With a smile on her face, Santana took a cab home that night. As usual, she found Quinn working on the couch and as usual, they both ended up in front of the TV with a big plate of food. She felt strangely calm, no nagging thoughts in the back of her mind. In spite of this morning, today had been a good day. She told Quinn about Brittany and she was instantly skeptical. Quinn was all for Santana making new friends, but she was very protective over her roommate, and she had every reason to be. Maybe she overreacted sometimes, but it was better than not seeing the signs before something happened. Being Santana's friend was hard. It was exhausting and stressful. But she wouldn't change it for the world, she was her best friend and she always had been. They relied on each other.

As usual, Quinn stayed awake for another hour after Santana had gone to bed...just to make sure. It was not until she heard the soft snores from Santana's room that she dared to go to sleep.

The bus ride into work was surprisingly smooth, which left Santana in a good mood as her headphones blasted Fleetwood Mac loud enough to deafen her. She had been at her job for a week now, and she was slowly but surely getting used to it. Sure, this wasn't what she pictured here life would be like at 25, but right now she didn't mind it. As a kid, she always thought she would make it big instantly, that she would become a successful lawyer directly after college and that everything would go exactly according to plan. Boy, was she wrong. She had managed to graduate with her sanity still somewhat intact, but for the past year, she had been painfully unemployed and living with Quinn in an apartment that her father paid for. But she was ready to change that, she just needed a push. This wasn't law, it wasn't much of anything really, but at least it was a job. A step in the right direction. Maybe her dad cutting her off was exactly what she needed. She was trying this time, truly trying. Fighting the urges of falling into old patterns.

Brittany heard the shouts before she even entered the office. She walked in just to find a crowd gathered around a woman named Rachel's desk. Rachel was okay, she always went on and on about how she was gonna make it big on Broadway but Brittany didn't really mind it. Although she was a bit annoying, the girl could sing!

Brittany made her way towards the crowd and found a very angry Rachel yelling at Santana who was struggling to hold in her laughter. Office pranks were a big thing at The Pages, everyone loved them, well… everyone except for Rachel. Luckily for the rest of the office, she was always the main target and always ended up providing some type of entertainment. This time, Rachel's desk had shrunk. Okay okay, it hadn't shrunk… it had been replaced with a small plastic desk that looked like it was for a toddler, which was oddly fitting. Santana had been making countless comments about Rachel's height and style for the past week, and judging by the death stares Rachel was sending her way, Santana was the main suspect.

"I told you like a million times. I didn't do it!"

"Yes, you did!"

"Okay hobbit, let me spell this out for you. I did not do it" Even though she was being threatened by a dwarf, Santana found this whole situation hilarious. "Now walk away!"

Everybody looked on as Rachel stormed towards the exit and slammed the door behind her.

"What are you even looking at? Go!" Santana turned to the rest of the group, not exactly appreciating the audience. The group spread out but Santana remained in the same place, staring at Rachel's new desk with a smirk on her face.

She turned around and was faced with the blonde who had not taken her threat too seriously. Brittany just smiled at her and shook her head. As if Santana could read her mind, she spoke up.

"I didn't do it"

"Then why are you laughing?" Brittany answered, heavily amused.

"Because whoever did this is a fucking genius! I'm so pissed I didn't think of this" Brittany just laughed at the ridiculousness of her new friend. Wait, were they friends? It sure seemed like it. The last few days the two of them had gone out to lunch together to a little cafe down the road. It was easily the highlight of her day. Turns out that when Santana wasn't threatening customers or yelling in Spanish, she was really pleasant to talk to. Her friend Tina from accounting often complained about Santana's outbursts but Brittany didn't really see the issue, Santana stood up for herself and she admired that.

"It was probably Sam"

"Fucking trouty-mouth stealing my spotlight" Brittany laughed at Santanas weirdly accurate nickname for Sam and prepared herself for a long day.

Santana had always hated lunch. Well not the meal so much, more the entire setting. She hated that she felt forced to sit and make small talk with people she didn't even wanna talk to anyways, whether it was in school or at work. Thankfully she had managed to solve that and was now a regular at the little café down the street, although she would rather go alone, Brittany tagging along didn't bug her as much as she thought it would. Making friends had always been hard for Santana, asking the same old questions until you run out of stuff to talk about. But it wasn't like that with Brittany. With Brittany it was easy. And if there ever was a moment of silence between the two, it was never awkward. Santana truly didn't know why she had felt so much hatred towards the woman before, Brittany made it so hard for anyone to dislike her.

"I got you an espresso," Brittany said and handed the cup to the other woman while sitting down opposite of her.

"Thanks," Santana smiled.

The two women were tucked away in the corner of the ill-lit café, just like they had been for the past few days.

"Oh my god, this is so much better than the coffee at the office. I'm never going back." Santana said as she took a sip.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you! All that tea can't be healthy for you anyways"

"Yes, yes I know. I made a deal with Quinn though, she's such a health freak and keeps going on and on about how my heart will stop if I don't chill with my coffee intake" Santana explained.

"Quinn?"

"Oh yeah, she's my roommate. I've known her since we were like... I don't know, seven?"

"Ugh I miss being seven"

"What, why? Seven was a terrible age"

"I don't know, I just really miss being a kid. Life was easier back then"

"I'm gonna have to disagree with you blondie, I hated everyone and everyone hated me," Santana said to which Brittany laughed.

"I find that hard to believe"

"Why?"

"I mean, you're just so cute and small. You must have been adorable as a kid" Brittany answered and nearly choked on her coffee at the other woman's bluntness.

"Excuse me, I am not cute. You're looking at the HBIC of McKinley high in lima, baby" Santana said and pointed dramatically at herself, drawing the attention of a few other customers.

"Oh whatever, you're all soft"

"Well, you try getting mad at someone like you! It feels like I'm stabbing a panda or something."

"What can I say? It's the Pierce charm" Santana laughed and Brittany's statement and shook her head.

"Well, I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one" She answered and both women's eyes widened as they realized what she had said.

"Did you just…"

"No, I did not!"

"You totally did. You agreed with me, Lopez"

"Whatever, I take it-"

"Nope, you said it. No take backs!"

With Brittany, it was light and easy and Santana felt happy for the first time in a long while. The thing is, when you're at the top, the inevitable fall to the ground is so much further.