Hello to anyone reading this!

Uh, so I've been playing around with the idea of Santana coming back to visit the place she came from, for a while. Santana is really a great character, and I'm glad they gave her some backstory finally. She's really easy to write too, if you don't make her a bitch who cusses every other word...

At first I thought maybe California? But then I was watching glee and they said that Nationals was in Chicago this year…so I guess Chicago it is!

May I just say that I love Chicago a lot and have always wanted to visit, but never have, so the places in this fanfic maybe a bit off? Oh, and if you're from Chicago, I would love to speak to you to help with research…not likely I'll get anyone who is, but you never know!

…I'll stop rambling now and let you read…

The endless white blanket of clouds broke as the plane slowly, ever so slowly, descended towards its target. The horizon could be seen in the distance, over the towering rooftops, as the sun set on another hot, early May day. The town seemed to be lazy, tired, like its residents as they came back from their respective jobs in the main city.

It always amazed me how this town reflected its people so much. I guess that's why I loved it so much, besides the obvious reasons that I was born and raised here. Chicago was not one of those big cities that never slept…which city was that anyway? I could never remember…LA? Dallas? No, definitely not Dallas…New York? Maybe I should look it up. I bet it's a lot of cities. Like Buenos Aires. I know for a fact that Buenos Aires never sleeps.

Ahem.

Chicago wasn't really as wild as those other cities in my opinion, at least not during the day, and at least not where I grew up. Sure it was fun to cause trouble in the slums with the other hoodlums, but I didn't grow up in the worst neighborhood in Chicago by a long shot. Most days where "off" kinda days, we would make our way around the drug stores and restaurants, hooting and hollering about God knows what and dog whistling at the hot high school girls that worked in said drug stores and restaurants. Most of them knew us anyway and would pay no mind at our childish advances on them, but would slip us extra candy bars and biscuits for our trouble.

We were total studs, my buddies and I.

But then I left after my father got a better job offer in St. Rita's and hadn't been back. I wondered what they had been up to, my group of friends. There were at least twenty of us by the time I left. Were they still together? Would they remember me?

I had promised to write, but I got caught up in moving to a new town and then starting high school. And then I met Brittany and she became the only clear thing in my mind for a long time. Sometimes she still is.

But after the Nationals destination was announced, Chicago joined her in my mind's clarity, as well as all of the names of my greatest friends. Sam…Pete…Bobby…Deryck…

I must have made a face, because Brittany was looking at me kinda weird. I smiled.

"You excited?" I asked, lightly lacing our fingers together. Her head bobbed with a nod, her eyes and cheeks and mouth smiling at me.

"Totally," she confirmed, as if I didn't see her nod. I grinned back at her and rested back against the seat as I felt the familiar feel of the plane descending more sharply.

We could have driven to Chicago. It was only a four hour ride from Lima by car, but I had insisted on taking the plane because—well I had my reasons.

I just wish my hopes would not go unfulfilled.

O'Hare airport was not a stranger to anyone in Chicago. Prior to 2005, O'Hare was the world's busiest airport in terms of takeoffs and landings. Mainly due to limits imposed by the federal government to reduce flight delays at O'Hare, it was reduced to the third place, with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport becoming the first. It is the world's second busiest airport in terms of aircraft movements, however, and personally I have always found it to be the best anyway, as a native Chicagoan would.

Our group got off the plain at about seven, and after collecting our suitcases we finally, finally got our first taste of Chicago in standing outside the airport. The smell and sound of Chicago was like home. I didn't even know Chicago smelled different until I hadn't gotten the chance to smell it in years. The air was warm and a gentle hot breeze was blowing softly, tickling my skin. The town was coming alive now, the bright lights of downtown were visible in the distance.

Brittany nudged me lightly as I stared off into the orange aura radiating off the city. I looked to her as she pointed to a figure a couple of yards away from us.

It was a person. A female in baggy second hand cloths and a wicked smirk which would put Quinn to shame. She was watching us—me, actually, with sharp eyes.

