I don't own Glee ©

A/N: Final exams are over! Not much Brittana interaction but just bare with it s'il vous plait

I haven't seen Santana for a week and a half. I mean, it's no big deal but she makes me feel weird. Not bad weird but good weird. She seems gentle despite having that hard exterior. After sex she would want me to spoon her or her spooning me. I didn't even picture her as a cuddler. Does she treat prostitutes with kindness? Cause that seems odd. Her touches are soft and soothing and she has this warm aura that I'm so drawn to. She texts me sometimes during that week and sometimes I would reply and sometimes I would ignore it. Santana can't be good for me. She's a drug, a bad drug. I need to detach myself from her.

"Graham, come one!" I call out from the hallway. "We're going to Grandpa's and we're going to be late!"

"Coming!" Graham huffs and runs out the apartment while holding something in his arms. "Mommy, I finally found Philip!"

I bend down on my knees to fix his scarf. Looking in his arms, I see an old raggedy old plush toy of a dog. A button eye is missing and a small tear is seen with some stuffing poking out of its right leg. A small smile comes up on my face when I realize who it use to belong too.

"We need to fix Philip up." I say to him, standing back up and patting his shoulder.

"Can we fix it?" He cheers while grabbing my hand. "Yes we can!"

I roll my eyes and tug him closer when we got outside our building. I hail a cab and tell him the address to my Dad's place. We get inside and the car starts moving. Graham and I stay in silence while the cab driver's radio fills the air. I look down at Graham and see him playing with Philip. I wonder where he put that thing. I remember when her first lost it. He wouldn't stop crying for hours.

Hmm. Speaking of Graham, his birthday is coming up and I still haven't found a job. I wince at the thought of it. I have the rent paid and it won't come again until next month and the food is stocked in the fridge. I have to pay the daycare bill and soon the temperature will drop even lower and I'll have to crank up the heat at night so there's the bill for the heater…

"Mommy, we're here!" Graham points and grabs my arm, shaking it furiously which made me focus back on reality.

I look out the window and see my old house. I smile and pay the cab driver before opening the door. I help Graham out of the cab and suddenly he bolts straight to the door. I laugh and slam the door close. Walking near the front door, I see my son furiously pushing the doorbell excitedly.

"Whoa calm down, Graham Cracker." I shake my head while ruffling his dark blonde hair.

The door opens and I see my Dad grinning from ear to ear. Graham yells out his name happily and latches himself on Dad's leg. Dad and I share a laugh at how adorable Graham is being. Dad ushers us in and closes the door before any wind chill can come inside. I look around the living room and see that he hasn't moved anything around since the last time we've visited. Though my Dad looks like he changed a bit. His bright blonde hair is now dull and turning gray. He still looks fit but his face is aging noticeably.

"Britty!" Dad greets warm-heartedly, his arms open wide for me to jump in.

I grin and embrace my old man. "Hey Daddy."

"How's my little trooper?" He asks. He pulls away from the hug but keeps his arm slung around my shoulders. "And my favorite grandkid?"

"Awesome Grandpa." Graham grins. He hugs Philip closer to his chest and runs to the kitchen, knowing that his Grandpa probably made some food.

Dad chuckles and looks at me curiously. "So how is my trooper doing? You haven't visited in months." His face turns into feign sadness. "I was beginning to think that my baby girl forgot about me."

I giggle and bury my face on his shoulder. "I'm just busy and tired Daddy."

"Should take a nap, Britty Bee."

"You know what I mean."

Dad looks at me affectionately and rubs my head. "I know what you mean, Britty. I've told you before and I'll tell you again: Why don't you guys just stay with me? It's awfully lonely here without you guys."

I sigh and shrug. Dad smiles briefly at me before joining Graham in the kitchen so he won't mess things up. Truth is, I don't want to stay with Dad. Don't get me wrong, I love my him, I do. But I feel like I have to prove to him and everyone else (whoever they are) that I'm fit to raise a kid on my own. I don't know why and the reason for it. But maybe it's because of the bullying I got when I was younger. I wasn't a popular child and had trouble with school. Just thinking about it makes me feel depressed. I close my eyes a take a deep breath. Whatever, it's in the past.

I slowly follow his trail but my eyes stick to the walls. Countless family photos are everywhere. Each time I look at one I smile at the memory. I stop in front of one picture by the kitchen. It's not old but not recently new. It was the day of my high school graduation. I'm in the middle with my red gown and cap, my older brother next to me while Mom is next to him and Dad is right besides me. My brother's fiancée was the one who took the picture. I can still remember that day, the laughter, the tears of joy, and the feeling of a bright future ahead of me. I wonder what my life would have been if life and fate hadn't worked together to stop me from going to college to do what I've always wanted to do.

