To everyone – After the last chapter, I received VERY mixed opinions about Quinn and Rachel's involvement with this story. They certainly won't be showing up again (directly) any time soon. As for future involvement, I am still undecided.

The Faberry in this story was necessary because I wanted it to be A) an encounter with someone Santana already knew from her past... and B) Her kissing a COUPLE. There are lots of feelings that come with this situation which are very different from just 'hooking up with a random girl'. I know because I've experienced it. It was quite an unsettling moment.

I also just thought that the readers might appreciate a little bit of extra Glee thrown in there because I always enjoy that myself. I'm sorry to those of you who didn't like the Faberry, I will keep your opinions in mind. But whether or not they make another appearance later, they have probably already played the most major role they will have in this story.

Okay. Let's get this train back on the rails.

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Santana was right to think that she would feel absolutely horrible in the morning. She woke up sprawled out on her bed, mouth dry and head pounding with the after effects of a big night. To add to her discomfort, that queasy feeling of shame was still rocketing around in her stomach and memories of unfamiliar and emotionless kisses still lingered on her lips. This was certainly not the first time she had felt this way... but she began to pray it would be the last.

Making out with Quinn and Rachel may not have meant anything. But to Santana, it seemed to confirm her worst fears. Seeing the two girls so happy and in love last night solidified that emptiness crawling inside of her and kissing them, silly and playful as it was, had just reminded her of exactly what she was missing. She craved intimacy so deeply that it formed a cool ache in her chest when she thought of how Quinn and Rachel would be waking up together now and giggling about the fun they had last night. She wondered if they would talk about her and critique her kissing ability.

They seemed pretty pleased with her skills at the time but... what if they were making fun of her now? After all, they had each other. Nobody else really mattered. They could say whatever they wanted when they were alone. The thought made Santana more than a little uncomfortable and self-conscious. Going along with their strange game had to be one of the stupidest things she'd ever done. Santana felt disgusted with herself.

The sooner she forgot about last night, the better.

Groaning as she lifted her head from the pillow, Santana twisted her stiff body and felt her leg hit something beside her in the bed. Her heart jumped. What the fuck is that? Quickly snapping her head around, her gaze landed on Kurt, lying motionless on the bed beside her. She let out a small breath of relief. He must have been too drunk to go home by himself. The last thing Santana remembered clearly from the previous night was stumbling out of the bathroom after throwing up and Blaine laughing and telling her that she needed to take Kurt home. There was a hazy memory of her goodbyes with Quinn and Rachel and then having to hold Kurt up as he was on the verge of passing out as they left the club. She only partially recalled the cab ride home but she figured that she'd probably told him to stay at hers because he was crazy drunk.

With a gentle nudge to his shoulder, she tried to wake her friend up. 'Kurt...' Her voice was low and scratchy from sleep.

There was a quiet grumble beside her.

'Kurt, wake up.' Santana prodded him more forcefully and sat up.

'What?' He whimpered, opening his eyes and lifting his face from the pillow.

Santana rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples, trying to soothe away some of the throbbing in her head. 'You're drooling on my pillow.'

'Huh?' He abruptly wiped his mouth and sat up straight, instantly grasping his own head in pain. 'What happened last night? When did we get home?'

'Not really sure.' Santana sighed. 'But I'm guessing it was pretty late.'

'Ugh...' He groaned and rolled his shoulders trying to ease sore muscles. 'I feel gross.'

'Coffee?' Santana suggested, the idea sounding even better out loud.

'Definitely.' Kurt nodded but quickly squinted his eyes at the twinge that joined the abrupt gesture.

There were a few moments of hesitation as neither made any move to get up. Eventually, Kurt glanced over at Santana expectantly.

'What? I ain't making it.' Santana quipped. 'Let's go to the Bean.' She offered, standing up and stretching her back. 'You drive.'

Kurt grunted but agreed.

Since they'd both slept in their clothes, they didn't have to waste time getting changed. They just downed some painkillers for their headaches, brushed their teeth and fixed their hair (and Santana of course touched up her makeup) before they left the house.

When they entered the coffee shop, Kurt and Santana were both sporting dark sunglasses to shield their eyes from the harsh morning light. It was unusually busy in their little caffeine haven for a Sunday morning and some of the patrons gave them knowing stares when they refused to remove their sunglasses once inside. It was a dead giveaway for a hangover. Well, that or they were trying to hide puffy, crying eyes. Either way, it was a suspect move. After buying a couple of double shots, they found a table in the back and settled in for a long stay.

'Oh sweet heavenly Gaga.' Kurt mumbled with a look of absolute bliss on his face after a long swig of coffee.

