A quick thank you to those of you reading. I appreciate it.

I know this has moved slower than most and that it's not the "typical" Brittana story, but it'll come full circle. I hope you keep reading.

Friday already

Santana couldn't believe how quickly the week had gone by. It was Friday afternoon and the Cheerios were getting one last practice in before heading off to their competition on Saturday. As usual, Sue had her megaphone in hand shouting things at her team of teenagers that would get most educators fired.

"Let's go saddle bags!" She screamed with a vein popping out in her forehead. "Ten more laps! You need to drop at least five more pounds so your weak as tin foil teammates can toss AND catch you!"

Santana grimaced. She made a promise to herself that she would not talk to the girls like that. It may have worked for Sue and for Santana herself at one time as well. However, Santana was a different person these days and had her own morals and beliefs as to how people should be treated. For now though, there was nothing she could do about it. The Cheerios were still under Sue's direction for a couple more days. The dark haired woman watched quietly as the girls executed their lifts with perfection. Flawless.

"Looking good!" A voice whispered in Santana's ear. She turned to see BJ standing there watching the routine, but not before BJ saw her face turn another two shades of pink. Her cheeks burned. "The routine." BJ nodded towards the Cheerios.

"Umm…. Yeah!" Santana was flustered. She thought the coach was talking about her! She hoped she was able to hide her embarrassment. "They're hard work has really paid off. I wasn't so sure they'd be able to nail this one. They are definitely ready to compete. I know they'll do well."

"When do you guys leave?"

"The team leaves at six thirty tomorrow morning."

"Aren't you going with?" BJ asked cocking her head to the side.

"Oh no. This is Sue's weekend. I'm staying back. I'll have my day soon enough. Besides, I'm not sure if I can stand the ol' hag and her megaphone for thirteen straight hours."

BJ laughed and nodded. "Totally understand." With a quick look at her watch, the basketball coach said, "It's about that time…"

At that moment, Sue ended practice a whole thirty seconds early. It was a miracle. The basketball team made their way on to the court and BJ said to Santana, "If you aren't doing anything tonight, feel free to stop by. I'm having a pre-game day party."

"Who's all coming?" Santana questioned.

"Just me, myself and I. I think there's room for one more."

Santana just shook her head and laughed at the cheesy sense of humor. "Well, if you don't think it'll be too crowded, I'll be there."

BJ winked at her. She looked forward to hanging out with Santana again. They had talked quite a bit over the last two days. They had so much in common and it was clear that they were becoming fast friends.

Later on that night…..

A car door slammed and BJ got up to take a peek out the front window. She watched as the sexy Latina woman got out of her car and walked up the driveway to the door. Damn, that girl is fiiiiine! She thought to herself and then shook her head to clear the thought. Knock it off. Don't be an idiot. It was true. There was no denying that the woman walking towards her door was one hot chick. Exactly her type too. However, that's not what BJ was looking for, nor was she interested in. It became clear a few years earlier that she wouldn't be moving on any time soon- if at all. Someone else consumed her thoughts. There wasn't room or time for anyone else in that capacity.

The doorbell rang. The former hoopster took a deep breath and reached to open the door. "Hey! I thought I heard the bell ring! Kind of hard to hear with the hardcore partying going on." BJ stepped to the side and asked the woman to come in with a sweep of the hand."

"You better keep it down. The po-po be crazy in this town." They both laughed.

"I'm glad you could come. You are officially my first guest. Ever. To this house. Here." The athletic female's stance changed as she felt a twinge of embarrassment revealing that information.

Santana smiled and it put them both at ease. "Let me take your coat." Santana handed it over. She was dressed in grey sweats and a red Nike OSU hoody. "Make yourself at home. I'll grab us a couple drinks. Beer ok?"

Santana nodded and began to look around the house. It was large, clean and beautiful. Actually, it hardly looked lived in. After further inspecting the room, she noticed some pictures on the wall. She assumed that many of the unfamiliar faces were family. There were some team pictures from BJ's playing days and her time coaching. Santana recognized and even knew a few of them. She smiled remembering her own OSU days as BJ reappeared with a couple of cold one's.

"I've got a pizza coming. I thought we'd just kick it if you're cool with that?"

Santana nodded. BJ had a different type of swag off of school grounds. It was intriguing. The doorbell rang again.

"Pizza man." She stated matter of factly. "We'll go downstairs- first door on the left." She pointed down the hallway.

The shorter girl made her way down the hallway to the stairs. She took in each picture on her way down. BJ's eyes had a sparkle in each of them that she seemed to be missing now. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her jaw dropped. The set up was amazing! The basement was complete with a full bar, theatre seating, the biggest tv screen she had ever seen, trophies, pictures, framed jerseys, and class. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and turned to see BJ coming down with the pizza.

