Much like my love for engineering, my little sister developed a deep interest in physics at a very early age. The only problem with this was the fact that we each saw the world in very different ways, resulting in us constantly bickering about almost everything.

Thankfully as we got older, we came to realize just how much we balanced each other out. She had always been the headstrong, practical thinker who helped me to see why something happened the way it did while I specialized in thinking outside the box and showing her the different ways she could apply the knowledge she knew.

Through our mutual sharing of information, we became really close, which is probably why she took it the hardest when I suddenly started to move away from engineering to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. It was like she had lost everything she had ever known about me, and our relationship suffered because of it.

It wasn't until my winter break from college two years later that I finally revealed to her why everything had changed for me. She was the first person I ever told about my time traveling, and once she understood everything I had been through, we finally got ourselves back on track and became closer than ever before.


I walked into the kitchen on Christmas Eve morning to find my wonderfully awesome girlfriend making me breakfast over by the stove. Stepping up behind her, I slowly slipped my arms around her waist and gently pulled her body flush against me, quietly thanking her for the meal as I reached to press a gentle peck to her cheek.

"No problem, Britt-Britt. I just wanted to do a little something for you before you have to leave," she replied as she put down the spatula she was holding and slowly spun around to face me. Looking up to meet my gaze, she added, "I'm still mad that they're making you go into work today, by the way."

"Babe, we're only going to be open until noon," I reminded her as I tucked a stray hair behind her ear, hoping that my attempt at reassurance would be enough to cheer her up.

Unfortunately, my endeavors proved unsuccessful as she jutted out her bottom lip and grumbled, "I know, but it's Christmas Eve."

"Aw, don't pout. I'll be back before you know it, and then I will be all yours until we have to leave for my parents' house," I cooed, giving her a long, sweet kiss before suddenly catching a whiff of something burning. Pulling away, I whispered, "Uh, San?"

"Uh-huh?" she quietly mumbled, clearly still under the influence of our kiss as she stared up at me with a dreamy look on her face.

I swear this girl is just as hopeless as I am sometimes.

Feeling a smile tug at my lips, I whispered, "I think you need to check on the eggs."

Her eyes immediately shot open in realization as she shouted, "Oh shit!" and spun around to find smoke rising up from the now charred eggs. "Damn it!" Santana cried as she carefully took the smoldering pan over to the sink to rinse it out with water, releasing a loud groan as the cool water hit the pan and caused a huge puff of steam to rise up towards the ceiling.

Feeling the need to comfort my now sulking girlfriend, I gently rubbed my hand up and down her back as assured, "It's okay, San. I can just grab something on the way."

"But I wanted to make you something," she huffed out in defeat.

"Really, it's no big deal. There will be plenty more opportunities for you to cook me breakfast," I promised, pressing a quick kiss to her temple before pulling away. "Anyways, I guess I better get going so I can have time to stop somewhere. Plus, the sooner I leave, the sooner I can come home, right?"

"Um, I don't think it works that way, Britt," Santana replied with a smirk as she set the pan down in the sink and started walking me to the door.

"Shh, just let me keep believing," I playfully hushed as she helped me slip on my coat.

Turning back around to face her, I let her zip me up before she moved to secure a soft, knitted scarf around my neck. "Fine, but only because I love you," she teased, pulling me down by the scarf so she could press her lips to mine.

"Mm, love you, too," I chirped happily as I leaned in to give her one last kiss before turning to grab my favorite trapper hat from off the coatrack. Slipping the accessory onto my head, I threw a quick, "See you when I get back," over my shoulder and made my way out the front door.


I walked into my office about ten minutes later to find a hot cup of tea on my desk. Looking closely, I also noticed a mini-candy cane hooked to the rim so that it was soaking into the warm drink. Moving around to take a seat, I lifted the mug to my lips and took a quick taste.

"Mm, peppermint tea! Score!" I cheered happily as I brought the mug back up to take another small sip.

"Yeah, I figured you might enjoy a beverage that was a little more festive since you have to be here and all," Allie stated as she made her way into the room.

