Santana parked in front of the Fabrays' house. She climbed up the front steps and rang the doorway. Santana was surprised to see Judy Fabray opening the door. "Hey Mrs. F. I'm here to see Quinn," Santana greeted.

"Hello sweetheart. I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been dear," Judy asked.

Santana smiled. "I've been okay. You know, school, homework, the usual." Santana saw Quinn coming down the stairs.

"Mom, stop asking so many questions. We're going to work on a glee assignment."

"Quinnie, it's been a while since I've seen Santana. I'm just asking how she's doing; there is nothing to get embarrassed about. So Santana, are you staying for dinner? I can easily make more food."

Santana looked towards Quinn. "Um, I don't want to bother."

Judy shook her head. "Nonsense. You could never be a bother. Call your parents and tell them you're going to stay for dinner. I'll make some extra for you to take to them."

Santana smiled. "Sure Mrs. F. Thank you." She turned her attention to Quinn. "Ready to listen to some songs," she asked with a wink.

Quinn laughed. "Come on silly," she said and grabbed Santana's hand as they made their way to Quinn's room.

Santana plopped herself onto Quinn's bed. "Do you have any idea which song you want to do, Q?"

Quinn sighed. "No. And I don't really have any idea how we can start," Quinn said, frustrated.

Santana stood up. "Well let's look at that cd collection you have. You should look for a song in your iTunes library."

"Okay," Quinn agreed. "Should I look for a song for you," she asked.

"Hmm. If you see anything just write it down," Santana answered.

Santana began looking through the extensive cd collection Quinn had. "Dang Q. You have this alphabetized and ordered by year. Anal much? Have you been hanging out with Berry lately," Santana joked.

"Ugh. Don't mention Man Hands. She's just so frustrating. It's like she can't get over the fact that Finn and I are together," Quinn complained.

"Well I think that was what her song was about. You know, how she couldn't get it right and she doesn't have Finn," Santana said.

"Yeah, but I don't know. She just isn't over Finn and I'm sorry, that song was about not knowing how to get him back. I feel like I have to keep fighting to keep Finn with me."

"Quinn," Santana sighed. "I'm going to ask you something, but I don't want you to get upset or offended." Quinn nodded for her to continue. "Do you really love Finn, or do you just want him because Berry is interested in him?"

Quinn looked at Santana for a second before looking down. When she looked back up she had tears in her eyes. Santana moved to sit down next to her and wrapped her arms around Quinn to hug her.

"I love him Santana. But I messed up. I got jealous of Rachel when she first started getting close to Finn. I stupidly slept with Puck and got pregnant. I'm sorry by the way. I know you two were together. Not only did I cheat on my boyfriend but I slept with my best friend's boyfriend."

Santana stopped her friend's rant. "It's okay Q. Puck and I have always been on and off. I appreciate the apology though. But it's all forgiven and forgotten."

Quinn stopped crying and gave Santana a hug. "You're the best, S. I just feel so awful about what happened and I want it to be like before but I don't think he really forgives me or has forgotten. And I feel like the more Rachel tries to befriend Finn the more I'm going to lose him."

Santana felt for Quinn. She never did understand what Quinn saw in Finn. To her Finn was a giant dork that was awkward and didn't really think things though. For some reason Quinn was in love with him. Santana understood the fear Quinn felt though. It was the same fear Santana had had two weeks ago when she told Brittany how she felt. Somehow she forgot all about Artie, but as soon as the blonde mentioned him she was faced with the fact that Brittany might choose him over her. And as she tried to tell Brittany to just end it with the boy she had to face that fear of rejection.

Santana looked at her best friend. "I think you should take a break from boys," she told Quinn. Quinn scoffed. "No, listen to me Q. You define yourself by your boyfriend. You just told me that you are afraid that you are going to lose him to someone else. That fear isn't going to go away. It's going to eat you up until you lose your mind. You are more than just a pretty girl with a boyfriend. It's what Mr. Schue said. Self-expression, not what possessions define you."

Quinn nodded. Maybe you're right, but what about you?"

Santana scoffed. "What about me?"

"Well why did you get with Sam? You didn't really like him, did you?"

Santana shook her head. "No, not really. He's a nice guy, but I was never really into him."

Quinn nodded. "That's what I thought."

Santana shrugged. "Yeah. I originally just wanted him because I thought I needed to be with someone. Everyone in glee had a boyfriend practically. Even Zizes. I don't know what the hell I was thinking."

Quinn laughed. "Well, I think you were being a bitch, no offense," Quinn said jokingly. "I mean, he was my boyfriend and you basically broke us up."

Santana shook her head. "No no Blondie. You broke that relationship yourself. You cheated on Sam with Finn. Don't go blaming me when I just tried to help a friend out."

Quinn smiled lightly. "Okay. You're right."

Santana smirked. "I'm always right," she said smugly.

