This is the second part of a double update.

For this chapter I suggest the song Caution (Wasatch Style) by The Killers. When I heard it for the first time I got inspired to write this story.

Chapter 10 - Caution

Santana…

She kept her eyes on the knitting in her hands but she could literally feel Quinn's glare burning on her face.

"Santana what the hell?"

Santana rolled her eyes when Quinn forced her to make eye contact.

"What?" She snapped again. Maybe there was too much snapping from her side but she couldn't quite control it.

Quinn made a huffing noise.

"You can't just talk to Brittany like that for no reason." Quinn said half laughing, half serious. "What did she do wrong?"

Santana shrugged but then she realized that there was nothing that Brittany did wrong.

"I just…"

"You were being mean to her for no reason. Can you please go after her?"

Santana looked up at Quinn to see if she was serious.

She was serious.

"What? No-"

"Santana, you get up and apologize to Brittany right now, or I'll make you watch Pretty Woman with me twice in a row tonight."

"Why do you always get to pick the mov-"

"I'm pregnant. Hurry up now before she leaves!"

Santana quickly got up because the way Quinn said the last three words made her think that her friend was about to have another emotional outburst.

"Fine, I'll do it. But we haven't decided on the movie for tonight. You can't play the pregnancy card on each and everything…"

She made her way through the Fabray house rather slowly because she kind of hoped to miss Brittany that way. The blonde was probably already gone so Santana could apologize when they'd see each other at school. Maybe they'd have forgotten about it anyway till then…

When she opened the front door, she was surprised to find the girl she was looking for still there. She was fidgeting on the zipper of her jacket, her bicycle ready next to her.

Santana crossed her arms in front of her chest when she made a couple steps into the front yard. Brittany must have heard her coming over because she looked up and rolled her eyes hardly noticeable.

Santana saw it anyway.

She took a breath and focused on keeping her voice friendly this time.

"I'm sorry" She said and looked to the ground. When she didn't get an answer, she wondered if Brittany heard her. She glimpsed at the blonde who was now standing there with her arms crossed in front of her chest, too. Apparently her attempt wasn't enough so Santana continued.

"I didn't mean to snap at you… I guess I was a little upset that you were leaving so soon to be with Blaine. It's not in my place though. I know Quinn and I are not your only friends."

Santana hoped that Brittany would wave it off but she stood there with a look on her face that Santana didn't know, yet.

"I'm not spending time with Blaine so I don't have to be with you guys. You know that, right? I just like that I can do all the artsy stuff with him. I don't want to bother you and Quinn with my music and dancing all the time."

Santana nodded.

"I know."

"Then why did you snap? You really don't like Blaine at all?" Brittany wanted to know.

Santana shook her head.

"He's great. I… I just think it's unfair. To Quinn…" That wasn't exactly what Santana had planned to say. She hadn't planned to say anything of that matter in the first place.

"What? How come?"

Santana could feel her cheeks getting hotter. Why did she always talk before thinking? It should have been the other way. Always the other way.

"Well… Quinn's going to think it's because she's having a baby. Like… you're replacing her or something once it's there."

"Seriously?" Brittany questioned and caused Santana to shrug. She didn't know what to say anymore. After saying something stupid in the first place. She just nodded slightly, not quite believing herself, either.

When there was nothing else, Santana looked into Brittany's eyes once more. The blonde still had her arms crossed and her head slightly tilted to the side. But there was something new in her eyes. Something daring.

"Oh really…" She said lowly, definitely able to see right through her. This wasn't about the baby or anyone being replaced. Santana was jealous that Brittany was spending so much time with Blaine instead of them. Or her. Or whatever.

"Well… I'll head over to Blaine's now. Whether Quinn likes it or not. But we can hang out tomorrow. Or next week. Whenever you decide to be cool with everything."

Santana's jaw dropped at the way Brittany said it so bluntly. She watched how the blonde got on her bike and quickly drove off.

With a confused head Santana hurried back inside and grabbed her knitting after falling onto the couch in the living room.

That didn't go so smoothly. She was embarrassed.

With her heart still beating a little faster than usual, she tried to get back into her knitting process but weirdly she found herself having a hard time focussing this time. It wasn't a problem earlier so why now?

"Are you guys ok? Did you talk to her?" Quinn interrupted her thoughts. Santana let her eyes wander back to her friend.

She was sitting there with a tiny sock in her hand, an encouraging smile on her face and right in that moment, Santana thought that Quinn had never looked prettier. She had that glow that everyone always talked about when a woman got pregnant and Santana could see it now.

