AN: I do not own glee, the concept for x-factor or any copyrighted material mentioned in this fic. Just borrowing.


Santana's POV

Saturday night rolls around, and Whitney Week as the TTs have dubbed it is going really well. The group decided to be creative, while playing to their strengths. Santana and Mercedes would solo on the songs, one would have a group dance element, while the other would be ballad-esque reminiscent of Out Tonight. This would be a good week to remind the fans why they fell in love with the Troubletones. After a really good dance rehearsal, Kitty dismissed the group and Santana rushed back to the townhouse with Quinn and Sugar fast on her heels.

"Quinn, you pick out the outfit. Sugar, order the car service and make sure the florist shows up. I am going to shower and primp. Questions?" You ask your friends. "No, awesome. This night needs to go perfectly." They nod at you and smile brightly, while you all rush off to your respective duties.

Tonight was your first official date with Brittany, and you wanted to make sure absolutely everything was in place before taking her out. You have been pining after the blonde since meeting her 4 months ago, and now you actually got to treat her like the beautiful woman she is. The date needed to be classy, yet approachable, just like Britt.

When you hop out of the shower and re-enter your bedroom, you see your other favorite blonde sitting on the edge of your bed with three different outfits picked out. The first being a classic little black dress that hugged you in all the right ways, the second a pair of distressed boyfriend jeans with a faded Fleetwood Mac t-shirt topped by your favorite leather jacket, and the last outfit was undeniably Quinn, a sun dress paired with wedges and a denim jacket. You smile at her, "You almost nailed it, Fabray."

You focus in on the first two outfits, while she laughs at your behavior "I figured I would try to get you away from black, but shockingly most of your closet is of the darker variety."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." You grab the jeans and t-shirt, "This is the right vibe for tonight. What do you think pumps, booties or sneakers?"

Quinn looks you up and down, "Wear the new Sam Edelman fold down booties Sugar got us for it being Wednesday that one time."

Once you are dressed and downstairs, you find all the Troubletones waiting for you in the kitchen. Mercedes approaches you first, "S, while you don't need luck doing anything, we were all talking and we just wanted to make sure you knew how supportive we are with you and Brittany. You are a different person than who you were 4 months ago, and while we love you jus the same we can tell you love this Santana more than the old Santana."

You feel your skin start to tingle and unshed tears fill your eyes. You never expected this from your team and are so grateful for their love.

Sugar approaches you with the bouquet of white and orange calla lilies, "Everything is all set with the car service, they are yours until midnight, and here is the key card for the surprise." She winks at you and you feel her slide money into your pocket. Sugar has a tendency to share money instead of emotions.

"Alright, bitches don't make me ruin my make-up. Bring it in" you say as you open your arms for a group hug. Quinn gets right into your right side.

"She's lucky she has you, S" she breaths in your ear.

"I'm the lucky one, Q."

As the Troubletones lead you out of the house with words of luck and expressions of gratitude, you feel the wind of the closing door behind you, and find yourself standing alone on the front step and soon your nerves take over. You have never taken a girl out on a formal date, sure you have bought a girl a drink or a late night slice of pizza, but there was always an expiration date. With Brittany, the thought of an expiration date is the scary part. You're pretty sure you don't want an expiration date.

You start the walk to the New Directions town house where the car service is picking you and Brittany up. You think back to when you played Brittany the song you wrote for her. You were positive she was going to tell you that she loved you when you finished. When you told Quinn and Cedes you stopped her before saying it they thought you were crazy. But, to you, you felt like you didn't want Brittany to tell you she loved you in an overly romanticized moment, you want her to tell you she loves you in the simplest, most mundane of times. A moment where there is no pressure, no intent, just the two of you. You didn't want her to feel compelled to love you, instead you want her to want to love you. You have never been in love before, but you're pretty sure what you feel for Brittany is love. You're not going to rush it. You're going to let love come to you.

When you arrive at her front steps just on time, you take a deep breath and give yourself a small pep talk, before bounding up the steps. You don't even have to ring the bell before the door flies open and there stands Rachel Berry.

"Good evening, Santana. Please do come into our home. Brittany is just finishing getting ready and then I am sure she will join us."

"Um, okay" you shuffled into the foyer of the townhouse.

You look around and see that the townhouse looks empty, except for Rachel and tall, lanky kid lurking in the corner. His name is Fred or something.

