Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, the concept for X-factor, or any other copyrighted material referenced in this chapter. Just borrowing.

Santana's POV

You wait to hear the front door of the town house close, before you turn on Dani. "Look, Dani, whatever issue you have with Brittany it ends now. The whole time she was here you were nothing but rude for no fucking reason. She is a part of my life, which means she is a part of the Troubletones life. Get over it. End of discussion. Sorry, Q. Start it up." You sit back down next to Mercedes who rubs your shoulder reassuringly. Dani rolls eyes at you, but doesn't dare retort. She throws herself down on the bean bag next to Sugar.

As the play back progresses, you find yourself becoming more and more confident in the Troubletones chances of winning this thing. It may only be week one, but the other groups just don't seem to have the same depth or potential as you. The other groups are certainly talented, and the co-ed groups definitely have an advantage in terms of tonal quality, but none of the groups of making you overly nervous. One group that does stand out is the Warblers, the all male group from Los Angeles. They did an upbeat rendition of Greased Lighting from Grease. They have that all American boy appeal, and their leading man can really sing. It seems that the big dance numbers are their bread-and-butter, but they might lack depth in the vocal department. But, quite, honestly their lead singer is really good. Though his gelled hair and eyebrow combination could be a bit distracting.

"So we agree" Mercedes says, "The Warblers could be dangerous. Their it-factor is their charm for sure. We can't fake that All-American goodiness. I mean damn those boys can wear blazers." The group starts to giggle at the diva's analysis. You slowly rewind the performance of Grease Lightning. The dancing is impressive, but something isn't sitting right.

"It's all really simple, as a whole, but they do it well. They throw attention away from the simplicity of the group dance by having individuals show off" you state. "You freeze frame on a particular impressive acrobatic move happening center stage. "By putting their spectacle in the middle and their lead singer in the same place, the audience's eye is dragged their" you widen the frame and start the playback in slow-mo "instead of on the smaller groups on the side, who are basically just jazz squaring. Our advantage is that all of us are better dancers, and we don't need to hide anyone. We should showcase that."

"Good point, S. So, besides The Warblers what other two groups do we see as being potential competitors" Quinn addresses the group.

"I don't know, I kind of liked Vocal Adrenaline. I know they were a bit out of sync with their choreo, but their group dynamic was impressive" Kitty chimes in. Vocal adrenaline took on a really complex dance number choosing to take on One from A Chorus Line. "I mean besides us they probably took the biggest "risk". That is one of the most well known Broadway dances of all time, and the judges recognized that in their critiques."

"Agreed, but it hard to judge their vocals. This, at the end of the day is a singing competition and they hid behind group melodies. I think they focused too much on the dance aspect, instead of the performance aspect. I will be interested to seem them in a more singing heavy week." Mercedes countered.

"The New Directions are good, too" Sugar said, "There is something about them that makes me not hate them."

After re-watching The New Directions, the group decided that their appeal was their charm. They didn't seem over rehearsed or too technical. They were approachable. Vocally, Rachel Berry could bring the house down, and you hated to admit that. Dancing, Brittany and Mike were amazing. Their dance number during What is this Feeling saved the group from having a very safe, very generic routine. Their it-factor is their balance – they had singers and they had dancers, but did they have true performers is yet to be seen. The Troubletones were simultaneously ranking the groups performances, and you were glad to see that everyone ranked the New Directions in the top half, safe from elimination. Though this was just speculation, it eased your mind to know that your friends didn't expect them to go home.

"Brittany can really dance, so can boy asian" Kitty said. "I am not surprised she got a full ride to Julliard." Kitty looks at you briefly, "I wonder how they will approach less dance accessible themes. Kind of like Vocal Adrenaline, I wonder if all of them can sing." Something that set your team apart is that each member (except Sugar, always except Sugar) could hold a tune and would be comfortable soloing.

"On to us" Marley says flipping through her own notepad. "Vocally, our soloist was very strong" she says nodding towards Santana. "Our blending could use work, but I think it was more noticeable because of the song choice and lack of background music. We were a bit pitchy on the high parts, but Quinn did a nice job balancing our middle range. Our lower range needs more tonal depth. Maybe if Santana isn't soloing, she should be in our lower register because of her tonal quality."

The group nods along, admiring Marley for her astute observation. Kitty speaks up next, "Re-watching it, our risk paid off with minimal choreography. Something to keep in mind is that every movement is a piece of our choreography. How we place our chair, how we sit, how we walk that all matters in such a simple piece." Kitty grabbed the remote and focused in a Dani being off beat on her walk onto stage, pointing out that every moment matters. "Like Cedes said, this at the end of the day is a singing competition, but it's very visual. Even when we aren't dance heavy, we need to be sharp."

