AN1: Thank you for those who have Reviewed, Followed and Fav. You guys are all rockstars. Like I have said before, I don't this for the reviews, but I love talking about these two girls, so if you wanna chat Brittandom, give me a review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, the concept for X-Factor or any copyrighted material mentioned in this fic.


Santana's POV

Being in love is weird. Weird because you actually don't feel any different than you did before you told Brittany loved her, you just identified the feeling and can better understand the effect the blonde has on you.

You are currently standing in your final staging rehearsal for Tuesday's performance, discussing the imagery you want to display for your power ballad. Your mind wanders from the discussion – you just need to stand in the center and be on key. You thoughts wander to the amazing weekend you had with a very special, beautiful, amazing blonde. You are smiling to yourself when you hear Kitty wrap up the meeting,

"Okay, that settles it. We flank Santana with simple, but precise choreo centered around our mic stands. Small cross-stage movements during her crescendo. On her final Nothign, nothing, nothing – are arms are out, up, down – then black out on our spots. Santana, you sing your final line – lights dim out and you match with a slow head drop." She writes down the final movements in her choreography journal and snaps it shut. "This is a big week for us ladies." Kitty exhales and looks around to the group, "I take blame for last week's missteps. As lead choreographer, I should have more realistic. But this week, we are tight, we are confident. That's our strong suit – our belief in ourselves." Marley walks over and puts an arm around Kitty. It took a lot for Kitty to admit her own mistakes.

"It's not all you, Kitty," Dani replies, "We all acted like we were too good for the competition. Are we all super talented? Of course. But, this is a team competition, we need to realize what America wants each week. We didn't put our best foot forward, we tried to be too risky. I think we all need to take a step back and focus on what is best for the team – right now that is Cedes and San."

The team nods in agreement. You have all avoided the topic of last week's performance, but the weight of the misfire has been apparent during tenuous parts of Whitney Week. Kitty was harsher during her dance rehearsal, you and Mercedes held the team to very high standards during vocal training – everyone striving towards absolute perfection.

Sugar cuts the somber mood, "We are so ready for this week! And our families are coming! I can't wait to see Daddy, he promised us all gifts!"

At the mention of family week, all the girls moods instantly lightened, however you immediately tense. You were very aware that many of the TTs really missed their families. When you lived in Chicago, they were all able to go home when you weren't rehearsing and needed a break from the penthouse. However, for you, the Troubletones were the only family you knew anymore. Although you have only been estranged from your parents for the past 2 and half years, you cut that tie as cleanly as possible.

You had personally been dodging the topic of family week with Quinn, and really only briefly chatted with Brittany about it when you agreed to meet her mom and sister after the show on Tuesday. Quinn immediately tries to catch your eye, but you slide over to your bag in the corner and try to ignore the rock, that is feeling more like a boulder, in your stomach. Quickly you grab your stuff and head out of the rehearsal room before anyone else.

For the past two years you have been refusing to deal with the aftermath of your parents neglect. Focusing on singing, dancing, training on the positive side, and on the negative side your focus was on drinking, smoking, and sleeping around. It came to blows with Quinn and Mercedes breaking up what could have turned into a detrimental physical altercation, for you to realize that backlash of your actions. You curbed the imbibing, but still had a work over all attitude. Since being on the show and having this once in a lifetime experience, you wish more than ever you had your parents with which whom to share it.

Ever since you were a little girl, all you wanted was for your parents to be proud of you. Their approval was almost like a drug for you. And now that you were finally achieving your dreams, and something you're proud of, it weighs even more heavily on your soul that they don't care.

You are not sure how you are going to handle seeing all your friends with their supportive parents at the show. You are not sure what feelings will surface that you have been consciously shoving down for the past two years.

Confusion pervaded over everything else. Why? Why is chasing a dream such a slap in their face? Why is that what made them reject you? Not that it would be right, but you could almost understand if they couldn't accept you because of your sexuality. But being a singer was harmless to them, just because it didn't fit into their ideal of perfection didn't mean you were any different. Plus you were good at it! It isn't some stupid, unrealistic, insurmountable goal. It was really happening for you, but your God damn parents couldn't even reply to a text message, send a letter or pick up their phone to share in your success. Were they really that stubborn? All you've ever wanted was for them to hug you, kiss you, tell you they are proud of you. Your mind starts to overflow with negative thoughts, images, memories and sorrow. Pain. Emotional pain that you have refused to deal with. It begins to become too much.