"How do you find yourself this evening, Santana? Well, I certainly hope. I must say you have had Brittany in a tizzy all day getting prepared for this date. I could hardly get her to stand still during rehearsal. She spent the whole time tapping her foot and staring at the clock. I must say it was rather counter productive to our efficiency. Perhaps that is what you wanted." She smiles at you a little bit crazily, and you stopped listening to her until the very end.

"What are you implying" you sneer back at the brunette.

"I am not implying anything, merely suggesting that maybe you thought a date in the middle of rehearsal week would take Brittany's mind off the task at hand and it would give you the Troubletones a competitive edge."

Before you could respond you hear a yell from upstairs. "Tina it's past 7:30, Santana is never late! I need to go see if she is okay." In a blur of blonde your girlfriend comes bounding down the stairs. She skirts to a stop where she notices you standing in front of her, "Tana you're here! I didn't hear the doorbell."

"Yeah, Rachel let me in."

Brittany immediately turns on Rachel, who seems to be studying the wallpaper, "Rachel I specifically told you to tell me the second Santana got here, and I thought I made it clear that I didn't want you berating her."

"Brittany! I am utterly shocked, I was just welcoming our guest and getting to know your girlfriend and her intentions a little bit better." The word intentions dripped off the small brunettes tongue like poison. "Finn and I were actually on our way out, as well. We decided to work on some vocal runs together."

Before you can hold yourself back, you laugh and mutter "hot date."

Rachel's eyes narrow on you, "Some of us are a little more focused on the competition than personal pleasure."

"WELL" Brittany says loudly trying to dial back the tension in the room, "I hope you and Finn have a wonderful time, Rachel. Let's go, baby" she turns to you and smiles. You watch as Rachel slowly walks back into the kitchen, without taking her eyes off you. You just notice Sam creeping in the corner, and how his eyes go dark when Brittany calls you baby.

You smile back and whip the flowers out from behind your back, "This are for you, m'lady." You faux bow at the girl and she giggles while grabbing the flowers from your hands.

"Aw, Sweet T, they are almost as beautiful as you are" you blush uncontrollably as much at the nickname as the compliment. About two weeks ago, you and Brittany were in a heated make out session, when she pulls away and comments on how sweet you taste. For a while she called you Sweet Tana, but then she remembered that she loves sweet tea and decided that she would combine two of her favorite things.

Brittany quickly puts the flowers in water and sets them up on display in the foyer, while you wait for her at the door.

"You ready, Bumble?" you ask and open the door.

She quickly pats down her pockets checking for her phone and keys, then grabs her purse, "Yup! I am so excited. I've had unicorn jumping around in my stomach all day." The blonde beams up at you and you can't help but giggle. You've learned in your short relationship with Brittany that her favorite animal is a unicorn. She believes it represents all things magical, but she got made fun of it a lot in high school, so she tried to dial back her references to the creature. Now when she get's really excited she can't help but mentioned them.

"I've had unicorns, too." You reply and lead her down to the black town car that is waiting for you.

"This is so classy." The blonde states when in site of the car, "I feel like a total celebrity, do you think people are going to assume we are famous?"

The two of you slide into the backseat, held open by the driver, "Hi! My name is David, I will be your driver for the evening. I have the itinerary original sent to me by a Ms. Motta, but if there are any changes please let me know. There are refreshments in the back cooler which can be found behind the drivers seat."

"Thank you so much, David" you reply as Brittany begins playing with all the buttons in the back seat.

The driver smiled at the blonde's behavior, "You're welcome, miss. We should be at our first stop in about twenty minutes. If you need anything, just press the green intercom button and I will be able to help you."

He closes the door, and you hear him enter the front seat and start the car. You turn to face the blonde, who still seems mesmerized by the interior of the car.

"Beside the townhouse, this is nicest thing I have ever been in. If this is the car we are taking on our date, I think I should change! I am definitely under dressed."

You giggle quietly at your girlfriend's wide eye stare, "Don't be ridiculous, baby. You look beautiful." The blonde is wearing a pair of dark blue stone wash skinny jeans, and a striped tank top with a white denim vest. Her long blonde hair is loose and wavy around her shoulders, and her bangs are clipped back. On her feet are her signature yellow chucks. "I put Sugar in charge of getting the car, I assumed she was just going to call cab, but of course she goes overboard. Here," you say grabbing glasses and filling them with some sparkling cider, "it may not be champagne, but lets toast."