I recognized her immediately, of course, because how can a person not recognize the person you grew up with?

Briefly I wondered if I should go to talk to her, but Mr. Shue chose at that moment to announce a major drawback in our trip. One of many, as it would be.

"Guys, I just got a call from our hotel. It seems our rooms have been given away."

There was sounds of outrage from my friends. Many people threw us looks and raised eyebrows. Mr. Shue made motions for us to calm down.

"What are we gonna do, Mr. Shue?" Mercedes wanted to know.

"I guess we'll just have to try another hotel and see if there is any room for us."

"You won't find a hotel with an open room." A voice said from behind me. It was a raspy voice, one that I knew very well, and one which paralyzed me with uncertainty. As the rest of the group turned to look at the source, I didn't.

I guess I looked kind of awkward, deliberately facing a different direction than everyone, but at that moment I couldn't really bring myself to care.

"I couldn't help but overhear your dilemma." She continued after a moment of silence. Her voice was casual, as if she had already begun to trust us.

"Oh." Mr. Shue's one breath kind of summed up what we were all feeling.

"I'm Sam," she said after a while, and briefly I wondered if I should turn around now and end the awkwardness. She hadn't called me out yet, so maybe she didn't remember me.

No, she remembered. The way she was looking at me earlier was evidence to that. I bet she even remembered that candy bar I promised to give her when we were ten...

The sun was setting quickly now, and the possibility of having to sleep at the airport crossed my mind, if we wouldn't find a suitable place to stay by the end of the night. Chances are, it would rain tonight, too.

"I know a place down in Near North Side. Pretty cheap motel run by a friend of mine's family, if you would like to stay there." Sam threw out after another long silence.

I inhaled sharply. I knew what she was talking about, of course. My family had been the prime financial supporter of getting that place on paper and then onto the ground. It had cost us nearly a million dollars, but my father was happy to do it. My friends Scotty, Deryck, and Bobby helped their old man run the place after their mother passed away a couple of years before I left. Bobby was my closest friend out of the three, and was also involved with it some, but he never really did anything except carry suitcases for guests. I wonder if he worked there seriously now.

Mr. Shue laughed that annoying, relieved laugh of his and the tension broke as mutters started erupting from the group.

"There should be an eight o'clock bus coming 'round shortly. You guys need to get on it." Sam instructed lightly. Mr. Shue nodded.

"Are you not coming with us?" Finn blinked. Sam looked at him and smirked.

"I've got places to be and stuff to do. Don't worry, I'm sure Santana can lead you there. She knows what I'm talking about."

The comment was so casual and light that I almost didn't catch my name in it. But then I did, and by the time I turned around to everyone's curious eyes, Sam was strutting off.

The buses of Chicago, as one would have it, were sometimes on time and sometimes late. I always found that to be a metaphor for life, in a way. Almost a hurry-up-and-wait kind of life.

My friends and I got around mostly by buses in the time that I lived here, so a lot of the drivers knew me. Our bus was running late by five minutes, now, and the air was getting cooler outside. It was not cold, really, but that hot breeze had warped into a cool one, and many of my companions had rummaged through their suitcases and found jackets.

Nobody really asked me about Sam, surprisingly, and I had a feeling they would, but later, and not all at once.

I wondered how I would explain. I could just take the easy way out and say she was just a friend. But then, why would she have been waiting for me at the airport? That was not a "just friends" action. That was lovers action. Or maybe not. Friends wait for each other at airports all the time, right? But not everyday for four years, like she promised she would.

I wondered if she actually had done that. That was kinda desperate. And really sweet. But also rather creepy...in a charming way.

Would Brittany have done that if I left her and promised to one day come back?

I would have to ask her that someday. But not now, because the bus was here.

So, hope you guys enjoyed the first little glimpse into this fic. I'll continue it, because I want to put my all into this, and I'm already formulating some later chapters of this. I don't know how long it will be, exactly, but I don't really plan before I write anyway.

You'll get to meet more of her friends in the next chapter.

Anyway, thanks for reading!