A/N: I'm really sorry about the lack of updates yesterday. I'm still kinda in shock over the finale…Um…ja.

So Britt is now back in the picture and I guess we'll see how things progress, especially since Britt thinks that Santana is in a relationship…

Much love for the reviews – keep 'em coming! :)

-H

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee – if I did I would hunt down Ryan Murphy and demand answers!

CHAPTER 10

It was fall and Santana was walking Bella to her first day of school. It was also her first day of school – her interview with Griffin Hill Academy had gone very well and she was the new English Lit teacher at the prestigious private school.

"Mommy, your hands are all sweaty," Bella complained, jerking her hand out of her mother's and wiping it on her jacket with a grimace.

"Sorry, baby," Santana chuckled. "I guess I'm just nervous."

"It's just school, Mom," Bella stated, raising her eyebrows.

Santana looked down at her daughter, taking a moment to truly appreciate how alike they were. At least she'd know what to expect when Bella hit her teens. Major rebellion.

"I've never taught before, though," Santana admitted, threading her fingers together.

She and Bella had a complete open door policy. No matter what was going on, they talked about it. Santana had a similar relationship with her mother and she cherished how close they'd become as a result.

"You'll do great, Mama," Bella said confidently, her smile washing away Santana's nerves. She loved how her daughter called her Mama when she wanted to show affection. Normally it was Mommy or Mom when she was trying to act older than her six years.

"You think?" Santana asked.

"Of course," Bella replied firmly. "You love reading and you enjoy teaching. Plus, you've taught me loads."

Santana chuckled. "I think that's in my job description, baby girl. But thank you. Your support means the world to me."

Santana knelt down and hugged Bella tightly. When she moved to release her, Bella held on a little tighter and Santana smiled.

"I guess you can be my little girl for the next few blocks," Santana teased, picking her daughter up.

Bella just smiled and rested her head on Santana's shoulder. They continued their walk through the crisp New York fall morning, Santana's arms securely wrapped around her daughter.

Brittany squinted at the light infiltrating the room and she pulled the pillow over her head, groaning.

"Some of us need to work today, Britt," Sara said matter-of-factly. "Come on, Jerry's expecting you at the studio in an hour."

"I'm still sick," Brittany mumbled.

"Oh, really? Not sick enough to nail me three times last night."

Brittany smirked to herself from underneath the pillow. That had been quite hot. Sara had just come back from her session at her own studio and Brittany couldn't resist.

"Come on, get your lazy ass up," Sara said, slapping said behind and eliciting a squeal from Brittany.

The blonde dancer sighed dramatically and pushed back the sheets of her bed, getting up and walking to bathroom buck-naked. She smirked when the bathroom door opened and closed behind her and Sara assaulted her mouth. Nothing like a pick me up in the morning.

Santana looked around her classroom and smiled. This wasn't quite the feeling she'd been expecting; she'd been so worried that she would feel completely out of her depth and like an alien. But here she was, standing in the room and she felt at peace, like she belonged there.

The faculty had been incredibly welcoming and friendly. Principal DeCosta had taken her on a tour of the vast grounds of the school – seriously, how did these people find this kind of property in New York? Everything and everyone was rapidly torpedoing her judgement of private schools and their snobbery.

"Ms. Lopez!"

Santana looked up and smiled at Principal DeCosta.

"How was your first day?" he asked pleasantly.

"Great," Santana replied enthusiastically. "I can tell I'm really going to enjoy it here."

"Well, as I said in April, we are incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon you."

Santana laughed. "Nice try, but we both know the reason I got my interview."

"Maybe so," DeCosta conceded, chuckling, "but you got the job based on your skills and passion. I could tell then that you were going to be a fantastic addition to this school and faculty."

Santana blushed. "Thank you, Mr. DeCosta. That means a lot."

DeCosta waved a hand to brush away the praise. "Please, call me DC. Everyone does."

Santana smiled and nodded. Her phone buzzed and her eyes widened at the time.

"Crap!" she exclaimed, then winced when she remembered whose company she was in. "Um, sorry."