You need out.


Brittany's POV

Rehearsals have been going really well the past few days. The New Directions decided to dig deep into the by laws of X-Factor and take advantage of the group members on stage rule. No where in the rules does it say that every member of the group needs to be in every number, so this week you are dividing the group into two: the performers and the singers.

You are captain of the performers and Rachel is captain of the singers. The performers have been working on a high-energy rendition of a Jackson 5 number, featuring Sam as the lead singer. You and Sam are joined by Mike, Tina and Finn. Finn was also in the singers group, but you needed a fifth member to round out the Jackson 5. Quite honestly, Finn didn't fit into either category of a performer or singer, but you had to stick him somewhere and you guess he was enthusiastic, and since his girlfriend is terribly annoying you just let it go. The singers group is focusing on a power rendition of Smooth Criminal.

The dance sequence in your number isn't difficult, but it takes precision, which two of your five members certainly lack. Sam makes up for it with his stage presence and the fact that he is lead vocalist gives him some wiggle room. However, you have spent the half hour teaching Finn how to turn to his left without looking like he is constipated. When he finally seems to get the gist, the performers decide to head back the townhouse and await the return of the singers, who were occupying a piano room for their final rehearsal.

You take a moment to yourself in front of the mirrors and soak in all that has happened in the past 48 hours. Not only did you confess your feelings for Santana, but also she returned them, enthusiastically. Your two best friends had a growing relationship with your girlfriend, you choreoed and directed a really kick ass Michael Jackson number, and you mom and sister would be in LA in less that 20 hours. Things were all right in the world of Brittany S. Pierce. You let the emotions fill you up and you express them the best way you know how.

You bound and leap across the floor, throwing you body through the air in striking positions, exuding the joy that fills your heart. You can't help but beam to the empty room. It had been a while since you felt this truly happy.

You make your way over to you bag and grab your phone to check if Santana were out of practice. Instead you notice multiple incoming texts from an unknown number,

Incoming 4:05 PM: Hey Brittany, it's Quinn. Is Santana with you? She left rehearsal really suddenly and I just wanted to check in on her.

Incoming 4:48 PM: So, I just checked the rehearsal schedule and realize that you guys are still working. If you hear from Santana just let us know.

Incoming 5:14 PM: Sorry to keep bothering you, but we can't find Santana and she won't pick up her cell phone. I am sure she is fine, but we are all kind of worried.

Incoming 5:51 PM: Get here as soon as you can.

Your heart races as your read the succession of texts from Quinn, you glance up at the clock and see that it's just before 6. You grab your bag and sprint out of the rehearsal room.

Before you know it you are bounding up the steps of the Troubletones townhouse, and bursting through the door.

"Santana!" you shout, running into the kitchen, "Santana!" You run in and find most of the Troubletones sitting quietly around the kitchen table.

"Where is she?" you question frantically, "Is she okay? What is going on?"

Quinn rises slowly from the table and approaches you calmly. She places a hand on your shoulder, "It's okay, Brittany. She is okay. Mercedes is putting her to bed right now. Why don't you take a seat with us."

You slide out of her touch, "No, I can't. I need to be with her. I should be with her." You begin to make your way upstairs, but Quinn latches onto your wrist.

"Brittany, please, just sit. You need to hear a few things before you see her. I am sure she wants you with her as well, but she is in a really fragile place right now." Marley stands up and pulls another chair over to the table. You notice that the other group members are unusually quiet. It shakes you that whatever is going on with Santana has effected the usually bubbly, out going, confident group dynamic.

You take a seat between Marley and Kitty, while Quinn resumes her seat at the head of the table, "I don't know how much you know about Santana's relationship with her parents, but to make a long story short it is relatively non-existent. For the past 3 years, give or take, S has been coming to my house for major holidays, or spends them alone. Ever since we were little Santana has wanted nothing more than for her parents to be proud of her, and I think this competition and knowing she is acting in direct conflict with her parents wishes has been hard. She thought that once she experienced success in this business that her parents would accept her, but that still hasn't happened."

