Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, X-Factor or any copyrighted material mentioned.


You stare down at the glass of crimson red wine in your hand feeling thankful that Sugar remembered that you loved a glass of Malbec to unwind after a results show. The Troubletones called for a light night – most of the girls going in to explore LA, while Mercedes and Kitty went to hang out with Sam and Artie at the New Directions house.

You glance up and you can't help the bright smile that rips across your face and the glint that appears in your eyes as you find your girlfriend sitting across from your best friend seeing who can balance a spoon on their nose the longest. Brittany stunts at Quinn who bursts out laughing causing the spoon to clank against the hardwood and soon your two favorite blondes are lost in a midst of cackles. Your heart fills with warmth. Two days ago you weren't sure if this would happen again. The last week has felt like your own personal hell without Brittany, which is crazy because it was like literally 6 days. If it were happening to someone else you would find it ridiculous and silly that they were so upset about 6 days, but when it happened to you it felt life ending. Your feelings were so big for your beautiful blonde that you couldn't help but feel completely lost without her.

Brittany sits up off the floor and steals a glance in your direction and mouths a quick I love you, before gearing up for another round with Quinn. You throw her a wink, glad that she decided to come spend the night with you after she had a brief celebration with the New Directions. A celebration that was very well deserved after the New Directions were announced the winners of Top 40 Mash-Up Week.

Flashback

"This week of voting constituted X-Factor history" the host calls out to the audience "We have never had a closer voting margin for first place." The four groups on stage glance around at each other, The Warblers had already been declared safe, so on stage were the Troubletones, The New Directions, The Flatliners and The Hip Hop Anomalies.

Quinn and Sugar's grip on your hands both tighten as the host goes on, "Will The New Directions and The Troubletones please step forward." A hush goes out across the audience, "With just a 478 vote advantage, the Winner of Top-40 Mash-Up week is "THE NEW DIRECTIONS!" The crowd goes wild as does the winning team. The Troubletones join in on the raucous of cheers, knowing that the win was well deserved for the other group. You catch sight of her blonde who is being mauled by Sam and Puck, without thinking she strides over to Brittany and pulls her into a huge hug. Flashes of camera fill the space, as the two girls are caught in an intimate moment. The hosts' voice comes out over the speakers "Congrats to The New Directions and the Troubletones for making it into the Final Four."

Both groups exit the stage and walk back to the green room. You linger back with Brittany, your hand tangled in hers. As your two groups leave, you pull her back into another more private embrace.

"I am so proud of you, Bumble," you whisper in her ear "You deserve this. You killed it. I am so amazed by you." Brittany blushes and lays a kiss on your lips.

"I couldn't have done it without you. Even though we weren't talking, everything I did, every choice I made, I thought 'How would Santana do this'. You're my biggest inspiration, baby." Brittany kisses you again., "Also, I saw your tweet last night…." She grins as you remember the tweet you sent out as Brittany slept in your arms.

SnixIsTrouble 12:52 AM: #NewDirections killed it tonight! #XFactor don't know what hit them! SO proud of this pretty lady. #WantHerToWantMe [Image Attached]

The picture was a goofy selfie of you planting a kiss on Brittany's cheek, as she stuck her tongue out. You couldn't help but post it and let the world know that the blonde was all yours.

You blush "That had nothing to do with the votes, B. That was all you."

Watching Brittany and Quinn, you can't help but think about next week. After announcing the winners and sending the Flatliners home, the producers came in and announced that next week two teams would be sent home instead of one, which completely changes the competition. Each group was given 3 minutes for their song, instead of the usual 2 minutes, and that much more pressure was added to the theme : Balladeers. The TTs have been waiting for this theme all competition – their wheelhouse was emotional power ballads that brought the house down. You were certainly nervous about the idea of two teams going home, but you know you had to keep your cool.

You drain the rest of your wine and scoot over to whisper in your girlfriends ear, "How about you stop playing with my friend and start playing with me." You husk and you see fine hairs stand up on the back of Brittany's neck.

The blonde leans over and gives Quinn a kiss on the head, "Night, Quinnie". Without another word Brittany scampers up the stairs and you can't help but let out a throaty chuckle. Quinn rolls her eyes and slaps your ass as you follow Brittany upstairs.

When you reach your door you're surprised to see it's closed, you assumed Brittany would leave it open for you. You slowly turn the knob and your breath catches in your throat at the image of your girlfriend laying on your bed in a matching black lace bra and panty set, with her blonde hair flowing down past her shoulders.

