"There you are," a voice said as Brittany rushed through the front door of The Pizza Domain.

She looked up to see her boss, Jonathan, standing behind the counter, his body leaning forward with his arms settled upon the smooth surface.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Brittany started with an apologetic look etched onto her face as she went up to him, "It's just, I had so much homework to do and I lost track of time and- "

"Brittany, relax," Jonathan quieted her. "It's alright, it's not like you're incredibly late. And besides, it's not a particularly busy night anyway."

Brittany let out a breath of relief. She took her job as seriously as she could because she couldn't afford to lose it, therefore, she had always tried her hardest to never do anything wrong. She had never been late before, so she didn't know what kind of consequences came with being tardy. She honestly hadn't expected Jonathan to brush her lateness off like it was the least of his worries, but nonetheless, she was grateful.

"Oh...well, thanks for not being mad. I'm still sorry for being late though," Brittany said, giving Jonathan an appreciative grin.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a light shrug. "Just don't make a habit out of it and we'll be alright."

Jonathan returned her smile and Brittany nodded.

"I won't, I promise," she assured.

"Good," he said. "Well, you're here now, so get working, kid."

"Right," the blonde responded and gave him one last smile before walking away.

Ten minutes later, Brittany was standing over a table that had just been vacated by a customer. She had already cleared the dishes that were left there and was now wiping the table down with a slightly wet rag. When she was done with that, she took the tray that held the dirty dishes on it and walked back towards the kitchen where she set them on the side of a sink to be cleaned.

Brittany then went back out and repeated the same actions a couple more times until all of the tables that didn't have a customer sitting at them were clean for the time being. Seeing as she had nothing to do at the moment, she decided to go take a seat on one of the stools that were placed at the front counter. She didn't want to go back into the break room in case another customer were to leave, then she could clean their table right away. She still felt kind of bad for being late, so she was determined to make her best effort tonight.

She sat on an empty stool and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the counter and allowed herself to rest her body for a moment. Although, her break was short-lived because Brittany hadn't been seated for two minutes when she felt a tap on her shoulder and a voice speak behind her.

"Hey, miss, would you mind taking my order?"

Brittany was about to respond to the person and tell them that they would have to wait for someone else to take their order, but then stopped herself when she realized something. The person who had spoken sounded undoubtedly familiar. She turned around in her seat and was greeted with the sight of a woman who's curly, brown hair was cascading down her face.

"Victoria?" She exclaimed in surprise and confusion.

"Hey," the woman said with a toothy smile.

"Hi," Brittany responded, quickly getting over her moment of shock and gave Victoria a small grin in return. "Um, not that it isn't nice to see you or anything, but what are you doing here?"

Victoria shrugged, "I dunno, I was on my way home and I was nearby, so I thought I'd stop by to say hello and ask how your day was going."

"Oh," Brittany said, her smile growing. She really liked how nice Victoria had been to her since they met. "Well, my day was alright. Thanks for asking. How was yours?"

Victoria took a seat on the stool next to Brittany and spoke. "It was fine. Busy as usual, but yeah, fine."

Brittany nodded. "That's nice. So, how's Marissa?" She figured the other woman was still at work.

"Oh, she's good. She's still back at the youth center filling out a bunch of paperwork which I know must be boring. I offered to stay with her to keep her company, but she told me to go home saying she was going to be there late and that I get beyond grumpy when I'm sleep deprived."

Victoria chuckled to herself, finding it amusing how well Marissa knew her. Brittany, who quickly became fond of the entertaining relationship between the two women, was rather amused by it also and suddenly, she found herself slightly curious about something.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" She asked the older woman. Victoria gave her a look that said 'go for it' and she continued, "How long have you two known each other?"

"Me and Marissa? I think we've known each for about...six years, maybe seven," Victoria replied.

"Wow," Brittany commended. During her previous trip to the youth center, she had learned that both Victoria and Marissa were only twenty-seven, so that meant they had met back when they were twenty or twenty-one. "That's a long time."

Victoria nodded her head in agreement. "It is, isn't it? I'm just surprised Marissa has managed to put up with me for so long," she finished with a grin.

"So, how did you two meet?" Brittany asked, completely interested.

"You know, that's actually kind of a long story," Victoria said. "I'd love to tell you it because it's one of my favorites, but maybe another day. I don't want to interfere with your working."

Brittany's eyes widened. "Oh my god, I am supposed to be working right now." She looked around to see if there were any empty tables that needed cleaning. Thankfully, there was just one so luckily, that wasn't a lot. She let out a small sigh of relief.