You nod along, appreciating that Kitty is taking her job as lead choreographer seriously. It's your turn next, "Well, we all know that we are the it-factor. End of story."

"S, it's you. You're our it-factor. Did you see yourself on that stage?" Quinn asserts.

"That's just because I had the solo, Mercedes, Dani or Marley would have been the same way. It's the group that makes us great" you respond.

"Santana, I know I am good, hell I am going to be the next Whitney, but what you did on that stage, I don't have that." Mercedes says agreeing with Quinn.

The other Troubletones nod along. "Have you checked Twitter?" Sugar asks, "Not only are we trending as a group, #SantanaXFactor is 7th on the trend list. America loves you."

America loves you.


The next morning you wake up after a very restful sleep. You actually don't even remember getting to bed. After Week 1 deliberation, the TTs opened a few bottles of wine to unwind. Wine always puts your right to sleep. Waking up, you had a small headache, but nothing a little water and a greasy bagel sandwich wouldn't fix. You head downstairs to the kitchen to find Dani making coffee.

You were still a little pissed at Dani for her behavior towards Brittany. You realized that this was probably hard on her. You had made it clear to her that you were not looking for a relationship and that everything came after music, then all of a sudden there is another girl in your life. Dani was important to you and you wanted to make sure that there was no tension in the group.

"Morning, Dani."

Dani whips around, "Holy shit, San, you scared the crap out of me. Warn a girl before you sneak up on her. I almost threw this scalding liquid all over you."

You laugh, "Sorry, next time I'll stomp down the stairs like Quinn, so you will be more prepared." She hands you the cup of coffee she had just made, and then turns back to get another mug. You walk over to the fridge to pull out some coconut milk and then grab a sugar packet. "Look, Dani, I just want to make sure we are okay. I know that this whole Brittany thing might be tough for you…"

You watch her shoulders tense, and she straightens up. You can almost see the tension ripple through her spine, "I just want you to know that when I said I wasn't looking for a relationship I meant it. This isn't about you at all. Brittany is just, I don't know she's different. She makes me want all that." You try to be as earnest as possible. Usually no one takes you seriously when you try to talk about feelings.

Dani turns to face you and her eyes constrict, "So, in a way, it is about me. Saying that Brittany is different is saying that I wasn't different. I wasn't good enough for you to date. I was certainly good enough for you to hook up and flirt with, but date? Never." You feel the hate and anger dripping of her tongue, her words felt sharp in your chest, and they rip through you. You didn't realize the extent of Dani's feelings towards you. In fact, you are totally shocked. Dani Harper has never been affectionate towards you, it has always been physical, so you begin to question whether Dani likes you or the idea of you.

"Dani" you say calmly, trying to reason with her, "have you ever thought about us actually being together? Just imagine how volatile that would be. We are both bad bitches with big attitudes and even bigger egos. It would be like oil and fire, a lethal combination. Sure we are both hot and I am sure behind closed doors it would be amazing, but that isn't what a relationship is. You have to be compatible; you have to have common ground. When you think of me, do butterflies explode in your stomach? Do you miss me when I am not near you, even if you just saw me? Does my presence instantly put you in a better mood? Does my laugh play through your head all day because it is the greatest sound you have ever heard? Does sitting in silence with me sound like the most beautiful song?"

Dani's hard exterior slowly begins to break, you can see her thinking about your words and really considering what you said. After a minute, her eyes find yours and she shrugs and says "I guess not."

"Then you don't want to be with me. You want to be with the idea of me. Because all that stuff, that is what Brittany makes me feel. And it wasn't forced or produced or fabricated, it happened as easy as breathing. As cliché as that sounds. There is someone out there who will make you feel all those things, and thats when you will know you want to be with them." You finish. You surprise yourself with how easily you could articulate your feelings for Brittany. Spending the past week with her is like nothing you could have imagined. After the initial awkwardness on the first day, you two have not missed a beat. You don't want there to be anymore hesitation or awkwardness, you want to experience this journey together. The good. The bad.

"I gotta go" you say quickly, surprising yourself and Dani.

"Wait, what about breakfast?"

"I'll eat later " you yell as your burst out the front door. Your feet carry you down the road swiftly and before you know it you find yourself banging on the front door of The New Directions town house.

You hear feet coming towards the door, and laughing echoing from the kitchen. As soon as the door is open, you push past the tall goofy guy who had answered the door, "Where's Brittany?"

Before Frankenteen could answer, Brittany appears in the entryway of the kitchen smiling at you "Santana, what are you doing here? I thought we were going to meet up before heading to the results show."

