Author's Note: I know, I know, it's been 84 years, I've just had a lot of canon related feelings (I AM STILL SCREAMING ABOUT JAGGED LITTLE TAPESTRY) and had to work through them before I could finish this update. But I'm back, and I'll try not to keep you waiting too long for what comes next! This is a very human chapter, but there is more to come! Enjoy, and as always, your kind words are so, so greatly appreciated! (Also, title comes from a Roswell episode, because...Roswell)


One of the things Brittany was most grateful for, she'd come to realize, in those early weeks of her relationship with Santana, was how little sleep her body actually needed to function. Even when she wasn't worried sick over her girlfriend, Brittany loved watching her sleep, loved seeing the way she curled so naturally into her, the way her ear always seemed to find a place over her heart, because the beat of it truly called out to her. After they'd finished their lovemaking the night before, they'd ordered a pizza and showered together, before they returned to bed, Brittany wearing a pair of Santana's sweatpants that were just a little too short for her, and watching Serendipity on TBS before drifting off into their intertwined dreamworlds. It was after five in the morning, and Brittany had been wide awake for over an hour, knowing that she had to get up and head back to Roswell soon, though it was still undetermined whether or not Santana would be joining her on that return trip.

"Sweetheart." Brittany whispered, brushing soft kisses to Santana's hairline. She'd never used that endearment with her before, she'd never used any endearments with her, though after Santana had called her baby in the midst of their moment the night before, it just felt so natural, so right, and she swore that she could see Santana smiling in her sleep. "Wake up."

"Hmm…'s early, tired" Santana mumbled, burying her face in Brittany's shoulder and groaning.

"I need to go to school." She rubbed circles on Santana's lower back, smiling at how absolutely adorable sleepy, grumbly Santana was. "I wasn't sure if you were staying here, or, if you wanted to come back with me, so your aunt doesn't have to drive you to Roswell, or what, but I didn't want you to wake up with me gone, either way."

"I have to go back…I have to go deal with all the stuff." Santana sighed, rolling over and covering her eyes with her elbow. "I'd rather go with you. When do we need to leave?"

"Probably a half an hour. Will coffee help?"

"Coffee would be out of this world right now." Santana hummed appreciatively, trying to push herself up into a sitting position. "I was born and raised in a diner, I don't think I know what a morning without coffee looks like."

"I figured." Brittany laughed, capturing Santana's lips in a kiss. "Do you think your aunt would mind if I went to make some?"

"Britt, you don't have to make me coffee. I can wait for us to stop on the way."

"I know, but I've never made you coffee before, and I'd really like to." She blushed a little, and it was Santana's turn to steal a kiss.

"You're so good to me. If you really want to, Aunt Sara doesn't care who rummages around in her kitchen, and she really likes you."

"She does?"

"Yeah. She's a big fan of things that make me happy. And you are definitely number one on the list of things that do that."

Brittany felt her entire body blush at the thought of being the foremost thing that made Santana happy, especially after she'd been so concerned of the opposite the day before, especially after seeing the way Santana had been so wrecked over everything they'd learned since their encounter with Holly Holliday. It's what she wanted so badly, to be the one who made Santana happiest, and seeing only a glimpse of Caderyna and Reyneva, Brittany truly believed that singular desire crossed every boundary of time and space. With Santana snuggled into her side the way she was, Brittany seriously considered skipping school, staying like that forever, but she knew she couldn't, she knew that more than ever, especially after her girlfriend's outburst the day before, that they all needed to lay low, they all needed to go about their lives as usual, and staying in bed far from home was far from being normal.


They lingered a few more moments, until Brittany pushed herself up from the bed, tucking a lock of Santana's hair behind her ear, and knowing the human girl would need just a little longer to rouse herself. It was the most intimate thing she'd ever done, Brittany decided, more intimate even than sex, using Santana's toothbrush, sliding into a pair of her panties and plain black tank top, before pulling her own jeans on. It was so domestic that she felt a hum of happiness deep within her, and with another kiss on Santana's pouty lips as she finally pulled herself from the bed, Brittany slipped down the stairs and into the kitchen. What she wasn't expecting when she crossed the threshold was to find Sara already there, coffee mug in hand and flipping through the morning paper.

"Oh, hi, Sara, I…um." Brittany suddenly felt sheepish, and she kept her eyes down at her feet. "Santana said it would be okay if I came down to make coffee, but I didn't realize you'd be up, and I don't want to disturb you."

"My niece already has you running coffee for her?" Sara cocked an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips. "I guess you've found the true way into the heart of a Lopez. You're not disturbing me at all, coffee's already made. Pour yourself a mug, sit, if I know Santana, she'll be awhile, you may as well have a cup yourself before you make hers to go. I'm assuming she's headed back to Roswell with you?"

"Yes, that's the plan. If that's alright with you." She nodded, following Sara's instructions and pouring a splash of milk in her coffee before taking a seat. "I know you didn't really get to spend time with her, or anything, since I came and kind of stole her away last night."

"It was you she needed. You, and a place away from my brother, so she could figure out that head of hers. I'm not going to pretend to know what it is that's happening between the two of you, but please, I'm asking you to be careful with her heart."

"There is nothing I will try harder to do in the universe. She's so, so special to me, like, more than I think anyone else could even imagine. I love her, and I'll keep her heart safe. I think mine would shatter if hers was broken."

"You're wise beyond your years, I can see it in your eyes. I've always told my Santana that she's an old soul, and I think she's found a kindred spirit in you." Sara told Brittany, and though she knew that Sara had no idea the magnitude of her words, Brittany found herself swallowing hard. "Just let her dream. Please, let her dream and grow and be. I know this relationship is really new, but you'll see, as time goes on, just how important that is to her."

"I think I see it already, Sara." Brittany took a long sip from her mug.