"Took you long enough" she giggles. You take three big strides towards your bed and kneel in front of the blonde before taking her face in your hands and capturing her lips in a searing kiss. The kiss is hot from the start, but heats up very, very quickly. Before you know it, Brittany's nimble fingers pull your v-neck over your head and slowly start to strip you of your jeans. The two of you battle for dominance, rolling around on the bed. Lips, tongue and teeth clash as you thrash against one another. Brittany's hands run up and down your sides, as your hands bury themselves in blonde hair. Brittany's hand moves to unhook your bra, and you freeze and slowly pull away.

"San" she says huskily and looks up at your with hooded eyes, "What's wrong? Are you okay?" She pulls her hands off your back and rests them on your hips.

You start to speak, but are overwhelmed with emotion. "I, um," you start "It's just that. I mean we just got…I feel like we should…um I don't want you to think that…" once again you find yourself in your bedroom staring at your beautiful girlfriend at an utter loss for words. At least this time, you two aren't one second away from a massive fight.

Brittany scoots up and pulls you into her arms, "Take a deep breath, San. Talk to me." The blonde starts to rub calming circles against your exposed skin while pressing soft kisses to your forehead.

"The last week was awful without you, Bumble. Like, really, really awful. I hated sleeping alone, but worse than that I hated thinking about you sleeping alone or you falling asleep with out me saying I love you or even walking around each day knowing that things weren't okay. It absolutely tore me up inside." Brittany doesn't respond, but her eyes tell you that she had a pretty similar week, "I have never felt like this about anyone before, Brittany. I have never felt this attachment, this want, this need, this desire, almost this dependency and to be honest it's really fucking scary, but also really, really amazing. And, I just don't want you to think that the only thing I missed this week was having sex with you." You immediately blush and bury your head in her chest, "I mean I know we have only done it a few times, a few amazing times, but I don't need sex to feel fulfilled in this relationship." You decide now is a good time to stop talking before you ramble any further.

Brittany looks at you meaningfully before she speaks, "Santana, love, this week was really hard for me too, but I also think it was really important. I think it is important to know that we struggle to live without the other one even if it is just for a few days, but that we are able to come back from it. I think that speaks volumes about our love and how strong it is. Sure it might be scary from a commitment stand point, but I think we were pretty committed when we practically lived vicariously through our phones for 3 months." It still sometimes amazed you how easily Brittany could turn a switch and become so profound. You were about to remark on this until she continues,

"However, I want to push back on something you said. I certainly wouldn't feel fulfilled in this relationship if we weren't having sex." Brittany's words cut through you pretty sharply, "Before you freak out, let me finish. Would I still love you fully and be with you if we weren't sexually active? Of course, baby. But, the fact that I have innate desire that can be fulfilled to it's ultimate outcome by my greatest love? Of course I want that. I want to love you fully and completely. Which means in every way possible. Does sex define us? No. But, we shouldn't discredit it's meaning to us. We aren't using sex to fix or solve anything that has happened, we are using it to express our feelings in this moment."

Sometime during her speech you had entangled your hand in hers and felt her long fingertips brushing against your palm.

"Will you let me love you fully, Santana?" Brittany whispers as she leans forward to capture your lips in hers. No other full thoughts were spoken, you two found a very different way to communicate.

The next morning you woke up and rolled over to find empty sheets surrounding you. Immediately, you jump out of bed and check the bathroom and downstairs, but can't find Brittany anywhere. You run back up to your room to gather a proper outfit before setting out to find the blonde. You can't help but be nervous after such a tumultuous week that something was wrong and it had to do with your relationship. As you walk over to your bureau to grab a bra and deodorant, you notice a note that you must have missed this morning, in Brittany's unmistakable blocky, yet also bubbly handwriting is a short letter.

Knowing you, my love, you just ran downstairs hoping to catch me eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes waiting for you to wake up. Realizing I am not in the kitchen, you flew back upstairs to quickly look presentable before coming to find me because I know you hate to start the day without a good morning kiss. I am just imagining you stopping to get deodorant, because we both know you could NEVER leave the house without it because that is your biggest fear apparently. I think you smell amazing, so I can't believe your biggest fear is someone thinking you smell bad. You're so silly, Tana. Just one of the things I love about you. Rachel called while you were still sleeping, she wants to discuss rehearsal scheduling. Guess that is on me again. Oh well. I didn't want to wake you; you've seemed restless and you were too peaceful to disturb. Text me when you wake up and let me know your rehearsal schedule. Maybe we can have a little date night tonight. Just so you know I planted plenty of good morning kisses on you before I left. Love you more than unicorns. Besos, Bumble.

You can't help but smile at her signature line. Last night after round 3, she asked you to teach her a little bit of Spanish. Brittany had noticed that you mostly speak Spanish in times of passion, where you're angry, sad or turned on. For almost half an hour your bubbly blonde would think of words that she wanted you to translate into Spanish.

