A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Can't wait to hear what you all think. Enjoy!

The next morning, Brittany stood nervously outside of Santana's apartment after someone had let her inside the building before she could call up. She knocked once, softly, and waited for Santana to open up. She balanced back and forward on her heels, looking around anxiously. No one opened up. She tried again, this time knocking a little bit louder. She could hear steps approaching the door, so she took a step back and put her hands in her pockets.

"Hey, listen, I'm sorry if I-" Santana started saying as she opened the door, but stopped mid sentence when she saw who was actually standing on the other side. Definitely not her neighbor. "Brittany?" she said, merely above a whisper. Her voice failed her when she saw her standing there.

"Hey…" Brittany said shyly. "Is this a bad time?"

Santana looked into the apartment and then back at Brittany. "Uhh… What are you doing here?" she asked, closing the door a little, leaving just enough space for her to be seen.

"I needed to talk to you."

"Britt, I'm sorry, but I meant what I said last night. I can't be your friend, no matter how hard I try. I just-"

"I broke up with Tommy." Brittany interrupted.

"You what?" Santana was surprised to say the least.

14 hours ago - Brittany's apartment

Brittany was sitting on the couch, a big bowl of ice cream in her hands. She had been crying for the past hour, going through her evening with Santana. She was so afraid of losing her. After she had finally felt like she had her friend back, it all seemed to be falling apart. And who was she kidding? She knew what Santana meant when she said they couldn't be friends. She had been feelings things for her as well, but maybe it had been easier for her to ignore it because she had Tommy at the end of the day. In one way or another, she had been able to push her feelings aside and replace them with Tommy's company, but she knew it wasn't the final solution.

She was waiting for Tommy to arrive at her apartment. She had called him half an hour ago after she decided she needed to talk to him. It wasn't an easy decision, but she knew it was a decision she had to make. She had already lost Santana once because she didn't have the courage to break Artie's heart. Now she needed to give them a chance, or at least give themselves the opportunity to get a chance.

She didn't know whether Santana would actually take her or not. Maybe even if she broke up with Tommy they wouldn't be able to be together, for one reason or another. But she needed to at least try. Worst case scenario, she still knew she couldn't be with Tommy if her heart and mind weren't really with him. Even if Santana completely ignored her, she couldn't stay by his side. Their relationship would be completely fake and that's not what she wanted out of any relationship she was in.

She took a deep, shaky breath when she heard a knock on the door. She stood up and walked over to it, opening it slowly. Tommy was standing on the other side, completely clueless as to why she had called him. He was smiling when she opened the door, but his smile quickly faded away when he saw her face and realized she had been crying.

"Babe? What's wrong?" he tried to hug her, but Brittany took a step back and put her hands up. This was going to be even harder than she thought.

"We need to talk…" she said as she closed the door behind them and guided him towards the living room.

"Okay…"

They both sat down on the couch, facing each other but not near enough to make physical contact. Brittany took a few deep breaths, trying to find the strength to say what she had to say. She hated hurting anyone.

"Brittany? Please tell me what's going on. I'm worried."

Brittany let the air she had been unconsciously holding out, and grabbed one of his hands. "You're a really great guy…" she started.

"Oh no…"

"Just… let me talk, please?" she waited until he nodded before continuing, "you really are a great guy, Tommy. I can't really say anything bad about you. But… I'm not what you deserve."

"How can you say that?"

"I just know I'm not. We… we are not in the same place right now. You deserve someone who is 100% with you."

"What are you trying to say? Is there somebody else?"

"I…" Brittany started, not knowing how to reply. There's wasn't anyone else. Not exactly. There was Santana, yes, but they hadn't done anything. And this went beyond her. If she was truly in love with Tommy, she wouldn't have feelings for Santana in the first place. "No." she said, thinking it was for the best. "There are just some things that won't work between us, Tommy."

"Like what things? Tell me Britt, and I'll work on them."

Brittany smiled sadly, appreciating the offer, but knowing it was too late. "You'll find someone else. Someone who understands how much your work means to you, someone who doesn't mind if you don't show up at an important event because you had to work, or that you have to leave in a hurry because of it."

