[AN] Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a happy new year! Take care, :)

CHAPTER XII

Brittany idly stares up at her ceiling from her bed, counting the seconds as they tick by at a sluggish rate. She watches as the morning light gradually fills out in her room to let her know that the new day is finally approaching. Her eyes burn with tiredness, even though she couldn't bring herself to fall asleep again and as the deprivation kicks in, she finds herself feeling rather giddy as she hums out small, mindless tunes in her bed. She finally turns her head to make a note of the time - the rest of the night had gone by at an incredibly slow pace so she is relieved when she finds that she's finally able to get up and go and cause a racket in the kitchen, making breakfast without her parents complaining that it was too early. She hurriedly dashes out of her bed and slips into her baby blue robe before she rushes downstairs to crack eggs and dust the kitchen floor with flour.


Santana lifts her head heavily from the table to take another bite of her cereal and yawns extensively in the process. She too, also failed to get back to sleep after Brittany left so instead, she gathered situations in her head of what she could say to or do to make Brittany forgive her. She slurps obnoxiously away at the milk that remains in the bowl, wiping her mouth with her pyjama sleeve and glances across the opposite end of the table where her mother sits hunching her shoulders, wearing dark circles around her eyes as she picks away at her fruit bowl. Santana can only look at her with pity and decides to leave the table without a word at all; there was nothing for her to say.


Brittany rubs her eyes vigorously while she stabs away at her pancakes with her fork with a little more force than necessary. The lack of sleep has definitely had an impact, but more so, her night with Santana is all she can think about.

"You okay there, honey?" her mother asks as she butters some toast on the kitchen countertop. Brittany licks the strawberry jam from her fingers and yawns.

"Tired," she replies. Grace purses her lips and takes a seat next to Brittany at the pine table.

"Well, your father's washing up, so if you'd like some girl talk, I'm right here." Grace nudges her daughter, causing Brittany to giggle. Both of them take a couple of more bites of their breakfast before Brittany turns to her mother with her mouth full.

"Do you…" Brittany mumbles as she chews down the rest of the pancakes. "Do you love dad?" she asks seriously. Grace blinks a couple of times then snorts at her daughter's worried expression.

"Of course I do!" Grace chuckles. "What made you ask that question?"

"I just need to know these things…" Brittany nods and Grace narrows her eyes.

"Why are you whispering?" she asks. Brittany licks the remains of jam from her plate and takes a swig of her squeezed orange juice but then shrugs.

"Why, I mean, how did you know? How did you find out? Wh-what did you feel? I know it's not like my love of science, especially from the Mesosphere all the way to the Exosphere. It's a different kind. Like… um. Well, I don't know really," Brittany replies sadly. Grace smiles at her reassuringly and squeezes her shoulder.

"When I met your dad, it was definitely not love at first sight," Grace begins, with a giggle at the memory. "It was 1981 and he was working in a stinking shoe factory at the age of seventeen; he had been kicked out of school for being trouble and he sure did love the ladies." Brittany watches her mother as she rests her chin on her hand. "I was at school but it was the summer before my senior year and we first met at a friend of mine's party. All the girls knew that James was the 'bad boy' and we knew he had a reputation but no one could ever deny those deep blue, puppy like eyes and his bright blonde ruffled hair, and his smile was so cheeky that it left girls weak at the knees, it still does!" Grace begins to gush and Brittany listens with a wide grin. "But I wasn't having any of it and if I'm being completely honest, I thought I was too good for him. Yet at this party he couldn't take his eyes off me, despite there being many beautiful girls. And at the end of the night, he approached me and asked for my name." Grace moves from her chair to lift the plates from the table and takes them over to the sink before plopping them in the scalding water.

"I didn't tell him of course and with that, I walked away. Yet for some reason, as the summer progressed he kept popping up at random parties and he would never pay attention to any other girl but me. Then at the very end of each night, he would come up to me and try and guess my name, but only once. If he was wrong, I walked away."