Brittany grabs the glass from your hand, "What are we toasting to?"

"Us, of course" you reply with a clink of the glass. After taking a sip of the cider, you lean in and plant a small mouse kiss on Brittany's lips and take her hand in yours. "I am so excited for this to be the first of many dates, B."

The rest of the car ride, the two of you catch up on the mundane aspects of your day. Brittany is really excited that her mom and sister are flying out next week for the family show. A small knot ties in your stomach when she mentions this, reminding you that you have no one coming for you. You push this thought aside, and remind yourself that this is a big deal for Brittany's family, "I really can't wait to meet them Britt. Well, that is if you want me to meet them."

"Of course I want you to meet them! You're Aubrey's absolute favorite on the show. My mom says she has a playlist of all the Troubletones songs that she plays constantly." You smile thinking about a miniature Brittany dancing around to your songs.

The car begins to slow down and Brittany peers out of the window, "Oh my god, Santana. This is on my LA bucket list! I can't believe you brought me here! How did you remember?" The blonde is bouncing up and down in her seat as David pulls the town car in front of the restaurant.

The sign for Pink's Hot Dogs lights up the sky, and you can't help but notice the megawatt smile adorning your girlfriends face. Brittany had told you a long time ago that she and her little had a small obsession with hot dogs. Ever since her dad left and her mom had to work crazy hours, all Brittany could make for dinner were hot dogs, so she and her sister really formed a bond over the food.

"Of course I remember, B! Let's go get us some dogs!"


Brittany's POV

It always amazes you how much Santana cares. Most would describe her as being self-obsessed, but she makes it clear that not only does she listen to what you say, but also she remembers and it all matters to her. You told Aubrey that you would try Pink's sometime while being in LA because they were famous for their crazy hot dog toppings. As you and Santana stand in line, you are taking plenty of pictures to send to Aubrey. Santana grabs your phone from you.

"Stand under the sign, Britt, I want to take one with you in it." You kiss Santana on the cheek before scurrying underneath the sign and pointing up. Santana takes a few different angles of the photo before saying she has to take one more. You watch as your girlfriend turns her back to you and crouches slightly while reversing the camera on your phone. She takes a selfie of the two of you with the sign in it.

"Perfect!" The Latina states as you make your way back into line.

"This is the first picture of us together as a couple, Tana. I think it's more than perfect." Santana blushes and links her hand with yours.

The two of you spend the wait chatting about which hot dog you want to try. There are so many to pick from that it is a bit overwhelming. Santana settles on Bacon Burrito Dog because she claims it speaks to her Latina roots. You laugh at your girlfriend's logic. You are weighing the pros and cons of the The Lord of the Rings Dog compared to the Ryan Lochte Dog with Santana, when you feel a tap on your shoulder.

"Excuse me" you turn a see a group of three young girls looking up at you and Santana, "We are sorry to bother you, but um are you Santana Lopez?"

Santana looks down at the girls with a smile, "Yup that's me, and this is Brittany" she gestures to you. "Are you girls fans of the X-Factor?"

"Totally huge fans! The Troubletones are amazing!" The leader of the pack beams up at Santana, "Um so are the New Directions, you are a really good dancer."

"Thank you, girls. We love to know we have fans in the area" you say while smiling at the group.

There is a blonde in the back with dark green eyes that reminds you so much of Aubrey. She is smiling shyly at you and Santana with a vice like grip on her phone, "Would you girls like to take a picture with us? What do you think San?"

"I think that is a great idea, B. Here, does one of you have a phone? I am a master at taking selfies." Santana is handed the shy blondes phone and she slightly crouches in front of the group. You wrap your arms around the girls. "X-Factor on three..1..2.3"

The blonde takes the phone back from Santana and squeals, "You guys are so cool. Thank you so much! No one is going to believe this!"

You and Santana laugh at the girls excitement, you feel Santana lace her hand in yours again. The blonde turns and notices your linked hands, but she doesn't say anything. "Would it be okay for us to post this on our Instagrams?"

"Of course! Just make sure you hashtag New Directions and Troubletones" you smile widely at the girls, "Have a goodnight, and don't forget to vote next week!"

The three girls run off to rejoin their parents, "Wow, that was pretty crazy, right? I guess being on the compound we don't really realize that people might recognize us" you say and Santana just smiles at you.