"And Brittany? I know that you're keeping things private, because of the struggles of coming out, and the like." Brittany nodded to Sara's words, still figuring that was the simplest story, even if Brittany's adopted parents had known about her sexuality for years, one of the few things she didn't keep private, until things were safer, until Hummel's eyes were off Brittany, and they could embrace their love for one another out in the open, a day they both couldn't wait for. "But you're safe here, just so you know. I've always told Santana, no matter what secrets she has, she'll always be embraced in my house. Now, that same thing is extended to you. You'll never find any judgement from me for being who you are."

"I…I really appreciate that, thank you." She nodded, and though she knew she could never reveal who she actually was to Santana's aunt, something about those words comforted her.

"That being said, you break my niece's heart, I'll kill you, so…"

"I won't. I don't actually think it's even physically possible for me to. I'd probably die or something…sorry, that sounded really dramatic and ridiculous."

"Young love. I've been there." Sara smiled softly, and Brittany just nodded, embarrassed by the words she'd spoken. "Enjoy it, things get so much more difficult the older you get"

"Aunt Sara." Santana sauntered into the room, sneakers in her hand and bag slung across her chest, making Brittany's eyes crinkle with soft adoration at the sight. "You're talking like you're eighty, not forty."

"Almost forty, excuse you, sugar baby."

"Yeah, just prove my point a little more. Did you kidnap my girlfriend while she was getting coffee?"

"No, I just know you, figured she'd be waiting awhile if she went back upstairs. Although this is the fastest I've ever seen you get ready. Brittany, you put a little pep in this girl's step."

"I even threw my sheets in the wash, so how about that?" Santana pressed a hand to her hip, and Brittany stood as they bantered, still wanting to make Santana's coffee to go, but smiling inwardly at the way they interacted.

"Are you sure you're Santana? You haven't been abducted by aliens or something?" Sara joked, causing Santana's eyes to slide ever so subtly to Brittany.

"Nope, no little green men in my life. No men in my life at all, actually. Just a really pretty girl." She winked, taking a sip out of Brittany's mostly empty mug. "Good coffee."

"You say that every time you're here. Just because I didn't use my diner genes doesn't mean I didn't get them."

"Yeah…" Santana trailed off, and Brittany tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"You are free to do whatever it is you want to do. No matter what your father thinks. His dreams aren't yours, I'm proud of you for telling him as much yesterday." Sara spoke sternly.

"I'm just not looking forward to seeing him today. This whole thing is kind of a nightmare, Aunt Sara."

"Well, that kid who told them you're on drugs deserves more than the slap you gave him, and your father probably deserves more than that for never taking your opinion into account on anything. It's what he does, what he's been doing his whole life, but it's unacceptable. I know it's hard, sugar baby, but you've gotta keep standing up to him."

"Yeah well that went really well yesterday." Santana mumbled, and bringing the styrofoam cup of coffee to her girlfriend, Brittany rested a hand between her shoulder blades, a hand Santana melted into.

"You have support, Santana." Sara and Brittany exchanged a nod.

"You do." Brittany murmured, fingers tracing over Santana's protruding vertebrae, a strangely comforting sensation.

"He might end up driving me back here himself tonight."

"The door is always open for you, my love. But remember, he does love you, even though he has a strange way of showing it. It doesn't excuse his behavior, but in his way, this is him caring."

"Thanks, Aunt Sara. For coming to get me, for letting Brittany stay with me last night…"

"Yes, thank you, Sara. I really, really appreciate it."

"Thank you's are unnecessary, girls. I want you to have a safe place. Now go, you're going to be late for school."

"Can you-"

"If he calls, I'll tell him I drove you back." Sara finishes Santana's question. "Just drive safe, okay? And send me a text message to let me know you've made it to school."

"I will." Santana wrapped her arms around her aunt, and Sara engulfed her in a tight hug, squeezing the girl she loved like a daughter and kissing the top of her head.


When they made it out to Mercedes' car, Santana secured her coffee cup into the holder while Brittany backed out of the driveway. Before they'd even made it off Sara's street, Santana had found Brittany's hand and pulled it into her lap, absently playing with her long fingers as Brittany drove through the vast emptiness of the desert. It was something she'd already come to love, long silent drives, holding Brittany's hand, watching the intensity in her eyes as she cautiously avoided potholes and various desert life forms on the straight road. Looking over her sunglasses, Brittany caught Santana's eye in the rearview mirror, and she smiled, she smiled that smile that made Santana feel like this, this intense feeling of just being with Brittany was more like home than anything she'd ever known.

"I'm going to miss you." Santana murmured against Brittany's lips when they were outside of Mercedes' house, the first they'd spoken in well over an hour.

"I know." Brittany curled her fingers around the the pendant on Santana's neck and kissed her just a little harder. "Do you have to work tonight?"

"As of now, no, but who knows what I'm going to be sentenced to when my father gets ahold of me. Could end up on dishwashing duty for the rest of my life."

"He makes you do that?"

"He never has before, but I never really get in trouble. And he's never thought I was a drug addict before, so..." She shook her head. "I have to figure this whole mess out today, and get my human life I'm order. I'm sorry-"

"You're going to work it out." Brittany rubbed her nose against Santana's, making her smile. "We talked about it last night. You had a normal human reaction. Burt can't hold that against you, or against me. As far as he knows, you and I hardly know each other."

"I love you. And I appreciate you not making me feel like crap about this. Quinn's probably waiting by my locker to disintegrate me."

"Quinn will get over it. Sw-Santana-" Brittany paused, unsure of whether it was appropriate to call Santana a pet name in the light of day. "We're all dealing with with the revelation of our past in different ways, and Quinn is Quinn, I've learned a long time ago not to take her crap to heart."

"I guess." Santana shrugged. "It's just...I don't know, she's my cosmic star sister, or whatever, so I need to put some time and effort into not pissing her off."

"Under her bitch exterior, I think she's really happy about you, and about Holly. This whole thing is crazy, but it still gives her some sort of family, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that." She heard the sound of Sam pulling up with the Prius at the end of the driveway, and Santana frowned. "I'll see you at school."

