Somehow I managed to get myself hooked on 'orange is the new black' AND write this chapter, which I think could be construed as fairly impressive.

The chapter song was picked primarily because it's used in the movie Britt and San watch (and the title makes sense to the plot) rather than the fact that I dig the song. I'm really tired because it's pretty late where I am right now so I apologise for any errors I've missed.

Chapter 21- Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

The small pieces of gravel on the pathway that led to the black door scrunched under Santana's feet, the sharp edges digging in slightly through the thin soles of her shoes. Quinn looked up into the sky for a moment before her gaze settled on the ground between the two of them. Santana could see a small, shy smile playing on her lips.

"So, I guess this is goodnight," Quinn's words were softly spoken, aimed at the ground beneath them.

Santana caught Quinn's gaze and gave a small nod, "It is. But I haven't technically walked you home yet."

Quinn looked at Santana properly, clearly confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well this is only the front door. It's black and is very much outside. Your door is green and is definitely inside with the number 221 on it."

Quinn raised an eyebrow in question, clearly curious about Santana's new found knowledge, "And you know this how?"

Santana laughed softly, "I came by earlier to find you but I didn't know where you lived. I, erm, bumped into Mia. She told me which room was yours. I knocked but, obviously, you weren't in."

"Well it's comforting to know you haven't just been stalking me all this time," Quinn said with a grin.

"How do you know I haven't been?" Santana smirked before opening that black door for the second time that day, and in fact ever, "Come on then, Fabray. Let me walk you home properly."

Quinn giggled and walked through the door that Santana was holding open, "Dork."

"Whatever. You love it."

They walked in silence to Quinn's room. It struck Santana that the silence surrounding them wasn't uncomfortable at all. It didn't hang in the air awkwardly, making her want to fill it with inane ramblings, insults or bad sex jokes like she normally would. She wasn't sure she'd experienced many silences that felt like this before, but she knew that there was no need to fill it. It didn't need filling because it didn't exist due to anything negative. In fact, she had a feeling it was entirely positive.

As they reached Quinn's door, Santana couldn't help but grin. It wasn't that long ago that she had been stood there, looking at those metal numbers that hung on Quinn's green door, wondering how this whole situation was going to end. Now, she knew.

It occurred to Santana that perhaps she had been wrong in thinking of it as the end of something. All this time she had felt like she was waiting to discover how their story was going to finish, but perhaps in reality everything that had happened had all just been the prologue, and now they were finally ready for the start.

"There you go, you've walked me home properly. Happy now?"

"Very," Santana nodded. Her eyes were focused on Quinn's and she saw the blonde blush slightly at her words, "You know you blush quite a lot, Q. I don't think I've noticed that before. Maybe you should get it checked out at the doctors, you might be seriously ill."

"Oh shush. It's because you weren't around being all dorky and adorable before."

"Take that back! Take it all back! I am not dorky or adorable."

"Oh, you so are." Quinn leant forward so her face was mere inches away from Santana's. She paused, before grinning and whispering, "You're adorkable."

Santana glared, "I'm never walking you home again."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep." Quinn suddenly leaned forward, capturing Santana's lips between hers as she closed the small gap between them. She pressed her body tightly against Santana's while running a finger slowly down her arm, the sensation making Santana shudder slightly. Quinn pulled away, her teeth momentarily biting her bottom lip.

Quinn's words caused memories to flash through her mind, bringing back her vivid recollection of the one morning she had woken up beside Quinn in Florida…

Flashback

Santana hung up the phone and heard the shower turn on in the bathroom. Quinn reappeared from the bathroom and began casually leaning against the door frame. "Aren't you going to join me?"

Santana felt her throat constrict, Quinn just kept surprising her, "I... Wow..." she paused before finishing lamely, "I promised I'd be home in an hour."

Quinn looked straight at Santana, her eyes still full of lust, "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."

"Goodnight, Santana."

It took a moment for Santana to respond due to the brain malfunction that Quinn's words (and kiss) had triggered inside her, "Erm… Yeah… Night."

Then, just like that, with the flash of an adorable smile and a wink, Quinn had closed the door.

