brittany's face. "I thought about what you said. And... I want you. I want to be with you. But, like I said, it's a bad idea. You're at MIT, and I'm in New York, and it's still far away from each other, and the last time we were apart it didn't work out, so why would it now? I have a girlfriend now, and she's in New York with me. She's there. What if I break up with her... and we don't work out?"

Brittany swallowed. She'd been expecting this. She took a step closer to Santana, close enough to touch. "We are going to work out. What we have is special, Santana. Last time was a mistake, and we don't have to make the same mistake again." She was about to add a math metaphore in her speech, but witheld that. Maybe it would make things weird. "I know it will work. And you know why?" She stepped even closer. "Because we're going to make things work. I'll do anything to win you back. I'll drop out. I'll move to New York."

"No, Britt, you can't drop out. Not for me. That's... that's just not right."

"You said it yourself. I don't have a life. I can't do anything. Being smart is great, but... There are so many things that I still want. I was..." she sighed. "I was thinking about dropping out anyway. Math just isn't what I want to do. I don't even feel like I'm actually doing anything. They just ask me stuff and I guess something, and most of the time it's correct. If I drop out, I won't drop out because of you. I'll drop out because I want to. It's my decision, and only mine. Yes, you're a factor, but you're not the reason."

"Are you sure about this?" Santana finally looked up to meet Brittany's eyes, and for a moment, the blonde couldn't breathe. She nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I love you, Santana. I love you, and I want to be with you, and I want to have a life, and I want you to be in it. All you have to do is say yes. Say it, and I'm yours."

Silence.

But Santana didn't look away. Brittany could see her thinking. She could see her weighing out her options, crossing things off her list and putting others on it. She knew what Santana was doing, and she knew she had to give her time to think about it.

"Okay." Santana's voice sounded steady. She sounded sure. "Yes. I want you. I want to be in your life. We'll figure out a way to make this work. You're right. You can't recreate what you and I have. You make me feel things... things that make me understand what love is. And I know this sounds cheesy and dumb and I know it's probably the last thing you want to hear, but... yes. I'm saying it. I'm saying yes."

"No," Brittany breathed. "It's perfect. You're perfect." She cupped Santana's cheek and leaned in, but this time she didn't go straight for her lips. For now, Santana was still Dani's girlfriend. She was also kind of Brittany's girlfriend, but as long as she hadn't broken up with Dani, she couldn't go around kissing her. It was cheating, and it was wrong. So she had to be content with kissing her cheek. And, for some reason, it was just as satisfying as kissing her lips. But only right now, because once they were officially official again, once they were girlfriend girlfriends again, she'd kiss the hell out of the girl.