"But what happened if he was right?" Brittany asks as Grace re-joins her at the table.

"I agreed that if he guessed my name right, then I would accept his offer for him to take me out on a date. He told me that he was never good with names but if he guessed my name correctly, he would promise never to forget it.

"Well…"Brittany edges her mother on eagerly in a whisper.

"Well, on the last week of summer vacation, a bunch of us decided to go on a camping trip to Lake Powell in Page and he obviously had to tag along." Grace rolls her eyes playfully and Brittany giggles. "We didn't talk much through the whole week but on the final night as we all surrounded the campfire he came and sat next to and he said 'I'll guess your name one more time. If I'm wrong, then I'll leave you alone for good but if I get it correctly, then I'm yours completely," Grace smiles bashfully as she reminisces and Brittany mirrors her expression.

"And did he guess your name right?" Brittany whispers again. Grace looks at her daughter and winks.

"All I'm going to say is, don't give up on finding love, because one day it'll come to you and you'll definitely know when it does." Grace smiles and squeezes Brittany's shoulder one last time before lifting herself from her chair again and exiting the kitchen into the hall, leaving Brittany to contemplate what she has just been told.


The sun didn't make an appearance for once, it was hidden from the angry clouds that hovered dangerously low this morning and it reflected in Brittany's mood; she wants to break out and go on the way she was going on before but after last night, a bittersweet taste has been left in her mouth and a part of her wants to shake Santana to tell her that there is something more deep in there, and the other part wants to push her away for not believing it so. So she decides to do what she always does when she's unable to express her thoughts vocally.

She begins raking through the shoe boxes that have been left for the dust to settle on at the end of her bed and pulls out a note pad from one and a ball point pen from the other and jumps to lie on the foot of her bed. She has about thirty minutes to express her thoughts and she's determined to jot every single emotion down. She scratches the pen across the page and sticks out her tongue in concentration but stops after the first two words; 'Dear Santana,' she glides her hand through her hair and stares at the page with a frown. The page is blank and so is her mind and it infuriates her.

"Dear Santana…" she says aloud, repeating what she had just written. But, no, there's still nothing.

A sudden crash against her window rips Brittany's attention from the page as she jolts up from fright. She dashes quickly to the source of the noise and opens her window only to find Santana sitting on the ledge opposite her. Brittany furrows her brows in confusion and folds her arms unimpressed while she waits for an explanation.

"I'm totally sorry about that, I threw the acorn to get your attention but the wind must have…" Santana trails off but she sees that Brittany is not amused. "I was waiting for you but you didn't show up so I…" Santana watches Brittany whose lips are in a tight form as she holds a less than impressed expression which doesn't shift, letting Santana know that those final moments of last night were definitely not forgotten. "I'm so sorry, Brittany," she repeats a few moments later, only this time she sincerely means it. "I shouldn't have treated you like that, it wasn't fair." Her words are heavy and she pulls her eyes away from Brittany in shame as the wind tussles her hair, causing the dark strands to whip against her face.

"How long have you been sitting out here for?" Brittany replies monotonously, completely disregarding Santana's apology.

"Long enough to get frostbite," Santana quietly laughs at the backhanded joke but again, Brittany's face doesn't budge. She pulls a string of hair that gets caught in between her lips and looks over to Brittany desperately who only offers her a cold glare before guilt rips through her.

"I made a promise to you Brittany," Santana says calmly, letting the wind pick up her voice and carry it across to where Brittany stands in her own room. "I'm not going to break it," she swears, causing Brittany bite down on her bottom lip in doubt. "Let's do this again, be my best friend and I'll be yours, I'll wear your onsies and the next time you make a duck out of origami I promise I won't call it a swan even though I'm sure it was 'cause it's neck was like... humongous" Brittany blinks a couple of times and a smile threatens to tease her lips as Santana separates her thumb and index finger in an attempt to re-measure the duck by memory, but she remains composed. "I'll let you draw as many glow in the dark dots over my body as much as you want. Hell, you can map the whole galaxy out on me if you really want to." Santana swings her legs and drums them against the wooden panelling of her house. "Then at least if you do forgive me and it makes me self-combust with happiness, at least I'll be your own personal supernova."