"I'll see you at school." Brittany repeated, and just as she went to open the passenger door, Santana pulled her in for one final, needy kiss.

"By the way, I loved that you called me sweetheart." Santana smiled, running a thumb affectionately over Brittany's blushing cheek. "You can call me that whenever you want."

"Yeah?"

"Absolutely. I love it, baby."

"I love that too." Brittany beamed, pulling reluctantly away from Santana, and sliding out of the car, giving one last wave over her shoulder as she climbed into the passenger seat of the Prius and Mercedes made her way down the driveway to the place Brittany had previously occupied.


"Hi, crazy ass." Mercedes pulled the driver's seat forward so she could read the pedals, and Santana immediately rolled her eyes, her Brittany softness sharpening just slightly.

"Hey, pain in my ass." She snapped back.

"Oh yeah, such a pain in your ass, sending your girlfriend out to make you feel better."

"Thank you, for that." Santana was sincere in her words, and Mercedes simply nodded. "I really needed her."

"Yeah, I know you did. You forget, I know pretty well how you operate."

"You do. So how bad was it after I left yesterday?"

"Hold back, or don't hold back?"

"Don't hold back, I need to be prepared." Santana swallowed hard. "On a scale of one to needing to find a spaceship back to enemy inhabited Uecridis, how pissed is my dad?"

"Well..." Mercedes hesitated, but Santana urged her to continue. "You should probably thank your mother, because they had a fight so loud in the back of the diner that I actually had to crank up the 80's rock to ear splitting levels to keep the whole town from hearing that a Roswell's princess may or may not be addicted to drugs. Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world has taken on a whole new meaning."

"Oh God."

"Yeah, I don't know exactly what happened, but your mom was screaming a lot in Spanish, and then Sara called at some point, apparently swearing up and down that you're not on drugs, so your mom relaxed a little, but..."

"But he's still pissed that I told him I wasn't going to that interview."

"He's maybe more pissed because you're not on drugs, so you actually meant what you said, instead of saying it in a meth fueled haze."

"God, he's such a fucking piece of work. Who's more angry about their daughter not being on drugs? And aren't you supposed to want better for your kids than yourself? Why can't he just let me live me life?"

"Okay, unpopular opinion time." Santana raised an eyebrow when Mercedes spoke, but that was the thing about their friendship, they told each other how it was, no matter what. "Look, your dad acted like a total jerk yesterday, not letting you talk, and assuming the worst in you, but I really do believe that he loves you the best way he knows how. And yeah, he's controlling, and you shouldn't have to listen to that, but-"

"'Ce, I know that he loves me. But he doesn't respect me at all. I can't live his dreams, I've pretended like I would for too long, but now everything's different, and now I just can't."

"Because of Brittany."

"Yes and no. I mean, I love her, and we're obviously going to be together, but it's also that I feel bigger somehow, you know? I'm not even saying it to be arrogant, because my whole life, even though I dreamed of getting out of here, of going to New York, or LA, or God, even Santa freaking Fe, I kind of just figured Roswell was it for me, I was destined to take over the diner for my dad, maybe marry some girl, hope selfishly that maybe you stuck around too. But now, with Brittany, and with everything that happened with Reyneva and Caderyna, I know the universe is so much bigger. I was the queen of another planet, you know? Caderyna, Brittany, whatever, traveled across the universe to find me. If that doesn't give me the courage to dream bigger than this small town, I don't know what will."

"You really are a different person than you were a few weeks ago."

"It's really hard to explain. I'm really damn confused about who I even am, but at the same time, it's clearer than anything I've ever known. Like, yesterday I freaked out because everything felt out of my control, but maybe I needed to, to start actually building a life, instead of just talking about it, or something, I don't know, I have no idea if I'm even making sense."

"You're making tons of sense. I can't imagine how finding out I was one of them would rattle me. Just knowing them is enough to make my head spin." Mercedes' lip curled up just the slightest at the end of that sentence, and Santana, ever intuitive, especially when it came to her best friend, knew something was up.

"Okay, spill."

"There's nothing to spill."

"Oh my God, you're so full of it." Santana's jaw dropped, as Mercedes' head dropped a little, her telltale sign of embarrassment. "Mercedes Celia Jones, you practically beat the details of me and Brittany out of me, what's going on with you and Trouty Mouth."

"Stop with the Trouty Mouth, Santana. That's your girlfriend's brother."

"And your point? Don't change the subject. You've been all up on those lips again, haven't you?"

"I saw him last night, when Quinn was...being Quinn and he asked me to come over there. Apparently the solution to Quinn freaking out was to give her something else to lose her mind over."

"Way to speak in code. It's not like you haven't already kissed, whatever, did he like, suck your head into his mouth this time?"

"Do you see why I didn't tell you right away? Is this going to happen every time we talk about this?" Mercedes rolled her eyes. "No he didn't suck my head into his mouth, bitch. I happen to like his lips, thank you."

"Wanky." Santana smirked, though really, all joking aside, she couldn't care less about Sam's lips. She had her own set of extraterrestrial lips, the most perfect lips in the universe, she thought, and that's all she needed. "So did you see stars yet, or what?"

"No, I didn't. It was just a regular kiss. A pretty damn good one, but I think those visions of far off planets are reserved for those actually from there."

"Hmm, too bad. So what's the deal? Are you two dating yet? Did he propose to you? He seems like the kind of guy that would do that, doesn't he?"

"You're one to talk, since you just found out that you and Brittany are basically married and you have a wedding necklace permanently clasped to your neck. No, he didn't propose, shut up, or I'm not telling you anything anymore."

"Like that would stop me from finding out. I've got an inside source. Ew, is this incest-y that we're dating siblings?"

"Okay, one, Sam and I aren't dating. So we kiss sometimes, that's it. Two, unless that Holly lady has more she hasn't told us, you and I aren't actually related, and even if we were, we're not dating each other."