"What?" what you ask incredulously.

"Nothing, B, you just better get used to that. Pretty soon you won't be able to walk out of the house without adoring fans asking for a picture or autograph."

You squeeze Santana's hand. She is always reminding you of how special and talented she thinks you are, and for a while you tried denying it, but she is adamant about constantly complimenting you.

Soon the two of you find yourself in the front of the line, "We will take a Bacon Burrito Dog, A Lord of the Rings Dog, one Dr. Pepper float, a diet coke and a side of nachos please! All to go!" Santana rushes out the order and hands the server money before you can either gather your thoughts.

You try to argue about splitting the bill, but she puts her hand over your mouth, saying that she asked you on the date, so tonight is all on her. You grab her hand, kissing her palm, before flipping it over and settling it in your own hand. You two eagerly wait for your food while playing one Santana's favorite games, humdinger, in which you take turns humming different songs while the other tries to guess.

The score is always a bit lopsided in Santana's favor because you swear the girl has every single song in musical history memorized. You begin to hum a song, and not even three seconds in Santana calls out, "You Oughta Know, Alanis Morissette. Come on, baby, you gotta challenge me. Alanis and I go wayyyyy back. I wanted to choose her for Tribute week, but Cedes said I was the only one that could pull of that severe angst. Best compliment ever." She smiles one of her special smiles at you, and your heart all but melts.

"This isn't fun!" you fake pout, "You know every song ever written, and when you start to hum I just want to dance! We should play a game I am good at and you won't be like Just Dance! Or Hungry, Hungry Hippos!"

"How you know you would beat me at Hungry, Hungry Hippos?"

"Simple" you pull her into you and breathe into her ear, "My fingers are magic."

You feel your girlfriend shutter at your overt teasing, she is about to say something when you hear "Santana, Santana, your order is ready at the window!"

The Latina walks away from you clearly flustered, and you just smirk to yourself. You weren't trying to rush the Latina into progressing your physical relationship, but it did give you a boost of confidence to see the effect you had on her. Moments later she returns with a tray of drinks and bag. You reach to take the tray from her,

"Should we go find a seat?"

"Actually, we are taking this on the road. Come on." She leads you back to the town car where Dave is waiting for you.

"Ready, ladies? I turned the food warmer on in the back, so you can place your food in that so it stays fresh until we make it to our second destination. We should be there in about 20 minutes."

"Wonderful, thanks, Dave" Santana states as she helps you slide into the back seat.

Twenty minutes later, you feel the car crawling up a hill, and Dave rolls down the partition "This is as far as I can go up, ladies. Do you have the keycard, Ms. Lopez?"

"Yup, all set, thanks again, Dave. We will see you in a bit." You both crawl out of the car, while Santana grabs a blanket and the bag of food, and you handle the drinks.

"We just have a short walk" she leads you over to a fence that distinctly says NO TRESPASSING. Santana walks over to the gated part of the fence and flashes a key card past a scanner. The light turns green and the gate opens slightly. Santana pushes the gate open and holds it for you as you walk through. She leads you up about 200 yards, and then you see it, right in front of you like a beacon, the iconic Hollywood sign.

"Oh my god, Santana. This is amazing! How did you pull this off?"

"Let's just say I know a girl who is related to a guy that knows a guy." You immediately know she is referring to Sugar. "I figured this was the perfect place for an after hours picnic."

The food is quickly devoured, as the two of you enjoy light conversation and each other's company. Soon you're lying shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand looking up at the night sky. Santana's uses her free hand to run her finger nails up and down the inside of you arm. The two of you have been playing the "this or that" game for a little bit, using any excuse to get to know each other a little better.

"That's an easy one, B. Coke. Diet specifically, and yes I can absolutely taste the difference. Pepsi leaves that weird film on the roof of my mouth. I can't stand it. Quinn always gets so mad at me because at restaurants when I asked for a Diet Coke, and they ask if Pepsi is fine I usually outwardly show my distaste and settle for water. Okay my turn, hmm, day or night?"

"Night." You reply and slowly start rubbing circles on her palm with your pointer finger.

"Care to elaborate there, B?"

You exhale and slowly turn so you're facing the Latina. She turns onto her side as well, and unlinks your hands, while scooting closer towards you. She runs her right hand down your shoulder and finally settles on your lower back.