"Mommy?"

I look down and see Graham with his hair all messy and clutching Philip so close to his chest that I'm sure that it will pop off soon. I get on my knees and start fixing his hair. Graham giggles and sticks his tongue out at me. Suddenly I notice a few crumbs on the corner of his mouth.

"Did Grandpa give you cookies?" I ask despite knowing the answer already.

Graham just grins devilishly and says nothing. I giggle this time and stand back up. "Come on, buddy." I place my hand behind his back. "Let's go see what Grandpa is making."

"Britty!" Dad cheers by the stove when we walk in. "I'm making some homemade clam chowder!"

I grin. "Oh gosh! I haven't had a clam chowder in forever!"

"Clam chowder?! With real clams?!" Graham groans. "Ewwww, that sounds so icky! Grandpa I want pizza!"

Dad gives me the look and smirks. I chuckle and watch my Dad squat down in front of my son to give him the talk about how humanity should start training themselves to eat anything just in case there's a zombie apocalypse. I think he gave me the same talk when I was younger and complained about meat loaf. But instead of using zombies he used the example of vegans. Huh, weird.

I look back down at Graham when Dad stood back up and turned his attention back to the chowder. Graham has this shocked look on his face. His mouth is wide open and his eyes seem like that won't close. I shoot a glare at my Dad who simply looks smug.

"I think it's time for a nap." I soothingly tell him while picking him up.

After putting Graham down in my room, I walk back in the kitchen to find Dad cutting something up for the chowder.

"Really?" I sigh dramatically. "You just had to replace vegans with zombies."

"Hey." Dad looks up and shakes the knife at me. "It worked. That boy will be eating my special Pierce amazingly awesome homemade clam chowder."

"Right." I grin at him. I walk towards the island counter and sit on the stool across from my Dad.

"How's the 80s diner?" He asks curiously. "I heard that place is booming."

I groan loudly. "If they're booming then why the hell did I lose my—" I shut my mouth before I tell him more, but I think he knows what I was about to say.

"What?"

"What?"

I stare at my Dad for a whole minute before he says. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Were you about to say that you lost your job?"

"Uh.."

"Britty!"

"I'm sorry!" I exclaim. "It was out of no where! I don't even know I was fired! I'm a hard worker too, y'know this Dad!"

Dad takes a deep breath and places the knife on the table. "When did you lose it?"

"Two weeks ago?" I squeak.

Dad's eyes got big. "Are you looking for another one?"

I nod my head furiously. "Of course! I applied to Starbucks and Walgreens but they didn't call!" I sigh loudly and bury my face in my hands. I refuse to tell him how I managed to earn a few hundreds from an acquaintance.

Through the cracks of my fingers I see Dad lost in thought, after a few seconds he resurfaced. He suddenly grins at me and snaps his fingers. "I got it Britty Bee!"

"What?" I ask while sliding my hands down my face to my lap.

"I know a place that needs a waitress." Dad says to me. He picks up the knife and goes back to chopping. "It's this bar on North Michigan Ave and it's near your apartment! Isn't that convenient?"

"I don't know, Dad." I hesitate. I pick up a potato chip from the bowl and toss it in my mouth. "Bars filled with college kids aren't my style."

"No, no, no!" He chuckles. "This is just a casual place. Nothing crazy. It's awesome."

"How do you know?" I crack a smile.

Dad rolls his eyes and chuckle. "I've been there a few times with the guys. Speaking of the guys, my friend Burt, his son knows the guy that owns the place. It's nice."

"I could check it out." I say just to get him off my back.

"Coolio." Dad grins.

"No one says coolio."

"No one but me! Boo-yah!"

"Oh my god."

By the time Graham woke up the food was done. We sit down like any other family and eat. Graham is full of stories as well as my Dad. Both were swapping them faster than Christmas presents. I sit there and listen with a smile. I've listened to all of Dad's tall tales. He's a storyteller and tends to repeat some stories that I've heard when I was younger. Graham on the other hand loves re-hearing those stories and he certainly likes to impress my Dad with his own stories so he tends to stretch it from the truth. Like Grandfather, like son.

"And then I jumped all the way up to the top of the tree." Graham explains, swinging both his arms up in the air. "And I saves the cat! Maggie even gave me a kiss on the cheek!"

"A kiss!" Dad gasps playfully. He turns to me and points at Graham. "Britty are you aware that your son is kissing girls now!"

"Am not!" Graham blushes and looks at me. "Mommy!"

"Graham." I feign seriousness. "You have a girlfriend and you didn't tell me about it?"

"Mommmmmm!" Graham groans.