Santana stood there for a moment, her mind completely overwhelmed. Maybe this version of Quinn wasn't exactly the same as the girl she had met in Florida, but Santana had a feeling that San Diego Quinn definitely still had some of Florida Quinn's traits. She pressed a finger to her lips. The indescribable, yet very individual, taste of Quinn still lingered in her mouth and she knew she wanted nothing more than to make it last forever. She exhaled loudly, rolling her eyes at how dazed Quinn had left her. She knew she needed to get out of there, otherwise it was highly likely that she was going to end up knocking Quinn's door down and shoving her up against the nearest surface…

It crossed her mind that maybe that really wasn't such a bad idea but as much as she wanted to somehow it didn't seem quite right, not since it had literally been a few short hours since their talk that had started this whole thing. No, sex could wait, well for a little while anyway... After all, she was only human and Santana could not deny that Quinn Fabray was really fucking hot.

She grinned to herself as she walked back down Quinn's corridor and down the stairs. The cool night air made her shudder slightly and she wished, not for the first time that evening, that she had brought a jacket with her. She rubbed her arms, hoping the friction would be enough to keep her tolerably warm.

As she began walking away from Sixth College she found herself looking back, trying to figure out which of the many windows was Quinn's. She rolled her eyes as soon as she realised what she was doing.

Oh god. I need to stop being such a freakin' loser!

Her phone pinged, alerting her to the new text that she had just received.

Quinn: Second floor, third window from the right. Now stop being so adorable and go home so I can ring Blaine before he thinks I'm dead. See you soon, chokey.

Santana looked up, following Quinn's instructions. She saw the blonde sitting in her window, looking down at Santana. It was difficult to tell through the darkness but Santana was pretty sure Quinn was giggling at her.

Santana: Tell Blaine you're not dead but if you keep calling me adorable then you might be. Night, Q.

As she walked off back in the direction of Warren College, and her room, she couldn't stop a grin from appearing on her face.

What have I let myself in for?

"Shit."

Santana cursed under her breath as the floorboard beneath her left foot made a loud creaking sound. She looked across the room at Brittany, silently praying that the noise wouldn't wake her up.

Creeping across the room on her tiptoes she reached her bed and lay down, a grin immediately forming on her face as she revelled in her victory of managing to make it all the way to bed without disturbing her friend. Her grin got even wider as she remembered the events of the day.

"Dirty stop out."

Brittany's voice was muffled with sleep, and if Santana hadn't been so used to trying to decipher Brittany's sleepy voice then she was sure she wouldn't have had a clue what her friend had even said.

"Busted," Santana sighed, "God you're a light sleeper, Pierce."

"No… you're loud," Brittany countered, her words were slow and Santana could tell she was barely awake, "So?"

"So what?" Santana said innocently, although she knew exactly what Brittany was hinting at.

Brittany rolled over, looking at Santana with sleep-filled eyes, "All good?"

Santana nodded, "All good."

Brittany mumbled something that even Santana's well-trained ears couldn't recognise, so she knew her friend must be drifting back off to sleep.

"Sleep tight, Britt."

It was safe to say Santana hadn't been looking forward to cheer practice that evening.

Even though Mia had been the perfect description of 'nice' about the whole situation (seriously Santana was fairly sure that if she looked up the word 'nice' in the dictionary there would be a picture of Mia right by the side of it), she was still a little nervous about seeing her. She didn't want to hurt Mia, well at least not any more than she already had.

The previous night Quinn had told Santana that she wasn't going to re-join the team, something which Santana had found herself torn about. On the one hand, she didn't think it was fair for Quinn to stop doing something she enjoyed (plus Quinn looked pretty hot in the uniform, which was definitely an added bonus), but on the other hand Quinn staying away seemed fair for Mia, and Santana felt pretty guilty for everything she had put Mia through already.

Either way, Quinn had insisted and Santana had got the impression that, even if she'd wanted to, trying to pick a fight about it wasn't a good idea. Santana loved being in control, but something told her that Quinn would be giving her a run for her money when it came to being in charge.