"See? I've already distracted you enough," Victoria laughed. "Let's definitely save that story for another day when you're not working."

"That sounds cool," Brittany agreed, hopping off the stool. "Well, I should get back to what I was doing."

"Yeah, and I should get home," Victoria said while standing up from her stool also. "I'll see you later, Brittany. Hopefully, you can come back to the youth center some time again."

"Yeah, hopefully," Brittany repeated. "Thanks for stopping by."

"Anytime. It was nice seeing you again," Victoria said, turning around and starting to walk away. With a final wave over her shoulder, she said, "Bye!" And left the restaurant.

Brittany then walked towards the table that needed to be cleaned and went back to work.

The rest of her shift went by without distraction. Time flew by, and before she knew it, it was time for her to leave. She put all of her work equipment back where it all belonged, said a quick goodnight to Jonathan, then walked out the front door and left.

Her walk home was uneventful and tiring. Brittany felt her weariness increase with each step she took. Sometimes, it sure felt like the walk home from work was a lot longer than the walk getting to work was. When she finally made it to the apartment building and walked inside her tiny living space, she quickly changed out of her work clothes and pulled on an old, oversized t-shirt which served as her sleepwear for the night, then laid down on her mattress. No later than a minute after her head hit her pillow, she was lulled into sleep.

The dull light of the evening sun shone down upon Santana's features as she walked through the patches of grass that were beneath her feet. Her hands were stuffed inside her pants pockets and her head was titled downcast as she somewhat somberly made her way to where she was headed. Once she reached her destination, she stopped. She let out a breath and moved to sit on the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms tightly around her legs.

Less than a few feet in front of her sat the headstone for both her parents. Back when the planning of the funeral was taking place, Santana had been insistent that her parents shared a headstone rather than having two separate ones. Luis and Maribel's names were carved into the smooth marble along with other additional information, like the years they were brought into the world and the year they both left it. Santana sat in place and gazed at it. She didn't speak, she didn't cry, she just merely stared at the headstone.

Only a number of days had passed since her parents' funeral and every day since then, Santana found herself back in the same place. It was becoming a habit for her to go to the cemetery whenever she got a chance to. The first couple of days she visited her parents' grave, she couldn't help but cry. And now, even though no tears were coming, she was convinced it was only because her body was fighting so hard against doing so.

Santana didn't keep track of how long she sat there. Soon, her legs started to feel numb, but even then she didn't move. It wasn't until the sun started to set and the sky above her turned red with color when she finally got up. She moved her legs back and forth a bit until they regained most of their feeling. With a final glance back at the headstone, she turned around and started to walk away. She made her way back to her car which was parked alongside the curb of the street and got in, putting the key in the ignition, then driving away.

When she made it back to her godmother's house not too long later, she walked through the front door and started her way towards her room. When she passed the living room, she saw Ms. Chase sitting on the couch with a book in her hands. The older woman looked up at her and sent her a warm smile that Santana took comfort in.

"It's nice to see that you're back," Ms. Chase greeted.

Even though Santana never told her exactly where she was going when she left the house, saying that she was just going out for a drive to keep her preoccupied, she was fairly certain that Ms. Chase was well aware as to where she's been disappearing off to for the past few days.

"If you're hungry, I could make you something," Ms. Chase offered.

Santana shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'm not really hungry and I'm kind of tired anyway. I was just going to lay down for a bit."

"Oh, alright then," Ms. Chase gave her another quick smile and returned to her book.

Santana turned away and continued the small walk towards her room. She stepped inside of the door and closed it behind her. She kicked her shoes off and moved them to a corner, then brought her hands to the top of her jeans, undoing the button and zipper and slid the fabric down her legs, stepping out of it.

She picked up her jeans and folded them up. Then, she walked over to the dresser and placed the pants on top of it, then opened up a drawer. She pulled a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt out. Santana removed the shirt that she had been wearing since that morning and placed it on top of the dresser along with her jeans. She pulled on the new one, then slipped on the shorts.

Santana closed the drawer with the rest of her clothes inside, then moved towards her bed. She sat down on the edge of it, then twisted slightly, bringing her legs up and placed them on the mattress. She scooted over to the side a bit so she was lying directly in the middle of the bed and adjusted herself until she was comfortable, then laid down so her head was flush against her pillow.

