Santana had been touring since her sophomore year in college. She never wanted to go to school again after high school anyway but it was expected of her. Being a doctors daughter didn't just mean money; it meant expectations. She was supposed to go to med school and end up working side by side with her father in his cardio ward. She never wanted that though, so when the small acoustic trio she joined in college got the opportunity to open for some big well known band it was a no brainer for Santana to pack up and leave school behind. She never had gotten into med school anyway and was already disappointing her father, might as well do it big.

Puck had taught her how to play guitar back in high school, she was never super good by any means. It was mostly due to the fact that she didn't like what the strings did to her fingers. Brittany had a thing for soft hands and Santana always made a point to make sure her hands were always perfectly moisturized and her nails perfectly manicured. That quickly changed as she got to college.

She played her guitar sometimes until her fingers bled. If there was one thing that Glee and Rachel Berry had taught her was that the easiest way to deal with emotions was through music and she took advantage of that.

It was no surprise to the Latina when Brittany was the first to move on from Lima to bigger things after graduation. She was offered a dance scholarship to some snobby school in New York Santana didn't care about. All she cared about was the fact that Brittany was leaving. Santana had always put up the front that she was Brittany's rock, but it was the other way around. The blonde kept her sane. The girl was her everything and she didn't know how to deal with losing everything.

She had been proud of Brittany, but that didn't mean that she wanted the blonde to leave. Santana was selfish. She knew that if she continued to be around Brittany the summer before college that she would end up doing whatever she could to convince the blonde to stay with her. So she did what she knew she had to do. She completely pushed Brittany away that summer. She slept around with girls and boys that she knew would make Brittany angry. She stopped returning phone calls and text messages. By the end of the summer no one would have ever known that the two had once been inseparable.

Santana often replayed the day Brittany left in her mind. Against all she had convinced herself of she met Brittany at the Lima international airport at way too early in the morning. They had stood there in line together holding hands but not speaking for quite sometime before Brittany's flight was called. They turned to face each other, tears brimming the blonde's eyes and tears streaming down the Latina's face. Santana remembered giving Brittany the tightest hug she could and whispering in her ear a simple apology along with a shaky 'I love you.' that was the last time she had seen Brittany in three years.

Whether it had been Santana's clingyness or her inability to get the blonde out of her mind, she began to write letters. She never expected a response and in the three years that she'd been sending them she had gotten a total five responses.

Some letters often turned into songs. Some turned into poems. Others thrown into the trash once Santana had deemed them unworthy of the mail. But she always wrote them and sent one at the end of each month, and being on tour didn't change that.

Brittany's few replies came at random. The first after Brittany got her first 'a' in a class. Granted it was in her dance class, but she was still ecstatic. It was the first time that she had gotten an a all by herself. She wrote Santana telling her about all the people at college and about her grade. It was a short letter that spoke more about the ducks that inhabit the pond behind her dorm than about college itself. It was a response non the less and it have Santana hope.

The second response came a day before Santana's twenty first birthday. There was a simple birthday card that had a Lizard wearing a party on the front. The inside was scribbled with Brittany's random doodles and a simple 'happy birthday San' written in her bubbly handwriting.

There had been a few other responses as well which were mostly short updates about Brittany's life, and most importantly the ducks. The most resent response came three weeks before Santana arrived to New York. This letter was different than the ones Brittany had previously sent. It talked not about ducks, but about feelings. Brittany had met someone and desperately had tried to make it work. Santana of course didn't like having to read about this but the letter went on to say that Brittany, no matter how hard she tried, couldn't feel right about the relationship. There was no definite love declaration in the letter there was only a simple 'I miss you, hope you're having a good time in Delaware.' But that enough was enough to make the brunette's heart race. It was enough to give her even more hope.

Santana usually started writing her letters far in advance of sending them so she could write on a day to day bases. Something about writing to Brittany made her feel like she had to include everything that had been happening in her life so she could avoid getting sappy or talking about feelings. Ever since Brittany had turned her down in high school Santana had been weary about voicing her feelings with fear that they could ruin the friendship that took so long to build, a friendship that could easily be destroyed. This letter was different though... It, like Brittany's response, had depth.

"Hello, I'm in Delaware.

In twenty days I'll be in New York. I'm stoked to get to see the city. We're not playing a big club or anything so it's not like you have to come to the show. We can just meet in Central Park like we planned.

We drove here from wherever the hell we were last month. I'm tired if the drives, tour buses aren't as cool as we used to always think they were and groupies are just freaking creepy. I usually just watch out the windows and whatever so I can read all the stupid highway welcome signs. It's kind of life I'm just watching life go by or something which makes no sense since this tour is supposed to be me living life to the fullest and seizing the day... That's all shit since the time we spend off stage is spent in a bus or on a plane sleeping as much as we can until we get to the next city in the next state.

It's super lonely too, even when I am surrounded my people. I guess it's because I don't even like any of these people and I miss you and stuff I guess... Well not I guess I do miss you Brit.

I can never sit down and finish these letters in one sitting. It's been about three days and all we've been doing it playing and sleeping. Some asshole tried to get me to sleep with him the other night after a show. He had a mohawk and it totally reminded me of Puck which just made me even more annoyed. Guys just aren't idiots in Lima... or well New York in your case now.

I'll be in New York soon. Well you already know that but I'm excited to see you. Seventeen days seems like forever though. Things have changed as much as I wish they didn't and I guess we can't really figure things out until we can talk it out, you know? Relationships are real complicated Brit and you can't help how feel. We'll figure it. Together. In seventeen days we'll figure it out.

-Santana"

She's read over the letter so many times still second guessing her words. She shrugged tucking it into an envelope and handing it off to the person in charge of mailing things.

-Seventeen days later-

Her life had become plane rides and highways and rather than living she was watching. She took a deep breath before grabbing her pick and guitar, checking her hair, and then walking on stage. There were a few claps, but Santana didn't hear them. There were some cheers, but Santana could not comprehend them. They were playing a small club in the city. The small acoustic trio were just an opening act and didn't expect have expectations of being recognized. While the majority of the audience was grouped in pods not paying attention as Santana and her band mates began to strum right up against the stage stood a tall blonde girl with blue eyes and a large smile holding a ragged open envelope.

Santana took a deep breath and began to sing.

So there goes my life,
Passing by with every exit sign.
It's been so long,
Sometimes I wonder how I will stay strong.
No sleep tonight,
I'll keep on driving these dark highway lines.
And as the moon fades,
One moment gone, only twenty more days.