A/N: Hey readers! So I decided to do a time jump because I was suddenly inspired by a three-part storyline for Zach's graduation. They will most likely be longer chapters, but they'll be good. I do see a Glee club reunion in the works too. There will be flashbacks to my Brittana's dating/engagement period, in these upcoming three chapters as well. So here's part one...enjoy!

Zach was standing at his locker the morning of his last day at Lincoln Prep when he heard over the loud speaker.

"Zachary Lopez, please report to the counseling office. Zachary Lopez to the counseling office please."

Thoughts raced through his head as he shut his locker and walked towards the counseling office.

"What did I do? Holy fuck! What did I do? The senior prank with the boys was so fucking innocent. Oh man. What did I do?"

He walked into the counseling office with his backpack clutched close to him. He walked into Quinn's office where he saw Principal Carlson, Guidance Counselors Adams and Fabray, Ashleigh, Ashleigh's dad, and Brittany.

"H-hi, w-what's going on?"

"Please take a seat Mr. Lopez."

The principals voice sounded serious.

"Mr. Lopez, we were just talking with Miss McClain here about how her time at Lincoln Prep has been."

"Okay?"

"And we were wondering the same for you.."

"I-it's been great."

Brittany was standing behind her stepson and saw how tense his shoulders got.

"Principal Carlson," the English teacher said calmly, "put him out of his misery please."

The principal laughed and then looked at Zach.

"It was a very close call between you and Miss McClain here for valedictorian. And with your recent test scores in Mrs. Lopez's class it brought your overall grade point average two points over Miss McClain."

"W-what?"

"Congratulations baby."

When Zach turned to face his girlfriend she had a huge smile on her face.

"Wait... you're not like mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"You've been working for this since like kindergarten and I just came in and swooped in and took that away from you."

"And? You've worked so hard to get to this place. Worked so hard to prove yourself. That you're more than just a football player that is just skating by in AP classes. You out of all people deserve this."

Zach let tears shed out of his eyes. Brittany placed her hands on his shoulders. Zach looked up at Brittany who just smiled down at him.

"You worked hard for this babe. All those late nights and all-nighters. All those times you gave up hanging out with your friends to study. You deserve this."

Brittany was crouched down next to him looking at him dead in the eyes.

"I'm not Mrs. Lopez right now," she continued, "Well, I am, but not to you. I'm acting as your parent. I know legally that isn't Lincoln Prep's rules, but with your mom in New York for the next couple of days, I am a pretty damn good replacement."

Zach looked at his stepmom who had placed one of her hands on his cheek.

"Your girlfriend is right babe," she said caressing his cheek with her thumb, "you deserve this."

Zach looked over at the two guidance counselors and the principal standing with smiles on their faces and he looked over to Robert to see a huge smile on his face. He then shot up from the chair and started to pace back and forth running his hand through his thick, black hair and adjusting his uniform tie every once and a while.

Everyone in the room had concerned looks on their faces until the principal said something.

"Mr. Lopez?"

He looked up and saw everyone's concerned face.

"Yeah?"

He was running his hand through his goatee.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm just surprised. I mean, Ash did better on her SATs then I did."

"You also wrote that extra credit paper for my class," Brittany said as she took a step closer to him.

"Yeah? So?"

"I didn't."

Ashleigh stood up and walked next to Brittany.

"What? W-why not?"

"Because baby, you deserve this."

"B-but..."

"But nothing. Zach, baby," Ashleigh took a step closer, "you've worked for this. You've fought for this. This. Is. Your. Accomplishment. Why is that so hard for you to accept?"

"Because you had a reason to work this hard. You have a dream. I only worked my ass off to prove my mom wrong."

"And you did," Ashleigh took another step closer and wrapped her arms around his neck, "you know, salutatorian looks just as good as valedictorian."

Zach wrapped his arms around her waist as she buried her face into his chest as he placed his chin on the top of her head. The young couple were lost in their own little world as the adults in the room just looked at them in awe.

"How does she do that?"

It was the first thing Guidance Counselor Adams had said since Zach had come in.