Brittany looks her up and down and clears her throat but Santana continues.

"I'll learn to climb this damn tree and we can even build a stupid little tree-house in the summer and we can have sleep overs. We can get drunk off the most expensive champagne from my mom's wine cellar, wake up with sore heads and remove the crickets from each other's hair," Santana strokes the branch next to her, lifting the ice that latches on to the bark. "And the termites from our underwear," Santana shivers at the thought but Brittany covers her mouth with amusement.

"And if one of us hasn't rolled over and fallen out of the tree completely, I'll take you to the lake every time the stars are out and we can stay for as long as you want, I'll even bring my bathing suit and towel and risk getting hypothermia if it makes you happy." Santana sighs and shrugs her shoulders. She wants nothing more in the world for Brittany to believe her but judging from her expression, it's going to take a lot of convincing.

"I'll sit out here all day and risk myself getting frostbite on my nose until it turns black and falls off if it means I get to keep my promise," Santana insists before hanging her head to watch her feet swing limply. "I love you Brittany, you're my best friend, you're my only friend and I would be crazy to throw that away,"

Brittany watches, trying not to give into Santana's apology, yet she fails as she cracks a smile and a little giggle escapes her lips when she sees Santana pouting so childishly. She looks so desperate, but Brittany likes it.

Santana whips her head back and up before a large grin spreads across her own face.

"Does this mean that I'm forgiven?" Santana asks hopefully, but Brittany just purses her lips and shrugs, mimicking Santana's previous actions by trailing her finger across a frozen tree branch.

"I'm mad at you…" Brittany replies and folds her arms tighter to show that Santana wasn't getting away that easily. "But you're still so hot." Santana stares with wide eyes for a moment before blushing. Even after months, Brittany is still able to catch Santana off guard, but then again, two can play at that game.

"So this means you're walking with me to school?" Santana's voice is sprinkled with sweet delight but Brittany bites down on her tongue and holds her ground.

"Don't count on it," Brittany replies harshly but with a hint of playfulness. Santana narrows her eyes and stares her down.

"Fine, I get it. You only want me for my body," Santana begins to tease. "I've seen the way you look at me, that first day when I practically saw you drooling after I came out of the shower and how you couldn't stop staring at my legs when I wore my Cheerio's uniform. I don't blame you, I mean, I'm the hottest girl at school but honey, If I'm just a booty call, let me know and I'll strip down naked in front of you right now, despite this horrendous and incompatible weather, and freeze my tits off while you take a mental picture and go away to release all that pent up sexual frustration," she finishes casually and Brittany bites her bottom lip again at the thought. It is tempting not to jump at the chance to say the least but takes a few moments to reply anyway.

"I'll see you outside in twenty," Brittany looks straight into Santana's eyes and holds her gaze for a moment before shutting the hatch to her window and walking away casually as she always did.

"That's my girl," Santana whispers, before shivering in the cold, wondering why the hell she thought she could sit outside for so long and leans back, falling inside with a grin, drunk from Brittany's acceptance to her apology. That last look she gave Santana as well, there was something there, something that sparks a fire inside Santana that excites her. It was that look saying 'I could undress you with my eyes if I really wanted to,' and Santana would, she would drop the towel within a heartbeat.

Santana closes her eyes for a moment as she beams and flails her arms. One day Brittany would be hers and it excites her almost to the point of self-combustion but luckily Santana opens her eyes to be greeted by her sour faced mother looking down on her with disapproval.

"Get up," Anita shakes her head.


The whispers haven't stopped, but at least it's Santana who is receiving the majority of unwanted attention. Brittany clings to the walls like usual and Santana walks right beside her looking straight forward but with wary eyes nonetheless. They are right in thinking that yesterday would be the worst day of the lot and at least Santana didn't get a slushy facial, but then again, they haven't been at McKinley for more than ten minutes yet.

