Santana didn't really want to go out with Puck for his 22nd birthday, but Brittany was never home on Saturday nights and Santana hated being alone in their apartment. It always creeped her out. So when Puck asked her to go with him and some of his musician friends, she agreed.

"Where's Brittany?" he asked when she walked up to him outside the club they were going to.

She looked up and wasn't surprised to see a neon girl advertising topless waitresses and beer. Santana replied flippantly, "She has a study group or something."

"A dance study group?" he quirked an eyebrow.

Truthfully, Santana had tried not to think about it. Brittany had been going out on Saturday nights and sometimes Friday nights without ever giving Santana a straight answer on where she was going. Santana never thought Brittany was capable of cheating, but all the signs pointed straight to it. It had been going on for a couple weeks now. Everything else was normal except Saturday nights. Brittany was still the same loving, adorning, and amazing girlfriend she always was during the week.

Santana just blew him off, "Wasn't this a bodega?" She gestured to the building.

Puck nodded, "Some dude bought it and turned it into a strip joint."

"Lucky you," Santana mumbled as Puck's friends walked up.

Puck paid Santana's way inside because he knew she was having financial problems. Hers and Brittany's parents paid their rent and bills, but she still had to buy books and school stuff causing her to be broke constantly. Luckily, before she left the apartment she found a hundred dollars in her wallet hidden behind her ID. She didn't remember hiding it there, but it was good for a few drinks and some coffee in the morning when she and Brittany would wake up.

The club was nicer on the inside than the outside. Velvety red drapes hung all over the walls and large plush chairs were accented by dim table lamps that reminded Santana of something from a picture of a 1920s speakeasy from her history class.

"This is nice," one of Puck's friends said and walked over to one of the chairs. Santana opted to sit at the bar. She didn't need to look at the women dance on the stage because she had the most beautiful dancer in the world at home…or wherever she was on Saturdays.

"What can I get you?" the bartender walked over to her.

Santana exhaled trying to decide what kind of hangover she wanted. "Vodka RedBull please."

The bartender nodded and came back with her drink. Santana paid for it and watched as Puck and the guys ogled the girls that were dancing on the stage.

She turned back at the bar and looked into her bubbly champagne colored drink. She sighed, wishing Brittany was there so they could pick apart the strippers clothes before they took them off and then giggle when one of them would slip a single into one of the g-strings.

"Santana!" Puck called and waved her over.

She picked up her drink and walked over, plopping into the chair next to him. He already had a beer bottle in his hand. This wasn't the worst place in the world to spend a Saturday night, but she could think of better places.

Suddenly all the lights dimmed and the strobes started flashing. A single light came on behind a white screen that showed a silhouette of a girl. They way she moved was in beat with the music was sexy even though no one could see her. Santana would be lying if she said she wasn't slightly turned on. The heels on the girls feet were a good four inches, but she seemed to have no problem dropping it like it was hot behind the screen.

Santana took a long drink out of the glass in her hand trying to cool herself off. No one but Brittany had ever been able to do that to her. She wanted to see the face of this girl.

As if on cue, the screen flew up with another strobe so everyone's eyes took a minute to adjust back to the dark. The girl had made her way to the pole in the middle of the started to grind on it.

Before she saw it, she heard Puck say, "Oh my god."

Then she knew exactly why she was turned on like she was. The girl on the pole was Brittany. The glass dropped out of Santana's hand with a loud clatter and it shook Brittany out of her dance. When she saw Santana her face went pale. Her chest got heavy under her rhinestone-studded bra and her breathing was shallow.

Santana didn't even know how she got up onto the stage, but when she did, she searched Brittany's eyes, she wasn't sure for what. "What are you doing?"

"Hey!" the bouncer came lumbering over, "Off the stage!"

The lights came up and Brittany still hadn't said anything.

Puck tried to keep the bouncer from getting on the stage, but a good punch to the nose stopped that.

"It's okay Dan," Brittany sighed to the bouncer and pulled Santana backstage.

A short man in a white button down shirt walked up to her as they got backstage, "What the hell is that? You're the best dancer. People wait all week to see you. Why the hell aren't you out there?"

"Just-" Brittany took a deep breath, "Give me a second."

Then Dan looked at Santana who was surveying his comb-over, "Unless you wanna dance here too, you need to get out."

"I'm not going anywhere," Santana growled.

He glanced behind them at a row of vanities. He took a picture out of one of the mirrors and studied it, then looked at Santana. Then he turned to Brittany, "What did I tell you about bringing your girlfriend here? She gets mad, shit gets broken. I have to pay for it."

"She's not going to break anything," Brittany answered, trying to get Santana to look at her.

He shook his head then called over his shoulder, "Nina! Get on stage!"

A girl with choppy blonde hair walked stood from her vanity. She smiled at Brittany, "Call me later Sunshine. Lunch Tuesday. Don't forget."

