Brittany sat at her desk and typed away. She had finished her book about a week ago and was just about to finish typing the last page of her paper. She couldn't help the grin on her face as she typed out the last paragraph. She had actually managed to write almost eleven pages all on her own. She knew they weren't 'A' worthy pages, but at least she would show up to her meeting and surprise Santana with a finished paper. She felt this growing need to make Santana proud of her.

She hit save and then print. "Done!"

After the paper finished printing she put it in a folder and then her bag. Brittany didn't like that she and Santana hadn't had time to meet in the last two weeks. Santana said they were now friends so they should be hanging out, but they were just so busy. It sucked. Brittany felt like time was running out and she wanted to hang out with Santana at least a couple of times before she left.

Brittany got up and began making boxes to start packing up some of her stuff. She had other assignments to finish, but she was so burned out on finishing that paper and she needed a break. There was so much school work to do. It was like every teacher had gotten together and decided to start handing out assignments like crazy. Plus, she had this move.

She had gone online and searched for apartments that were in Manhattan because that's the only place Brittany had heard of in New York. It was where the Sex and the City women lived and where they had that big ball drop on New Year's, so it had to be a fun place to live. When Brittany had seen just how much an apartment cost in that area, she figured she'd have to sell all her organs just to afford one month's rent. She still hadn't asked Quinn about being roommates and she made a mental note to ask her when she came over.

Brittany took her newly formed box and went to her bookcase to start packing. The bookcase had only a few books and she mostly used it to store movies, souvenirs and other random stuff. When her box was half full, there was a knock at the door.

"WHO IS IT?"

"Quinn!" Came a muffled voice behind the door.

"IT'S OPEN!"

Quinn walked in and Brittany saw she was carrying more folded boxes. "I guess you don't need these then," Quinn said, "I found these in my garage and thought you'd need some."

"Oh, it's cool," Brittany said, "My parents brought me all these boxes yesterday."

Quinn piled the folded cardboard on top of the ones Brittany already had, "How much have you packed?"

"With this box, it'll be...just this box," Brittany said with a smile.

"Dork," Quinn teased, "So, I'm here to help even though I think you're jumping the gun. We still have plenty of time to pack. I haven't even started."

Brittany shrugged her shoulders, "I like the idea of slowly packing. Kinda like a long goodbye. I don't want to rush things last minute."

"That's kinda sweet," Quinn said. She picked up a folded box and assembled it, "Where do you want me?"

Brittany saw Quinn raise an eyebrow and give her a playful smile, "Umm, that other bookcase there is good," she said pointing across the room.

Brittany watched as Quinn sat down on the floor in front of the bookcase. Ever since Quinn had given her that monkey tie, there had been a different vibe between them and Brittany wasn't sure if it was because of her or because of Quinn. It's me, Brittany thought, I'm going to ruin everything.

Brittany started packing again and knew there was a reason why she hadn't asked Quinn about being roommates. It was the Santana thing all over again. She was developing a crush on Quinn. It just snuck up on her. Quinn was fun and sweet and just so pretty.

Brittany took a deep breath. It was like all anyone had to do was be nice to her and she'd mess it up by crushing on them. Well, except Santana. That was so different and sort of complicated. Like, Santana wasn't real, then she was real or something. Brittany's head started to hurt. Besides, Santana was off limits. Sure she was single now, but, well for one, Brittany was moving, and two, no way would Santana ever, ever think of her as more than a friend.

But Quinn was real and they'd both be in New York.

"What's this?" Quinn asked from across the room.

"What's what?" Brittany asked, glad she could stop thinking.

Quinn held up a picture of Santana from the school magazine. Brittany's eyes went wide. She remembered when she had bought the school magazine about a year and a half ago and torn out all the pages that had pictures of or talked about Santana. This was right at the peak of her crush on the cheerleader.

"Oh, umm…"

Quinn began to pull out more papers and all of them were about or had pictures of Santana. Brittany had totally forgotten about the one semester where she had gone a little Santana Lopez happy with collecting media clippings of the ULA superstar.

"Why do you have all these magazine and school paper clippings of Santana?" Quinn asked, the expression on her face somewhere between confusion and surprise.

"You can throw those out," Brittany said and hoped her face wasn't too red from utter embarrassment.

"Britt?"