You nod along, hearing what you have been expecting, "Yeah, I know. Well, she never said it in so many words, but her actions spoke pretty loudly. I don't get what's happening now though."

"Well, that's actually my fault" Sugar speaks up. She is shockingly calm and it's so unsettling to see the girl in this mood. "We have been very aware to not bring up the fact that our families are coming this week because we know it was a sensitive subject for S. She mentioned to us that she was just going to work on her music the next two nights we were with our families. But today, we had a really good rehearsal and I just blurted out how excited I was to see my dad. And though that seems really innocent, I think it just set her off."

Quinn picks up, "That's the thing with S, she suppresses every negative emotion and puts it in a little box in the back of her mind to never be opened until the box bursts. Today the box burst. We couldn't find her after rehearsal and when you weren't responding, we assumed you weren't with her. Finally, Mercedes remembered something about a pond that you and Santana had found. Well, we found her there, well Dani did. She had taken a bottle of whiskey, well a now empty bottle of whiskey."

"She was passed out against a tree, the bottle shattered next to her. Her hands were cut up." Dani cuts in, "She didn't become responsive for at least 5 minutes of me being there. I have never been so scared in my life. I feel like such an idiot, why didn't I just call an ambulance? Who the fuck cares about this competition." The blue haired girl berates herself.

"Dani, don't blame yourself. You kept her safe and she is okay now" Quinn responds calmly and Marley slides over to comfort Dani.

You reach up to tuck your hair behind your ears and your hand wipes against a wet cheek. You didn't even realize you were crying. Quinn looks at you with compassion and understanding in her eyes, clearly know what it is like to be in your shoes. As you are trying to put thoughts together, Mercedes walks into the kitchen. You and Quinn immediately stand up,

"She is asking for you" Mercedes says. Quinn starts to walk out of the kitchen, "Um, wait no, sorry. She is asking for Brittany."

You begin to walk out of the kitchen, but before you go upstairs you walk over to Dani and give her a hug, "Thank you for bringing her back to me."

You slowly open the door to Santana's bedroom to find the girl, curled up in a ball on the bed. She is wearing a large sweat suit with the hood up and her back to the door. There are empty water bottles littered all over her bedside table, along with what looks like wet washcloths. She slowly rolls over when she hears the door open,

"B?" She says hoarsely.

"Yeah, Tana, it's me" you slowly make your way over to bed. You crawl in next to and she shifts into your embrace. You can tell they got her into the shower because she smells like her shampoo. You cringe thinking another one of the girls had to help her shower, but you push the thought out of your mind and focus on her.

"Is it bad that I don't know what to say? I don't know how to make you feel better." you say quietly and feel the tears forming in your throat and creeping into your eyes, "I feel helpless, Tana. I want to be the one you turn to in these situations, not the one that finds out on the back." You shake your head at yourself, "I am not saying I am mad, I am saying…I don't know. When I got those texts from Quinn I just, I am not sure, time froze. Not knowing whether or not you were okay scared me, baby. Sorry, I know I am not making sense."

It feels like Santana is holding her breath, the only reason you know she heard you is her hand is slowly making its way up and down your arm that is wrapped around her waist. Your instinct is to fill the silence with words, words of love and happy things, but you know you need to let Santana process this for herself. She asked for you when her best friend of over a decade was downstairs, so you were just going to be there for her. You plant a small kiss on her forehead, and squeeze her a little closer, breathing in her scent. The last thing you hear is Santana humming into your chest.

Your eyes pop open and you are rather disoriented. You gather your bearings and remember that you're with Santana. You feel her weight on top of your body and take a deep breath; she is safe. You tap your cell phone and see it's already 10:30 and you have been asleep for about 3 hours. Santana's breathing is too light for her to be sleeping fully, and you feel like her slim fingers running up and down your back.

"Hi, baby" you breath, not trying to scare the girl, "How's your head?"

"It feels like 1 million tiny Rachel Berry's are trapped in my skull trying to hit the final note in Defying Gravity, but keep coming up sharp."

You sigh in relief that she still has her biting humor. She is not totally lost.

"Let me go get you some water." You move to climb out of bed, but Santana wraps her arms around your waist.

