Santana sighed heavily, finally switching off her computer at 5am. She always felt so empty during this part of her day. She wasn't tired. She couldn't think of anything worse than going to bed… but it was late. So late that it was early. And it was abnormal to still be up, nothing to do, just wasting away the minutes.

She shuffled aimlessly over to her bedroom door, flicking off the light switch before slipping out of her boxers and climbing underneath the black sheets on her bed. She could never sleep with anything on her legs, even when she was freezing during winter. It made her restless and irritable. With another heavy breath, she reached over to her bedside table, her hand searching through the darkness for her TV remote. When her fingers finally closed around it, she quickly found the on button and her screen flickered to life on the other side of her room.

Of course at this time of the night there was nothing on but some boring infomercials and an old 90's show about angels who came to earth to do good deeds or some shit. She rolled her eyes in frustration. She figured anything was better than the fake happy chatter of some desperate, out of work actor who had resorted to selling overpriced knives or 'miracle workout machines' that never actually worked. It set her teeth on edge. So she dropped her remote beside her and snuggled down into her covers to watch the stupid angel show.

After a few minutes of not really paying attention, Santana closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath, willing herself not to cry. She wasn't sad. She wasn't angry. She wasn't anything. And that's why she was so close to tears. She bit down hard on her bottom lip. She just wanted to feel something, anything.

Her hand instinctively reached down and slipped into her underwear, repeating the motions she'd gone through dozens of times before. Over-sexualized images flashed through her mind, searching for something that would excite her or make her heart beat just that little bit faster. Nothing worked.

She huffed loudly in annoyance and withdrew her hand, placing her palms roughly over her eyes. Santana desperately wanted to give up. She just wanted to sleep. Because maybe in her dreams, she could feel something again… But that just wasn't an option right now. Her body was far too alert. She needed release.

She dropped her fingers back to their place between her legs. Focusing hard, she pictured a nameless, faceless figure above her - The beautiful ghost who made frequent appearances in her dreams and kissed her so softly… The unknown girl who never said a word but always radiated such love that her heart ached when she woke up... Finally, it began to work. Her back arched up as the figure in her mind kissed her neck and ran their hands all over her.

Her cheeks soon grew flushed and wet warmth began to pool between her legs. The relentless movements of her own fingers made her body tingle as she imagined the figure above her and after a few long minutes, her insides started convulse with pleasure. A small, breathy moan left her lips, something swelling inside of her chest as the fleeting orgasm began to subside. And then, just as quickly as the moment had come, it dissipated, leaving her with nothing once again. She was empty inside. Tears finally fell from Santana's scrunched up eyes, sliding down her cheeks and then onto her neck. Sobs and gasps tore through her body as she clawed at her pillow and thrashed her legs.

She was alone.

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A few weeks ago, when Santana had finished college, she realized she still had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. So she packed up, moved back to the town she'd grown up in and stayed with her parents. She locked herself away in her bedroom, only coming out for things that were absolutely necessary – like food and bathroom breaks and showers. Other than that, she had completely isolated herself from the outside world. She refused to answer phone calls when her friends rang and eventually… they just stopped calling. It's not that she didn't like them. They were fine. It was just that they were more like acquaintances – people who were fun to hang out with, but not really the type you could rely on when it came to something serious. She hadn't had a friend like that since high school.

Santana wasn't sure why she was doing all of this. It was like the outside world just didn't seem real anymore and the only time she felt like she was alive was when she was alone. But now, that comforting feeling had turned on her… And she felt dead inside.

To make things worse, it had been over a year since she was in a real relationship. Not that the opportunity hadn't come up. It was just that… most girls seemed so shallow. Or she would meet someone and know instantly that it just didn't feel right. Sure they were nice and she could probably like them if she tried. But it just wasn't… right.

Santana knew it might seem ridiculous but she promised herself after her last failed relationship that she wouldn't date the wrong girls anymore. She'd done it too many times before and it never worked out. She would always find a girl who was nice and seemed like a safe bet but… in the end, they'd turn out to be completely insane. And she just couldn't do that anymore. She vowed that she wouldn't date another girl who was wrong for her. She was going to wait until she found someone she could fall for seamlessly… without doubting it. Someone she could be absolutely sure about.

And so far, that was no-one.

So she remained alone.

