Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 21st cycle. Now cycle 22!

So in cycle 18 (days 358-378), for the one-year anniversary of Gleekathon, I did POV Swaps/Prequels/Sequels of favorite stories of mine from throughout the first year. However as I had to plan ahead, I had to cut off at a certain point, even though the year wasn't technically over. So I wanted to include the stories between the cut-off point and the start of cycle 18, so here we are. There will be six of them: 2 POV swaps, 2 prequels, 2 sequels :)
Today's story is a POV Swap to #318 "Mine to Tell or Not" a Sylvesters extra/Quinn & Brittany story originally posted September 4th 2010

"Truth to Tell or Not"
Brittany & Quinn
Extra to the Sylvesters Series

It was the kind of thing that always managed to creep its way into her dreams, her nightmares, no matter how she tried to tell herself it was no big deal… it still freaked her out… Spanish class group work… She wanted to melt away, not to pull anyone else into her failings.

Lucky for her, if she couldn't have Santana there with her, there was Quinn, who would appear, right as her panic was forming, rising, and come to eliminate the fears. It was like staring back at another blonde Cheerio made it less frightening.

So in preparation for the next class' activity, once she'd received Quinn's reminder text, she had pulled out two childhood pictures of herself. There were actually a lot of them in the house, if you knew where to look. She was still careful in picking ones where she was alone, not with her mother. Finally satisfied, she put her choices in her Spanish book, and the book in her bag, the better not to forget them… Now she just had to remember her bag…

In class, she and Quinn swapped pictures. Brittany observed the pictures brought in by Quinn. One showed her sitting in a garden, with what Brittany would learn was Nana Fabray's dog, and the other had her dressed all in blue, with long gloves and a crown… She looked like a superhero. She listened to Quinn's descriptions, though all the while her nerves were on edge, knowing she'd have to speak next. She took it slow… that was her only option, really, she couldn't do 'fast.'

The next morning, Quinn had come and offered to help her prepare for their Spanish test… She wasn't about to say no. Still for the rest of the day, she felt… observed. She never really figured it out, never told anyone, to keep them from telling her she was being weird and imagining things, or worse, calling her names… They kept calling her a 'paranoid,' whatever that was…

Then after Glee practice, she'd gone with Quinn, for their review session. They had the pictures again, and so she went through trying to describe them again. As she spoke, she started seeing that Quinn was sort of staring into nowhere. She went on speaking for a while, but then she had to stop and ask… "Did I say it wrong?" Quinn looked back up.

"N-no… No," Quinn told her, and Brittany felt better, looking back to the pictures to try and think of something more to say. But then… "Hey, can I ask… about your mother?" Quinn spoke again, and Brittany's head came up.

On the outside, she was fairly calm… She blinked, she shrugged, but on the inside her heart was racing, pounding… Part of her wanted to look down at the pictures, see if somehow she'd missed a glaring sign on them, like a tracksuit sleeve or something… The only person who knew outside the family was Santana. She'd told her because… well, she'd never needed a reason or to decide… It just made sense for her to know, so she'd told her. She'd never worried once, but this was different, this was someone else, on their own, what if… Well she could still be wrong, maybe she was just asking…

"What does she do for a living?" Quinn went on though. Brittany just looked back at her, rendered speechless. She didn't know what to say; what if she knew she was lying? Then it might get worse… But she had to say something, she had to… She was frozen… And so Quinn was allowed to go on; and her next words forever put to rest the possibility that she was in fact talking about something else.

"I think… she coaches cheerleading, right here at McKinley…"

She made herself look down, feeling worry roll up her spine, so much so that she came to be sitting up straighter. She could just see it in her head, the moment she'd been hoping wouldn't exist. It all took her back to the day, when her mother had gone and said she would attend McKinley High. She knew very well, from her mother's words, that the decision had not been made lightly. Maintaining the divide between home life and school life was easy, so long as they were three places: home, Sue's school, and Brittany's school. Now, to put them both in that school, it was just begging for someone to connect the dots. But her mother had trusted her, trusted that they could achieve things, just as they had for all this time already. Except there was still an 'if' clause, as in 'if they find out, then you have to go somewhere else.' That was always what she understood, and she wouldn't test it.

"It's a secret, right?" Quinn still went on, and Brittany wondered if her lungs were shutting down. "I won't tell. I've had my share of secrets, I know how it feels. You can trust me."

Quinn was a friend… She was in Glee Club, and had been a Cheerio… After Santana, she was the one she stuck by the most. And now she'd figured out her secret somehow, so… if she understood it being a secret, then maybe… Oh, but what if she didn't… But she knew… But she could tell her she was wrong… But she couldn't bring herself to shut that door… She couldn't say a single word.

"There's no rush, okay? But if you want to talk…" Quinn had gone on, concluded, really. In the settling silence, Brittany felt her words were not so lost, that she could confide them in Quinn's trust. She looked up, fingers tented nervously. She hoped…

"It's true…" She felt the words struggle out. She saw the shock on Quinn's face, let her get through it. When she leaned in, Brittany hesitated, then leaned in as well.

"I just… Wow… But why does it have to be secret, I don't understand…" Quinn whispered, still surprised. Brittany could only shrug, explaining her own cluelessness.

"She never really explained it to me; that's just how it's been. But I don't mind… not really," she shrugged once more. This was true, she supposed, although… she did say 'not really.' Sometimes it did, it really did… and that was part of the reason she was glad to have Santana, to share it with. Now, maybe she'd have Quinn, too… She liked that.

"Does anyone else know?" Quinn asked, and Brittany briefly froze…

"No," she shook her head, trying to sound innocent.

"So, Santana," Quinn quickly guessed.

"Yep," Brittany admitted, no choice. As Quinn settled in this knowledge, she looked at her, needed to know one thing from her, still unable to chase her fears. "You won't tell, right? Then she'll know I said it and she might… make me change schools…" she spoke, her panic evident in her voice, no matter how hard she tried to keep it down. But Quinn was quick to reassure her.

"Won't say a word," she promised with a smile, which Brittany could return, now that she knew her secret was once again safe. At the same time, now that she had one more person who knew the whole thing truly felt lighter on her shoulders. She still wasn't going to just go and tell everyone she met, but this was something else… a freebie… an ally out of the blue…

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!