I don't own Glee ©

I hopped off the last step of the plastic rock and removed the clips from my harness. I grabbed a towel from the rack and wiped the sweat off my forehead. I love climbing. I could always feel less stressful after a good climb. I look up and saw Sam coming down as he reached the top. He held onto the rope and I watched as he began to hop downwards. Once he got to the bottom I handed him a towel and packed our stuff. When we were done, we decided to head to the café across the rock gym. We ordered our coffee and sat down outside, enjoying our view of the city.

"Man, what a night!" Sam exclaimed as he gulped his coffee.

I nodded and took a small sip, "I don't even remember what happened."

Sam chuckled, "Figures. You were bawling like a bitch."

I glared and punched his chest. He groaned in response, which made me feel a bit better. I ran my fingers through my hair and asked what I was crying about this time. Sam nervously chuckled and glanced at his coffee. Shit, did I cry about Brittany? Arghhh! I can feel my cheeks heating up already.

"You should ask Brittany and Quinn." Sam finally said after a few seconds, "Puck and I kind of dumped you back at the house and we went for more rounds without you, seeing how drunk you were."

I facepalmed and I looked at Sam through the cracks of my fingers. I was SUCH a weepy drunk when I insanely drink a lot. I remember the parties at high school where Q and Britt would bring me home and comfort me. I slightly smiled at that. I look back at Sam and saw him sheepishly smiling at me. I sighed and I told him that I forgive him. I'll probably get a text from Quinn about last night, but knowing her I would already have the talk the minute I wake up. Hmm, maybe she forgot, but I don't think Q is the type to forget things. She's a sly one, so she'll want to talk about it later.

"So what do we do now?" I asked. It's only been a week since I've moved in with Sam and I'm already bored.

Trouty mouth grinned at me and said, "I have a date with Mercedes in an hour. By the way Lopez, you never told me you went to high school with those guys and her! You should have told me about them sooner! They're so much fun! When I was talking to Mercedes about you during our date a few years back she told me she knew you! And I couldn't believe and then after that we went for a walk—"

Great, he's talking nonstop, reminds me of Berry. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the love-struck expression Evans has on his face whenever he says Mercedes's name. I was kind of jealous, because when was the last time I was in a relationship? Oh yeah since…junior year in high school when I was still in the closet. If I don't count the past relationships that I had with guys then the real answer is never. I sighed, damn that is pretty sad. I glanced down at my iPhone and saw that it was twelve o'clock. I should do something while Sam goes on his date.

As Sam kept on talking, I stood up and said, "Trouty mouth, I'm gonna go look for a job while you have your date with Mercedes."

Sam frowned a bit and asked, "You sure, San? I mean…"

I raised my hand and said, "Nah. It's all good. Besides, I gotta go site-seeing, y'know?"

Sam nodded and stood up as well. We walked out of the of the café and parted ways. I shoved my hands in my jeans and whistled a tune. I passed by stores, stands, etc. Nothing caught my interest as a job. I inwardly sighed and pulled out my phone. I sat by a bench and looked up information on the police academy. It said I needed sixty hours of college credits and I did take college courses during my service and I already did more then two years of active service. I smiled and Google mapped the directions to the academy.

It was only a few blocks away and a fifteen minute ride by car away from Sam's apartment, so that's not so bad. I hailed a cab and told the driver the directions. After some minutes, I got there. I paid the driver and looked at the building. It was pretty big. I walked up the steps and walked in. I talked to some lady and I was immediately taken to talk to the captain. I awkwardly sat on the chair in front of his desk and I told him who I was and he looked me up online.

The captain, Captain St. James, was really impressed by my records. He looked at me with a grin and handed me paperwork. My eyes widened, holy shit, I didn't except me to get the job on the dot. After I did all this paperwork, he told me he would be placing me in 31B military police. It required me to do basic training and etc. I thought it would be a piece of cake. I shook hands with St. James and grinned.

"Alright Lopez. By next week do you think you can come over for the basic training with the other newbies?" Captain St. James asked as he looked over my papers once more.

I nodded, "Yes sir. I've been itching to do something ever since I've been discharged. So I can't wait to start working, sir."

Captain St. James nodded, "Alright. Looks good from here. It's nice to have new people around here. Crime has been steady now a days, so you know."

I chuckled and talked a bit more with the captain. After an hour of discussing certain positions and my potential partner, I left the building with a grin on my face. I texted Sam a quick message telling him that I got the sort of got the job. I just have to take the basic training lessons and test and I'll be on the force. Sam texted back telling me that he was proud, I couldn't help but smile. I wandered a bit for a few blocks and after a while, I grew tired. My eyes spotted a park with this really cool pond. I walked across the street and sat on the bench. I sighed and grabbed my phone to play Angry Birds. As I played, I heard children laughing, old people talking, and teenagers hanging out with their friends. I felt like a loner as I sat here on the bench. I couldn't help but feel like one. I know I shouldn't though, but the feeling of feeling lonely just sucks.