"Wait, B" she rolls you back so you are facing each other, "I may not be able to talk about this fully right now, but you need to know that this is not at all a reflection of how much I trust you or how much I love you. If anything, you kept it from getting worse. I knew I had to get back to you. Shockingly, I stopped myself before it got to a point of no return. I know I need to open about this, I just um can't right now. But, thank you for coming. Just your presence makes me feel stronger."

You run your hand through Santana's hair and lean in plant a small kiss on her lips. You realize it is the first time you've kissed each other today, so you linger a bit. When you break apart, Santana's eyes are still closed, but there is a small smile on her face.

You slide out of bed and head downstairs to get her water. Quinn and Mercedes are still in the kitchen. They look up when they hear you entering the room, their hushed conversation immediately ceases. You head straight to the cabinet and pull out a glass, fill it with water and then check the freezers for popsicles, finding the box, you make sure you grab Santana a purple one and get a red one for yourself.

"Brittany?" you hear Quinn's concerned voice, "Is she okay?"

You sigh and turn around, "Is it bad if I don't know?"

You look and see your girlfriend's two best friends with sympathetic looks in their eyes. It is clear to you that they have both experienced this with Santana as well, the unknown.

"I mean she's my girlfriend. My girlfriend. I've spent hours upon hours with her over the past month and a half, as she was careening towards this breakdown and I didn't do anything to make it better! Fuck, I barely realized it was happening. I knew she was upset about her parents, but I just let it go because this dumb competition is so easily distracting." You rant and drop into a chair at the counter, "I don't know how to help her, I barely know if she's okay because we have never experienced this. It's all been rainbows and unicorns, but now something hard and real is happening and I feel completely overwhelmed. I just want to help her, Quinn, I just want to make it go away, but I feel so helpless." The tears start pouring out of your eyes, and you feel Quinn's arms wrap around your waist and twist you into a hug.

Mercedes walks up to join you at the counter, "Listen, Brittany, we have been friends with Santana for a long time, Quinn longer than I, but I know I speak for both of us when we say that there is no user's manual to taking care of Santana. Her strength is her best and worst quality, because she hides behind it. This parent thing is a complicated weaving of complicated fabrics, that we are all trying to sort through. All I can say, is that never have I heard Santana ask for someone in a time of need, and she asked for you Brittany."

You pick your head up from Quinn's shoulder and lock your blue eyes with Mercedes brown ones. A different brown than Santana's a little softer at first glance, but with less depth to them. You nod slightly at her and let out a haggard breath.

"I should go back upstairs. If I know Santana, she is going to be focusing on getting ready to perform tomorrow" you grab the water and the popsicles and make your way out of the kitchen. You turn before you reach the foot of the stairs, "Thank you, guys. I am glad that Santana has two such unbelievable friends.

You slowly make your way upstairs, to find your girlfriend sitting up in bed leaning against her headboard, massaging her temples. You walk over to her and hand her the water. She turns her head and gives you a small smile, but her eyes light up just like her big smiles. You lean in and kiss her tenderly, "I love you so much, Santana" you whisper against her lips.

"Always."


Santana's POV

You find yourself in the green room, watching the start of the show. Going fifth gives the Troubletones fair amounts of idle time before getting show ready. You won't go backstage until the New Directions are called on stage for their first number at the fourth spot. You're glad that you will get to watch Brittany perform in a fair amount of privacy.

The day so far had been long, you woke up with the brief remnants of a hang over and a sweet note from Brittany explaining that she wanted to stay, but didn't wan to break tradition. Luckily you passed out early enough that your hang over came late that night and not this morning, but mostly with the weight of shame. You are ashamed that you let it get to this point. You let your stubbornness and pride get in the way of your ability to be a leader, a singer, a friend and most importantly a girlfriend. Before meeting Brittany this episode would have been par for the course, but now that you are intrinsically linked to someone so special, it was a wake up call. You never want to hear the desperation, fear and sadness in Brittany's voice that you heard that night. Knowing you were the cause of it hit you like a ton of bricks.

When Brittany went down to get you water and didn't return immediately you got concerned, and went to follow her downstairs, but when you reached the top of the stairs, you heard her voice thick with tears,

I mean she's my girlfriend. My girlfriend. I've spent hours upon hours with her over the past month and a half, as she was careening towards this breakdown and I didn't do anything to make it better!