Santana had settled into a pattern of sleeping in as long as possible so that the amount of time she had to spend awake in a day was seriously reduced. The less time for thought, the better. She reasoned. But she knew life couldn't continue like this. She had to get out of her own little world sometime. Even though it was safe and she could make it anything she wanted it to be… she knew she was starting to slowly lose her mind from constantly being alone.

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'Santana!'

The Latina let out a small groan from beneath her mess of pillows and sheets. She didn't even remember falling asleep. 'Go away, Mom.' She muttered quietly to herself.

She heard a few heavy footsteps from the hallway before her mother burst loudly through her door. 'Dios mio! It's almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon! Get out of bed!'

Santana turned her head away from the older woman. 'Ugh. Why? I don't have anything to do today.'

'You know, it's not normal for you to still be sleeping at this time of the day.' Mrs. Lopez nagged.

'Says who?'

Her mother rolled her eyes. 'I'm not going to argue with you about this. Just get up. I need you to run down to the grocery store for me. The ladies from my book club are coming over in half an hour and I forgot to buy the chips and dip.'

'You're kidding right?' The dark haired girl finally lifted her head from the pillow to shoot her mother a look of complete disbelief.

'No! You're not a teenager anymore, Santana. We're letting you stay here… and we don't ask you to pay any rent. The least you could do is help me out sometimes. You know, you don't do any housework and even when I-'

Santana cut her off before the all too familiar rant could get into full swing. 'Okay! I get it! I'm up. I'll go. Just… let me get dressed in peace!'

'Well hurry up.' Her mother warned, eyeing her daughter carefully before she finally left the room.

Santana rubbed at her face roughly with her hands. Stupid book club. With her eyes closed, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stretched her arms and legs out as far as they would go. She hated grocery shopping with a passion.

A silent yawn left her lips as she stood and walked over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of dark sweatpants, an old t-shirt and a hoodie. She dressed quickly, slipped into a pair of white sneakers and lifted her thick black hair into a messy ponytail. She raised an eyebrow at herself in the mirror. Whatever.

When Santana got outside, it was raining hard.

'Perfect.' She grumbled, hopping into her car to make the short drive down to the nearest store before unenthusiastically making her way inside.

It was a small place, with only a few registers at the front. Santana realized that it had been years since she was there last, noticing some of the subtle changes that had been made to the shelving and the floors. With slumped shoulders, she walked up and down the aisles, perusing the packed ledges for the items she required. When she finally found what she was looking for, a bag of chips in the snack section and few tubs of dip from the cold storage, she made her way back to the front of the store to pay.

She sauntered over to the shortest line, doing her best not to make eye contact with anyone around her, fearing she may have to engage in some type of awkward social interaction. When it was finally her turn to be served, her gaze flickered up to the girl at the counter.

Fuck me… Santana thought to herself, fighting hard against the urge to stare as the tall, slender blonde behind the register began to scan her items.

'Hi. How are you today?' The girl asked sweetly.

Santana swallowed hard and forced her lips into a smile. She could feel her heart racing as her dark eyes locked with bright blue ones. She had never, ever thought she could be attracted to someone instantly without getting to know them first. But this time it hit her like a ton of bricks. The world seemed to move in slow motion as the girl put her order through and Santana took in every detail as if her life depended on it. Her creamy, pale skin… The incredibly cute patch of freckles that were sprinkled across her nose... The light pink curve of her lips… The small nametag attached to her apron that said Brittany

'That'll be $4.95.' The girl said gently, a breathtaking smile spread across her face.

'Uh… yeah.' Santana fumbled clumsily with her wallet. Stop staring you idiot and give her the money.

As she handed over the note, her fingers brushed against the blonde's slightly and she felt a spark run through her whole body. What the hell…

Santana accepted her change with a polite nod. Her mind was blank but racing at the same time. There was dull throbbing in her ears and her cheeks were hot from embarrassment.

'Have a nice day.' The girl beamed at her one final time before moving on to the next customer.

As Santana walked out of the store, money and items held limply in her hands, she tried her best to figure out what had just happened. She'd never been caught off guard like that before… by anyone. There was just something about that blonde that was so captivating, so interesting. She knew that she was hooked. She had to know more.

The drive home was a foggy haze and when Santana pulled up in front of her house, she could barely remember how she got there. Placing the chips and dip on the kitchen counter for her mother to find, she returned upstairs and locked herself in her bedroom. She had to go back to that store. She had to find out who that girl was.