Santana lay in bed with nothing in particular on her mind. She had already finished with her homework for all of her classes. There wasn't a television in her room that she could watch, and even then, she wasn't a big TV watcher in the first place. Any book or magazine that she would've been interested in reading were all still back in her other room at her house, along with a majority of her things. She honestly couldn't think of a single thing to do besides sit there in bed. Although she appreciated Ms. Chase greatly for letting her live in her home, she still had to admit that there wasn't much to do.

Santana rolled over on her side and tucked her arms underneath her pillow. She hadn't lied when she told her godmother that she was feeling tired. So, despite how early it still may have been, she closed her eyes and willed herself to fall asleep until finally, after several minutes, her body obliged and allowed her to enter into a deep slumber.

The next morning, both Santana and Brittany awoke to the sound of alarms and the newly risen sunlight peeping through their windows, and streaming onto their faces. Although Santana woke up at a later time than Brittany, her morning routine wasn't much different. They both went about their mornings in their respective ways and got ready for yet another day at school.

The two got dressed in the clothing they picked out for the day, did their hair until it fit their satisfaction, then proceeded to do all of the other things they normally did on a daily basis. Once Brittany was finished getting ready, and was finally prepared to leave, she grabbed her school bag and slung it over her shoulder. She picked up her house key from the small kitchen counter and put it in her pants pocket, then proceeded to walk out of her apartment door, locking it behind her.

Not long afterwards, Santana left for school in the same fashion. She got into her car and started it up, then headed down the road on her way to McKinley.

After Santana arrived to the school and entered the building, she made her way to her first period class. When she reached Ms. Lawrence's room, she walked inside and saw that there were only a couple of other students there then went to go sit down in her seat. She rested her head on her hand and waited for class to start.

When Brittany finally made it to school after her walk from home, she did the same as the majority of the other students she saw in the hallway and started walking towards her first class. Moments later, she stepped inside the classroom that was slowly filling up.

Santana noticed Brittany first. The blonde had her head tilted downward as she played with the single strap of her bag while she walked. Then, as if feeling Santana's eyes on her, Brittany lifted her head up and met the other girl's gaze.

Unlike the previous day, Santana didn't look away and Brittany didn't freeze up and then quickly make her way to her seat whilst avoiding eye contact. Both girls were completely aware of the other's presence and there wasn't a single feature on either of their faces which made them seem uncomfortable about it. Remembering the words they had shared the day before, Santana's lips tilted upwards a she offered Brittany a gentle, friendly smile. It took a short moment, but Brittany returned the smile as she walked forward and past Santana, heading towards her seat in the back.

Their gestures were small.

But it was enough.

Brittany's mind was detached from the lesson that Ms. Lawrence was currently teaching. Sure, she often got lost while her teacher was explaining something, but this time was different. Even though she wasn't particularly giving her undivided attention to class, she had no problem understanding the words coming out of Ms. Lawrence's mouth. In fact, the lesson seemed to be a fairly simple and mundane one. Maybe the reason for Brittany's absentmindedness was due to the fact that there was something clouding her train of thought. Or, in this case, someone.

Brittany's eyes flickered to the familiar head of brown hair that belonged to the girl sitting in her desk at the front of the class. Santana's back was facing her as she listened to Ms. Lawrence droning on about the subject of different types of governments. Brittany wondered if Santana had other things on her mind at the moment like she did. Though, of course, even though Brittany couldn't see her face, Santana did seem like she was listening intently to their teacher.

Brittany looked back down at her desk and gently tapped on the surface with her fingers. Her mind went back to yesterday as she thought about what she and Santana had said about starting over. It was strange; she had been the one to come up with the idea, yet she didn't have the slightest clue on how to execute it.

Brittany really doubted that it was supposed to be this nerve-wracking. The concept of starting over seemed simple enough, but here she was, completely stumped on how to go about this. She looked back over in Santana's direction. Did the brunette have an idea on how to implement their decision of a fresh start? Because Brittany definitely didn't.

She slumped back in her seat and let out a quiet sigh of resignation, returning her attention to Ms. Lawrence at the front of the class. Hopefully something would come to her soon.

As it turned out, nothing came to Brittany's mind throughout the remainder of the class period. When it came time for the bell to ring, signalling first period's end, Brittany had all of her things packed away inside her bag, ready to go. Finally, when the ring of the bell filled the room, she got up from her desk and started to walk out of class along with the other students.

Since there were multiple other students in her way who were trying to leave, Brittany couldn't see that much in front of her other than the back of a tall boy who's height obscured her vision even more so. With that said, Brittany most definitely didn't notice that one student among the rest had yet to move from her desk to leave. It wasn't until she finally made it to the front of the class when she saw Santana leaning against her desk, bag slung over her shoulder, and her gaze landing on Brittany's.

