Hey everyone! This is my first fanfic, so hopefully I'm doing this right. :)

Not much to say, except that the title for this story comes from the song "Strange & Beautiful" by Aqualung (insertnameofthatvideositehere.com/watch?v=WYgBoJRi9uk). I'm a big fan of music, so plan on seeing quite a few songs interspersed throughout my chapters. Oh! And this story is AU and is told from Brittany's perspective.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

I felt the drool on my pillowcase before I had even opened my eyes. Or, at least, I hoped it was drool and that I hadn't fallen asleep with a cup of water in my hand again. I slowly opened my eyes and patted the fabric – nope, definitely just drool.

I blinked and stared around the bright room – confusion gave way to panic as I tried to make sense of my surroundings. My heart slowed down when I recognized my own furniture. I should probably make a sign that said "Brittany's Room" and stick it to the ceiling above my bed, just in case I ever forgot in the middle of the night. I nodded to myself and slowly made my way through cardboard boxes and in to the kitchen, opening every drawer in search of something to relieve my throbbing head.

It had been 48 hours since I had stepped foot in the converted 4 bedroom apartment I would now call home, in a city that made me feel both excited and terrified. New York. The land of dreams. That's what they called it right? Or maybe that was the Titanic– or baseball. Either way, I was already overwhelmed.

"Britt – can you han me wunufthose," I heard a muffled voice call from the couch, followed by messy blonde hair peaking over the armrest. I smiled, unpopped the cork to the Advil and shuffled over to the living room with a big glass of water.

I pushed Sam's feet aside to take a seat and smirked as he tried to drink down the pills and water without moving his head from the pillow– he failed and I stifled a giggle as water spilled on to his neck and t-shirt.

Sam and I grew up together in the suburbs of Lima, Ohio. We had been friends since first grade, when Sam asked if I wanted to be the blue power ranger and said that he would be red. The answer was an obvious yes. We had tried being boyfriend/girlfriend once in high school, after years of our parents and friends making fun of us…but I think we have a silent pact now to never mention that time when he tried to kiss me sophomore year. We mashed our noses together and pulled away in disgust before our lips could touch, and I told him that the blue power ranger and the red power ranger were probably never supposed to be more than friends. He agreed and that was that.

We're both 24 now and Sam's the reason I moved to this city in the first place. Well, that and dancing… and Mike Chang I guess too. Mike's the guy who lived in this apartment before me and I was able to take his room after he moved in with his girlfriend, Tina. Or I guess she's his fiancé now and that's why they're moving in together? I don't know, I just met them last night at what Sam called my "Welcome Party"... I think it was just an excuse to drink a lot.

I let my eyes gaze over the apartment as Sam coughed down his water quietly in the background. It was small, and definitely crowded… but it was warm and cozy and my new home. The apartment was technically built for three, but at some point drywall had been erected to carve out a fourth bedroom from the large living room space and now two of Sam's friends from work, Finn and Noah – or "Puck" as he had demanded I call him when he was "off the clock" – lived in the two smallest rooms. My mom was both frightened and comforted to know that I was living with three boys, and my grandpa just told me to mention something about a shotgun.

"So what'd you think of everyone you met last night?" Finn pulled me from my thoughts. I hadn't realized that he had entered the room and plopped down in the recliner next to me.

"Everyone was really nice," I mused. "Mercedes makes the best drinks. And Puck's girlfriend is pretty." I offered when it was obvious that both boys were expecting to hear more.

"She's not my girlfriend," Puck called from his room. I guess he was listening to our conversation but was too lazy to get out of bed. Which was fine since the apartment was so small that we were practically all in the same room anyway.

"Yeah, Quinn and Puck are… complicated." Sam said while eyeing Puck's door. "They had a thing in high school, they broke up... and now they've been on and off ever since."

"Ohhh," I said slowly and nodded with understanding. Quinn had been pretty, but had hardly spoken two words to me at the party. I made a note to get to know her better so that she didn't think I was trying to steal her man or something… especially since Sam had mentioned that she lived in the same building as us.

