**This came to me today. I have never been to the places in the fic, so I am taking creative liberties. Spoilers through 3 X 07. T for language, and just in case.

"Heya San!"

"Yo, Lopez!"

"What up, chica?"

Santana Lopez waved to her classmates as she walked to her 10 am class of her 2nd year at Berkley. Never in a million years, would she have guessed she would wind up at Berkley. After she was outed by Finn, she realized she needed to do something to make herself happy, and that meant getting the hell out of Lima.

"Hey Santana, did you get that study guide done?" asked Mindy, one of her good friends at Berkley, as she walked over to Santana. She and Mindy were both in the pre-law program.

"Yep, did you?"

"Barely, had to get up early this morning while fighting off a raging hangover." Mindy said, while Santana tried not to laugh. That is exactly why she saved partying for the few and far in between occasions. Most of her classmates from McKinley would faint if they could see her now. Maybe it was the California air, or maybe it was the acceptance she had found, in a place way that was more diverse than Lima (or Lima Heights Adjacent for that matter).

Santana's phone vibrated in her pocket.

"I'll meet you inside Mindy, I'm going to take this." Santana found a bench and sat down and accepted the call.

"Hi mama! " Surprisingly Santana was getting along decently with her parents. Although they were shocked at first, by the time graduation rolled around, they became more accepting of her sexuality. It probably helped that she wasn't living under their roof, and there was not that high school rebellion tension anymore.

"Hey, did I catch you at a bad time? I hate to call you so early, but I really needed to tell you something."

"Oh my gosh Mom, is dad ok? Are you ok?" Santana said gripping the park bench.

"We are fine….it's Judy. Judy Fabray. She has been diagnosed with brain cancer, and it is inoperable." Santana almost dropped her phone. She and Quinn had kept in touch via Facebook, but hadn't seen each other since the summer before college. Quinn had decided to go to community college in Lima, so she could be near Beth.

"What? Since when? How is Quinn?" Santana asked.

"It was just diagnosed, Judy had been having really severe migraines and they just found out last week, and spoke with her yesterday about the severity. Quinn…is not doing so well. That is why I called. I know you guys grew apart, but, she would probably appreciate your call. To be honest, she was having a rough time even before Judy got sick. It is not my place to say why, I just think she needs a friend." Santana wiped away a few stray tears and took a breath, trying to focus.

"It's a four day weekend, I am going to come home."

"Are you sure? I know your classes are hard."

"Mom, it's Quinn."

"I know, sweetie. Let me book you a flight while you are in class today. Do you want her to know you are coming?"

"Thanks. No she would just try to talk me out of it, like the stubborn girl she has always been."

"Ok, I will email you the flight details. Love you."

"Love you too, mama." Santana hung up the phone, and tried to muster up the strength to go to class. She had no idea why this was having such an impact on her. Hell, she and Quinn had backstabbed each other during most of high school. Was this guilt? It didn't feel like it. She may be a smart girl, but she had no clue what her feelings were doing some of the time.

Her phone rang again, and she opened it, guessing it was her mom again.

"You forget something, mama?"

"Mama? You are so silly, S." she heard a giggle on the other end and froze.

"Brittany?"

"Yes! The one and only. Oh my gosh Santana, are you sitting down?" Santana stared down at the park bench and muttered "yep."

"Artie proposed! We are finally getting MARRIED! I hope our babies don't roll out of my uterus in wheelchairs though, that sounds painful." As Brittany rambled, Santana started sobbing quietly. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Santana and Brittany had taken a break when Santana left for Berkley, and Brittany to NYC. That four-eyed gimp had rolled his sneaky little way to NYC and well…now this.

"San are you there?"

"Umm..yeah. Wow, congrats Britt. I gotta go to class, I'm going to have to talk to you later." Santana ended lamely and closed her phone, fighting the urge to throw it on the sidewalk.

Worst. Day. Ever.

***So ends Chapter 1. Reviews make me want to go ride a unicorn!