Brittany got up and went over to Quinn. She reached down and collected every Santana Lopez clipping and bunched it up in her hands, "It's trash." She took the papers and dumped them in the wastebasket by her desk.

"Why do you have all those Santana clippings?" Quinn asked again, getting up.

"Nothing, it's stupid," Brittany said. The hem of her shirt suddenly became very interesting.

"What is?"

Brittany let out a groan in frustration, "Fine. I… I sort of had a small, tiny, like really little, crush on Santana."

"A crush?"

"Yeah," Brittany admitted, "You know she's like the Angelina Jolie of ULA. And who doesn't have a crush on Angelina Jolie?"

"So you have thing for her?" Quinn asked and Brittany could have sworn she saw sadness in Quinn's eyes.

"No," Brittany said shaking her head, "I mean, it's just a, I mean was, a silly crush."

"So, you don't have a crush on her now?"

"Umm, no," Brittany said, hating the uncertainty in her voice.

"You don't sound so sure," Quinn said.

"I don't have thing for her," Brittany said more firmly, "And those magazine pages are like from two years ago. I totally forgot I had them. Half the school has a crush on her and I was just one of them. Like when I was in high school I had a whole scrapbook dedicated to Justin Timberlake but that doesn't mean I want to, like marry him. Well, maybe back then I did, but not anymore."

Quinn gave Brittany a weak smile. "OK."

"I don't!" Brittany insisted. She felt the need to clear things up with Quinn, "It's just like, I guess I've been crushing on her for so long, maybe there's like left over crush feelings or something. I still think Justin Timberlake is cute."

Quinn went to sit on the couch, "OK."

"Stop saying that," Brittany said, going to sit next to Quinn, "Anyway, Santana is my friend now. That's it. Even if I did still collect pictures of her, which I don't, it's not like she'd return the feelings."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Quinn said softly.

"What?"

"Nothing," Quinn said looking up at Brittany, "Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something, like I did that day at my mom's restaurant…"

"What is it?" Brittany asked noticing that Quinn seemed to having trouble with something and Brittany really wanted to give her a hug.

"Look, I…don't want to be the second fiddle here."

"Umm, OK?" Brittany was getting confused.

"It's like you have a song stuck in your head. Has that ever happened to you? You walk around all day with the same tune playing over and over."

"Yes!" Brittany said, glad she understood at least part of what Quinn was saying, "I hate that. I usually have to end up listening to the song a couple of times to finally get it out of my head."

"Exactly!" Quinn said, "And maybe that's what Santana is. Just a song you need to listen to to get rid of."

Brittany scratched her head. There were so many music references and she was getting confused. Maybe if Quinn used movie references she'd understand more of what she was trying to say. "I, I don't get what you're saying."

Quinn reached over and took one of Brittany's hands, "I get it, you know, having a crush on someone you see on TV or in magazines. I had the biggest crush on Leonardo DiCaprio for a while, but then I got a chance to meet him and that bubble I had him in just broke. He was just a regular guy."

"Yeah, that's what happened with Santana," Brittany said, "Like now that I know her, she's nothing like what I thought she'd be. She's like a good friend now."

Quinn went on, "Then in high school I developed the biggest crush on Jackie Morgan. Most popular girl in school. I made up all these fantasies in my head on how I could get her to notice me, but she never did. And for a while I still had these lingering feelings. It sucked. I knew she didn't know I existed, and I knew nothing would ever come of it, but that lingering feeling was still there even after we graduated."

Brittany listened to Quinn and couldn't help but feel more connected to her. She understood her feeling for Santana and wasn't making fun of them. Maybe she did need to spend more time with Santana and fully get over this romantic image of her and start seeing her more like a friend. She was sure that's what Quinn was saying.

"So, you're a Bicorn too?" Brittany asked.

"Bicorn?"

"Yeah," Brittany said with a smile, "It's what my little niece calls me. She's only like seven and doesn't really get it, that I like boys and girls, so she says I'm a Bicorn."

"That has to be the cutest thing I've ever heard," Quinn said with a laugh, "And yeah, I'm a Bicorn too."