"Let me help you!"

"I've got it. It's just a pizza. Let's go over to the bar. I've got everything we need over there."

"You've got a great set-up here."

"Thank you. I had it done when I moved in. I didn't have a whole lot going on, so the work was done fairly quickly. I did most of it on my own. One of the perks of having a lot of free time…I guess?" Santana wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question or not, but she chose not to answer it. She understood what it was like to be alone and was grateful for the new found company.

They dug into the pizza and it didn't take long for the two women to finish it off. Neither one had eaten since lunch time. As they finished, Santana insisted on helping clean up. It was the least she could do. As they cleaned up the area in front of them, Santana noticed a few more pictures on the mirror behind the bar.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "I forgot all about this!"

There, stuck to the mirror, partially hidden by another picture, was a photo of OSU's Big Ten Championship team, some of the band members and the cheerleaders. Standing next to Coach E was Santana. Both women scanned the picture and laughed.

"So close, yet so far away." Stated BJ. "That was a great year."

"I can't believe it! We were standing right next to each other! All you ever said to me was hi…"

"We were at different stages in our lives then. As much as it pains me to admit it, I AM older than you."

Santana shook her head. "I can't believe it."

Standing on the other side of Santana was the tall, thin blonde. Both of them looked so happy. She noticed Santana's gaze hover over the two of them for a bit longer. She decided to ask about the blonde.

"You miss her don't you?"

"W-w-what? Who?"

"Her." BJ pointed to Brittany in the picture.

Santana shrugged. "Sometimes."

Every second of every day. She thought. And Actually more than that.

"Where is she?"

"Well, at one point she was in New York. Then I heard it was Atlanta. Last I heard she was California somewhere." Santana looked at the picture again and let out a sigh. "I haven't spoken to her in about three years."

"I remember seeing you two together everywhere." The coach said. "What happened?"

Santana opened a bottle of water that had been set down in front of her. BJ studied Santana's eyes and expression. Santana took a deep breath and began to play with her bottle cap. She had never really talked about it. When Brittany left, Santana stayed in their apartment- what had been their apartment- for 8 straight days. She only answered one call. It was Brittany's call to let her know that she made it safely to New York. Brittany had called every one of the next seven days, but Santana couldn't bring herself to answer. She didn't want Brittany to know how much she was struggling- especially since every message that Britt left was so bubbly and cheerful. Santana didn't think Brittany was having a hard time at all without her. Santana never wanted to let anyone think she was weak, so she avoided everyone until she was able to act like everything was ok.

"San….. you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. If you ever want to though, I've been told that I'm a pretty good listener."

The raven haired woman shook her head. "No, it's ok. I do miss her. I have every day since."

Over the next forty five minutes, BJ sat and listened to Santana tell her story.

Near the end of the season during their sophomore year, Brittany had been approached after a game at Syracuse. They had traveled with the team for the NCAA tournament. She had filled in with the dance squad when one of their members was injured. She had been offered an audition with the New York School of Dance. Her lifelong dream was to be a dancer and she was so excited about the audition that she sprinted and tackled Santana. She was the first person she wanted to tell. Brittany grinned from ear to ear and jumped up and down like a five year old on Christmas morning. Santana knew what an opportunity it was for her and nothing made her happier than seeing Brittany happy.

The two young women sat down and spoke at length about Brittany's opportunity when they returned to Columbus. Brittany didn't want it to change their relationship and was willing to cancel her audition. Santana wouldn't let her. She knew this might be Brittany's only chance to live out her dream and she surely didn't want to be the one to stand in the way of that. She helped her set up a rehearsal schedule and watched her daily. Filming her so Brittany could see for herself where she needed to make improvements and offering words of encouragement and support. The two did this for the four weeks leading up to the audition. Inseparable as usual.

Santana accompanied Brittany to New York over spring break. Just as Santana expected, Brittany nailed her audition. She was offered an invitation to enroll for the next term that evening. She told them she wanted to think about it, but Santana knew she was going. After two days of extensive conversation, Santana convinced Brittany to go. This was the chance of a lifetime. In the months remaining before Britt moved, they spent every possible waking minute together. They both knew that it was going to be hard, they just didn't realize how hard.

After those first eight days, Santana finally called Brittany. They were able to work out a call schedule and stuck to it religiously. Santana went to visit after Brittany had been there a month and gotten settled. As much as they wanted things to remain the same, they were different. Brittany had such a hectic schedule that they hardly got to spend any time with each other and when they did, Brittany was exhausted. When Santana was getting ready to leave, they both realized that things were changing. They still loved each other- that was never a question, but things would never be like they were. The phone calls went from daily, to weekly, to monthly. Then they went from monthly to bi-monthly, and soon just on holidays and birthdays. Finally, they stopped.