Santana sighed in agreement. Nothing had ever tasted so wonderful in her life. She was suddenly thankful that she had thrown up the night before. She usually couldn't stomach much at all when she had a big hangover but that familiar nauseous churn wasn't nearly as apparent today.

They continued to drink their hot beverages in contented silence for a few minutes until Kurt's phone buzzed to life on the table. He picked it up and read over the screen.

'Who is it?' Santana asked, barely interested.

'Blaine.' Kurt let a tiny, shy smile grace his lips.

'Ooooh.' Santana wiggled her eyebrows and leaned forward on her elbows on the table. 'How's lover boy this morning?'

Kurt made a face at her. 'He's fine. Just wants to know if we got home okay last night.'

'Is that so?' Santana pressed.

'Mhmm.' Kurt grinned dreamily, his eyes fixed back to the screen of his phone as began typing out a reply.

'You know, you didn't tell me how serious things were getting with you two... I saw you getting down together on the dance floor.' Santana teased with a smirk and received a dramatic eye roll from her friend. 'Although I guess I have been kinda busy talking your ear off with my own issues lately.' Santana sighed. She'd been awake less than two hours and Brittany was already dancing her way to the forefront of her brain. Santana shook her head to try and release the thoughts. 'Sorry bout that.'

'It's no big deal.' Kurt looked up and shrugged kindly. His patience and understanding never ceased to amaze Santana. She really needed to work on being a better friend. 'Anyways... we've only hung out a few times.' Kurt attempted to brush the topic away but it didn't stop the colour emerging in his cheeks.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Santana, a question she realized she should have asked long before.

'Wait... have you said anything to Blaine about me and Brittany?' Santana enquired in a hushed tone, panic starting to rise inside of her. How much did Blaine know about them? What if he'd told Mike?

'No... Of course not.' Kurt replied slowly, obviously confused. 'Why does it matter?'

'Because!' Santana was fighting the urge to raise her voice in alarm. 'Blaine is friends with Mike, Brittany's boyfriend! Remember? That's why she was at his party!'

'Oh...' Kurt's face curled into understanding. 'No no. I haven't said anything to him about that. Like I said, we've only seen each other a couple of times since the party... Well, not counting last night.'

'And you're sure you didn't say anything about me liking Brittany?' Santana was still tense but her worry was beginning to ease a bit.

'I'm sure Santana. We never got that personal. I mean, we've known each other for a while now - through friends of friends - but... it's still early... We only recently started to get close. And we usually just talk about really casual stuff when we're together. You know - books, movies, plays... To be honest, if you didn't remind me, I would have completely forgotten that Blaine even knew Brittany and her boyfriend. He hasn't said anything about them.'

Santana released a deep breath. At least something had finally fallen her way. Maybe Mike and Blaine weren't even that close? Maybe they only saw each other every few months or something?

'Anyway...' Kurt drew out the word and smiled comfortingly at his friend, before returning his attention to his phone and tapping away. 'Now that's sorted... Do you mind if I invite him to join us for coffee?'

Santana shook her head and attempted to reciprocate his smile. 'No that's fine.' She might have panicked a bit prematurely. Of course Kurt hadn't said anything. Even if he and Blaine had gotten really close, he would never go behind her back like that. He was too loyal. She knew she could trust him with her deepest, darkest secrets and he would never tell. She allowed herself to relax back into her seat. Blaine would come meet them and she'd be polite and welcoming to the guy. Kurt deserved that and so much more.

And hell, maybe they'd even have fun. Despite having some of the thickest, strangest shaped eyebrows she'd ever seen in her life, Blaine was a nice guy and Santana couldn't help but like him. If the whole Brittany and Mike thing wasn't going to be an issue, she figured they could even become friends and the three of them could hang out more often.

'Great!' Kurt bounced excitedly as he thumbed at his phone. Within a minute, it buzzed again as he received another message. 'He said he's on his way now.'

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About fifteen minutes later, Blaine came strolling through the door. Kurt instantly perked up at his arrival and Santana spun around to follow her friend's line of sight to the front of the coffee shop. It wasn't until she saw who was following Blaine that her heart plummeted in her chest.

Just behind the short guy, was a couple - a tall, slender blonde girl and an attractive Asian guy. Brittany and Mike. Santana could have sworn that she died a little inside, that a piece of her was somehow torn away. And for the second time in as many days, she felt her world become completely surreal. There was just no way she could be seeing things right.

Sure enough though, as the small group approached the table and her eyes connected with bright blue, steeled with sudden realization and fear, she knew this was no dream.

'Hey guys!' Blaine announced, chipper as ever.