Brittany had already suspected Quinn was like her. She had caught Quinn checking out some of the cheerleaders when they were filming the video and had also caught her checking out Mike when he had taken off his shirt to put on the ULA T-shirt the squad had given him. Brittany had met a lot of girls at this school who said they were bisexual but it almost always turned out they were just trying to mess around or to get some guy's attention. It was nice knowing someone like her, someone who wasn't just messing around with their sexuality for fun.

Brittany smiled. "Awesome."

Quinn let go of Brittany's hand, "Before we go to New York, I'll talk about that thing I've been wanting to talk about, OK?"

Brittany nodded.

"But for now, I'll just wait. We'll have plenty of time once we leave." Quinn slowly leaned in and kissed Brittany right on the corner of her mouth. Brittany's eyes began to slowly close and felt that warm flush she had felt that first time Quinn had kissed her on the cheek.

But before Brittany could do anything, Quinn pulled back, "I'm going to go. Sorry I didn't help pack more stuff."

"Umm, it's, it's OK," Brittany stammered, "I still have plenty of time, remember?"

Quinn smiled and got up, "Remember what I said Britt, get that song out of your head and then maybe you can start singing a new one."

"I will," Brittany said.

With one last smile, Quinn left. Brittany let out a breath. Yeah, she definitely had a crush on Quinn too.

###

On the drive to the magazine interview, Santana couldn't get what Mercedes said, or almost said, out of her mind.

"Was Mercedes going to say my name?" Santana wondered out loud, "No, no, can't be."

It was insane. Santana was sure she was assuming wrong. She had heard Mercedes say "Sant" which could very well mean Santiago. Or Santos. Or Santa. Yeah, maybe Brittany stopped having a crush on Santa.

"Santa? Are you fucking serious, Santana?" She asked herself in frustration.

Santana tried to put this new bit of information out of her mind as she arrived at the small photo studio where the reporter and photographer for Los Angeles Magazine were waiting. When she got out of her car, she noticed a familiar car parked just a few spots down. Kate's car.

"The fuck?"

Santana quickly went inside and to her surprise found Kate laughing with both the reporter and the photographer.

"Santana!" Kate said, her voice sounding ever so sweet and friendly.

"Kate, what are you doing here?" Santana asked, knowing she was being rude by ignoring the two men next to Kate.

"I was just talking to Peter and Josh here."

Santana took one look at Kate and knew she was now in "Actress Mode".

"Santana, welcome. I'm Peter," he said coming forward, "I'm the reporter. And that over there is Josh, the photographer."

Santana quickly recovered and greeted Peter, "Of course. Sorry, I'm pleased to meet you."

"Likewise. So we'll do the pictures first," Peter said, "Josh will get you all set up."

"Great," Santana said, "But, can you give me a minute? I need to talk to Kate for a bit."

"Of course," Peter said with a smile, "Just let me know."

As soon as Peter was across the room, Santana went over to her ex-girlfriend, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Umm, being interviewed," Kate said making it sound like it was pretty obvious.

"We broke up, remember?" Santana said, "This article is about me. Not you."

"Figgins told me I'd be featured, so I'm going to get featured," Kate said, crossing her arms, "No way am I giving up this publicity."

"Oh, so that's it," Santana scoffed, "This is just you being a fame whore."

"Fuck you Santana!" Kate said trying to control her voice, "I'm doing this! If you ruin it, I can very easily tell the reporter some interesting stories about you. Imagine how it would look if ULA's superstar had their dirty laundry out there for everyone in L.A. to read."

"What dirty laundry?" Santana asked, confused. Aside from being in the spotlight, Santana was a pretty boring person. There weren't any scandals to her name. Unless returning books to the library late counted as a scandal.

Kate's smile was almost sinister, "Oh, I don't know. How about the captain of the squad sleeping with a few of her teammates?"

"How is that a scandal?" Santana asked, "Things like that happen all the time."

"Yeah, but it's interesting that those girls you did sleep with somehow ended up being featured more on the squad. Got more camera time and other little perks."

"So you're going to twist it around like I gave them special treatment for sex?" Santana asked. She felt nothing but disgust for Kate. She couldn't believe she had actually dated her.

"Or how about," Kate continued, "I tell them you slept with the director of that cheer video."

Santana did a double take, "Excuse me? That never happened. And don't you fucking dare bring Brittany into this!"

Kate reached into her pocket and took out a piece of paper, "I knew you were trying to get in her pants! Did she like the little sleep over you guys had?"