When her eyes met Santana's for the second time that morning, Brittany almost stopped in her tracks. Almost. However, she caught herself before she did and continued forward.

Brittany felt her forehead furrow slightly. Santana could have already left out the class by now, yet she was there, looking at the other girl expectantly. When Brittany was just a couple of feet in front of her, Santana opened her mouth to speak.

"Hey," was all she said in a nonchalant manner.

"Uh, hi," Brittany greeted in return.

Santana pushed herself up off her desk and bit her lip for a quick moment before speaking again, "Do you mind if I walk with you?"

"Oh, sure," Brittany said trying to sound as casual as she could, though she was somewhat surprised. "I don't mind."

Santana took that as her cue to start walking and Brittany followed along by her side. Together, they walked out of Ms. Lawrence's classroom and into the hall that was bustling with students making their way to their next class.

"So," Santana began, trying to make small talk, "what class are you going to now?"

"Uh...English, with Mr. Rice," Brittany answered, feeling silly that she had to pause and think about the answer to Santana's question as if she hadn't been going to that class all semester. But then, of course, her mind was swimming with other thoughts at the moment.

"Oh," she heard Santana say, "I'm going to Algebra. It's in the same direction."

Not knowing what else to say, the two slipped into silence. Brittany found herself becoming envious of the conversations around her being shared between the McKinley student body. No one else seemed to be having the issue she was having. They were all perfectly able of conducting conversations with the people near them. Meanwhile, she couldn't even piece together one sentence while speaking to the girl next to her without tripping up over something to say.

The whole thing was more than frustrating to Brittany. Just talking to someone shouldn't have to be so difficult, and yet it was. Brittany didn't understand it. It wasn't hard for her to talk to Victoria or Marissa. It had never been hard for her to talk to Jonathan. So, why was having a conversation with Santana such a challenge? Her frustration must have seemed obvious because Santana then looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Um, is there something wrong, Brittany?"

She hesitated, but when she looked out the corner of her eye at Santana's face, she finally gave in.

"Actually, yeah, something is wrong," Brittany sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"What do you mean?" Santana inquired.

Brittany took a breath. "All morning I've been thinking about what we talked about yesterday and how we said that we would start over and everything, but I just keep getting stuck. I mean, I just don't know what to say."

"Brittany- "

"And I'm trying so hard to not be awkward or anything but it's not working," she groaned, "and I'm just screwing everything up."

"Brittany," Santana repeated louder this time, successfully catching the girl's attention. Brittany hadn't realized that Santana had stopped walking until the brunette grabbed her arm and stilled her in her tracks also.

"Just relax for a second, okay," Santana said gently. "Look, I know that this may be a bit strange and all, but the whole point of us starting over was so that things would be less complicated. And yeah, this will probably take some time to get used to, but we just have to take this step by step."

Brittany let Santana's words sink into to her. It was true, this was kind of strange. Maybe that's why it was so hard for her to think properly. "You're right," she muttered after a moment. "I'm...I'm sorry for making this so complicated. I guess I do need to relax."

"Yeah, and you know, I don't think you're screwing everything up," Santana assured her. "You're just," she paused, trying to find the proper words, "you're just thinking too much."

Thinking too much? In a world where she was constantly being made fun of by people who thought she was stupid, Brittany would have never thought that doing something like thinking too much would be an issue.

"Oh...I didn't realize that I was doing that," she said sheepishly. "It's just, I've never been in this kind of position before so I don't really know what to do."

Santana nodded her head, understanding what Brittany meant. For a girl who didn't have much social experience due to others constantly isolating her, behaving the way Brittany had did make sense.

"Just don't put too much effort into trying to figure out what you think you should be doing," Santana told her. "Look, I should get to class. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Brittany said quietly, feeling slightly letdown. She knew that Santana had told her that she hadn't screwed everything up, but that didn't stop her from feeling like she had in a way.

Santana let go of her arm that Brittany forgot she was holding, then started to walk away.

Although the main thing that Brittany was thinking about were the words she and Santana had just exchanged, there was still something that tugged at the back of her mind. Something that had happened not too long prior. And contrary to the fact that it may have been a tad unexpected, Brittany found herself opening up her mouth and calling after Santana, who had only walked a number of feet in front of her.

Santana looked back at Brittany with her brow furrowed. "Yeah?" She responded.

