CHAPTER 1

A/N: This story is somewhat based on my ongoing fanfic - "Tell our story" - as it includes many of the same characters but the two stories are not related at all. They are set in two different universes. "She knows me too well" takes places when Santana and Brittany are in their early 40s, in Los Angeles. They are divorced but still co-parent their three children: their daughter Sofia (carried by Santana) and their twin sons, Diego and Gabriel (carried by Brittany). Despite their separation, they still get along. Brittany is a dance teacher and Santana works in the TV industry while occasionally writing songs for herself and other artists. Please give the story a chance and see where it takes them!

Thanks to JerzyMare for proofreading this chapter!
Please note that English is not my native language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee nor its characters.

THURSDAY (LATE AFTERNOON) - AT THE MALL – SANTANA POV

"But I want to check the new mics they got!" Diego protests.

"Fine…" I sigh. "… but I'm not buying anything! You just take a look, OK? And if you…"

"Santana?" Someone suddenly says behind me, making me turn around.

"Megan?" I say, surprised. "Oh my God! It's so nice to see you!" I add, hugging her.

"You too!" She says, hugging me back. "I can't believe it! It's been… what, 10... 12 years?"

"Yes, something like that!"

"Oh my goodness, is this Sofia?" She asks in disbelief after looking at my daughter.

"The one and only." I reply with a smile. "You remember Megan, Sofia? She and her husband used to live next door when you were little."

"Oh… yes! You had a pet rabbit, didn't you?" Sofia asks.

"That's right! And you were quite obsessed with it!" Megan laughs. "How old are you now, honey?"

"I'm 17."

"17? Oh my God, time really does fly… I still remember you when you could not even walk yet!" Megan says. "And these big boys here must be Diego and Gabriel?" She asks and the twins throw her a timid smile.

"Yes…" I confirm. "13 years old… and as you can see, they are already as tall as me…" I add, making her laugh.

"Sorry, mama... but can we go check the mics? The store is going to close." Diego suddenly says, getting impatient. Of course, chatting with his mother and some other "old" lady must not be entertaining enough for a boy this age.

"Fine… you can go but you all stay together!" I instruct and the three of them immediately hurry away. "Sofia, I count on you to watch your brothers!" I shout and she just raises one arm in acknowledgement, not even bothering to turn around.

"I can't believe your kids are already so big…" Megan says, shaking her head.

"I know… Sometimes I can't believe it myself. It seems like it was just yesterday that they were babies…"

"And what about Brittany, is she here?" She asks, looking around. "I'd love to say hi!"

"Um… no… She…" I trail off but I know that there is no point to hide the truth. "Brittany and I… um… we're… divorced."

"Oh…" She says in surprise. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea… I…" She mumbles in embarrassment.

"It's OK, Megan… It's been five years, it's water under the bridge now…" I shrug with a small smile, to reassure her. "Besides, we both found someone else and… Britt and I still get along just fine."

"That's good…" She nods. "It's really important for children to have parents that get along…"

"Definitely…" I confirm. "To be honest, it was not easy on the kids at first… The divorce hit them pretty hard, especially Gabriel, but… Brittany and I always tried our best to maintain a sense of family, despite our separation. And I think we are all in a good place now..."

A FEW DAYS LATER (SUNDAY EVENING) – AT BRITTANY'S HOUSE

After spending a week with the kids, I drive them back to Brittany's.

"You really didn't have to walk us to the door, you know." Sofia tells me in a provocative tone as Brittany opens the front door.

"Actually, I did." I reply. "So that I can tell your mom that you're grounded for two weeks!" I say while Sofia rolls her eyes.

"Grounded?" Brittany repeats in surprise.

"Don't you think I passed the age to be grounded? I'm 17!" Sofia complains.

"Yeah well, I also thought you were too mature to still pull up this kind of sh-"

"San…" Brittany sighs, interrupting me.

Right, that bloody rule of not swearing in front of the kids.

"Do you know what your daughter did, Britt? She forged my signature on an excuse note and cut school on Friday afternoon, to go to the mall with her friends."

