Santana wearily takes the steps up to her and Brittany's shared apartment. She's exhausted and all she wants to do is get out of her black slacks and tight v-neck t-shirt, the uniform required for all waitresses at her restaurant. Santana had had class from 8 AM- 2 PM, worked from 3 PM- 7 PM at the nursing home as a CNA, and 7:30 PM to 12:30 AM as a waitress. She's burnt out and the only thing keeping her going is the weekend ahead of her: the first weekend she's had off in over two months.

She plans on spending every second of it with Brittany. The thought forces a lazy smile onto the Latina's face.

Santana places the key in the lock and turns it. She instantly feels like something is off the second she walks through the door. She shoves the feeling to the back of her mind, dismissing it as her being tired and paranoid. She throws the keys onto the counter and sighs when she realizes Brittany didn't do the dishes. Again.

Santana knows she can't go to bed without doing them so she gets the dish soap and starts washing a few. She hears a clinking sound come from their bedroom and that uneasy feeling she had before returns.

"Brittany? Babe?" She calls out.

There's no answer so Santana goes to the bedroom and opens the door. Her eyes flash between the half naked stranger standing near her bed, a very naked Brittany, and a bottle of vodka only twice before she's charging across the room. Her hand pulls at the random girl's hair and she's tugging her through the apartment at an alarmingly fast speed.

The girl is flailing and Santana is sure this would be a funny image if her world had not just fallen apart.

She whips the girl out of the front door and slams it shut. She turns towards the bedroom where a now dressed Brittany is standing. Santana has no words for the blonde. She shoves past her and grabs a duffle bag out of the closet. She starts shoving clothes into it.

"Santana…"

"How could you do this to me?" Santana sounds so angry and sad at the same time that tears instantly start falling from Brittany's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, S. I didn't mean to."

"That doesn't happen by accident, B." The once endearing nickname sounds so harsh coming from Santana's lips.

"I got lonely, Santana. We haven't had sex in two months and you've barely been around…"

"Don't. Don't you dare. Do you realize what I've been putting myself through? I've been working two jobs to pay for my college and to pay for our rent, bills, food, EVERYTHING! For you, Brittany. So you wouldn't have to worry about a thing. You could just go to dance. You think I liked being away? Never having any downtime? I did it for you!"

Brittany whimpers, "I didn't know it was like that."

Santana zippers the duffle bag and scoffs, "And you know what's even more hilarious? I had this weekend off. I was going to surprise you. I guess that's shot to hell."

Brittany chases after Santana towards the exit. "Please don't leave, Santana. Let's talk about it."

"Oh, I'm not leaving. You are." Santana pushes Brittany through the door, but not violently. Then she throws the duffle bag into the hallway. She shuts the door and rests her forehead on the wooden surface as Brittany pleads to be let back in.

Brittany quiets after a moment and slumps to the floor. Santana feels an eerie wave of calm come over her. She steps out into the hall and kneels in front of Brittany. She puts her hands on the blonde's cheeks and kisses her lips lightly. A flicker of hope passes through Brittany's features but it's quickly extinguished by the look in Santana's eyes.

Santana whispers, "You broke me, B. You broke us." Santana pulls out $40 from the tips she earned that night and hands it to the other girl. "This should get you to Rachel's. Just call a cab."

Santana gets back up and before she enters the apartment she says, "Don't come back here."

When Santana is safely inside she feels the rush of emotions hit her so hard she almost collapses. She won't allow herself to give into crying. She refuses. Instead, she heads over to the punching bag Brittany had gotten her for Christmas and punches it a few times. When she remembers she had given Brittany the money to buy it for her, it doesn't feel quite as satisfying.

So she turns and punches the wall not once, but twice. On the second hit, her hand goes right through the wall. When she pulls her hand back it's bloody and throbbing. She barely feels it but picks up the phone anyway.

"Hey Q… Yeah I know it's late…I need you to drive me to the hospital…I think I broke my hand…Quinn…Quinn! It doesn't matter how I did it…Okay, thanks."

Quinn doesn't ask questions that night. Santana gets a cast and then sleeps with Quinn on the couch. Quinn's uncomfortable on the tiny sofa but she knows her friend needs her and for some reason doesn't want to be in the bedroom.

They spend most of the next day on the same sofa, watching TV and eating ice cream and pizza.

At night, Quinn gets a call from Rachel. Rachel explains the situation and Brittany's been a mess for the past 24 hours and refuses to eat or sleep. Rachel confirms that Brittany realizes how badly she's messed up.

Quinn wraps her arms around Santana, who's sitting on the floor with her back against the couch.

"Maybe you should talk to her."

"I can't, Q. If I do, I'll just take her back and that is not the kind of person that I am. I'll end up hating myself for it and that'll make me hate her. Even after what she's done, I don't want to hate her."

Quinn tentatively asks Santana what Brittany did, even though she knows.

Santana just tells her, "Just thinking about some random girl touching my Brittany…" Santana gets up and spills the contents of her stomach into the trash. Quinn holds her hair back.

The next day and night is much of the same. Quinn's at one end of the couch and Santana's at the other. "Do you think you can ever let her in again?"

"How can I? She cheated." Santana feels the familiar knot of betrayal right in the middle of her chest. It hurts.

"But she's Brittany."

Santana sits up and glares. "What the hell does that mean? That doesn't give her the license to cheat. We've been together for three years and the second she's unhappy she cheats. Brittany lives in her own world, fine. But she's not stupid."

"Well that's the thing, Santana. Brittany is in her own world. Most of the time she has to make the mistake and then learn from it. It's the only way she'll actually get it. I don't think you should let her go over this."

Santana's first tears stream down her face. "So what? Are you on her side now, Q?"

"It's not about sides-"

"Everyone always takes her side."

Santana starts breaking down. She turns away as sobs overtake her. She's shaking. Quinn realizes it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with Santana's heartbreak.

Quinn instantly pulls her into a tight embrace and whispers repeatedly, "Shhhh. It'll be okay, S."

Santana talks so softly and through her sobs so that it's hard for Quinn to understand her. She thinks she catches Santana say, "I just want her back and forget it ever happened."

A week later Brittany knocks on the apartment door, duffle in hand. When Santana opens it, there's an awkward tension but Brittany doesn't care. Just seeing the other girl lifts her spirits slightly.

"Hey, S."

Santana steps forward and pauses. After a moment she hugs Brittany tightly. Brittany buries her face into dark hair and says, "I'm so sorry, Santana. I'm so sorry. I won't ever do that again, okay? I'm sorry."

Santana pulls back a little so that she can look Brittany in the eyes. "I know. It'll be okay, eventually, B. It'll be okay."

Santana sleeps on the couch that night and prays that her words are the truth and not just hope.

END