"Hey! I thought you had the day off."

"Yeah, well Jen called in sick, so I told her I'd cover. Plus, I knew you'd miss your favorite technician, so Merry Christmas to you."

Rolling my eyes, I sarcastically retorted, "Oh, you are too kind."

"Darn right, I am," she teased back as she pulled out a neatly wrapped package from behind her back. Placing it on my desk, she added, "Here's your real present, by the way."

Dropping the act, I smiled genuinely at the girl and told her, "Aw, you didn't have to get me anything."

"No worries. It's more for Layla, anyways," she informed as I unwrapped the gift to reveal a new Ohio State University dog collar.

"Oh, wow! How did you know she needed a new one?"

Giving me a small shrug, Allie replied, "I noticed her other collar was pretty worn out when you brought her up here the other day, so I decided to spoil her a little bit."

"Well, thanks, Al. That was really thoughtful of you."

"I know. I'm kind of awesome like that," she replied with a smug grin.

"Okay, don't get cocky," I chuckled as I heard the receptionist announce my first appointment of the day. Shooting the girl a wide smirk, I nodded my head back towards the door and stated, "Looks like you better get going."

"Yeah, yeah," the girl waved me off with a roll of her eyes as she turned to make her way back out of the office.

Laughing quietly to myself, I turned my attention to my computer screen and started scrolling through my schedule for the day while occasionally drinking from the warm cup in my hand. It wasn't until a few minutes later that the vet tech came back to get me, which resulted in me abandoning my tea so I could officially start my work day.

Business remained relatively steady though out the morning, and we had made it almost all the way through the appointments when I suddenly heard our phone person call out over the intercom, "Dr. Pierce, you have Santana Lopez holding on line three. Dr. Pierce, line three."

Unsure of what my girlfriend would be calling for, I glanced up from the microscope I was using with a confused look and walked over to the nearest telephone to answer with a simple, "Hello?"

"Hey, Babe, it's me. Are you busy?"

"Nope, I'm just looking at an ear cytology. Why? What's up?" I ask as I made my way back over to continue viewing the slide through the device's ocular lenses, pulling the corded handset along with me in the process.

"Well, I was trying to get everything together so we'd be able to leave as soon as you were ready, but I can't seem to find those cherries your mother asked us to get for the pie."

Squeezing my eyes closed, I leaned back away from the scope and sighed, "Crap, that's because I forgot to go buy them."

"It's okay. I can just go pick some up real fast," the woman replied.

"San, you don't have to do that. I can just go grab them on my way home."

"I'm already out the door, B. See you in an hour. Love you!"

Allowing a small sigh to slip past my smiling lips, I lightly shook my head and quietly muttered, "Love you, too." Just as I turned around to hang up the phone, I noticed Allie standing there with a smirk.

"Was that your lady friend?" she asked as she grabbed the phone from my hand and returned it to the receiver.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling her that? She's my girlfriend now."

"I know. I just felt like messing with you a bit. Totally called it, by the way," she informed with a smug grin.

"Called what?"

"That you two would end up dating," she answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Scrunching my eyes up in confusion, I responded, "I never heard you say anything about us getting together."

"That's because we didn't tell you."

"Um, I'm sorry. We?" I questioned as I stared at her through narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, a few of the other techs and I had a bet going to see how long it would take the two of you to get together. Thanks for winning me fifty bucks, by the way!"

"WHAT?" I shouted in surprise, causing a few of the other technicians to stop what they were doing to see what was going on. Waving them off with a small, tight-lipped smile, I turned my attention back to Allie and whisper-shouted, "Please tell me you are joking."

"Don't worry, I put most of the money towards the collar. I mean, it's the least I could do," she assured with a nonchalant wave of her hand.

"Oh my gosh, what in the heck am I going to do with you," I questioned as I shook my head in disbelief. Realizing that was a real thing that actually happened, I reached over and playfully shoved the girl's shoulder as I warned, "You better also be purchasing me more tea with that money, you little twerp."

