Author's note: I got a surge of motivation so I'm writing this the day after chapter 16

Thursday 9th of January

Brittany stood on the doorstep with her bags packed.

"I'll miss you." Santana told the blonde. Brittany was leaving for a dance convention in Los Angeles.

"It's only until Sunday." Brittany told her, holding the shorter girl in her arms. "I'll be back Monday morning around 11."

"I know. I'll be fine." Santana reassured her. The couple rarely spent time apart from one another so this was a novelty.

Brittany checked the time - 18:33 "I really need to go." She said with a frown. They shared a kiss.

"Call me when you arrive. Have a safe flight."

"I will." They shared another kiss.

"Goodbye." Brittany said as she walked away with her suitcase and backpack.

"Goodbye." Santana replied as she closed the door.

Santana walked into the kitchen and turned on the radio. She chose the Jazz station. Brittany hates jazz so she only plays it when the blonde isn't home.

She searched the fridge for ingredients for dinner. After deciding she had no motivation to cook, she grabbed the leftover Chinese takeout.

She emptied the white and red containers onto her plate. She had noodles and sweet and sour chicken. She grabbed a glass of wine too. She ate dinner while scrolling through Twitter on her phone. She found a few funny tweets and sent them to Brittany. She new her fiancé wouldn't see them for many hours so she didn't wait for a reply.

After dinner she replied to some emails and cleared out her spam folder. Deciding she was tired, she went to bed.

After doing her nightly skincare routine and changing into her pyjamas, she laid down in their bed. It felt big. Too big.

Santana didn't sleep well that night. She tossed and turned and couldn't drift off to sleep. She was used to sleeping in Brittany's arms, feeling the warmth of her body pressed against her own.

Santana started scrolling through the photos on her phone. She found pictures of them together dressed up for a night out, pictures of Brittany sleeping, looking like an angel, and even pictures of Brittany naked. Santana smiled at the memories attached to each photo.

She kept scrolling back until she found photos of them from high school. They looked so young. She found a video of Brittany chasing her through her childhood home with melted chocolate on her finger. There was a matching chocolate mark on the Latina's face. The audio was a lot of screaming and giggling. Santana felt much more relaxed after seeing the photos and videos.

Eventually she fell asleep.

Friday 10th of January

Santana woke up to her phone ringing. She checked the time - 6am. She groaned knowing she had another 30 minutes before her alarm went off. When she saw who was calling she picked it up immediately.

"Hey Brittany." She said with a sleepy smile.

"Hey baby, I know it's early, I'm just letting you know I've arrived at the hotel safely. I'm all checked in now." Brittany told her.

"Oh good. What time is it for you?" Santana asked.

"3am." She said with a yawn. "I'm going to sleep now for a bit then I've got a meeting over lunch."

"Okay, sounds good. Have fun." Santana told her. She didn't sound particularly enthusiastic due to her sleepiness.

"How did you sleep?" Brittany asked as she changed into her pyjamas.

"Not great. I never sleep as well when you're not here but I got a few hours rest." Santana said honestly.

"I know. I don't sleep as well either. I'll be back soon though. Just a few more nights." Brittany yawned again.

"I know baby. You should get some sleep now. I love you." Santana told her.

"I love you too." Brittany said before hanging up the phone.

Santana knew that 15 minutes of sleep wasn't worth going back to sleep for. She got out of bed and chose to take an extra long shower instead.

After getting dressed she wandered into the kitchen and grabbed a coffee to go. She contemplated getting breakfast, she could hear Brittany's voice in her head telling her she needs to eat before work but, ultimately, she decided against it. She got in her car and drove to work.

It was easy to keep occupied at work. She was always so busy that she never had time to think about Brittany or her loneliness. She stayed late at work, finishing emails and rearranging her schedule for Monday.

Usually on a Friday she's eager to get home and spend the weekend with Brittany but today she dreaded going back to empty home.

She got home late that evening, she grabbed dinner on her drive home, choosing to get a big burger to treat herself. She wanted comfort food.

She called Brittany around 8pm (5pm in LA) when Brittany got off work.

"How was your day?" Santana asked. She wanted to hear how Brittany was getting on but mostly she just wanted to hear Brittany's voice.

"It was cool; I took a class with a hot new choreographer and learnt some new moves. They've asked me to teach a class tomorrow. I'll be working on the routine tonight in the hotel." Brittany told her. Hearing the excitement in Brittany's voice made all the loneliness worth it. "How was your day?"

"It was average, I took some calls, did some meetings... the usual stuff. We're planning to take on a new client soon. He's some new pop star kid, he's 16 and I can tell he's going to break some hearts when he's older!" Both women chuckled. "I'm really glad you're having fun, B."

"Thank you." Brittany said. Santana could hear the smile in her voice. "I should let you go and work on your routine."

"Okay baby, I love you. I hope you sleep better tonight, I wish you could have a clone of me just to cuddle at night!" Brittany joked.

Santana laughed along until she remembered something. "Okay B, see you soon, I love you." She said quickly into her phone. She heard Brittany quickly say "I love you too." Before hanging up and racing to their bedroom.

Santana walked into the wardrobe to where she stores her shoes. She stood on a step ladder and moved boxes of heels out the way. She stretched her arms and managed to reach what she was looking for.

"Bingo!" She said aloud. In her hands was the pillow person she made in high school. Brittany used to go away for dance competitions and Santana was fed up with sleeping alone. She made a body pillow about the same size as Brittany and even dressed it in her hoodie so it smelt like her.

"Looking back, this thing is really creepy." She said to herself. "Oh well." She shrugged her shoulders.

