"Quinn invited me to Sunday brunch this weekend," Brittany said. She took a sip of her latte and looked at Santana. She and the brunette had been sitting at the small café for not more than five minutes and Santana was already finishing her first cup of coffee.

"She did?" Santana asked. She was rather taken aback by that information. Usually Quinn only had Sunday brunch every other month, if that. Also, it was usually just a best friend thing that they did. Quinn would complain about all of the movies they were watching and Santana would make fun of her bad cooking. They had been doing it for years, just by themselves. They used it as an excuse to spend an afternoon together, inside, and doing absolutely nothing but being lazy and eating.

"Is that okay?" Brittany asked. She didn't miss the surprise in Santana's eyes. "She texted me yesterday morning and said that this Sunday she wanted to host a Sunday brunch. She said you would be okay with it but if you're not…I mean, I get if it was just a friend type thing-"

"Brittany," Santana interrupted. She smiled at the blonde. "It's totally fine. More than okay, actually. Usually it's just me and Quinn sitting in her living room complaining about stuff. You're more than welcome."

Brittany was relieved. "Okay, cool! She asked me to tell you that Kurt and Rachel were going, too."

"What?!"

Brittany nodded. "Why? Is that weird?"

Santana stared at her dwindling cup of coffee in confusion. "It's just…it's been years since we've had like…anyone to hang out with besides each other…"

Brittany frowned. "Really?"

"Usually it's just me and Quinn against the world."

"Listen," Brittany said suddenly, "I really hope it's not weird that…well, I hope it's not weird how I'm your boss…and now we're hanging out…is it? Is that weird?" Brittany didn't know what to think of it herself.

Santana took a careful sip of her coffee just so she had more time to think of a proper answer. "It is sort of weird,"

Brittany's face fell.

"But it's also not, you know?"

"How do you mean?" Brittany asked.

Santana shrugged her shoulders. She didn't quite know how to explain it. "I…I just feel like I should be friends with you…"

Brittany saw Santana's eyes wander around her face, as if she was looking for something.

"Really I should be the one that's worried," Santana added, "You're my boss…"

Brittany lightly tapped the table with her fingers. "That's kind of what I want to talk about-"

"I thought we were here to talk about work stuff," Santana teased, trying to ease the sudden seriousness of their conversation.

Brittany waved her hand. "Work stuff is boring. I'll teach you all that stuff this week. What I really was hoping to talk about was that I really like hanging out with you…"

Santana's eyes widened but she kept her composure.

"I think I've told you before, but I've not had many friends over the past years. After I finished my Masters degree in California, I moved here and started working at MCI. I worked my way up in the Marketing department and didn't really get out much. I wanted my dad to be proud of me. Eventually, I think he was. But, then he died last year and it's been pretty hectic since then. My mom is still overseas, grieving. I've just been trying to help my brother keep calm and finish school so we can get Brooks out. I finally feel like everything is in a good place."

Santana paid close attention to Brittany's words. She wanted to remember everything. "I'm glad," She said, giving Brittany a small smile.

Brittany took a breath and kept going. "So I met Kurt eventually and now…you. And when we hung out last week I had a really good time."

Santana smiled at how cute Brittany was. She looked like she was a little kid that didn't want to get scolded.

"I know it's probably weird to be hanging out with your boss, but I really hope you won't think of it that way. Inside the office, I'm one person, but as soon as it's 4:00, I'm just Brittany…"

Santana studied the blonde's eyes the best she could. Brittany wasn't looking at her. Santana figured she was probably nervous.

"…so you can tell me to back off if you think it's weird or whatever but I'm just giving you my side."

Santana bit her lip when Brittany finally looked at her again. She never could remember the exact color of blue and it was always so striking to be reminded. The dull café lights didn't so the color justice at all.

"So…what do you think?"

Santana hadn't realized that her staring had produced a silence. Thankfully, she remembered what she had meant to say. "I think that you're a genius."

Brittany looked quickly to the table before focusing back on Santana's eyes. She honestly couldn't remember the last time someone had called her that. Even though she didn't exactly know what Santana was referring to, it still made her blush.

"I like the way you think about things," Santana admitted. She paused before continuing. "Here's what I think…Quinn is always off doing law things and the only other friend I have in this city, besides Kurt, is the sixty year old Chinese man who delivers my Friday night dinner."

Brittany laughed at the idea of Santana befriending her take out delivery man.