"Psh, who do you think I am? I've already got you restocked with all your favorites, and I even threw in a few new ones just for the hell of it."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, Punk. Now, let's go talk this pup's parents about his ear infection before I think of even more stuff for you to buy me," I teased as I tossed the used slide into the sharps container and lead her back to the exam room.


"Honey, I'm home," I jokingly yelled out as soon as I walked through my front door, knowing that Santana was still lurking somewhere in the house. Suddenly, I heard the tapping of nails against the hardwood floor as Layla came rushing over to where I stood, follow closely behind by Delgado. Pushing them both off as they excitedly jumped up on me, I giggled, "Hey, kiddos. Did ya miss me while I was gone?"

"Of course they did, but I can almost guarantee that I missed you more," Santana cut in as she made her way into the room.

"Well, I don't know about that. I mean, they were the ones who came running to greet me while you took your sweet time moseying on over."

"Yeah, because I was in the middle of packing everything up for this afternoon while these two lazy turds slept on the kitchen floor."

"Hm, I guess you might have a point there. Oh, I bought Del a present while I was out, by the way," I informed as I tossed the collar Allie had given me over to her

Noticing the OSU logo, she pulled her face into a grimace and muttered a quiet ew as she tossed it over onto the couch. As soon as she did, however, her black lab rushed over to inspect the item and picked it up in his mouth. "Hey, don't touch that!" she yelled as she reached down to take it from him, but Delgado quickly darted away, thinking she was trying to play.

I couldn't help but laugh as I watched her chase the dog around the room. After a minute or so, I finally took pity on the poor girl and let out a loud whistle. Gaining his attention, I motioned for Del to bring me the collar, which he immediately obeyed. "Drop it," I told him in a firm tone with a hand held out.

"Oh my God, you traitor!" San shouted as she pointed at the lab as she watched him give up the collar without a fight. "I hope you know Santa Claus is giving you a huge lump of coal for Christmas now!"

"Um, I think you mean Santana Claus, Babe," I playfully jibed as I walked over to exchange Layla's old collar with her new one. "Oh and if this is how you are going to react to a collar, then I can't wait for you to see the real present I got him."

Shooting me a suspicious look, she inquired, "Why? What did you give him?"

"You'll see," I teased with a wink before making my way to the staircase so I could get ready for dinner at my parent's house.

I didn't get far, however, before hearing a sudden rush of footsteps behind me as Santana darted over to the foot of the steps and yelled, "Brittany Susan Pierce! You better not have gotten him that OSU jersey I saw you looking at online the other day!"

Hearing her response, I threw my hand over my mouth to muffle my laughter.

The last thing I wanted was for her to discover that her guess was exactly right. At least, not until it was time to unwrap all of our presents the following morning.


"I'm serious, B. I hope you kept the receipt because we are returning his gift if it turns out to be that lame ass jersey," Santana warned as we made our way to the front door of my parents' house.

"Okay, but only if we return the bedding you bought for Layla. You know, the one with the huge U of M logo embroidered into it," I negotiated with a smirk, which caused her eyes to shoot wide open in surprise.

"How did you know that?"

"Babe, you're kind of really bad at hiding presents," I leaned in close to whisper to her as if it were a secret we were trying to keep.

Pushing me away, she countered, "Says the girl who tried to hide her spare key under the doormat."

"Are you ever going to let that go?" I questioned while rolling my eyes in exasperation.

"Nope," she replied, popping the p as she unsuccessfully attempted to force back a shit-eating grin.

"Well, then I guess we know who won't be getting any for a while," I told my girlfriend as I turned to continue making my way towards the doorstep, but not before watching her face drop in response to my statement.

"Wait, Babe! Can't we just take a minute to finish talking this out before letting your parents know we're here?" Santana begged as she spotted me reaching up to ring the doorbell, but it was already too late. Stifling a laugh, I pressed the button that caused a faint chiming sound to come from inside the house.