It wasn't until Santana walked passed her mirror and caught her own reflection that she finally snapped out of her own thoughts.

Shit. I look like a fricken hobo.

She groaned and sat down on her bed, running her hands through her messy hair. No wonder the girl hadn't paid any attention to her. She was probably doing her best not to laugh at how bad I look. Santana mused dejectedly. And I didn't even say hello back! She must think I'm such a rude bitch. Ugh! I'm a fucking idiot!

With a high pitched whimper, Santana shut her eyes tight and threw her body back onto the mattress in frustration. She would never get anyone's attention looking like she'd just rolled out of bed and acting like a cranky, depressed bitch. And something inside of her screamed that she just had to get that blonde to notice her. She just had to. The next time she went into that store… she would be prepared.

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The next day, when Mrs. Lopez was preparing to leave the house to do her weekly Saturday shopping, she was practically bowled over as her daughter bolted down the stairs, tore the shopping list from her hands and raced through the front door.

'I'll get it, Mom! Be back soon!' Santana called out cheerfully over her shoulder, rushing over to her car and pulling away from the curb at a dangerous speed.

Mrs. Lopez blinked for a few seconds, trying to register what had just happened. She looked down at her watch - 12pm. It was more than a little early for her daughter to be up… and dressed… And since when did Santana want to do the shopping for her? With a raised eyebrow, she shook her head and made her way to the living room, turning on the TV and settling back into the couch. She would never understand that girl.

Meanwhile, Santana felt her heart began to speed up a little as the grocery store came into view. After she arrived home yesterday afternoon, she spent a few hours sulking before she realized that she needed to take action. If she played her cards just right, she figured she could have a second chance to make a good first impression with the dreamy blonde who worked at the store. She decided to take a long, hot bath, wash her hair, shave her legs, pluck her eyebrows, paint her nails and do everything else she could think of to beautify herself in preparation for the following day.

She went to bed early and tried to get as much sleep as possible considering how messed up her routine had been lately. When her alarm went off at 11am though, she wasn't grumpy or irritated like she usually was. Instead, Santana bounced out of bed and grinned stupidly at the thought of what her day might hold. As she sat down at her dresser and started to curl her hair, she began to run through what she might do if she saw the blonde again. Her brow furrowed in thought. What would she say? How could she possibly get this girl's attention?

Hi, I'm Santana. How are you? Santana rolled her eyes at herself and scoffed.

So I think you're totally hot and I would love to get to you know you better. Wanna go out sometime? Santana let out a sarcastic snort of laughter. Yeah right. Stalker much?

As she placed her curling iron back down onto her dresser and began applying her makeup, she realized she'd need to be a lot smoother than that if she didn't want to scare this girl off. Besides, she wasn't even sure that she liked her like that. She'd only met her for a few seconds yesterday… You can't like someone after a few seconds.

No. It was more like… this strange curiosity. She was just curious about what the blonde might be like. Her blue eyes seemed to hold this big secret… and the Latina was dying to find out what it was. She felt mysteriously drawn to her, like maybe they'd met before but never had the chance to speak… Santana nodded to herself. Yeah. She reasoned. It had to be something really abstract like that. She just had no other way of describing the unfamiliar feeling.

Finishing up with her makeup, Santana made her way over to her wardrobe. She rifled through a few items before deciding on a short, figure hugging dark green dress, knee high black heeled boots and a leather jacket. After getting dressed, she eyed herself in the mirror like she had the day before. Much better. She smirked. With a final touch up to her mascara and lip gloss, she grabbed her wallet and strolled out of her bedroom door and into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Just as Santana was finishing up and shut the water off, she heard the jingling of keys from downstairs.

'I'm going to the store, Santana.' Her mother called out loudly, not really expecting her daughter to even be awake at this point.

However, Santana heard her loud and clear. She rushed down the stairs as fast as she could. It was the perfect opportunity. And she wouldn't even need to make up an excuse now.

As she pulled her car into one of the free spots in the parking lot, Santana checked herself out one final time in the rearview mirror. Her makeup and hair were as perfect as she'd ever get them. She took a big breath in and practiced her best smile. She was ready.