"I'm going to audition for the Glee Club today at lunch if you want to come and watch me," Brittany whispers as they approach her first class. Santana grimaces before turning to Brittany but with a kind smile.

"Sure! I'd love to watch you meddle with a bunch of misfits that have serious staring issues, like if you sing one note out of line, a laser will shoot out of their humongous demonic pupils and decapitate you faster than you can sing You Suffer by Napalm Death… ugh." Santana shivers at the thought but Brittany just rolls her eyes.

"So will you come?" Brittany asks again.

"Sure, whatever, they're like spiders anyway; they're more scared me than I am them. I fucking hate spiders too." Santana scratches away at her scalp uncomfortably with the thought as Brittany shakes her head with an amused grin.

"I'll see you at lunch?"

Santana nods and pulls the furry tassels that hang from Brittany's bear shaped hat, bringing her forward for an unexpected hug, completely ignoring the onlookers in the hallway. Santana places her right hand on the back of Brittany's hair and stokes it, smoothing down the blonde locks gently.

"I meant what I said," Santana whispers. "Don't forget that." Brittany closes her eyes and nods into Santana's shoulder before pulling back and meeting Santana's dark chocolate eyes halfway.

"Of course I won't forget," Brittany replies. "I'm an elephant and you're a mouse; I'll never forget the affect you have on me." She smiles sweetly before turning her back to Santana, walking into class. Santana stands with a half confused, half dorky smile and turns giddily until she finds Coach Sylvester shooting her the death glare from across the hall. Oh shit…


"What in the name of Satan could convince you to decide to quit the Cheerio's? ARE YOU PREGNANT!" Sue spits from behind her office desk, clenching Santana's cheer uniform in her fist that had been dumped in a bag on her chair the previous day.

"What? NO!" Santana yelps from the seat opposite but makes sure to keep her tail between her legs.

"You do realise that we have no chance of winning Nationals now…" Sue puts her head in her palms and shakes her head devastated. "Seven consecutive years down the drain." She groans.

"It doesn't make me happy anymore, I'm sorry! I'm sure Quinn will make a great cheer captain," Santana replies.

"Quinn has about as much control in her body as a baby on stilts…" Sue groans while rubbing her temples and Santana can only exhale slowly, making sure she doesn't make any wrong moves to set Sue Sylvester into bat-shit mode.

"But your new friend on the other hand, I'm sure she would be a great addition to the team…" Sue raises her head up with the mischievous grin.

Santana frowns at the mention of Brittany, she knows that the coach had sparked an interest, but why she did is a complete puzzle to her.

"Why are you so interested in Brittany? You would never give any of the other girls a second look at school, even for those who really wanted it," Santana questions her, propping her elbows on the desk. Sue smirks and rises from her chair to walk over to her file cabinet.

"When a new student transfers to the school, Santana, it's important that we look at their resume and background," Sue announces, flicking her fingers through countless pages of paper. "And when Brittany Pierce came along, I couldn't help but notice one thing… Ah!" Her fingers stop as she pulls out a cardboard file and brings it back to her desk. "The staff knows about her condition, it's mandatory." Santana listens with narrows eyes and watches the coach as she guides her fingers down Brittany's resume. "I found that my eyes fell straight to this following paragraph…" Her fingers stop as she fixes her glasses to get a better look before she reads out: From ages 3 to 12, Brittany took a keen interest in ballet dancing and attended Spisak Dance Academy, then advanced to Arthur Murray at the age of 7 and was then offered to go to Ballet Tucson through her teenage years before she declined. Her oldest trainer, Mr. Fotheringham, quotes, "Brittany was always advanced in her years; a quick and very intelligent learner who has worked hard to perfect her body yet shows effortlessness in her face. I am very honoured to work with such an incredible talent and I have no doubt that she will be a valued addition at Princeton Ballet School when she is older."

Sue slams down the document on her desk and folds her arms with a smirk but Santana frowns, completely befuddled by the idea of Brittany and dance.