Santana snatched the paper Kate was holding. It was the note Brittany had left the morning after she had slept over. "Where did you get this?"

"Silly me," Kate said with a bitter laugh, "I went back to your place the next day, you know, to try to work things out and I found this on your desk. I mean, what kind of fucking note is that? It sounds like a 10 year old wrote it."

"Fuck you!" Santana spat, "Don't talk about her like that! You don't know anything and I swear if you drag her name into this, I will destroy you!"

"Look at you defending your little conquest," Kate said, her tone nothing but bitter.

"I told you, nothing…, you know what?" Santana was tired of this, "It's none of your business. Brittany and I are just friends and she has nothing to do with this." Santana took a breath, "Fine. Be part of this dog and pony show. I don't care. I'm only doing this for the school."

"Great!" Kate said with a big smile. It was almost as if she turned off her evil conniving bitch switch.

Santana shook her head. "You said you loved me. This is how you treat someone you love?"

"I'm angry," Kate said, "You did this. Not me."

"Excuse me, ladies!" Peter said, "I'm sorry but we really should get started."

Santana turned to Kate, "Let's get this over with. And I want the key to my apartment back."

Santana put Brittany's note in her purse. She couldn't wait to get this over with and leave.

###

Brittany didn't feel like packing anymore after Quinn left. She went to The Bean to try to get some other assignments done. She figured she'd just stay there for the next couple of hours until her tutoring session started. As much as she tried to concentrate on the work on her laptop, all she could think about was Santana and Quinn. All she could think about was the fact that she liked them both more than she should.

Brittany had told Quinn that she didn't have a crush on Santana anymore and that was true. She didn't have a crush on the Santana that was in magazine clippings and her throwing all those press clippings in the trash proved that. But there was still something there. Brittany would often think about that night in Santana's apartment and how much fun they had had. The Real Santana was just so easy to like. She was sweet, nice, caring, funny, playful and even more beautiful than in those magazines.

"Ugh!" Brittany groaned. She wished she could be like those Pollyanna people where it was OK to like more than one person at the same time.

Maybe Quinn was right and Santana was just a song that was stuck in her head. She was sure that if she spent more time with Santana she'd come to think of her as nothing more than a friend. She had to stop thinking that being around Santana would turn out like one of her unrealistic fantasies.

Brittany heard the bell of the front door and looked up to see Mike coming inside. She smiled and waved him over. After he got his drink, he joined her.

Brittany hadn't seen Mike all that much these past few weeks and she sort of missed him. Besides Mercedes, Mike was the only other person she considered a good friend. Well, Quinn too, but that was just all sorts of complicated now.

"Hey Spielberg," Mike said sitting across from Brittany, placing his ice cold Frappuccino on the table, "Nice to see you. I was starting to think you were ditching me."

"No way!" Brittany said, "I've just been so busy."

"Are you meeting Santana here?"

"How did you know?" Brittany asked, surprised.

"Word on campus is that you and Santana are buddies now," Mike said, "You're climbing up the popularity ladder, my friend. A little late but, hey, at least you'll graduate with some notoriety."

"Why?"

"Just for hanging out with Ms. Popularity," Mike said, "A lot of people know who you are now."

Brittany didn't like knowing that people were talking about her. It made her uncomfortable.

"Anyway," Mike went on, "Thanks for sending me a copy of the cheer video. It was really good. The make up was awesome of course."

Brittany laughed, glad to change the subject, "Thanks for doing that."

"No problem," Mike said, "I'd love to work with you again but I hear you got a fancy job in New York."

"Who told you that?" Brittany asked. Mike seemed to know everything.

"Holly," Mike said, "She's pretty much telling anyone who will listen that her favorite student is going places."

Brittany smiled. Holly really was the best and like the big sister she never had.

"And Quinn got the job too," Mike went on, "I hear New York is awesome. You guys are going to have a blast."

"I hope so," Brittany said, "So what about you? You applied to that studio in Burbank right?"

"Yup," Mike said, his smile impossibly big, "Just got the call yesterday. You are looking at the new assistant, to the assistant of the head of special effects at New Directions Studios. I start the week after graduation."

"Awesome!" Brittany said. She was so happy for him and loved the he too would be working for a studio.