She was blaming herself for your refusal to face the reality of your feelings and that broke you. For Brittany, you needed to face this. For your relationship. You couldn't keep putting this on her. Also, as hard as it is to admit, you needed to do this for yourself. You need to clean out the proverbial closet and prepare yourself to move on.

You took time this morning to apologize to your team for your behavior. Of all days, the day before the biggest performance of the competition, you let yourself get the best of you, and made a decision that could have had a lasting negative impact. Luckily for you, you not only had the best teammates, but the best friends. Not only did they understand, but also they supported you. They saved you. Nothing was going to keep you from performing at the highest of your ability.

The list of tribute numbers were posted – you noticed other groups had selected some pretty dynamite artists including the Beatles and Billy Joel. One that stuck out to you, just because you are a huge fan, was the late, great Amy Winehouse. Vocal Adrenaline would be paying tribute to her greatness and you were intrigued as to what they came up.

Your attention is drawn back to the drop down screen in the green room and you see the Warblers taking on a version of Elvis' Blue Suede Shoes, complete with blue suede blazers. As always the Warblers are solid, but you can't help but think the boy routine is becoming stale. As you watch, Brittany slides into the chair next to you,

"I just wanted to wish you luck" she whispers to you while playing with your fingers, "We are about to head into the warm up room and then back stage, and I probably will only see you in passing before you go on stage."

You lock her fingers with yours and pull her hand to your mouth and plant kisses across her knuckles, "Good luck, baby. I will meet you back here and after the show and we can find your mom and Aubrey?" You kind of state, kind of ask.

"Are you sure your feeling up to that" you look up to find Brittany's blue eyes, which stand out even more under the layer of make up. You noticed her hair is pulled back into a slick ponytail. Her outfit reminds you of what a catholic schoolgirl would wear, but not in the slutty way.

"Of course, love" you lean in and ghost a kiss on her lips. Both of you have on lipstick and you can't imagine what kind of fit make up would throw if both of you walked in mid show order to get a touch up.

Brittany squeezes you hand and follows the rest of the New Directions out of the room. Quinn, who immediately replaces your girlfriend's hand with her own, quickly fills her spot. Knowing that a known touch will keep your nerves level. Cedes and Kitty fill in behind you and you redirect your attention the screen. The Flatliners, a co-ed group from across the Great Plain states, just finished their rendition of Come Together and Vocal Adrenaline made their way on stage.

Familiar beats filled your ears and your eyes snapped up to the screen, "Holy shit that is my arrangement" you all but yell. The group begins to move and Kitty jumps up "That's my fucking choreography." Not only had Vocal Adrenaline chosen to do Amy Winehouse, but they were doing the Troubletones version of Amy Winehouse, all but fully ripping off your version of Valerie from your National's set list junior year. The entire group looks at each other and bolts.

The Troubletones are waiting backstage, earlier than anticipated, the entire group rushed back there after watching the first minute of Vocal Adrenaline's performance. You are fuming, hands clenched by your sides and eyes sharp. Kitty is in the corner, just an infuriated as you are. She worked for weeks perfecting the Valerie progression and now here comes this team claiming it as their own.

THE NERVE of Vocal Adrenaline to steal your work and replicate it in a competition that you are competing in. Quinn and Mercedes were trying to calm you down, but you were enraged. This was crossing a major line.

You pace back and forth waiting for Vocal Adrenaline to get off stage so you can give them a piece of your mind. A rage list is filling your head and you need to spew your venom before you burst at the seams. You notice Brittany is only standing with about half the New Directions, holding mic stands and what look likes old fashion mics with a long chord. She looks at you with a concerned look on her face. You immediately turn her back, knowing you can't distract her right now.

You find yourself leaning against the wall when Dani joins you. "S. I know you're mad and I am too. You are totally justified in everything you're feeling, but flipping out on them right now isn't going to make it better. It is just going to let them win. We have an target on our back and every team is trying to hit it. The Warblers by putting us 5th and 7th and Vocal Adrenaline by this. We need to rise above. This competition is about us and no one else."

You exhale letting your friends words sink in. She's probably right that flipping out on Vocal Adrenaline would do nothing but key you up even more, Dani continues, " We will find a way to right this wrong, but right now let's focus on our pieces" her hand reaches out to touch your shoulder, "Besides, I don't think Brittany would be too impressed with you chewing out the competition" she winks at you and walks away to join the rest of the group in the wings.