"Hah. Whatever you want to believe Santana."

They sat in a comfortable silence before Quinn voiced her question. "Do you want to talk about whatever is going on between you and Brittany?"

Santana sighed. "Nothing is going on between Brittany and me," she said dejectedly.

Quinn paused to take a good look at Santana. "Well, the past few weeks you two haven't been speaking as much. I know you, S. You and Britt are best friends. I'm pretty sure you consider her more of a friend than me. So what happened?"

Santana shook her head. "I consider you my best friend, Q," she said softly.

"Stop avoiding the question Santana. I know I'm one of your best friends. But you and Britt are like on this different level of friendship. It's like you both can read each other's minds. It's crazy how close you are. You are always together. And all of a sudden that stopped. So I know something happened."

"It's none of your business Quinn," Santana snapped.

Quinn sighed. "I know. I just want to help. I don't like to see you like this."

"Like what?"

"Sad, trapped inside your thoughts. If you don't want to tell me, that is fine. It's your business. But I just want to be a good best friend for once and see how you are really doing."

Santana sighed. "You are a good friend Quinn. I'm sorry. I want to tell you because I'm so tired of holding everything in. I just can't. If I do it makes it more real and I don't know if I can handle that. I promise when I'm ready I'll tell you. "

"Okay. That's all I'm asking," Quinn said before turning back to her laptop. "Oh and by the way, I'll still be your friend no matter what."

Santana smiled. "Okay you sap. Get back to searching."


Santana looked through the cd collection, surprised at some of Quinn's selections. Who would have thought little miss church-going Quinn listens to hip hop. She found a cd of The Notorious B.I.G. and almost had a heart attack because of her surprise. Quinn's explanation to having the album was that he was a legend in the world of 90s rap. Santana hasn't gotten to the T section yet, but she wouldn't be surprised now if she found a Tupac album. She has to hand it to Quinn. The girl has great taste in music.

She reached the N section of Quinn's cd when she saw an old yet familiar album. "Oh my gosh, Q. Remember this," she asks, holding out a cd.

Quinn looks up and sees the Whoa, Nelly! album by Nelly Furtado. "I remember that. We used to play that album all the time. How old were we?"

"Like six or seven. Oh my gosh this takes me back. Remember the music video for I'm Like A Bird?"

"How could I forget? Brittany actually tried to fly because she saw Nelly doing it. Too bad we didn't realize she was attached to a harness."

Santana burst into laughter. Quinn also couldn't hold in her laughter at their best friend's antics. She was always trying to copy everything she saw in music videos, hoping to pick up new dance moves. Flying, however, was one feat Brittany hadn't been able to master.

"Remember you used to get the words messed up. You thought she said "my love is red and blue," Quinn laughed jokingly.

"Hey, it's not my fault Nelly had horrible diction. I think we made up our own words for half the songs on that cd. Plus I was still learning English," she justified. Santana's parents spoke Spanish to her at home, so she had to learn English in school. Santana turned to put the cd back when she saw the rest of Nelly's albums. "Damn Q. Are you a closeted Nelly fan? I didn't know you had all of her cds. You even have the 'Best of…' collection."

Quinn nodded. "She's actually really good. Her pronunciation maybe not but her songwriting is incredible," Quinn explained.

Santana shrugged. "Well then let's have a listen." She turned to the stereo system Quinn had in her room and slipped the cd in. They both sang out the lyrics to I'm Like A Bird. When that finished, Santana went back to looking for songs while still listening to the album.

As the cd played Santana had to admit that she really was impressed with Nelly's lyrics. What was even more shocking to the Latina was the fact that Nelly sang in Spanish and Portuguese – and she could actually understand her. She was looking through the cds when she heard a few lyrics that captured her attention.

Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try

Santana instantly thought of Brittany. Brittany had wanted her to open up. She wanted her to talk about her feelings and not run away from them. She listened intently to the second chorus.

I wish I hadn't seen all of the realness
And all the real people are really not real at all
The more I learn the more I learn
The more I cry the more I cry
As I say goodbye to the way of life
I thought I had designed for me

Santana had spent countless hours crying after their performance of Landslide. She was so torn between her feelings of Brittany. Santana had her life planned out. She would graduate from high school and then college. She'd work for a few years to pay back student loans and then she'd marry a man, preferably rich, and live a happy life. Her feelings for Brittany threw that plan out the window. Because Brittany wasn't a boy; she is a girl. And that has consequences that she isn't sure she could handle.

Santana was trying to compose herself. The song brought out so many emotions in Santana. But as she listened to the ending she couldn't help but let out soft sobs due to the words. Because Santana knew that she would probably never have that happy ending with Brittany.

We are free in our love.

Quinn heard soft whimpers and turned to see Santana with silent tears streaming down her face. "Hey," she said gently. "What's wrong?"

