So let's talk about your reviews for the last chapter! A lot of you have different emotions/thoughts about everything that's going on, which I think is really interesting. Anyway, I just want to offer some reassurance that I do absolutely promise you that I know where this is going and I totally have your backs.

If you don't know the song this chapter is named after you need to stop reading and get yourself on YouTube now. My story can wait.

Chapter 13- Mr. Brightside

Santana gazed out into the dark, night sky as she walked. It was close to 11pm and the air was starting to get cooler. She had been somewhat sceptical of anything between her and Mia working, although she knew she wanted to give it a try. If she was honest with herself, the idea of having anything more than casual sex with someone kinda freaked her out. It just wasn't what she was used to. But here they were, having had pizza together and they had both seemingly survived. Maybe this 'seeing how it goes' thing won't be so bad after all.

"So this is me."

Santana looked up, they had reached Sixth College where Mia lived, "That was quick."

Mia smiled, "Thank you... for tonight."

"You don't need to thank me. Technically it was all your idea."

"No, I mean... I guess I just mean thanks for letting us give this a shot. I had a good time."

Santana giggled softly, "Of course you did. I was there."

"Has anyone ever told you how unattractive your ego is, Lopez?" Mia smirked.

"No, no one has ever said that because even with my ego I'm super hot."

"You're so modest." Mia laughed and then paused. She waited a moment before stepping a little closer to Santana, blushing slightly as she spoke, "But, you know, I've got to agree...You are super hot."

Santana's nerves began to build. So far, things between her and Mia had been much the same as ever. Earlier in the week they'd hung out with Tara, Hayley and a few of the other girls on the team, and practice had been normal all week. Tonight, however, had the potential to change things substantially.

Santana could feel Mia's breath on her cheek, could see every eyelash, could hear her soft breathing... All because they were close enough to kiss.

Normally Santana would never have hesitated to kiss a girl, especially not a girl she thought was cute, but this felt different. This kiss would be different and she was aware of that. Within what must have been only a split second, what felt like a million thoughts rushed through her head. Was she over Quinn? Did that matter? Did she want Mia to be more than a friend? Did she want to try having something that was more than casual? Would all of this ruin their friendship? But in the end one thought seemed to shine out like a beacon. Right now, Mia made her happy. Surely, questioning that fact was pointless. Quinn was old news and she had had enough of moping around about it. Lately, things had been so much better and all Santana knew was that she had Mia to thank for that. Plus, Santana and Quinn were friends and not moving on was illogical, especially when Mia seemed to be everything she needed right now.

She had no idea how all those thoughts had even managed to form in her head in such a short space of time, but they did and by the time that split second had passed Santana knew exactly what she was going to do.

"You know, you're really not so bad yourself." Santana said smiling gently back at Mia. She put one hand on Mia's waist and leaned forward, pressing her lips against Mia's softly.

The kiss wasn't one of those passionate ones that makes the whole ground feel like it's breaking apart beneath your feet. It was slow, it was tender and it made Santana's body tingle gently. As far as first kisses go, Santana thought it was pretty damn good.

Brittany looked up as Santana entered their room, she grinned, "Well someone looks happy! Can I assume your 'non-date' with Mia went well?"

Santana smiled, "It was nice, thanks. It was kinda nice just to relax with her a bit and stuff I guess. You know."

"I'm not going to lie, Sannie... That didn't really tell me a lot!" Brittany laughed.

"I had a nice time! Ok?"

"Well, I'm glad. So…. Details?"

Santana smirked, "So, let's see… We ordered some pizza, then it arrived and then we ate it. It was totally crazy."

Brittany narrowed her eyes, "That is not what I meant and you know it!"

"Fine. It was good, honestly. I don't do the whole… y'know… 'non-dating' thing." Santana said, "But I have to admit it was good."

"Santana you are still not giving me what I want! Did you kiss? Did you hold hands? Oh my god did you do both?"

Santana laughed, "You are so ridiculous. No, we didn't hold hands. Eurgh, sappy alert."

"But did you kiss?" Brittany said, the excitement evident in her voice.

Santana kept a straight face, "Maybe. Maybe not."

"I swear to god I will tickle you!" Brittany crept forward, wiggling her fingers, "Rachel would approve of my method!"

"Britt! No! You know I hate being tickled!"

"Tell me then!" Brittany jumped forwards, cornering Santana.

