Hop.

Hop.

Hop.

Jump rope was fun. Like, really fun. Brittany hopped again, keeping the rope's steady rhythm without hesitation – she was good at this, too. It was something that came naturally to her, other than dancing. That was fun, too, but Mike wasn't here and he was the best person to dance with. They made a good team, Brittany and Mike. Good enough to get them to Regionals again.

Little kids were starting to gather around the blonde, egging her on as her tricks became more elaborate. The air was growing colder, and the sky was growing darker. It was winter, and apparently that meant it got dark sooner. Brittany had no idea why, and right now, doing those jump rope tricks was more important.

Brittany did a double jump, then a triple jump. Cotton-eyed Joe, backwards jumps, anything she could think of. She smiled to herself. Coach Sylvester will be really proud of me for staying in shape over break. Of course, the thought that Coach would kill her – or at the least kick her off the Cheerios – if she didn't keep up with her strenuous work-out routines.

Once she ended her little show, the kids swarmed around her, asking all sorts of questions. Some of them had been wary of the high school girl invading their playground, but ever since they stopped to watch, their complaints disappeared.

"Will you come back tomorrow?" A girl asked hopefullly.

"Maybe," Brittany shrugged with a smile. She didn't know. She didn't even know how she got there, so maybe not. Speaking of not remembering, Brittany wasn't sure she remembered how to get home. And she needed to get home because it was spaghetti night. Packing up her jump rope and slipping it into her coat pocket, Brittany zipped up more, and breathed into her hands, rubbing them together to stay warm.

Debating whether or not to call her house, Brittany decided against it, despite the fact her phone was in her pocket. She didn't know how to use it, didn't even know if it was on or charged. She sighed, and tried to keep herself from getting worried. Things would be fine.

Really. Things would be fine.

Not sure where else to go, the cheerleader began walking down the street, turning right at every corner, but she didn't get very far before bumping into a very familiar figure. "Finn!" Brittany launched into a hug, a strong force even for the quarterback to handle. Luckily, she was allowed to do that sort of thing as his girlfriend.

"Hey!" He laughed, scooping her into his arms.

"I'm lost," she explained solemnly once her giggling had died down. Brittany looked very sad at this fact, and extremely confused when Finn unsuccessfully tried to hide a smile. Finn shook his head and took her hand.

"You can't be that lost if you managed to find your own house." He replied, not even trying to hide his fond smile at this point. Honestly, Brittany was such a child sometimes, but Finn – and everyone else in Glee – usually found it endearing.

Still confused, Brittany scrunched up her face in deep thought. "Did I?" She turned to study the house she and Finn were standing in front of. Talk about coincidence. She smiled sheepishly, and leaned against him. "I guess I did."

He chuckled, and gestured to his car. "I was going to see if you wanted to go to Breadsticks tonight, since we don't have school tomorrow. Thought we could celebrate a little." Finn told her as they walked to the door. Brittany began to clap in excitement, and once her mother opened the door, she raced through and up the stairs, no doubt looking for something to wear other than her Cheerios uniform. Hopefully something warmer, since they didn't cover much.

Mrs. Pierce simply waved her daughter's behavior off, and invited Finn inside to wait.

"How are you?" She asked warmly, her back to him as she drained the pasta from the pot. Her hands nimbly searched for oregano in the spice cabinet, and quickly fetched the grated cheese from the refrigerator. The difference in personality between Brittany and her mother was obvious, although you'd never know it from looking at them.

Finn took a moment to reply. "I'm doing pretty good, thanks. I'm really glad it's break."

"I'm sure," Mrs. Pierce nodded, and moved to set the meal on the table behind Finn. "Brittany will be down soon," she added, noticing his frequent glances at the door. She patted his shoulder and resumed making dinner for her family.

No sooner had the words escaped Mrs. Pierce's mouth than did her daughter appear. Her Cheerios' uniform had been exchanged for a a pair of jeans, boots, and a pretty, long-sleeved shirt. Finn stood up to greet her again, kissing her cheek.

Finn waved goodbye and thanked Brittany's mother for their hospitality, and ushered Brittany out to the car. "Bye Mom!" Brittany called over her shoulder, and latched onto Finn's arm quite naturally. She giggled as he held the car door open for her. Finn was such a gentleman; she was lucky to have him and even she knew it.

In the car, Brittany started flipping through the radio channels before deciding on an upbeat, Christmas station. Mariah Carey was belting out her famous, "All I Want for Christmas is You," and felt the need to join in. Generally speaking, Brittany stuck to Britney Spears's music, but everyone needed a little Mariah now and then to really get into the holiday mood.

Finn pulled into the busy Breadsticks parking lot, and told Brittany to keep her eyes open for a good spot. It took about ten minutes, but they finally found one relatively close to the doors, and rushed through the cold into the warmth.

"It's cold." Brittany frowned.

"I'll get you a hot chocolate," Finn promised, and secured his arm around Brittany's waist. The line went fairly slowly, but the fact they were a small party helped a lot. The groups with four or five people had to wait even longer, which must've been such a bummer. First day of Christmas break, and already the ridiculous lines were starting. That was like, the one bad thing about the holidays: too many long lines.

As Brittany and Finn were seated to a table, Finn requested a kid's menu and coloring page from the waitress, who gave them an odd look, but said nothing, returning with it to then take their drink orders.

"Lemonade?" Finn asked the blonde, who nodded but didn't look up from her masterpiece. "Lemonade," he confirmed to the waitress, and then added his own order. "I'll take a coke, thanks." The waitress – her name was Ashely, or something like that – spun on her heel and left them alone to look over the menu.

Neither had to look carefully to decide what they wanted. Everyone went to Breadsticks on a semi-regular basis, and the menu wasn't exactly original, so they only needed a small amount of time to decide.

Finn ordered the lasagna. Brittany ordered ravioli. Er, Finn ordered for her. She was too busy finishing her big drawing before she was ready to eat. Her food was starting to get cold, and even Finn was looking oddly at her now. Brittany stared intently on her work, holding up it up to the light without letting him see.

Smiling, she laid it back down.

"Done?" Finn inquired curiously, carefully fitting the last of his dinner onto his fork with unusual precision. Brittany frowned, scribbled something else onto the inexpensive paper, then nodded, satisfied. She got up from her seat and slid into Finn's side of the booth.

"Look what I made you!" The blonde thrust the drawing into his direct line of sight. Taking the picture into his hands, the quarterback raked his eyes over it like one of their football operations. His face broke out into a smile and he pulled Brittany closer to him. "I love it." He kissed her quickly, and resumed studying the picture.

"You do?" She beamed. He nodded. "That's you and that's me." She went on to explain, pointing to each person in turn, although it was perfectly obvious. Once Finn agreed several times over and sang the picture's praises, Brittany went back to her own seat and hungrily wolfed her dinner down. The two exited after paying, and returned to the car.

As they arrived back to the Pierce residence, Finn walked Brittany to the door for the second and final time that day. They kissed good night and took a moment to whisper sweet promises into each other's year, but just for a moment, because that sounded really gushy. Finn Hudson didn't do gushy.

Before actually pulling out of the driveway, Finn made sure his girlfriend made it back into her house safely. The last thing they needed was for Brittany to wander around Lima, lost, and in the middle of the night. Someone naïve as her was hardly safe during the day, in a familiar setting, much less during the night and in someplace new.

Once he arrived home, it was all he could do to keep a silly smile off his face. It had been a great evening.