"Hmm, unicorn?" Brittany giggles.

"Umm, hmm that's a tough one. I don't think I ever learned unicorn in Spanish class, let's go with…Unicornio" you say with a laugh.

Brittany nuzzles her face into your neck, "Okay, how about rainbow?"

"Arco iris" you whisper as your plant a kiss on her forehead and run your hands through her bangs, before brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. You slowly pull your hand down her neck and feel the hairs stand up.

Brittany shudders in your arms before shaking her head and refocusing, "Now for my other favorite color…glitter."

You can't help but smile goofily at your amazingly cute girlfriend, she had already asked me every farm animal and every single object in my room. It was amazing to see her mind whir, "Glitter is resplandecer." You exaggerate the r roll which makes Brittany's eyes darken with lust.

She begins planting very pointed kisses on your face. She kisses you then pulls away and stares at you, like asking a question with her eyes. Then she kisses you yet again. Evenutally, you deftly slip beneath her to ensure your lips were receiving the kisses, so at least you got a little action. She kissed you again and pulled away and then gave an exasperated look and sighs.

"Santana!" Brittany whined, "Answer me."

You can't help but girl your girlfriend a confused look, "Answer what? You didn't ask me a word."

"Yes" kiss "I" kiss "did" kiss. My blonde beauty raises her eyebrows again before planting a seering kiss on yourlips. FINALLY, you seemed to get the message.

"Oh, oh, oh" I giggle "This" you say as you place a soft yet tantalizing kiss on her lips "is a beso."

"Mm, beso" she husks as she kisses me again. "And what about…" she peppers kisses all over your face and neck.

You laugh brightly in her ear, which forces a smile to spread across her already happy face, "Besos."

"Well then, I love your besos" Brittany quips, while nuzzling into my neck.

"Te amo, Bumble" you whisper into her hair. She hums into your chest before giving up to the fight against sleep.

You laugh yourself out of your day dream, you can't help but yourself before placing a kiss on Brittany's note and setting it carefully back down on your dresser. While your at your dress, you throw on some deodorant, before picking your phone up off your bed and shooting a quick text out to the lively blonde.

To Bumble x3: Thanks for the note love bug. I missed you when I woke up though. Can't wait to see you tonight, I would LOVE to have a date night. Love love love you.

Before you can even lock your phone again, it vibrates

Bumble x3: Morning sleepy beauty. I miss u so much already. Gotta focus on pickin sum songs for a few hrs. Rachel is already up my butt about it! But don't worry, I'll still plan a killer date. Pick u up 8. U should not, would not want to wait. LOL. XOXO.

You roll your eyes at your girlfriend's antics, throw on a pair of sweats and head down for the Troubletones weekly song choice meeting.


Brittany's POV

"Rachel" you sigh "For the love of god please don't go through the list again. I understand that you have a 'unique perspective' on the form of a ballad and that you have an entire iPod, not playlist, but iPod dedicated to fantastic singers." You shake your head as you find yourself sitting at the dining room table in your townhouse. Just 2 hours ago, you were snuggled against your warm cuddly girlfriend, after an amazing night of love-making and love sharing, and now you were sitting on a hard wooden chair listen to Rachel drone on and one about song selection.

"Well, Brittany, I am sorry if you find this meeting inconvenient and disruptive to your torrid Sapphic love affair, but perhaps you don't remember, two, I repeat, TWO teams are going home this week. Our song selection could seal our fate before we even open our mouths. A ballad is a tenuous, expressive, emotional yet delicate piece. We need to be deliberate in our decision making."

Your blue eyes glaze over and yet another excruciatingly long explanation from Rachel where a simple "Song selection is super important this week" we have sufficed. But, you have to concede that Rachel is right, but you also have to admit that you feel a little out of your wheel house. Mash-up week you could get behind, when you dance without music you mash-up songs all the time. The mash-up was just about finding two songs that flowed together. But a ballad. You aren't even sure you know what a ballad is. You even asked Santana about it last night.

"Hey Tana" you call out into the darkness. You feel Santana's hum of a response reverberate against your naked rib cage where her head lies. Your girlfriend slowly redistributres her weight and turns her head, so her eyes lock with yours. Even though it's dark in the room, you can see, no feel, her gaze."Um, I am not trying to get an advantage, but what's a ballad?" You ask sheepishly.

