Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"

A/N: Well this is it. We come now to the end of the story or at least the end for now. I want to thank everyone who has read along and thank you for being patient when I sometimes went for long stretches without updating. Thank you to all those of you who clicked the Favorite/Alert buttons, big thanks go to those of you who reviewed, really big thanks go to amante3456 and BNGwarrior for being very persistent reviewers, and mega-ultra-huge thanks (I'm starting to sound like Brittany now) goes to boredsenseless2 for writing my very first review for this story and consistently coming back. Thank you all so much.

Epilogue

Fast Forward

June 2010

Brittany: How's Asian Camp, Boo?

Tina: Eh, boring. I'm supposed to be getting all these kids to interact with each other and appreciate the arts, but I'm texting just as much as them. Miss you.

Brittany: Miss u 2.

Tina: I know we were supposed to be spending some time apart, but this was a bad idea. Mike keeps flirting with me, keeps showing me his abs.

Tina: Don't worry it just makes me miss you more.

Brittany: Aw, Boo. I luv u. is there nething I can do 2 make it better?

Tina: Love you too. Can you text me sexy pics?

Brittany: Totally! :D

"So Q's gone all nerdcore living with Tron…"

"San, be nice," Brittany interrupted.

The Latina huffed and said, "Fine. Quinn's embraced her inner sci-fi geek and isn't coming back to Cheerios next year, so I've got to recruit a new flyer before Cheer Camp next month."

"A flyer would be one of the girls that are thrown in the air to do the splits and such?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah, they have to be on the small side, usually no more than 110 pounds, athletic, flexible."

"Do you have any prospects?"

"Yeah, I'm looking at her."

"Me?" Rachel asked. "Why would you think I would want to do it?"

"Because you'd be a Cheerio, no one would harass you ever again. No slushies, no insulting nicknames, no being berated."

"As my girlfriend, shouldn't you stop them from doing that?"

"I'll call them off," Santana said, "of course, but there's no guarantee that everyone will listen. I'll rain down hell on anyone that messes with you but that may not stop them from trying. If you're a Cheerio, you're untouchable. Period."

"Plus you'd look super hot in a Cheerios uniform," Brittany added. "The skirts would totally show off you're crazy hot legs."

"There is that, too," Santana said with a smile. "Plus, y'know, we'd get to shower together four days a week, plenty of opportunities for you to get yourself an eyeful of this… or a handful or a mouthful when we inevitably progress to that stage." Santana's smile had morphed into a devilish grin.

"Santana, have you been watching The Godfather, again?" Rachel asked.

"No, why?"

"You seem particularly adept at making offers I cannot refuse," Rachel smiled before clarifying, "Joining the Cheerios, I mean, not the 'getting a mouthful' part."

July 2010

"Santana Lopez, put your shirt back on! My fathers are just upstairs!"

"Relax, Rach. I'm not trying anything. I was just gonna ask what you would think if I, y'know, got implants."

"Breast implants?"

"No, dork. I want those weird horn things that Lady Gaga has. I just took my shirt off to get you all juicy. Yes, breast implants."

"Santana, you have the most breathtakingly perfect body I've ever seen. Why on earth you would ever want to or think that you need to modify it in any way is completely beyond me. Why look at that, you're breasts fill my hands perfectly."

"Damn, Rach."

"Any bigger and I risk undue strain on and potential damage to my metacarpals, and you know what that means?"

"At the moment I'm having a little bit of trouble focusing…"

"It means I wouldn't be able to do this as often as I'd like to, this as well as other things that require my fingers."

"Anyone ever tell you that you can be very convincing when you want to be?"

"Yes, most everyone, in fact, now put your shirt back on before I lose all control and do something to really embarrass us."

August 2010

"Rachel Barbara Berry, you heart breaker, you," Tina said in a teasing tone, "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.

"Well, after walking around like a ghost for three weeks and then ditching out of Glee Club for the last two weeks, Matt Rutherford has transferred schools to escape the heartbreaking of losing you," Tina said.

"Tina, don't be ridiculous. I'm sure it had nothing to do with that," Rachel said defiantly, but her face fell. "God, I hope I had nothing to do with it."

X X X X X

"You sent her where?" Santana shouted into her phone.

"I know I screwed up on an epic scale," Rachel responded quickly, "Can you just help me find her before she leaves campus? I will owe you so very much for this."

