A/N: So remember when I said that Quinn would be doing some growing up too? Here we are. This chapter has a little more of Quinn, and I think there might be more of Quinn's POVs, but not many obviously, cause this is a Brittany story. So we know our girls are still going to be at the forefront.

Anyway, enjoy! ; )


Santana showered immediately after Brittany. They were cutting it pretty close, but it looked like they were going to be on time. Brittany got all the kids ready and packed all their bags by the time Santana was done.

"Are we going to the arc mama?" Kyler asked. "Arcade" he corrected, at the same time Jesus did. Brittany smiled, running a finger along his baby hair.

"No honey. We're going to see gammy and poppy."

He frowned.

"I don't want to go to gammy" Sophia said from her place in the back seat, where Santana had strapped her in. Kyler's frown intensified.

"They really want to see you though" Santana said. "They miss you."

"I don't want to go"

"Soph, mami and I have to go…we have to go do some work, so you can't come with us."

"We can go with Tia"

"Tia is coming with us."

"Uncle Noah too" Santana added, as Kyler opened his mouth. He shut it, folding his arms.

Brittany looked at her with her lips pressed tight together and an eyebrow raised. Santana frowned, confused at what that look meant. She shut the backdoor, having secured Mateo in his seat, and hoped into the driver's seat. Brittany was in the passenger seat a few seconds later.

"What?" Santana asked, glancing at her before pulling out of the valet parking.

"That look he has is one hundred percent your fault"

"What?"

"The sass too"

"How is that my fault? What did I do?"

"You taught it too them"

Santana stopped at an intersection and turned to narrow her eyes at Brittany.

"See" Brittany said, smirking.

"Whatever. I can't be blamed for that"

"I do blame you, but it'll forgive you cause you're cute"

Santana smiled at her, rolling her eyes and accelerating. "That's my line."

When they got to the Pierce residence, only Mateo got out of the car without drama. Jesus sulked more heavily than Santana had ever seen him sulk before, and refused to cooperate with any requests to carry his bag or blanket. After a few minutes he sat cross-legged on the floor. Sophia burst into tears the second she saw Susan, and clung to Santana so tightly it hurt. Kyler refused to get out of the car at all. He kicked and thrashed around as Brittany tried to unclip his seatbelt, and shouted and screamed when she tried to lift him out, gripping his seat with both hands so that Brittany couldn't yank him out without hurting him.

"What is happening?" Susan asked, Mateo in her arms. He was watching his siblings with wide eyes, looking from one to another and chewing on a teething toy. Santana was just glad he wasn't crying as well.

"Jesus" Santana said, giving up on trying to console Sophia. "Stand up and go say hi to your gammy"

Jesus shook his head, folding his arms.

"Jesus"

"No thank you mami. That makes me angry."

Santana sighed.

"No hitting mama!" Brittany said sternly, though she moved away from the car. "No Kyler."

Kyler fixed her with the exact same narrowed eyes Santana had only minutes before. Shaking her head, Brittany turned to Santana.

"I take it back. I don't forgive you."

"Why don't you just take them with you girls?" Pierce asked, having come out to see what all the noise was about.

"We can't dad. We'll be busy, and they won't have anything to do all day."

"Well….what's the alternative? This?"

Santana could feel Sophia shaking in her arms, much like she had for the first month she spent with them. It made her realise that this just wasn't her kids being stubborn. Sophia was genuinely scared of being left alone with Brittany's parents, and the twins, like always, were just protecting her.

"Listen. Escuchar Kyler! Listen to me."

Kyler stopped screaming. His breathing was heavy and his eyes hard, but he listened.

"Where mama and I are going is very boring. We're going to be working, all of us, so you'll have to be quiet. There's nowhere to play, and nothing to eat okay?" Kyler blinked at her. "So do you still want to come with us?"

"Yes" Sophia said immediately. Kyler nodded. Santana and Brittany turned to Jesus. He was looking down at the floor, his tongue sticking out. When he looked up, he looked really torn.

"What if I s-"

Kyler cut him off in the gibberish only the two of them could understand. Jesus eyes snapped to Kyler's, then to Sophia, then he nodded and stood up.

"You can stay with your grandparents if you want" Brittany said. He shook his head.

"I'm going with my brother"

Santana and Brittany exchanged a look, both very clear on the fact that Kyler had just forced him to come, then Brittany shook her head and moved back to the car.

"Looks like you just get Mateo" Santana said. Sophia's head shot up, but Brittany was anticipating her reaction.

She held up a finger as Sophia's mouth opened wide, preparing for a scream.

"No." She said seriously. Sophia's mouth closed. "Niki is fine staying with gammy. See?" she pointed at Mateo, who was slapping Susan's head and laughing loudly. "He's happy. Just because you don't want to stay, doesn't mean everyone has to go with us as well okay?" Sophia pouted, but nodded. Santana strapped her in and entered the car.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay Jesus?" Santana asked.