As it turned out, Santana had no reason to dread cheer practice. Things between her and Mia actually seemed alright, and although Santana had been a bit concerned about reactions from their mutual friends like Tara and Heather, it turned out that all of that was better than expected too. There definitely wasn't too much awkwardness, and practice had been quite full-on so there hadn't been a whole lot of time for chatting.

Practice finished and Santana saw Brittany waiting for her over by one of the benches. She waved and began to walk over.

After Brittany had fallen back to sleep the night before it had occurred to Santana that she didn't really know what was going on in her friend's life at the moment, and that realisation had made Santana feel pretty crap. Brittany had been there for her every single time she'd wanted to whine and moan about her girl problems. Hell, she'd even put up with Santana going all crazy like the Hulk and shouting at her for no reason… yet Santana was pretty sure that in return she deserved a shiny gold medal for being the world's worst friend.

As well as feeling like she'd neglected her friend (and roommate) duties, Santana got the feeling something was going on with Brittany, something not entirely positive. However, Brittany's selfless nature had meant that she hadn't told Santana and had instead focused on her friend's problems rather than sharing her own. Therefore, when Brittany had woken up that morning Santana had insisted that after her cheer practice they would have a girly night in together. She'd even suggested they bring back their hot chocolate and PJ times and that Brittany could pick whatever film she wanted to without Santana complaining (Brittany had squealed with joy at the suggestion, although had seemed dubious about the idea of Santana managing to resist complaining for the entire night).

Brittany had agreed at once, with the condition that they had to facetime Lord Tubbington first since he was getting a bit jealous of Santana monopolising Brittany's time. Brittany figured that if Lord Tubbington got to know Santana properly then maybe he wouldn't be quite so jealous.

"Lopez! Hold up!" Mia called from behind her.

Santana slowed down her pace so that Mia could catch up with her, "What's up?"

"I just wanted to say hey. It was a busy practice so we didn't get much chance to talk. How's things?"

"Things are good thanks," Santana said as they arrived next to Brittany.

"Hey Mia!" Brittany smiled, "Sannie, I hope you're ready for a super cheesy film tonight."

"Oh god… Worse than 'The Notebook'?"

"Erm… 'The Notebook' is tragic, Santana", Mia said, shaking her head, "It's not cheesy."

"Precisely, it's a whole different genre." Brittany nodded in agreement, "Actually I've got three for you to choose from, because I thought I'd be nice."

"This sounds serious. I'll leave you to pick your film, Santana. See you later."

"Hang on, Mia! Before you go you've gotta help me pick. I'm fucking clueless when it comes to Britt's film collection," Santana insisted.

Mia rolled her eyes sarcastically, "Alright, but only because this is clearly a life or death decision. What are her choices, Brittany?"

Brittany took a deep breath, clearly taking the whole situation very seriously, "Ok, I've narrowed it down to… 'Music and Lyrics', 'What Happens in Vegas' and 'New Year's Eve'. Obviously I love them all."

Mia inhaled sharply, shaking her head, "Tough call right there, Lopez."

"Well that doesn't help me! Can't we just watch 'Friends With Benefits' again? Ooh or 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'? Mila Kunis is ridiculously hot. Like, I'm surprised fires don't just suddenly appear wherever she goes," Santana nodded seriously.

"Nope!" Brittany grinned, "You've got to pick one."

Mia turned to face Santana, "Ok, so do you want Hugh Grant singing 80's cheesy pop, Ashton Kutcher in a film I can't actually remember so I suggest you don't pick that because clearly it wasn't very good, or lots of mini stories put together that are all about New Year's Eve?"

"Oh, so sort of like 'Love Actually'? That had lots of different stories in it, right? Except that was about Christmas," Santana asked.

Mia nodded, "Yeah, but it's not as good."

"That's because 'Love Actually' is amazing," Brittany said very enthusiastically, "God I love that film so much."

"I'll admit that one wasn't unbearable," Santana shrugged, "We'll go with 'New Year's Eve' then. I don't think I'm ready to hear Hugh Grant singing 80's pop. Thanks, Mia. Your help is appreciated. If the film is terrible I'm going to blame you."