DC chuckled again. "Late for something?"

"Uh, yeah. It's my daughter's first day of school too. I told her I'd fetch her."

"Best you be off then," DC said, standing aside. "See you tomorrow, Ms. Lopez."

"Thank you!" Santana rushed, grabbing her bag and half running out of the door. "Have a good afternoon, DC!"

Santana raced out the gates, waving and smiling at all the students who called out greetings. She jumped into the first cab she could find and gave the address of Bella's school.

Luckily, Bella's school was within a safe walking distance from their apartment, although she was forbidden from making the journey unless Santana, Kurt, Rachel or Finn were there to walk with her. Because it was her daughter's first day, Santana had promised that she'd be there and she never broke her promises, especially to Bella. Most days, because of the distance between Bella's school and her own, Kurt, Rachel or Finn would pick her up and take her to their apartment until Santana was done at her school. That was probably the only downside of Santana's new job – the extracurricular activities were big and all faculty members were expected to take part in some way or another.

Which made this promise even more important – Santana didn't know when next she'd get the chance to pick her daughter up from school. The cabbie screeched to a halt and Santana frowned at his tactics when they were outside an elementary school. She handed him some money and quickly exited the car. She smiled when she saw that the kids had only just come out. She leaned next to the tree she'd told Bella she'd wait for her by and let her eyes scan the crowd of kids running out to meet their parents.

A familiar head of long jet black hair caused Santana's smile to increase ten-fold as Bella bounded up to her excitedly.

"Mommy!" she squealed happily, jumping into Santana's waiting arms.

"Hey, baby girl," Santana greeted, squeezing Bella tightly. She set her down and took her hand. "Did you have a good first day?"

That was all the introduction that Bella needed to launch into a detailed account of her day. Santana just smiled and listened dutifully to her daughter's opinions about the teacher and other kids and cafeteria menu.

Sure, her life may not be what she'd planned, but she wouldn't change this feeling for the world.

Brittany redid her hair into a messy bun and squinted at herself in the massive mirror. She looked a mess. She'd had a full ten-hour day of classes and was exhausted. Brittany was the type of teacher who led by example, which meant that she danced pretty much non-stop all day. And Brittany danced with her whole body. Granted, she was in peak physical shape – her stint on Dancing With The Stars had really toned her up with all the different dances they'd done, and Justin Timberlake's world tour had kept her in perfect condition.

If Brittany had to be truly honest, though, she was more exhausted because she was struggling to sleep. If the lack of sleep was a result of long stints of nakedness with Sara then she'd be ok, but the lack of sleeping had more to do with her mind than her body. Her mind just couldn't seem to let go of seeing and hearing Santana. It had been months ago, but Brittany couldn't seem to forget it. Or maybe her head wasn't letting her forget it. Or maybe it was her heart.

She frowned at her reflection. Sex with Sara tired her out enough to catch a few hours of sleep before Santana popped into her head and she was wide awake.

Oddly, Brittany thought that it was because she was having sex with Sara that was weighing on her guilty conscience or something and that's why she was having trouble sleeping. So she'd tried not having sex with Sara, but that had only ended up making things worse. She couldn't sleep and she was horny as hell. Not the best combination when she couldn't get Santana off her mind. Admittedly, there had been a few occasions where Brittany's hand had wandered into her pants with Santana's name on the tip of her tongue.

But Sara was starting to get clingy and living with her was becoming tedious. Brittany had gotten used to living on her own whilst on tour and on set. During her brief stopovers in New York, staying with Sara hadn't been an issue because it had only been for a few days at a time. She'd been staying there since she'd got back in April and she was itching for her own space.

Unfortunately, Sara was a very sensitive person…well, when she wasn't naked pushing Britt up against a wall. Brittany was scared that if she told her fellow dancer that she wanted to move out that she'd started crying or something ridiculous. She didn't do well with hysterics. She never knew what to do. She'd only ever been able to deal with one hysterical woman and she was pretty sure that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon.

