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 41st cycle. Now cycle 42!

INTRODUCING "CHEAT SHEET" - If you want to know ahead of time when a certain series will be updated next, just reassemble the link below and check out the list, save it, print it, bookmark it, whatever you need!
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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 42 CHEAT SHEET **

Countdown cycle #4 - Yes, it's that time again, where I select 16 favorite things (characters, ships, friendships...) from Glee and give them each a ficlet, and a chapter fic for #1. The previous countdown cycles, if you want to check them out, were c10 [days 190-210], c25 [days 505-525], and c29 [days 589-609]. Like the last countdowns, the #1 story is split in 3 blocks, the chapters posted on Tuesdays and Wednesdays over these three weeks, with #16 to #2 from Thursdays to Mondays.
Coming in at #4...

"Right Where I Belong"
Brittany/Santana

Everyone had stayed there frozen, like someone had slowed time to a stop, so she'd taken this as her cue to exit. She'd gone through with the performance because they were depending on her, but really because she needed something to do that wouldn't be to crumble from panic. But now it had all come full circle, and it confirmed what she'd feared, that she couldn't escape it anymore. At least for this time, she had one final fugue available to her.

"Santana, wait…" She was startled by the sound of her voice, slowly came to a stop and turned around. Santana bowed her head, but then looked up again when she felt Brittany's hands on her arms. "Where are you going?" the blonde asked.

"I don't know, home, I guess," she shrugged. She was finding it hard to meet her eye, like she knew Brittany would read her in a heartbeat… she could do that, and right then Santana didn't want her to.

"I'm going with you," Brittany spoke decisively.

"You don't have to do that," Santana insisted even as she could feel a twinge of a smile trying to grip to her lips but that was being weighed down with sadness.

"I really think I do," Brittany corrected her. "I'm your best friend, and I'm your girlfriend, and something bad is happening to you… so I have twice the reason to be there," she nodded, and Santana was defeated.

"Okay," her voice was low as she nodded back.

Brittany didn't even know about that whole thing yet, the commercial… at least she didn't think she did. The whole thing had been a blur really, between leaving Coach Sylvester's office and ending up on that stage, like she wasn't sure if minutes had passed, or hours, or days… Brittany may not have known the cause of it but she would know something was up. And Santana was more thankful for her every day. Her insistence to follow was more than she could admit to herself. She didn't want to be alone, and Brittany didn't want her to be either.

Neither of them had spoken the whole way to her house. She didn't know if that would change when they got there… she wasn't sure if she had it in her, and even then what if her parents were there, or her grandmother? They shouldn't be, but then…

"You don't think Schuester or anyone's going to call my parents to tell them about…"

"… you slapping Finn?" Brittany guessed, and Santana nodded. "I don't know, maybe." Santana sighed. "Why did you? I mean I don't get…"

"Haven't you heard people talking about me, about…" Brittany didn't reply, but that silence was as good as a yes. "It'll only get worse…" she spoke to herself.

"But I don't think he was talking about you," Brittany had to say after a moment, her voice sounding like she was scared to admit it. Santana sighed… he probably wasn't, and she'd overreacted. But, no… Maybe she shouldn't have slapped him for that, but for the rest of it though, yes, she most certainly felt within her right. Who blabbed secrets like that in the middle of a McKinley hallway? Did he expect no one to hear and pass it on? That was how most anything in that school happened, one person hearing, one person telling, and the wheel went round and round. He didn't think, and that kind of made it worse.

"The damage is done anyway," she shook her head.

"What damage?" Brittany asked as they pulled up in front of the Lopez house. Santana didn't answer, getting out of the car and heading toward the front door. Brittany followed, and as they walked in Santana called out to see if anyone was there – no answer. At least she had that. Now it was just the two of them, and she wasn't going to get around it. The only thing she could hope for was for Brittany to understand she didn't feel like talking about it, that maybe at some point she would, but… not now. For the moment all she wanted was peace of mind. She'd just been running from place to place, thing to thing, and her head was too turned around to make sense of anything anymore. She needed to let go and… regroup.

"Are you going to be staying for dinner?" she found herself asking.

"I was thinking, maybe we could have a sleepover," Brittany shrugged with a tentative smile. "A real one, not the special one, although if that's what you want," she looked her in the eye and Santana had to laugh.

"Real sleepover might be nice," she admitted, and Brittany brightened. She paused. It did dawn on her that this was a thinly veiled way of saying that she didn't want to leave her on her own that night, but she kept this to herself. As far as peeling away stress, this was sounding like the best thing she could hope for. "We could finally have that Back to the Future marathon we'd been talking about," she offered with that in mind, and Brittany's nod could have powered a small appliance.

"I don't think missing homework for one day is going to change much," she pointed out, and Santana smirked… it probably wouldn't. "Okay, come on!" she moved toward her room, now with a mission, but then Santana stopped her.

"Wait…" Brittany turned back, so she approached her. "Might not get the chance to do this later."

"Do what?" the blonde asked, just as Santana moved up to kiss her, and so she responded. Santana breathed out, resting her forehead to her girlfriend's for a moment.

"Thank you," she turned her eyes up toward those bright blues. Brittany was silent, but it was as good as 'you're welcome' and so much more.

They would start the marathon after dinner. They'd changed into PJs, with Santana lending some to her guest, prepared snacks, and then they were settled in for a good evening. It was everything she'd needed, to change her mind after the assault it had been receiving. Following the adventures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown, while Brittany questioned this thing and that the whole way, was the right jolt. The girls would shift positions at one time or another, deciding on pedicures after the second movie and after everyone else had gone to bed.

With their feet dangling up over the armrests as they rested shoulder to shoulder, they let themselves get drawn back in as Marty and Doc tried to rescue Clara. Santana didn't know at what point she'd stopped paying attention, but it was probably as her eyes had wandered up to the mantle where she could see the family portrait, her parents and her when she was five… She just stared, and stared, and…

"I'm going to tell them," she heard herself say.

"Tell who what?" Brittany asked, still focused on the movie.

"Tell my parents, come out," she clarified. Brittany looked up to her.

"Right now?"

"No, not right now," she shook her head. "But soon," she declared.

"I'll go with you if you want me to," Brittany told her. Santana smiled.

"You would?" it came as a question, but in her mind it was more like 'you would do that.'

"Yeah," Brittany promised. Santana turned her head so to rest her lips to her forehead.

"Thank you," she said for the second time that day. "Might take you up on it, even if I think I should do it on my own."

"Whatever you decide," Brittany maintained her offer.

"I know," Santana smiled to her. They were quiet, letting the movie draw them back. Soon the movie had ended, the credits rolling. Three movies, and it had all gone so fast.

When they'd gone to bed, feeling the blonde just inches away was probably the only thing that got her to eventually fall asleep. What held her back was remembering that afternoon, the altercation in front of everyone in the auditorium… It felt like ages ago. It was reality, and as much as she had escaped it that night, with Brittany, come morning she'd have to screw up her courage and face it all over again. At least then, like now, she wouldn't be alone.

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!