The scent had disappeared completely so she changed it into one of Brittany's current hoodies she wore. Santana quickly got ready for bed and then snuggled down with her pretend Brittany. It wasn't as good as the real thing but it was better than nothing.

That night Santana slept much better.

Saturday 11th of January

Santana slept in until 11am, catching up on the sleep she lost the night before. She got up and called Quinn.

"Hey Santana, what's up?" Quinn answered.

"Are you doing anything today?" Santana asked.

"Nope. Rach is doing a matinee but I'm free all day. Why? What were you thinking?"

"Well B is away with work this weekend so could we meet for lunch? I'm trying to fill my days with things to do and occupy myself."

"Sure! I tried this new Italian place the other day and it's great! I'll take you there." Quinn offered.

"Thanks Q. What time?"

"I'll pick you up in an hour."

"Perfect." Santana hung up. She took a shower and got dressed up for lunch.

After going out for lunch, Santana was in a much better mood. Seeing her best friend helped with the loneliness.

She went grocery shopping, deciding it was time to eat healthily again. When she got home she cleaned the apartment a little too. Cleaning helped her clear her head and focus her mind.

"I'm surprisingly productive when Britt isn't constantly distracting me." Santana laughed to herself. "We spend a lot of time making out and doing naughty things."

She got herself a glass of wine and watched some reality TV. Santana loved to watch 'keeping up with the kardashians', it always made her problems and drama seem so small.

After a couple of episodes, she headed to bed.

Santana woke up in cold sweats. She had a nightmare. She checked the time - 2am. Her dream was so vivid - Brittany had died and she had to live alone like this forever. She had real tears streaming down her face and she was struggling to catch her breath.

She FaceTimed Brittany. She didn't care what time it was, she needed to see the face of her favourite person. Brittany answered with a smile, it quickly turned to a look of worry.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Brittany asked anxiously.

"Yeah I'm okay." Santana said, relaxing as she saw Brittany was alive and well. "Just a horrible, horrible nightmare."

"Aww baby, it's okay, it was only a dream." Brittany reassured her. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"No. I just want to forget it." Santana told her.

"Okay baby." Brittany smiled at her.

"I miss you." Santana said softly.

"I miss you too." Brittany agreed. "I'll be home Monday morning and then we can spend the whole day together in bed, cuddling and kissing - preferably naked." She giggled. Santana laughed too.

"That sounds perfect." Santana replied. "Thank you for talking some sense into me."

"That's what I'm here for." Brittany smiled. "Are you ready to get some more sleep?" Santana nodded with a yawn. "Okay, goodnight, I love you."

Santana didn't reply audibly but Brittany could tell she loved her back.

Sunday 12th of January

Santana woke up early - especially for a Sunday - and couldn't go back to sleep. She climbed out of bed and got some coffee. She replied to a few work emails, mainly about the new kid her company was taking on. The contract had been sent to him and was being reviewed by his staff and lawyers. They now had to wait until he signed it.

After her coffee she sat at the table and read some of her book. Santana loved to read but rarely had time to do so.

When her stomach started to groan she stopped reading and made lunch. She chose to have a chicken Caesar salad. It took her a while to make but she enjoyed her jazz music while she cooked.

After lunch she took a long, hot bath. She lit some candles and sipped on some wine. It helped her to relax.

As she got out of the bath, Brittany called her.

"Hey B." She answered.

"Hi baby, how are you doing?" Brittany asked.

"A little better. I just took a bath and now I'm feeling sleepy again."

"Why don't you take a nap? You didn't sleep well last night so you should catch up." Brittany suggested.

"Oh no I'll be okay." Santana said with an ironic yawn. "I'm not even that tired."

"Please Sanny. For me?" Brittany asked. She new that nickname hit a soft spot in the Latina.

"Okay fine." I'm heading to bed now.

"Thank you, goodnight." Brittany said with a smile.

"Goodnight."

Santana woke up to the front door being unlocked. The sound caught her off guard. She thought she imagined it.

Then she heard rustling in the apartment. Her heart started beating, knowing someone had broken in.

She went into the wardrobe and grabbed the baseball bat for defence. She stood by the bedroom door and listened.

The trespasser was in the kitchen. She heard the fridge open. She slowly crept out of the bedroom and down the hall. She turned the corner into the kitchen, her baseball bat held up high.

She looked into the kitchen and saw Brittany searching through the fridge. She dropped the bat and shouted "B! WHAT THE FUCK!" She held her hand over her heart which she could feel was racing. Brittany jumped at the sudden loud noise.

"You scared the shit out of me." Santana told her, a little out of breath.

"I'm sorry baby." Brittany said as she walked over to the Latina. Santana jumped up into her arms and they held each other tight. "Surprise." Brittany said awkwardly.

"You definitely surprised me!" Santana said with a giggle. They shared a long kiss. "I thought someone broke in."

"I'm sorry." Brittany said with a giggle.

"That's okay." Santana forgave her. "Now can we go to bed? I just want to cuddle you."

Brittany carried them into their bedroom and put Santana on the bed. They both stripped off naked and climbed into bed.

"Umm Santana what is this?" Brittany asked as she held up the pillow person wearing her hoody.

"Umm nothing." Santana said as she grabbed it and threw it across the room with a laugh.

They laid together in bed and took a nap.

"You're way more comfy than a body pillow." Santana told her lover.

"Thanks? I guess." Brittany giggled.

Santana kissed Brittany's arm which was draped across her body. "I've missed you."

Brittany kissed Santana's bare shoulder. "I'm here now." She whispered.

Author's note: that chapter was something a little different.

There's only 1 more chapter before their wedding!