AN: Really short chapter but don't worry, there is more to come!

Warning: This is not a happy chapter. No cute fluffiness from Brittana, but as I said this isn't the end. Thank you everyone for all the notifications, they make me happy! Alrighty, enjoy!

The only noise in the apartment was coming from the crowd on TV, happily celebrating the New Year.

Brittany tried multiple times to get something out. She wanted to tell Santana she loved her too, but she couldn't. Santana had gotten tired of waiting for a response. "Why aren't you wearing the necklace?"

Brittany threw her hand to her chest and felt the two rings that resided there. "I wanted to." Her voice was cracking and tears were forming in her eyes. As much as she wanted to look away from Santana's stare, she couldn't.

"I can't do this." Santana stated calmly as she backed away from Brittany.

Brittany's heart started pounding. "I'm sorry I can't say it San." She pleaded.

"That's not what this is about Britt!" Santana was starting to lose control of her temper. The last thing she wanted to do was go off on Brittany but she wasn't sure how long she could hold it in.

"Then what is it?"

"It's about you not being able to move on!" She yelled. "It's about you not being able to take off those rings or about how I'm always wondering if you're thinking about Sam because we can't even dance together without you crying over him! I know we haven't known each other all that long but he's been gone for two years."

"Santana." Quinn stepped forward to stand beside Brittany. "Calm down."

"No, I've had it with you too Fabray!" Santana pointed at the shorter blonde. "You always tell me not to screw this up when it's Brittany that's doing it not me. I'm completely invested in this," she looked back at Brittany and lowered her voice, "and you aren't. I can't sit around and wait. I'm tired of coming in second to a guy that isn't even here anymore."

Brittany finally broke eye contact and looked down at the her shaking hands. She nodded slowly before making her way around Santana and out the door.

Santana looked at Quinn. "Happy New Year." She turned and walked down the hall, into her room and slammed the door behind her.

"Well, I guess I'll clean up." Kurt sighed and stood up to start gathering their plates and cups.

Quinn sat back down beside Rachel with a sigh. She rested her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. "I don't get it."

"What?"

"I don't get why Santana isn't being more patient with Britt. She knows what Brittany has gone through." Quinn elaborated.

"Yes she does. But I doubt Britt knows what Santana's gone through. At least, I doubt she knows all of it yet." The brunette replied.

Quinn turned her head to look at Rachel. "Go on."

"Santana is a complicated person. I've known her for years and there were two things I thought I could be sure of with her. One; she doesn't open up to anyone. Two; she doesn't believe in love." Rachel could tell from the confused look on Quinn's face that she would have to go more into detail. "Santana grew up with parents that didn't love each other. As far as I know, they still don't but they're still together. Then in high school she dated a lot and slept around while she dealt with the whole sexuality thing, but she never had someone that loved her. After she moved here she met someone and they started dating."

"Dani?"

Rachel nodded. "Dani seemed great, she really did. Santana had been saving up to meet with this recording company in L.A. She had her own songs written and she was supposed to go for a live audition. She saved up the money for the trip and about a week before she was supposed to go…" Rachel sighed and shook her head slowly, still unable to believe someone would do this. "She woke up to find that Dani had stolen everything and left."

"That's horrible." Quinn's voice was even softer than usual.

Rachel nodded. "She kind of gave up after that." She looked up at Quinn. "What I said about Santana not opening up to anyone and not believing in love. That was true, until she met Brittany. That's why this is such a big deal to her. I've never seen her this way with anyone else, clearly Brittany is special to her."

"I didn't know she had been through so much."

Rachel shrugged. "Now you do."

Quinn stood up suddenly and walked to the front door, grabbing her coat on the way. She stopped and turned around. "I have to go talk to Britt. They can't leave it like this."

Rachel stood up and smiled at the blonde. "I couldn't agree more."

"I'll call you." Quinn told her as she left the apartment.

"I look forward to it!" Rachel called after the woman. She turned to see Kurt watching her.

