Two Years Later…

"Lopez, get off your ass. We got a call." Santana sat up on the couch from where she had been napping and rubbed her eyes. She looked over to see Puck staring at her dumbfoundedly. She held up her middle finger and slowly got up to stretch. She looked down at her watch and saw the time. It was Mrs. Mitchell's day of the week and she was just on time. Santana rolled her eyes at the thought.

About a year ago, when she was finally able to function semi-normally, she got a job as a paramedic. Puck had started a couple of months prior and requested that they work the same shifts together, much to Santana's discontentment. Santana didn't need another trigger but she figured Puck might also bring her comfort. This was the only thing she knew and she needed support and understanding on those days that weren't the easiest.

"You better hope the lady that's calling with chest pains isn't dying…" Puck yelled at her as she walked over to grab her uniform shirt to put on.

"Shut it Puckerman, I'm coming. And besides, it's Mrs. Mitchell. She only calls to squeeze some man ass once a week. Too bad you won't have more to give her…" Santana grabbed her phone from the side table next to the couch and walked out to the truck with Puck. Puck continued to give her a hard time on their ride there.

Santana had been to Mrs. Mitchell's many times before and always dreaded it. This was not because of anything to do with Mrs. Mitchell, but it was because of Brittany. Her studio was on the way and it always gave Santana a pit in her stomach.

Santana and Brittany weren't on bad terms, per say. They just weren't together, which was still something Santana couldn't get used to. Brittany had insisted they take time so that Santana could figure her stuff out but then when she was more stable, things had just grown too distant and Brittany seemed unattainable. They still co-parented and that was fine but Jacob was just about the only thing in this life that gave her joy.

Santana tuned out Puck's more than terrible singing and watched as they passed Brittany's studio. She was teaching a class in the front room. She looked out into the street to watch the ambulance pass and Santana's heart dropped. It seemed like the truck was moving in slow motion because she saw Brittany waving at her and she gave a small wave back.

Her body ached for Brittany in every way but she just didn't know what to do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"When is mama gonna come pick me up?" Jacob stared out of one of the studio windows and breathed heavily on the glass. He drew a smiley face and then turned around to Brittany. Brittany was using the computer behind the desk to work on her schedule and leaned over to answer Jacob.

"She should be here when she gets off of work, J. Why don't you go get your backpack from the back room?" Jacob wiped the window and walked off to the back to get his things.

Brittany slid back in her chair and slumped down. She was anxious about Santana coming by tonight. They did this every week but everything had felt more distant and awkward. It had never been awkward. It had always been easy, even when it was hard. But that was all before. Now they barely said three words to each other and she didn't see her again for another week. Brittany knew that something had to change but didn't know how to make it happen.

Just as Jacob was walking back up the hall, Santana walked in and the bell on the door rang. Brittany stood up quickly, taken off guard. Santana gave her a brief smile and turned to Jacob as he started running down the hall towards his mama. She opened her arms to accept him and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. Brittany wished it was her and missed the way it felt being held by her. Brittany walked over to Santana and gave her a smile back. Santana grabbed Jacob's backpack from him and played with his hair. "You ready to go kiddo?"

Jacob nodded eagerly and went to hug Brittany. Brittany kissed his forehead and told him to be good. Brittany then looked up and met eyes with Santana. "Do you mind if I walk you out?"

Santana responded, "Free country" and started walking out. Brittany sighed and grabbed her keys and bag before following them and locking up the studio. Jacob was getting settled in the car and Santana shut the door.

She turned around to face Brittany. She stood with her shoulders back and her hands in her pockets. Brittany could see that she was tired but she still looked beautiful as ever. "How many 24s have you worked this week?"

"Are you trying to tell me I look tired?" Santana smirked and crossed her arms in front of her.

"No, you look great, I just worry about you." Brittany tried to play it off, not wanting to insult her.

"I'm fine, Brittany. I worked an extra this week to help the station out, no biggie. Now I have an extra day with J." Santana dropped her arms and stared at her feet.

Brittany knew that she was trying to be defensive but it wasn't working because she knew Brittany really did care. "What did you want, Brittany?"

Santana looked up at her and waited for an answer. Brittany took a deep breath before answering. "I…I…I don't know…" Brittany knew that she should tell Santana what she wanted but the way Santana was looking at her made her even more anxious.

"Britt…" Brittany's heart raced at her nickname. She looked back up at Santana, who had a desperate look in her eye.

"I don't know what to do with us, Santana. I want to talk about it." Santana put her hands in her pockets again and shook her head.

"What is there to talk about?" Santana waited for Brittany to answer. "I didn't know there was anything left to talk about…"

"Of course there is….we're us. There's always something, San." Brittany felt the lump in her throat.

"I'm sorry you haven't made that clearer to me." Santana opened her car door to get in and Brittany grabbed her arm.

"Please, Santana. Maybe we can have dinner and talk. I'd rather be just a friend than whatever is going on now." Brittany pleaded with Santana. This was the first time in weeks that they had gotten this far in a conversation. Brittany couldn't help but try.

Santana looked back at Jacob who was flipping through Santana's Hollywood magazine collection and shut the door to face Brittany.

"Okay, fine. I'll come over tomorrow at 6. I'll ask Puck to take J for a movie or something." Brittany beamed with happiness and touched Santana's forearm. She gave it a brief squeeze and mouthed thank you.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Santana nodded and reopened the car door.

"Goodnight Santana…" Brittany grabbed her bag from the ground and waved to her.

"Goodnight Britt" Santana waved back and drove off.

Brittany didn't know what was going to happen but knew that it was a step in the right direction. She knew that Santana's walls were up and she was going to have to fight harder than before to break them down again. But she was worth fighting for and she didn't know why it had taken her this long to gather the courage to do so.

Thank you all so much for reading! I know that it's been forever since I uploaded anything but I felt inspired and wanted to post something. I've received all your review and messages and I wanted to say that it meant the world to me that so many of you still care about this fic even after I've been on hiatus for so long. I do really care about this fic and want to finish it so do be patient with me. Once again, thank you guys and make sure to let me know what you think! I love reading your reviews!