"Yup" he answered. There wasn't any hesitation or sadness in his voice, so Santana let it go. She did wonder though, what Kyler had said to him.

"Alright fine" Brittany said, slightly disgruntled. "Let's just go. We're late now."


"What happened?" Quinn asked as the Lopez-Pierce family walked up to her. She had been waiting for them at the front of the school.

"I can't even tell you" Santana said, shaking her head. "Kyler Santiago, Regresa y saluda a tu tia"

Kyler stopped a few feet from the doors, and spun around. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Quinn.

"Hi Tia."

Quinn smirked. "Hey little man. Can I get a hug?"

Kyler frowned like he was thinking about it, then he dropped his arms and marched to Quinn. He hugged her round her waist quickly, then let go and walked back to the door. Santana shook her head once again.

"I can't." she muttered.

"Hi Tia" Jesus said happily. He ran up to her and hugged her just like Kyler had, but with much more enthusiasm. Quinn hugged him back, running her hands through his hair. When he let her go, Sophia came up next. She skipped happily to Quinn and raised her arms. Quinn picked her up and kissed her cheek several times.

"You wouldn't believe she was just screaming bloody murder." Brittany sighed, coming to stand next to Santana. Santana grunted in response.

"So what's up with your brother?" Quinn was asking Sophia.

"He's not happy"

"Yeah…what happened?"

"Mami and mama tried to leave us at gammy and poppy's house again." Jesus answered. Quinn frowned, looking at Santana and Brittany. She had to laugh at the identical looks of exasperation on their faces.

"Hmm…okay. Well let's go find uncle Noah. He'll be so happy to see you guys."

Kyler smiled for the first time in almost an hour, and ran ahead with Jesus.

Brittany and Santana remained standing outside the school, staring after their children.

"We have tiny little divas." Santana said. "Adorable, tiny little four year old divas, living with us."

Brittany nodded. "And the worst part is that we can't do anything about it because they completely own our hearts."

"We're so fucked" Santana said wearily. Brittany turned to face her, linking her pinkie with Santana's.

"Once again….it's all your fault."

"You're the one who wanted to have kids with me….going on about little Santana's. Well, be careful what you wish for."

Brittany laughed, kissing Santana's hand. "Come on. We're late."


Over the years, Quinn had experienced many emotions in relation to Santana, but by far the most prevalent one was jealousy. From the moment they met in Kindergarten, Quinn had been jealous of Santana. She'd been jealous of her pink backpack that had sparkles all over it, and the matching pencil case that came with it. From that moment, though their relationship changed multiple times, she could always remember feeling jealous.

In the fourth grade when Santana had punched Riley, a boy who'd been teasing her for weeks, and made him cry, Quinn had been jealous. The whole class thought Santana was so cool after that, and all the boys left her alone. Quinn still had to deal with disgusting boys picking their noses and chasing her around threatening to wipe it on her face.

In the eighth grade, when Santana had gotten her letter of admission to cheer camp, Quinn had been jealous. The last semester of school hadn't even ended, and Santana already had a guarantee into the Mckinely high school cheerleading squad. It made Quinn so mad because Santana hadn't even wanted to join the Cheerios. She'd called it stupid all through the year, but Quinn had insisted they join. She'd heard it was the fastest way to become popular in high school, and after being tormented for most of middle school for how she looked, she needed to have a clean slate. Her letter didn't come until almost two weeks into the summer holidays. Two days before the camp was set to start.

Throughout high school, Quinn had been jealous of Santana.

First, there was the fact that this Brittany girl had shown up, and all but professed her adoration of Santana on the very first day. It only proved more annoying when no matter what Quinn tried, and despite the fact that Santana barely even spoke to the girl for the first month, Brittany remained stubbornly infatuated.

Then it got worse.

One moment she and Brittany would be sitting discussing something probably unimportant, and the next Brittany would be smiling from ear to ear, her eyes twinkling like she was already on the verge of laughter, just because Santana walked in. Quinn didn't have that. Her closest friend was Santana, which in itself was telling, and all the other friends she had just seemed…distant. There were some who were fake, but those she didn't count as friends, she counted them as allies. Then there were others who were her friends. Those who she could sit and hang out with and genuinely have a good time. Yet still, it didn't really feel like what she thought friendship felt like. She definitely didn't have a best friend.

Then she was jealous because of Puck. Noah Puckerman was an anomaly. Every girl found him crass and disgusting, but somehow also wanted him all to themselves. Quinn hadn't. If you'd asked her she would have said she'd rather die alone than date Noah Puckerman, and she wouldn't have been lying. But then Santana went and started dating him, and something inside her seemed to burn with jealousy. It was baffling really, because Santana had obviously only done it because she had started dating Finn, which meant she was currently at an advantage, yet, she couldn't get the burning inside her to stop. Every time she saw them kissing or heard they made out at a party, she just couldn't take it. So she'd slept with Puck.

Boy had that been a mistake. The worst part was that Santana hadn't even cared.

