Santana hated kissing Brittany goodbye. Last night had been perfect. She could tell by the way Brittany's eyes lit up that she'd had a terrific time. The moment they left prom she put her master plan into effect. A normal date night would comprise of dinner at Breadstix and maybe a movie but Santana had gone one step better. She ordered Breadstix for take-out and took it back to the hotel room she'd scored them. She had gotten there early yesterday before prom and set things up. A small table set as fancy as she could manage with a nice table cloth and nice silverware. She would have even gotten a candle but the stupid desk clerk said no fires. As if she were six years old and would burn the place down. Asshole.

Dinner, soft music and no adults equals Santana getting lucky. Twice last night and once this morning. Score, score and score! By the time they showered and got dressed that next morning Santana knew reality would soon set in. She killed time by taking Brittany to breakfast then a matinee movie. Brittany was so dazzled by all the attention that she didn't notice Santana was stalling so she wouldn't have to go home.

She pulled away from Brittany's soft lips and opened her eyes. Brittany's eyes were still closed tightly but Britt was a romantic. She was no doubt wishing the night didn't have to end.

"I wish this day wouldn't end. I had so much fun." Brittany said as she opened her eyes.

Wow. ESP anyone!

"I'm glad you liked it." Santana said holding back a proud 'I just rocked your world' smile.

"Liked it? Last night was the most romantic night of my entire life. When you said you had a surprise for me I didn't imagine you'd go through all that trouble. You have no idea how much that meant to me. To see what life could be like just you and me. It made me think about a day when we can live like that all the time. It made me think about a future with you. Do you think about a future with me?"

Santana nodded quickly. She'd thought about it a lot these past few days. "I think about it all the time. I just didn't want to disappoint you."

Brittany laughed. "I am disappointed. I'm disappointed I have to go into the house."

Santana bit the corner of her bottom lip. It was time. Time to come clean.

"Britt, last night before you came down for prom I asked your parents if I could date you." Santana admitted.

Brittany's eyes lit up. "You did? Why didn't you tell me? That would have made the night even that much more special." She leaned into Santana and gave her another quick kiss then pulled away just as quickly. The contact sent a shiver down Santana's spine.

"That's not important. I was thinking about what you said to me. About loving you out in the open. You said you wanted me to love you so much I'd risk it all. I told your parents because when I leave here I'm going home to tell my parents the truth. It's time."

Brittany's mouth dropped. "You're going to come out to your parents? Today? Now?"

Santana nodded.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Brittany asked.

Santana did want Brittany to come along. Even if it was just to hold her hand. Unfortunately her house would be no place for her. She could already hear some of the nasty things her mother would say. Hearing that would only upset Brittany. She wouldn't let her mother make Brittany feel bad about who she was. There was already enough of that going around.

"I think I should do it alone. I don't want my mom mad at you." Santana told her.

"I'm not afraid." Brittany said proudly. Santana could tell that she wasn't. Great, at least one of them was brave.

"I know and I love you for it." She told her. "Britt its important that you know that no matter what happens, I love you. It doesn't matter what my mother says, I love you and only you. Despite this, things between us will probably change once she knows. My mother will make trouble, she may even try to keep us apart."

Brittany's face went blank. Santana knew she was going over the consequences of this in her head.

"Don't tell her. Don't say anything." Brittany finally said. There was a desperation in her voice that Santana had never heard before. Her sudden bravery was gone. She sounded terrified. "I know I said I wanted you to do it but you don't have to. I don't mind sneaking around. Not enough to lose you at least."

"I have to. I have to do this Brittany. I have to be willing to risk everything, you said it yourself. I want you to know that no matter what happens I'll always be somebody you can rely on. I'll never make you feel like your not good enough again. From this day on it's me and you. Santana and Brittany. Forever."

Brittany smiled bravely but Santana could see her eyes were damp. Damn, please don't cry.

"Brittany please don't cry. Don't be sad. It's a happy day. It's our day. Our birthday. Today is the first day of you and me. Today everybody important in our lives will know the truth. No more lying."

Brittany nodded. "No more lying."

Santana took a deep breath. "I'll call you tonight."

Brittany nodded. "If you don't call me by seven o'clock I'm coming over to find you. If she's being mean we can run off together and join the circus."

Santana laughed. Brittany hadn't talked about joining the circus since freshman year. "Deal." She said extending her pinky to the blonde beauty.

Brittany linked her pinky in Santana's and pressed her forehead against her girlfriend. "It's our birthday. I like birthday better than anniversary."

Santana frowned a bit. "I don't remember the day we met, or the day we first kissed but I promise I won't forget another of our important days. And if I do forget it won't be because I don't think its important."

Brittany smiled. "I know sweetie. And it was August 22nd freshman year. That's the day we met. November 17th is the day we first kissed freshman year. October 9th is the first time we had sex. It was a Saturday sophomore year."

Of course she remembered. Who said she was dumb? She leaned into her and gave her another kiss. A real kiss, something to tide her over while she spoke to her mother. She took in Brittany's soft lips, and pretended they were back in their safe hotel room.

Brittany pulled away and ran her thin fingers through Santana's long black hair. "It doesn't matter what she says San, she can't keep me away from you. Just make sure she understands it's not about me. If it's not me it'll be another girl. Make sure she understands I didn't make you this way. Make sure she understands we didn't do anything wrong, all we did was fall in love."