"It's pretty much the lowest of the low in terms of positions, but gotta start somewhere, right?" Mike asked.

"It's still awesome," Brittany said, "I read that New Direction Studios is like on track to become a big player."

"I hope so!" Mike said, "Hey, if that New York thing doesn't work out, maybe you can work at New Directions and we can do another project together."

"Maybe," Brittany said, "If I get fired or something, I'm calling you to get me a job."

"Deal!" Mike said.

The door to The Bean swung open and Brittany saw Sugar came in.

"Brittany!" Sugar called out and headed to the table.

"Hey Sugar," Brittany said, "What's up?"

"Hey," Sugar said taking a seat. She turned to Mike, "I know you, I think."

"Mike Chang," he said, "We had Abnormal Psych together last semester."

"Oh right, right," Sugar said, "Only class I've been able to use in the real world so far."

"You look all frazzled," Brittany said, "What happened?"

"I'm burned out!" Sugar said sounding frustrated, "I haven't had a night out in ages!"

"God, me too," Mike said.

Sugar clapped her hands in excitement, "I think this calls for a bar night!"

"That sounds like fun," Mike said.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders, "Sure, I guess."

"Fantastic!" Sugar said, "How about this Friday at The Red Barron? I'll round up my usual suspects. Let's see there's Puck, Tina, Santana, Sam, Kurt, Mercedes, and you guys. Oh and Britt, you can totally bring your lady friend Quinn."

"Great," Brittany said not sure why Sugar was looking at her with an expression like she knew a secret, "I was going to anyway."

"I figured," Sugar said and winked, "Well done."

"Umm, thanks?" Brittany wasn't sure what was going on.

"OK!" Sugar said getting up, "I'll text you all details later. Later fools!" And with that Sugar was gone.

"That should be fun," Mike said taking sip of his drink.

Brittany just nodded. She really could use a night of fun. Though, having the two people who were confusing her there was probably not a good idea.

###

Except for Kate, the interview and photo shot had gone surprisingly well. Santana had told the truth about her relationship with Kate, that they were no longer a couple but remained great friends. OK, maybe she only told half the truth. It didn't matter. All Kate wanted was her name in print and her picture in a magazine. Santana on the other hand, didn't care. All she really wanted was that job in the English department this fall.

All through the day, however, she couldn't stop thinking about what Mercedes had almost said this morning. She felt this burning need to know if Brittany did indeed have a thing for her. And if she did, then what? Santana was no stranger to people having crushes on her. Shit, half the school did and she never cared. But with Brittany? The thought of Brittany seeing her as more than a friend actually gave her this weird tingle in the pit of her stomach.

But she couldn't think about that now. Right now, she was about to find out if she'd have a job this fall.

Santana sat in the waiting area out side the conference room the English board used for meetings.

"I guess this is it."

Santana was snapped out of her thoughts by Susan who had just arrived. "Guess this is it."

Susan sat next to Santana leaned in way too close for Santana's liking, "I heard about you and Kate. You're better off."

"Thanks," Santana said trying to inch away from her.

"Maybe you and I could hang out after this," Susan said, her voice trying to be flirty but was coming across incredibly annoying to Santana.

Santana turned to Susan in disbelief, "Are you serious, right now? We're about to find out who is getting this job, a job that can jump start our careers, and you're hitting on me?"

"Sure," Susan smirked, "It's no secret I think you're hot and I know you want me too."

Santana wasn't sure how she managed not to burst out in laughter. "I'm going to pass on that. In a few minutes one if us is going to get screwed over."

Susan leaned back in her chair, "I'll make sure the board writes you a good letter of recommendation, Santana."

"Oh, so you think you're getting this job?"

"Let's just say, my family is a big part of this school," Susan said smugly.

The door to the conference room opened and Will summoned them inside. The meeting only lasted twenty minutes and at the end of it, all of Susan's money couldn't buy her the job.

Santana left the room with a proud smile on her face. Her place at this school was set. This is where she'd spend the next two years and if Santana had her way, this is where she'd continue her career. Her ultimate goal was becoming the dean of this school and she was well on her way.

With Susan out of the picture, Santana's professional life was on the right track. With Kate out of the picture, her personal life was better. There was just one thing she wasn't sure about.