Then two of the three idiots in her life finally got their act together and started dating, and her jealousy had peaked. For more than just the obvious reason.

One, was that while she obviously hadn't wished it on them, there was no real fallout from their coming out. There was no bullying or ridicule. There was no fall from grace like she had experienced. The friends Santana had on the Cheerios and football team all stuck by her, one even got suspended for beating up a guy who said something, Quinn didn't know what, about Santana and Brittany. It proved what she'd known before her pregnancy; the friends she'd had before glee, were always more loyal to Santana than they were to her.

Second, was that Santana remained captain of the Cheerios. It was stupid, but there it was. Coach Sylvester had felt no sympathy for Quinn whatsoever, kicking her off the team like she had meant nothing. All because she wanted to protect the image of the Cheerios. Yet Santana gets herself publicly humiliated, which again Quinn was not saying she was happy about, in a video that directly called the coach's moral fibre into question, and she got not only an apology, but support and protection.

Third was the obvious one. Santana got to be with her best friend. She got to experience a love that Quinn never had. The closest she'd gotten had been with Sam, because he was far more interesting and good looking than Finn, but it was still very hollow. There wasn't a connection. She felt it a little with Puck. He was definitely the most interesting guy she'd ever known, an idiot, to be sure, but not a stupid idiot like the other two. He had layers, that Quinn found intriguing to try and uncover, and he challenged her, maybe too much, which is why they were always arguing. Still, being with him had been exhilarating, and after getting her head back on straight, she was glad that if she had to have a baby, it was with him. This meant however, that she had never felt even a fraction of what Santana was feeling now. She'd never been loved so hard that it made her feel strong and powerful and safe. She'd never loved someone so much that she'd do anything for them.

Well she had….she did, but that person…that baby would never know her. Would never love her. She wasn't hers to love anymore.

So when Brittany called her one night as she lay with her face sticking to one of her textbooks, eyes drooping and music blaring in her tiny Yale dorm room, and told her that Santana had broken up with her, she was at a complete loss at what to feel.

"She…what?"

"She…she b-broke u-up with…me"

Brittany was sobbing. Like really sobbing, and Quinn had no response. She was pretty good at figuring Santana out most of the time. They had known each other a long time after all. But this…it just didn't make any sense. It didn't make any sense from whatever angle Quinn looked at it.

"What do you mean she broke up with you?" she finally asked, sure Brittany must have misunderstood. She'd just talked to Santana a few days ago. She'd been so excited to go back to Lima and see Brittany. There was no indication that she'd wanted to break up. It was mad.

"Sh-she sssaid that the distance w-wasn't….working, and th-that w-we had to do the adult th-thing."

Quinn frowned, swivelling her chair round slowly. Yes, Santana had told her many times before that the distance was hard. That she missed Brittany so much sometimes she just lay in bed and cried all day. Still, there was no indication that she had wanted to end it. The opposite in fact. She talked about dropping out all the time, and moving back to Lima till Brittany was done.

"She said that sh-she…she…there was a g-gi-girl"

"Did she cheat on you?" Quinn asked in alarm. That was beyond inconceivable. Unless Santana had been drugged, there was no way she would cheat on Brittany. Breaking up with her was strange, cheating on her was impossible.

"No"

Quinn nodded, taking a breath. At least there was that.

"What girl then?"

"I-in th-the Lib…l….li"

"Library?"

"Sh-she called i-it an e-en-ergy exch-change"

Again Quinn frowned.

Sometimes Brittany didn't make sense. Sometimes she said things that really, really didn't make sense at all, not in the context of the conversation you were having, and sometimes not in any context. Sometimes it was on purpose, like when she was avoiding an uncomfortable situation, or when she was bored, or when she didn't want to lie, but sometimes it was for no reason at all. That was just how Brittany's brain worked. Quinn had figured it out….as much as anyone besides Santana could. For the life of her though, she could not figure out what she was talking about now.

"What's an energy exchange Britt?" she asked delicately.

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW"

Quinn's eyes widened. Brittany rarely cursed. Rarely as in Quinn had only ever heard her curse once before, when she'd been dropped from a flip and sprained her wrist pretty badly. She also never really raised her voice. When she was upset she usually got quieter, like she was retreating into herself.

They sat in silence for a while, Quinn just listening to Brittany sobbing. It was a long time. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She was all the way in New Haven, and had no idea what had even happened. She couldn't exactly help Brittany much.

When she finally hung up the phone a few hours later, because Brittany had fallen asleep, she took a quick shower, then called Santana. It was during this conversation that she began to feel jealous.

As Santana went on and on about doing the right thing even though it hurt, about giving Brittany her freedom and allowing her to be happy even though it felt like her heart was being ripped out, Quinn listened, and felt that all too familiar burn.