"When I was little and I would wait for my dad to come home from work, my mom would let me dance in the driveway. She would put a little speaker in the front room window and play music, while I danced in the floodlight off our garage. She and Aubrey would watch me from the front porch, or from just inside. It was those nighttime dance sessions where I found my passion. I would look into the sky and see the brilliant stars and think one day that will be, I will be a star, bright enough for someone to place in the sky and shine down on all other dreamers. Whenever I see stars, it reminds me why I do all this, they are always there to guide me, literally and figuratively."

Santana smiles at you curiously, as she runs her hand up your body and slowly brushes the hair away from your face and tucks it behind your ear.

"Is that why you have this tattoo?" she asks while running her finger lightly over the small chain of three stars behind your left ear.

You grin " I never knew you noticed that. A lot of people don't. I got it small for a reason. But, yes, that's exactly why. As you know by now I am rather fidgety and I tuck my hair behind my ears, just like you just did. And every time I tuck, I run my fingers over those stars and they remind me to follow my dreams."

"I notice a lot of things about you. But, why three? Why not a constellation?"

"It represents my family, one for my mom, one for Bree, and um one for my dad."

Santana looks at you a bit puzzled, "Oh" she breaths and doesn't say anything else.

"He was my hero" you say as your throat catches in your voice, "before all the craziness – he was super dad. That's how I am choosing to remember him. The man that exists now is a shell of Simon Pierce, but the man that taught me to be a dreamer is the one that I keep with me."

Tears start to well in your eyes and slowly leak down your face. Santana leans forward and starts to kiss the tears away, "You, Brittany Susan Pierce, are the strongest, kindest and most beautiful woman I have ever met. I wish I could see the world with the same reverence, understanding and light in which you do. For someone who has gone through so much, and had to grow up so quickly, you never allow it to break you or change who you are. You amaze me."

The Latina's eyes are so pure, devout and alive when she expresses herself to you. Your stomach fills not with butterflies but horses as she speaks. Never in your life has another human being touched you in the way that Santana does. You have never felt so whole than you do in the moments you spend with her. It's as if you were walking through life without purpose, until you met the woman laying beside you. She gives everything in your life more meaning.

You can't help but push your lips haphazardly against hers. Wrapping your hand around her neck and pulling her towards you. Your tongue begs for entrance and is soon met with hers, just as eager as you are. The kiss turns more and more heated, and the Latina slides her hand under your shirt, running it up and down your spine. You press your body against hers, molding against each other in the night. She pushes against you and rolls her body on top of yours. Her hand is now running up and down your abs. You can feel your muscles tensing at her touch, and you elicit a small moan. You break apart not from desire, but from necessity. The two of you are reduced to panting messes. The Latina leans back down and places a soft kiss to your lips, then one to your nose, your forehead and back to your lips.

"This isn't what I had planned for this date" she says nervously, "I don't want you think I took you up here for…this. I am absolutely not saying that I don't want this to happen. In fact, I very, very, very much want this to happen. You are very, very, very hot and I am very, very, very attracted to you. And I am sure you are very, very, very good at this. But, I want the first time we do um it to be very, very, very special and preferably in a bed, or at least in doors, because I am not an animal and I want to treat you like a lady. Fuck. I am so bad at this. What I am trying to say is, though I want to get in your pants the point of this date was to not get in your pants. Further more…"

You cut the rambling Latina off with a kiss, "Santana, baby, it's okay. I get it. I definitely want you to, but you're right our first time should be somewhere we are both comfortable and with fewer sticks around. Ouch."

You're glad that the building sexual tension mounting between the two of you was finally addressed. Sure, it's not like you two scheduled a time to seal the deal, but at least there was no longer an elephant in the room. It also reassured you that Santana wanted it as badly as you did, and it also reassured you that it wasn't just about sex to her. She giggles into your neck and rolls off you and looks down at her watch "Shit, we better get back to the compound. It's almost 11:30."

The two of you clean up the area and make your way back down towards the gate. Santana flashes the key card and the gate pops up, and you make your way hand in hand back to the waiting town car. The Latina grips your hand tightly, "My place?"

The town car rolls up to The Troubletones townhouse, and the two of you profusely thank David for all he did for your date. You get a copy of his card, because you will certainly be using his services again while you're in the LA area. When you finally make it into the townhouse, you hear the din of voices coming from the media room. Santana leads you back towards the room and both your jaws drop at the sight.

