Each step elicited another deep breath of cool, fall air as leaves crunched beneath Dani's feet during her walk through Central Park. She hadn't set foot back in New York in a little over four years, since the day after her and Santana had split. Each breath brought another memory of that day; sitting in the early spring air as her recent nightmares had been confirmed. Dani had moved to Nashville the following day, needing to get away from the city that seemed to echo Santana's name on every street corner, every gust of wind was Santana's touch, and every blonde was the woman that ruined the best thing she had going for herself.

Crunch. Crunch. Dani kept walking, trying to convince herself that she was walking just through Central Park, taking a well-deserved break from her up and coming music career. Her feet had a different path they wanted to take though, carrying Dani directly to the bench she sat at during her final encounter with Santana. She kept telling herself she shouldn't be this upset. Her and Santana weren't together very long. They weren't that serious. They hadn't even moved in with each other. It wasn't that big of a deal. Those sentences, among others, became a chant that bounced through her head like it was a packed football stadium, each fan chanting until it drove Dani completely mad. Still, each verse of her personal anthem managed to pull yet another tear closer and closer to falling until she needed to excuse herself from whatever group she was forced to be a part of to calm herself. Dani had what she wanted. She was supporting herself through her music. She had plenty of booked gigs, even some tours. She had a label and a few records out now. Dani had even been nominated for a People's Choice Award. It was everything she had been working for, and yet she had nothing that she wanted.

Crunch. Crunch. More fallen leaves sacrificed for Dani's therapeutic walk. With every foot closer the blonde got to the bench, the last conversation seemed to be pulled out of the eavesdropping trees.

"Dani, something's happened."

Santana didn't even have to say it. Dani had known that something happened before her girlfriend even returned to New York. Maybe it could be talked down to a lack of trust, but it was more than that. Dani had actually trusted Santana and her devotion to their relationship. Apparently she trusted it foolishly, but she had none-the-less.

Dani had just nodded in response to Santana, her eyes glossed over as she gazed forward, appearing unattached.

"When I was home… I'm still in love with her, D. I don't want to be, but I am…"

Dani had tried to tell herself that at least Santana didn't throw what they had away for something that was meaningless, but she soon realized that the reality stung far worse. Dani wasn't enough for Santana. Brittany refused to let go of the vice grip she had on Santana's heart, despite the amount of pain it had caused Santana. Dani told herself that she would cradle it. She'd baby Santana's heart, protecting it from any and all pain at any costs to herself. Brittany didn't deserve Santana, and Dani told herself that bitterly on a daily basis for the first year after their break up.

"You slept with her," Dani said aloud, both in the past and in her current, painfully nostalgic walk. The words fell from her chest as they would in the middle of a dream. They were detached, they didn't even sound like they came from her own voice. She hadn't even registered them, starting to transport herself back to her frequently visited memories.

"I'm so sorry, Dani," Santana whispered. Dani was still facing forward. She couldn't help but let out a small scoff. No, she hadn't expected Santana to deny it, just hoped. Prayed. Dani's body tensed quickly, forcing the way she had let Santana in to just stop. As if she could just stop letting her in, it wouldn't hurt so much. That perhaps they could just move past it and be okay again. "I'm so sorry." It was when she heard it echoed that Dani finally let her eyes peel off of the horizon and look at Santana. She had to force her neck to move, pulling hundreds of pounds of raw emotion with her. She had expected to meet pleading brown eyes, begging for forgiveness or just a touch. A word, even. Instead, she was met with her (ex?)-girlfriend's face buried in her hands, her body shaking with inaudible sobs.

She couldn't stop herself, one hand reaching up to rest on Santana's back, rubbing slow, soft circles there. Of course. Of course Dani would be comforting the woman who had just cheated on her. She quickly felt her resolve breaking, and soon the spasms of her body matching the other woman's. "I mean… you told me you would always love her. I guess I had this coming, huh?" she asked, her hand finally leaving Santana's back to wipe away the tears that were now coating her cheeks.

That caused Santana to look up, swollen eyes, pouty lips, and a bright red nose. She shook her head immediately. "N-no. Dani… I… I never meant it that way." She sighed, wiping her tears before quickly taking Dani's hands before the blue-haired woman could pull away. "What we had… it was the most real relationship I've had. I… I thought I loved her as a best friend, that those… romantic feelings were gone. But they're not and I'm sorry."

Dani had stopped listening after Santana had referred to them in the past tense. She pulled away as Santana finished and shook her head. "But they weren't," she snapped, determined not to show that she had been considering working things out. She stood, leaving a shocked and confused Santana sitting on the bench. Before her eyes she saw the walls she had expertly destroyed being rebuilt. Santana was about to speak, but Dani cut her off. "You made your choice, Santana. You've made that pretty damn obvious." She was never an angry person. She usually resorted to showing her true emotions, knowing that truth was the best route to an actual conversation. But she couldn't listen to whatever else Santana had to say. What we had. There was nothing left to say after that.

"D, please, can we just ta—"

Dani just sighed and shook her head. "Talk? About what, Santana? You want to talk about how good she was in bed? Do you want advice about going after her and rebuilding whatever relationship you think you think you might be able to have with her? Or about the fact that I love you, and you love her? Because I don't know what else you'd want to talk about. Because anything between you and me had been said and done," she finished, her voice at a fine line between yelling and crying. The tears continued to flow, the tone in her voice raising with every question.