"Speaking of Quinn, where was the roomie last night?" Finn asked as he flipped on the television and started scrolling to The Food Network. Finn was a chef at the restaurant where Sam and Puck worked – it was a place called "Burt's Bar" and was apparently a hot spot for grabbing drinks after work or on the weekends. Sam told me that whenever Finn was trying a new recipe he would make us his guinea pigs… whatever that means.

I lost track of the conversation when someone on the screen started talking about donuts. Donuts were my favorite dessert – Strawberry sprinkled ones, especially – so I listened intently to the story about "The Largest Donuts in America" until I drifted off against the armrest.

It was two days later when I remembered that Mercedes had told me to text her if I ever wanted to hang out. I knew that having friends other than Sam (and I guess now Finn and Puck) was a good idea, and Sam kept randomly mentioning Mercedes in conversation – so I figured this was a good start.

It took me awhile to find her number in my phone, since I had been drinking and spelled it "Mwrcrssdfl" the night of the party, but eventually we agreed to meet up for coffee at a place called Muggy's down the street.

Mercedes had grown up in the Bronx and gone to boarding school with Quinn in the city. That's where they had met Finn and Puck – not in boarding school, because that was for girls only, but in the city when Quinn was going through her "rebellious phase"… or at least that's what Sam told me. Mercedes had hoped to pursue a career as an R&B singer, but now she had a part in the musical "Dreamgirls" on Broadway. She told me she only had a small role at the moment, but was the understudy for the character of Effie and hoped to take over the top spot within the year. I told her I wanted to come see her perform regardless.

Mercedes was sassy and confident and slightly intimidating –but she seemed to like me and laughed whenever I said something out of the ordinary. I never found it hard to make friends, most people came around to me quickly – but it did take some people longer to adjust to what my younger sister described as a "strange, but beautiful" personality. My mom just worried that people wouldn't understand me outside of Ohio. I told her that everyone was a little bit strange and a little bit beautiful, but sometimes they just needed someone to show them their beautiful side. I still don't know why that made her look more worried.

"Hey Rachel! Can a girl get some coffee cake up in here?" Mercedes called towards the back of the small café. I saw a shorter, brown haired girl poke her head up from behind the counter and scowl – but within seconds she was making her way to our table with a cinnamon cake in hand.

"Mercedes, just because you are my roommate does not mean that you can make me your personal slave. And I'll have you know that I made the coffee cake fresh this morning, so I expect you to pay for it." The girl added as she placed the plate on the table and folded her arms across her chest.

Mercedes just rolled her eyes and turned towards me. "Brittany, this is my roommate Rachel. We met in acting class a few years back. She plays Maria in a –

"Up and coming, provocative, and innovate theater company." Rachel tried to cut her off.

"Small, off-Broadway production of West Side Story" Mercedes deadpanned, and then continued "she acts in the evenings and works here during the day. Don't let her first impression fool you, she's actually hella cool."

Rachel's face changed from offended to extremely pleased within seconds as she offered her hand to me to shake.

"Hi Brittany. You must be the girl who just moved in with Fi- I mean, Sam and the boys!" She said animatedly. "I was supposed to make it to the party the other night, but our director had some…personal issues he needed to deal with, so I had to stand in and direct one of our other productions last minute."

"So you direct AND act?" I asked, my eyes grew wide.

"Yes, well –all in a day's work for someone with my credentials." She dismissed."But anyway, tell me about yourself! Where are you from, what do you do, are you single, and what type of man are you attracted to?" She asked quickly as she took a seat across from me and excitedly placed her hands under her chin.

Mercedes rolled her eyes again. "Girl, you have GOT to be less terrifying with your introductions. And definitely less obvious with your attempts to do background checks on Finn's friends."

I smiled back at Rachel who was now blushing. "Umm...l...well," I was never very good at ice breakers. "I'm from Lima, Ohio – same town as Sam... anddd I moved here because I was offered a job as an assistant choreographer at a dance studio nearby. I couldn't leave home for awhile after high school because my Dad was kind of sick and I wanted to help my mom pay for the hospital bills and take care of my sister, Maggie – but this job definitely pays better than Breadstix, and it's what I love to do, anddd Sam said I could live in his apartment for super cheap. So, here I am!" I finished and started picking at the cinnamon cake in front of me.

