A/N: Hello! With this fic I'll try and go more in depth into Santana's life (her family, her relationship with Brittany). I'll update as soon as I can, and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing this. Feedback is always appreciated. Don't forget to follow me on tumblr: halfwayaroundthisworld is the name :)

"Love you baby, gotta run-"

Click. Santana sighed into her cellphone, trying to hold herself together. She kept it next to her ear, trying to savor those last few words. Keeping herself from calling Brittany again and begging her to come over. But she was right, there was nothing to worry about. No one heard what was said in the hallway. There was so much noise in the background. Or maybe it was her own head which produced a high timber as the words in his mouth were put together, one following the next in a pattern of spite and pure stupidity. White noise overcame her ears and her own limbs stopped blindly, each muscle numbed, knocked out of any sense of purpose. The only thing left in her body at that very moment was fear, distilled from any other emotion that she might have possessed.

"Hey Santana" Her grip on the cellphone tightened, and the small bell Brittany had tied to the cover produced a minute sound, dangling gently in a purple string, keeping her in the present. Santana's eyes were fixed on the open window next to her bed. The words came back to her so easily.

"Why don't you just come out of the closet?"

Santana flung herself on her bed, looking intently at the ceiling and trying hard to forget that strange feeling that had penetrated her as deeply as the words that echoed in her ears, produced by the voice of a stupid boy. A weak minded idiot, who, despite his intellectual capabilities, had Santana Lopez hanging by a thread, wondering, dreading… that his voice had reached an elevated tone. That other prying eyes might have watched the scene in the hallway, that people might start talking. She wouldn't care, not really. She had Brittany at her side now, even if only as a beautiful secret. She had come to realize that people would talk, no matter how she decided to come out.

What drove her senses to oblivion was if people started talking now. She still needed time to figure things out, time to find the right moment to speak to her parents. Because God knows she had not the slightest idea how they would react. And her abuela, she had a feeling she would be easier to talk to… and she was even more convinced that despite everything, she would stand by her. Hell, she might even be the one to help her tell her mom. All she had asked for was for a little more time. And Brittany knew that.

To Santana's demise, at least for the time being, the graceful blond girl she had seen grow into a beautiful woman was the only one who understood. Time is precious.

A knock on the door woke the girl hurriedly from her thoughts, and still lying sprawled on the bed she raised her head to look at the door. She had lost track of time, and by the looks of it her mother had come home early.

"Hija? Well what are you doing, lying in the bed like that? Is there no homework to be done? Is Brittany hiding under the bed?" Dina's voice edged playfully as her eyes wandered around the room, half expecting to hear a giggle betray her daughter's lips.

Santana sighed and blacked out her thoughts, she didn't want her mother, of all people, to pry on a matter that was making her grow uneasy by the second. "No, remember we're not ten anymore" she sat on the bed, hand still holding the cellphone, in her mind clutching at the hope that Brittany may be thinking of her. "She had to go to some family reunion or something, but maybe she'll drop by later". At these last words her voice failed her, the possibility of her coming was just a foolish hope. She needed Brittany to wipe out her worries. She was the only one who could provide the drug she needed. A simple kiss would do.

"Okay, okay… I just forget sometimes how much you two have grown" Her mother's hand lay passively on the doorknob, and as she was about to leave, she threw the door open again in a jolt. "Oh I almost forgot! Your father left this morning, he had to fill up for a colleague so he'll be in New York all weekend… he left you a little gift" she nodded in the direction of the desk, and Santana couldn't believe how she had completely missed the small box as she came back from school. Before she could say anything, Dina was out of the room, and all she could hear were heeled feet thumping in the direction of the master bedroom.

As Santana pulled on the green ribbon holding the white box together, she wondered if karma was making her pay for 17 years of being a fully fledged bitch. She had been waiting for this weekend for days now, she knew both her parents would be home. No conferences, no appointments, no priorities. She thought that maybe, this would be the perfect time to tell them about her feelings. Britt had even suggested being there with her to alleviate the nerves, which had turned into a small discussion between them, as Santana was repulsed at the idea of exposing her girlfriend to a bad reaction. In the end, after a succession of sweet lady kisses and Santana helplessly pinned to the bed Brittany got her way. She couldn't help a smile escape her lips. 'She's always getting her way lately.' But even then, all of her plans for a nice dinner for four were over.

All this had made her realize, that even though she had lived under the same roof with her parents, they were more like strangers to her. Not that she didn't have a good relationship with either of them, but in the end she learned from the beginning ways to escape that house, and before Brittany decided to turn her world upside down, her grandmother's house had been her home.

"What in the-?" Santana took the dreamcatcher from the box and examined it from a distance, letting the feathers dangle in the air. She had seen them before, but they were much larger and the threads that ran around the centre had different patterns. This one was much smaller, and Santana couldn't help but smile at the note that came with the unusual gift:

[I was told they keep away bad dreams. Maybe they also grant good ones. Dad]

"If only Dad…" she stopped short from making any foolish wishes. Only because there was an apparent trait for superstition in her mom's side of the family did not mean that she would believe in any of this stuff. If Leprechauns didn't make the cut before, nor would this spider web amulet.

Nevertheless, she placed it next to her bed, 'for the time being', and remembered with reluctance how she still had to go through the mash-up Ms. C had prepared. The black dress Britt had helped her pick out was already hanging on her closet, and it fit perfectly around her waist after her abuela made some changes on the fabric. The dance moves were simple enough, and for a strange reason every time they finished practicing she found her heart racing inside her, giving way to a small hint. Like a secret she couldn't quite figure out.

The only thing left was for her to go through her lines one last time and be ready for tomorrow. There was one particular verse that she struggled with, surprisingly. It wasn't exactly that she didn't reach the note, but a problem with taking in breath. During rehearsal she choked up twice… but then again it could have been that she was distracted, by the words of one Finn Fucking Hudson.

She ran her fingers through piles of unfinished work that would have to wait 'til later, and finally found the sheet music, slightly crumpled from the edges and notes scribbled all over the sides with neat, quick strokes. What caught her eye immediately was a small red heart, standing out among the print of black and white, drawn by another, next to the title of the song that would win them the competition: "Rumour Has It / Someone Like You".