Chapter 1

It was the weekend before Valentine's Day and Santana didn't have her gift for Brittany yet. Santana was lying on her bed, her feet up against the headboard, tapping her toe. Her arms were splayed to the sides. She was at a loss.

Her mother walked by her room and saw Santana lying there, dejected.

"Honey, what's wrong," Mrs. Lopez asked as she stood in the doorway. "Did you and Brittany have a fight?"

Santana huffed out a frustrated breath and stared at the ceiling. "No Mama. We didn't fight. I have no idea what to get Britt for Valentine's Day and it's Tuesday. Tuesday!"

Mrs. Lopez gave her daughter a sympathetic smile and sat down on Santana's bed.

"What do you have so far?" Mrs. Lopez asked, trying to assess the severity of Santana's angst.

"Dinner and a movie," Santana sighed. "I'm going to get her a card too. But I don't want to do the chocolates and flowers and you know, all the cheesy standard stuff."

"You're putting too much pressure on yourself Santana," her mother comforted. "Brittany isn't the type of girl that wants a big show or big presents, is she?"

Santana smiled and rolled her eyes, "No. She's definitely low-maintenance, but I want it to be special. This is our first official Valentine's Day. You know?"

Mrs. Lopez smiled at her frustrated teenager. "You just want to impress her, don't you?"

"I just want her to know how much she means to me," Santana confessed. "I just don't want to be lame," Santana sighed.

"I don't think you have any fear of that Santana. I doubt Brittany will ever think you're 'lame'," Mrs. Lopez chuckled.

"It's not funny Mama," Santana pouted. "It's important."

"I know that sweetheart. Do you want me to help?" Mrs. Lopez asked.

Santana raised a questioning eyebrow.

"What are Brittany's favorite flowers?"

"She likes wildflowers to be honest. She doesn't like roses and all those fancy ones. We always pick wildflowers in the Summer," Santana smiled.

"Well you can't get her those in February then, can you? So no bouquets of flowers. How about, instead of one big present, you get her a lot of little ones. Like a basket filled with all her favorite little things?" Mrs. Lopez suggested.

Santana scrunched up her face in disapproval and shook her head.

"Jewelry?" Mrs. Lopez suggested.

Santana shot her a worried look.

"No! No, not that kind of jewelry. No rings. I meant like a necklace," Mrs. Lopez smiled. "Please promise me no rings, okay?"

Santana smiled and let out a little laugh. "Don't worry Mama. I'm not going to ask Britt to marry me."

Mrs. Lopez let out a relieved breath and smiled.

"Yet," Santana added with a grin.

Mrs. Lopez looked sideways at her daughter. "Fine. When you're 25 and no sooner," Mrs. Lopez commanded, pointing a finger at Santana and rose to her feet.

"Promise Mama," Santana conceded, and sat up on the edge of her bed. "I'm going to head out to the mall and see if I can find some inspiration."

Santana grabbed her leather jacket and her car keys and headed out on the hunt for a Valentine's Day present worthy of Brittany.

Santana's senses were assaulted with the explosion of pink, red and white at every turn around the mall. Santana wandered from store to store, each stop adding to her frustration. Her only amusement was watching the all the men with desperation dripping from their faces make awful gift choices for their girlfriends/wives. But she wasn't fairing any better. Giant pink teddy bear? No. Heart charm necklace? Definitely not. She passed by the jewelry store and found every heart-shaped monstrosity in diamond, ruby, silver and gold. All tacky. None of them said, "Brittany". Santana gave up on presents for now, and headed to the card store. At least she could get one simple thing done today.

Santana made her way down the Valentine's Day aisle, and stood back to take in the selection. Serious. Romantic. Cartoons. Religious. "To My Wife", "To My Husband". Santana sighed. Santana found out quickly there wasn't going to be a "To My Girlfriend, Love Your Girlfriend" kind of card. With a shrug, Santana moved down the aisle to the blank cards and in less than a minute, found a card for Brittany.

On her drive home, Santana spied an antique store and pulled in. An 80 year old woman manned the counter. Santana tried to take in the store, but it was an overload of clocks, china, typewriters, dolls, books, watches, furniture, lamps, birdcages, signs and a few clothes. Santana approached the counter, which doubled as a jewelry case.

The old woman put down her book and smiled at Santana. "Looking for something in particular?" she asked with a kind smile.

"Um, I'm not sure yet," Santana replied honestly. She shoved her hands into her jeans pockets, and eyed the jewelry in the case.

"Valentine's Day gift?" the old woman asked.

Santana gave her a closed-mouth smile and a quick nod, still looking at the bracelets, rings, necklaces and watches in the case.

"For a girl or a boy?" pressed the old woman.

Santana's head shot up to meet the old woman's eyes, half in shock and half curious. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She swallowed and tried and again.

"Um…I…it's for…"

"It's okay honey," the old shopkeeper interrupted Santana with a smile. "Is there something that catches your eye?" she asked, directing her gaze to the case.

Santana spotted a bracelet. It was silver with a t-bar clasp hanging off of it. Santana pointed it out and the old woman retrieved it from the case for Santana to inspect.

"It's an old watch chain," she explained. "It would make a lovely charm bracelet," she continued. "I have some charms you may like," the old woman said, turning to rummage through an old drawer filled with little boxes.

Santana let the chain run through her hand, and thought about adding charms to it for Brittany on birthdays, special occasions, or just because. She smiled to herself.

The old woman turned back to Santana with a handful of silver charms. A shamrock, a heart, a shoe, a cat, a dog, a key, a flower and the one that made the cut.

"It's perfect," Santana smiled. "She'll love it," Santana whispered, almost to herself.

The old woman smiled and took the bracelet and charm from Santana.

"I'll just clean this up for you and secure the charm."

Santana arrived home with her card and jewelry box and headed straight to her room. She grabbed a notebook and started writing romantic missives that she'd include in the card. Five sheets of notebook paper and a little hair-pulling later, Santana settled on one line for the card. She sealed the envelope and set it aside with a satisfied smile.