"I liked hanging out with you too, by the way," Santana was sure to mention. "So it's not weird for me as long as it's not weird for you."

Brittany smiled. "It's not weird for me."

"Then it's not weird for me."

"So I can come to brunch?" Brittany asked excitedly.

Now it was Santana's turn to laugh. "I wouldn't be that excited. Quinn is notorious for burning anything she tries to cook."

"Can you cook?" Brittany asked.

Santana slowly nodded. "Usually I'm too lazy to cook that early on a Sunday morning so Quinn does it, but I do know how to cook. My abuela taught me."

Brittany bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling too widely. "That's cute."

Santana huffed a breath out her nose before bowing her head. The way Brittany was looking at her made her feel uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. She decided to change the subject for her own sake. "So, are you gonna tell me your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

Brittany gave an exaggerated sigh. She rubbed her palms against the warmth of her coffee cup, pretending to think deeply. "I don't know. That's pretty personal…"

Santana rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. "You can ask me questions, too," She offered. "How about this…we can both ask questions but if one is too personal, we can just say 'no comment'". She raised her eyebrow at Brittany.

"I think that's a great idea. I'll go first," Brittany said, eager to begin. "What's your favorite animal?"

Santana answered immediately, "Whales."

Brittany's eyebrows shot toward her hairline. "Whales?"

Santana saw Brittany trying to conceal a laugh. "No laughing at my answers! Whales are cool!"

Brittany put her hand over her mouth to try and cover her grin. She nodded. "Whales are pretty cool."

Santana huffed and crossed her arms. "What's your favorite animal?"

"No comment."

"Brittany!"

The blonde laughed. "Okay, okay…ducks."

"Oh, I thought you would have said cats."

Brittany scrunched her nose. "Why…?"

"Because you have a cat," Santana said, finishing her coffee.

"How do you know?" Brittany asked. "I never told you that…"

Santana pointed to Brittany's black jacket. "Cat fur."

Brittany blushed and scowled at Santana.

Santana smiled at Brittany's annoyance. She had seen a few cat hairs on a couple of Brittany's shirts so far. "Your turn."

"Favorite flavor of ice cream?" Brittany asked.

"Coffee," Santana said.

Brittany shook her head. "I should have guessed."

Santana quickly glanced at Brittany's hands, where the blonde was once again playing with the second knuckle of her left ring finger. Brittany already knew that Santana knew that she had been divorced. Santana figured that asking about it this early in their friendship would still be overstepping her bounds. "Favorite flavor of ice cream?"

"I don't like ice cream." Brittany admitted.

Santana leaned back in her chair. "What?"

Brittany shrugged. "It gives me brain freeze."

"Hmmm…" Santana mused. She was stuck wondering what a world without ice cream would be like.

"Single?" Brittany asked next.

Santana looked at her. "Huh? Single what?"

Brittany sipped her latte. "Single. As in, are you single?"

Santana finally understood. "No comment."

"Hey!"

"What? That's personal," Santana said. She chanced a wink at Brittany.

Brittany took Santana's smile and wink as encouragement. "Tell meeee."

"Are you single?" Santana asked.

"Does it matter?" Brittany replied softly.

Santana locked their eyes. "I'm single."

Brittany nodded. "Thought so."

"What? What do you mean?"

Brittany laughed. She was glad that she finally had Santana confused instead of the other way around. "Kurt told me."

Santana rolled her eyes. "No fair."

"Very fair." Brittany responded. She played with her now-empty latte cup.

"Your turn to answer," Santana said, "Single?"

Brittany narrowed her eyes at the brunette. "Well, you already know I've been divorced," She said, referring to Santana's first interview. "Can't you tell whether I'm single with your amazing observational skills?" She teased Santana, hoping to keep the mood light.

Santana sat forward in her seat and crossed her arms on the table. She looked at Brittany's face. She noticed the light freckles that were dusted across the bridge of her nose and tops of her cheeks. She wondered if Brittany wore any makeup at all. "I'd rather you tell me."

"I'd rather you guess." Brittany countered. She sat forward as well, challenging Santana.

"I'd guess you're single." Santana began. "But, maybe you're not all that into being in a relationship…at least not at the moment. But, you're not completely against them. I think maybe you just need to meet the right person. Maybe someone unlike anyone else you've ever met."

Brittany felt a small chill run its way up her arms. She didn't break eye contact with Santana. "That's an interesting guess."