"I'm sorry, if I knew…"

"Don't apologize," Brittany said, "it's who you are and that's great. It's just… it's not who I want to be with."

Tommy nodded. He would be lying if he said it didn't hurt, but he knew well enough to recognize when the battle was already lost. He had been feeling it for a while now. Brittany had stopped being there. They had grown a little bit apart, and none of them fought hard enough to stop it before it was too late. "You'll find someone great too."

I have already, Brittany thought, I just don't know if I'll be able to be with her. "Thank you. And I'm sorry."

Tommy opened his arms. "Can I?" he asked and Brittany nodded. He pulled her in a hug. "Take care, Britt." he whispered into her ear.

"You too," Brittany said and felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. It wasn't easy, and she wasn't okay, but at least she felt she was doing the right thing.

Tommy left right after, giving her a short kiss on the cheek before turning around and heading towards the elevator. Brittany went back to the couch and watched TV until she fell asleep, knowing the next morning would be an important one.

Present - Santana's apartment

Santana couldn't believe what Brittany was saying. Did she really break up with him? Was it because of what happened last night or did something happen between them?

"Tommy and I." Brittany repeated when Santana didn't say anything. "It's over. I just couldn't-"

"Hey, San?" someone called from inside the apartment. Santana turned her head towards the voice, she had completely forgotten about her for a minute. Shit.

Brittany tried to get a look from where she was standing, although it wasn't really necessary. She already knew who it was.

"San, do you have any extra towels I can use for the shower?" the girl asked, approaching Santana. She stopped when she saw Brittany standing on the other side. "Oh, hey Britt!" Claudia said, "Whatcha doing here?"

Brittany just looked at her, then back at Santana, then back at Claudia. A quick scan to them both made her realize she had indeed interrupted something. Santana's hair was all messy and her shirt was buttoned incorrectly. Claudia was wearing one of Santana's old shirts and shorts. "I…" Brittany started, but didn't know what to say.

"You can grab some from that closet," Santana said, cutting in. She pointed at a closed door and Claudia headed there, taking the towels and heading towards the bathroom. She playfully slapped Santana's ass on the way there.

"Maybe you can join me?" Claudia proposed, winking. She then disappeared behind the bathroom door.

Santana turned her attention back to Brittany, who was still standing there, not a word coming from her mouth, just hurt written all over her face.

"I…" this time Santana tried speaking, but no words came out of her mouth either.

10 hours earlier - Lesbian bar

After leaving Brittany at the High Line, Santana pondered just heading to the apartment and cry herself to sleep, but then she decided she didn't feel like being alone, feeling sorry for herself. So what if she had feelings for Brittany? They would sure go away if she stopped seeing her. She decided, instead, to head to her favorite lesbian bar and just hang around ladies who would actually pay some attention to her.

She needed that. She needed to feel wanted and appreciated. She hated the way Brittany made her feel, misleading her, making her think they were having a moment to then realize she was nothing more than just a friend to her.

She had been sitting at the bar for a good portion of the night, just looking around. She wanted to feel eyes on her, see lingering looks thrown her way, but she didn't really feel like making a conversation. That was until she spotted a familiar face in the crowd. It was Claudia, who quickly approached her once she realized Santana was there.

Santana didn't mind talking to Claudia, unlike the other women who approached her that night. They already knew each other, so they could skip the "get to know you part" and just go straight down to business.

"Look who's here," Claudia said as she finally got to Santana's side.

"Hey you."

"What brings you here?"

Santana shrugged. "Just felt like going out for a little while."

Claudia smiled and took a seat next to her. "What are you having?"

"Nothing really. Don't feel like getting a headache tomorrow."

"I understand. You don't want to feel sick again, huh?" Claudia asked, referring to the night they had met.

Santana shook her head. "Definitely not."

"Anything new going on in your life, Santana?" Claudia asked, having to lean a little bit closer when the music started getting louder.

"Not really," Santana said, whispering into her ear.

Claudia smiled. "How about I make it a little bit more interesting, then?" she said, her hot breath sending chills down Santana's body.