"What?" Brittany says with a disappointed frown, looking at Sofia.

"How did you even find out?" Our daughter asks me. "Are you following me?"

"I have my ways." I shrug.

"Mom, please… You can't let that happen!" Sofia begs Britt. "I'm supposed to spend the night at Charlotte's next Friday! And you guys have to chill! I only missed two periods and one of them was gym!"

"Chill…?" I repeat, outraged. Is she even serious?

"I'm sorry, peanut… but I'm with mama on this." Britt replies.

"Are you ever going to stop calling me 'peanut'?" Sofia asks, clearly getting upset by the whole situation.

"Nope!" Brittany replies. "You're my daughter, I'll always call you peanut! Even when you're 60 years old."

"You might both be dead by the time I turn 60." She mumbles.

"What's that?" I ask. "Sorry to disappoint you but we'll be 85 then and there's a pretty good chance we'll still be around to beat some sense into you."

"You're really going to side with her?" Sofia asks Brittany again.

"Yes." Britt replies. "You know it's not OK to cut school! And this year is very important for you, you're a senior!"

"Urgh… why can't you be like other divorced parents and hate each other or compete for the love of your kids?" Sofia complains, raising her arms while walking into the house.

"You're still grounded, Sofia Lopez-Pierce! For two weeks!" I shout as she climbs the stairs, to make sure she still hears me.

"Bye mama…" Gabriel says, giving me a hug.

"Bye mijo, be good…"

"And goodbye to you too, Diego!" I say, raising my arms as he gets into the house without saying goodbye, too busy playing his videogame.

"Yeah, yeah, bye!" He says, not even looking at me.

Have kids they said…

"What?" I ask as Brittany smirks and crosses her arms.

"Two weeks, isn't that a bit severe?" She questions.

"She cut school and she lied to me so... no." I reply. "I thought you were siding with me?"

"Well… we always agreed to back up each other in front of the kids and I agree that she needs to be punished but this might be a bit over the top… We used to cut school too, San."

"No, we didn't!" I protest.

"Really?" She chuckles. "That's odd because I remember quite vividly that we used to skip the last period to go make out under the bleachers."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I lie.

"Right, my bad… I must be confused with someone else then…" She says.

"What?! Who else did you do that with?" I ask in spite of me, before seeing a satisfied smirk on her face.

Crap. After all these years, she still manages to get me right where she wants. When will I ever learn?

"You want to come in for a minute?" She offers.

"Um… thanks but I can't." I reply. "Melissa is waiting for me, her parents just arrived and we are going out for dinner tonight. Besides, I wouldn't want to impose on Nicholas." I say in a mocking tone.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call him Nick?" She calmly asks. "He hates the name Nicholas!"

"Oh I know!" I nod with a proud smirk and she throws a disapproving look at me, shaking her head.

"Well… this has been fun but I better go…" I say.

"Ok… but before you leave, I just wanted to ask you… did you notice anything strange with Gabriel lately?" She asks.

"Not really…" I say. "He's still very quiet but not more than usual, why?"

"Well he might act differently around you - considering how close you two have always been - but… I have noticed that recently, he tends to shut down… and despite my best efforts, he doesn't open up with me so… could you have a conversation with him next time and check if everything is alright? I figure he might talk to you…"

"Of course." I nod. "I'll talk to him."

"Thanks!" She smiles before kissing me goodbye on the cheek. "Well… have a great night and say hi to Melissa!"

"Will do. And give my best to Nicholas." I say, over articulating his full name on purpose. She rolls her eyes in response before waving goodbye at me and closing the door.

A/N: So I know that many of you don't like when Brittana are divorced/separated but I have had this chapter in my mind for a long time. I'm not sure where the story will go, everything is possible! Please note that I won't update this fanfic for quite some time, as my other fanfic "Tell our story" has the priority. I just wanted to know if there would be interest for this story before I write any other chapter. Let me know what you think in the reviews, please! If there is no interest, I might delete the story. Thank you for reading!