"Yes…" Santana mumbled. "Hey Quinn?" The blonde lifted her chin. "You know you're my best friend, right?"

The smirk on Quinn's face got a little bigger.

"Yeah. I know that."

Santana nodded satisfied. She already wanted to get back to working on her hat but Quinn's voice stopped her once more.

"If you want to hang out with her, you should ask her." Santana swallowed because she needed time to figure out what to answer. "If that's what you want."

Santana sucked on her bottom lip when her eyes locked with her friend's. She was honestly surprised that Quinn seemed to know. Luckily she went on.

"I'm not going to be able to do lots of stuff with you guys once the baby is here. Things are going to change anyway. You and Brittany are going to become closer and honestly… it's fine."

Santana felt a lump forming in her throat. On one hand because she had pushed that thought aside and on the other because she didn't know what to think about it.

Quinn chuckled.

"I'm glad someone is mixing up our friendship. We've become way too comfortable around each other and you know it." Santana couldn't help but laugh softly at the way Quinn raised her shoulders. "It's true."

Santana thought for a moment.

"No one could ever replace you." She really meant it. Quinn nodded in agreement.

"I know… that's why the term 'best friend' is already taken."

Santana chuckled at Quinn's words and then they both seemed to think about what that meant for a moment. Then they went back to knitting, silently agreeing that it was enough of the sentimental talk.

Santana knew that no one else could ever be her best friend. A close friend, yes. Someone she cared about a lot. But Quinn was the one she'd go to if there was ever something happening that you'd normally talk to you sister or your mom but you don't have them so you turn to your friend who's most likely to know advice.

The two of them continued to knit the baby clothes and later on they watched Pretty Woman twice in a row and ate way too many snacks.

It was everything Santana needed that night.

/

On the next day Santana did all the stuff at home that had to be done. Luckily she got help from her abuela so everything went a little faster than usual. They did the laundry, cleaned the bathroom, helped Iker with his homework and cooked Tony's favourite lunch because he brought home two good grades in a row. Abuela squeezed him tightly and since she was the only one who was allowed to do that, Santana grabbed their old camera to take a picture of them.

She knew she should have done that way more often but somehow she always forgot.

When her she and abuela were sitting on the porch to sip some tea later on, Santana wondered if maybe she should go over to Brittany's place. She still felt bad about how their afternoon had ended the other day and she also kind of wanted to do what Quinn suggested she could do.

She could just ask Brittany to hang out and do something. It was no big deal. Because Quinn was right… once the baby would be there, she'd have to stay at home all the time. It only made sense that she and Brittany would start hanging out just the two of them. They were already doing that during lunch at school but that was simple. They either talked to each other about school stuff or both sat there in silence minding their own business.

She didn't actually know that much about Brittany. She knew her mom was in prison and that she lived with her aunt but she didn't know her favourite flavour of ice cream or what kind of music she always listened to and maybe danced to. She had never seen her dance.

She hugged her abuela tightly when they said goodbye later. Tony and Iker were both inside watching some cartoons together with their dad. It was the one thing the three of them had in common. They liked cartoons.

Whenever their dad was sober and not somewhere out in town, they sat on the couch next to each other, watching silly cartoons. Santana sometimes felt like watching with them but then she'd get annoyed at the silliness of the storyline and just let them be.

It was the same that day. She stood next to the couch for maybe three minutes until she had already lost interest again. She told them that there was a lasagne in the fridge for dinner but she could have also told that to the wall. No one was listening.

So she grabbed her jacket and left. She took her bike and without thinking too much she drove all the way to Brittany's and her aunt's trailer.

She kind of liked it. She had only seen it two or three times but whenever she drove by she wondered what it looked like inside.

She parked her bike by a fence and quickly made her way to the door. After a short hesitation she knocked and waited.

Maybe Brittany wasn't even home because she had to work at the shop. Or maybe she was at Blaine's house… maybe her aunt would open the door and Santana wouldn't know what to say.

She already prepared herself for an answer in case the woman wanted to know why Santana was here and when the door did open, she got to look into friendly blue eyes. They weren't Patty Pierce's striking ones though. Santana realized that they definitely looked alike. Brittany and her aunt. It made her wonder what her mom looked like.

Brittany and her aunt had the same eyebrows and the same nose. They were probably about thirty years apart but they had the exact same blue eyes, too.