After lunch Dad says that he has to go visit a friend that is only in Chicago until Thanksgiving. He claims that it's some close elementary friend that he hasn't seen since I was born. Graham and I wave goodbye at my Dad as the cab takes off. We make it back to the apartment and just hang around. I sort through the mail while Graham watches cartoons on the bed.

Once the mail is all organized, I pull out my laptop from under the bed. I press the on button and wait for it to load. I wonder how all those other kids from my grade school are doing since my Dad apparently keeps track of his. I had friends but not the kind of friends that I would want to hang out with all the time. I wonder how that kid Tyler O'Brian is doing or that one girl Tracey Logan who is kind of creepy and stalkerish when it came to her crushes.

When my laptop is fully loaded I go to Google Chrome and search the bar on North of Michigan Ave. I notice the name for it. It's called The Pub. Well isn't that original.

"Mommy?"

"Mhmm?"

"Can we dance in front of The Bean again?"

I laugh. "I don't know baby. Mommy has to find work."

"Cause you lost your job?"

I whip my head at Graham with my eyes looking wide and in panic. Graham just innocently looks at me.

"I came down after you tuck me in." He confessed nervously. I see him fiddling around with Philip in his arms. "I didn't mean to wake up early, honest. Philip had to use the potty."

I flicker a small smile. He thinks that he's in trouble for waking up too early from his nap. I shake my head and gesture at him to come close. Graham crawls towards me and sits in between my legs. I run my hand through his hair and pull him into an embrace. My cheek rests on his head while I hug him tighter as if I'm about to lose him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I don't have a job." I croak out. My throat feels too rusty to be used and my eyes sting like someone sprayed something in them.

"It's s'okay." He replies gently. I think he can tell that my walls are breaking down. His small hand picks up mine and he places his hand over it, comparing the two sizes.

"I probably won't get your birthday gift." I sniffle. I can feel my tears swelling in my eyes and its burning. My face buries itself in Graham's hair because I'm too ashamed to see his face full of disappointment.

"Mommy." He says quietly. Graham detangles himself from my hug and turns himself around to look at me.

Graham has this serious face on that I've never seen before. He looks so much like his father that it's scary. It's making me feel nostalgic and sad.

"It's s'okay." He says to me confidently. "Cause you know when my birthday is?"

I nod and say. "It's November 28, Graham Cracker."

"And it's Thanksgiving too." Graham suddenly grins and bounces on his butt cutely.

I crack a smile and giggle. "Yup."

Graham suddenly pounces me and rests his head against my stomach. "I'mma be having so much fun on my birthday! Cause-Cause I'll be turning 5 an-and I'mma still have a gift."

"Yeah?" I gently speak. "What's your gift?"

He looks at me straight in the eye. "Being with you and Grandpa duh. Cause I'm so thanksful of you guys and you guys are my presents and Will and Emma too!"

I understand what he's telling me. Graham is saying to me that it doesn't matter if I get him a gift or not. I'm his gift because I know that he knows that the gift of family is better than nothing because he's so thankful for us. I smile gratefully at Graham and kiss his forehead.

"When did you get so smart?" I teasingly ask while bopping his nose.

"I got my smarty-pants from you." Graham giggles.

"So it's…" I look up from the piece of paper and grin. "Here!"

Yesterday after my talk with Graham I had the motivation to find a job fast. I know he's saying that he doesn't need a gift but as mother it's an instinct to try to give the best for your kids so they can have a better life than you or that's what my Mom told me. So here I am, standing in front of the bar called The Pub. I walk inside and see a few people in there. I assume that they're the employees cleaning up the place before it opens at 6.

"Oh sorry Miss." A man dressed like his from a magazine says to me. "But we don't open for another few hours."

"Oh no, no!" I smile while shaking my head. "Uh I heard that you guys are in need of another waitress so yeaah…" Smooth Brittany so smooth I sarcastically thought.

The man's eyebrows shoot up and stares at me for a second before breaking into a smile. "Really? That's fantastic! Let me take you to the manager. I'm Kurt by the way." His hand extends to me.

I grasp onto it and give it a squeeze. "I'm Brittany."

Kurt smiles and leads me to the back. There I see a door that says manager. Kurt opens it without knocking and tells the person inside that I'm here to be the new waitress. The door opens wider and I see a good-looking guy with a huge mouth. Whoa, that's kind of freaky.

"Hey! I'm Sam Evans." Sam introduces and dives in for a handshake.

"Brittany S. Pierce." I reply and give another handshake. "So yeah, I'm here for the job."

"Awesome." Sam exclaims, clapping his hands together and rubbing them against one another. "Just step inside my office and we can go through a quick interview."

"Sweet." I say and go inside.

I take a seat in one of the cushioned chairs and look at his desk. Sam closes the door and when he sits down he notices that I've been staring at one particular picture.