Rachel and Mercedes exchanged looks like they didn't quite know how to respond. I guess I hadn't mentioned that part about my family during the party… so I just kept talking.

"I didn't really want to come to New York, because my grandpa always said that it was for 'floosies and sellouts'. But Sam really likes it here, and I wanted to try something new, and his friends, well - you guys - seem really cool, so… yeah. And my family's fine now, by the way – so don't worry about that." I smiled and finally stuck the cinnamon cake in my mouth. "Wow. This is really good." I made sure to put my hand over my mouth to catch any crumbs.

Mercedes and Rachel both smiled now and the three of us continued chatting until Rachel had to go back to work and Mercedes needed to head to the theater for a matinee show.

I waved goodbye and started heading home. My apartment was only a few blocks away, so it didn't take long. I brought a coffee for Sam and extra cinnamon cake for Finn and Puck, since I wasn't sure what kind of coffee they liked yet... or if they liked coffee at all.

I heard banging noises the second the elevator doors to my floor opened. They got louder as I walked towards my apartment, and when I turned the corner at the end of the hallway - there was a girl standing outside the door across from ours in black boots, a black leather jacket, and large black sunglasses. She had her fist raised mid-knock when she saw me, but then she lowered it and tried to act as though she was just casually waiting for someone to open the door. She was surrounded by two large suitcases and she was staring intently at her phone as I passed. I noticed the screen was black.

I had to maneuver somewhat awkwardly around one of her bags to reach my door and let out a hushed "hi" and "excuse me" as I did so. She didn't say anything back but I did catch a slightly confused look when she realized that I was opening the door to the apartment across from her. I let myself in and shut the door.

No one was home so I placed the coffee and cinnamon cake on the counter and took a seat on the couch. I had attended my first dance rehearsal that morning before coffee with Mercedes, and the couch had been calling my name ever since.

Five minutes passed before I realized that I hadn't heard any movement outside the door, so I got up and peeked through the peephole to see if the girl was still outside. I could see her bags, but that was all - so I opened the door to make sure nothing bad had happened to her. I found her sitting on the ground with her back against the door and her knees drawn up to her chest - she must have been hidden behind her bags when I checked through the weird fishbowl shaped glass of the peephole. Not a very effective design, I thought. Her eyes had been closed, but they shot open when she heard the door move. She eyed me suspiciously and waited for me to keep walking down the hall.

But I didn't, instead I just smiled and waved. She raised one eyebrow and didn't respond, so I just stepped further in to the hallway.

"Are you locked out?" I asked and pointed to her door.

"Yep." She responded dryly and looked down the hall.

"Do you need somewhere to put your bags? Or a phone to call someone?" I ventured."This neighborhood is pretty safe, I think - I mean, I just moved here - but I would still feel bad if someone stole you or your bags and I didn't do anything to stop it."

She looked like she wasn't going to respond, so instead of pestering her I just let out an airy "oookay" and turned back to my door.

I was already halfway through the entrance when I heard her clear her throat to speak. "And how do I know that you wouldn't try to steal me or my bags?"

I turned around quickly and tried to decide if her question was serious or not. Even though I thought I saw a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips, I decided to play it safe.

"Well, I have pepper spray." I offered. "My mom gave it to me when I decided to move here. I can give it to you to hold while you're in my apartment?"

She finally smiled and lightly shook her head. "I live here, actually. My roommate's just a giant ass flake who apparently forgot to tell me that she changed the locks."

"Oh." I said and started fiddling with the ends of the scarf I was wearing. I was excited that she was talking to me, and apparently we were neighbors - so I wanted to keep this going.

"Soo, do you want to come inside until you can get a hold of your roommate?" I asked again. "I have coffee - well, it's a hazelnut latte. Or cinnamon cake? Or water if you don't like either of those options? I haven't had a chance to go to the grocery store yet so-"

"Okay."