"Now that's a surprise" Brittany greeted her and seemed truly surprised. She was wearing a hoodie and of course her headphones around her neck. "Is everything ok with Quinn?"

Santana quickly nodded.

"Oh yeah. Everything's fine. I was – I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd stop by. I wanted to apologize about yesterday and… how was it? Did you have fun with Blaine and his brother?"

She wished she wasn't talking so fast but something about standing in front of Brittany, explaining, made her nervous.

Brittany seemed to think for a moment.

"Very much, yeah."

Santana blinked twice because she had hoped that Brittany would give a longer answer. It was already her turn to speak again. And explain. Because it was Saturday evening and she was standing in front of Brittany's home.

"Ok listen – I thought maybe… well maybe in case you weren't doing anything right now – I'm sure you were doing something but maybe you wanted to… hang out."

Brittany's eyebrows went up at that. Santana felt very insecure for a second.

"You mean… just the two of us?"

Then the second passed.

"Why? … Does that thought scare you?" She challenged the blonde.

She could see the wit in Brittany's face. That's what spurred Santana to give the cocky counter question.

Brittany laughed but reached for something behind the door. When Santana saw that it was Brittany's jacket, she grinned winningly.

"Well you're lucky I don't have a shift at the shop today. You sure you don't have to be at the bar?"

Santana shook her head.

"Not until tomorrow afternoon."

Once they were both standing outside and Brittany had closed the door, Santana wondered what came next. They could do anything. Go to the bar anyway, drive around town on their bikes, study for Brittany's upcoming math tests…

"Well it's a little chillier than I thought but if you want, I could take you to my favourite spot?" Brittany suggested when she pointed to Patty's truck.

Santana narrowed her eyes.

"Your favourite spot?"

"Yeah it's a bit out of town and you can see so far from there. You'll love it. Maybe if we're lucky we even get to see the stars. Only if we don't freeze by then. Is your jacket warm enough?"

Santana didn't really care which jacket she was wearing. She wanted to know more about this spot.

"Sure" She muttered and then followed Brittany who had a big adventure written across her face.

When she hopped into the truck, she thought about Quinn. She had been right. It was no big deal to ask Brittany to hang out. It didn't feel like she was replacing Quinn and it didn't feel weird.

It felt strangely normal even though it was new.

/

Brittany hadn't promised too much. Santana loved the spot. They drove for about twenty minutes and just parked the car on the side of the road. They could see pretty much everything from there. Endless landscape, the road that seemed to lead straight into the horizon and since it was a bit elevated, they could even see a part of their town. It looked small and kind of cute from there.

She had never thought of her town that way. She always thought it was boring and uneventful. Maybe it was but it was also nice to see it from another angle. For a while she forgot about all the not so good things she had been through there.

They sat on the hood of the truck for a long time, just chatting and freezing. Of course it was freezing cold. It was winter and Santana's jacket wasn't meant to be sitting outside for hours. She pulled herself together though because she didn't want it to end. Spending some time apart from her brothers felt really nice.

When Brittany started shivering, too she hopped down from the hood and did some jumping jacks. She challenged Santana to do it, too because it apparently helped but Santana felt silly to do it. It looked so effortless when Brittany did it.

So she kept sitting there, trembling and sat on her hands to keep them warm. Brittany went with her own way to warm up. Her jumping jacks turned into one or the other swift move. She smiled when Santana gave her an impressed reaction.

"I've been working on a dance routine. It's not much."

"Can I see it?" Santana asked. It was unexpected but she was curious.

For a short moment the blonde seemed to be insecure.

"I've never really danced for anyone. I mean my mom used to watch me all the time and I dance when Blaine plays the piano but… he's always focused on the keys."

"You don't have to."

Brittany pulled her Walkman from the pocket of her jacket, pushed some buttons and reached for the headphones that had been resting around her neck. Santana expected that she'd put them on so it came as a surprise when Brittany handed them to her instead.

"You want me to listen?"

Brittany nodded.

"It won't have the same effect otherwise."

"But what about you? Don't you need to hear the song you're dancing to?"

Santana watched how Brittany quickly stretched her legs with a smirk on her lips.

"Don't worry… I've got it in my head."

Santana was impressed but there wasn't too much time to think about it because Brittany made a sign to put on the headphones, so she did.

She didn't know the song but it was catchy right away. Brittany definitely knew the song in her head because when she started dancing, every single move fitted perfectly. Santana hadn't seen her in action before but she always had a hunch that Brittany would know how to move her body so it looked good.