Santana just smiled in response, leaning in to capture her lips in a heated kiss. It didn't take them too long to leave the bar, heading towards Santana's apartment which was closer. This was definitely what she needed to forget all about Brittany.

Present - Santana's apartment

Santana looked at Brittany, not knowing what to say. She felt bad, but at the same time she didn't think she had to. She hadn't done anything wrong. She was single and could do whatever she wanted. Still, the look on Brittany's face broke her heart.

"I guess I came at the wrong time," Brittany said, so softly Santana almost couldn't hear her. "Take care, San," Brittany said, turning around to leave.

"Brittany, wait!" Santana said and Brittany stopped. "What the hell is all this about?"

"Nothing that matters now, is it?" Brittany said bitterly.

"Excuse me? Why are you even mad?"

"I broke up with Tommy!" Brittany said, turning around to face her, as if it was an obvious explanation.

"So what?"

"Do you know why I broke up with him?"

"How would I know?"

"For you!" Brittany said, angrily. How could she have been so foolish to believe breaking up with him would bring them together?

"Brittany, that's-"

"Insane? Yeah, I know. I don't know why I ever believed you really cared."

"Really cared? Oh, you of all people can not say that!"

"I can say whatever I want!" Brittany said irrationally, "You go around saying you can't be my friend because you have feelings for me and then you go and sleep with one of my friends! The same. Fucking. Night!"

"What the hell was I supposed to do? Wait on you forever? I already waited for you, Brittany. And it was never worth the wait!"

Brittany looked at her, shocked by her words. She had opened her mouth to reply, but instead fell silent. Tears started building up and she knew she'd start crying any minute now. This wasn't the way things were supposed to be. She looked at Santana one more time before turning around and walking down the stairs towards the entry of the building.

Santana looked at her, then back at her apartment. She was angry. How dare she come here and demand things from her? She felt like getting inside the apartment and slamming the door, but she couldn't. She needed to get things out of her chest. She quickly grabbed the keys to her apartment and closed the door behind her, running down the stairs to catch Brittany before she opened the doors and walked out to the street.

"Hold up!" she yelled.

"I don't want to," Brittany replied, almost childishly.

Santana took a few fast steps and pressed her hand against the door before Brittany could open it. "You can't just come here, yelling at me, making me feel guilty for having sex with a girl when I'm single!"

"I'm not making you feel anything!"

"Hell yes, you are! You come here saying you broke up with your boyfriend, Brittany, your boyfriend, but I can't be with another girl?"

"Why even make all that stuff up if all you wanted was to sleep with her, huh?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"If you didn't want to be around me because you felt bad about sleeping with my friend, you could've said so! You didn't have to make all that up!"

"Make it up?" Santana asked, offended. "Make it up? You think I lied to you about the way I feel?"

"You clearly did! If not, you wouldn't be sleeping with someone else right away!"

Their tones were getting louder, and Santana was afraid they'd soon cause someone to come see what was going on. People from outside the building were already looking through the glass door. She grabbed Brittany's hand and led her through the hall, closer to the staircase that led to the lower level of the building.

"How can you even think I'd lie about something like that?"

"You used to all the time."

Santana was taken aback by the comment. She knew what she was referring too, she was like that with boys. But never with her. She always thought Brittany knew better than that. "I can't believe you'd throw that in my face."

"I can't believe you'd make up a lame excuse to go screw Claudia!"

"For fuck's sake, Brittany, it's not an excuse!" Santana said angrily, "Can't you see what I've been going through? Can you, for one fucking second, realize what it's been like for me to see you again?" Brittany opened her mouth to speak, but Santana stopped her. "Ever since I saw you again, i haven't been able to shake these feelings away. I've tried, Brittany, so hard," Santana said, her voice breaking, "so fucking hard, to push them away. To pretend they are not there. To convince myself that I don't feel anything for you anymore. I tried to be your friend. I wanted to, more than anything in this world, have your friendship back. To pretend like we were back in high school before things got messy, but I can't, ok? I just can't." Santana said, her whole body shaking from the anger.