"You promised not to complain, Santana!" Brittany smirked, "You're going to love it."

Mia laughed, "Have fun guys!"

As soon as Mia was out of earshot, Brittany turned to her friend, "I'm glad things between you two are alright. I know you were a bit worried."

"Yeah, I was worried it would be awkward but I think it's going to be ok. I mean, I don't expect us to be best buddies or anything, or hang out like we did, but it's definitely not a bad start."

Santana rolled her eyes, holding back what felt like the hundredth insult she'd thought of during the film so far, and it hadn't even been on for long. Seriously though if they use the phrase 'ball drop' again I don't think I'll be able to stop myself. Damn, why did I pick a film about New Year's Eve? Rookie error, Santana.

Brittany was laid by the side of her, both girls on their stomachs, staring intently at the TV screen. Santana distracted herself from blurting out negative comments by making up extra dialogue for the characters in her mind. At the moment some girl (who was actually pretty attractive) was stuck in an elevator with Ashton Kutcher's character, who was called Randy. I have too much I could say about this guy's name. God, this film is fucking killing me. I swear Britt did this on purpose. This is just like that episode of Friends where Chandler isn't allowed to make any jokes…

"So that girl is a back up singer for Jon Bon Jovi?" Santana asked sceptically, trying to figure out how all the separate stories in this film were going to come together.

Brittany nodded, still munching a handful of peanut m&m's, "Yep. You hear her sing later, she's really good actually."

Even though Santana couldn't have cared less what the character's occupation was, or whether she was going to sing later on, she was enjoying spending time with Brittany. It felt like it had been a while since they had spent time just hanging out together, and Santana knew that was on her.

Over the last couple of days Santana had sensed that something was going on that Brittany wasn't telling her about. She didn't want to force it out of her, but she certainly didn't want her friend to feel like she couldn't tell her. After all, Brittany had been there for Santana countless times since they'd met in September and it was probably time for Santana to return the favour.

"Hey, Britt?" She asked, "Just so you know, if there's anything you ever want to talk to me about I'll always listen."

Brittany pressed pause on the remote and turned her head so she was looking at Santana, "It's not like you to get all serious. I hope you're not just trying to avoid watching the film, because you've been really good at not being negative so far."

Santana laughed, "No, I'm not just trying to avoid watching it. I just… I just want you to know you can talk to me. If there's anything going on that you would need to talk about of course. Not that I'm saying there is of course. But hypothetically, if there was, you could definitely talk to me."

Brittany narrowed her eyes, "You're so bad at this, you know that? You'd be like the world's worst ninja. If you think something's wrong you are allowed to just ask me."

"Excuse me! I would make an amazing ninja!"

Brittany snorted, "No you wouldn't! You suck at hiding your emotions or being sly. And a ninja contains their anger and has to be all calm and collected. You, Sannie, are not calm and collected. Do you remember that guy in the cafeteria the other day?"

"Oh come on!" Santana suddenly sat up on the bed, throwing her arms up, "He was taking like 5 hours to choose his food! Nobody gets me between me and my food, not for that long, especially when there's pizza involved. Besides, I only told him to hurry up."

Brittany's eyes widened, "Santana, you told him if he didn't make his mind up in 5 seconds you were going to grab hot sauce and shove a spoon-"

"Ok, ok. I get the picture. Sometimes I gets a little ragey. You know, that was nothing, I'm way better at controlling my crazy now. You should've met me in high school because that dude got nothing compared to the time I went all loco at the waitress in Breadstix. No one should get between me and Italian carbohydrates." Santana shrugged, "Anyway, Miss Topic Changer, I feel like there's something going on with you that's all."

Brittany twisted her mouth into what Santana immediately recognised as her embarrassed face, a sure sign that something serious was on her mind, "Yeah…"

"What's up? I mean, obviously you don't have to tell me."

Brittany wriggled on the bed, getting herself comfortable. That was Santana's second inkling that whatever Brittany was going to say was serious, "Well… You've got to promise not to laugh at me."