Brittany sighed and rolled her eyes at her expression as she mulled through the thoughts running around in her head. Santana was happy. She heard it in her voice. And if she'd been able to see her face, she was pretty sure she would've seen that spark of love that the Latina had when she'd looked at her once upon almost a decade ago.

She should just forget about her, about wanting to see her again or wanting to touch her again or…

"Stop it!" Brittany yelled at her reflection.

She immediately jumped away from the mirror and picked up the remote she'd discarded before her thoughts had taken over and pushed play. A strong up tempo beat pulsated throughout the studio and Brittany let herself get swept up in the music. She let it wash over her, pushing away thoughts of moving out, of Sara and especially of Santana.

A few days later, Brittany was making a smoothie in the kitchen and Sara walked in.

"Hey," Brittany greeted.

"Oh!" Sara sounded surprised. "I didn't think you'd be here."

Brittany looked at her in confusion. "I live here. And it's a Sunday."

"Of course," Sara said, putting on a big smile. "Um, how was your day?"

Brittany looked at the clock on the oven. "It's ten in the morning. I got up like an hour ago."

"Right," Sara said, starting to look uncomfortable.

"Ok, now you're starting to look like someone who forgot to lock the back gate and the big black goat of Christmas Past came in and ate all the rabbits."

"Um." Sara looked at her blankly.

"What's going on, Sara?"

Sara took a deep breath. "I've met someone."

"Ok."

Sara frowned at Brittany's casual response.

"Just 'ok'?"

Brittany shrugged. "Um, I'm happy for you? I don't know what you want me to say, Sara. It's cool."

"You are something else," Sara muttered.

"I'm human," Brittany deadpanned. "Even though that one time aliens abducted me, they didn't take away any of my human parts, they just-"

"Brittany!"

The blonde dancer halted in her ramblings and looked at her friend in surprise.

"God, I don't understand you!" Sara said in exasperation. "Whatever fucked up relationship we have is just…it needs to stop. You're always in my head and I can't fucking focus anymore."

Brittany's brow furrowed in a telltale sign that she was completely lost. Normally she had a pretty good read on Sara, but now she was truly confused. Had she done something wrong?

"Sara, I don't-"

"Just shut up," Sara snapped. "You came back from JT's tour and things were great. Then all of a sudden you dry up on me and two months later we're back to being fuck buddies."

"I didn't think that was a problem," Brittany said cautiously. "It's how we've always been."

"Well, did it ever occur to you that maybe I wanted more?" Sara asked, her voice dropping an octave.

"Yes," Brittany replied. Sara's eyebrows shot up. So many people didn't understand the blonde's penchant for complete honesty.

"Didn't you?"

"No," Brittany replied. "You knew straight from the start, Sara. We've been over this so many times. You're a great friend and I love you and we have a great relationship, but-"

"You're not in love with me," Sara finished bitterly.

"No," Brittany replied softly.

Sara sighed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I don't think you can love anyone other than her."

Brittany didn't say anything, purely because she'd just be confirming what Sara said. In fact, by saying nothing she achieved the same outcome.

"I think maybe you need to find another place to live," Sara said in a very calm and rational tone. She didn't want to be mean.

"I already have,"

Sara blinked. "Y-You have? Were you planning on mentioning this at some point?"

"I was trying to find the right time," Brittany explained. "I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"I…I guess that doesn't really matter now," Sara said with a sense of finality. "Maybe it would be best if we both just moved on. Seven years of friendship plus whatever else was great, but I don't want that anymore."

With a shocking sense of clarity, Brittany realised that she didn't want that either.

"Mommy, hurry up!" Bella called impatiently. "We're going to be late!"

"Ok, ok, I'm here," Santana said, rushing out of her room. "And we won't be late. They can't start the show without the star." She winked at her daughter who rolled her eyes in a very Santana-like fashion.

"Whatever, Mom."

"Hey, check that attitude, young lady. That's not how I raised you," Santana said firmly. She didn't often have to play disciplinarian, but Bella was her daughter and had most definitely inherited that cockiness that had made Santana so popular in high school.