It was sad, what was happening to her best friends, but even that pain she wanted to experience. She wanted to love someone so much that she had to put them above herself. She wanted someone to love her back so hard that they sobbed for hours…for days probably, because she knew Brittany would start crying again when she woke up. When she'd broken up with Joe, if you could call it that, because she still wasn't even sure they'd been dating, he'd been fine. They'd hugged, and he'd kissed her. He'd told her she was amazing and thanked her for giving him all the time they'd spent together. Then they'd moved on. She'd never talked to him again.

For months she listened to both ends of this break-up, trying to support her friends while hiding her darker thoughts. She cautioned Brittany when she started dating Sam, and begged Santana not to go back to Lima when she called to vent about it. She listened to Santana cry and rage when Brittany told her to go to New York, refusing to break up with Sam, and then listened to Brittany try and explain herself only the next day.

The two drove her crazy honestly, but above all it kept that burn going inside her.

She needed someone who drove her crazy like that. Someone she would want to sacrifice her own happiness for. There was no doubt in her mind that the two would get married, not after experiencing first-hand how they acted when they weren't even together. How they always considered each other's feelings…well not always, seeing as Brittany married Sam, but Quinn was chalking that up to temporary insanity.

When Santana called to tell her she was not going to the reunion, it was the second time she was completely unable to understand Santana. Santana Lopez never hid from a fight. Most of the time she started fights unnecessarily, just so she wouldn't be perceived as backing down. It didn't make sense that she wouldn't go just because of Brittany.

At the moment Santana was going on about wanting to spend a week without Rachel, but Quinn knew better.

"Imagine the peace of mind I could get with her in another fucking town."

"Imagine the peace of mind we could all get with you and her in the same room."

There was a long silence. Quinn put the phone on speaker and continued doing her nails, which had become tragically unkempt.

"Fuck you Fabray"

Then the line was dead.

Quinn shook her head.

"Fuck you too Santana" she muttered to the empty room.

And she meant it. Santana was so hard-headed and difficult that she couldn't see how good she had it in life. She was living with true friends, maybe not ones that would have been anyone's first choice, especially not Rachel, but they were still true friends. She had a girlfriend, who seemed really nice from what Quinn picked up when she was in New York, and she was chasing her dreams. The fact that she was scared to face the love of her life wasn't something Quinn felt bad for her over.

Quinn had nothing. She was dating some pretentious ass-hole because it was good for her image. Because it would secure her future if they got married. It was boring. Exceedingly boring, and it was sad that she had to hide so much of her past. That she had to lie about Beth.

Santana had nothing to complain about.

She was so not shocked by the two getting back together that she rolled her eyes when Tina told her she'd spotted them kissing. The fact that anyone was shocked was astounding to her. She was happy for them, she really was. For one it meant no more painful conversations that dragged on into the night with one of them either crying or venting. It also gave her hope, because if two people who were so obviously meant to end up together couldn't make it, then what chance in hell did she have?

Through the years her jealousy morphed. She matured, for one thing, but she also got closer to Santana and Brittany. They became proper best friends, which was a first for her, and made her feel that genuine, selfless joy for another person's success. Yet still, every once in a while, when she saw anniversary pictures, or pictures of them moving into their apartment, or even long after that when she saw the lengths Brittany and Santana went to on each other's birthdays even after years of being together, when they finally got married, or Santana went on a talk show, or flew to London to have a concert, there was that burn in the pit of her stomach. She felt guilty about it, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get rid of it.

It dimmed, especially after she moved to San Jose. Sometimes she didn't feel it for months at a time. But it never left. There would always be a moment where she felt it creep up. Where she had to take a minute to stop herself from thinking of ways to sabotage her best friends, or to keep in the snarky comment that wold ruin their happy moment.

On the day Santana and Brittany walked into their San Jose apartment in mid-October, with two identical, tiny little boys, something changed for her. Something changed when they asked her to be their godmother and she held them in her arms and they stared up at her with big innocent brown eyes.

She realised that she felt that unconditional love that Santana had for Brittany. She had felt that great big love that was too much to contain in her chest. The love that made her feel strong and safe. The love that made her certain she would do anything for that person. Anything. She'd just forgotten.

So as soon as she got home she picked up her phone and called Rachel, asking for her mother's number. She was going to fix what she had done so well to ruin as a teenager.

And just like that the jealousy was gone.


Puck was running towards them second he saw Jesus and Kyler, who were still leading the group. He grabbed both boys, crushing them in a hug. Santana smiled as she walked in and heard them giggling. In less than a minute, Sophia was in his arms.

"That didn't take long at all" Brittany laughed, watching Puck sit in the middle of the auditorium away from everyone else, with Sophia in his lap.

"I think the great Puckersaurass is finally tamed" Santana laughed.

"Mama its Mercedes and Kurt" Jesus shouted from the stage. Santana and Brittany looked up in his direction. True enough, Mike, Mercedes, Kurt and Quinn were all on the stage. Kyler was in Quinn's arms while Jesus stood in front of her, pointing at Mercedes as evidence for his parents to see.

"Yeah bud."

"Is they working with you too?"

"Yeah"

Jesus turned back to the group, talking animatedly.