"Please don't let Holly reveal any more siblings." Santana sighed, turning serious at the thought of Quinn, and how she hadn't really dealt with any of that yet.

"At least I'm lower maintenance then the one you already have."

"How bad was it?"

"Sam was really good at calming her down, and I talked to Kurt, so..."

"You talked to Kurt?" Santana pressed her thumbs into her temples to stave off the impending headache. "Wasn't I gone for twelve hours? How did a week's worth of crap go on?"

"Damage control." Mercedes's shrugged, pulling into the parking lot at school. "He didn't tell his father that you slapped him, so there's that."

"Probably embarrassed that he got hit by a girl." She muttered, picking at her cuticles.

"Apparently Roz talked to him, and he got ripped a new one once he told her the whole story about what happened. Hey dumbass, you could have probably prevented a lot of this had you remembered that she makes you guys take weekly drug tests so she doesn't get screwed at competitions."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. From what Kurt said, she told him he deserved the slap, and if he messes with her captain again, he's off the squad. Guess that means she's not taking your resignation."

"Well that'd too bad, because I meant it. I've got way more important shit going on than cheerleading."

"Don't be stupid, Santana."

"Excuse me?" Santana turned to face Mercedes, her eyebrows shooting up.

"Normal, remember? You were pissed yesterday at Kurt, that's normal for what he did, you quit in a rage because Roz took his side, but today, you need to go eat your words, put that damn uniform again, shake your pompoms and do what it takes to keep everyone safe. Not going to your dad's school? That's fine, but you've been a cheerleader all through junior high and high school, you need to stay, and you know it."

With an aggravated huff, Santana opened the car door, absolutely hating how right Mercedes was. In order to keep them safe, to keep Brittany safe, she didn't have a choice. It wasn't like she hated cheerleading, quite the opposite, actually, she loved to dance, she loved to be the one in charge, but it had lost the allure it once had, the allure of making her feel like was was something. She hated having to grovel, she hated that she'd have to see Kurt with his judgmental eyes on her, and with a scowl, she slung her backpack over her shoulders as Mercedes hurried to catch up her. Rolling her eyes to herself as she watched her current enemy number two (since really, she couldn't knock his father down from the number one spot) strut his way into school. The scowl didn't leave her face until she saw a moppy head of blonde hair waving in Mercedes' direction, and she whipped her head around so fast that she could have broken her neck. It was sort of ridiculous, she thought, how one affectionate smile could effect her, but as blue eyes crinkled at her, she couldn't even internally complain, not when each and every thing she did served a greater purpose in keeping that girl she loved safe.


Brittany was distracted most of the morning. It was hard not to be, after the night she'd had with Santana, and especially each time a puff of air hit her midriff, reminding her of the too-small tanktop she wore and it's rightful owner, often only a few seats away from her, but too far to trail a finger up the outside of her thigh secretly, or to even look at without drawing attention. But she felt Santana's eyes of her, she felt the sly smirk of pouty lips when she'd shifted in her seat to hide the lacy panties that kept creeping out of the back of her jeans (how Santana wore them regularly, she would never know, but Brittany would definitely not be the one to complain), and she burned inside, wanting those eyes looking deep in hers, wanting to taste those lips on her own. When it finally came time for Spanish class, Brittany was glad that Santana wasn't in the class with her, and she put all her effort on focusing on the words that Señor Martinez spoke, as difficult as it was for her not to picture Santana Lopez speaking those words in the sexy accent she'd only heard slip from her lips a few times, in the diner, long before she was her Santana. Once class was over, Brittany realized how unsuccessful she'd been, and felt more than a little flustered as she slunk into the hallway, an ever sulking Quinn a few steps behind her.

"Who are you?" Brittany heard a familiar voice ask, that inquisitive, vaguely judgmental chirp that had been making Santana crazy from the first moment she met her.

"Holly Holliday, substitute teacher extraordinaire, and hot bitch. And you are?" Both Brittany and Quinn froze, and then quickly started walking again, desperately attempting to keep from drawing attention to themselves as they reacted to Holly's voice, Holly's voice, in their school. It sounded so different to them then it had in the desert, where there, she'd sounded very exotic, a hint, maybe, of some accent of Uecridis, in school, she sounded snarky, and so very, very human.

"Terri soon-to-be Ryan. Don't get used to me. This isn't a career for me. Once my Bryan and I tie the knot, I'll be damned if I work for a living. How long are you here for?"

"As long as it takes for Trisha Hatfield to get over a flu. Then I'm back in the great pool of subs."

"Sounds like a lower middle class blast." Terri snickered as Quinn finally made her way up to Brittany's side, lingering at a set of lockers fifteen feet from where Holly and Terri were speaking.

"You are just charming, aren't you?"

"My fiancé thinks so. I don't really care what you think."

"Well great, I'm glad to have learned so much about you and the fact that you're getting married." The eye roll in Holly's tone was obvious, making Brittany hold in a laugh, thinking of how Santana had complained to her about how she never wanted to hear the word wedding again, after her "prison sentence" in the nurse's office was over. "I'm gonna go, before I'm late to my class, good luck with your wedding, Kerri."

"It's Terri." She shouted after Holly, but she was gone, down the hall and into the classroom that Brittany immediately recognized as Santana's seventh period. "Hmph, I don't know who she thinks she is, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

"That's Santana's class." She whispered to Quinn, who was still staring down the hallway, and quickly fished her phone out of her backpack, afraid of how her girlfriend would react to her kind-of-sort-of mother in the front of her classroom, despite knowing that it was a possibility, at some point.

Just a heads up- Holly is subbing your lit class. Here if you need me. Love you. Brittany quickly shot to Santana, holding the phone until it buzzed with a response.

THANK YOU! Will call you on my way to meet Roz after last period. Long story. Come over tonight? Heard from my mom-work til 10.