Bella dropped her gaze in apology. "I wanna go now, though. I love Glee night."

Santana smiled and opened the front door, allowing her daughter to race into the hall and push the button for the elevator. She locked the door behind her and chuckled at her daughter's impatience with the lift.

Glee night was something contrived by none other than Rachel Berry. Duh. When Bella had been old enough to understand, she'd been curious about her mom and her friends and how they'd met. Thus came out the story of Glee Club. Bella thought that Glee was the coolest thing on earth and had demanded performances from everyone then and there.

No one had complained and since then, at Rachel's suggestion, Santana and Bella met up with Kurt, Rachel and Finn once a month and had a karaoke night. Santana had to admit that she enjoyed it; she'd always enjoyed singing and seeing the way her daughter's face light up whenever she took to the mic was reason enough to continue to do it.

This month was Rachel and Finn's turn to host. Blaine had finally made his way to New York and although his relationship with Kurt had been on and off for the last few years, they were currently very much on and living together a few blocks from Rachel and Finn.

Santana loved how close they all were, both literally and figuratively. She treasured her New York family more than anything in the world and nights like this just reminded everyone of how far they'd truly come.

Rachel was a sensation on Broadway, as if there had ever been any doubt. Finn's whole acting gig hadn't worked out like he'd planned, but he'd scored a job in a sports agency and was a PA to one of the biggest sports agents in New York. Kurt had his own fashion line and was slowly starting to have his name mentioned in circles in Paris and Milan. He'd tried Broadway for a year, but the allure of New York fashion had swayed him more than he'd expected.

The lift opened and shook Santana from her trip down memory lane. She smiled as Bella started humming Don't Stop Believin'.

Brittany's earphones were blaring loud music as she entered the lobby of her new apartment block. She'd moved in that week and had already made friends with the doorman, the maintenance guy and the delivery guy. She was pretty sure that the delivery guy had demanded to deliver anything to that building in the hopes of seeing her because it was a scary coincidence how many times she saw him.

Her new apartment was pretty cool. It was big and airy with a lot of space, which was fine with Brittany because she didn't like a lot of furniture anyway. She'd met a few of her neighbours who'd come across as relatively normal. No secret cults or anything like that.

Brittany waved at Noddy, the doorman and smiled. She was pretty sure his name was Oliver or something, but he was always nodding at people and his nose was red all the time.

Noddy nodded (duh) at the blonde dancer as she pushed the button for the lift and waited, tapping her foot to the loud music.

"Baby, no matter how many times you push the button, it's not gonna go any faster," Santana chided.

"It's taking forever," Bella said dramatically.

Santana laughed as the lifts opened.

Brittany glanced up at the lights. Both lifts were coming down at the same time. She stood to the left. For some strange reason – she couldn't even remember why – she always took the lift on the left. Something about escalators going up on the left and down on the right, which meant the same had to happen with elevators. Brittany shrugged to herself and switched the song playing.

The left lift opened and she stepped into the empty compartment. The other elevator opened as she stepped in, but she ignored it. Left went up.

Santana stepped out of the lift and paused, frowning. There was a strange scent in the air that for some reason made her think of Brittany. Her train of thought was broken by her daughter grabbing her hand and pulling her to the door.

"Have a good evening, Oliver!" she called to the doorman as Bella tried to dislocate her shoulder.

"You too, Ms. Lopez," Oliver replied, nodding.

"Bye, Noddy!" Bella shouted as they exited the building.

Santana laughed heartily and Oliver just smiled.

Brittany put a hand out and stopped the elevator door from closing as a laugh permeated the loud music in her ears. She took out her earphones and stepped out of the lift, but the lobby was empty. The door was swinging closed, so whomever it had been had obviously just left. Brittany frowned and stepped back into the elevator. There had been something very familiar about that laugh…

A/N: Please don't hurt me! Suspense is fun…right?

Hope this chapter makes up for my non-update yesterday. Reviews are muchly loved :)

-H