"Pinky promise," Santana said, holding out her little finger towards Brittany who gripped it with hers.

"Ok, so, Mike and I… We… You know we've been taking things pretty slowly, right?"

Santana nodded, "Yeah."

"Well, after New Year's we kinda decided to… y'know."

"Have sex? There's nothing wrong with that. It's not like you're a virgin."

"No I know. It's just… This is Mike and we were friends for so long and we didn't want to rush things."

"I get that," Santana smiled, "So, what's the problem?"

"It got… sort of weird."

Santana thought about making some sort of joke about how sex involving a penis was always weird, but she knew that Brittany did not need her jokes right now, however hilarious they might be, "Weird how?"

"I don't know. It's just, one minute we were kissing and then the next we could both tell it was building up into something more and neither of us stopped like we had before, which I thought was ok. But then… it… something didn't…" Brittany sighed, "I don't know, Santana. Something didn't feel right and it was probably the most awkward moment I've ever had in my life because you know, we were both almost naked-"

"Hang on. So did you have sex or not?"

"Not." Brittany paused, "Every time one of us tried to make a move that took things further it just got a bit awkward. It was like there was this line… I can't even describe it. It was so obvious neither of us was feeling it. We ended up stopping and then sort of awkwardly cuddling for a while before I made a really lame excuse and left."

"Oh."

"Yeah… Exactly."

Santana thought for a moment, "Have you talked about it since?"

"Not really. We've not seen each other much since we got back to San Diego and when we have we've sort of hung out as a group with Puck."

Santana wasn't exactly sure what to say, she'd never had any real problems in bed before and certainly hadn't had any issues with sex not feeling right, "I mean… It doesn't have to be a big deal. Maybe neither of you were in the mood or something. Or, maybe you just need to wait a little while longer, until the timing's right."

Brittany shrugged, "Maybe… I don't know, Santana."

"You can't avoid each other forever, you know."

Brittany sighed and rolled onto her back, knocking over the bag of peanut m&m's as she did. She groaned as she saw the multi-coloured balls scatter all over the bed, most of them rolling off onto the floor and veering off in different directions, "Stupid m&m's, being all round and rollable."

Santana smiled softly and lay down beside her friend, "We can have fun finding them for weeks to come. It'll be like a chocolatey surprise each time."

"Sounds like the best kind of surprise."

"Do you promise me you'll talk to him? Because even if this all turns out to be nothing, right now it's something and it's stopping the two of you from speaking and that's not cool. You guys have been in each other's lives since you were the size of smurfs."

Brittany nodded, "I know. You're right. I promise I'll talk to him. We're both pretty good at avoiding things."

"And if you want to talk about anything I'm here to listen."

"I know, Sannie. Thanks." Brittany leaned over and hugged her friend, "Sorry to put a downer on things."

"What? Don't be ridiculous, Britt!"

"It's true though. Things with Quinn are finally ok, and when I say finally I really mean my-god-how-long-did-I-seriously-have-to-wait-for-t he-two-of-you-to-finally-get-it-together-because-i t-was-a-little-absurd." Brittany ignored Santana glaring at her because honestly it wasn't even a proper glare, and the lack of conviction behind it was kind of adorable, "And things with Mia seem to be going well too! When we talked to her earlier it wasn't awkward or anything. So yeah, everything's actually really good but then I flew in with my awkward non-sex and ruined the happy times."

"Firstly, be quiet. Secondly, it's really fine. God knows you've had to deal with enough of my shit over the past few months-"

"Drama Queen," Brittany coughed.

Santana playfully hit her friend's arm, "Shush. Anyway, just because things with Quinn and Mia are going well, it doesn't mean you've ruined anything. Goober."

"To be fair, it would be pretty dull if everything was going well. I don't think we'd know how to cope. It's crazy enough that Quinn and Mia aren't causing any drama, it'd be too much to handle if I was drama-free too. We can't have three of the ladies in your life making things easy," Brittany joked.

"Precisely," Santana said, discovering a green m&m that had managed to get lost in the creases of the bed cover, "Besides, Britt, two out of three ain't bad."