You look at Brittany and it's like you are seeing her for the first time. There she stands in duck themed light blue pajama bottoms, a tie dye t-shirt and a zip up. Her hair was down, not messy, but slept on and she wore mismatched socks. You realize that you are the in the same state of waking up, donning red and white plaid boxer shorts and an old cheer shirt from high school. You notice the rest of The New Directions gathering around, but it doesn't matter to you. You came here for a reason, and Santana Lopez never gets shy in front of a crowd.

You stride over to Brittany and grab her cheeks in your hand and pull her into a searing kiss, "Be with me" you husk out after pulling away and dropping your hands to rest on her waist. "Be my girlfriend. I know it's really fast, and we haven't spent that much time together, but the time we have spent has meant more to me than any other relationship I have been in. You make it feel safe to fail. You make me feel like it is okay to be who I really am. You make me a better singer, a better musician, and a better person. You accepted me, even though you didn't have to. You make me so happy, Brittany. You've been making me happy since the first night I met you. I know there are a lot of unknowns, and this competition isn't predictable, but it doesn't scare me as long as you're there. I want to try, Britt. Will you try with me? Will you be my girlfriend?"

After your speech you are keenly aware of the audience and of the fact that you are not wearing a bra. You are also keenly aware that the male members are keenly aware that you are not wearing a bra. But most of all, you are keenly aware of Brittany. She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, just like she does when she is thinking. You see her pushing up onto her toes and then rocking back onto her heels. You feel like she has been quiet for a really long time, and this was not the response you were anticipating. You search Brittany's face, trying to find some hint as to what she is thinking, but her blue eyes have a shade of mystery to them. You start to panic. You did this way too fast, you both agreed you would go with the flow, and you burst into her townhouse, unannounced and profess your feelings in front of her entire group, some of whom you are pretty sure didn't know about you two.

All of sudden you feel their eyes on the two of you, each different pair boring into you. You slowly pull you hands away from her waist, and take a step back. You eyes stare at the ground in front of your bare feet. You feel heat rushing to your cheeks and your eyes prick with the pain of unshed tears, "I'll, um, give you some time to think about it."


Brittany's POV

You watch Santana turn and walk out of the house, you want to chase after her but your feet feel like they are sinking in quick sand. You feel paralyzed. You look at the place where Santana just stood. This amazing, perfect, beautiful, mysterious, stubborn, thrilling, tough, lively girl just stood in front of you and shared her inner most feelings for you. Expressing everything you have wanted her to tell you since you started talking everyday, because it is everything you feel. Then she does it, and you freeze. Caught up in your inability to express how you feel to her, and then over thinking the fact that you couldn't tell her, and then your brain goes blank and you couldn't even form enough words to make her stay. Instead, she is probably fuming thinking you don't care about her and don't want to be with her. You reach your hand out to the space she just stood, hoping this was all a dream and Santana would be back and you could grab her and kiss her and say YES! Yes, of course you wanted to be her girlfriend.

Your hand swipes at air, and falls back to your side, "Holy shit, I am such an idiot" you breathe out. Then you look around and notice your teammates looking at you with shocked looks on their face.

Tina walks over to you and puts her arm around your shoulders "What happened, Brittany? Santana is all you have been talking about this past week, I thought you wanted to be with her…" she questions you, "Even I would have kissed her after that speech."

"I would have kissed her speech or not, that girl is bangable" Puck comments while walking back into the kitchen.

"Shut your fucking mouth, Puck" you snarl at the boy, "Oh my god, guys, what am I supposed to do? She must think I hate her." You run your hands through your hair, "How could I let her walk away? My stupid, stupid brain stopped working when I needed it to work most." You hit yourself repeatedly on the hand.

Tina grips your hands and rip them to your side before you seriously injure yourself. She brings you into the kitchen and has you sit at the counter, while she prepares you a cup of tea. You're grateful that she tells the rest of the team to disperse. She pushes a mug into your hands and slowly walks around the counter to join you.

"Have I ever told you about the first time Mike told me he loved me?"

You shake your head, as you watch the steam rise off the tea, too distracted to even bring the mug to your lips.

"Well, we had been together for a little under a year and we had just gotten back from streaming nationals in Rachel's basement. We got to talking about senior year and the future, and I ended telling him about my dreams. How I wanted an opportunity to showcase my voice, my talent and finally get my shot to be the star. He was so great and lifted me up and supported, and made me feel so special. He gave me the confidence to audition for my solos and to show Mr. Schue I was worth taking a shot on. I told him I loved him that night. It just felt right. He didn't say it back right away, which made me think that maybe he didn't feel the same way."

"That's crazy. Mike has been crazy about you since sophomore year, of course he loved you."

Tina smiles, getting lost in her memory, "I know that, but he wasn't great with words. So, instead of telling me he loved me, he showed me."