"As always, Superstar, you owe me shit, but you'll owe Sunshine's ass one huge ass fucking apology. That girl is seriously smaller than even you, she could be raped or killed or both."

"It's an inactive crack house, Santana."

"Oh, because crack heads are so notoriously dependable in their squatting habits that a high school Junior knows where they will and won't be on any given night?"

"Damnit!" Rachel never cussed, so she was definitely upset with herself. "Please find her, Santana. Do whatever you have to do. Threaten people, scare people. Whatever must be done, I'll live with that emotional guilt far better than the alternative."

"Calm your sexy tits, Superstar. I've got eyes on our little ray of light."

September 2010

"Artie?" She asked tentatively.

"What's up, Sunshine?" the boy said cheerfully

"I was just wondering if you wanted to be my duet partner," Sunshine asked returning his smile. "Tina and Brittany said you were the best rapper in the group and I've kinda always wanted to do a rap song."

"Mmmm, I dunno. You got flow, Girl? Cuz I got a reputation to be upholdin round he-ah!"

"I… probably not," she said the smile quickly disappearing. "I'm sorry. I'll go."

Artie grabbed her hand as she was turning to leave. "Hey, I'm sorry. That was… when I talk all gangster like that, Quinn calls it my 'MC Artie' voice. It just means I'm being silly talkin a bunch of mess. I forgot you didn't know that. I'm sorry. I don't really know how to talk to girls."

Her smile returned instantly, "That's okay. I'm just starting to figure out how to talk to anybody. So can we be partners?"

"Sure," Artie replied quickly, "and we can do whatever you want. I don't care if we win or not. I'm not that big a fan of pasta."

"We can celebrate at my house win or lose. Have you ever had Filipino food?"

"Can't say as I have."

"Good, then you won't know how terrible mine is," Sunshine said with a big goofy grin.

Artie laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. "Did you have a song in mind?"

"Sure," she replied, "Do you know 'Like a G6'?"

X X X X X

"Okay, Sam, word to the wise," Quinn said as she helped the boy clean the slushie out of his hair, "if you're trying to flirt with me, which you clearly are, speaking Na'vi to me isn't the way to go. You'll only remind me of Artie."

"Artie? The guy in the wheelchair?" Quinn nodded. "I'm sorry, is he like your ex or something?"

"Heh, no. He's my brother."

"Really?" he questioned. "You guys look nothing alike."

"Well, I'm adopted, but we're still family."

"That's cool. So do you have a duet partner yet?"

November 2010

"Hey! Karofsky, you fucking closet case! You like picking on gay kids that are smaller than you? Well, I'm gay and smaller than you. Whachu got muthafucker?" When Santana's fist connected with the boy's face she could feel her ring finger break and she couldn't give a shit less. Santana Lopez gets hers backs.

Later in the nurse's office Rachel said, "That was hardly the most traditional method of coming out to the whole school."

"Fuck tradition!" Santana replied.

"Can we hold hands in the hallways now?"

Santana held the splinted finger on her right hand, "Long as you keep to my left."

X X X X X

After Burt Hummel and Carol Hudson had exchanged their vows, as the Glee Club was on their way to the reception, Brittany looked at Tina and said, "This has been like the most super fun wedding I've ever been to. Our wedding has to be even funner. I've got like so many ideas. I want our whole wedding to be like a concert. Do you think there's like a singing minister? I mean, if there is, he's totally gotta be in New York, right? It's like Mecca for crazy-awesome people."

"Gay marriage isn't legal in New York, Baby."

"It totally will be. I'm sure."

Tina just smiled at her, "What makes you think so?"

"Cuz it's New York," Brittany said simply, "after San Francisco it's totally like gay heaven, right? So can we? Singing minister and we sing our vows to each other, dancing up and down the aisle?"

"Baby, when have I ever said no to you?"

Brittany smiled, "Totally never."

December 2010

When Brittany missed lunch, Tina just assumed that she was busy rehearsing her dance number at Sectionals with Mike, but sixth period Mike said he hadn't seen her, and when she wasn't in Glee everyone started to worry. Santana called Brittany's parents. Rachel called her father at the hospital, when that yielded nothing Tina, in a blind panic, took off racing through the halls. The rest of the club followed suit, although less out of control.

From Artie: Found her. 3rd floor, science lab

Tina never climbed two flights of stairs so fast in her life. She raced past Artie hollering thanks back to him as she went. She found Brittany standing with her face in the corner of the room. "Baby, are you okay? What are you doing in here?"

