"Your name?"

"Santana."

"No, I mean your full name."

"Santana Lopez."

"Okay, Santana, let us start simple. Why are you here?"

Santana looked at the man in front of her. He was older, later forties, maybe. His hair was a darker ginger, and his eyes were the same color as Ms. Pillsbury's. This was the therapist Ms. Pillsbury had recommended for Santana, and her parents jumped on the opportunity to send her as soon as they found time. Coincidentally, he happened to be Ms. Pillsbury's cousin, who owned a clinic in a town just outside of Lima.

Moments passed without Santana answering. Dr. Pillsbury just looked at her from across his desk and sighed, drumming his fingers against her newly created file. "Listen, Santana. This isn't going to work if I'm the only one talking."

"Well, then maybe you should go talk to someone else." Santana shot back coldly. Dr. Pillsbury leaned forward a bit.

"That's not what I'm being payed to do." He said. Santana raised a questioning eyebrow at him, and he quickly changed his story. "I mean... What I'm trying to say is you have a lot of people worried about you, Santana. I'm just trying to figure out whats wrong, so those people don't have to worry."

Santana so badly wanted to punch this guy's face in. What more could she do to mentally let this guy know that he wasn't getting anything out of her? The situation was uncomfortable for both of them at this point, so why didn't he just give up like all the other doctors did?

"Fucking lay off." She hissed. "I can help myself."

"No." The doctor said, in almost a hushed tone, not showing any response to Santana's tone. "No you can't."

What the hell? Who was he to tell Santana what she could and could not do for herself? Santana didn't bother fighting the urge to leave. She stood up abruptly, right after Dr. Pillsbury was done talking. "Fuck this shit! I'm outta here." She growled as she stormed towards the door, only to find herself struggling with the handle.

"Don't bother, Ms. Lopez." Said Dr. Pillsbury in a calm demeanor. "The door is locked."

Santana turned around, glaring at the doctor. How dare he? No one ever locked the door on her.

"Smart..." She mumbled, having no choice now but to return to her seat, which she did. "Fine." She said, defeated. "I'll talk, but on one condition."

"And this is...?" Dr. Pillsbury questioned.

"We open the window. It's too dark in here."

Cooperatively doing so, the red-haired man pulled the blinds open, the window overlooking the parking lot at 4 p.m. on a January afternoon. "Like the view?" Dr. Pillsbury joked. "You can see why I don't like leaving this open."

Santana wasn't listening to a word he was saying, because when he opened the window, Santana didn't just see a parking lot. No, she saw someone in the parking lot. Someone familiar. She was further away, but she was there. Her long blonde hair and muscular legs were all too familiar to Santana.

"Brittany..." Santana whispered, keeping her eyes on the window. She could see the blonde smile, as she walked across the parking lot and towards the window.

"Santana." Dr. Pillsbury tried to bring her attention back to him. "What are you looking at?"

"What?" Santana's head darted to him, then back to the window. She'd forgotten he was still sitting there. "Oh... Nothing." She said, her gaze still out the window.

"Okay then... Let's talk about why your here now." The doctor said, trying to get Santana back on track. "Tell me about her."

Brittany was only a few yards away from the window now. God, did Santana think she looked adorable. She wore her favorite yellow summer dress, the one that made her blue eyes sparkle when the sun hit them just right. Santana didn't bother to question why Brittany was wearing a summer dress in the middle of January, but she wasn't complaining.

"Tell you about who?" Santana responded, her gaze fixated on the gorgeous girl outside.

"Brittany. I want you to tell me about Brittany." Dr. Pillsbury said, pulling out a pen and paper. Santana sat there not looking at him, she spoke as if she were hypnotized by the girl outside.

"She's... Beautiful..." Santana said, as she watched Brittany run her fingers through her long blonde hair. "She's innocent... And she's perfect. Perfect for me.

Dr. Pillsbury took a moment to write a few notes, then looked back up at the dazed Latina. "Santana... you talk of her as if she's still here." He said, concerned.

This was when Santana looked away from Brittany for a split second. "What do you mean, she's not here?" She said, almost offended. Dr. Pillsbury gasped.

"Santana..." He sat there for a moment, at a complete loss for words. "Santana, I know it can be hard losing a friend, and denial is a common thing, but-"

"Wait, a friend?" Santana cut him off. Just when Santana was about to settle in, he had to pull the "friend" card. Santana had heard this from too many doctors and therapists already, and she wasn't going to let another jackass abuse the word again. Santana stood up, staring Dr. Pillsbury down.

"I love her. I will always love her. And I don't care who the hell you think you are to convince me otherwise." Tears started to stream down Santana's face, but like hell she was going to act weak. "You know, I'm really fed up with all your bullshit you preach at these kinds of places. It's not helping, and it never will."


"Hey! Finn!" Rachel called out cheerfully from across the department store. "I think I found the perfect tie for you!" The bubbly brunette ran up to Finn with a deep blue tie, with two small golden stars etched at the bottom. "I think it'll compliment my dress wonderfully!"