She looked great. And it looked so easy.

Just when she thought that she could watch her for a really long time, Brittany stopped once again, took off her jacket and stepped close to the truck. Before she knew what was happening, Brittany spread her jacket across Santana's legs.

Immediate warmth spread over her lower half and while she was thankful to the additional piece of clothing on her thighs, she couldn't believe that Brittany was just standing there with a shirt and short sleeves.

Brittany winked at her assuringly and went straight back to dancing. She must have known what she was doing, Santana thought. She was able to move in a more free way like this. When she raised her arms or made a quick spin, she didn't get hindered by the jacket.

Santana appreciated it. The jacket.

And she couldn't take her eyes off Brittany, either.

Only when the song came to an end and Brittany did the last move, Santana cleared her throat. Brittany stepped closer once again, her cheeks slightly reddened and her breath fast from the exercise. She put a strand of hair behind her ear that must have escaped the ponytail. Her eyes beamed with happiness.

Her hands made their way up to Santana's cheeks. A second later Santana could hear her surroundings again because Brittany gently took off the headphones. The satisfying humming of a plane above their heads. Brittany's erratic breath.

The softness in her eyes.

Although she didn't hear that. She saw it and she almost felt it.

"Wow" Santana said when Brittany turned off the device in her hands. Then she quickly gave Brittany her jacket back so she wouldn't catch a cold.

"Was it ok?" The blonde asked when she sat back next to Santana.

Santana huffed.

"It was more than ok! You can really dance Brittany. I had no idea…"

Santana could see the pride swelling inside Brittany and it made her feel good, too. To see her like that. It was contagious.

"Well, thank you for being my first official audience." Brittany chuckled when she redid her ponytail. "Glad to have ripped that band-aid off."

Santana smiled and tried to cover up the trembles that went through her body. She hoped her lips weren't turning blue because that always happened when she was cold.

Then suddenly Brittany jumped off the hood again, slapping her forehead.

"I'm such a fool! Aunt Patty keeps blankets in the back – why didn't I think of that?"

It only took her a couple seconds to run to the back of the truck and return with a big woollen blanket. "Ok it's one blanket but it'll do, right?"

Santana chuckled at Brittany's enthusiasm. Before she knew it, Brittany had hopped back next to her, swung the blanket around their shoulders and shutted out the coldness.

"Oh my God… This is so much better." Santana admitted when she felt the immediate relaxation of her muscles.

"I know, I'm sorry." Brittany apologized but Santana didn't see why she'd have to apologize. This had been one of the greatest evenings in a long time.

They sat in silence for another while, shoulder to shoulder, gazing up to the sky from time to time to make out if the stars were already in sight.

Eventually they started talking about Quinn and the baby and what it would be like once the baby was there. They agreed that they'd try to help her out whenever she needed them and that they'd do baby stuff with her even if it meant they wouldn't be going out having fun in town.

"I'm just glad I met you guys…" Brittany said contently at one point. "The first couple weeks I thought I'd never talk to anyone. That my senior year of high school would just pass without me getting to know people."

Santana shook her head.

"That would have been awful. I totally thought I was going to talk to you again after we met for the first time at the bar. But then I never really saw you at school. Whenever I did, you had your headphones on."

Brittany laughed embarrassedly.

"That was like my safety blanket. But I'm serious. I'm very thankful that you and Quinn took me under your wings. I wasn't used to having good friends… I never had a sister."

Santana was looking at the nearly endless sky when Brittany said that. It somehow stung just a tiny little bit.

She was glad that they were able to make Brittany feel welcome. But she hadn't thought of their growing bond to be sisterly. She never had a sister, either… she didn't think that this was how it would have felt like.

But maybe Brittany was right. She should have been thankful, too. Instead of feeling crushed.

"Yeah… I'm glad we met, too." She almost whispered when she threw a glance to her right. Brittany kept her head low, her eyes somewhere resting on the woollen blanket.

Santana realized that this was the thing. Brittany was her friend. Despite whatever she might have felt in the past couple weeks whenever she was around her.

When Brittany looked up and their eyes met under the stars that were finally there, Santana thought that something else was, too.

They maybe weren't quite telling the truth that night. As in… a safety blanket or so.

But Santana never wanted to ruin what they had found. It was after all very special to make a new friend out of the blue.

She didn't know how to handle her jumping heart as it had never jumped like that before. So she decided to swallow down the urge to do anything but sit there and be thankful for what it was.