"I think she'll be a valuable addition to the Cheerios, don't you think?" Sue muses.

"Yeah, well, good luck with that…" Santana mumbles, crossing her arms.

"Why, thank you! Now get the hell out my office," Sue orders before spinning around in her chair, clutching Brittany's file to her chest. Santana glares at the back of the desk chair for a good moment before strutting out of the door, making sure to leave a bang. Then as if things couldn't get any worse, she walks straight into Quinn, who stands outside the door and seems to have been there the whole time.

"Where you eavesdropping?" Santana whispers, grapping the hem of Quinn's Cheerio skirt and pulls her to the girls locker rooms before locking the door behind them. "What did you hear?" Santana demands. Quinn just raises her hands in defence and utters out nonsensical, half-words.

"The coach called me to discuss the new cheer routine, we've had to do a complete one-eighty now you're not a part of it," Quinn replies, taking a seat on the old, tattered waiting bench. "I just arrived when you stormed out like you usually do, what was that about anyway?" Quinn asks but Santana shakes her head.

"Nothing…" Santana lies and the untruthfulness is present in her voice. Quinn sighs and presses her thumb and index fingers against her forehead.

"Santana." Quinn rises from the bench but Santana doesn't want to hear it.

"What do you want, Quinn?" Santana raises her voice, balling up her fists. "What gives you the right to threaten me about my reputation and about my own fucking mother then come back to school and act as if nothing ever happened?" she seethes through grinded teeth. "You're a lot of things, Quinn, but for someone who I once considered my friend, I never knew that you could be such a manipulative, malicious and egotistical bitch!" The venom begins to pour out of Santana's mouth and all Quinn can do is watch with wide eyes as Santana recollects what happened the night of the party.

"I don't give a shit what you say about my friendship with Brittany because she's more of a person and more wholesome than your tainted ass will ever be. You might say I barely know her but the truth is I know a hell of a lot more about her than I do with you. Who are you, Quinn?" Santana shakes her head, desperate to find some sort of justification behind Quinn's intentions but she can't. "Please, enlighten me because right now, you're nothing more than a damned object getting in my way," Santana slams before turning away but Quinn grabs her wrist and turns her back around causing Santana to retaliate and push her away. "Don't touch me!" Santana warns as she tries to free her wrist from Quinn's grip. "I swear I'll…"

"What you gonna do, Santana?" Quinn bites back. "Threaten to hit me again? Or maybe you'll actually do it and you can leave this room, feeling so proud of yourself for lifting your hands to someone else out of anger."

Santana freezes up on hearing that word again, anger. Brittany brought it up when describing Santana last night and now again only this time it was Quinn. Santana grinds her teeth more aggressively and tightens her grasp on Quinn's wrist as she does on hers.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Santana's voice breaks mid-sentence as another spurt of anger jolts through her.

"Because I don't want you ending up like me!" Quinn shouts back, pushing Santana back and pinning her against the door as she tries to fight her off again. "I've seen you and Brittany together and I've seen how happy she makes you!"

"Then why are you here? Why can't you just leave us alone?" Santana begs, trying to wriggle herself out. Quinn finally loosens her grip on Santana's wrists but not completely; she looks down at the ex-cheerleader who now hangs her head down with exhaustion.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry," Quinn replies, a lot more gently this time. Santana arches an eyebrow and looks back up at her but Quinn's face shows that she isn't taking Santana for a fool.

"I don't live under a rock; I know about the shit time your mom has been giving you, I knew from your face during practice that you were no longer enjoying it anymore and that you'd hold on to anything that would make your mother proud. But she just craps on every effort you try to make." Quinn says, making sure the Santana can't free herself from her grip. "The coach screams down your throat every day so you'll improve but it actually lowers your self-esteem and you're pretty much perfect at what you do anyway," she explains and Santana begins to listen yet she is bitter behind the truth in Quinn's words.

"And you miss your dad, more than anything," Quinn whispers, causing Santana to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Quinn hits the jackpot with that one.