'Hey!' Kurt stood, hugged his friend and then turned to the other two guests expectantly. It occurred to Santana in that moment that Kurt had never actually seen either of these people... so right now he had no idea who they were. She'd only ever talked to him about them.

'Hope you don't mind. I ran into some friends on my way over here and thought I'd ask them to join us. Kurt, Santana... This is Brittany and Mike.' Blaine beamed.

Kurt looked over at her straight away and it was clear that he was desperately trying to hide the shock and apprehension that came with learning who the new additions were. Santana turned away and stared down at her hands, fiddling with a packet of sugar and willing herself not to be sick.

Not wanting to seem strange, Kurt quickly pasted on a smile and shook their hands politely.

'Hi.' He said to each of them, following Blaine to grab a few extra chairs from a nearby table so the group could sit down.

Santana was glad that she still had her sunglasses on. At least they did something to hide the look of horror that was currently ingrained into her eyes. She kept her attention focused on her hands on the table.

'Hey! We've met before haven't we? At Blaine's party?' Mike suddenly spoke up, obviously recognizing her despite Santana's best efforts to disappear. He grinned brightly and leaned across the table to shake her hand.

Santana suppressed her emotions for a moment to accept the handshake and give a brief smile and nod, trying to appear as unaffected as possible. Her mind was racing and blank all at the same time. 'Yeah.'

Mike sat back in his seat and glanced over at Brittany who looked ashen and physically uncomfortable. Her expression was something between ashamed, defeated and terrified. 'Hey Britt, aren't you guys friends?' Mike prodded cheerily.

Brittany simply nodded her head stiffly and forced a grin. 'Hey Santana.'

Santana wasn't sure whether to feel furious or dejected at the sound of her name rolling so mechanically off the blonde's tongue.

There was a long, awkward silence. Mike seemed relatively oblivious to it as he continued to smile and gaze around the group happily. Kurt looked on in distress, not knowing what to do. And Blaine watched the exchange curiously as Santana and Brittany kept their eyes anywhere but on each other.

'So, Kurt... What do you do for a living?' Mike eventually piped up.

Santana couldn't help but tune out as the conversation began to flow around her. Brittany was there, sitting right across from her... with her boyfriend. Seeing them together caused so many emotions to swirl through her. She felt guilty. She felt jealous. She felt torn. And it was clear from his overly pleasant demeanour and that extremely casual greeting that Mike obviously didn't know anything about them. It seemed Brittany had barely even mentioned her. Should she feel angry that the blonde had kept her a secret? Was she ashamed of her or something?

As the boys continued to talk, Santana watched Mike closely. She wanted to hate him. She wanted him to be a nameless, faceless entity that existed for no other purpose other than to keep her and Brittany apart. That way, she wouldn't have to feel so damn bad about herself.

But... with each smile and laugh and friendly question from the guy she realized she didn't hate him. She couldn't. Despite her envy and pain, Santana couldn't help but think that Mike just seemed so nice... and gentle... and genuine. And real.

He was definitely real.

He was a living, breathing, feeling human - one that would be absolutely heartbroken if he found out what had happened between her and Brittany, how close they really were.

Although Santana didn't notice, Kurt continued to glance over at her while he spoke, praying she would just snap out of it and play along for now. He sympathized with his friend but this was not the time or the place to lose her cool. She needed to push through it... and then later, they could talk. But no matter how many pointed looks Kurt shot her way, Santana remained oblivious, drifting in her own silent stupor.

It wasn't until the conversation finally hit a lull and Mike caught her eye directly that Santana was snapped out of her thoughts. She quickly turned away, wondering if she'd been caught staring.

'So... big night last night.' Blaine laughed, changing the subject effortlessly with a knowing grin. 'Did you two pull up okay?' He asked, directing his focus to Kurt and Santana. His voice suddenly seemed so loud and piercing to her... almost like she was standing far away and he was shouting to catch her interest.

Kurt smiled. 'Yeah. We're a little worse for wear but nothing too serious. Right San?' He nudged his friend, trying to draw her attention.

Santana jumped at the touch as if she'd just been bitten by a snake. Her thoughts were going so fast she could barely do anything but sit there. She risked a glimpse at Brittany. The blonde still hadn't said anything either. She was simply staring at a crack in the dark mahogany table and tracing her fingernail through it slowly.

'Yeah.' Santana answered, feeling everyone's eyes on her. She didn't have enough time to process this all properly. She had to put on a happy face. She had to act like there weren't a million conflicting emotions swelling up inside of her and threatening to take over. But this whole situation was just... so fucking uncomfortable.

Blaine smirked at her from across the table. 'Well you certainly had a good time missy! I didn't know you were such a player!' He teased. 'After all that making out I'm surprised you haven't got a rash today!'