As the two women walked down the aisle, they spotted Blaine, Tina and Sam.

"Hey guys" Brittany greeted, waving. All three grinned, looking up at her.

"Hey Britt" Tina said. She stood up and hugged Brittany, then hugged Santana after some hesitation. Santana still wasn't much of a hugger, but she also wasn't the bitch who pushed people off her anymore, so she hugged Tina back. Blaine got up and hugged Brittany next, though to Santana's relief he didn't hug her. He just smiled.

"Hey Santana. You guys made it on time today"

Santana laughed.

"I'm sure Rachel will point out that we're almost ten minutes late."

"That's true" Tina laughed. She and Blaine sat down. Sam stood up awkwardly. He clearly didn't know whether to hug them or not. Tina shook her head and pulled his arm down till he was sitting again. He waved at them.

"Hey Sammy" Brittany said, trying not to laugh. Santana wasn't sure what he was being awkward for. They hadn't seen each other in almost 6 years, and he hadn't been dating Brittany for almost 10. Surely that was enough time to get over any, 'I used to date both of you and now you're married to each other' feelings he had.

"Those are your kids right?" Blaine asked unnecessarily, pointing at the stage. Brittany and Santana's smiles were identical.

"Yup. Those are our troublemakers." Santana confirmed. Mike seemed to be playing some kind of game with both boys. Tag it looked like. Their laughs echoed through the auditorium.

"They're adorable" Tina said.

"Thank you" Brittany and Santana said at the same time.

"You wouldn't have thought that if you saw them this morning" Brittany said, only half joking.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Let's just say they didn't feel like co-operating." Santana answering, shaking her head.

"Aww" Blaine said, "that why they're here?"

"Yup" Brittany confirmed.

"I would never have believed that" he pointed to where Sophia and Puck were sitting. She was now sitting facing him, her hands open palmed and facing up, waiting for him to try and catch them. There was a huge smile on both their faces.

"Me neither" Tina said.

"Yeah" Brittany said. "Those two are always together. He's the best. They all love him so much."

"Crazy how much has changed huh?" Sam asked, looking around. "How much we've changed."

They all nodded, watching Rachel walk up on stage.

"Crazy how much we haven't" Tina laughed.

"Alright everyone….alright. While I do agree that the Lopez-Pierce children are very cute, I believe we have some pressing issues to get to. We are already 17 minutes behind schedule" Santana rolled her eyes at Tina, who sniggered. "So if everyone could please sit down."

Everyone on stage walked off, finding seats in the front row. Finn and Artie sat a couple rows back on the other side of the isle. Santana and Brittany went to sit with Puck.

"Thank you. Fortunately, I planned for any…delays" Santana rolled her eyes again. "The glee club will be here in about another ten minutes…wow, that's weird to say right?"

Santana had to agree. It was weird that they were at a glee meeting and were not practicing or fighting for solos. It was weird that there was no Mr Schue.

"Anyway" Rachel continued. "I have laid out some rough guidelines for your mentorship journey. Some key elements I think are important for all the kids to learn from you guys, so as to strengthen the club as a whole."

Brittany leaned into Santana. "I had a whole plan on how I was going to mentor my vampire. Do I have to ignore that now?"

Santana smiled. "No B. I think it'll be pretty basic stuff." Brittany nodded.

"First, I think it's important that we all have a similar schedule. I don't think it'll be fair if say, Natasha is getting hours of quality mentorship, and Roderick is only getting a few minutes a week."

Santana frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" she called to the stage.

"It's just an example Santana"

"A bad one" Puck shouted.

"A loaded one" Quinn said, quieter but still loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I don't think we can all have the same schedule" Mike said. "Some of us have other things going on in their lives, like preparing for a baby"

"And planning a wedding" Mercedes said.

"I'm planning a wedding as well" Rachel added quickly. Santana smirked at Mercedes who had turned back to give her a 'is she serious' look. She shrugged. "But I think this is something important."

"It is" Finn said.

"Right, so we should prioritize it."

"No" Kurt said loudly. "This is important, but that doesn't mean other things aren't important as well Rachel."

"What are you complaining about? Your wedding's already done"

"He's starting a company, in case you've forgotten" Santana said, now getting angry.

"I haven't forgotten Santana. I've been there since he made that decision" Rachel crossed her arms.

"Great, then you know just how important that is for him. Glad we agree."

Rachel's eyes narrowed, but Artie spoke up before she could.

"What if we just agree on an amount of hours that we will all commit to mentoring?" He suggested. "That way, we know that all the kids are at least getting something of quality."

"Yeah that's a good idea" Finn said, in a voice that was clearly trying to ease the tension. Rachel's arms remained stubbornly crossed.

"Ookaay" Quinn said, standing up. "Why don't we start with Mike and move to the right. Everyone say how many hours they can commit to and we'll find a balance."