"OH MY BUDDHA!" I shouted as I felt a frisbee hit my face.

I glared at the neon green plastic disk and I looked up to try to find the asshole who threw it at my face. When I looked up, I found Lizzy instead of a jerk. My anger instantly went away when I saw her. I smiled gently at her and handed the girl the disk. Lizzy smiled back and sat next to me.

"Hi Tana." She greeted me. She swung her legs back and forth since she couldn't reach the ground.

"What are you doing here Lizzy?" I asked as I lay against the bench, looking up at the sky.

Lizzy shrugged and replied, "I was with my mommy's boyfriend, but then he said he had to go make a phone call, but he didn't come back."

My eyes widened, what the fuck? Who leaves a kid alone at a public park? "How long has he been gone?"

Lizzy pouted and then asked, "What time is it now?"

I look at my phone and told her. I saw her furrow her brows as she tried to calculate how long this guy has been gone. She looked up to me and asked, "How long is an hour?"

I mentally smacked myself when I heard Lizzy ask me this. Not because of the question, but because of how long that girl was by herself. I really need to meet this guy and kick his ass for leaving this kid by herself. As I thought of ways of murdering him without getting caught, I felt something tugging on me. I look down at Lizzy and saw her grinning at me; I couldn't help it but giggle.

"If you play with me…You wouldn't leave me too, right Tana?" She asked. " 'Cause he always leaves whenever he has to spend time with me."

My chest ached when she said that. This poor girl. I smiled lovingly at her and kissed her head. I pulled her onto my lap and I could feel a smile crawl on her lips. I told her that I would never, ever leave her by herself. Lizzy's smile grew and she hugged me. We stayed like this for a few seconds until we pulled apart. We both got up and I asked her where she would like to go.

Lizzy grinned and pulled on my hand. The little blonde led me through the crowded areas and we found ourselves downtown. She looked back at me and smiled, telling me this is where she and her mom would go whenever her mom was having a bad day.

"I always love going here." Lizzy said as I handed her a penny to toss in the fountain. "Mommy and me would stay here until it's dark because the lights look sooo pretty. Mommy's boyfriend never liked coming with us because he complains about the bugs at night."

I smiled as I watched Lizzy holding penny near her chest and closing her eyes. I couldn't help but lightly chuckle as Lizzy made a small wish and then chucking the coin into the fountain. We watched as the water engulfs the coin.

I lightly hip bumped the small girl and asked, "What did you wish for, Liz?"

Lizzy looked around as if she was telling me something really important. She then stood by the ledge on the fountain and pulled me closer to her. She cupped her mouth and whispered in my ear, "For my mommy to be happy."

I raised a brow as I pulled away. She looked at me with a neutral face, waiting for me to answer. I smiled sadly at her and asked, "Who is your mommy?

Lizzy looked at me as if I was the stupidest person on earth. Her nose scrunched up in a cute way and exclaimed, "You already met my mommy, silly."

"Uhh…" I tried to think of who. It couldn't be Brittany because she said isn't married and I highly doubt she would adopt Lizzy since she didn't reply when I asked her a few days ago. Well maybe she would, knowing her and how she would use to adopt cats when we were younger…

I heard Lizzy huff in annoyance and she grabbed my hand once again. Lizzy guided me further into the city and we stopped at a dance studio. Lizzy pushed the glass door open and I followed in. We watched as teenage students were chatting among themselves, laughing, or stretching. I guess they were on break or something like that. A voice called out to the students from a hallway and in came Brittany in gray sweatpants and a pink tank top. I felt Lizzy releasing her grip from my hand and I watched as she ran to the older blonde.

"MOMMY!" Lizzy squealed happily, causing multiple heads to turn towards our direction.

Brittany looked bewildered and worried as she saw her daughter running towards her. Brittany smiled anyway and bent down to wrap her arms around Lizzy. I smiled and approached Brittany with my hands in my back pockets. Britt looked up at me and I saw the worry wash off of her face.

"You were with Santana?" Brittany asked Lizzy with a questionable look, "I thought Chris was suppose to watch you."

Lizzy pouted a bit, "Chris was with me for a bit, but he said he had to make a phone call and he said he'll be RIGHT back, but he didn't come back for an hour!"

Brittany's face showed anger and sadness and I couldn't help but be pissed off at this Chris character. Britt took a deep breath and kissed Lizzy's forehead and embraced her. I heard Brittany murmuring to stay here while she finishes this class and the two of them can go home after. Lizzy nodded and I watched as she scampered off to the office. I then look back at Brittany, who now stood up to look me straight in the eye.