" And I saw your face when you looked at Brittany on the ground on Saturday night. She means a lot to you." Santana bites her lips and nods but doesn't open her eyes as a single tear forms in the corner of her lid before it cascades down the side of her cheek and falls onto the fabric of her dress before it evaporates into nothing.

"I'm sorry that I was just another burden giving you a hard time because you don't deserve it. That's all," Quinn apologises genuinely before stepping out of the way for Santana to push past her, hurt from the truth yet left disorientated from her frame of mind.

Santana listens as the locker room doors squeak open and shut again as Quinn exits silently, leaving Santana with a lot to think about. Quinn was right, and so was Brittany. There isn't one day that Santana goes through where she doesn't feel angry at some point. Whether it be her mom, her dad, the coach, Quinn or feeling angry at herself for not doing something about it.

Santana unclenches her fist and raises her head to face the door.

"I gave Brittany my word," she whispers to herself and slowly walks across to the exit and walks back into the hallway again.


Like yesterday, everything is in slow motion, only this time her eyes no longer stick to the floor. Instead, they hover across each and every student who stares back and even though Santana can feel her back burn with the attention that's focused upon her, she keeps her chin high and her back straight. She may no longer rule the school and countless rumours may spread about her like the plague, but who were they to judge? Just because Santana judged and humiliated in the past, doesn't make two wrongs a right. Santana finds that facing the crowd actually feels better and the pace soon begins to quicken. That is until a full-bodied force shoves her into the side of a locker making the air in her lungs disintegrate as she holds her stomach, winded.

"Oops! Sorry!" A lanky and rather greasy faced jock sniggers along with his friends. "I hope that your pills didn't fall out of your pocket!" They cackle as they walk past. Santana clenches her eyes shut in pain before opens them again with vengeance. Oh hell no! Santana has enough, she marches over to the boy who pushed her and grabs his 'WMHS' jacket in her fists before pushing him against the lockers this time.

"Now you listen to me," Santana spits, taking her right hand, grabbing the boys groin that causes him to wail out and squirm as his friends watch in the background with open jaws. "If you want keep your grape sized balls long enough to reproduce a nest of complaining, pus-ridden parasites just like yourself, then I suggest you and your friends back the hell off!" Santana threatens him. Santana may be doing something about her anger issues but there was no way that she was going to lose her fieriness; she was born with that superpower. "You understand?" The boy squeals out and nods while screwing up his face before Santana lets go. "I pity your girlfriend a lot, she's totally missing out!" Santana winks to the other boys, who stand staring, completely dumfounded.

She has never set foot in this office before; she always said it was for angry people who sat in the bathroom stall at lunch to come and spill on how they really felt and for people who were just too much of a hot mess to be walking around the school with the risk of their self-loathing becoming contagious and thus having to be contained in the counselling ward. Well, Santana guesses that she fits somewhere along the lines and so this is where she needs to be.

Santana's eyes trail across the brass door plaque that reads 'Miss Pillsbury – Guidance' and takes a deep breath before lightly knocking and stepping in. She is greeted by a petite woman with red fiery hair, a pine green sweatshirt with wide bush baby-like eyes. She looks surprised to see Santana standing before her but introduces herself politely. Santana takes a seat opposite her and breathes deeply.

"I need to make an appointment," Santana says.


Brittany stares at the face of her watch and counts as the little ticks click in time with the beat of her heart. Lunch started twenty minutes ago and Santana is nowhere in sight. The Glee Club are unaware of Brittany's presence lingering just outside the door but it vexes her to think that she was close to finally being a part of something. Brittany just needs her, yet it looks as if it is just another lunch day in the corridor but just as Brittany is about to pull out her lunch, Santana comes skidding down the hall, trying not to trip over her faux leather knee high boot that match her white, tight fitted dress.