In the media room, you find the rest of the trouble tones in a heated game of rock band. Mercedes is rocking out on the guitar, Marley is slamming on the drums, while Quinn is belting out Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet. Dani and Kitty are cracking up watching their teammates, while downing what looks to be like mason jars of red wine. You notice a few empty bottles are littered through the room. Santana coughs loudly and as if on cue, the group whips around to see the two of you standing in the door way.

"Don't let us interrupt" Santana says "Looks like we should tell the judges we've changed our inspiration. This is just pure magic."

"Shut yo damn trap, Satan. We's were just gettin our sang on. You ain't the only one allowed to have a little fun on a Saturday night" Cedes drunkenly responds back.

You and Santana chortle in response, when you hear someone come in through the front door.

"Um, Kitty? Mercedes?" you hear a familiar voice call out.

You turn to Santana, "That's Artie."

Santana walks out into the foyer, you hear her voice "Wheels? What the hell are you doing here? And Trouty Mouth? Who invited you here?"

You walk out to see a familiar scene of your girlfriend staring down your two best guy friends, "Artie, Sam what are you guys doing here" you ask as you traipse up to the group and run your hand down Santana's arm, trying to bring her guard down.

Artie shifts his eyes to Sam and then back to the two of you, "Well, um, we got to talking to Kitty and Mercedes earlier at the main house at dinner, and they invited us to hang out and play X-Box with them. We didn't realize you and Santana would be back already. We can leave." Artie shifts his gears and nods his head to Sam.

"Don't be silly" you walk over and hug your two friends, "I am really glad you guys are here! We can all hang out for a while, right Tana?"

You turn to see the usually stoic Latina, shifting nervously, "Um, yeah sure, B. Whatever you want." She turns and heads into the bathroom.

You look over at the two boys who stand awkwardly and shoot them an apologetic look, "Don't worry about her. The other girls are in the media room right off the kitchen."

You mime Santana's actions and head to the bathroom. You reach down and turn the handle but she had locked it. You knock lightly, "Santana can you let me in please baby?"

You don't hear a response, but instead a click of the lock releasing. You quickly enter the bathroom to find the Latina sitting on edge of the bathtub with her head in her hands. You slink over to the girl and sit quietly next to her. You give her a few seconds to adjust to your presence, "Baby, what was that about" you ask softly, "I know you and Sam don't necessarily get along, but I have never seen you so fidgety around them."

You hear a sharp intake of breath, "I don't want to embarrass you" she mumbles into her hands.

"Tana, look at me" the Latina looks up and you see her eyes rimmed with red "Sweet T, why do you think you would embarrass me?"

"Because, I am a bitch. I don't do well with people I don't know or trust, and cripple pants and fish face are you best friends. What if them spending time with me makes you like me less because of how I act? What if they don't like me? I need to impress them. Their opinion of me matters, but I just don't do people well."

"Sweetie, nothing that happens tonight is going to make me think any differently of you. You're special to me and Artie and Sam know that. You don't have to feel any pressure to be anyone different than yourself tonight. What matters is how we feel about each other. No one else, right?" The Latina slowly nods at you.

"Sorry for freaking out. Tonight was just supposed to perfect and I wasn't ready for this curve ball." You press a kiss against her temple.

"Tonight was perfect, Tana, it is perfect and you getting to know my two best friends makes it even more perfect. Just maybe lay off on the name calling a touch…"

"But that's all part of the Lopez charm. When I stop calling them names, that is when they should worry" she smiles at you and you are glad to see her calming down.

"Then how come you don't call me any names?"

"I only give names to my friends."

You tense a bit at her response, "So, what, we aren't friends?"

The Latina takes your hand, "We are way more than that, B." Then she kisses you and melts all your worries away.


Santana's POV

The next few hours go smoother than you could have imagined. Once the initial awkwardness of your reaction wears off, you, Artie and Sam shockingly get along rather well. You and Artie both have an unhealthy obsession with Michael Jackson, which ends in him singing Billie Jean and you moon walking all over the kitchen. Sam and you get into a heated conversation surrounding the Chicago Bulls and whether or not Michael Jordan and Lebron James. Usually, Sam is very guarded around you, but he seemed to lighten up through the night.