Suddenly feel like a UFO burger ;) I'll give me the strength to climb through your window. Good luck, sweetheart.

Love you a lot.

"You look like an idiot when you smile at your phone like that." Quinn scoffed as Brittany slipped the device into her pocket. She was smiling at the words, but simultaneously feeling her stomach twist as Santana's anxiety pulsed through her veins, and her eyes snapped up at Quinn. "How's Lady Love? Has she laid the smack down on any of our other enemies today?"

"Can you stop? He isn't our enemy, his father is…maybe." Brittany hissed, balling her hands at her sides to circumvent the strange urge she had to shove Quinn in defense of Santana. "And she made a mistake because she was upset. I'm not talking about this again. She's your sister, why don't you stop hating her so much and actually take three seconds to get to know her?"

"Reyneva was Azar's sister. Don't pull this sister crap with me, Brittany. It doesn't change anything."

"Well maybe you should at least try."

"Right, because I see her putting so much effort into that. She's too wrapped up in you to even notice anything else."

"She's actually not. She's scared, Quinn, why do you think she acted like she did yesterday? I'm safe for her, because her soul recognizes mine, she doesn't consciously choose me. The rest of it is really weird, but she's getting there. I know this is important to you, I know you've been waiting for something like this your whole life. You can tell me you don't care, or whatever else, but I know this matters."

"And what exactly do you want me to do? Go brush her hair and paint her nails? Make a scrapbook of all the time we never spent together?"

"You know, for someone who's always complaining about how human Sam and I are, sometimes you act like it the most."

"Excuse me?" Quinn jerked her head.

"You heard me, you're acting like an oversized baby with boobs. You hate me from another life, fine, but the reason you do is because you lost her. We both lost her, even if we don't remember it. Why are you fighting this so much?" Brittany stared into Quinn's eyes, challenging, until it hit her, it her her like a ton of bricks, that the thing Quinn feared the most was the same thing she and Santana feared, that somehow, they'd lose each other again, and next time, they might never find their way back. "Quinn, we won't. It's different now."

"I don't know what makes you so sure of that. Hummel's riding our asses, who the hell knows what happened in 1947 and if they are still hunting, and we know about three things about the technology of Uecridis. An evil race of people are in control there." Brittany heard Quinn's silent your behind the word an, but she appreciated, nonetheless, that she didn't say it. "We're sitting ducks."

"We're not sitting at all." Brittany tried to deflect, but Quinn would have none of it. "Holly's here now. We'll know more soon, but don't avoid Santana because you're afraid she's going to die. Sam talked me out of the exact same thing yesterday."

"When did Sam become the pillar of intelligence?"

"He's smart Quinn, when it counts."

"About as smart as you, kissing humans. I wonder if his'll turn out to be his long lost soulmate too."

"Probably not." Brittany's mouth quirked up. "From what he told me in five minutes this morning, it was good, human good, nothing like the magic that is me kissing-"

"Don't need to hear about it, thanks. Your eyes are getting all glassy thinking about it."

"I love her, more than I ever knew it was possible. I mean, it is, but not like-" Brittany stopped herself with a shrug, not even blushing. "Just come to the diner with me tonight. I'll buy you a burger, even. It's not like you'll really be able to talk to her there anyway, but I'm telling you, you can learn a lot about Santana just by looking at her."

"So I've heard, in a disgustingly detailed way, for years. I'll come for the burger, we'll see about this building a relationship crap later."


Though Santana put on a pretty good front in her text messages to Brittany, she was actually sort of a nervous wreck when Holly Holliday-slash-Polerma from Uecridis-slash-her mother from another life breezed into the classroom. She felt like she could to look straight at her, lest she give away the myriad emotion that swirled within every fiber of her being. Holly's eyes were on her, she could tell, but she couldn't look up from where she mindlessly scrawled notes in her spiral book, the heavy handedness of the pen in her left hand nearly tearing through the pages. It was strange, she thought, how this Holly's voice differed from the Holly she'd met in the desert (her thoughts running the same train as Brittany's), and it was strange how she was just there, in front of her class, teaching about Archduke Franz Ferdinand, as if she didn't hold a plethora of secrets that she, Brittany and the others couldn't wait to get their hands on.

Whenever Holly got close to her, since she apparently walked around the classroom while teaching, Santana felt like she was going to spontaneously combust, and not in the way she felt like that around Brittany. It stirred something inhuman within her, something that somehow made her feel anxious and sated all at once, and her fingers tapped against the desk as she tried to keep from reaching into her bag to find her phone again and feel technologically connected to Brittany. She had just about made it through the class, tuning out the inanity of her classmates and focusing solely on the notes in her paper (and maybe absently scrawling a BP and some hearts in the corner, because thinking of Brittany did help to center her), when she felt Holly pause beside her desk, and her fingers tickled they grazed over her paper. Though she jolted a little, and nearly fell out of her seat, surprised what what appeared, Santana looked down, reading the words that had appeared there, under Holly's touch. Tomorrow. 6pm. Same place, before they disappeared just as quickly. Santana sat stunned, even as the bell rang, and the room emptied, leaving her alone with the blank page.

"Fuck." She hissed, her eyes pricking with strange tears. It was happening again, it was still happening, and though she was working on it, she still was unsure how much of her past she could come to accept. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."


It was an effort, surely, not to have a repeat of the day before, but after sending a coded message to Brittany about the note from Holly, Santana somehow managed. When her last class was over, and she made a few seconds of intense eye contact with Brittany, the kind that actually made her skin flush, and her chin tuck down, because it was so much to take, Santana brushed off Mercedes' offers to wait for her, and went into the bathroom to flush Holly's note down the toilet, and swallowing her pride, she trudged toward Roz Washington's office. Making her way into the locker room, the gossipy snickers ceased immediately at her presence, and the cheerleaders parted like the Red Sea, allowing Santana through, though she knew their word would turn to her the moment she closed that glass door behind her.

