The day Brittany had landed back in town it was cold and raining. She didn't call anyone when she landed. Instead she took a cab to her apartment and went inside, locking herself in. The few things that she had kept in storage were already in the living room of her new apartment.

There in the middle of the living room were all the things she had. Her suitcase was full of clothes and other things she'd bought since leaving New York, but everything in front of her hadn't been touched since the day after Santana broke up with her.

She took a long deep breath, trying to gain the courage to walk over to nine or ten boxes that contained memories she'd been avoiding for a long, long time.

Brittany had learned a lot in the past year. She'd gained a confidence she only had previously on the stage. She learned that she could rely on herself and everything would turn out okay. She also learned what it felt like to be lonely. Not just alone, but lonely. The kind that creeps into your heart and makes it feel hollow.

She slowly lowered her suitcase to the ground and looked past the boxes around the barren room with hard wood floors that captured the sunlight pouring through the windows. This was definitely her dream apartment. It was just a few blocks from her dream job that she was supposed to report to in a week. She knew that only one thing was missing. One person. The person she'd originally dreamed all these dreams with.

After kicking off her shoes, Brittany slowly walked toward the boxes. However, instead of stopping at them, she walked into the master bedroom where Rachel's housewarming gift for her stood in all of its four-poster glory. The bed was one that she had pointed out while they were going over her redecoration plans before Puck moved in with her. Rachel was going to surprise her with it, but she'd never been one to be able to keep secrets from her best friend. Right before Brittany got on the plane to New York, Rachel told her that she'd bought her a bed and it was already in the bedroom.

Brittany smiled at the soft purple of the sheets. She ran her hand along the soft mattress before sinking into it with her whole body. She could definitely get used to sleeping on that every night.

When she rolled over on the bed, she could see the boxes peering in the door. She shook her head. She wasn't ready to confront that right then. She emptied her pockets onto the floor next to the bed. She looked down at the phone, receipts, and stray change before shimmying out of her pants and hopping into the bed. She'd deal with the boxes later. After a long, peaceful nap.

Santana had been doing seemingly better in Quinn's eyes. She always came home right after rehearsals. One of them would make dinner and then they'd eat, idly chatting about their days before Santana watched TV and Quinn finished up her work.

Santana had established a routine that didn't involve binge drinking and crying until she fell asleep. She counted that as a small victory. One of many battled that raged on in the war to keep her life moving.

Rachel checked the time of Brittany's flight on her computer. She frowned when she saw that the plane had landed over four hours ago. She expected a call from the blonde the second they touched the ground. She immediately picked up her phone and dialed.

"Hello?" a sleepy sounding Brittany answered.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked.

The blonde chuckled, "Oh yeah. Sorry, I was so tired. I just fell down on this awesome bed and went to sleep."

Rachel sighed, relieved, "I'm glad you like it. I'll let you get back to sleep."

"Thanks," Brittany yawned, still jetlagged.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Rachel asked before hanging up.

"Of course," Brittany grinned into her phone, "I can't wait."

After they said their goodbyes, Brittany put the phone on the pillow next to her. Then after a long exhale she knew she wasn't going to get back to sleep any time soon. So she pushed herself out of bed. After rummaging in her giant suitcase she changed into some sweat pants and a tank top. Then she stood with her hands on her hips looking at the boxes.

"Stupid," she muttered before moving toward them, determined not to let them win. However as she neared them, her feet carried her back to her bed. There she picked up her phone and walked back into the living room. She stood in front of the boxes again, this time really fixed on opening at least one.

She turned some music on her phone and set it on the kitchen counter by the front door. Then she went over to the boxes, this time coming within a few feet of them. She sat down on the floor, her legs crossed before pulling a smaller box to her.

She took one last breath before pulling open the lid of the box.

Half an hour later, Brittany was in tears, smiling wistfully at all the memories the contents of the boxes brought up. Everything in these boxes made her think of Santana. From the first Christmas scarf Santana gave her their first December in New York to the ticket stubs to their first Broadway show. Everything was filled with memories and every memory had its share of tears.

She was so wrapped up in memories that she didn't even hear the first knock on her front door. She wiped her eyes and stood up. When she opened the door she found Rachel standing there with a white bag in her hand. Concern immediately washed over her face when she saw how red Brittany's eyes were.

Rachel stepped in and wrapped her arms around Brittany. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Brittany let out a small smile, "Nothing really. Just going through some old boxes."

The actress let go and put the paper bag on the kitchen counter. "Well I brought you some Thai food. Do you need any help with the boxes?"

The blonde nodded, "That'd be great." She didn't really need help. She just didn't want to be alone.

Rachel smiled and put her hand on Brittany's shoulder. "Great. So where do we start?"