"And yes," she continued, "I slept with Claudia. And you know what? I would do it again if I could," Brittany winced at the words, trying hard not to imagine it, "and you know why? Because when I was with her last night, I could finally, for at least a short while, stop thinking about you. I could finally stop thinking about how it would be like to kiss you again, how it would feel like to touch you, to hold-"

Santana's words were muffled when Brittany took a step forward and kissed her hungrily. Santana was taken by surprise and she didn't react until she felt Brittany's body pressing against her, pushing her back until she bumped against the wall. Brittany couldn't take it anymore. She was angry and jealous, but most of all, she needed Santana. She needed everything she had just said: feel her kisses, her touch again. Brittany's tongue quickly went inside Santana's mouth, battling for dominance. Her hands roamed all over her body, desperately. Santana felt Brittany slip her thigh between her legs, spreading them apart.

A moan escaped Santana's mouth when she felt Brittany press her thigh against her aching center. She felt Brittany trail hot, wet kisses down to her neck as she kept moving her thigh against her. Santana instinctively started rocking her hips onto Brittany's thigh and she felt herself getting more and more wet by the second.

One of Brittany's hand gripped Santana's hip, while the other found the rim of her shirt and she tucked her hand under it. She run her fingertips across Santana's stomach, causing her muscles to tighten. Her hand kept moving further up towards her breasts until she cupped one, her thumb rubbing against her already hard nipple.

Santana groaned, the pressure on her clit increasing by the second. She placed her hands around Brittany's neck, bringing her closer, needing to feel her all over her. This was what she had been dreaming of since they had met again. This exact same moment, when Brittany's tongue would run across her neck, when Brittany's lips would capture her ear lobe and suck on it desperately.

Except this wasn't the way things were supposed to be. Claudia was upstairs. They had been having sex all night and now she was downstairs almost coming against Brittany's thigh.

Santana stopped abruptly and pushed Brittany away. Brittany eyes went big at the sudden change, lust filling them. They were both panting, their chests raising and falling.

"I can't do this, Brittany," Santana said, glancing upstairs.

"Does she mean anything to you?" Brittany asked softly, scared to hear the answer.

Santana ignored her question, "This isn't right, Brittany. You can't just come here because you broke up with your boyfriend and pretend things to be different."

"It's because of her, isn't it?" Brittany insisted.

"It's not the right time, Brittany…" Santana said sadly. "I tried to forget about you. Every single night I lay there waiting to wake up the next day thinking that I'd find someone better than you, someone who'd finally be able to make me forget about you. I wasn't going to wait forever. Last night, for one brief moment, I could forget how much I fucking miss you…" Santana said, her last words barely audible. She didn't know what Brittany was expecting of her, but she knew she couldn't just give herself in. She had already done it once and she had been left with a broken heart.

"But San…" Brittany tried again. This couldn't be it. There was obviously something going on between them. Santana couldn't be letting it get away because of someone she met a few weeks ago.

"Brittany. Please." Santana begged. She just couldn't handle this right now.

Brittany just nodded and took another step back. "Fine. If that's what you want… But don't blame it on me this time." Brittany added before turning around and leaving, not daring to look back.

Santana leaned against the wall, sighing heavily. This couldn't be happening. Why did they have such horrible timing? She run a hand through her hair, and then over her clothes, trying to fix them before heading back upstairs. Once she got there, she quietly opened the door and found Claudia sitting on her couch, already out of the shower and dressed.

"Is everything okay?" Claudia asked.

"Yeah…" Santana said slowly, walking towards the couch and sitting on the opposite side.

"Are you sure?" Santana nodded. "Is Brittany okay?"

"Yeah… she was just stopping by. Wanted to say hello."

"Oh…"

They sat in silence for a while, both staring at the wall in front of them.

"Should I leave?" Claudia asked finally.

Santana looked at her. "I'm sorry…"

"That's okay. Must have been some hard conversation you two had, huh?" Claudia continued when Santana didn't answer. "She cares about you, you know?"

"Yeah…"

"A lot. She wouldn't stop talking about you after she saw you that first time." Santana sat there quietly. "She's a grown woman now, San. You know that, right?" Santana nodded again, where was Claudia going with all of this? "She wouldn't make the same mistake again."

