It was five when Santana left the office. She shut down her computer, turned off the lights in her room and stepped out. The humming of the overhead lights gave her a headache, which was why she was glad she didn't have to work in any of the cubes. She remembered taking at least a couple aspirin per day when she first got there and worked in a cramped, grey walled cube. Eventually she got used to it but she aspired to rise in the ranks as soon as possible to get out of that sad, sad area. She worked her ass off the first few years, butting into projects in a way only Santana Lopez could do. She took work from other colleagues to further her career, showed up at the right place at the right time, said all the right things at meetings.

She and Quinn did things differently. While Quinn smiled and fluttered her eyes and kissed ass, Santana mercilessly cut down her peers to get what she wanted. There was no way Santana was going to deliver some gourmet coffee to her boss just to get a couple of brownie points. She did what she did best.

None of that helped her deal with what she was going to go home to. She was ruthless in negotiations and she couldn't be when dealing with Brittany. It was times like these where she wished she knew how to cater to a person's desire like Quinn did. She wished she knew how not to put her foot in her mouth around Brittany. It always worked before because Brittany usually didn't even notice if Santana said something wrong. That's what made them the perfect couple; Santana would mess up and Brittany would either ignore it or take in in stride. And Santana hoped that was a quality still present in the Brittany waiting at home.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind that she'd messed up. But there also wasn't a doubt that she'd done the right thing. She knew that she'd created a fine pile of shit to clean up. Yet given the choice of Brittany loving her for real and Brittany fake loving her, she would've done the same thing all over again if she had to. It was going to be a shock to her and she felt a jumble of emotions making her nerves stand on end; excitement, fear, relief to name a few. She knew there was bound to be an initial negative reaction, but she rehearsed her words and she planned for everything Brittany would yell at her.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Brittany might demand.

"I want you to be happy." Santana said aloud. And she'd explain with a calm voice why she did what she did. The point was, Santana could tell her slowly, make her promise not to get angry first and then break the news to her. She took a deep breath and ran through her lines.

"Brittany, there's something I want to tell you. Please, please don't get angry at me. When I first saw you at the hospital, when I first found out you didn't remember anything, the only thought in my mind was that I wanted you to be happy. We were really serious. Please, don't get angry, B." She imagined the confused look on Brittany's face. "We were married." Her expression would change to a shocked look. Santana would get her to sit down in a chair and calmly explain her reasons. She'd tell her in bits and pieces, reassuring her that she loved her all the while. And Brittany would nod, take in the information at her own pace, and ask questions Santana was prepared to answer.

As Santana pulled into the parking spot, she faintly recalled a book she'd read and a particular quote from it.

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Santana furrowed her eyebrows and wondered why that particular quote popped into her head. She cleared her mind and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the whole scenario. She got out of the car and got into the elevator. The trip up seemed to take forever. She paused outside her door, fumbling with her keys. The thought of seeing Brittany's smiling face made Santana's heart race and she opened the door, ready to reclaim her wife.

The first thing that she heard were voices and laughter. She thought, for a moment, that Brittany had company. But that didn't make sense. Even before Brittany had been hospitalized, she didn't have too many friends. She mostly hung out in the apartment, usually exhausted after work. Apart from Quinn and that sleazy good for nothing David, she didn't have too many close friends to invite back. Mostly it was because the dancers she hung around with were in town for a few weeks, practiced at their studio for a show in town and then left. None stuck around too long to get attached. So Santana was rightly confused by the familiar voices coming from the living room. She walked through the entry way, taking off her shoes.

"Brittany?" She called. As soon as she came into sight of Brittany, she froze dead in her tracks. Brittany sat on the couch staring at the TV with tears streaming down her face. On the screen were the smiling faces of all their friends as Mike video taped Puck hitting on a bridesmaid. Brittany on the screen pointed and laughed when the bridesmaid dumped her drink over his head.

"Turn that off!" Puck yelled and ran towards the camera. The screen went black and there were scuffling noises until the screen jumped to another scene. Brittany sat on Santana's lap whispering something in her ear with a big grin plastered on her face.

"Look at the happy couple! They're finally newlyweds!" Mike exclaimed. In real life, Santana dropped her keys and they clattered loudly on the floor. Brittany didn't move an inch even though she knew definitely that Santana was standing there, watching the same thing she was watching.