She stepped out of the car and made her way into the store, list in hand. There were quite a few things for her to get so it would give her plenty of time to rehearse some better conversation starters in her head. As she sauntered casually over to the collection of shopping carts at the front of the shop, her eyes flashed over to the registers in search of the captivating blonde from yesterday. When she didn't immediately spot the girl, her heart began to speed up. What if she wasn't working today? It was a definite possibility. Santana's lips began to curl into a frown. She hadn't even thought about that. Fuck. What an idiot…

However, just as her mind finished that thought, a shimmer of blonde hair whipped out from beneath one of the counters. The Latina's heart skipped a beat, her body frozen in place. She watched the girl smile brightly, dustpan in hand as she continued to clean up her work area.

'Excuse me?' Santana whipped her head around to see an old lady standing behind her, tapping her foot impatiently and waiting to collect a cart of her own.

'Oh. I'm so sorry.' She apologized with a gentle smile and quickly moved to the side. 'Got a little distracted.'

The old lady's face softened slightly. 'It's alright dear. Happens to me all the time.'

Santana laughed softly and nodded her head at the woman, moving down the first aisle to begin collecting the items on her mother's grocery list.

So… Do you go to school? She pretended to ask nonchalantly in her mind. Santana sighed heavily. That one wasn't so bad. Besides, she figured she could always just bat her eyelashes and pout her lips a little. That seemed to work often enough. Even when the girl was straight.

Are you from around here? Santana titled her head to the side a little as she held two different packets of sugar in her hands, wondering which one her mother would prefer.

Have you worked here long? Santana pushed her shopping cart, now full of items, down the aisle towards the front of the store. She took a deep breath as she noticed the complete lack of people waiting at the registers. There were no lines. Strangely enough, there was barely anyone there at all.

On one hand, Santana was glad because it gave her much more of an opportunity to make some solid conversation with the blonde. But on the other hand, it made her even more nervous than she had been before. Now all the attention was on her. And if she messed up, it would be a total disaster. Her stomach churned a little. Amongst all of her rushing and preparing this morning, she'd forgotten to eat anything. It made the butterflies ten times worse.

She pushed her shopping cart into position and smiled widely at the blonde girl standing just a few feet away from her.

'Hey.' She greeted politely.

'Hello again.' The girl smiled back, a hint of laughter flickering across her piercing blue eyes. 'Back so soon?'

Santana was completely taken aback as she begun to unload her items onto the conveyor belt. This girl had a good memory. Fuck… So much for a second first impression… She did her best to shrug it off. 'Yeah. Just had to pick up a few things.'

'Got a big night planned?' The blonde shop assistant, Brittany, gestured her head towards Santana's attire. It was pretty clear that she was a little overdressed to be simply taking a trip down to the corner store.

The Latina smirked. 'Maybe. It is Saturday after all.'

'That it is.' Brittany grinned warmly as she continued to swipe the groceries expertly through her register.

'How about you?' Santana inquired as smoothly as she could manage.

'Probably just catching up with some friends. Nothing special.' Brittany answered with shrug. She always liked talking with customers but it wasn't often that they asked her about her own life. It was a nice change of pace.

'Sounds cool.' She returned, trying to act as casual as possible while her heart rattled around inside of her chest.

'Yeah.' Brittany smiled gently as she finished scanning the items and carefully took the money that the brunette was already holding out for her.

'So…' Santana hesitated a little. She could rattle off one of her many pre-prepared questions… but she thought better of it. She figured enough progress had been made for today. Better quit while I'm ahead. She mused. 'I'll see you next time then.' She offered the blonde resolutely as she took her change, a mischievous look gracing her dark brown eyes.

Brittany caught the small expression and bit her bottom lip slightly, unsure of what it meant. 'Yeah. Have a nice night.' She shot back genuinely.

'You too.' Santana grinned smugly and spun around to leave the store. She smiled to herself as she strolled back out into the parking lot and began to lift the bags of shopping into her trunk. Hmmm… that actually went kinda well.

As she pulled her car out onto the street, she knew she would definitely be seeing the blonde again. One way or another, she was going to get that girl into her life.

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A/N: Okay so I really wanna know what you guys think about this! Even though I was heaps inspired to start this story, I kinda struggled to get through the first chapter. Does it merit continuing? Do you wanna know what happens next?

Also, if you wanna know what Santana's outfit looks like, just think about a combination of her green dress from the beginning of 'New York' and her leather jacket in the Brittana locker scene from 'Sexy'. I'm a very visual person so… Yeah lol just in case you're interested.

Finally, if my Spanish is wrong, blame Google Translate lol that's all I have to go on. Sorry!