Rachel was sipping tea in her New York apartment when she heard a frantic rapping on her door. Confused, she got up to answer it, maybe Santana had forgotten her key. Santana still hadn't returned from her cage dancing shift last night. Rachel would have been worried, but around 2 AM she had sent her a text:

Rachel: hey, getting a bit worried, at least let me know that you're safe

Santana responded a few minutes later:

Santana: don't worry Berry, I'm using protection ;)

After that Rachel stopped worrying and mentally noted that they needed to re-hash the guidelines of the roommate overshare policy. The policy had been put into place when Kurt was sick of hearing about female-body-specific girl problems, Santana was sick of hearing about boy trouble, and when Rachel was sick of hearing about non-Rachel related issues. The policy had done much to prevent the three of them from getting on each other's nerves. They just had to say 'R.O.P' (pronounced rope) and the topic would be dropped. She went over to open the door, curious as to who their visitor could be. Kurt was on the couch watching a Golden Girls marathon and they weren't expecting any guests that morning. She slid open the loft door, revealing one Brittany S. Pierce.

"Brittany? What...what are you doing here?" Rachel was dumbfounded, last she had heard Brittany had moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and enrolled at MIT under some extremely ridiculous circumstances. 'Wait, did Brittany even technically graduate from high school?' Rachel thought to herself.

"Hey Rachel!" said Brittany brightly, although there was underlying layer of nervousness,. She spoke again in a whisper,"Is Santana here? I was hoping to surprise her."

"Oh, no she's...she's not in... at the moment, but please come in," Rachel smiled, feeling incredibly, incredibly awkward. She was completely at a loss for the proper protocol in this type of social situation, so she called in Hummel. "Kurt!" she yelled over her shoulder, "You'll never guess who's at the door!" Rachel and Brittany stood next to each other sharing uncomfortable, polite smiles.

"Is it Rudy again?" Kurt called from behind the curtain, "Tell him we're not buying anymore perfumes. I can still smell 'Unguilty Desire' lingering in the apartment sometimes. I know you're on the hunt for your signature scent, but at what cost...", Kurt trailed off as he walked in and saw Brittany standing in the doorway. "Brittany! Oh, my god!" He moved over to the girls to embrace Brittany and as they hugged he shot Rachel a 'wtf is going on?' face. She responded by shaking her head and mouthing 'no clue.'

"Wow, look at you... what are you doing in New York? Not that we're not thrilled to have you..." Kurt said.

"Well, I have the week off, so I decided to take a trip to New York. It was kind of a snap decision, so I didn't plan much out. I was hoping we all could hang out, if you guys aren't too busy." Brittany explained.

"Well, Kurt and I have classes during the day, but Santana works nights, so between the three of us, we could show you a good time" Rachel said with a nod.

"That sounds good, do you know when Santana will be back? Maybe we could all go to Sunday brunch, or something." Brittany still didn't seem quite comfortable, and it was unsettling for Rachel and Kurt to see her so nervous and unsure of herself. In the past they hadn't always gotten where Brittany was coming from, but she had always given off a vibe of being decisively confident.

"Well, we're not sure when she'll be back. I think she said something about muffins..." Rachel said (Kurt stifled a snort), "How about I make you some tea and we can all catch up and wait for her to return?"

"That would be great, it was a pretty tiring trip here. I took the cheapest bus to New York and my seatmate was a live, caged chicken. Which I thought was weird because everyone's so into cage-free in Massachusetts." Rachel just nodded and motioned for Brittany to sit down.

As they got to talking, things got more comfortable and Brittany lost all trace of nervousness. Kurt and Rachel could not stop laughing at Brittany's ridiculous tales from Lima and Brittany loved hearing about their New York adventures. It was one of those reunions where warm nostalgia for the familiar overpowered whatever annoyances and dislikes they had had for each other in high school. The sound of the loft door scraping open interrupted their easy conversation as they all turned their heads to look. Santana had returned.

Unfortunately for Britt, it was clear Santana had just come home from being out all night. She was still in her cage-dancing Barbarella uniform; her stage makeup was visibly smudged; and if Rudy created a perfume of her scent, it would be called 'Tequila'. Santana still hadn't noticed the three of them and called over her shoulder as she was pulling the door shut, "Prepare yourselves Hummelberry, I got a story to tell." Her back was facing them as she pulled off her go-go boots, but the smirk on her face was evident from her tone. Santana finally turned around to face them, and she immediately locked eyes with Brittany. She just stood there stalk still, and all of her smug bravado had melted away. Her face showed hints of emotions: a mix of quiet happiness and an underlying hurt. Her mouth curved into a small smile, "Brittany."