Santana shook her head as she took in a deep breath. "I'm okay Q. I'm okay," she said, voice breaking as she tried to control her crying.

"No you're not San. Please tell me what's wrong. Why are you crying?"

Santana looked into Quinn's eyes and saw genuine concern but also trust. She inhaled and whispered out one word.

"Brittany."

Quinn walked to where Santana was standing and wrapped her in a hug. Tears continued to stream down Santana's face, and Quinn's heart broke for her friend. Quinn knew that whatever was bothering Santana wasn't something small and that scared her. She wanted Santana to trust her and come to her for help or even just for a listening ear.

Quinn pulled away from Santana and looked her in the eye. "What happened with you and Brittany?"

Santana walked over to Quinn's bed and let out a sigh as she sank down onto it. "I don't even know where to begin, Q."

Quinn sat beside Santana. "Just start at the beginning. I'm listening."

"Okay, um. Well, I guess everything started last year. After I found out that Puck cheated on me I was really upset. I didn't love him or anything, but he was still my boyfriend, you know? I never thought he would cheat on me. I thought that maybe it was my fault. Maybe I wasn't pretty or smart enough for him. I went to Brittany that day and told her everything I was feeling. And she told me that I was beautiful and that I shouldn't feel like I wasn't perfect. But you know me; I'm too stubborn to believe anything when I've already made my mind up about something. I kept talking bad about myself so Brittany kissed me to make me stop. It was quick and just a little peck really, but it felt so good. It was a million times better than kissing Puck or any other guy.

"So after that I knew I wanted to kiss her again. So we did. We kissed each other but still dated boys. Even though I never felt anything with any of the guys I was with, I didn't want to even think about what kissing Britt meant. So I just ignored it. I acted like it was no big deal, like it meant nothing. "Sex isn't dating," I told myself. And it worked all year and even in the summer. But then the duet assignment happened."

Santana paused and let Quinn take in everything that was said. Quinn was surprised that Santana and Brittany had been intimate for that long. She thought it only happened this year. To her defense she did spend all of last year pregnant, but these were her best friends. She should have known, or at least noticed something. Before Quinn could say anything Santana began speaking once again.

"Brittany wanted to sing 'Come To My Window' as a duet with me. But I got afraid because I didn't want to admit liking her. I couldn't do it, so instead I said some really mean things and hurt her feelings. As, I don't know, revenge or something, Brittany had sex with Artie. And then they started dating. Of course it worked; I got so jealous with their relationship. It meant that Britt and I couldn't keep doing what we were doing. I'm not proud of what I'm about to tell you. I, uh, I convinced Brittany that us having sex wasn't cheating because we were both girls. I know it's horrible. But I missed her. It was the only way I could get to be with her again. But a couple of weeks ago she asked me to tell her what us having sex meant. We sang 'Landslide' and I started thinking about everything. I um... I"

Quinn took Santana's hands and gave a gentle squeeze. "It's okay, San. I'm here for you. No judgments, I promise."

Santana looked at Quinn with watery eyes. "I'm in love with her, Quinn. I love Brittany."

Quinn nodded and pulled her into another hug. "It's okay. Thank you for trusting me and telling me. It's going to be okay," she said in a comforting tone.

"No it's not. I told her. I told her that I loved her and wanted to be with her, but she chose him. She practically forced me to admit my feelings towards her, and for what? So she could reject me? So she could tell me that she does love me but she can't be with me because it's not fair to him? So she could crush my heart?"

"Santana, you know Brittany would never intentionally hurt you."

"Well she did," Santana huffed, "and I don't know what to do anymore."

"Didn't you tell me that I shouldn't define myself by who I'm with? You shouldn't do that either."

"I'm not Quinn."

"I know it's not the same. But I think you need to do some self-exploration. You are an incredible person Santana. Maybe if you fully embraced yourself everything else will be a little easier."

"I just wish it was easy now."

Quinn nodded. "Well, you always have me to talk to when things aren't so easy. You aren't alone anymore."

Santana smiled at Quinn. "Thank you Q. Thank you for supporting me. It means a lot to know that you're okay with everything."

"Of course I'm okay with everything. You are my best friend. I'll always have your back."

"Thank you," Santana said before groaning. "Okay. Can we please stop with the emotional baring of our souls? It's too much for one day, and it'll ruin my reputation as a badass."

Quinn scoffed. "Please. Like anyone believes you're a badass. Didn't you try to fight Zizes and ended up in the nurses office?"

"You know what, how can anyone my size beat up Zizes? She's like three times my size."

"Oh I know that. I was just saying -" Quinn was interrupted by her mother's voice saying that dinner was ready.

"Saved by Mrs. F. Come on Quinnie. It's time to eat," Santana teased before running out of the room and down the stairs.

"Don't call me Quinnie," Quinn yelled and chased after Santana.