You follow your friend, "What's the plan, S? What are we going to do?"

"Nothing. We aren't making this about them. We are going on stage, we are going to kill two performances, and we will deal with that bullshit later."

Quinn and Mercedes nod, resolute to follow what you think is best, "For right now, lets watch my girl kill it."

Quinn grabs you hand and smiles, as you both look on stage as part of the New Directions walk out, Sam in the middle, flanked by Brittany, Mike, Tina and Finn. They all stand place their mic stands in front of them, chords in hands as the lights raise up and the beats of The Jackson's Blame It On The Boogie fill the auditorium. Sam takes over on the lead vocals, as his teammates work intricate prop choreography with their mic stands. The energy is amazing and the entire crowd is already on their feet.

My baby's always dancin

And it wouldn't be a bad thing

But I don't get no lovin'

And that's no lie

We spent the night in Frisco

At every kind of disco

From that night I kissed our love goodbye

Don't blame it on the sunshine

Don't blame it on the moonlight

Don't blame it on good times

Blame it on the boogie

You're impressed with Sam's soloing. You hadn't heard him sing before and he had a lot of flavor for a guppy faced white kid. The Troubletones are clapping along backstage when Sam brings the song into it's iconic and bridge,

I just can't

I just can't

I just can't

Control my feet (yeah)

I just can't

I just can't

I just can't

Control my feet

As he sings, Britney and Mike have taken center stage, while Tina and Finn use the mic chords as double dutch ropes. The two dancers go into an insane double dutch routine complete with fancy footwork, lifts and aerials. As the back-ups return to flank Sam, the New Directions bring the song home.

"Wow, that was amazing" you hear Marley say to your left.

You can't help but smile, "Yeah, she really is."


Brittany's POV

The lights dim and you rush off stage, because tonight there were two performances per group, the judges were holding their comments till after the second number. You feel amazing about what the team just put out there, and you run off stage giddy. Before you realize what is happening, strong arms lock around your back and you hear Santana's raspy voice in your ear, "You're a vision, baby." You don't have enough time to reply, before she is walking away from you onto the stage and getting in place for their opening number.

A smile cracks your face as you do a small victory dance for the performance. You turn to focus on your girlfriend and her teammates. Mercedes stands front and center in front of a microphone, while the others are sporadically placed throughout the stage. Santana is down stage right, so you have the perfect view of her from the first wing. The entire team is in matching silver dresses with bows in their hair and black pumps. The stage is completely black and you can barely make out the forms of the Troubletones.

All of you sudden you hear Mercedes voice,

I Wanna Dance

Clock strikes upon the hour

And the sun begins to fade

Still enough time to figure out

How to chase my blues away

The crowd goes wild before the number properly starts immediately responding to the Troubletones artist selection. The number comes full speed and as Mercedes continues with the lyrics, the stage lights focus individually on each of the other Troubletones for a brief solo dance – Kitty rocking an aerial, Dani choosing a simple turn, Marley working the floor, Sugar a booty pop, Quinn a shimmy, and finally Santana throwing her arms in the air while twisting her hips. The lights rise and the entire group engages in fun, energetic choreography full of body rolls, shimmies and a lot of pointing.

Don't you wanna dance

Say you wanna dance

Don't you wanna dance

Say you wanna dance

With somebody who loves me

You watch in amazement at how much fun the Troubletones are having, they have completely let down their "bad bitch vibe" and are letting loose and you can see the joy in their performance. You watch Santana and see a genuine smile on her face as she performs. You feel relieved that 1. The girl was able to perform today and 2. That she isn't letting what is happening off stage to affect her. She is showing her lion heart.

The crowd feeds off the groups' energy and the group responds right back. Mercedes boastful voice brings the house down and when the number ends with the entire group in sync, the auditorium explodes. You watch as the Troubletones sprint off stage, engaging in a quick outfit change. The show tries to give them as much of a reprieve as possible, putting a commercial break after their first performance.