Brittany just smiled as she watched her stepson relax with his arms around his girlfriend.

"I don't know," she whispered, "but I like it."

The young couple left their embrace and Zach then looked at Brittany.

"You haven't told my mom yet, have you?"

"Nope. I found out when Ashleigh did."

"C-can we keep it a surprise until graduation?"

Brittany smiled and nodded, knowing how much Santana would appreciate the surprise.

"You bet, sweetie."

Zach walked over and hugged Brittany.

"Thanks...for everything."

"You bet."

A few days later, Santana walked through the door of the garage and was met by her wife.

"Baa-by!" Brittany threw her arms around Santana's neck and gave her a kiss. "Welcome home!"

"Thank you, Amor. I'm glad to be home."

Santana immediately wrapped her arms around her wife's waist.

"Well, good! The house is ready for the weekend of family and friends coming through for Zach's all-weekend graduation party."

"Yeah. I talked with some of our old glee club members and they said that they could be here Saturday. Which means that your family can come and celebrate with us tomorrow."

"Yeah, my folks have been in town since yesterday, my younger sister picked them up from LAX."

"Okay. So, where is the almost high school graduate?"

"Already at Lincoln Prep. All the graduates had to be there three hours early to rehearse and then a lot of them were hanging out and grabbing something to eat in the cafeteria for the last time before the ceremony. It's Lincoln Prep graduation tradition. I have to be headed that way in about a half an hour. Hang with some of the students for the last time."

"Okay. So I could take a power nap? Because I couldn't sleep on the plane."

"Yes, of course! I'll call at 6 to wake you up?"

"Sounds perfect Amor."

"Okay, go get that nap. I love you."

"I love you too. Have fun!"

"Bring tissues!" Brittany called over her shoulder as Santana walked up the stairs.

"Oh trust me, I will!"

Santana was walking passed Riley's room when she heard a choked sob come out from underneath the door.

Santana lightly knocked on the door while opening it.

"Riley?"

"Hey Santana, welcome home."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't even know. I've been crying for the past half an hour and I don't even know."

Santana walked towards the bed, sat down, and wrapped Riley in her arms.

"Did something happen between you and Taylor?"

"Kinda. I mean we've been distant lately."

"What do you mean by distant?"

"She's just been blowing me off since the end of soccer season."

"What do you mean, sweetie?"

"Every time we make plans at the last minute she just cancels."

"Maybe there's stuff going on."

"I don't know, I mean, maybe."

Santana held the girl closer, rocking them both back and forth a little. She and Riley don't normally have a lot of alone time together. Especially this type of quality bonding time. Riley was always so cuddly with Brittany, Taylor, and even Sam. It took a lot for her to cuddle with Santana.

The two sat there in a relative silence until they had to get up and get ready to go.

Zach was sitting with Ashleigh in his arms. They were sitting in the football stadium stands for the last time as students of Lincoln Preparatory Academy. They were watching as the maintenance crew put the finishing touches on the stage before the actual ceremony.

Zach's phone rings by an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Is this Zachary Lopez?"

"Yes?"

"My name is General Peters. I'm the general that you met when you came and said goodbye to your father."

"Oh hi, sir."

"Hello, I am calling to bring some unpleasant news."

"What's that sir?"

"Your father was involved in a helicopter crash and is missing in action."

"Oh my god."

"I know this is a lot to handle, but he put you as his family contact in case this happened."

"Yes, I-I k-know, sir."

"I'm really sorry, son."

"It's fine, t-thank you for letting me know."

"You're welcome, I'll call you if I get anymore information."

"Thank you sir."

"Have a great night."

"You too."

"Goodbye Zachary."

"Goodbye Sir."

He hung up the phone and it looked like he was going to upchuck.

"Baby?"

"He's missing in action."

"Who? Your dad?"

"Y-yeah. H-he could be dead."

"You don't know that for sure."

"No, but I know that he's not safe."

Ashleigh embraced her boyfriend as he cried.

"Why? Why? Why?" He cried.

"Shh. It's okay."

"I knew something like this would happen." He whispered.

"You did?"

"Yeah, something about him leaving didn't feel right."