"Damn it, Britt! You did that on purpose!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I stated as I feigned ignorance. Santana didn't buy the act for a second and was just about to tell me as much when we heard the door suddenly open. Just as I turned back around to say hello, I noticed my mother's tall blonde form darting past me to get to San.

"Oh my gosh, hello! I'm Susan Pierce, Brittany's mom. It's so nice to finally meet you after hearing all the wonderful things our daughter has told us. Wow, you are so much prettier in real life! I also really love your hair. How do you get it to curl like that? It looks absolutely stunning," my mother rambled as she reached forward and enthusiastically shook San's hand.

Needless to say, the stunned look on San's face was absolutely hilarious, with her mouth gaping wide open and her brow raised so high that it almost looked like it was trying to recede up into her hairline.

Biting back a laugh, I decided to cut my girlfriend some slack and pulled the older woman away, saying, "Alright, Mom. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't scare off my girlfriend within the first two seconds of meeting her."

"Hey, I'm not scared! I was just taken a little aback, is all," Santana defended as she started to get a handle on the situation. Nervously glancing back and forth between the two of us, the brunette clearly tried to shift the attention away from her by joking, "At least I now know where Britt gets all her energy from."

"Yeah, you most certainly got that right," my dad replied as he stepped through the doorway with an outstretched hand, patiently waiting for Santana to return the gesture, unlike my mother. "Hi, I'm John, Brittany's father."

"Santana. Nice to meet you," Santana returned as they shared a firm handshake.

"It's nice to meet you, as well. Now, how about we head inside so we can get all this unloaded before our last guest arrives?" he suggested as he took the bags of food from my hands. Stepping into the house, we followed my parents into the kitchen, where they already had the rest of the food laid out on the counter.

"So, when is Hails Bells supposed to get here, anyways?"

"She actually called a little while ago to let us know that she was almost here, so it will probably be any minute now," my father answered as he placed the cherries and granulated sugar next to the rest of the pie ingredients. Just as soon as the words had left his mouth, there was another loud ring of the doorbell, causing us to all turn our attention back towards the living room. "Well, speak of the devil," Dad joked as he left to answer the door.

After listening to the quiet creek of the front door's hinges reopening, I heard the man greet, "Hey, Kiddo! How was the trip?"

"Good. I ran into a little bit of traffic on the way in, but it was smooth sailing other than that," a familiar voice answered, causing me to involuntarily smile.

"Fantastic! Your sister and Santana actually just got here about a minute before you did."

"Yeah, I saw them walking in as I drove up," the voiced responded as a young blonde stepped into the room.

"Oh, my youngest daughter finally decided to come home to see me!" my mother cried out excitedly as she rushed over to wrap her up in a tight hug.

"Okay, that's enough, Mom. You can let go now," my sister laughed after a few seconds as she gently pushed the older woman away. Looking over in my direction, she called out, "Hey, Butt Face. It's been a while."

"Yeah, you definitely got that right, Pipsqueak," I teased back as I walked over to give her a hug. "How did your first semester of grad school go?"

"Challenging, but nothing I couldn't handle," she joked before shifting her gaze over my shoulder to the brunette standing behind me. "And you must be the infamous Santana," she stated as she looked her over from head to toe with a critical gaze.

"Yeah, and I'm guessing you're Hailey?" Santana questioned with a small smile as she reached out with a steady hand, though it was pretty obvious that she wasn't quite sure what to make of my little sister sizing her up.

Regardless, Hailey shook her hand with a polite grin and answered, "Yep, that'd be me." Releasing her grip, my sister shifted her gaze back over to me and asked, "Hey, Britt, do you mind helping me unpack the car real fast?"

"Um, sure. Be right there," I told her as I glanced over to Santana to make sure that she was alright with being left with my parents for a few minutes.

"It's okay, B. Go help your sister," San assured as she pressed a firm hand to the small of my back and gently nudged me towards the house's front entrance. With her blessing, I left the room and made my way over to my sister's car, where I found her already unloading the trunk.