"Am I right?"

"Parts of that are right," Brittany said.

Santana kept looking over Brittany's face for any tells that would give her away. "Which parts?"

Brittany figured she didn't have to hide everything. "Well…I like relationships. Always have. But, after my divorce…well, things were messy and stuff happened and maybe I'm not looking…"

Santana couldn't help but look at Brittany's pink lips as she spoke.

"I don't believe there's a right person or a wrong person. People are people. But I do believe that there's someone out there for me."

"Like a soul mate?" Santana asked.

Brittany felt herself blush. It was rather embarrassing how much Santana made her do that. "Maybe." Brittany said, coyly.

Santana smirked. "You're complicated."

"All the best puzzles are."

A short silence fell between them, filling the air and forcing them to really look at each other. Santana sort of felt like she was looking at the sun. Like she was meant to look away but she just couldn't.

"What about you?" Brittany asked.

"I don't really know," Santana admitted. She wondered how she and her boss had gone from talking about animals to talking about their philosophies on love. But, she wasn't one to shy away from such a topic. Not with Brittany. "I've always thought love was dumb or didn't exist. Romantic movies irritate me. But, then again, I'd say I've never really been in love. Never married. Never had a relationship that lasted more than a year. So, I'm biased against it."

Brittany nodded. She understood that. "Never had your heart broken?"

Santana looked away for the first time. "Have."

"Who?"

"…Quinn."

Brittany's eyes widened.

Santana saw Brittany's look of shock and decided that she should probably explain. "It was back in high school. Freshman year, when we first met, I had the hugest crush on her. All year, we would hang out and become even better friends. Keep in mind, this was even before I came out of the closet. So, on the first day of summer break, I couldn't handle it anymore and I kissed her in the parking lot of a McDonald's after telling her that I liked girls."

Brittany gasped. "A McDonald's?!" She snickered at Santana.

Santana gave her a warning look. "Hey, it was completely impulsive."

"Then what?" Brittany asked, completely enveloped in the story.

"Then she told me she didn't feel the same way but that I was still her friend. A few weeks later she started dating a blubbery football player named Finn."

Brittany's face fell. She could tell the memory was a painful one for Santana.

"I moped around that entire summer. I thought I was in love with her so of course I was crushed."

Brittany nodded. "I bet."

"But Quinn is hard to be mad at. I realized that she was my best friend and that it was meant to be that way. Of course, it helped a lot when I fell for a different girl in our class. So the Quinn thing kind of fizzled out naturally."

Brittany smiled widely at Santana.

"That's the closest I think I've ever really gotten to love. But it wasn't actual love."

"And now?"

Santana laughed. "Now Quinn is the best friend I've ever had. She just happened to also be my first straight girl crush."

Brittany sighed. "That could have been a beautiful love story…meet in high school and stay together forever."

Santana smiled at Brittany's whimsical look. "She's like a sister to me now. That's gross."

Brittany giggled. "Her loss."

Santana grinned. "I guess I feel like if it happens for me then great. But, if not, that's okay too."

"That's a very healthy way of looking at it." Brittany told her.

"That way I don't expect anything. I don't spend my days wondering when I'll meet the person I might marry."

"Or the person you'll have to divorce." Brittany added, sullenly.

Santana nodded slowly. "Or that."

Brittany kind of felt sad for Santana. She didn't know how a woman so beautiful, intriguing, and smart could just settle for a life without an epic love. Brittany felt like Santana deserved that.

"Besides, relationships just never work out for me. Girls always end up breaking up with me because they can feel how not into it I am."

"See," Brittany said quickly, "That's what I like the idea of soul mates. I feel like I'll just know, you know? Everything will work out because it will just work."

Santana paused before continuing with caution. "But…didn't you feel that with…" She pointed to Brittany's ring finger.

The blonde had to look away. "Looking back on it, yea. I thought I did feel that way. Like everything was perfect. But, towards the end, I realized no…no, I didn't."

Santana waited for Brittany to continue.

"I got married for all the wrong reasons. I was young…we tried to make it work…but it wasn't real love. It was more of an exaggerated and rushed panic-love. It wasn't the love that I want."

"I'm glad you got out of it then," Santana told Brittany. She didn't want to pry anymore. "I'm glad you didn't settle."

Brittany stared at the slope of Santana's neck and the fullness of her lips. She only let herself look briefly. "I'm glad too."