"Oh baby."

As she hugged him, Brittany came into the stadium looking for Zach.

"There you are..."

She walked up to the young couple and saw the tears in Zach's eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"I'll let you two talk." Ashleigh got up and walked towards the exit of the stadium.

Brittany sat down and wrapped her stepson in her arms.

"My dad is missing in action."

"Oh sweetie."

He shrugged.

"I had a feeling something like this would happen."

"When did you find out?"

"Like less than five minutes ago."

"Oh. So this is-"

"Recent news? Yeah."

Brittany embraced him tighter. He relaxed in his stepmom's embrace.

"Thank you for telling me the truth, honey."

"You're welcome, Britt."

"Do you want me to tell your mom?"

"Can I? My dad is a sore subject as it is. It's something we always agreed to go through as a family. And I know you and Riley are family now, but I just mean-"

"I get it, honey. And I'm not offended at all."

Zach took a deep breath and chuckled lightly.

"Whatcha thinking about Valedictorian?"

"How far you and I have come this past school year."

"Yeah, we sure have."

"If you were to tell me freshman year, when I walked in on you and my mom making out on the couch of our apartment, that on my graduation day you would be holding me, I'd laugh at you."

"That was an awkward evening."

Flashback(Zach: Freshman Year)

"Mom, I'm home! What time is Brittany coming over? Because I need to shower and crap before she gets here."

Zach had just gotten home from football practice and he was going to meet his mom's girlfriend. What he didn't know is that Brittany was already there.

He looked at the couch and saw his mom making out with someone, obviously Brittany.

"Mom!"

"Hey mijo."

"Is Brittany already here?" He whispered.

"Yeah, she came over after work. Her daughter is with her dad."

"So I don't have time to shower?"

"You do, but meet Brittany first."

Zach saw blonde hair over the arm rest. Brittany sat up and smiled.

"Holy shit!" Zach's eyes got wide and shoulders tensed as he whispered.

"Is something wrong mijo?"

"Ms. Evans?"

"Wait, what?" Santana didn't understand at first.

"You're dating my AP English teacher? What the hell?" He hissed.

"Wait, your his teacher?" Santana looked over at Brittany.

"Yeah, totally. Third period? Right?" Brittany played it off cool. Zach nods faintly.

Zach just looked at his mom, wide-eyed, somewhat hurt.

"Mijo, I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't..." Zach mumbled under his breath.

Zach turned around to talk to the bathroom to shower. Santana turned back to her girlfriend.

"Uhm, so you're his teacher?"

"Yeah, he's one of the quietest yet smartest students I have in third period. Doesn't participate much and I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've heard his voice above a whisper."

"It's a new school for him. He's shy."

"Shy is an understatement about him that's going through all the AP teachers."

"Wait a minute, you're his teacher and I'm his mother...is that aloud?"

"I don't know and besides my older sister Jahna is one of the guidance counselors with Quinn and my sister is dating the principal. They know I don't just hand A's out like candy. And they know. Okay? Calm down."

"Wait, they know? How long have they known?"

"Since I told Quinn that I was dating you. You know, she's his godmother."

"Oh, right. Wait, then why didn't you tell me that your his teacher?"

"Because I knew you probably would've broken up with me, if you found out. And I couldn't lose you again."

"Baby," Santana breathed out, "I'm so sorry you felt that way."

Santana steps in and gives her a hug. They stay that way until Zach comes out.

Santana hears the fridge open in the kitchen.

"Can you wait in here for a moment," she whispers.

"Of course." Brittany whispers back and gives her a soft kiss.

Santana walked into the kitchen to her son drinking a bottle of water.

"Mijo," she breathed.

"Anybody else could've made you happy. Anybody else. Why her?" He said not looking at her.

"She's always made me happy, mijo."

"What do you mean?" He made eye contact with his mom.

"We were best friends in high school."

"Oh..."

"I thought I told you that." She took a step closer to her son.

"No, you tend to keep your relationships on the down low."

"Yeah. I don't want you to be attached and then things to end badly."

"What makes her any different?"