"Coach, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Damn right you can, Lopez, shut the door and shut your mouth, I've got a few things to say to you first." Roz snapped, and Santana bit her tongue so hard, she was sure she drew blood. Once he door was closed, she took her usual spot across from the desk, and she tried, without luck, to grab hold of the pendant below her shirt without detection. "Let's start with this. This is probably the first and last time you're going to hear me say this, but I want to apologize to you, for not letting you speak yesterday-"

"Thank you, I-"

"Not done. That being said, what in the hell is wrong with you, Lopez? I've seen your salsa caliente come out before, but never let that. You think you can just walk around slapping your teammates? Why didn't you come to me, and let me deal with Hummel? You know I woulda taken your damn side. I always take your damn side, because you're the best one I've got."

"Obviously." She rolled her eyes, and tugged her fingers through her ponytail.

"And what are you doing that's got your father calling me at two in the morning, asking me of you're ass is on drugs?"

"Kurt's been up my ass since I fell of the pyramid. His dad's got him all nuts in the head about drugs, and he thinks he's going to be my fairy godfather and save me from a life of nose candy, I guess, I don't know. I told my dad I wasn't going to UNM, and he lost his shit and told him Kurt went to see him."

"And then you quit my squad, because that looks like the behavior of a normal person."

"Gimme a cup right now, Roz, I'll piss in it and you can see I'm clean." Santana pushed herself up in the chair, the vein in her neck throbbing, and her mind chanting Brittany, Brittany, Brittany over and over again.

"Sit your ass back down, Snix. And save that tone for the squad. I'm on your side, I just want to know what the hell you're doing, and if it's going to screw up my chances for another national championship."

"No." She mumbled, picking at her cuticles. "It's nothing. Everything's the same as it's always been, as long as Hummel keeps his porcelain nose outta my damn business. I wanna take back my resignation."

"Good, 'cuz I was going to haunt you until you said that. Get your crap together, get yourself cleared by the doctor, and get your crazy ass back on my field."

"Friday, Coach." Santana nodded, clenching her jaw.

"Then I want you at the game that night. You know the routine like the back of your hand, and this squad needs to see you've still got it. Wilde is chomping at the bit for a chance to take over as captain, and you know she's not above pulling a Showgirls on you, so don't show weakness."

"Please, me? Weak? She better watch her ass or I'll-"

"Get out of here, I don't want to hear what you're gonna do to her, just stay on your game so it's not an issue."


It took Brittany almost an hour to get ready to go to the diner, though she ended up in just jeans and an off the shoulder sweater, hair pulled back in a ponytail, but she was strangely nervous about it. It wasn't as if she hadn't been there a million times in her life, but being there as Santana's girlfriend, even if no one knew, felt different. Sure, Santana's parents were unaware of who she was at that moment in time, but Brittany hoped, no, she knew that wouldn't always be the case. Someday, Hopefully someday soon, she'd meet them, officially, Santana would meet her parents, and when those things happened, Brittany didn't want the Lopezes to think of her as some kind of sloppy mess.

"Are you ready yet?" Quinn groaned. "I'm starving, and you're acting like Cinderella going to the ball. It's the diner. What are you, getting ready for the day when you're Mrs. Lopez, and you two have magical burger flipping babies together?"

"I-no." Brittany stammered, though she flushed at the words Mrs. Lopez, and the thought of tiny little babies toddling around the diner- a thought that immediately pinched her heart, remembering Caderyna and Reyneva and their baby that never was. "That's not what she wants to do. But if it was…"

"You're ridiculous. Can we just go, please? Is Sam coming, or is he trying to get in the other one's pants?"

"Can you please stop calling Mercedes the other one? You know her name. Sam's going to the movies with my dad. I'm ready, let's go."

With Quinn behind her, Brittany headed downstairs, finding her mom sitting on the couch watching re-runs of Chopped and flipping through some paperwork from the office. When the girls came in, she quickly muted the television, and put down what she was doing to focus her attention on them.

"Are you girls headed out?" Susan Pierce looked slightly crestfallen, and Brittany couldn't help but frown a little in response.

"Yeah, we were just going to head to the Intergalactic Diner and grab some burgers. Is that okay, mom?"

"Of course, you kids and that diner, I'm not sure what it is that I'm missing over there…I was just going to see if you wanted to order some Chinese and catch up on the last three weeks of New Girl on the DVR with me, since your dad and Sam are out, but don't worry, go, have fun."

"No, mom, we don't have to, if you-"

"No, no, don't be silly, honey. I don't want you to change your plans."

"Well you could come with us, if you wanted." Brittany found herself saying, surely to Quinn's ire, because the other girl really didn't know how to act around adults, particularly the Pierces, who always wanted to hug her.

"You don't have to invite me, Britty, surely you don't want to be the only one there who's mom came to join them."

"No, mom, I'd really like if you came." Brittany shrugged her shoulders a little, happy at how her mom lit up, and even happier, really, that she'd have her around Santana.

"You don't mind, Quinn?"

"No, it's cool. It's not like we're exactly at the height of the social hierarchy, so-" Quinn started then stopped herself when Brittany glared at her. "Totally fine with me."

Susan was nearly giddy, getting in the driver's seat of her car, and Brittany felt bad about not being around to do things with her, since things had become chaotic with Hummel, and Holly, and her relationship with Santana, but she was glad for this, even though she knew Quinn wasn't thrilled in the backseat. The truth was though, Brittany needed a distraction, Brittany needed to not hear Quinn talk about what would or wouldn't happen in the desert the next day, or her various paranoid theories on Hummel videotaping them in the shower, or an evil legion of tiny purple men coming down to murder them, or, whatever it was that Quinn was saying, Brittany had sort of started tuning her out when she got more raving than usual. Susan Pierce would definitely be that distraction, as she chirped on and on in the front seat, asking both girls about school, teasing them about whether or not they were dating anyone (making Quinn hide her snicker, and Brittany hide her blush). When they pulled into the available parking spot across from the diner, and Brittany got out, she could see Santana sashaying around the dining room, and she couldn't keep the grin off her face, until Quinn elbowed her in the ribs.