"Yeah." He grins and lifts the photo up. "That's my girlfriend Mercedes, been together for two in a half years now. She's out of town for some convention in New Jersey."

"Oh?" I seem interested. "What does she do?"

"She's in this company that's trying to sell this hot new invention that they just made." Sam explains and puts the picture frame back down. "So anyway Brittany. Any experience with waitering?"

"Of course." I grin happily. "I worked at the 80s diner for a couple years before I got fired." My voice sort of deflates at the last word. "They couldn't afford to keep me. So budget cuts."

Sam's eyes flash with sympathy and nods. "The economy has been rough lately."

"Yeah. So that's why I'm interested in this. Gotta earn the money."

"True." Sam smiles understandingly. He then asks. "Do you have a criminal record?"

"No…" I stare at him. "Why?"

Sam shrugs modestly. "We take ex-criminals too. So they can have a fresh start in life. We only have one guy so far." He smiles. "So it's okay if you do have one."

"I don't." I assure him.

"Okay. Um what else." Sam picks up the clipboard in front of him and flips some papers. "That's it for you." He drops of the clipboard and grins. "I think we have ourselves a new staff member for The Pub!"

"No way!" I squeal and almost jumping out of my seat to hug him.

Sam chuckles and gives me a few forms. "Just fill these out and when you're done just hand them to me outside. I'm just gonna help out with the other employees."

"Awesome, okay." My smile is so big that I'm sure that it won't fit on my face anymore.

I grab a pen from his desk while Sam gets up and walks out of the office. I fill out the forms quickly but not too quickly where my handwriting looks like chicken scratch. It asks me to fill out the basic stuff like my name, my address, and phone number and emergency contact number, which is Will and Emma's numbers. After a few minutes I finish and walk out of the office to find Sam helping along with the staff by lifting up boxes.

"Brittany!" Kurt calls me out causing multiple pairs of eyes looking at me.

I blush and smile shyly. "Hi."

"Hey Brittany." Sam smiles happily. I approach him and hand him the papers. He shuffles through them and says. "Attention everyone, attention!"

All the employees stop what they're doing and look over at me and Sam. Sam puts his arm around me and pulls me close to him. "Guys this is Brittany S. Pierce. She'll be joining our little family! Starting…Right now!"

"Really?" I stare at him wide eyed.

"Yup." Sam then orders the staff to introduce themselves to me.

"I'm Kurt." Kurt re-introduces himself and winks at me. "Obviously."

"Puck." A man with a mohawk grunts from the back and continues to clean the tables.

"I'm Mike." Another guy grins while holding onto a woman affectionately. "And this is my wife Tina."

"Hey." Tina waves and then explains. "I don't work here but I'm here frequently that I might as well be hired since I help out sometimes." She chuckles along with some others.

A guy with an old Justin Bieber haircut waves and smiles while he walks up to me. "H-Hey." I think he's blushing. "I'm Ryder."

"Hey Ryder." I smile politely.

Sam then moves my attention to a couple people behind the bar. One person has a notepad in their hands while the other is going through the bottles of alcohol.

"That's Finn checking out our booze stock and that chick right there is Sugar." Sam explains to me.

"Sugar?" I repeat the name. That's weird.

"That's my name and don't wear it out!" Sugar exclaims without looking at me.

"And that girl over there sweeping is Marley." Sam says and then whispers in my ear. "Sometimes we forget she's here because she's so quiet. Real nice girl though."

I nod. I didn't even see her there.

"So that's it!" Sam exclaims and pats my back. "Ryder! Can you help Brittany out? Just show her the ropes and stuff till she gets it."

Sam leaves me and walks back in his office. I look around and see the Ryder guy grinning at me. I tilt my head and notice that he seems sort of cute like the next-door neighbor type of guy. Ryder slings a dishrag over his shoulder and leans against the counter.

"So all you gotta do basically is just take orders and give us the in tell here." Ryder explains and pats the bar counter. He then suddenly pulls out a notepad and pen out of nowhere. "After a while you'll start to get to know the drinks by heart."

"By heart?" I smirk and take the notepad and pen out of his hands. "That's pretty sad."

"Oh so sad." Ryder smirks back.

I feel a buzz in my pocket and I realize that it's my phone. I pull it out while Ryder keeps looking at me. I open the text message and see it's from Santana.

Santana Lopez: Want to meet up later? The usual.

I scoff. I don't need her anymore. I have a real job now so she can just keep her dirty money. I shove my phone in my back pocket and continue to talk to Ryder until the bar opens. Ryder smiles and pats my arm but his touch lingers until he pulls away. He tells me good luck and get ready for a busy crowd. I smile and inhale the fresh air of a new job. Things are looking up.