She smiled gently at me and said, "Thank you so much, Santana. I hate it when Chris would just leave Lizzy by herself. I swear…"

I nodded in response and I suddenly found myself asking, "Would you wanna grab some dinner later?"

Brittany frowned and I knew she was about to decline, but I stopped her before she could say no. "And by dinner I mean by a friend thing. To catch up."

Brittany thought about it for a minute and she smiled at me. "I'd love too."

I felt a bit excited, a little to excited. I couldn't help but smile back, "Awesome. We can drop Liz off at home and then grab some dinner."

Brittany grinned and nodded. We separated, Britt continued her dance lesson while I went into the office that Liz was in and found her drawing and coloring. I sat next to her and we began to draw together. We drew until Brittany finished her class. She walked in on us and found me lying on the floor with Lizzy sitting on my stomach. She giggled which caused us to jerk our heads towards her direction. Lizzy got off of me and I watched from the floor their little family moment.

After dropping Lizzy off at Quinn's, we took a cab back to Go Roma, since it's the only place where we can go casual and have fancy-like food. We ordered our food and sat down by the window. I looked out and saw the lights shining. It looked so beautiful at night. I look back at Brittany and caught her looking at me. I raised a brow, questioning her staring. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am hella hot, but sometimes there is a limit to look at this sexy bod.

"Tell me what happened when you left." Brittany suddenly said, which made me tense.

"Um…" I said, "I don't know where to begin really."

Brittany shrugged and said, "How did you meet Sam?"

"Oh. Well, let's see. I met Sam during my first year in service." I began, "We were in combat training together and stuff and luckily we were in the same squadron. Trouty mouth served only a four year term while I served eight."

"Trouty mouth?" Brittany giggled.

I shrugged, "Have you seen Evans's mouth?"

Brittany rolled her eyes and asked, "Why'd you serve all eight years? Mercedes told us that Sam was 'on-call' after he served his four year term."

I fidgeted and replied, "I didn't want to go back to Lima. So I stayed with a buddy when I was 'on-call'. I hated it at first cause I just did nothing, but after a few months they called me in because they needed more soldiers out there in the battlefield."

Brittany nodded and smiled when the food arrived. We both eat in silence. I nibbled on my breadstick and sighed happily. I haven't had a breadstick in years. I finished my bread and moved onto my pasta. As I slurped, I asked in a mouthful, "So tell me about yourself. I-I mean since y'know it's been years and uh.."

Brittany smiled at my nervousness and replied, "Well, I graduated from Ohio State, because I didn't really want to leave Ohio just yet. When I finished college, Quinn came back from Yale and asked me to be her roommate in LA cause she got a job there, so I agreed."

"How did Quinn and Puck get married then?" I asked curiously.

"We found Puck working at this garage and he asked if he could move in with us because he kind of hated his landlord. I agreed but it took Quinn awhile to say yes. Then one thing led to another to the both of them and then they got married, had Beth, and here they are"

"I see you still live with them as well." I commented with a smile.

Brittany smiled back and replied, "Quinn wanted me too and that's a good thing because I hate the thought of being by myself."

I nodded as I spun my fork to get my noodles. I shoved it in my mouth and chewed. I tried to control my eating. I didn't want to look like a slob. I swallowed and reached for my water to wash it down.

"So Lizzy is your daughter, right?" I asked and I watched as Brittany almost loose her grip on her fork. She looked up at me and stiffly nodded.

I took a deep breath and asked, "You didn't like adopt her right? Cause she's a lot like you."

"Flesh and blood." She quietly replied.

I swallowed my spit and asked, "Who's the father, Brittany?"

We sat there for a few minutes. She didn't answer right away. She bit her lip and then opened her mouth to speak, but she chickened out and shoved more pasta in her mouth. In silence, we just sat there and ate. I took a sip of my water and apologized for asking that. I looked down at my plate and stared at the half finished food.

"It's okay." Brittany said quietly, "It's just…complicated."

I look up and saw Brittany looking out the window. I couldn't help but let those words slip out of my mouth, "I have time."

Brittany closed her eyes and sighed, "I just really need you as a friend right now, Santana, but I'm afraid."

"Afraid?"

She looked at me with sad eyes and said, "I'm so afraid that if I tell you, you might run away thinking that I'm disgusting. I'm afraid that I'll loose you, you were my best friend!"

I frowned and replied, "Brittany…I swear to God, I would never leave you."

"But you left when…"

"That's the past, Brittany." I said smiling, "Yesterday is history, the future is a mystery, and today is a gift and that is why we call it the present."

Brittany cracked a smile and asked, "Who told you that?"

I shrugged and said with a smirk, "I was watching Kung Fu Panda with Sam the other night when it was on TV and some turtle said it."