Just as the bell rang, they managed to agree on 12 hours a week. Slowly, the glee kids began filtering into the auditorium in groups of two or three. Santana noticed only three cheerleading uniforms, which for some reason made her smile. As she'd predicted, Sly was one of them. There were two boys in letterman jackets. Roderick walked in last, and by himself.

"Hey everyone" Rachel called, getting the kids' attention. "Please find your mentor and sit with-" she was cut off by loud screaming, followed by a rushed 'shut up, shut up, shut up'

Santana smiled.

"Shondra, you've been doing that since you found out Santana was coming, I think it's time to stop" Rachel said in agitation.

"I like it" Santana said loudly, winking at Shondra, who had slowly made her way to Blaine. She started screaming again, but this time into her hand. Santana chuckled.

"Hey" Sly said happily, kneeling on the seat in front of Santana.

"Hey" Santana smiled wide. She really liked Sly, but she hoped that wasn't because she was like a young Santana. "You're a Cheerio"

Sly looked down at her uniform. "Yup." She looked back up. "You were one too right?"

"Yeah. Brittany and Quinn too."

"That's cool"

"So there were only three Cheerios in glee back then too?" Roderick asked very quietly. Santana nodded.

"Hey you"

He smiled shyly and waved.

Megon sat in the chair by the isle, so that Nina got the chair next to Brittany.

"You brought your kids today" Nina said, pointing at Sophia.

"Yeah. We didn't really have a choice"

"That's why I'm never going to have kids" Megon said.

Sly rolled her eyes, making Santana laugh.

"They're a-"

"Yeah we've all heard it before Dracula. Nobody cares"

Santana smirked, but held in her laugh. Just like with Finn, she didn't want the kids think she was encouraging teasing or bullying. Megon narrowed his eyes at Sly.

"Whatever princess. You're the one society is fucking over. It's not my problem if you don't care how."

Sly rolled her eyes again, but turned away from him.

"Any idea what we're doing today?"

"Uh…I think we're just supposed to be getting to know each other."

"Really?" Brittany asked. "Cause if that's true, do we have to do it in here?"

Santana looked up to the stage, intending to ask Rachel, but then she frowned, wondering when she started taking orders from Rachel Berry.

"No" she told Brittany. "I don't think so."

"Cool" Brittany stood up. "Let's go young minions." Megon looked highly offended by the name, and stood up with his arms crossed. Nina just chuckled, standing up as well. Brittany bent down and pecked Santana. "I'll see you in an hour babe."

"Bye"

She was curious where Brittany was going, but since Brittany hadn't offered that information herself, she guessed she wanted it to be a surprise for the kids. She'd find out later. She watched as Brittany left the auditorium with Jesus, who she'd called to her and the two teens, before turning to Puck.

"What about you Puck?"

"Nah, I think I'm gonna stay here"

"Mija are you okay to stay with Uncle Noah?" Sophia nodded. Accepting this, Santana kissed her goodbye and stood up as well.

"Where are we going?" Sly asked, falling into step with Santana.

"I wasn't a fan of this place when I actually had to be here, so now that I don't I'm not spending another second here."

"Yes! We're leaving?"

"Are we going to be back in time for class?" Roderick asked, looking worried. Santana tried not to roll her eyes like Sly.

"You're such a nerd. Do you know how many guys would kill to spend their time with Santana Lopez, and all you're worried about is if you're going to miss class?"

Roderick played with his hands nervously in front of him.

"Don't worry." Santana said, slowing her steps so he wasn't trailing behind them. "I'll get you back in time."

When they got to her car, she realised she'd have to remove one of the car seats to make space for Roderick, who she knew would sit in the back. It made her realise that she hadn't even checked to see if Kyler wanted to come with her. She thought about going back, but then decided he would be fine with Quinn.

Almost twenty minutes later, Santana got out of her car, holding the keys for the valet of the hotel to take. She led the teens to the poolside restaurant and sat on one of the high chairs. The followed her lead.

"So" she said, crossing her legs. The way Sly's eyes followed the movement didn't escape her notice. "You're both sophomores right?"

"Yeah. I just transferred though, like at the beginning of the term."

"Where were you before?"

"New York"

"Really?" Santana asked, shocked. "Your parents moved from New York to Lima?"

"No"

Santana paused, confused, before she understood. She nodded, showing she got it. To move the attention from the information she was pretty sure Sly hadn't wanted to share, she turned to Roderick. He was looking very uncomfortable, like he was expecting someone to jump over the counter and attack him.

"What about you?"

"I've been here all my life"

"Lima bred just like me huh? You want some advice?" he nodded. "Leave as soon as you can."

Sly laughed. "That's the plan."

"Do you know what you want to do once you leave?"

"Go back to New York" she answered immediately. "I'm a New Yorker through and through."

"Yeah I can tell" Santana laughed. "What are you going to do when you get there though?"

Sly paused. "Art maybe"

"Oh an artist" Santana said in a French accent. Sly giggled, but Santana could hear her nerves. "That's cool."

"I thought you wanted to be an actress" Roderick asked her.