"Fine! Fine! We kissed!"

Brittany squealed, "I knew it! How was it?"

"It was only a kiss! I don't know what you want from me!"

"God you're useless." Brittany whined, "Is she a good kisser?"

Santana blushed ever so slightly, "Yes... Yes she is."

"So… was it a date?" Brittany asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Calm your boots, B. It was just a… 'thing'. Not a date."

Brittany paused for a second, "Please don't kill me but… why can't it be a date?"

Santana hesitated before speaking, "I guess… I just, I've never done that before and-"

"You've never been on a date?" Brittany interrupted.

"I've… Well... I've, y'know, gone out somewhere with a girl before... but only when we both knew it was going to end with casual, mind-blowing sex. And I definitely never took a girl out twice. That was my rule. We could sleep together more than once, but not go out."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I don't do this. I don't really know what I'm doing if I'm honest. All I know is I feel like this thing with Mia might be worth a shot."

"That's kinda cute, you know."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Oh shush. It's early days anyway. I don't know what's going on really. What about you and Mikeypoos?"

Brittany blushed, "What about us?"

"No wedding bells yet?" Santana grinned.

"Oh shut up, it's been like 3 days."

"Yeah and you're already his girlfriend." Santana said, stressing the last word of her sentence as she stuck her tongue out.

"Look I can't help it if I'm not emotionally stunted, Santana." Brittany said, sticking her tongue out in response.

"Harsh words, Pierce. I am totally not emotionally stunted!"

"Sure thing, Sannie." Brittany paused and then smiled warmly at her friend, "You do know I'm kidding, right?"

Santana laughed, "Yes, I do. Although let's be honest, I sort of am. But, hey, I'm working on it! I went out with a girl and I'm totally planning on doing it again. And, shocker, it'll be with the same girl!"

"Well that sounds like progress. Can we have hot chocolate and PJ times? I'm not sleepy yet! Ooh could we could watch 'Notting Hill' this time?" Brittany asked.

"Totally, although I swear if you tell anyone we have hot chocolate and PJ times while we snuggle and watch your selection of crappy romcoms I will deny all knowledge and claim you need psychiatric help."

Brittany grinned, "Whatever, you love Hugh Grant really. Plus I know how much you love a good romance. You totally teared up at Moulin Rouge the other week, you big softie." Brittany paused, ignoring Santana as she glared at her across the room, "Ooh! Do we have marshmallows? Because hot chocolate without marshmallows isn't the same!"

"I did not cry, I told you I had something in my eye. This place is totally full of dust. It's disgusting. Oh god, I sound like Rachel." Santana grimaced slightly before continuing, "And yes, I bought us marshmallows."

"Yay! Come on then, Sannie." Brittany grinned with glee as she grabbed her copy of 'Notting Hill'.

Quinn's POV

Quinn stood in her room, staring out of the window across the courtyard outside Sixth College. Her roommate Lucy was round at her boyfriend's place, as always, and Finn was snoring lightly in her bed. It was only 11pm but he'd had football practice for the last 4 nights in a row in preparation for their big game, so he was exhausted. Quinn on the other hand still felt wide awake.

Quinn liked that her dorm room was at the front of the building. Sometimes she liked to sit in the little space in the window people watching, imagining what kind of lives other people led. Imagining their stories. Like the old, bumbly professor that seemed to pass by Sixth every day at 6:15pm, always holding a cup of fresh coffee. She could tell it was fresh from the way he held it with such care, always watching his footing so he didn't spill a drop. Or the blonde haired boy who she had seen throwing pebbles up at the window below hers the other night, a grin on his face as he hit his target on his 3rd try and the window had opened.

In her head she made up their stories. The professor taught Philosophy and every day at the same time he would rush home to his loving wife, taking with him a cup of her favourite coffee because he knew how hard she worked. Even after all their years together she was always grateful. It was those little things that mattered the most to her. The blonde haired boy was desperately in love with his girlfriend who lived below Quinn, he'd been lying in his room trying to get to sleep but all he could think about was how much he missed her. So he had decided that all he wanted to do was see her face, even if it was just for a moment as she looked out of the window at him and said goodnight.