"I'm paralyzed by fear," Brittany said finally turning around, her body rigid and tense, "I've been here since fourth period and I really, really have to pee."

"Baby," Tina said wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's waist, "what's wrong? What are you afraid of? You know you can tell me anything."

"I can't handle the pressure. I can't have whether we win or lose on my shoulders."

"Baby, we all know you can do it…"

"But I know that I can't."

Tina kissed Brittany on the temple and whispered, "You can. We're gonna win Sectionals and I'll tell you why, because we have magic on our side."

"You have a magic charm?" Brittany asked excitedly.

"I do, Baby, and it's you. You are the most amazing thing on two legs. When I watch you dance, honey, you… you take my breath away and make me weak in the knees. I watch you move and you do things that seem almost like they defy the laws of physics. You do things that I've never seen anyone do. When Mr. Schuester said that you and Mike were going to be featured performers, I was so happy because there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to win because no one can do what you do, and with Mike backing you up and Santana singing, forget about it. Kurt's boyfriend and his boy band don't stand a chance."

"I think you're magic, too, Boo. You totally have magic words that always make me feel like a million times better."

X X X X X

"So whadja think?"

"Of your performance? Well, being 100% honest, I was a little jealous…"

"Fucking, of course, you were…"

"Tana, I being honest here. I was a little jealous, but far more than that I was very proud of you for giving such a superlative performance. I was also very, very turned on by your incredibly sexy voice, and oddly enough I found myself wishing that my name was Valarie."

"Hey, Rae?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"You… really?"

"Really, but don't think you aren't gonna pay for that little swat on the ass, later."

"As you are already aware, I love you, too. And could I possibly pay for it sooner?"

"Only if we can find a secluded spot that isn't already occupied by our best lesbi-friends. You know how Tina gets watching Brittany dance."

January 2011

When Coach Sylvester wanted to fire Brittany out of a canon for the Cheerleading Regionals, Rachel had immediately called her Uncle James once again and filed an injunction against her cheer coach. When Sue had demanded they pick either Glee Club or Cheerios and "stop wasting time with things that don't matter," not a one of them had hesitated for even a second to choose Glee. The three girls marched into Sylvester's office. Santana dropped a stack of Cheerios uniforms on the coach's desk. Rachel handed her three freshly printed pieces of paper.

"What's all this then?" asked Sue.

Rachel said, "These are our official letters of resignation from the Cheerios, signed and dated."

"And these," Santana said indicating the clothes, "are all of our uniforms. If they smell, it's because I had sex with Rachel on top of them and this little girl cums like a rocket."

"Santana, that's private!" she chastened her girlfriend, "but also true," she directed at Coach. Without another word, Rachel and Santana turned and left the room. Brittany stood and stared, waiting for her coach to turn into her step-mother.

"You wanted to fire me out of a canon?"

"No, sweetheart, of course I didn't want to fire you out of a canon. Like I already said, I wanted you to stop wasting time with things that don't matter… to you, and now you have. Juilliard isn't impressed by Cheerleading trophies. Show Choir National Championships on the other hand…"

X X X X X

When the non-Glee members of the football team refused to dress out for the championship game and Rachel struck on the idea of the Glee girls playing, Santana only had one problem with her girlfriend's plan: "Do what you want, Superstar, but I ain't layin down for shit!" And she didn't. In formation she talked so much trash that the players on the other team would miss calls and run the wrong plays. With McKinley on defense for the first drive, the other team was near to scoring, so she talked dirty to the center so that he missed the call for the snap and when he finally did Santana faked an orgasm and the QB missed the ball entirely. Sam and Puck punched a hole in their offensive line and Brittany, graceful as a gazelle and could run a 4.4 40 like it was nothing, had the ball a second later and was in the endzone 20 seconds after that, her first of many trips there.