Santana's stomach dropped and her eyes instantly found Brittany. The girl's expression was hard, unreadable. The corner of her mouth twitched as Blaine grinned smugly. Santana felt the sudden urge to punch him in the face.

'Excuse me for a moment.' Brittany said quietly, shoving back her chair and striding off towards the bathroom without another word.

Santana could hear her heartbeat thudding in her ears as the group watched her go. What the fuck...

There was another long pause as Blaine realized Santana wasn't going to respond to his comment. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

'So... Mike... how long have you been dancing?' Kurt spoke up. He knew what Brittany's rushed exit meant and desperately wanted to take the focus away from it.

As Mike gave his answer and the boys began a slightly forced yet rhythmical conversation again, Santana felt her breathing quicken. Their voices were just noise. She couldn't take it in even if she tried. She wanted to follow Brittany. No, she had to follow her. She couldn't just sit here and do nothing until the girl came back. Even if it was going to look super weird, she had to go. She had to know what the blonde was feeling.

Scooting back in her chair, Santana whipped off her sunglasses, placed them on the table and stood. 'Back in a sec.' She offered. Mike and Blaine looked confused and Kurt gave her a stern warning glare but she ignored him.

She had to talk to Brittany.

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Santana pushed open the door to the bathroom and found Brittany leaning against the sink, staring into the mirror. Cautiously, she approached and came to stand behind her.

'Hi.' She said quietly, her voice shaking slightly.

'Hey.' Brittany replied as her eyes dropped down to the sink.

The silence was deafening but Santana had no idea what to say. This situation was crazy awkward. There was no way either of them could have known this was going to happen. Santana had never even mentioned Kurt by name around Brittany... so even if Blaine had revealed the name of the guy he was going to meet at the coffee shop, there was no way Brittany could have predicted they might possibly run into each other today.

'I'm guessing you still haven't told him.' Santana eventually heard herself say.

'No.' Brittany whispered and turned around to face her.

Santana took a deep breath and folded her arms over her chest. 'Well... he seems like an awesome guy.' She shrugged, not really believing it was her that had said that. She was usually such a bitch when she was hurt. Obviously the shame of what she'd done last night and the guilt she felt this morning after seeing Mike had somehow transformed her into a much more sensitive person.

'He is.' Brittany also crossed her arms and leaned back against the sink. 'I care about him a lot.'

Santana nodded, her heart throbbing at the admission. Suddenly the prickle of tears became a priority and she had to blink hard to keep them back. 'I know...' She murmured, not trusting her voice to speak more than a few words.

There was another long moment of silence.

'So you had fun last night huh?' Brittany drew Santana from her fight against the looming onslaught of tears. Was that... jealousy?

'Why? What do you care?' Santana retorted. There was that hint of bitchiness. Maybe she hadn't lost it after all.

'I don't.' Brittany turned her head away bitterly.

Santana watched her closely for a while before letting her arms fall to her sides in defeat. As much as Brittany wanted to pretend she wasn't hurt, Santana could see it in her eyes that she was.

'It was just an old ex and her girlfriend. We were drunk and... they were being idiots. It didn't mean anything.' Santana wasn't exactly sure why she was saying this. She didn't owe the blonde anything... especially since Brittany had just been sitting right in front of her with Mike, a happy couple for all to see. But she needed to tell Brittany truth. She never liked misunderstandings. They were just irritating. It was much easier to just say things straight out.

More importantly though, Santana needed Brittany to know that she wasn't playing around... that she was serious about liking her and what happened between them was real.

Brittany raised an eyebrow at her and scoffed. 'Aren't we popular?' Her voice was harsh and it surprised Santana.

'What's that supposed to mean?' She challenged.

'Three girls in one week? Quite the achievement... ' Brittany taunted. 'I guess I was right to not tell Mike about what happened.'

'Excuse me?' Santana gaped at her. 'Don't you dare try and blame me for your inability to be honest with your boyfriend. You're just scared and you know it!'

'I didn't want to hurt him! But obviously it was a good thing I didn't risk it when you clearly don't care anyway!' Brittany yelled.

'I don't care? Are you fucking serious? Brittany, do you have any idea how much I like you?' Santana fumed, stepping closer to her. 'Do you think I would act this way over some girl who had a boyfriend and couldn't get their shit sorted out if I just wanted to mess around? I care about you... a fucking lot okay? If I didn't, I would have told you to leave me alone by now!'

'You care about me so much that you go out, get wasted and make out with other girls without a second thought?' Brittany snorted. 'That's a really funny way of showing it.'