"Here we go." Matt made his way over, holding a flower, pretending it was a microphone. "So, can we get your favorite memory of each other?" Brittany on the screen laughed and put her finger to her lips, looking up.

"Hmm...all of them!" She exclaimed happily. "I love every memory of her!" Upon hearing this, Santana snapped out of her trance and quickly stood in front of the TV, blocking Brittany's line of vision.

"B..." Santana said. "I was going to tell you tonight. I...I wanted you to be happy. You didn't remember me, how could I ask you to love me? I wanted you to find your own way." This was not how Santana envisioned telling Brittany. All the lines she practiced were spilling out at once instead of in a slow, steady manner like she intended. "I wanted you to fall in love with me on your own, or someone else. When you started dating David, it hurt but it felt like if you really liked him...B...say something." At the mere mention of David's name, Brittany flinched and reflexively curled up into a tighter ball. She held their marriage certificate in one hand. She looked down at the names written on it and gazed across the pictures scattered on the table. She tried to bring back any images of their previous relationship and she came up with nothing. She stood up and stared at Santana. Her lip trembled and it looked like she was about to burst into sobs at any moment. Santana wanted Brittany to scream, to slap her, to do anything but look at her with those hurt eyes.

"B..."

"Just...not now." Brittany whispered in a shaky voice. She walked over to the coat rack and grabbed her jacket off. "I need to be away from you right now." She said and slammed the door behind her. Santana stood in the apartment alone while a loud clap of thunder boomed overhead.

It was by habit that Brittany wound up at the dance studio. She didn't have anywhere else to go, she didn't know anyone else to call. She hoped that David wasn't going to be there when she arrived but that hope was dashed when she saw his car parked in the parking lot. She walked through the door and David was there, stretching right after his exercises. When he heard the door open, he looked up and saw her walking into the studio. Brittany inhaled and looked away, tears shining in her eyes as she walked in. She tucked her hair behind her ear.

"You were right." Brittany said quietly. "She never told me we were married." David walked over to hug her but she put out a hand to stop him.

"Brit..."

"You didn't tell me either." She whispered. "You knowingly..." Her voice hitched in her throat. She tried again. "You knowingly pursued me even though I was still married." David ran his fingers through his hair.

"I love you. I've loved you for so long, for as long as I've known you."

"Did you know I was married?"

"At first, no. When you first walked into the dance studio, I just fell head over heels. You were looking for a job teaching dance and, I admit, I didn't even care what your credentials were. I hired you because it was love at first sight. By the time I found out...I loved you too much. When I found out Santana didn't tell you when you lost your memory, it was like a new beginning, a chance." He explained. Brittany looked at him with betrayed eyes.

"You never once figured it was wrong?" She hissed.

"I did! But I didn't care. You don't understand just how much..."

"You didn't think that maybe, just maybe I needed to know?" Brittany's voice trembled. Everyone she trusted had broken it. Now she needed to unravel the tangled web that was her past life.

"How...how did no one here tell me?" Brittany asked. "How did no one fucking tell me?" It was good that they were in the dance studio. If there had been anything around her small enough to throw, she would've flung it across the room in frustration. David looked down.

"No one really knew. I didn't even know until a year later. You never really mentioned Santana, I thought she was your roommate for a long time. You always took off your ring before dancing. I guess you were afraid of scuffing it during practice or cutting someone with it. Part of me also didn't want to believe it." Brittany walked around the room.

"No one else knew?" She demanded.

"We're the only two employees here. The closest people we had were in my dance group and they..." He looked guiltily at the floor. "They knew. But when I introduced you as my girlfriend and they didn't see the ring, they didn't question it." Brittany sank to the ground, her back pressed tightly to the wall.

"So you lied to them." Brittany said. David sat down on the opposite side of the room.

"I told them not to mention Santana around you. That you two didn't...didn't work out. They didn't know the situation. They saw me calling you my girlfriend and you agreed and that was that. I made them think that something bad had happened between you and Santana even if I never explicitly said it. And none of them knew you that well anyway, so it was perfect for me. They knew you as that married woman that I was stupidly in love with."

"How could you sleep with me, knowing my wife..." The word felt foreign on her tongue. "Knowing Santana was hurting like she did." David knew there was no use in trying to candy coat his words. Earlier he had accused Santana of being a liar, but his deception ran equally deep.

"Truth is, I would've done anything I could to make you mine."