Home…..

Santana could see her mother peeking out the window as she pulled her car into the driveway. The front door crept open but the woman didn't step out. Thank God for neighbors, her mother would rather die than cause a scene in front of the neighbors.

Santana hit the power button on her phone and brought it to life for the first time since last night. It chirped loudly. Voicemail full. 35 text messages. She began to flip through the messages and wasn't surprised to find that almost all were from her mother. All of them only a few hours old. She finally found the one she wanted and put it on the small screen. Rachel Berry: Mission accomplished. She's pissed. Be careful.

Santana knew the only way to put this behind her was to come clean. Come clean and face the situation like an adult. She knew her mother would flip out so she'd done the only thing she could think to do. Have somebody else tell her. Once again, according to Brittany, this was cheating. Although if Brittany knew the whole story she was positive the girl would approve.

With Artie still fuming and looking for revenge she figured she could kill two birds with one stone. She could even the two of them up and tell her mother the truth in one fell swoop. Berry had helped her out by suggesting to Artie that the two of them 'out' her to her mother. Rachel supposedly had it on good authority that Mrs. Lopez wouldn't be fond of her daughter being gay. This, according to Rachel would free Brittany back up to date Artie. Artie had gone along with the plan without a second thought. If he had half a brain he would consider them even and drop his pathetic vendetta. Of course Brittany would never go back to him but the stupid idiot didn't know that.

Rachel had philosophical issues with outing someone. Anyone. She was steadfast against it. She suggested Santana just sit her mother down and have an adult conversation. Santana could never do that. She loved her mother but the idea of sitting her down and telling her this gave her hives. She'd back out. One sneer from her mother's pretty face and perfect skin and Santana would chicken out. It was this or nothing.

Last night before Prom while Santana, Blaine and Kurt retrieved Brittany, Rachel and Artie parked down the block and took pictures of the whole charade. If Rachel kept Artie on plan those pictures, along with candid shots of them together at prom, ended up in her mother's hands this morning. Her mother surely got the pictures, she was insane with anger, leaving threatening messages on her voice mail and furious text messages.

Now for the hard part. Now for the thing she'd been dreading for months. Telling her parents the truth. She had to do it. She couldn't back out, she'd perfectly painted herself into a corner. She had to stand up to the woman. She killed her car engine, grabbed her keys and took a deep breath.

Okay what was the worst she could do? Kick her out of the house? Her father would never allow that. She was his little girl and he loved her to pieces. He wouldn't care about this nearly as much as her mother would. He was old fashioned but not THAT old fashioned.

Next. She could take her car away. Okay. She began to round up everything that was important. She shoved most of the scraps of her out of control life into a small duffle bag. She grabbed the picture of her and Brittany at Cheerio's camp from the visor and shoved it into the bag. Losing the car would hurt but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Next. Cell phone. She could take away her cell phone. That would probably go first, her mother probably wouldn't want her communicating with Brittany. Okay, she had to hide it. She killed the power on the phone and shoved it down the front of her jeans. She'd never check for it there. Okay camouflage. She dug a sweatshirt out of the duffle and tied it around her waist. Okay, she could say she lost it. It would even explain why she didn't call her back this morning. Anything short of a strip search and her mother wouldn't find it.

Next. Laptop. Damn. Her laptop was still inside. Her mother probably already had that. That was a problem but not the end of the world. She'd confiscated it but she wouldn't be able to get into it. She had so many passwords and secret hiding spaces for her important files it would take her mother ten years to crack the thing. And her mother was a computer idiot. She'd have to hire an MIT graduate to get the thing figured out and that would require her telling somebody about her lesbian daughter. Nope, laptop not an issue. She'd have to give it back sometime. Homework would need to be done. She could wait the woman out on that front.

Lastly the only problem Santana could really see was Glee club. She could make Santana quit the Glee club. But then again what difference would that make? Her mother liked that she'd joined the Glee club. Surprisingly enough she thought Santana's singing was useful. According to her it would help with college transcripts. Santana thought this was stupid but didn't say anything to dispute it. Like Harvard was waiting for Ohio cheerleaders/Glee clubbers to round out their ivy league ranks. Not only that but if she made Santana quit it would mean dropping the class and getting a failing grade for the semester, ruining her GPA. Nope, can't make her quit the Glee club. She could argue it would ruin her future. Her father would back that up. He hated F's. Like Santana he'd never had a grade lower than a B in his whole life. Her mother was a moron in school but she subscribed to the motto, pretty girls didn't need to be smart. They just had to be smart enough to marry up. It worked for her too, she'd married a doctor.

Santana sighed and climbed out of her car. Hopefully not for the last time. She locked it up, slung the duffle bag over her shoulder and tightened the sweatshirt around her waist. From the corner of her eye she spotted her mother step onto the porch. Her hands were on her hips and her stare was hard enough to cut diamonds. Here we go.

"Okay mother, let's see what you got." She said under her breath. She raised her head tightened her ponytail and strutted towards the front door. Let's get this over with. Ma, do your worst!

Thanks everyone for following my small indulgence. It was actually very fun to write. I appreciate all the kind reviews and look forward to reading some of your stories in the future. I may continue the story in the future and update what happens between Santana and her mother. So keep your eyes peeled for me if your interested!