Never one to be outdone, Rachel had gone into heavy research mode on football in the days before the game and while in formation she would critique the opposing team members' three-point stances, questioned the wisdom of being in the nickel formation, and absolutely everything else all the way down to the brand of cleats they wore. The football players reacted to this about like one would think they would, drawing over 100 yards in Encroachment and False Start penalties trying to shut the tiny girl up. Mercedes, a professional trash talker, needed no encouragement to engage in one of her favorite activities. Tina had her blood red contacts in; she talked to no one and said nothing, just stared at people until they freaked out. It worked. Quinn, with her natural aptitude for strategy honed to a razor's edge during her time under Sue Sylvester, quickly began reading the other team like it was a children's story and effectively took over as team captain on defense. Lauren, a two time wrestling state champion, was having a grand time putting linebackers and linesmen down for the count on nearly every play. Kurt flirted with and smiled brightly at every homophobe that lined up opposite him, enough to throw them off their game, and when called upon retook his old position as kicker, Single Ladies dance and all.

At halftime they were up by 10 and when Puck found the rest of the team in the locker room, he just simply said, "You assholes either get into make-up for the halftime show or get the fuck out of my locker room. We're gonna win this thing with or without you, and if it's without you, I'm gonna make sure you names aren't on the plaque they hang in the trophy case. It's gonna have a bunch of girls names on it and beneath that I'm gonna post another plaque that says, 'Pussies Who Refused To Dress for the Championship Game' and that's gonna be your legacy at this school." The boys dressed but they didn't all make it back into the game. McKinley won in a slaughter. Brittany broke the state record for receiving yards and was named MVP.

February 2011

It was Valentine's Week in Glee and they were supposed to sing love songs and Santana had an itch to sing a little more Michael Jackson after the halftime show a couple weeks ago, so she enlisted Brittany's help and Friday they walked into the choir room in matching fedoras, white t-shirts, unbuttoned blue over shirts, black pants, white socks, and black shoes and struck a pose. The band hit the music and Santana danced and pointed at Rachel and sang, "Hey pretty baby with your high heels on, you give me fever like I've never, ever known." Then Brittany mirrored Santana's motions perfectly, pointing at Tina and singing, "You're just a product of loveliness. I like the groove of your walk, your talk, your dress." Then both girls together, "I feel your fever from miles around. I'll pick you up in my car and we'll paint the town. Just kiss me baby and tell me twice that you're the one for me! The way you make me feel…"

On the 23rd, one year to the day after they first roamed the halls of McKinley, Princess Mariposa and Puppy made their triumphant return to school, this time accompanied by their friends Lady Barbara and Luna. For Glee that day, Tina broke out the violin once again and they performed the very creepy "Venus in Furs" by Velvet Underground. Azimio Adams transferred schools the next day.

March 2011

"Hey, Superstar," Santana said sheepishly. Rachel looked at her in the mirror but didn't speak. "I… I really liked your song."

"I wrote it for you," Rachel replied softly. "I know that we fight all the time and I know that's not normal, but I also know that I love you and I don't want to be without you, so I'm going to keep trying at this until I… until we get it right."

Santana closed the gap between them and wrapped Rachel up from behind in her arms. She rested her chin on Rachel's shoulder and leaned her head against her girlfriend's. Softly she said, "Te amo, mi estrella, para siempre jamàs."

April 2011

When Finn accidentally broke Rachel's nose during Mr. Schuester's Booty Camp, it took nearly the entire Glee Club to pull Santana off of him. When Rachel came to school the next day carrying brochures about her hypothetical nose job, the fight between her and Santana was so loud and so epically long that literally no one at McKinley didn't hear at least part of it. When Santana accidentally overheard Rachel ask Brittany to come along to her appointment at the plastic surgeon as a reference to what kind of nose she might want, Santana knew what was eating at Rachel and when Mr. Schuester gave them their assignment for the "Born This Way" performance and the t-shirts about things they had struggled or were struggling to accept about themselves, she knew what she had to do to make it right.

Santana had made her feelings clear to Rachel before, but never publicly. She had told Rachel when they got together that she wasn't 100% okay with herself for being gay and Rachel had learned quickly that pushing Santana to be okay only resulted in bigger and louder fights, so she had quit, but sometime in the intervening months, Santana had accepted herself; she wasn't sure when, but it had happened. She told herself that it wasn't that big of a revelation anyway. The club knew they were together, they just didn't know this about them. They may have suspected… That's not to say that what she was going to do didn't scare the shit out of her; it did, but she'd be damned before she let anyone see that.

So with Rachel watching in the empty auditorium still nursing her healing nose, the Glee Club sang Lady Gaga and when the time came, Santana practically ripped her jacket off, flinging it aside, and proudly displaying to the world (or at least to the Glee Club) her white t-shirt with black letters that said "In Love With Rachel Berry" on the front, and "And Her Nose!" on the back. The look of stunned surprise on Rachel's face and the beautiful smile and happy tears that replaced it were worth every second of fear and trepidation Santana had felt.