Finn looked down, not at the tie, but at Rachel's face, so excited over the tie she held in her hand. Being it there senior year, Rachel wanted to plan ahead for prom, making sure everything was perfect for the couple. Finn didn't mind. It meant spending more time with his girlfriend, and seeing her as excited as she was now made his day any day. "It's perfect, Rachel." He smiled, kissing her on the forehead. "You're perfect."

Just then, Finn's cell phone started buzzing in his pocket. He reached in and took it out, reading the name that showed up on the caller ID.

"Who is it?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Santana." Finn half-whispered. Rachel gasped. They hadn't heard from Santana since two days ago at Glee, when she had another Brittany episode. This one had been the worst one yet. She'd gone and baked a cake for Brittany's birthday. It was the most pitiful thing the Glee kids had ever seen. When they broke the news to her that Brittany was dead, it was a whirl wind of emotions. All Rachel could remember was sobbing into Quinn's shoulder as she watched Finn help carry an immobile Santana to the nurse's office.

"You'd better answer that..." Rachel said quietly, as she walked over to one of the cushioned chairs in the department store. She cared about Santana, she really did, but half of her wanted to shut the whole situation out of her head and not worry about it.

Finn nodded, as he watched Rachel sit before answering the phone.

"Hello? Santana?" He answered, walking a little ways away from Rachel. What he heard on the other line startled him.

There was sobbing, lots of sobbing. He heard sobbing, as well as choppy words and sentences coming from Santana. "Finn... I'm so... I saw... Brittany..." Were all he could make out.

"Whoa, Santana... Calm down." He said into the phone, suddenly feeling exposed, having this conversation in the middle of a department store.

He heard gasps for air on the other line. "Finn, I saw her. Again. She was real, I know she was." Finn's heart sank.

"What do you mean? Where?" He spoke rapidly. He looked over to Rachel's curious expression and mouthed the words, 'she saw her'. Rachel silently put her hand to her mouth as he said this.

"Finn... I saw her. That's about all I know. It was at Dr. Pillsbury's, she was there. It was real." Santana sounded so convinced. Finn paused to walk over to sit next to Rachel.

"Santana, you didn't see her. You couldn't have." Finn said.

"But-"

"No! Santana, why do you do this to yourself?"

"Finn!" Santana shouted into the phone. This took Finn aback. "Shut your food-hole for two seconds and fucking listen to me. Brittany isn't fucking dead, because I saw her, plain as day. And I don't care what any of you Glee kids try to tell me, she's alive." With that sentence, Finn heard the line go dead. Shaking, he just stared at the phone in his hand. Rachel reached over, hanging up for him, and wrapping her arm around his.

"She'll get better..." Rachel whispered to Finn, but it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.

"It's been seven months, Rachel. This can't just keep happening. It's not normal."

"Oh Finn..." Rachel said a bit more normally, trying to make light of the current mood. "It's Santana. When has she ever been normal?"


Santana chucked her cell phone across her bedroom angrily. She grabbed a pillow off her bed and dug her face into it. Why wouldn't anyone listen to her? Why didn't anyone believe her?

"San? You okay?" A voice spoke, and Santana froze, looking up from her pillow. Then there, right in front of her, was Brittany, wearing the same yellow sundress she'd been wearing early that day.

Santana wiped the tears from her eyes, knowing Brittany hated seeing her cry. "Of course Britt! I'm fine." She forced a smile, looking up and down the blonde. "You look gorgeous by the way, but why are you wearing a dress in the middle of January, you nut?" She said playfully. Brittany smiled, her eyes twinkling at Santana.

"Oh, I don't know. I knew you liked it so much, so I thought I'd wear it." Brittany said simply. She sat down next to Santana on her bed, and started to wring her fingers around the Latina's long dark hair. Santana sighed.

"Britt...Can I ask you something, and you promise you won't get mad?" Santana asked, watching as Brittany played with her hair.

"Of course Santana!" She said, stopping to look at her in the eyes.

"Okay..." Santana started. "Um... I don't know, it's a stupid question-"

"You're like the smartest person in the world, Santana. Nothing you say is stupid."

Santana giggled. "Well Britt, some things the Glee kids say are stupid. You know I love them, but I love you more... Britt, you are real, right?"

Brittany just grinned at this, and stood up from Santana's bed. "Santana, I'm as much alive as you want me to be." Brittany reached over and kissed Santana on the cheek. "I'm forever young, and forever yours!"

A/N

Awkward second day update! Woohoo!

Whoa. Everythings awkwardly spaced out. Sorry about that, didn't plan on that happening.

Well, not much to say here. Review it! Thats what'll get me to update, if you wanna be blunt about it. Uh, yeah. Well hope you enjoyed! :)

Oh! And I dedicate this story to the musical Next to Normal, for giving me inspiration to write this. I don't know if I should make this a crossover or not...

Oh! And apparently "Deadly Illusions" is the title of an actual book. Awkward. Just lettin' ya'll know, I came up with this title, I didn't blatantly steal it, if anyone was curious.