Warning: Brief Language
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

It wasn't until just before seven that Santana showed up at Brittany's house. She didn't bother knocking, just went straight on in. She stopped briefly to pop her head into the kitchen to announce to Brittany's parents that she was back, and then she ran up the stairs to her other best friend's room. Closing the door behind her, a smile on her face, she practically pounced on Brittany.

"You're back!" Brittany shouted, holding out her arms for a hug.

"I said I'd come back." She replied as she leaned into Brittany's hug.

"Oh yeah..." Brittany pulled away from the embrace. "Why are you in such a good mood?"

Santana smiled even wider. But before she had a chance to speak, Brittany's mom could be heard calling them down for dinner. Santana looked towards the closed door then back at her friend. "I'll tell you after dinner."

Dinner was relatively normal, aside from Santana being a little chattier than usual from her good mood. Most of it was spent in conversation between Santana, Brittany, Brittany's younger sister, and mom. However, occasionally Brittany's parents would speak entirely to one another switching between Dutch and English depending on who was talking. The Latina generally enjoyed the time she spent with her second family, but today she was anxious to be done with it so she could tell Brittany what had happened.

Although she was going to tell her about what had happened between her and Quinn, the conversation with Elle and what led up to her going to Quinn's in the first place would still be kept a secret. Brittany was her best friend, (aside from Quinn) and she was comfortable with telling her things that she couldn't tell other people. However, Elle had asked Santana not to tell anyone about her drinking. That was a secret and a promise that she intended to keep. Thankfully, Brittany most likely wouldn't ask, or notice, for that matter. But it was Quinn that Santana worried about. She was a smart girl and knew Santana well enough to read her—despite the lapse in their friendship. The easy part would be to keep the secret. The hard part, to have to lie to her best friend if and when she were to bring it up.

Once Brittany and Santana finished their meal, they both returned upstairs. Closing the door behind them, they climbed up onto Brittany's bed and sat at opposite ends facing each other.

"So spill!" The blonde sounded excited. She smiled wide and quietly clapped her hands together.

"I don't know if you're going to believe me."

"What? Tell me!"

"I don't know..." She toyed with the blonde. "It doesn't sound like you really want to know."

"I do, really!"

Santana wasn't sure if Brittany understood that she was joking.

"I went to go see someone."

"Who?"

Santana paused to make her answer a little dramatic. Then, quietly and casually she said, "Quinn." It was the truth after all.

Brittany let out a little squeal and began to bounce up and down excitedly on the bed. She had never really understood why Santana had treated Quinn any differently once she was pregnant and off the Cheerios. In her mind, (and God knows what happens in there) nothing was wrong or any different. Throughout the previous school year she had constantly been nagging Santana to repair their friendship, and as much as Santana wanted to take her advice, she wasn't willing to—up until a few hours ago.

"What happened?" She asked through a big grin.

"Well remember how we talked about me not liking who I am and wanting to change?"

The taller girl nodded.

"Well I want to start making those changes, and I thought I'd start with Quinn. So, I went to her house and we talked in her room for a long time."

"What did you talk about?"

"Well, everything. At first she wouldn't listen to me; she said she didn't want to. But then I just started talking and everything kind of spilled out."

"She listened then?"

"Yeah. I think she was really surprised to hear that coming from me—I mean, even more surprised than seeing me standing there." She laughed. "You should have seen her face. It was priceless."

"I bet! What happened next?" Brittany was leaning in closer and closer with each detail that came out of Santana's mouth.

"Well, to be honest, I started crying."

"Awww, San! That's so sweet." Brittany crawled over to her and rested a hand on her knee.

"Yeah, everything sort of just hit me. I knew how much I missed her before, but when it was all in the moment it just got so overwhelming. And then spilling my guts for her and telling her how I much I wanted to change—I couldn't help it. It was probably pretty pathetic looking."

"Well I think it's sweet."

"Thanks?" She scratched at the back of her neck and tried to stop herself from blushing.

"Then what happened?"

"We just talked more. I told her how this all started and I apologized too. Then she talked a little about what she's going through and how tough everything's been on her."

Brittany nodded.

"Her parents are divorced now. Did you know that? I guess I never really thought about what she's had to go through."

"Poor Quinn."

"Yeah, she said it herself that she really needed me and that I wasn't there for her. I feel really bad about that."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, San. You're here now and that's all that matters. Things are going to be good from here on out. It'll be like old times." She smiled and attempted to cheer up the Latina. "Wait. She did accept your apology, right? You're friends again?"

"Mhm." Santana smiled and nodded.

Brittany let out another squeal and hugged Santana again.

"I'm really happy, B. It feels so good to get that all off my chest. I haven't felt this way in a really long time."

"I'm happy for you, San. When you're happy, I'm happy."

Santana went home shortly after for the first time since Friday. She wished that she could stay over at Brittany's longer, but with school looming in the morning, her parents would never agree. As it was, they were barely okay with her living there on the weekends. She didn't hate her life at home. No, she had loving parents and a good upbringing, but there was something appealing about the way life was at Brittany's house. Perhaps it was the feeling of being able to talk to someone about her problems and having someone that would listen and be honest with her without judging her. Or perhaps it was just the company of a best friend. She wasn't quite sure.

She greeted her parents lazily when she got home. Exhausted from the day's events, she trudged upstairs to her room and closed the door. Lying down on her bed, she reached for her phone and began to text Brittany.