As Quinn looked out into the clear, night sky she saw two girls walking across the grass. The figures came closer, before eventually coming to a stop just outside the building. She absent-mindedly wondered what their story was. However, before she could piece it together in her mind, one of the girls turned slightly and she saw her face properly. It was Santana. And, upon closer inspection, the other girl was Mia. Quinn remembered that Mia lived in Sixth too. Mia took a step towards Santana. I need to look away. When you know the people, it effectively becomes spying instead of people watching. But suddenly Santana's hand was on Mia's waist, pulling her closer. Ok, so I'm just going to step away from the window. Then Santana's lips were on Mia's, and Quinn's eyes were frozen on the scene. The kiss didn't last long, and by the time it was over Quinn hadn't fully processed what she had seen. In the bottom of her stomach there was a sick feeling that definitely hadn't been there before. She blinked, taking a step back from the window. She couldn't look anymore. Whatever. I knew something was going on here. Let's face it Mia hasn't exactly been subtle and they've been getting really close over these past few weeks. Plus I saw them together after practice the other day…

Quinn gripped the side of her bedside table as she stepped away, for some reason her head felt funny and she didn't quite trust her legs to keep her upright. She took a deep breath and sat down on Lucy's bed, after all it had probably been a month since she'd even slept in it.

What's my problem?! Quinn sighed. She lay down on top of the covers, her head in her hands. So what if Mia and Santana were dating now? It was glaringly obvious the two of them were becoming more than friends, even if they hadn't known it themselves before now. Really, none of this should have come as a surprise at all. Yet still there was an unpleasant emotion brewing up inside Quinn and she had an awful feeling it was jealousy. She shook it off. I should really just get some sleep. I'm just tired that's all. I've been keeping the same schedule as Finn these last few days and I should be asleep right now. Quinn closed her eyes, taking deliberate big breaths in an attempt to calm her mind. She did what she always did when she needed to escape. She conjured up an image of an island in her mind, with every corner filled with her favourite things. Anything she wanted in the whole word, all on her island. In one corner, an orchard of trees in the fall. Quinn could hear the satisfyingly crisp rustle of leaves under her feet as she became the first human to ever walk over them. As she turned her head to the left she could smell the aroma of her Mom's homemade hot chocolate drifting through the trees. She imagined its smooth texture like pure melted chocolate, and the hint of cinnamon that left a feeling of warmth that tingled through her whole body as she drank it deeply.

She took another deep breath and imagined that to her right she could hear the gentle lapping of the calm ocean as it bubbled onto the shore, leaving intricate patterns in the sand. She walked over to it in her mind but as she reached down to the sand to trace the lines with her fingertips, she realised something was wrong. Quinn wasn't on her island anymore. The sand was too hot and the sun was too bright. Beside her was a girl, their fingers intertwined. She could hear the girl giggle nervously as they walked hand in hand across the beach, their coffee shop destination just in front of them. Quinn turned around and she was met with a pair of dark brown eyes. Quinn's eyes shot open. The beach was gone, instead her dark dorm room surrounded her. Santana Lopez, and thoughts of Florida, were invading every corner of her life, virtual or reality. It was too much and she didn't have a clue what to do.

Her head felt too full, like a dam that had been over filled and was close to breaking. There was too much going on for her to make sense of. Lying on the bed on the other side of the room was her boyfriend. The last few weeks, she had to admit, had actually been really nice. The changes she could see in Finn were obvious, he was maturing and seemed to have come to the conclusion that the time for he and Quinn to make it work was now. Maybe he was right. But outside was Santana who was probably kissing Mia again. Or worse. Her stomach tensed unpleasantly. She pushed the unwanted thoughts from her head. Quinn felt like she couldn't ignore the fact that she still felt weird around Santana. She had tried to deny it but their OC date had only confirmed it in her mind. However, she wasn't entirely sure what those weird feelings actually meant. They'd slept together, residual feelings were surely a given. Did it mean anything more than that?

Quinn moved, sitting cross-legged on the bed. Her blonde hair fell around her face as she leaned forwards. God, I wish I could just talk to someone about all of this. It was then that she realised exactly what she needed. On Wednesday she would be heading home for Thanksgiving for a long weekend, which would give her the space she needed from all the complications and confusion that seemed to be in San Diego. More than that, going home meant that Quinn could finally talk to someone, her best friend. Ok, he can't fix any of this for me but at least if I talk to him it might help me work out exactly what's going on in my head. Quinn smiled softly. Maybe everything was going to be ok. After all going home meant she could talk to her best friend, someone she knew she could trust with anything, Blaine Anderson.