"Gotta hand it to you, Sis. Your girlfriend's really attractive," Hailey commented as she pulled out a large suitcase and set it down on the ground.

"Uh, thanks," I responded in an apprehensive tone, suddenly getting the nagging suspicion that helping her unpack wasn't the only reason she had pulled me away from everyone else.

My theory was quickly proven right when she inquired, "So, have you told her yet?"

Already knowing exactly what she was referring to, I answered truthfully with a firm, "No."

"Hm, well that's no good," she stated offhandedly as she pulled out another bag from inside the car's trunk.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I inquired as I stared at her through narrowed eyes.

Letting her luggage drop to the pavement, she crossed her arms over her chest and gave me a stern look. "It means exactly what it sounds like. How much longer do you think you can draw this out without telling her the truth?"

Noticing the look she always gets when she's about to serve up a dose of tough love, I reassured, "Hey, I'm working on it, okay? I just haven't found the right moment to tell her yet."

"Brittany, we've talked about this," she groaned, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose briefly before letting it drop back down by her side. With a pleading expression, she continued, "There will never be a good moment to fill her in about your dabbles in time traveling, so you just need to girl up and tell her before you get yourself in too deep."

"Well, I'm already in too deep, so I guess it doesn't matter anymore," I quietly retorted while refusing to meet her eyes.

Realizing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with me, she released a frustrated huff and brushed past me with a bag slung over each shoulder, leaving me with only a half-filled backpack that she could have easily carried in herself.

Yep, I was definitely right.

All she had wanted was to talk.


We were all seated at the dinner table a few hours later, making idle chit-chat as we passed around the honey baked ham and the various side dishes my parents had prepared. Well, everyone else was talking except Hailey, who had remained uncharacteristically silent since our little exchange outside.

Glancing over in her direction from time to time, I noticed that she seemed to be in deep thought about something as she absentmindedly pushed a pile of corn and mashed potatoes around her plate with a distant stare. That is, until she suddenly snapped her gaze up towards my girlfriend.

"What is it that you do again, Santana?" Hailey suddenly spoke up, causing me to shoot her a questioning look. I knew for a fact that she already knew Santana was a lawyer because I had spoken to her about the brunette's work on several occasions.

San, however, was completely unaware of that fact as she replied, "I'm a lawyer."

"Oh, well isn't that something? Did you know that Brittany wanted to be an engineer once upon a time?" the girl replied nonchalantly as she looked over to me, her eyes clearly telling me that she was up to something.

"Hailey Ann Pierce!" Mom called out in a warning tone, but my sister didn't even flinch as her unrelenting gaze continued to bore holes into my unwavering eyes.

"Well, actually it was more between engineering and dance, but then something happened to change all that. Isn't that right, Britt?"

I felt my entire body bristle as those words left my sister's mouth. Sure, she'd always been rather frank, which was very dangerous when paired with her hardheaded, cut-and-dried personality, but I never thought she'd actually try to blatantly call me out in front of San.

One thing I did know, however, was that she had no intention of stopping until she got whatever point she was trying to prove across to me. So with that knowledge, I pulled the cloth napkin from my lap and stood up out of my chair without breaking our eye contact.

"Hailey! My room. Now," I growled out through gritted teeth, fighting back the anger I felt bubbling up in my chest. I'd be damned if she made me lose my composure in front of San, but as soon as we were within the confines of my bedroom, I turned around and snapped, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Funny. I was just about to ask you the same question," my sister shot back in a challenging tone before allowing her abrasive exterior to all but dissolve, adding in a much gentler tone, "Look, I'm just trying to make you see that you're setting yourself up to get hurt."

"No, I'm going to find a way to make it all work out. Everything is going to be fine."

"Brittany, you don't know that for sure. There's still the possibility that you-"

"I don't care about what I might have changed by seeing our future," I interrupted, already knowing what she was going to say. Feeling all my fears start to catch up to me, I allowed my shoulders to slump as I shakily attempted to reassure the both of us, "We're still going to end up together and live happily ever after regardless of my time jumping. We have to."