'I told you that meant nothing! And besides, I shouldn't have to explain myself to you.' Santana was livid, her eyes wide, her breathing heavy and her heart pumping. She had almost no control over what she was saying. It all just seemed to flow out. 'I fucking went out because I couldn't stop thinking about you. I got drunk and did stupid shit because just for one night, I didn't want to feel so fucking horrible. You've made it very clear that I can't have you and I'm trying to respect that... But that doesn't mean all these feelings just go away by themselves!'

Brittany just stared at her intensely.

'Jesus Brittany. I'm fucking trying my hardest here. You come over, you kiss me, you tell me that we can't be together and then I don't hear from you again... What did you expect me to do? I can't sit around and wait forever.' Santana slowly became aware that she was crying and began to furiously wipe away the tears on her cheeks. She was revealing way too much. But she just couldn't help herself. She felt embarrassed and weak.

'I d-didn't...' Brittany said quietly, moving towards Santana's shaking form.

'Just... forget about it okay? Mike's obviously a great guy. I don't blame you for not wanting to hurt him. But... can you just tell me that it's over now? I need to hear it.' Santana sobbed. 'Please.'

Brittany took a step forward, closing the gap between their bodies and wrapping her arms around the shorter girl. At first, Santana tried to push her away... but Brittany was strong and she eventually gave in and hugged her tightly, revelling in the small comfort and release that came with being held by the blonde.

'I'm sorry.' Brittany whispered after a few long moments, gently stroking Santana's dark hair.

'Ugh. Why? I'm the one getting all crazy and hysterical.' Santana responded bitterly. Now that she was calming down a bit, she realized just how much she had overreacted. She hated the fact that she'd broken down so completely in front of the blonde. She felt far too exposed now.

'I... I never should have come over that night. I... never should have flirted with you in the first place... At the grocery store... at the party... on our hike...' Brittany withdrew slightly and looked straight into Santana's eyes. 'Santana... when... when we first met, I felt something for you. I knew that there was something there.'

Santana furrowed her eyebrows at this, confused.

'I tried to pretend that we could just be friends... T-that I didn't have feelings for you... Because... I had a boyfriend... And I never wanted to hurt him.' Brittany sighed. 'But I couldn't help it...' She shrugged. 'I liked you... and I could feel that you liked me too. This is my fault.'

Santana could only stare at her. She had no idea that Brittany had felt that way about her all this time. Sure, she knew there was something there after the first kiss but... was the blonde really saying that she'd liked her since they first met?

'And even though I haven't told him because I'm scared... And you probably think I'm an awful person... I know that what I feel for you is... very different from what I feel for Mike.' Brittany paused, chewing on her bottom lip. 'It's... more. And I can't push it away no matter how hard I try.'

Santana breathed out heavily, the fact that Brittany was still holding onto her arms was not lost on her. She ran her fingers up and over the soft skin lining the blonde's forearms, feeling a slight shiver in response. She could barely believe what she was hearing. It felt like a dream and even though Santana realized that she should be shocked into immobility by Brittany's revelation, all she wanted in that moment was close the distance between their bodies and kiss the girl until neither of them could think straight.

Just as Santana went to lean in though, the door swung open and they sprang apart. It was Kurt, his hand over his eyes as he stuck his head into the ladies room.

'Uhhh... Are you girls alright in here? We were getting worried.' He asked blindly.

Santana straightened out her clothes and cleared her throat. 'Yeah. We're fine Kurt. We'll be out in a minute.'

'Okay.' He disappeared from the door and Brittany glanced back up at her.

'C-Can you just give me a chance to figure things out?' She pleaded, her blue eyes now filled with doubt and desperation. 'I know that what I'm doing isn't right... I know that Mike deserves someone that can be his completely... someone who can give him so much more than I ever could...' Brittany swallowed hard, tears thickening her voice. 'He hasn't done anything wrong... And it's going to be really awful for us both at school if I hurt him... I need to think... and make sure I get this right...'

Santana nodded but barely processed what was being said. Did that mean Brittany was definitely going to tell Mike what happened? Was she going to break up with him? She still wasn't sure what the blonde was implying. How long was she going to have to wait to hear from Brittany again?

But Santana didn't ask any more questions. She was pretty sure her voice wouldn't work even if she wanted it to. Brittany left the bathroom and she just stared at her reflection in the mirror.

What now?

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A/N: Sorry this took so long. I edited and re-edited and re-re-edited and I'm still not sure if it works completely. I guess you all know a little more of what Brittany's feeling now though. There's still a way to go... but it should pay off in the end! =)

Leave me your thoughts =P (But if you really hate it, then just hate in silence lol I like constructive criticism though!)