You realize you won't see Santana again until after their second performance, so you make your way back to the green room to join the rest of the New Directions before you take the stage again. As you walk in, you are quickly bombarded by Rachel,

"Brittany, may I just say, I think we really nailed it. You all performed with utmost energy and precision. While I must admit I thought it was quite risky to not showcase a stronger voice, it is clear that this little risk might have just paid off. I have the utmost confidence that my side of the team will also quote unquote bring the heat, and we should sail our way into the next round. Now, those Troubletones seem to have bounced right back from their rather disappointing performance last week, but hopefully the stunt that Vocal Adrenaline is pulling shakes their nerves a bit." She smiles brightly at the thought of the Troubletones dropping even in the slightest.

Sam and Artie have joined the discussion as Rachel finally trails off and you chime in, "Stop saying utmost. Wait, what are you talking about? What stunt are they pulling?" You look around at your friends.

"Apparently they stole the Troubletones arrangement and choreography for their first Amy Winehouse number. At their first nationals win, the Troubletones did a full 12 minutes dedicated to Amy, and Vocal Adrenaline basically ripped the entire first part of the routine off" Sam chimes in.

Artie picks up the story, "When I was one my way back to the green room to watch you guys on stage, Santana was storming out swearing in Spanish and looked really angry. I mean it clearly didn't effect their performance, but she certainly wasn't happy."

You turn and narrow your eyes on the Vocal Adrenaline group, who seem to be trying to keep to themselves in the green room, clearly aware that the Troubletones were rather vocal about the situation.

Sam grabs your arm and whispers, "Not your battle, B. Let's watch the Troubletones second performance." He pulls you into a seat next to him, as you see the Troubletones resetting for their next number, The green room feed doesn't cut out when the TV feed does, and you see Santana pull a pitch pipe out of her cleavage while the group members gather around her finding their note. The sound cuts out, but you see your girlfriend giving each of her teammates a different note. When she gets to Sugar she just places the pitch pipe back into her cleavage and pats the girl on the cheek.

The camera pans out to the whole stage and you see Santana fully. She is in a stunning full-length gold ball gown. Intricately constructed and adorned with sequins. They pulled her hair out of the ponytail from the first act, and it fell in soft curls at her shoulders. She stands alone center stage, with her teammates in groups of three to her right and left. Santana shakes out her arms and stares directly into the camera waiting for her cue, and you feel like she is almost looking at you.

You hear the host announce the return of the Troubletones to the stage, and the lights provide backlight on the two smaller groups of Troubletones as they begin an a capella intro. Santana's outline is barely visible until the accompaniment fills the auditorium, the lights hit her and she starts to sing,

Share my life

Take me for what I am

Cause I'll never change

All my colors for you

Take my love

I'll never ask for too much

Just all that you are

And everything that you do

You audibly gasp at the beauty of your girlfriend and the magic of her voice. Her eyes remain locked on the camera directly in front of her and you can read in her eyes that this performance is not just any performance. She is sending a message, particularly a message to you, that she might not be able to share otherwise.

Don't make me close one more door

I don't wanna hurt anymore

Stay in my arms if you dare

Or must I imagine you there

Don't walk away from me

I have nothing

Nothing, nothing

If I don't have you

The Troubletones are taking this number to remind everyone why they are so good. They don't need flashy choreography, complex arrangements or gimics. They need their voices, their stage presence and their talent and they blow everyone else away.

Your love I will remember forever

But don't make me close one more door

I don't wanna hurt anymore

Stay in my arms if you dare

Or must I imagine you there

The emotion dripping off your girlfriend is palpable in the green room. Your body is clenched, and you need to remind yourself to breathe. You watch as her eyes close and she belts out her final chorus

Don't walk away from me (no)

Don't walk away from me

Don't you dare walk away from me

Cause I have

nothing, nothing, nothing

If I don't have you

If I don't have you

Ohhhhhh

Just before the lights drop out on your girlfriend, she mouths a quick I love you to the camera. You finally come to when you feel someone rubbing your back and find Tina standing next to you, holding a Kleenex to wipe the tears you didn't even know were running down your cheeks.


Santana's POV

"Every other group is probably thinking about their flights home at this moment. Welcome back to the top, Troubletones."