"Why would you think that?"

"I…uh…just heard some people-"

"Well you're wrong" Sly snapped. "What I wanna do with my life isn't any of your business, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't try and make it. Understand?"

Roderick's eyes widened before hastily dropping to the floor as he nodded. Santana sighed.

"Guys…I'm not going to pretend I don't see what's going on. You guys aren't friends, and that's fine. I didn't like any of the people in glee club when I first joined either. I still didn't like a few by the time we were graduating so I'm not going to say you guys will be friends one day."

Roderick seemed to shrink further into himself as Sly crossed her arms.

"All I'm going to say, is that the three of us are going to be spending a lot of time together, and while you might be fine with this awkward hostile tension, this isn't how I'm going to spend my next two months. So….why don't we pretend that whenever the three of us are together, it's an alternate universe. You two don't know each other, the same way I don't know anything about you, and we're all just trying to get to know each other. We can all say and ask whatever we want, and nobody is allowed to get offended by anything. How does that sound?"

There was a long silence, as both kids thought about her proposition. After a moment, Roderick looked up.

"Okay. But nothing we say is allowed to be repeated then" he sounded so nervous, but Santana could see some hope in his eyes, like he really wanted this to work. "If it's an alternate universe, then when we return to the real world, everything else should just be forgotten." Santana raised her eyebrows. That was the kind of thing she had been expecting Sly to say, but it made sense. Maybe he didn't want her to be able to make fun of him for something they did during their mentorship. Sly nodded, looking more relaxed.

"Awesome. First, I think we should give our universe a name." Santana said. It was extremely dorky how excited she was about this. Thankfully, she wasn't in high school, and could not care less.

"Snixville" Sly said with a grin. Santana laughed. Hard. Even Roderick laughed.

"I love it. Snixville is officially opened."

"To commemorate the occasion I think some drinks are in order."

Santana smirked. "Nice try, and if I wasn't famous I probably would have allowed it, but no. All drinks while in my care are going to have to be virgin."

"Lame" Sly said, giving her a thumbs down, but she was smiling.

"I think…"

"What?" Santana prompted Roderick.

"I think we should all say one thing…like one big thing that we would never want anyone else to know."

Sly scowled. "Why would we do that?"

"So we can preserve the sanctity of Snixville"

Santana frowned, turning to look at Sly. She looked equally as confused. Roderick sighed, dropping his fidgeting hands.

"If you know something secret about me, I'm not going to tell anyone anything we do or say in Snixville cause I know you could retaliate."

"I mean…I don't think that's really necessary. We're not going to be like…trading war stories. We're just hanging out" Santana said.

Sly looked unsure. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, running her top teeth over it. Finally she looked up. "It's not a bad idea."

"Really? Do you guys not trust each other that much?"

"Yes" they said at the same time. Santana stared at them.

"Okay…well…if you guys are sure. But I really have to stress that whatever you say needs to be a secret. If you're going to start spilling deep dark secrets I will not…and I'm very serious about this, I will not tolerate those secrets being shared with anyone outside Snixville, or using that secret as part of a joke or insult."

Both kids nodded.

Santana sighed, leaning back in her chair. She hadn't meant for this to get so serious. She'd just hoped that Snixville would be a safe place, so Roderick could stop being so shy and anxious. Maybe that it would get them to start liking each other a bit. She was not intending for them to bare their souls to each other.

"Who's going to go first?" she asked.

"It was his idea. So he should" Sly said.

Roderick looked down again, swallowing.

"Okay…" he paused, seemingly gathering his courage.

"Any time now"

"Don't." Santana said, shaking her head at Sly. "When it's your turn it won't be so easy." Sly licked her lips and nodded.

"You swear you won't tell anyone this?" Sly nodded, one eyebrow raised. "Okay" Roderick said again. "You…uh…remember that party just before the start of the semester?"

Sly nodded.

"Well…remember how Ashley said there was some guy who had tried to kiss her by the pool, but threw up on her instead and then peed his pants?"

Sly's mouth dropped open, before her hands quickly went to her mouth as she tried to stifle a laugh. Roderick nodded. "It was me."

Santana pressed her lips tightly together, refusing to laugh. She wondered if Roderick had forgotten that Ashley was her sister-in-law.

"Ashley Pierce?" She asked, just to make sure. Roderick nodded, then his eyes snapped to her, blushing profusely. Sly couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. Even Santana had to smile. "Fuck me"

"No…don't worry. We're not allowed to tell anyone remember?"

"Not even Brittany?" he asked.

"Not even Brittany" Santana lied.

Roderick nodded.

"Can I ask a question?" Sly asked. He shrugged. "Why did you pee?"

"I was so drunk, and I'd never been drunk before. I wasn't handling it well. Plus I had been working myself up to talking to Ashley for years. I guess it was just too much for my body." Sly laughed some more. "Your turn"

She sobered quickly. She was silent for a while, staring at the pool.