I stopped talking and snapped my eyes down to her.

"If Jewfro realizes I'm out here he'll try to talk to me, and then I won't be able to control myself from eventually slapping him across that pimple village he calls a face." She huffed as she stood up and I could tell she was rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses.

"I'm Brittany." I smiled and extended my hand to her.

"Santana."She said and grabbed both her bag handles before she could return the shake. She followed me inside and I shut the door.

Once she was in my apartment, I realized that I hadn't planned much further than an introduction... and silence quickly filled the room.

She reached to take her sunglasses off at the same time I opened the fridge to get her a glass of water, and from the corner of my eye I could see that she was surveying our apartment.

"I live with boys." For some reason I felt the need to clarify, even though our apartment wasn't that messy. She didn't seem surprised though, and just nodded her head with her back still turned to me.

"Did you want water? I'm going to have a glass. It's purified... but I don't know if I believe that because it doesn't take very long to go from regular water to purified water when I fill up the jug." I held a glass in her direction.

Finally she turned around and made eye contact with me for the first time. She had an amused smile and shook her head "no" as she walked back towards me to stand on the opposite side of the kitchen counter.

Her eyes were chocolaty brown and I didn't want to blink as long as she was staring at me. And then suddenly I was struck by the feeling that I had seen her before.

"Have we met before?" I asked as my head cocked slightly to the side.

She looked away now and shook her head "no" again. I scrunched my mouth to the side in confusion, because I usually had a good memory when it came to faces.

Before I could place it, she spoke. "So, why did you move to this shithole of a city? Are you dating one of the guys?" She was now flipping through the pages of the People magazine I had left on the counter earlier. I could tell she wasn't really paying attention to the magazine content, because she was flipping the pages too fast and talking to me at the same time.

"No," I laughed. "My family lives in Ohio and my mom said it was time for me to move out. So here I am." I decided to remain vague this time, since my original ice breaker answer to Rachel's question had seemed to make her and Mercedes uncomfortable.

"Do you not get along with your family or something?" She asked nonchalantly, but when she looked up at me briefly I could tell that she was curious to hear my answer.

I was startled by her insinuation and quickly began shaking my head. She looked down again and almost seemed disappointed.

"I'm really close with my family," I responded, still shaking my head. I knew I looked confused. "Especially after my dad died."

Her head snapped up again. Shit. That was weird of me to say, wasn't it. I took in a big breath before I continued talking.

"We knew it was going to happen, so we were prepared. But it brought me, my mom and my sister really close together. I probably would have stayed in Lima forever, but my mom told me I was too young to get stuck somewhere like that." I closed my mouth now and started fiddling with my hands and staring down at my shoes. What had made me say that? She had been here for barely two minutes and now she was definitely going to leave.

But when I looked up, she was still there. And now her eyes were soft. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it when keys started rattling in the door.

A few seconds later, Puck walked in. He looked startled when he saw her, and then confused.

"Umm Santana... Are you lost?" he asked unsurely as he took in her appearance and the large suitcases by her feet.

Now I was confused. I looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to remember if I had missed something.

"Puckerman, how could I be lost when the rodent living on your head continues to remind me that I'm home? I even brought nuts - back from LA, in case you had neglected to feed it." She gestured up toward his mohawk. "Clearly that's not a problem though... since it looks more feral and rabid than ever."

I was still confused, and worried about what I had said – but I let out a small laugh anyway. Puck looked unamused, but not offended.

"Good to see you too, Santana. Quinn's back. I'm guessing she forgot to tell you about the locks?"

Finally I put two and two together – so Quinn lived across the hall, and Santana was her roommate?

Santana was already grabbing her bags and moving toward the door."Yep. She also forgot to answer her phone. I'm guessing she left her charger over here again?"

Puck let out a tired laugh and nodded his head. He grabbed one of Santana's bags as she struggled slightly to get it through the door.

I could hear Quinn outside welcoming Santana home, and my door started close – when suddenly it popped open again and Santana leaned in.

"See you around, Brittany." She said with a small smile. The door closed again before I could respond.