Brittany smiled back, "I won't." She hugged Nina who was half naked already. Then she stepped out onto the stage.

"You really need to leave," he told Santana as he waved in the bouncer.

"Whatever," Santana threw her hands up. Her head was spinning anyway and she really needed to think. She turned on her heel and stepped onto the stage before jumping into the crowd and walking out the door with Puck on her heels.

It all made sense now. Brittany being gone and the mysterious appearance of all that money she'd been finding. She knew she didn't leave a twenty in her jeans the other day. She knew she didn't have a hundred dollars that had magically appeared in her wallet. She knew if there was forty bucks in her purse, she would have known sooner.

"Santana!" Puck called and jogged to catch up to her. "What happened?"

Santana just shook her head, "I have no idea."

Brittany started to follow Santana but remembered she wasn't wearing enough clothes to be out in public so she threw on her jeans and Santana's leather jacket that she borrowed this morning before grabbing her purse and running out the door.

She wasn't sure which way Santana went, but she did know where Santana went when they needed to have a serious talk and this seemed to be one of the times Santana would want to have a serious talk.

"So she's a stripper," Puck argued as Santana continued walking down the damp streets, "Big damn deal, she's still Brittany."

"She's a stripper and she didn't tell me Puck," Santana rolled her eyes.

Puck tilted his head to the side, "What would you have told her if she said she was going to be a stripper?"

"Hell no," Santana turned on her heel to face off with Puck face to face, "She doesn't need to be a stripper."

"Who really needs to be a stripper?" Puck asked with a smirk, "She could wait tables with every other aspiring dancer, actor, and musician in this city. It sure pays better and there aren't people yelling at you all day because you brought them cold coffee."

Santana sighed, "I just want to know why she felt like she needed to do this."

"Maybe she's doing it because you bitch constantly about being broke," he explained, "Maybe it's because you two are broke all the time. Maybe she just likes it. Why don't you give her a chance to explain?"

Santana crossed her arms and looked at the ground before looking up at Puck, "Rachel's been making you watch Oprah with her hasn't she?"

Puck chuckled and hugged Santana, "Yes."

Brittany sat on the roof of their apartment building kicking at the grimy roof under her feet. It was starting to get cold outside, but she didn't care because she was going to wait for Santana, no matter how long it took.

When Santana finally got up the fire escape to the roof of their building Brittany was already sitting on the ground leaning up against a vent with her arms wrapped around herself. She scrambled to her feet when she saw Santana. Then she mumbled out an awkward, "Hey."

"Hey," Santana bit her lip and walked to the three-foot tall brick wall that surrounded the roof. She leaned onto it and surveyed the sketchy neighborhood they lived in.

Brittany walked over beside her and looked up, trying to see some stars that were being drowned in the lights of the city.

"Why?" was the only question on Santana's mind. She looked to Brittany who paused to string together an answer.

"Because you've been worrying a lot," Brittany confessed, "At night you'll get all quiet and you won't talk to me. I know you're worried about money and stuff. And you don't want to ask our parents for more money."

Santana turned around to lean back on the wall, "So stripping was the first thing that came to your mind?"

Brittany immediately shook her head, "No. There was a flyer when I got out of class. This guy was looking for dancers. My friend told me that the paper meant strippers, but I went anyway. I don't actually take my clothes off." Brittany had been gripped the flaps on her jacket and pulled them open to show the rhinestone-studded bikini top from earlier, "This is as naked as I get. I just dance. And get paid for it."

"Do you like it?" Santana asked quietly.

This answer wasn't as immediate. Brittany put her hands on top of the wall and leaned on it, "I like the girls. They're great friends. And I like dancing. I don't care who it's in front of."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Santana asked biting her lip, trying not to look as vulnerable as she felt.

Brittany could tell that Santana was hurt to be left out of the loop. She moved so that she was standing in front of her and put her hands on Santana's hips, "Because I knew you'd worry more. I'm doing this so that you can be happy. I like it when you're happy."

Santana hung her head, embarrassed about overacting in the club. She guessed what Brittany was doing wasn't terrible. She just didn't like the idea of other guys or girls checking Brittany out the way she got to. However, since Brittany didn't take anything off, she'd be getting the same looks at a beach or a pool in a bikini so that jealousy was flawed.

"You don't do private dances?" Santana asked.

"No."

"Lap dances?"

Brittany smirked, "Only for you."

Santana broke into a smile and brought her lips to Brittany's in a soft, apologetic kiss. Her hands went to the skin under Brittany's jacket and the warmth caused her to shiver. She smiled. Other people may get to look at Brittany, but Santana was the only one that got to touch.

"How about we go inside and you can show me this lap dance I've heard so much about?" Santana waggled her eyebrows causing Brittany to giggle.

They ran inside hand in hand so that Brittany could show Santana some of the moves she picked up at the club during Santana's very own private show.