A light bulb goes off in your head. You squeeze Tina tightly to your side and thank her, before sprinting upstairs almost running Rachel over in the process.

"What did I miss?" You hear the small brunette asking Tina.

An hour later you find yourself standing in an empty studio in the main house. You would have gotten here sooner, but you needed Artie's help ripping a sound file from a video onto your iPod. None of the teams were rehearsing today because it was results show, so it would guarantee you some privacy. You have been pacing the wooden floors for the ten minutes, hoping that Santana would show up. You had texted her twenty minutes ago asking her to meet you here. She never responded, but you decided that you would wait for her.

The first ten minutes past pretty quickly. You distracted yourself with dancing, but the next ten minutes your brain turned on. Santana always had her phone, you knew this from the 3 months you spent apart. Even in the week you had been here, she never used her phone while you were together, but she always had it close by. You couldn't imagine that she didn't see the text, which meant she probably didn't want to come. This thought pervaded your mind. You had no one to blame but yourself. You let her walk away. The first person you had let in in years, besides your teammates, and you watched her turn her back on you and glide out of your life. Your pacing slows as you slowly sink down to the floor. You drop your head between your knees in defeat. You don't know how long you stay like that, until you look up and see another twenty minutes had past.

You sigh in defeat and slowly get up accepting that she probably isn't going to show up. You turn away from the door to get your bag and your iPod, as your turning back to walk out, you see Santana standing in front of the open door. She looks like a different person than the out of breath, fresh faced girl that was in your town house earlier that morning. Instead, she had her Troubletones Santana persona on.

Her hair is pulled back into her signature HBIC pony tail, her make up done, leather jacket pulled tightly to her torso, skin tight black skinny jeans and a pair of red pumps. Her arms were folded across her chest, her lips pursed. This was not your Santana. This was mad Santana. You were almost afraid to speak, but then you saw her eyes. Her eyes didn't have the edge you would expect from someone exuding this body language. Instead, her eyes were soft and sad. You couldn't tell for sure through her full lashes, but it looked like they could have been rimmed in red.

When it's clear that she isn't going to speak first, you take a deep breath "Ever since I was a little girl, I haven't been good with words. Words confuse me. Sometimes you can say something and it can mean one thing, but say it another time and it can mean something else. Words have hurt me before. My words have been misinterpreted, misconstrued and misunderstood. I don't trust words," you look up at her and see that her resolve hasn't changed. She still stands there in her power stance waiting. You take a shaky breath and continue "Your words, your beautiful wonderful words, made me realize that my words weren't going to be good enough. That maybe I wasn't going to be good enough. But, Tana, my sweet, sweet Tana, I want you to know how I feel."

Slowly, Santana uncrosses her arms and walks over to the chair set up against the far wall of the studio. She sits down, but still doesn't say anything. She just looks at you and continues to wait, her hard exterior unwavering. She hasn't made you this nervous, since the first night you saw her backstage at auditions. You knew that she put her walls back up, and was probably really confused. You needed to show her that you cared about her as much as she cared for you.

You stride over to the docking station and press play, before making your way back to the center of the room. You feel Santana's eyes focusing on you as your head is bowed, suddenly the music begins and your head pops up and you quickly make eye contact with her before letting the music overcome you.

You pour every ounce of yourself into the routine. You didn't want it to be rehearsed, you wanted it to be real, organic. You wanted her to feel you by just watching you. You wanted her to realize that you were dancing for her. You threw your body across the room, letting the sound of the singer's voice fill you up as if you were an empty well begging for water. You have always been able to express yourself better through movement, and you knew this moment was no different. You had never felt more connected to a piece, you were all in, totally committed to the moment, totally committed to Santana.

The music fades out and you land your final spin right in front of the girl. You chest heaves up and down, and you calmly wait for her to look up at you. When she gradually lifts her shoulders and her head, you see that she has tear marks streaked across her cheeks. She stands up and walks toward you, "You danced to my song" she says, voice wobbly.

"Yeah, well, you're my biggest inspiration" you reply tenderly. You had Artie rip the sound file from Santana's performance the night before, because you knew that was the song that would enable you to express all the feelings you had for the Latina. You wait for her to gather her thoughts, before speaking again, "Santana, sometimes I am not going to say the right things or do the rights things, or sometimes I might get confused, but the one thing I am pretty certain about is you. I would love to be your girlfriend. That's if you're willing to have me."

The Latina settles her forehead against your own, and closes her eyes. Your hands find purchase on the small of her back, rubbing patterns into her leather-clad body.


AN: Don't be shy. I would love to hear from you. This story is un-betaed, so all mistakes are mine.