"What do we do now?" He asked.

"I don't know if either of us can do anything but I'll try to talk to her."

"Good luck."

Rachel slowly walked down the hall until she reached Santana's door. She knocked lightly and waited. No response. "Santana?" She waited again. Still no response. "Look, I know that what you did tonight wasn't easy for you. You put your heart out on the line and you feel like it's been crushed. You told her you love her and she didn't say it back but, those are just words. I've seen the way she looks at you and the way she acts around you. What I mean is, just because she didn't say it back doesn't mean she doesn't feel it. She's just scared. You know what that feels like."

Quinn opened the door to her apartment as fast as she could. "Britt?" She called out. She ran down the hall and into Brittany's room, stopping dead in her tracks. What she saw was not what she had expected. She had expected to see a drunk Brittany trying desperately to drown the pain. Instead she found Brittany sitting at the end of her bed, with her knees to her chest, staring at the wall.

"Is it possible to love two people at the same time?" Brittany asked without actually acknowledging Quinn's presence.

Quinn walked over and slowly sat on the bed next to Brittany. "You love Santana?" She watched Brittany's face. The look in her eye was enough of an answer. "Why didn't you tell her then?"

"Because I still love Sam." Brittany paused and waited for Quinn to respond but she didn't. "We were engaged. I was going to spend the rest of my life with him." She almost sounded surprised.

"Yeah, you were."

"How can I give my heart to someone when it's already taken by someone else? It wouldn't be fair."

"Britt," Quinn shuffled closer to Brittany, "you and Sam were a beautiful couple. You made each other happy, anyone who knew you two would agree." Brittany's brow furrowed but she didn't look away from the wall. "But, Sam isn't here anymore B. Santana is, and she makes you so happy. Don't let what happened with your parents happen again."

"My parents abandoned me when Sam disappeared." Brittany countered.

"No they didn't!" Quinn was getting very frustrated with her friend. "You shut them out, you shut everyone out. They tried so hard to get you to talk to them. They even offered for you to move back with them remember? You are the reason they aren't around anymore. It has nothing to do with them leaving you and everything to do with the fact that you let grief take over."

"If I shut everyone out then why are you still here?" Brittany glared at Quinn.

Quinn glared back but chose to ignore her comment. "I don't know if you're scared he's still out there and that you'd be betraying him or if you're just scared of getting hurt again. Maybe it's a mixture of both. Either way, you can't let fear control your life. You have to move on and I know that you want to. You just have to take the chance."

At some point Rachel had stopped trying to get Santana to talk. Santana didn't remember hearing her leave the hallway but she wouldn't stay out there all night. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to look at it. No new notifications; Brittany hadn't tried to get a hold of her. She sighed and turned onto her side so she could put her phone away. When she reached back into her pocket she felt something poke her hand and pulled it out. It was Mercedes' business card.

She looked at the card in her hand. That tiny card had the power to make her dreams come true. Not long ago she had given up on ever becoming a professional musician, but then something changed. She started to feel like maybe there was still a chance for her. She started to believe in herself again and she only had one person to thank for that; Brittany.

She placed the card safely into the drawer in her night stand and pulled her phone back out.

Brittany sat staring at the picture on her wall. She had waited until Quinn left to start crying and the tears had run out a while ago. She studied the painting closer than she ever had. The city itself was fairly basic because all the detail work had gone into the sky. So much time and care had been put into those stars. Santana had given Brittany plenty of time and care. She had been patient enough. Sure, they hadn't known each other that long but Santana was right, it's been two years. Two years and she still couldn't bring herself to move on, no matter how badly she wanted to.

The blonde jumped when her phone started ringing from the bed where she threw it when she walked in. She turned around to look at the phone. Sanny. She watched, unmoving, as it rang. She watched until it stopped ringing.

She looked back at the painting and made a decision; Santana deserved more. She didn't deserve to wait around for Brittany to finally be ready. The last thing Brittany would do is bring Santana down with her.