Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 51st cycle. Now cycle 52!

"Keep Me With You"
Brittany/Santana

A/N: As I didn't get to mention yesterday, this week is dedicated to dearest MaxximumRide666 for her birthday (even if it's not until next week) :D
A/N2: Well this is awkward after last night's ep but... here we go...

The decision had not been made lightly, but after some personal debate, Santana had chosen Louisville over New York. Neither choice came without sacrifices, and both came with having to leave behind everything… everyone she loved. Maybe Louisville made sense because it would keep her from running back. She'd have classes, and practices, responsibilities…

The part that had hurt was knowing no matter what choice she made, Brittany wouldn't get to come with her. In a way she felt partly responsible for what was happening to her. If she'd just kept a look out, tried to help her more… It wasn't like she thought she was top of her class and didn't need it. Now it was too late, and here they were, with Brittany repeating senior year, while she was waving Lima goodbye.

If it had been up to her, she would have stayed, waited out the year with her so they could take on the world together, but Brittany had ruled that one out for her. She had to go, had to lead her life as it called for her. So, she was bound for Louisville.

The last week leading up to her departure, Santana could just feel the blonde's fear, regret. She was understanding that Santana was about to be gone, and even if she would never tell her to change her mind, she really… really wanted to. Seeing that look on her face was a gut punch for her every time, and every time it made her want to say 'alright, I'm staying,' but they both knew that wasn't right.

And then just like that, it was the morning of the day before she left. In all of thirty hours, she'd be driven off to the airport, and nothing would ever be the same again. She knew her family would want to spend that last night with her. So the night before had been spent at Brittany's. This morning she had awakened in her bed turning her head on the pillow, she could look to Brittany, sleeping soundly, hair a mess but never as beautiful as now. She could have woken her, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Seeing her like this was a privilege, hard-earned, and as it would be the last time in who knew how long, then she could only lie there and absorb as much of the moment as she could.

She didn't know what would happen next, neither of them did, but if ever she was afraid, or doubting, she'd know there was a girl back in Ohio who believed in her even more than Santana did herself. So he would go, and she would do this, for both of them.

She never knew when she'd wake up. She wouldn't always stir, or open her eyes. Sometimes it could go twenty minutes or so before she'd realize even if she still looked and acted asleep, she was wide awake, just maybe too comfortable to more or, other times… evading.

Santana would test her, tracing her finger along the bridge of her nose, causing an involuntary flinch if she was awake. On a particularly stubborn morning, she would just resettle, like nothing had happened, and Santana would allow her five minutes more. On that morning though, she'd done the nose maneuver five or six times, always being refused those blue eyes opening.

"Britt, come on," she laughed. No response. "You know you're not fooling anyone… especially me."

"No," she finally spoke, unmoved.

"No?" Santana repeated.

"If I don't wake up, day can't start. If day can't start…" she left it there, but Santana understood. Slipping her hand around the blonde's back, she pulled her closer. Rather than opening her eyes, she only allowed herself to latch on to her girlfriend and carried on her sleep campaign.

"We have one more day together, do you honestly just want to spend it here?" she smiled. There were a couple of seconds' silence, then…

"Yes." Santana considered this, tilting her head.

"Well, it has its merits, I'll give you that." She felt Brittany nod against her. "Don't you want to do anything special?"

"Bottom drawer," she mumbled. Santana shivered at the thought, but she pulled herself together.

"Not that kind of special," she clarified, earning a disapproving mutter. "Your parents are home, and we both know what would happen if we… indulged."

"Can we still stay here?" she begged, breathing at Santana's neck.

"Like I can say no," she smiled, kissing the side of her head, and that earned her the full bridging of the gap between them. She sighed, dragging her fingers along Brittany's back.

She wanted to say 'maybe I can push my flight a day or two,' but she'd only be kidding herself, prolonging the inevitable, and it wouldn't be fair, to either of them.

It took some time before she felt something run over her skin and she realized Brittany was crying. "Oh… no… no, no, hey," she wrapped her arms closer around her. "Don't, please, before I…" She had already lost. She could feel her throat grow tighter, eyes sting. "Gotta be strong, remember?"

"No…" Brittany refused, and it only brought them down further. "Not now… later." Santana had been all about powering through, they both had… Now they both needed one moment to just live out the truth that this situation sucked and neither of them cared for it, because they would miss each other. They had to let it out, unload the pent up emotions. So for a time they held and they acknowledged how much they were hurting.

"I'm hungry," Brittany had finally sniffled after a while, and Santana breathed.

"Me, too. Ready to get up?" she asked. "We don't have to if you don't…"

"No, I want to," Brittany promised. It had done them both some good. Now they could move on. So they had gotten up, they had dressed, and they had gone to have breakfast. "You could take Lord Tubbington," she had suddenly said.

"What?" Santana looked up.

"It'll be like having me there," she reasoned.

"That's sweet, but I couldn't take him away from you…"

"You could," Brittany insisted. "Might take him away from those gangs…"

"Lord Tubbers belongs with you, Britt."

"So do you… but you're going," Brittany pointed out, and it silenced them again.

"You keep him, then I'll know there's still someone looking out for you," she spoke, and the smile on Brittany's face told her that she'd hit right.

Their day was spent much like this, in quiet moments and warmth stocked up to last them until the next time. When Santana would leave to go home that night, it would be goodbye. No words were needed… They had all been said. All that was left was one kiss, a hug, another kiss. It could take forever, but she had gone.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!