Santana frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Brittany had told me about this friend from high school… It didn't take long for me to connect the dots after I met you in her apartment. I thought it was a thing from the past, but after you left she acted so weird towards me, I figured it wasn't completely forgotten." Santana looked at her, surprised. "And I know I may seem like a terrible friend because I came here with you and we slept together, but I thought you guys were never going to do anything about it."

"We are not." Santana interrupted.

"You should."

"What?"

"Don't worry about me, Santana. I'm a big girl, and even though I appreciate your concern, I realize what we had was just that, nothing more."

"But… I can't be with her." Santana said, bringing her legs up to the couch and hugging them close to her chest.

"Why not? Because of Tommy? I'm sure she'd break up with him if you-"

"She already did."

Claudia's eyes opened wide. "Is that why she was here now?" Santana nodded slowly. "Wow. She must really hate me right now."

"She probably hates me more."

"Then what are you doing here with me? Go find her!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just… I can't. I don't know if I can risk everything again for her. I did years ago and it didn't work. It only ended up badly."

"Santana, Brittany is not the same girl she was before. I'm sure she hates hurting anyone just as much, but this time I'm sure she's not willing to jeopardize a chance with you just to protect someone else. She proved it by breaking up with Tommy."

"But what if-"

"We would never do anything based on 'what ifs'. Deal with facts. She broke up with the guy and then came straight to you. Don't you think that means something? Don't you see how much she's willing to do for you this time?" Santana nodded, understanding what Claudia meant. "I'm going to leave now, because it's still a little bit weird to be giving you advice after last night…" Claudia said with a slight chuckle, "but I really hope you consider what I'm saying."

Claudia picked her things up and left, wishing Santana good luck. She just sat there on the couch, pondering what Claudia had said. It was true that Brittany had broken up with her boyfriend this time. And what had happened down stairs... That was definitely something they couldn't deny. There was still so much chemistry between them, and Santana couldn't deny she still felt things for the same girl who had opened her eyes to a new world of sensations.

The next hours were the longest hours she had ever lived. Santana knew Brittany had to work and wouldn't get home until around 7pm, so she decided to wait until then. She decided she wanted to talk to her, at least know where they stood. Did this mean they would be together now? She didn't want to jump into conclusions, or into anything really. Brittany, as far as Santana knew, was still straight. What if she regretted her decision? What if breaking up with Tommy had only been a reaction to being afraid of losing her again? There were so many questions to ask, so their conversation needed to be private and showing up at her work was probably not a good idea.

Santana showered before heading towards her apartment, arriving there a little bit past 7. The concierge recognized her from the day of the party and let her go directly upstairs. Once she found herself in front of Brittany's door, she nervously rang the bell.

She waited for a few seconds before the door opened.

"Brittany, we need to-"

"Santana?" It was Tommy. What the hell was he doing there? Hadn't they broken up?

"T-Tommy…"

"Hey. Um, Brittany's-"

"Don't worry," Santana stopped him before he could finish. "I-I remembered I have to be somewhere right now. I will… I'll call her later," she lied. She felt so foolish. How could she think things would be any different this time?

"Do you want me to tell her you stopped by?"

"No, no. It's not necessary… I-I gotta go." Santana said and quickly turned around, walking fast towards the elevator and pushing the button harder than needs be, trying to get away from there as fast as possible.

She took one last glance at Brittany's door, once she had heard Tommy close it, before getting inside the elevator. She felt her heart sinking. She had a knot in her throat and she could feel the tears starting to build up.

Had it all been a joke to Brittany? Was she really that disposable? So since it didn't work with them right away, she went straight back to her boyfriend? Or had she never broken up with him and was just testing the fields before making any decisions?

Santana whipped her tears away angrily. That's what you get for letting yourself fall, Lopez. Santana hurried out of the building and onto the street. She hailed the first cab she saw on the street and cried silently all the way home.

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing! I love to hear your opinions on each chapter and see what you all think of the direction the story is taking. Thank you for taking the time to comment! :)