May 2011

When Jesse St. James showed back up at McKinley looking to make amends and win Rachel back he found the girl rehearsing Adele's version of "Make You Feel My Love" so he thought he'd join in as a way breaking the ice. When he did, Santana thought she'd kick Jesse in the sternum as a way of breaking ribs, while shouting, "My duet! My girlfriend!" over and over. Rachel was forced to tackle Santana to keep her from killing the boy, subduing her with kisses long enough for Jesse to crawl away.

Amazingly, this wasn't enough of a message for Jesse. He paid Kristi Fredricks to take him to the Junior Prom. Rachel found out about it a day ahead of time and begged everyone to not get into any trouble with him. Santana agreed only after threat of Rachel cutting her off. At the dance, Jesse, still with stitches in his face, asked Rachel to dance at nearly every turn. Finally, she took to the microphone for her turn to sing. "I was going to sing this anyway, but since you refuse to take a hint… even when that hint breaks three of your ribs and two of your fingers… this song is dedicated to you, Jesse St. James. I know I can't take one more step towards you cause all that's waiting is regret. Don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore? You lost the love I loved the most. I learned to live haaaalf a life and now you want me one more time. Well who do you think you are running round leaving scars, collecting your jar of hearts, and tearing love apart? You're gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul. So don't you come back for me. Who you think you are?"

May 2012

The 25th was the last day of Glee for the class of 2012. They'd won Nationals for the second straight year last Saturday. The week had been dedicated to the seniors saying their goodbyes. Finn, Artie, and Mike had sung "End of the Road" by Boys II Men. Puck had sung Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day. Tina and Brittany who had spent the last two months worried they were going to wind up separated when Tina was waitlisted for NYU, her first choice, but she had just been accepted into City College's Art Program. Brittany was, of course, a shoe-in for Juilliard.

The girls were thrilled to be going to school in New York together, but they were concerned about the future since they would be spending far less time together than they had over the last two years. They decided that their song wouldn't be a goodbye song but a duet sang to each other to reassure themselves that they would weather the coming changes and since the music of Alicia Keys had been so prominent in the development of their relationship, they chose to sing "If I Ain't Got You" and both girls had independently come up with plans for a surprise for the other during the song.

While neither girl was quiet as powerful a singer as Alicia they acquitted themselves quiet well in their performance. Brittany put her surprise into motion first. When Tina turned away from her as part of the choreography, Santana threw a small box to Brittany who caught it, opened it to expose the diamond engagement ring inside, and quickly knelt down on one knee, all the while still singing the song. When Tina turned back around her breath caught in her throat and she smiled a huge smile.

"Tina, I've wanted to do this every day for two years. You are my everything. You are my forever. You make me so super happy. I love you so much. Every day for two years, I've woken up happy because I had you. I haven't wanted anything more… well, y'know, cept for this. Tina, my sweet Boo, will you marry me?"

Tina, with a big beautiful smile on her face and tears streaming freely down her face, didn't answer. Instead she walked over to Artie with her hand out. He handed her a similar looking box. Artie got to be the guardian of Brittany's ring because Tina knew Rachel would never be able to keep her excitement in check about this and she would ruin the surprise. Tina took it and walked back over to Brittany. "I guess I know the answer to this, but…" Tina likewise got down on one knee, opened the box, and said, "Before I met you I never felt content in my life. I always felt not quite right. Then you joined Glee Club and we were friends and that was awesome, but it wasn't enough. There was still something missing. Then when you kissed me that first time in the costume shop, I knew I never wanted anyone else to kiss me. I knew what was missing. There was a big Brittany-shaped hole in my heart, and you jumped right in and filled it perfectly. Brittany, I want to fall asleep in your arms every night and wake up in them every morning, because here, with you, I feel safe and loved and whole like I never do anywhere else. Brittany Susan Pierce, my pretty Baby, I love you and cherish everything we have ever shared. Please do me the honor of taking this ring and making me the happiest woman in the world. Will you marry me?"

A/N: I do have some ideas about how I might pick this story or at least these characters back up some day but for now it/they are retired as I want to focus on my other story (shameless plug) that you should all go read. It's called "By Chance or As Fate Would Have It"