The voices of the judges ring in your ears, as you make your back to the greenroom with the team. The group is absolutely ecstatic with the feedback from the judges. The relief you feel, the weight off your shoulders, is glorious. Other groups tried to tear you down, but your team showed resilience and perseverance. Your whole is greater than the sum of your parts. As you turn the last corner before the greenroom door, you see a familiar blonde leaning up against the wall. Her eyes meet yours, hers rimmed with red, but accompanied by a watery smile. She pushes off the wall, and waits for you to meet her.

She slowly wraps her arms around your neck, and your lithe arms situate themselves around her waist. She pulls you into her, and you inhale her soothing scent,

"Thank you" she whispers into your ear.

No other words were shared. You just hold each other, forgetting everything else around you.

After a while, Brittany realizes that the New Directions still had to go on for their second number, and she would have to wait backstage to join them for the judges' deliberation. The two of you walk into the green room hand in hand, finding the Troubletones mingling with the rest of the New Directions. Compliments are being flown between the groups about their respective numbers. Soon a runner pops his head into the green room and calls The New Directions, Vocal Adrenaline and Warblers for the final three acts of the night.

You feel Brittany's smooth hand slide into yours as Vocal Adrenaline walks by with their heads bowed, "I promise they won't get away with this, baby" she says to you.

"It doesn't matter, B. They don't matter. Go cheer your team on" you plant a sloppy kiss on her cheek and a strong blush creeps up her face, "I love you, Bumble."

"I love you, too, Sweet T."

"Well, you two are nauseatingly adorable" Kitty retorts, "All that lovey dovey, smoochy smoochy act makes me want to drown myself in a shower, preferably of champagne for forgot my own loneliness."

"Please, Kitty Cat, we see you and Artie ogling each other at every moment. I swear, if you laugh at one more of his computer geek jokes…" Dani harps.

The team is used to Kitty's dramatics, so you all just rolled your eyes and dragged chairs into a tight circle away from the screen. Quinn sat on your right and Mercedes to your left, both of them staring at you. You tried to avoid the stares of your teammates by focusing on your nails.

"S, come on. Your nails are immaculate. We need to talk about this. They stole from us, are we really just going to let that go?" Mercedes is the first to speak.

Marley shrugs "Can we actually do anything? It's not like our music is copyrighted. They just made a big faux pas."

"Still, people should know that isn't their work. We worked for months on those arrangements. I had to spend hours trying to teach Mercedes how to dance" Kitty chides playfully, but then continues in a serious manner "That was our first Nationals win. Marley and Dani, I know you guys weren't around, but no one thought anything of us and we proved it, against all odds."

You are pondering what exactly you can do. Marley was right, they didn't do anything illegal, just shady. There had to be a way for you to get the message out that you don't mess with the Troubletones. You are lost in your thoughts when you hear that opening notes to one of your favorite songs,

He left no time to regret

Kept his lips wet

With his same old safe bet

There was Vocal Adrenaline, in almost exact replicas of your Nationals outfits, singing yet another one of your arrangements. The blood boils under your skin. Quinn, who has been unusually quiet, lays a calming hand on your shoulder. You take a deep breath, when a light bulb goes off,

"Sugar, all of our Nationals videos are posted on Youtube right?"

"Duh, as head of social media, I make sure everything we do is well documented. In fact, I just took a vine of Quinn snoring this morning."

"What the f…"

You silence Quinn, "Send me the link, send it to everyone. We are going to tweet out the link to our Nationals performance and hashtag X-Factor and Vocal Adrenaline and then let people make up their own minds." Sugar immediately whips out her phone and starts texting.

Everyone else pulls their phones out and gets on Twitter "I am going to clip a 15 second portion of Valerie and post it on Instagram with the link" Sugar calls out, "Lets go talk to the other groups and have them do the same. People need to know about this." Sugar, Kitty, Marley and Dani take off around the room to talk to the remaining groups.

"Proud of you, S. We just needed to out smart them" Quinn says to you as she closes her Twitter.

"Yeah well, I don't really feel like getting locked up for punching the smirk off that girls face." Mercedes and Quinn giggle, "Everyone's asking for Trouble, well they are certainly going to get it."


AN2: Hope all those celebrating Thanksgiving have a great holiday! And for those of you who aren't, have a great week! Next update will have the conclusion of Tribute week, Santana meeting Britt's mom and sister, and much more Brittana growth. Are you guys liking the competition details or do you want less of that? Let me know!