###

After Sugar and Mike had left, Brittany had actually managed to get a lot of work finished. She looked at the clock on her computer and saw that she only had like five minutes before Santana showed up. She turned off her computer and took out her finished English paper. She had purposely chosen to sit at a table that was facing the door so she could see Santana come in. She didn't want to get scared again since Santana loved to appear out of thin air.

Behind Brittany, just a few feet away, Santana stood and watched Brittany put away her laptop and take out a stack of papers. She had actually arrived at The Bean 10 minutes ago but when she had come in, Brittany was concentrating on her laptop and hadn't noticed her. Santana had just walked in and had gone straight to the back where The Bean had set up a makeshift book and magazine area. She felt like a creepy stalker.

But Santana wasn't stalking, she was just a little nervous. She couldn't look at Brittany without thinking of what had happened this morning. What if Brittany did at one point have a crush on me, Santana wondered, what if she was with Quinn now. Santana wasn't sure which answer she wanted.

She took a deep breath. She was being ridiculous.

Brittany looked at the clock on her phone. Santana was two minutes late, which really wasn't much, but Brittany was starting to wonder if maybe Santana had lost her car keys again.

"You should cover your blind spots."

Brittany almost jumped out of her seat when she heard Santana's voice behind her. "Holy shit! Where did you come from?"

Santana laughed. It felt great. After the day she had, laughter was just the thing she needed, "Magic."

Brittany got up and faced Santana. She was really glad to see her but also a little nervous. What song would Santana be, Brittany wondered. Brittany stepped closer and brought Santana in for a hug, "Long time no see."

Santana wasn't laughing anymore. Her arms automatically wrapped around Brittany's neck and she tightened the hug. Was this a clue, Santana wondered. Was the fact that Brittany was hugging her mean she still had a crush on her? No, Santana thought. Brittany had hugged her a few times already. This didn't mean anything. The smell of Brittany's hair stopped any other thoughts from forming in Santana's mind.

"What shampoo do you use?" Santana asked pulling back. She needed to know what that amazing smell was.

Brittany laughed, "I haven't seen you in two weeks and that's the first question you ask? You're silly." Brittany turned back to her table and sat down.

"I'm unpredictable like that," Santana said sitting across from Brittany.

"It's this homemade shampoo from one of those soap stores," Brittany said, "Why?"

Santana shrugged her shoulders, "Smells nice."

Brittany looked down at her papers. She didn't want Santana to see the smile on her face, "Thanks."

Despite Brittany looking down, Santana saw the smile on her face. There was no doubt Brittany was cute. And sweet. And…

"How's Quinn? You guys seem like good friends," Santana randomly asked. She needed to escape her train of thought because if she kept going she'd come to realize something that had probably been simmering in the back of her mind since they ate those banana splits. Maybe even before that.

"She's like one of my closest friends now. She's doing fine," Brittany said, "Holly's keeping her busy. I think she's trying to get as much work out of her as she can before Quinn leaves for New York."

Santana raised and eyebrow, "So, Quinn got that summer job too? I remember you mentioned her to that lady you were talking to on the phone, but I wasn't sure." One thing Santana had picked up on was the fact that Brittany had called Quinn her friend. At least on that note, Mercedes had been wrong. Maybe Quinn was telling the truth about not being gay.

"Yeah," Brittany said, smiling, "We both got a spot. We can't wait!"

Santana tried to sound casual, "So the both of you are going to New York together?"

Brittany nodded, "Have you ever been?"

"To New York? Umm, once when I was like seven. I think it was fun," Santana said, "I can't really remember."

Brittany suddenly realized that all they ever did was talk about her or her new job and never about what Santana's plans were for after graduation, "What about you? What are you doing after graduation?"

Santana smiled and was glad to tell Brittany everything. Well, maybe not everything. Brittany didn't have to hear that Kate had read her note and had threatened to spread rumors about her.

"Santana! That's amazing!" Brittany said, sounding excited and happy, "You're going to rule this school next semester!"

"That's the plan," Santana said.

Brittany had never met anyone so smart. She always figured smart people were like super nerds, but Santana was the opposite. She wished she had more time with her. It wasn't fair that after all this time, all she ever wanted was to get to know Santana and now that she had it was too late. Santana may be a song stuck in her head, but she found she really liked that song and wanted to keep hearing it.