Santana had stood at the last question, her face wrinkling in anger. "I love you, too! I just—"

"Love her more," Dani finished for her, defeated. Her shoulders sank and she looked at the ground, her head shaking slowly.

"D..." Santana sighed, not continuing as Dani scoffed, cutting her off. Dani was turning to leave when she felt regretful lips on hers.

Santana was pushed away. Dani swallowed hard as she made eye contact with the woman who was sprouting fresh tears. "You said it yourself, Santana. You're still in love with her. And you see us as past tense. You probably always did." With another shake of her head, she started down the path, not looking back at her ex; Santana left standing in the middle of the shockingly empty pavement.

"Dani…" Santana tried again.

The blue head stopped, then turned around for just a moment. "And please don't come looking for me. Because I'll come back. And I can't be hurt by you again." With that, she continued back onto her path.

"Dani, please…" it continued to echo as she walked, getting fainter and fainter as she walked, refusing to turn around and go back into what she once thought was the safety of Santana's arms. The chilled air nipped at her tear-stung cheeks as she continued to walk.

"Dani?"

"Dani?" The question wasn't weak. It didn't echo through Dani's heart and soul, it shook her to her core. It wasn't the voice of her memories.

Her brain started to register what was in front of her. She was considerably further along the path than she was the last time she was paying attention. In fact, she was a few yards back than she had been in her memories.

"Dani," the voice said again, slightly more assertive this time. Dani turned, seeing Santana sitting in the exact same spot she had left her in four years ago.

"San…" she breathed, the memories becoming much more real as she walked Santana's face break, revealing the emotions she tried so hard to cover up. "I… uh… I didn't think I'd see you here," Dani continued.

"I could say the same for you," Santana mumbled, clearly not up for a fight. However, she stood, and looked at Dani. "What are you doing here?"

Dani tried to look everywhere but directly at Santana, but failed. "I'm just in New York for a visit… Work," she lied. "Thought I'd take a walk."

All it took was one eyebrow raise and a glance at the bench. "Here? You took a walk here?" she asked, making a point of reminding Dani where they were.

Dani felt her cheeks flush, glancing down. She was caught, and should have known better. Santana knew her. Regardless of the fact they weren't together long. Or they weren't that serious. Or that they weren't even living together. Or that it wasn't a big deal. Santana knew her better than anyone had tried to know her. "I haven't been in New York since the day… after. It just felt right," she explained with a shrug, realizing just how stupid of an idea it was to come to the place they broke up.

However, she saw Santana nod. "I come here a lot," she admitted, looking to the same horizon Dani's gaze was glued on during their last encounter. "You asked me not to look for you. So I guess I was just trying to wait for you. That maybe you'd come back here." She was mumbling. Vulnerable.

It was slow to come, but there it was. Dani's body seemed to lock with every word so gracefully spoken from Santana's lips.

"You cheated on me, Santana," Dani finally said, each word causing another pound to be added to the weight that was pulling Dani's body to the ground.

"I know. And I'm so sorry, Dani. I really mean that. I thought…" she shook her head. "I thought that I was over her, and that's why I started to date you. You weren't a rebound, D. It was just… bad timing. If I had known that I needed to move on more, I never would have dated you. Because you're so much more than that. More than her," she said, her voice shaking as she said what was obviously planned and rehearsed for years.

Dani's arm slowly lifted, the seemed physical exertion showing as her face contorted. She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. "I don't know what you want me to say, Santana."

"Anything. Yell. Scream. Tell me you still love me. Tell me you hate me. Tell me we can do this. Tell me you never want to see me again. Please. Anything." It wasn't a demand. It was a plea. Santana Lopez was begging for forgiveness, and Dani was close to tears.

"I hate you," she said, barely talking loud enough to be heard over the soft sobs. "I hate you because you made me fall in love with you when you didn't want it. And I hate you because you never let me get over you."

Dani didn't know how long she was standing there, sobbing in front of her ex, before she felt a hand on her arm. "It took me two weeks to realize that it was you I was in love with all along. That I was just scared because the last time I loved someone so… fully… It all blew up in my face. But you asked me not to look for you, and Rachel said that you left New York. I… I didn't even know where to start…" Santana wouldn't step out of Dani's space. Instead, she reached up and wiped the tears from Dani's cheeks, initiating more contact than Dani ever thought she could handle. She couldn't find any words, her tears taking over.

Dani's imagination had changed its mind over how she wanted this situation, should it ever happen, to play out. It flipped on a day to day basis of if she'd take Santana back, or turn her down and walk away, a cathartic remedy of giving Santana half as much hurt as Dani had endured. But standing there, the reality hitting her like a slap in the face as Santana cradled her cheek, Dani couldn't do anything but cry.

She wanted Santana. All she had wanted since meeting Santana was to call her, her own. "We can do this, Dani. Please say we can do this. I know it'll be hard. I know I have years and years of making up to do, but I swear. I'll do it. Please. Just… just give me another chance?"

After half a moment of hesitation, Dani leaned in, connecting her lips to Santana's after four years of yearning for just that.