"I'm not saying you aren't, Britt. I'm just trying to be realistic," she admitted. "Please try to understand were I'm coming from. I don't want you to get your hopes up just to be let down if things go the other way. I mean, what are you going to do if you finally work up the courage to tell her and she takes it badly?"

"She's not. She'll understand. She always does," I told her as I adamantly shook my head, unable to even consider any other outcome than the one I had seen. Unfortunately, Hailey didn't seem to grasp that fact as she continued press on.

"Britt-"

"No, I need you to stop trying to butt into my relationship. I know my girlfriend. I know her, and I know that she will somehow understand whenever I find the right way to tell her about what I've seen. In the meantime, I need you leave so I can figure out how I'm going to explain everything else that I wasn't ready to talk about."

"Brittany, I'm sorry. I didn't mea-"

"Don't. Just-Just go," I replied, waving her off with a flick of my wrist. After watching her slowly start to turn and walk out the room. I maked my way over to the foot of my bed and sat down before leaning over to place my face in my hands.

I had no idea how I was going to explain all this to San. I mean, Hailey was right when she said that there was no right time to tell someone that you've traveled through time, but I just wanted to do it on my terms for once. Many of the secrets I had been trying to keep have been exposed before I was ready, and now, I just want this one thing, the biggest secret I have to keep, to be revealed when I am finally ready to do it myself.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

Suddenly, a light knocking sound brought me out of my thoughts.

Dragging my hands down to where I could see, I noticed Santana standing in the open door way, timidly looking over in my direction as she informed, "Your sister suggested that I come check up on you after you never came back down. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I quietly murmured as I sat up a bit with my hands between my knees

Walking over to where I was seated, Santana eased herself down onto the bed beside me and took a slow look around the bedroom. "Woah, Hailey wasn't joking about you being a dancer," Santana mentioned as she spotted at all the old dance trophies and awards I had collected over the years.

"Yeah, it's something that I used to be really passionate about," I replied with a small frown.

Noticing this, Santana quickly slipped a hand around the inside of my arm to hold my bicep and leaned head onto my shoulder as she agreed, "Yeah, I can tell."

The gesture was meant to be comforting, but it only made me feel even guiltier about all that I've kept from her.

Taking a deep breathe, I slowly let it back out and apologized, "I'm sorry you seem to always have to find out stuff out about me this way. My sister, she-she's impulsive and doesn't think things through before speaking sometimes, but I have to admit that she is right on some level. There are things I've been keeping from you, and I swear it's not because I don't trust you. It's just tha-"

"Hey, you don't have to justify yourself to me. I get it. You went through a lot when you were younger, and I don't blame you for not necessarily wanting to talk about it if you don't have to," she responded as she looked up an understanding smile. "Please just take your time and know that I'll be here to listen whenever you're ready."

Giving a feeble nod of my head, I replied, "Alright. Thank you, San."

"No problem. Now, come on! I really want to go get a piece of that pie," San informed as she patted my thigh a couple of times before standing up. She must have noticed that something was off with what she said, however, because she instantly pulled a face and mumbled, "I mean, just wanky."

Giving her a confused look, I repeated her previous statement in my head before realizing the double-meaning of her words. Rolling my eyes with a small smile, I pushed myself up off the bed and slipped my fingers between hers so she could pull us back down stairs, all the while hoping against hope that everything would turn out okay.


Author's Note:

I just wanted to start by saying that this chapter turned out very different than what I had originally envisioned. For example, I had no idea that Hailey Pierce was going to turn out to be such a little firecracker, but I hope I was able to get across that she really does have her sister's best interests at heart. She just doesn't always know the best way of expressing those concerns.

Anyways, thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, and I hope to see you all next time!

P.S.: I'm always a little weary when it comes to news regarding upcoming Glee episodes... but them spoilers, though. (If only, if only...)

*insert 'let's pray' Quinn gif here*

P.P.S.: lochnessie17. tumblr. com