"Alright girls, show me where you sit. I haven't been in here since you and Sammy finally were old enough to come on your own. Your dad and I have since expanded our date night repertoire from burgers and milkshakes."

"They still make the best ones." Brittany beamed, like she had some personal pride in Santana's family's food.

"Well, I'll be the judge of that." Susan slid into the booth that Quinn had led them back to, leaving a space for Brittany to sit beside her. "So Quinn, how's Judy?"

While Quinn gave clipped answers to Susan's questions, Brittany let her eyes follow Santana, and then drift to the counter, where her father seemed to be watching her closely. She could feel that Santana felt it, she could feel that Santana was irritated by it, but her smile never faltered, not as she grazed her fingers over the tabletops of her customers, checking on them, before strutting across the floor, and making Brittany's heart pound wildly in her chest when she approached the table.

"Welcome to the Intergalactic Diner, where the food is out of this world." Santana gave her standard line, setting three menus down, trying to keep her eyes off of Brittany, and to smile directly at Susan Pierce, feeling her stomach erupt in a swarm of butterflies at seeing Brittany's mom. "I'm Santana, and I'll be your server tonight."

"Hi, Santana." Susan chirped. "No need for the formality, it may have been awhile since I've seen you, but I've known you since you were sitting up on that counter in your carseat, long before I even had my own kids in my life. My, you certainly have grown up, haven't you?"

"Yes, ma'am." She tried not to blush, and Brittany sort of just melted at her sweetness, letting her fingers sort of creep surreptitiously along the table, until just the very tips brushed the outside of Santana's hand. At the contact, Santana felt her whole body stiffen, desperately failing at keeping herself from reacting physically to Brittany's touch. "I'm…in the same class at school as Brittany, Sam and Quinn."

"Right, I always forget you're all the same age. And please, call me Susan, I've known your father since we were far younger than you."

"Well, Susan, it's nice to officially meet you." Santana extended her right hand, the one Brittany was not still touching, to Susan Pierce, her secret girlfriend's mother, and she smiled warmly as the woman took it in both of hers. "I see…" She waves her hand to indicate Brittany and Quinn. "Here all the time, but I guess we don't really know each other that well."

"That's an absolute shame."

"It is, isn't it?" Santana couldn't help the smirk that comes to her lips, and Quinn is on the verge of hysterics in her seat, until Brittany kicks her hard under the table. "So, let me tell you about our specials for the night. We've got a Crashdown Chili, a Morphing Meatloaf platter, and Galaxy Sub. I'll give you a few minutes to look at the menu, but let me get you started with something to drink. Two Cokes…and?"

"Three Cokes." Susan amended, watching as Santana shimmied away from the table, before turning her attention to Brittany.

"Look at her, knowing your drink orders. She is absolutely adorable, isn't she?"

"Mhmm." Brittany hummed, noncommittal, and Quinn snickered again.

"Seems like she'd like to get to know you more, doesn't it? You should hang out with her, Brittany, she's into girls, isn't she? I'm going to give her your number."

"Mom!" Brittany buried her face in her hands, mortified. "She's the head cheerleader and the most popular girl in school. Don't give her my number! Weren't you the one worrying about embarrassing us?"

"That's not embarrassing. She's a pretty girl, you're a pretty girl, both of you like girls, I see nothing wrong here."

"Mama, please." Brittany begged, but had sort of come to smile, hidden from her mother, about the fact that she liked Santana.

"Brittany totally thinks she's hot." Quinn shrugged. "I have to hear about it all the time."

"Aw, baby, you have a crush on her."

"Everyone has a crush on her."

"I don't." Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Okay, everyone who likes girls has a crush on her."

"Sam doesn't."

"Not helping, Quinn." Brittany snapped, and Susan just chuckled.

"Relax, honey, I won't do anything to embarrass you. But I think she's cute, and she knows your drink order, so maybe she's interested in you too."

"Can we just…look at the menu and order, please?"

"But Brittany, Santana already knows your order." Quinn pointed out, and though Brittany was never violent, she was about three seconds from strangling the other girl, as her mother just laughed, entirely amused, since she never caught a glimpse of her daughter so besotted.

"Just don't sell yourself short, Britty, you're quite the catch, and most popular girl in school or not, the Lopez girl would be lucky to have you."

Brittany brushed it of, she had to, or else she'd lose it, thinking how lucky she was to have Santana as her girlfriend, luck that had absolutely nothing to do with Santana's popularity, or cheerleading, or anything else but the fact that they'd found each other through space and time. Inside, she was exploding with joy about her mother approving of Santana, and she let her mind wander to the days where she'd be able to bring her over for dinner, where they could curl up on the couch together for family movie night, or team up together for game night. It was funny, she thought, how that was what she looked forward to the most. They'd had something like that once before, she'd figured, in that life so long ago, probably doing…whatever the Uecridian equivalent of that was, with Polerma, and Azar, and Oskari, before they'd lied together in bed, talking about their hopes and dreams, and still, that was the strangest thing to Brittany. It was the strangest, because though they'd lived before, though they'd done this all on another planet, in another way, it was still what Brittany looked forward to the most. Not the sex (though it was glorious), not the intense, heated kisses (though they were also just as glorious), but just being, just holding Santana, laughing with Santana, sharing her with the people who meant the most to her.