"I'm gay, and my parents kicked me out when they found me kissing one of our neighbours. That's how I ended up here, living with my crazy grandmother."

Santana's heart dropped. That had been her exact fear when she was struggling to come out.

"I'm so sorry" she said quietly, not even looking at Sly.

"Thanks." There was a long silence. "If you ever tell anyone that, I'm going to skin you alive" she pointed at Roderick.

"Me too" Santana said seriously.

"I won't" Roderick said, shaking his head. "I promise."

"Your promises don't mean anything to me."

"Well….Ty will beat my ass into the ground if he finds out that I'm the one who tried to kiss Ashley. So….is that enough for you?"

"Not to mention the ridicule…shit Roderick. You're lamer than I thought."

"Hey" Santana snapped. "What did I say?"

Sly raised her hands in surrender. "So can we get a drink or…"

"Yeah."

When the drinks arrived, they all raised them up to cheers. "To Snixville"


Quinn watched Santana let her back slam hard into the locker, cross her arms over her chest and roll her eyes. Brittany stood next to her, Quinn beside Brittany, and Kailey, Monica, Turner and Lincoln standing around Santana in a semi-circle.

"Are you serious?" Kailey asked. She was talking to Santana, but Quinn answered, needing to take charge of the conversation.

"Coach is forcing us" she said, forcing as much frustration as she could into her voice. She needed them to believe her. "What were we supposed to say? No?"

"She just…called you into her office and told you that you had to join the glee club?" Monica asked, turning to Quinn. Quinn nodded, shooting Santana a look.

"For some stupid sabotage shit…I don't know. She's obsessed with 'taking down the glee club'." Santana rolled her eyes, giving air quotes that made the story suddenly believable.

"That sucks, but I guess it's better than you guys joining for fun like Finn." Turner said.

Everyone turned to face Quinn at this, Santana with a smirk she knew meant trouble.

"He'll get bored of it eventually."

"I hope so. It's making everyone crazy."

"If I have to listen to Karofsky go on about how gay it is one more time I'm going to shoot myself" Lincoln said.

"Why does he even think that? There are girls in glee club right?" Turner asked

"Ugh" Santana groaned. "If you could call them that"

They all laughed.

"One of them has a huge thing for Finn doesn't she Quinn?" Brittany asked. It was innocent, Quinn knew, but she couldn't help feeling annoyed. She scowled at Brittany as Monica turned to her with a frown.

"One of those glee freaks is after your boyfriend?"

"And Coach just so happened to assign you on some double agent mission in that very same club? That's lucky for you huh?" Kailey asked, glancing at Santana. Quinn hated that Santana didn't bother to hide her smirk, it just confirmed to the others that she's been caught in a lie. Well…a half-lie.

"Lucky you, you get to keep a close eye on your man"

"Why would he even want any of them?" Turner asked, looking grossed out. "One's a vampire, one dresses like she lives in the ghetto, and the other dresses like she's a stuck-up pre-schooler." All the girls but Quinn laughed, and Quinn had to admit it was an accurate description.

"He doesn't want them" she said, standing up straighter and tossing her hair. "He just likes the attention. Like I told you, he'll get bored soon."

"You hope" Santana said. Quinn glared at her, hating that it only made her smirk harder.

"If I were you I'd break up with him" Kailey said, shaking her head. "If your boyfriend wants to sink his ship, you dive into someone else's" Monica, Brittany and Santana laughed.

Quinn crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course you'd say that Kailey, you're a slut" she felt a surge of pride when she saw Kailey's jaw clench and Monica's eyes narrow. Had anyone else insulted her like that, save maybe Santana, Kailey would have retorted. It was a reminder of her status that Kailey and Monica both held their tongues.

"You say that like it's a bad thing" Quinn's eyes snapped to Santana as she tried hard to suppress the urge to slap her. Santana was the bane of her existence. It was like she was put in her life to constantly test her. "You should be more worried about keeping your dumb as a rock boyfriend from demolishing your reputation more than he already has by cheating on you with a hobbit, than of being called a slut."

"I have some self-respect"

Santana laughing literally made her feel like her blood was boiling. How she'd like nothing more than to just knock Santana off her arrogant high horse.

"Oh please Fabray, you're dating Finn."

Quinn ground her teeth together as the others laughed.

"And you're dating Puck"

There was that swell of pride again. The one that came with proving her dominance. Santana may be quick with insults and comebacks, but there was no denying that Quinn had gotten her with that one. Everybody knew that Puck was a man whore. He wasn't exactly the loyal kind, and while he hadn't cheated on Santana….yet, he was always flirting with some girl or other. You could not date him and claim to have self-respect.

"Yet even he isn't being seduced by some four inch mountain troll, and nobody thinks he's gay" Santana finally said, pushing off the lockers and uncrossing her arms.

They stared at each other for a while, neither wanting to look away first. Finally, Santana rolled her eyes and pushed past Quinn, who smirked slightly.

Yeah, she'd definitely have to remind Santana who the head cheerleader was.