Santana saw the sad look in Brittany's eyes, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Brittany said, with a sad smile, "I just wish we had become friends sooner. Like Freshman year."

"Me too," Santana said with such sincerity that she didn't think she was capable of, "But hey, no one says we can't still be friends after graduation, right?"

"Right!" Brittany said, cheering up a little.

Santana knew she and Brittany would somehow stay connected after graduation. She just felt it. And she figured that after Brittany came back from New York, they pick up where they left off. But there was that nagging feeling though. That possible slip of the tongue by Mercedes. Santana needed to know. She had planned on being subtle and seeing if she could pick up on any signs that Brittany liked her more than a friend, but thinking of doing that now, seemed like too much work.

"So, Britt," Santana said. She was just going to ask. "You know what what I'm looking forward to most after graduation?"

"Your job?"

"Well, sure," Santana said, "But I think I'm going to love not being the campus celebrity anymore. It's crazy. So many guys and girls coming up to me telling me they have crushes on me. Even some of my friends."

Brittany was sure her heart almost burst through her chest. She wondered if Quinn told Santana about the magazine clippings. No, Quinn would never do that, she thought. "Umm, I'm sure."

"I'm sure you knew about me," Santana said carefully, "From all the publicity."

"Mmm hmm." Brittany wondered why it was so hot all of a sudden.

"Did you...ever have a crush on me?" Santana asked as casually as she could make her voice sound. And there it was. The question was out there. Either Mercedes was going to say someone else's name and Brittany would just laugh off the question or Mercedes was going to say her name and Brittany would...

Brittany felt like her cheeks were on fire. Actually her whole body felt like someone had jammed a torch in there and lit it up. She reached for her almost gone ice tea and finished it off. Her mouth felt like the it was covered in sandpaper.

"Me?" Brittany managed to croak out, "Why would you think I have..had, might have, umm, a crush on you?"

Santana felt like she wanted to crawl under the table from embarrassment. She shouldn't have asked, "No, I'm just..I just want to make sure that you don't..or did."

"So you think just because you're like a superstar around here, everyone crushes on you?," Brittany asked. She needed to get the attention off of herself. She hated lying and was never any good at it, and Mercedes had told her to always answer a question with a question when she didn't want to lie.

"What? No," Santana said shaking her head. Brittany probably thought she was a complete narcissist, "I just... never mind. Is that your paper? Did you start already?" Santana reached across the table and took the papers in front of Brittany. She was glad to change the subject.

"Umm, yeah," Brittany said. She took in a breath and was happy to talk about something else, "I wrote eleven pages."

"Eleven?" Santana asked the shock in her voice not lost on Brittany, "How did you write eleven pages?"

"Well, I really liked the book," Brittany said, "And I just followed all the tips you gave me last time. I know it's not that great, but I wanted to surprise you with a finished paper."

With all the madness of today, Santana had forgotten about Brittany's surprise. She smiled, "This is the best surprise ever."

"Really?"

"Yes," Santana said, "The fact that you were able to write all this just from the stuff I taught you last time, is amazing. I'm proud of you, but it also makes me proud of myself. I guess I am a good teacher."

Brittany reached across the table and lightly squeezed Santana's hand, "You're an amazing teacher. If you had been my teacher here at this school, I'd probably be graduating with Honors."

Santana felt like a small electric current had run from her hand to her chest, "Tha..thanks."

Brittany squeezed Santana's had a little, wanting to feel just how soft they were for a second more, before she let go. Looking at Santana now, she seemed a little flustered and Brittany had to admit she looked kind of adorable. She really couldn't lie to her. "Maybe a I did," She said leaning back in her chair.

"Did what?" Santana asked. She was a bit disappointed that Brittany had let go so fast.

"Have a crush on you," Brittany admitted with a shy smile, "It's kinda of hard not to have one. I mean, you're Santana Lopez."

There was that feeling again. The feeling where she felt warmth through her body but still got chills. She let out a nervous laugh, "Umm, let's uh, let's see what you wrote."

The rest of their time was spent on improving Brittany's paper but Santana had to admit that there was now a different vibe between her and Brittany. She liked it.

-tbc-


A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and for reading! And someone actually guessed where this story was going. Kudos to you! ;-)