"Because what we have is love. Real, genuine, true love. I've loved her for as long as I remember."

"And her daughter? How'd she take this?"

"Not very well, she wants her folks to get back together. But, she didn't freak out like you did."

"That's because she's my AP English teacher!" He argued.

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"If you were to actually pay attention to my schedule, you may have recognized it!"

"It could've been any person with that last name of Evans."

"You know what? I need an out, okay? I'm going for a walk. Maybe it's best if you let me know when the ninth inning is over, seems to work with all your other relationships."

"Zach, wait!"

And it was too late, Zach was already halfway out the door, slamming the apartment door behind him. Santana just stared at the door with a blank stare. She looked over to Brittany, who gave her a sympathetic smile.

Flashback Ended

"You know, I don't think I've ever apologized for that night," Zach said breaking the silence, placing his head on Brittany's shoulder.

"I think you've made up for it though." Brittany put her head on his head.

"Yeah, the night she proposed to you, I think I made up for it the most." Zach softly chuckled.

Flashback(About A Year Before)

"Zach!" Santana was pacing back and forth in their apartment living room.

She was going to propose to Brittany. They had been dating for a couple of years and they were ready to take that next step. Or so Santana hoped.

"Mom, you're going to burn a hole in the ground with all the pacing your doing. And you know, Mr. Jenkins underneath us doesn't want that."

Santana looked up at her son with a pained expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" He immediately was by his mom's side.

"I'm going to propose to her."

"Who? Brittany?"

"No, the girl I met last night. Yes. Brittany."

"Okay? You know she's going to say yes, so why are you nervous?"

"I need your help."

"Okay?"

"I need you to pick her up."

"Come again."

"I rented out this nice diner for the night. All of Brittany's favorite people from the studio are going to be there playing. All our old friends from Glee club are going to be-"

"Hold up, wait a minute, you two were in Glee club?" Zach was chuckling.

"Yeah. So was Uncle Puck and Aunt Quinn. It's where your dad and I met." She says that last part slowly.

"I thought you met my dad because he was a football player and you were a cheerleader."

"Well, yeah, but he was a nerdy football player."

"I don't even want to know what that means."

"He was just like how you are now."

"I am not nerdy."

"Anyway... I need you to pick Brittany and Riley up tonight."

"Woah, woah. Why Riley?"

"Because Brittany's her mom..."

"Fine."

"Thank you, mijo."

Zach shrugged.

"Who's coming from the label?"

"Nathan Barrett-Thomas, Monday Morning Leads, and Paul Samuel."

"Oh."

"They're all Britt's favorites."

"They're all new though."

"I know, but she likes them. I want tonight to be all about her."

"Okay, wait! Tonight?!"

"Yeah, don't act like you haven't heard me and Aunt Quinn planning this."

"Well, I haven't. When I play Madden. That's all I'm focused on."

"Are you okay with this?"

"With what?"

"Me marrying Brittany?"

"Well, theoretically she has to say yes to your proposal first."

"You know what I mean, mijo."

"Yeah, sure. Whatevz. She makes you happy. So I guess I'm happy."

Flashback Ended

"You think she would've known then that I had something against you." Zach said.

"Yeah, maybe she was just oblivious."

Principal Carlson came into the stadium.

"Sorry to break up a mother/son like moment, but we need you valedictorian. You too, Mrs. Lopez."

"We're coming." Brittany said standing up, holding her hand out to Zach to take.

Zach looks at her hand. Brittany had successfully calmed him down and he was ready to go on with his graduation. He takes her hand as they were led out by Principal Carlson.

"So here ends a chapter of you life," Brittany whispers to him as they exit the stadium, "are you ready for the next?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"I love you, Zach. And thank you for everything you've done to help the two of us grow this school year." She kissed her stepson's cheek.

"I love you too."

They went separate ways. Zach went to the gym to get his cap, gown, and valedictorian sash and Brittany headed towards the teacher's lounge where the rest of the teachers of graduates were, making sure to text Santana to make sure she's there on time.

End Note: So the next chapter will continue from here. With more flashbacks and the graduation ceremony. The next chapter should be done within the next week.