Santana runs her hand up and down your rib cage, walking her fingertips slowing up your sides. What would normal send you into a fit of giggles in this moments feels serene, sexual. "Well, a ballad in it's original form was a poem or sometimes a song telling a story, which is a pretty vague definition. Currently, in modern music, I classify ballads as being epic love songs – the good and the bad love songs, epic show stoppers, that bring the house down and people to tears. Ballads need to evoke emotions." She then shrugs, "I guess, I mean I don't know. I am not a music expert."

At this you can't help but giggle. Of everyone you have every met in this world, Santana was the one most focused on learning about music. She was constantly on music blogs, looking up new artists and sounds. She played both the piano and guitar like a pro, and you know she was working on mixing some of her own sounds. You squeeze her tightly, "I think you're an expert, baby."

"Mm" she places some wet open mouth kisses on your ribs and breasts, "Well, you Miss. Pierce, are pretty biased."

"Alright, Rach. I get it. I am not sure what direction I want to go in, but I know you need to sing. Of anyone on the team, you are the most capable of expressing emotion, though sometimes it is a bit over the top."

Rachel beams, "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Brittany." At this she stands up, but pushes her list of iconic singers towards you. You grab the list and starting running through the names again, waiting for one to just jump off the page at you. When you think about what singer you love to listen to when emotions are running, only one face is running through your head and unfortunately that particular Latina isn't someone's whose music you can choose from. You sigh and run your hands through your hair and close your eyes as Artie and Sam enter the dining room.

"Britt" Artie asks softly while reach out to rub your shoulder, "you okay?" He pulls his chair up next to you, while Sam replaces Rachel. Sam slides a cup of hot chocolate in front of your face, you don't even have to open your eyes because you feel like the steam and smell the sweet liquid.

You sigh and sit back and look at your friends. In that moment it dawns on you that you haven't spent quality time with your two best friends in a long time. Ever since getting on the show and finding Santana, your life has been a whirlwind. 7 weeks feels like a second, and in that second your focus has been almost completely on the competition and Santana. You can't help as tears come to your eyes.

"Britt" Sam speaks out, obvious concern coating his voice, "what's wrong?" He immediately puts his hand on your shoulder.

"I just feel like a terrible friend" you start " the past 7 weeks I have just been so concerned with the competition and with Santana, I feel like I haven't even asked you guys how you are."

Artie chuckles, "Britt, don't be crazy. This competition has been nuts. We are with each other all the time, just in a different way than usual. Plus Sam and I have been pretty busy too." Artie winks at Sam, who just rolls his eyes.

Your eyes bounce back and forth between the two boys and then it clicks, "Oh my god! Mercedes and Kitty! Tell me everything!" As the boys sigh at your excitement you phone buzzes on the table.

Sweet T x3: Did you realize how close Samcedes and Kartie had gotten? (Didn't feel like typing their full names, but this might have taken longer) Apparently I have missed some MAJOR updates in those ships. P.S I miss your face. Xo

Sweet T x3: And your legs.

Sweet T x3: And your smile.

Sweet T x3: And your eyes.

Sweet T x3: Did I mention your legs?

You blush before sending out a message.

To Sweet T x3: Don't start something u can't finish Tana. U kno how I feel when u talk abt my legs :o) . Talkin with Sam nd Artie abt the girls now. Can't wait to c u later. Xo.

"Sorry about that" you smile "Had to respond to the missus. So, tell me how things are going with the ladies."

Sam nods at Artie who starts, "Well, Kitty and I are keeping it casual. But, we are having a lot of fun together. It's nice to see a hot girl that can see beyond this chair." He shrugs. A lot times Artie plays off his handicap, but you know he has really struggled with finding someone who genuinely saw him for him. You have to give credit to Kitty, you kind of wrote her off as being a bit shallow. "We have talked about how the relationship has an obvious expiration date. We get that next week it could over and we are both okay with that."

From what Artie is saying, it sounds like he and Kitty have had a real adult conversation about their relationship and it's future, where as you and Santana just keep saying your love will overcome.

"Yeah, Cedes and I talked about it too." Sam starts to talk,"I just told her, wherever she is, I will follow. Obviously, her singing career is probably gonna explode over mine, plus I have always wanted to coach, and I can do that anywhere. I just know I want to keep exploring what we have going on."

You sit there and are amazed at how your two best friends have grown up just in the past 7 weeks, and can sit here and speak so candidly about their two adult relationships and their hopes for the future. To be frank your flabbergasted, while also being thrilled for them. You also can't help but be freaked out. You're the one that's in a serious relationship, why don't you have it all figured out?

There's a deep in conversation when the boys turn to you, "So, Britt?" Sam asks "What about you and Santana? What are your plans for after the show?"

"Um, I guess we haven't figured that out yet."


AN: 1 or 2 chapters left. Maybe an epilogue as well.