"I'm so sorry, Brittany. I got caught up with the coach; she would not let me go!" Santana apologises breathlessly as she approaches Brittany. "Hi," she smiles once they're an arm's length away from each other and Brittany just sticks out her tongue playfully before wrapping her arms around Santana for a tight squeeze. Santana loves that fact that Brittany's a good five inches taller than her because whenever they hug like this; her head is perfectly nuzzled against her heart.

"I missed you," Brittany mumbles in the crook as Santana's neck. Santana grins before pulling back.

"Are you ready to go inside?" Santana asks and Brittany takes a double take towards the door.

"Oh! Oh… I was but now I'm not too sure, I think they already started." Brittany shrugs and slides down against the wall to the floor. "Maybe… Maybe we should just wait another day and go tomorrow… Yes! Go tomorrow. Tomorrow is good," Brittany nods to her before she continues to rake through her lunch bag but Santana bends to her knees and raises her gloved hand to tilt Brittany's chin back up gently.

"No," Santana refuses. "Something tells me that you can be one hell of a performer," She smiles tenderly and Brittany grimaces, trying to shake off such an compliment. "Now go in there and show them what you got. I'm right behind you." Santana brings her hand back down from Brittany's chin and links her pinkie with Brittany's.

The two girls enter the choir room warily but the ensemble is already carried away with their melody. It's the same group that Brittany had seen the first time she looked in and unsurprisingly, Rachel is standing in the front and centre, opening her mouth freakishly wide whenever she sings a high note. Wheelchair boy nods his head in beat with the tune as the Asian girls sits in his lap, hugging him affectionately. The black girl sings as well as Rachel if not stronger as they bat competitive glares across the room while Kurt shimmies along with the music, feeling every beat of the music.

"Oh my god, what trolls." Santana rolls her eyes as they stand just inside the doorway and Brittany nudges her in response.

"What is she doing here?" The pitch from Rachel's voice is almost ear shattering and it catches Brittany off guard as Rachel begins to march across the room directly towards them. "I order Santana out right now!" Rachel fusses, pointing her finger to the exit. "Mr Schue! I thought she was banned?" Rachel snarls at Santana and Santana can only roll eyes.

"Calm down, Nancy Grace", Santana retorts, folding her arms.

"Wait… you were banned already?" Brittany turns to her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Kinda," Santana mumbles in response.

"Sure she was!" Rachel interrupts. "Last year she and Quinn Fabray joined Glee Club for a bet…" Rachel darts another accusing look at Santana, who just shrugs. "They played mind games with me… One time they stuck caviar in my underwear and the next morning they said that my ovaries were malfunctioning due to an irreparable dryness in my lower regions, among other things!" Rachel complains but Santana just bites her lip and holds her nose in an attempt to stop snorting out. "It's not funny,"

"Yes it is…" Santana sniggers.

"No it's not! I had to get a full pelvic examination!"

"Well, that's what you get for being so naïve." Santana defends herself.

"Okay, ladies!" A broad male vice interrupts the heated discussion as an older man, probably in his thirties with mousey brown, curly hair stands between them.

"Nice to see you still wearing vests, Mr Schue," Santana offers a cheerful smile but he rolls his eyes, as if he were to expect anything more to come out of Santana's mouth

"What are you doing here, Santana?" He asks tiredly. Santana strides to the centre of the room, brings Brittany along with her and presents her to the front of the class, proudly.

"This is my best friend Brittany!" She announces and a few of them, including Kurt greet her enthusiastically, others offer a warm nod and the rest, obviously Rachel Berry included, act indifferently as they mumble their hellos. "And she would like to audition for a place in the Glee club."

"Why should we believe you," Rachel retaliates, dusting off her checkered sweater in annoyance.

"Brittany's cool, she's in my biology class," Kurt grins at Brittany kindly.

Brittany bows shyly but grabs onto Santana's hand a lot tighter when she notices the rest of the class begin to divert their attention towards her.

"Perfect! Then show us what you got!" Mr Schue exclaims excitedly, taking a seat with the rest of the audience. Brittany quickly turns to Santana for condolence but Santana just squeezes her hand and winks at her.