"And you did. You hurt Santana and you hurt me." He stood up and walked across the room, pulling Brittany to her feet and kissing her with a certain desperation that finally made Brittany understand just how badly he needed her. But it was over. When they broke apart, David searched her face. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. His heart fell. It wasn't an affectionate kiss, it was a farewell.

"Goodbye, David." She whispered. David hung his head and removed his hands from her arms. He walked over to his duffelbag, picked it up and began walking out the building. Just as he was fully out the door, he turned around.

"Are you going back to Santana?" He asked.

"I don't know." Brittany replied. David hung his head.

"She loved you. Maybe more than me. It was stupid of her not to tell you, but she loves you." He smiled and shrugged before closing the door behind him. Brittany sat down and closed her eyes. She no longer knew how to feel. She felt hurt by Santana but more than that, she felt guilty. Even if it wasn't her fault, she'd managed to hurt Santana in more ways than she could imagine. Santana had lost her wife to the accident, then lost her again to a man who had lied his way into sleeping with her. Brittany closed her eyes and the images of what Santana must've been feeling those nights she'd spent with David cut jaggedly into her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe.

"I don't think it'll work." Brittany sobbed into her hands. "We've both hurt each other so badly. How can I face you, knowing that I...that..." Just that morning she loved Santana and it felt like they were piecing their life back together. In just a matter of hours, everything had fallen apart.

In her apartment, Santana lay on the couch, surrounded by all the things from the box. She had her hands folded under her head. She wanted to cry, she wanted to rage and scream but she felt drained and empty. She didn't know how Brittany found out, but she didn't care anymore. She was tired of fighting, of hurting so much every day. If this was how it was going to end, then this was it.

She closed her eyes and wanted nothing more than to redo everything. She wanted to go back in time, to chase Brittany when she ran away that night. If she had chased after her, she could've prevented all of this from happening. If she had just apologized...well, that had never been one of Santana's strong suits. She should've quelled her insecurities and trust Brittany like she was supposed to. But none of that mattered anymore and Brittany was gone for the second time in her life. This time, Santana wasn't sure if she wanted to find her.

Just as she closed her eyes, the rain began falling again. Santana opened her eyes back up and looked outside. The tape on the screen was winding down to the final minutes of the reception. It was getting dark and people were leaving. Mike, the one who had been filming it, gave a yawn.

"Well folks, this has been one hellava day." He said. "So I'm going to part with this. Santana and Brittany," His face popped up on the screen as he held it at arms length. "Good luck to both of you and keep in touch after the honeymoon!" The screen went black. Santana rolled over so that she was facing the back of the couch. It was over, she should file for divorce for having lied so deeply to Brittany. She didn't deserve to keep her. All she did was hurt Brittany and she couldn't watch herself do it anymore. She had always been bad news for the blond and she never understood why Brittany stayed with her and loved her like she did. Tomorrow, she'd call up their lawyer, find Brittany and...

"Is this on? Hello?" Brittany's voice filled the room again. Santana's eyebrows furrowed and she turned around. The screen was black and there were some fumbling noises close to the microphone.

"I can't see anything...oh! The cap!" Suddenly light flooded the screen and Santana winced a little at how bright it was. Brittany's face took up most of the TV. Santana sat up. "Ok, great, I think it's working." Santana recognized the room. It was their bedroom at the villa on their honeymoon. But she didn't remember Brittany taping anything while they were on their honeymoon, at least not on the same tape as the wedding reception. She sat forward and watched. It was no wonder she didn't remember. A few seconds later, she saw her own sleeping figure on the bed, snoring like there was no tomorrow. Brittany on the screen giggled and Santana watched the tape. It ran for a good 20 minutes, with Brittany sitting on the edge of the bed talking to the camera. With every word she spoke, tears spilled from Santana's eyes and onto the coffee table. At the very end of it, Brittany leaned down and kissed the sleeping Santana on the screen.

"Just know that I'll always love you no matter what. And I hope that you'll always love me too." The screen faded to black, with the picture of Brittany staring lovingly at the sleeping Santana as the last image on the screen.

Santana stood up and set her jaw. She looked outside at the pouring rain and her memory returned to that fateful night. It had also been thundering and raining. Santana ran out the door, not even bothering to grab her coat even though it was close to freezing outside. She didn't chase after Brittany that time. It was time to change that.