The meal itself was uneventful, though Santana's insistence on touching Brittany's hand on the table, or brushing a stockinged calf with Brittany's when she leaned in to drop the food drove her absolutely wild, and the teasing of Quinn and Susan (which Santana did overhear, and tried to hide her amusement, though it made her bloom inside) left the alien girl particularly squirmy. After Susan left Santana an absurdly large tip, and they all bid her goodbye, they dropped Quinn off at home, and the two Pierce women ended up watching the DVRed episodes of their show. It was after ten, when they'd finished, and once Sam and Evan came home from their movie, Brittany excused herself for bed, and jumped quickly into the shower, before pulling her wet hair into a messy bun and throwing on sweatpants and a t-shirt to sneak over to Santana's. Climbing up the ladder on the side of the diner never failed to give Brittany anxiety, like Hummel, or Santana's father, or some random citizen of Roswell who'd grown paranoid watching movies about home invades would shoot her. But once she reached the candlelit balcony, where Santana was sprawled out on a lounge chair in spaceship printed pajama pants, thumbing through her European history textbook, Brittany calmed, and a smile spread across her face.

"Hi." She spoke softly, not wanting to alarm Santana with her presence. "Nice pants."

"Hey." Santana looked up from her book at Brittany. "Not my fault that my entire life has been a series of alien gag gifts. Greatest irony of all time."

"I don't know, I'm not sure that quite surpasses your dad owning a restaurant that's alien themed." Brittany laughed, sitting down on the lounge chair and stealing one of Santana's hand. "Doing homework?"

"Reading about the powder keg that started World War I. I…kind of didn't focus on what was happening in class."

"I can see that." Brittany teased, pointing down to their initials scrawled in Santana's notebook and causing her to blush. Totally taken by just how sweet something so simple was, she leaned over and caught Santana's lips in a gentle kiss. "Are you okay?"

"I am. I mean, I was totally freaked out when those words appeared on my paper, because you don't really use your abilities, especially in public, but we're going to find out more about where we come from, so I'm okay, I think."

"In it together, right?" Brittany reached for Santana's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Always." She slid over on the lounger, making room for Brittany to come lie beside her, here she could drape an arm over her stomach and rest her head on her chest, letting Brittany hold her close. "So, your mom…"

"Wanted to give you my phone number."

"Really?" Santana laughed.

"Really. My mother tried to hook me up with my own girlfriend. She really liked you a lot."

"I hardly even got to talk to her, besides asking if she wanted coleslaw, and convincing her to order desert."

"Well, mom really does love blueberry pie, and you bringing it over on the house? That means you're a total keeper."

"She's easy to please, isn't she?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Brittany smiled softly, trailing her fingers over the smooth skin on Santana's arms. "I think she also thinks we're going to be like a Taylor Swift song."

"Taylor Swift wrote a song about soul bonded mates from a far away planet? Wow, I totally missed out on her new album."

"I know you didn't." She teased, poking Santana's ribs. "I've flipped through your iPod when you pass out on me early. You have every single one. Plus, I'm not sure you remember, since we've confessed a ton of stuff since then, but you've actually told me this before."

"Whatever, I'm a fan, don't tell anyone, you'll ruin my rep."

"I wouldn't dare. You keep all my secrets, I'll keep yours."

"Sounds like a deal to me. So your mom really liked me?" Santana's voice was soft and small, and Brittany kissed the top of her head.

"She did. I can't wait until it's safe enough for her to meet you for real."

"Britt? Do you think it's ever going to be safe enough?" She tilted her head up, looking into Brittany's eyes. "For us, for you?"

"I wish I knew the answer. Quinn thinks we never will, she thinks that the whole universe is zeroing in on us, and that they...that Hummel is nothing, compared to my family, like, they know we're not dead or something."

"They're not your family." Santana kissed the underside of Brittany's jaw and tucked herself further into the safest place she'd ever known, taking the pendant out from under her shirt and turning it over in her hand. "We may not know all that much about our life then, but I know for sure that whatever genetic ties you have to the creatures that...killed Reyneva and made the rest of you leave were severed by this. You and I, Caderyna and Reyneva, this thing we have, that means I'm your family. You came how ever many lightyears, or however they really measure space travel, to find me, to come home to me. No matter what else we learn, no matter who might come looking for us, that doesn't change. You, Brittany Pierce, have me, and you have Sam, you have Quinn, you have Holly, who helped you get back to me, and you have your mom and dad here. The murderers who took over our planet will never be your family."

"Sometimes I feel like I could singlehandedly kill them all for what they took from us."

"We'll have it all again someday." Santana promised, understanding full well what Brittany was alluding to, and had no hesitation, even at seventeen, to make a promise like that. "But I might want to take you on a real date before all that."

"You want to take me on a date?"

"Well, some woman left me a huge tip tonight, with the instructions use it to take a pretty girl out to dinner."

"She didn't."

"She did. And although she didn't give me your number, I'm pretty sure she had a very specific pretty girl in mind, a girl who happens to be the most beautiful one I've ever seen. Probably has something to do with magic alien genes, or something."

"I guess you got some of them too then." Brittany lowered her eyelids, but didn't tear them away from Santana. "I'd love to go on a date with you."

"Good, you would have broken my heart if you said no. I was thinking, Friday, I have to be at the game, since I went crawling back to Roz..."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to keep things normal. I talked to 'Cedes this morning, she thinks it's the best idea, and she's probably right."

"You don't have to do that. You were really serious about quitting yesterday, and I don't want you to do something that makes you unhappy."

"It doesn't, I promise. It's dumb, but I actually like cheerleading. And Roz took my side, so now I'll just play a little nicer with Kurt, and we're all good, at least with that. But anyway, I was hoping maybe you'd come watch me, and even though my father probably still won't be speaking to me by then, he'll assume I have parties and stuff to go to, and I'll take you to dinner in Carlsbad, where no one knows us. We can just be Santana and Brittany, no alien stuff, no worrying about over-invested law enforcement, for one night."

"That's the best idea I've ever heard." Brittany beamed. "I'm also really, really excited to see you cheer."

"I'm excited for you to see me too." Santana yawned. "I guess we should go to bed. It's been a seriously long day, and tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow's going to be even longer."