Tomorrow was going to be tough. As the next step in repairing the relationship between her and Quinn, Santana planned on spending as much time as possible with the blonde. It was the reaction of the rest of the school that scared her. What would they think? Would she be ostracized for it? The idea of being the center of such negative attention was an intimidating one, but it was something that she knew she would have to risk and get over. Nothing ought to come between us. I can't let anything happen now that I'm trying to fix things. I'll just have to get over it and do my best not to fuck things up again. Anyway, I said I wanted to change. This is going to help. And who cares what everyone thinks?

She interrupted her thoughts to remember something. 'Because everyone else will think badly about you? Fuck them.' Elle had told her to not care about what anyone else thought. She had also told her to fix things with Quinn and here she was feeling better than she had in a long time. For someone with such a horrible problem, she certainly gave good advice.

I should tell Elle! The thought snapped her away from all the rambling going on in her brain. So she lifted her phone off her chest and dialed the freshman's number—this was worth a call, not a text. The phone rang several times but no one ever answered. It went straight to voicemail, one of which Santana didn't bother to leave. Disappointed, she threw the phone down on the bed and preceded to get herself ready for bed.

Half an hour later she's lying in bed texting Brittany when her phone rings. She looks at the name on the screen and her stomach just about does a somersault.

"Hey." She answered.

"Hey, Santana. Sorry that I missed your call. I was playing music pretty loud and didn't hear my phone ring."

"Oh, that's alright."

"So did you need something?"

"Well I kind of wanted to talk to you about something. But it's late now and I'm about to fall asleep, so I'll tell you about it tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Are you going to be home tomorrow?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I figured I'd drop by after Cheerios practice so we can talk about it. If that's okay with you."

"No, that's fine I guess. We can't talk during school?"

"I'd rather talk about it in private, even though you'll probably see what I'm talking about in Glee tomorrow."

"Okay, now I really want to know." Santana could hear a muffled laugh from the other line.

"Sorry, you'll to wait. Oh, before I go, how was the rest of the day? For your thing, I mean."

"Well if you're asking if I drank something after you left, then no, I was fine. But if you're asking how I was feeling because of it, then I feel like shit. I slept for a while after you left and I had to take a really cold shower and quarantine myself in my room for the rest of the night to clear my head. It sucks. Remind me why I'm doing this again?"

"Because you don't want to do this anymore, remember?"

"Vaguely. Well anyways, goodnight, Santana."

"Night, Elle."

She pressed the red button on her cell and ended the call.

The next day was oddly comforting and stressful at the same time. In classes that she shared with Quinn, she made sure to sit next to her, even if it meant kicking some other kid out of their spot so she could do it. Hey, one step at a time, right? Between periods she would walk with Brittany and Quinn on either side of her, the trio talking and laughing with each other like nothing ever happened. She constantly was receiving weird looks and murmurs from the other kids in the halls and in class, but she did her best to ignore them. The hardest part was to not resort to her old head bitch self and defer them away with an evil glare or snide remark. Instead, she tried her hardest to keep her head up and away from the curious eyes. At lunch, instead of sitting with the rest of the Cheerios like usual, she sat with Quinn and the rest of the Glee club at their table, taking Brittany with her, who, of course, didn't mind.

By the time Glee Club rolled around, she was anxious to show off her most recent accomplishment to Elle. However, the blonde freshman was nowhere to be found. When she didn't show up for Glee, Santana was extremely disappointed. Although she liked the idea of telling her about Quinn rather than showing her first, she was sad to see that the young girl wouldn't get to be surprised by the sight of the two recently reunited friends.

After Cheerios practice, Santana was tired but eager to talk to Elle. She drove to the girl's house and rang the doorbell. She stood there for a full minute, but there was no response. She rung again and even knocked afterwards, but again, there was no answer.

She said she'd be home. Maybe she's just listening to music again and can't hear me.

Taking out her phone, she sorted through her contacts until she found Elle's name and dialed the number. The phone rang and rang, but like the previous night, Elle didn't pick up. Sighing, Santana thrust her phone back in her pocket and hesitantly reached for the doorknob. Grabbing it loosely in her hand, she contemplated the practicality and morality of letting herself in. Her dad wouldn't be home, and she wouldn't care. She had said she was going to come by on the phone last night, anyway. Ah, what the hell.

She twisted her wrist and the knob surprisingly turned all the way, allowing for her to push the door open easily. It wasn't locked. Is it still breaking in when the door's unlocked? Slowly entering the house, she shut the door. She stood in the foyer cautiously.

"Hello?" She called quietly. "Is anyone home?"

When there was no answer, she slowly walked through the kitchen and living room looking around for anyone that was home. She made a loop of the entire first floor and found herself back in the foyer. There was no loud music playing, so if Elle was home, there couldn't have been much reason for her to not have heard the doorbell or the knocking.

She deciding to check Elle's room next. If she wasn't in there, she would leave. There was no point in waiting for her to come home. That would have been weird and creepy.

Once reaching the second floor, she found Elle's closed door. Grasping the knob, she eased the door all the way open. What she saw next made her heart skip a beat and she let out a terrified gasp.

A/N: Please read! I apologize for the cliff hanger! I never had any intention of doing that, but I'm really busy today (Thursday) and won't get a chance to write what I planned on including in this chapter. Sadly, I will not be updating anymore for at least 9-10 days. I'm going away on vacation tomorrow (Friday) and won't have internet access. I will be bringing my laptop with me, but whether I get around to writing anymore, I can't say. Hopefully a little time off will refresh my brain and get the creative juices flowing again.

Reviews, comments, questions, praise, and criticism is always helpful and appreciated.