"Trouty! You can't actually believe Lebron James is better than MJ. Michael Jordan built the hill that Lebron James stands on. Just imagine all the resources that Lebron James has grown up with – the private trainers, the exposure, the media attention. Michael didn't have any of that. He had a hoop in his driveway! Imagine Michael coming to his prime with Lebron, no doubt in my mind he is a better basketball player. Case closed."

You feel Brittany squeezing your leg and smiling goofily up at you. She is always amazed at the new things she learns about you. This is the first time you have opened up about your minor obsession with basketball. You never played or anything, but growing up in Chicago sports played a big part in your social experience and your upbringing. You dad had season tickets to the Bulls and White Sox through work. You spent a lot of time cheering for great Chicago dynasties.

Sam raises his hands in defeat, "Okay, okay maybe you're right, but current players. Lebron rules all." He smirks at Brittany and mouths she's scary while gesturing towards you.

Mercedes and Kitty couldn't help but fawn over the male members of the New Directions, and you could see sparks flying all over. Cedes had sidled up to Sam early on and has barely left his side. Kitty and Artie were exploring the art of buddy wheelchair rides currently. Most of the night you spent cuddled up with Brittany on a beanbag chair giggling over the antics of your friends. Around 3 AM, Quinn announces it is far past the time you all should be in bed, and tomorrow was the second to last day of rehearsal.

"Fine, Mom" Sugar teases, "It's past curfew we get it."

Slowly the Troubletones start to bid each other goodnight and say bye to their newly acquired friends. Brittany walks to the door with Artie and Sam, whispering that she would be back in the morning in plenty of time for rehearsal. You find yourself leaning against the banister staring at your girlfriend, as the moonlight beams through the open door and hits her just so. Like a magnet you are drawn to her and wrap your arms lightly her waist, ghosting a kiss on the shell of her ear.

"Let's go to bed, baby" you say quietly, while lacing your fingers in hers.

"Race ya" the blonde says as she takes off up the stairs; her long legs pushing her to the top in no time.

You find yourself rolling your eyes at the back of your girlfriend's head, and wondering how you find something so silly, so amazing. She stands at the top of the stairs looking down at you with a glint in her eye.

"Come on, Tana, if you get up here quick enough maybe there will be a surprise waiting for you in the bedroom" the blonde throws you a quick wink and in no time you find yourself bounding up the stairs.

As you whip open the door to your room, the blonde is laying across your bed on her stomach facing you, her chin in her hands beaming up at you. You glide across the floor and lean down on the floor, so you're eye to eye with your girl. You slide your hands between her own hands and her face so you are holding her face. As you stare into the deep cerulean pools in front of you, you cannot help but feel overwhelmed with the weight of emotions you feel for her. Leaning forward, you pull her bottom lip between your own and try to convey the feeling building inside you. Brittany responds immediately and you know she can feel all that you are feeling.

You suck her lip into your mouth and tease it with your tongue in an over the top manner. She giggles into your mouth and pulls back only to reach out and pull you into bed. The blonde immediately wraps her arms around your body and cuddles into your neck.

"Thank you for tonight, Tana. And, I am just not talking about the date. I mean everything. Seeing you interact with my friends made me feel so light. It's like I can keep everything I love nice and close."

The blonde's body tenses on top of yours when the word love slips from her mouth. She lifts her head slowly off your body and stares down at you. You immediately think she is going to back track, instead the blonde cocks her head and smiles. She slowly leans down and presses a chaste kiss to your lips, "I love you, Santana Lopez. And I am not even going to apologize for it being too soon or not the right moment. I love you, it seems so obvious to me, and I am not going to apologize for the inevitable."

You run your hands through her long blonde hair and stare back up at her, "I love you, too, Britt. I think I have loved you since the first time I saw you on that stage. A piece of me knew that for me to be whole, you had to be in my life."

She blushes furiously, before placing a signature mouse kiss on your lips. You kiss her once on her forehead, then her nose and finally again on her lips. You silently crawl out of bed, opening drawers in your bureau and hand the blonde a pair of sleep shorts and one of your cheer shirts. She silently thanks you and slinks into the bathroom to get ready for bed. You sit back down on your bed and inhale deeply. You never thought you would find yourself in this position. With someone who you loved and who you actually wanted to love you. She made you feel like you were good enough to love, something no one in your life had ever done before.


AN: Hope you enjoyed the date. More competition to come!