"Um, it's just...back in Ms. Lawrence's room, you could have left before me and gone on to your next class, but you didn't, so," Brittany paused, taking a second to think of how to say the following words without sounding too caught up in herself. She let out a breath and continued, "did you really wait there just because you wanted to walk with me?"

Santana did nothing for a moment. Then, a small and sheepish smile formed on her lips as she merely shrugged her shoulders. Although she didn't answer with words, Brittany understood what her gesture meant. The blonde felt a smile of her own grace her lips. Unbeknownst to Santana, Brittany deeply appreciated what she had done because not only was Santana acknowledging her as a person, but she was doing it in a way that no one in McKinley had ever bothered to do: with kindness.

"Thanks," Brittany said.

"Don't worry about it," Santana replied with a small shake of her head. Then, she turned back around and headed off.

Brittany started moving down the hallway also so she could get to class.

Santana had been correct when she said that Brittany was thinking too much. They both wanted to start over so that things would be simpler, and it didn't make sense for Brittany to be overthinking something as fundamental as having a conversation. It wasn't supposed to be difficult at all, so she was going to do what Santana suggested and try to relax and be calm.

Exactly like how she was walking, Brittany just had to handle this situation by putting one foot in front of the other.

The rest of the day went by with Brittany focusing on her class work and not letting her mind get caught up on other things. She maintained a reticent nature throughout her classes, not giving anyone a reason to sneer at her like they normally would do. She took notes and finished her assignments to the best of her ability until finally, the last bell of the day rung, signalling dismissal.

With the strap of her bag placed on her shoulder, Brittany walked down the school hallway and through the hoard of students to get to the front of the building so she could leave. After a few minutes of walking, when Brittany felt a hand gently tap her on the shoulder, it didn't surprise her when she looked to the side and saw Santana walking next to her. The brunette gave her a small grin, which Brittany returned.

She decided to make the first move and said, "Hi, Santana."

Santana returned the greeting and walked next to her as they both exited the school building. When they were outside, they navigated themselves away from the front doors and the many other students around them. When they were no longer surrounded and when Santana stopped walking and turned to Brittany, the blonde figured that she was about to speak. She was proven right when Santana opened her mouth not a second afterwards.

"So, um...are you still feeling as nervous as you were this morning?"

Brittany had expected as much. She was still slightly embarrassed about what had happened. "Well, I took your advice and relaxed a bit so no, I'm not as nervous as I was then."

"Good," Santana said, looking relieved. "And, you know, if being anxious like that is something that you can't help, then I don't want to distress you or anything."

"You're not distressing me," Brittany assured. "Yeah, I kind of freaked out earlier, but that was just because I didn't know what to do and I was thinking too much, like you said. But, I can just work on trying not doing that anymore."

Santana nodded. "Okay. Hopefully things will go by more smoothly now that we have a sort of understanding."

"Yeah," Brittany agreed.

Their situation wasn't something that should have been difficult. All they wanted was to have someone who could just be there so they wouldn't have to be alone anymore. And even if it may have seemed strange to others that the two wanted to begin to confide in each other, Brittany was positive they could make it work.

Content with what was happening and feeling at peace within, Brittany looked towards Santana.

"Uh, hey," she said. Santana looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to go on. "Thanks for being so patient with me. I guess anyone else would have already given up on me at this point. So," Brittany grinned, "I'm kind of glad that you haven't."

Although she was feeling slightly timid about saying this, she knew that it was something she wanted Santana to hear.

"Also," Brittany continued, "yesterday when you said that these people here just use you for your brain so they can do better in class...I just wanted to let you know that I would never do that."

A soft smile spread across Santana's face at Brittany's words.

"I know you wouldn't do that," she told Brittany. "And I wouldn't give up on you so quickly."

Brittany's smile widened. She tried not to let it show how much what Santana had said meant to her. She never expected that it would be Santana to do so, but someone at McKinley had finally made her feel like she wasn't worthless, and that made her immensely happy.

"Come on," Santana said after moment. "I'll drive you home."

There was a light in her eyes that Brittany had never seen before and for a moment, she allowed herself to think that maybe the girl next to her felt the same elated feeling that she did.

Santana took a step forward on the pavement and started walking in the direction of her car, Brittany not hesitating to follow. They walked, reveling in the fact that they were moving ahead in progress, and that they were doing it together.

So, I owe you guys a huge apology. I didn't mean for it to take insanely long to update this, but I had to do a little starting over of my own with my life. I won't go into details, but I will say I'm a lot less stressed than I was last year, which is good because I now have my head on straight so I can write.

Thank you all so much for sticking around and reading, it means a lot. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and please tell me what you thought!