Britt laughed lightly and shook her head, getting back to her serious mode, "You promise, San?"

I smiled and lifted up my pinkie and I watched as she linked hers to mine. It feels just like we were back in high school. I look at her straight in the eyes and said, "I promise, Britt."

"Can we talk about it somewhere else..?" She whispered to me.

I nodded and we got up, with our pinkies linked. I paid for the meal, because I didn't really want Britt to pay. I asked her to hang out with me anyway. We wandered to the park, that I found Lizzy in, and found it empty. We sat on the bench by a light post and we looked at the sky. I heard Brittany sigh and I asked what was wrong.

"I miss Lima sometimes." She commented, "We could easily see the stars at night."

I nodded in agreement. We sat there and I felt Brittany resting her head on my shoulder. We sat there in the warm summer night. It was a pleasant feeling. I then felt Brittany tighten her grip on my pinkie. She must be nervous.

"I met Chris at Quinn's and Puck's wedding." She began softly, "He was like Puck's cousin's best friend. He and I got along great."

I watched as she began to play with my hand. I rested my head on hers as she continued with her story. Brittany took a deep breath and said, "We started to date a few weeks later and one night we went to this club. We were having a good time, dancing and drink and all that. I didn't really drink that much, I only had one beer, but Chris had a ton.

"I helped him out of the club and we were walking back to his apartment. He made me stop by this ally because he told me he had to pee and I told him I'd wait. After a few seconds, he was done but instead of going back to his apartment he grabbed me and he took me into the ally and h-he…he…"

Brittany broke out into a quiet sob and I wrapped my arms protectively around her. I clenched my jaw as I thought of another person daring to touch Brittany. If I were there, I would have beaten the shit of out of him. Tears formed in my eyes as I remembered back at Quinn's house, Brittany telling me that she needed me. I realized that she needed me to comfort her during one of her biggest crises ever in her life. Chris took advantage of Brittany that night when she obviously didn't want to do it with him. Brittany buried her face on my shirt and continued to cry.

"I'm so sorry, San." She cried, "Please don't leave again. P-Please!"

"Oh Brittany…" I murmured, "It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is!" She replied, "I let him do it to me. I-I let him… I'm disgusting!"

I shook my head and rubbed her back, "Shh. No you're not."

It was silent again and for some reason I had to ask, "So Chris is the father, huh?"

I felt Brittany nod against my chest and she softly said, "He knows that he is, but he always acts as if Lizzy isn't his. I make him spend time her, but he ends up doing so for an hour and just leaves her wherever they are. I'm just so…so tired of that. I want Lizzy to have a real family. Not this…"

"Why don't you leave him?" I couldn't help but ask.

Brittany clutched onto my shirt and replied, "I can't… Lizzy needs another role model in her life and I'm not good enough…"

"Not good enough?" I scoffed as I hugged her lovingly, "Britt, you are the total opposite. You're the best for her. Who told you you weren't good enough?"

"Chris." She replied sadly, "He said that I needed him and that it'd be weird if Lizzy didn't have another parent around. He said the kids will make fun of her if he didn't stick around and I didn't want that for Lizzy..."

"He's wrong, Brittany." I stated, "He seriously is wrong."

Brittany didn't reply back to me when I said that to her. I didn't know what else to say either, so it was mutual. I wanted to kiss her, to make her feel better, but she was still with Chris, that bastard. I really want to meet him so he can kiss my foot when I kick it at him. We stayed outside until we got the shivers, so we decided to leave. We still had our pinkies linked when I hailed a cab. We dropped Brittany off first and I decided to walk Brittany to her door. We got out of the car and I told the guy to keep the meter running. We walked towards the door of Quinn's and Puck's home and we stood there. I didn't want to let go of her.

"Thank you." She said to me, "I never told anyone what really happened."

"Not even Quinn?" I asked with disbelief.

Brittany shook her head, "I didn't think she would have handled it well along with Puck."

I nodded and hugged her good bye. We pulled back and I couldn't help but smile at how beautiful she looked. Brittany smiled back and asked, "Friends again?"

My heart began to ache when she said that. Weird, maybe I should get that checked. I smiled back at her and nodded in agreement, "Best friends again."

Brittany grinned and bounced with excitement. She hugged me again, but this time a bit longer. I had to pull back though because the meter was running. She pouted but nodded her head. We said good bye and we parted ways. I watched from the cab as Brittany opened the door to the house and closing it. I smiled and told the driver how to get to Sam's apartment.

A/N: Hi

so I'm going to LA and Las Vegas for spring break. I think the Las Vegas part will be boring cause my parents will just be gambling or something while i'm stuck in the hotel room with my little bro -_- cause that happened a few years back hahaa. review.