"You'll be fine," Santana smiles before unlinking their hands. She moves to the side of the room and watches while holding her fingers crossed behind her back.

Brittany pauses for a moment to let herself bask in the alien atmosphere, it takes more than a couple of seconds but finally, she turns her head to the scruffy piano player who is dressed up in a second hand suit to whisper the song which she has chosen, before facing back to the audience with wondering eyes and tingling limbs. The other eyes are curious, leering and invading. She turns one last time to look at Santana before the piano arrangement starts and with one final reassuring look, Brittany takes a deep breath.

The pianist runs his hands across the keys to play out a song that had yet been rehearsed by the main choir, and as he delves deep into the song, no words are able to escape Brittany's mouth. She watches the Glee kids as they watch her, with their calculating and judging expressions and it discourages her completely. It takes her back to a time in her past when she was watching an intimate dance routine between two students in her dance class, a time when she never felt more isolated in her life.

The other students turn to look at each other quizzically while Brittany chokes on the first few words and Santana watches anxiously, biting her nails while hoping for Brittany to start singing.

Brittany swallows down hard and breathes out shakily before turning back to the pianist to mouth 'I'm sorry,' and making a beeline for the exit while fallows close behind her.

"Wait, wait! Brittany!" Santana shouts after Brittany as they spill out into the hall way. Brittany shakes her head furiously while kicking herself over and over again for choking.

"I don't know what happened! Santana… I was so close! I… I, I got…Santana!" She grates angrily as she dips her head onto Santana's shoulder. Santana waits for a moment to let Brittany calm down before rubbing a hand over her back.

"Shh, it's okay, you still got time to go back in there?" Santana encourages her but Brittany shakes her head in defeat.

"No, listen," Santana tries again, taking Brittany's shoulders in her hands and gently pushes her back until they are making eye contact. "I know you have it in you so you can't just give up on the first fall, okay?" Brittany pouts but listens carefully. "Go back in there and if you feel nervous, imagine them all naked, and then they'll feel sillier than you." Santana smirks and all Brittany can do is shake her head"And if that doesn't work, look at me and sing the lyrics to me and only me, forget about everyone else in the room. It'll just be you, me and the music." Brittany bites her lip, struggling to give it another go but nods after a few moments. "That's my girl," Santana winks and takes her hand fully this time as they re-enter the choir room for the second time.

The Glee club is far less enthusiastic than it was the first time Brittany tried. But they sit patiently again, waiting for Brittany to sing her piece while Santana sits slap bang in the middle, in perfect view of Brittany.

She turns to the pianist the second time, giving his cue to proceed and play the song that he had keyed previously. Brittany closes her eyes and takes another deep breath and keeps them closed, waiting for moment to begin but before she knows it, she's singing out the lyrics to the song. She opens her mouth and a voice that has been hidden for only her ears in the past begins to sing out.

"How many special people change?

How many lives are living strange?

Where were you while we were getting high?"

Brittany begins to twiddle her fingers nervously as she gets off to a shaky start but as soon as she begins, there is no going back.

"Slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball.

Where were you while we were getting high?"

She finally opens her eyes as her voice steadies out and becomes stronger and all Santana can do is think of how she sounds as crisp as the spring morning sun while pride washes across her face.

Brittany's eyes trail from the ground and straight to Santana's who sits looking completely awestruck, nodding her head to the beat and it gives Brittany the confidence to carry on.

"Someday you will find me, caught beneath the landslide.

In a champagne supernova in the sky."

Santana watches the way her eyes gleam with life, like every lyric she sings she feels and means and it's as if in that moment, Brittany is untouchable, that no one can harm her or do her wrong. This is her moment and she doesn't look more at home the way she does when she looks and sings to Santana.

"In a champagne supernova in the sky".


End of Chapter XI

The song by Brittany is Champagne Supernova by Oasis.
Thanks again to Bekah for being a great beta, for the reviews and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!
There may be another visit to the lake soon... :)