I was working with a bunch of amateurs. No, correction, morons. I had been stuck in my weekly student council meeting for over an hour and now I was late for Glee. I thought being president would be easier. Like, I'd just order people around and they'd have to do what I said.

Apparently, this school was a big fan of democracy. All I wanted to do was use some of the budget to buy gum to hand out to the students after lunch. Simple.

A lot of the students here got a serious case of skunk breath after eating and I wanted to fix that. The morons at the student council said that was a waste of money. Everyone loved gum and getting free stuff. So, giving away free gum would make people happy. Making people happy was never a waste of money. Whatever, I was going to make an executive order and get it done.

I opened the door to the choir room and saw that I was the last one to arrive. I quietly went in and sat in the front row next to Rachel.

"…it's going to be a great song," Mr. Shue said. I had no idea what was happening but I figured Rachel would fill me in later. I scanned the room and spotted Santana sitting in the back row, our usual spot, looking at me with a big smile. I smiled back and she winked at me, making my whole body warm and tingly. "So," Mr. Shue continued, "I have some exciting news."

"Did you hear about my gum initiative?" I asked, "That was supposed to be top secret but I wouldn't be surprised if it leaked with those boneheads on the council."

Mr. Shue gave me a really confused look and I turned to see everyone had that same look. Except Santana, she was smiling.

"Uh, no," he said, "Umm, the big news is that I've been put in charge of producing this year's school play and I've decided we are doing a musical."

"Funny Girl?" Rachel practically jumped up, so excited that it made me laugh a a little. Mr. Shue shook his head.

"The one with the cats!" I said, "Oh, can I bring Lord Tubbington to see it? I mean, I assume with a play about cats, that all cats get in for free, right?"

"No," he said.

"Is it…" Sam started to say before Mr. Shue cut him off.

"It's West Side Story!" Mr. Shue blurted out, "We are putting on West Side Story."

"Fantastic!" Rachel clapped her hand and stood up. "I'll make an excellent lead…"

"Whoa, whoa!" Santana said, "What makes you think you're getting the lead?"

"I'm the best suited for the part!"

"Says you," Santana said, crossing her arms, "We should all get a shot at lead."

"Santana is right," Mr. Shue said, "No one is automatically getting a role. We are doing this the old fashion way. Auditions in the auditorium tomorrow.."

I groaned a little. I already knew I wasn't going to audition for anything. And with Mr. Shue saying things were going to be old fashion just made me think of my new favorite drink, the one I had this past weekend on my amazing date with my girlfriend. It still felt weird saying that but a good weird. I looked at Santana again and she was talking to Tina about the play. She must have sensed me looking because she looked at me and I saw her try not to smile. We had to be really careful.

Mr. Shue took out a bunch of workbooks with the play's music on them and told the class to spend the rest of the time choosing a song for the audition. Rachel was the first one to grab a book, naturally. Everyone else got up and got one and soon everyone was singing or playing an instrument to the songs. I just stayed in my seat and took out my journal, the one Quinn gave me, and started writing more presidential ideas. Someone sat next to me and I didn't even have to look up to know it was Santana. I smiled.

"You don't want a part?" she asked. I kept writing in my journal because if I looked up at her, I'd probably kiss her. "Nah. I think I'll skip this one."

She leaned in closer. "I really want to kiss you right now," she whispered. I smiled bigger.

"Glee will be over in an hour," I whispered back. I heard her hum and I quickly glanced at her and she was biting her lip, looking at me.

"Ugh!" We both jumped up, startled when Quinn came and sat next to me. "I don't even want to be in this thing."

"Me neither," I said, hoping she hadn't caught us being all flirty with each other.

"Maybe you guys can be one of the ones in the white gang, " Santana suggested.

"I guess that'll work," Quinn said, "As long as I don't have to practice much."

"A true theatre star," Santana said with a laugh.

"So where were you guys this weekend?" Quinn asked.

I stopped writing and totally froze. Luckily Santana didn't react like I did. "Just hanging out," she said.

"Where?" Quinn asked. I looked over at her and she had this weird look on her face, like she was playing a game.

Santana shrugged her shoulders. "The movies. What's with all the questions, Ms. Nosey."

Quinn smiled. "My mom and I ran into both your moms at the mall on Saturday and they said you guys were in Columbus looking at colleges."

I had the sinking suspicion Quinn knew stuff. I wasn't sure how much, but I was sure she knew a little. Or at least suspected and I hoped Santana didn't freak out.

"If you knew where we were then why the fuck are you acting all weird?" Santana asked, annoyed.

Quinn just grinned. "Because you wouldn't be caught dead going to school in Columbus. So that leaves me to conclude that you two went to Columbus to party or to do…other types of exploring."

"What the hell does that mean?" Santana got that tone that said she was about to get really mean. It was a defense mechanic. I think that was the word.

"Maybe I do want to audition for a part!" I said and closed my journal, "Quinn, come on, let's go see about those white people parts."

I got up and grabbed Quinn's hand dragging her to the piano where all the workbooks were.

Yeah, Quinn knew something.

###

It turned out, Quinn and I didn't have to audition to be white people, we just got the part. I still went to the auditions because I wanted to see Santana sing and just as I figured, she was the best one.

The next day, Mr. Shue posted the call sheet and Santana got the part she wanted, which wasn't the lead. After reading her name I pulled her into an empty classroom and locked the door.

"You were so good in your audition," I said and gave her a kiss.

She put her arms around my neck and kissed me back. "Thanks. And thank you for coming to see me. I really liked seeing you out in the audience."

I ran my hands up and down her back before finally resting them on her butt. She had the most amazing ass. "I liked watching you."

That made her bashful and it made me smile. She kissed me again before she spoke. "I've missed sleeping next to you this week. I wish we could go back to that hotel room in Columbus."

I gently squeezed her butt and gave her a quick kiss. "Mushy Santana makes an appearance."

"She seems to be coming out more and more," Santana teased, "And Mushy Santana wants to take you out to Breadstix on Friday and invite you to stay the night since my mom has a date with her boyfriend and won't be home."

"How come you never call your mom's boyfriend by his name? You know it's Hugo, right?"

She let out a breath and groaned softly. "I know. I just…it's weird that she even has a boyfriend. I mean, she's so old."

"She's not that old," I said, "And Hugo is cool."

She let go of my neck and separated herself from me. "I guess. I mean, he makes my mom happy and he's really great with me. They've been dating for two years already. I'm pretty sure he's going to ask her to marry him."

"That's awesome!"

Santana just shrugged. "He's not going to be my dad."

"I know that, honey. No one will take the place of your dad. But, like you said, Hugo makes your mom happy and she shouldn't spend the rest of her life alone."

She paced in front of me for a bit before she spoke again. "What if…what if he has a problem with me being gay? What if he tells my mom that he can't be with someone who has a lesbian for a daughter? "

When she said that, something clicked. It was like I finally understood why she hadn't come out to her mom even though she was certain her mom wouldn't care that she was a lesbian. Santana was worried Hugo would leave her mom and it would be all her fault.

"Santana. You don't know that. And even if he had a problem, your mom shouldn't marry someone like that. You'd be doing her a favor."

She shook her head. "She was a mess after my dad died and she said she was happy to be alone but then Hugo comes along in his fancy suit and makes her happy. I don't want to take that away from her."

I went to her and put my hands on her shoulders. "You won't. Don't think about Hugo, just your mom. She's the one you need to tell."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. As usual," she chuckled, "How the hell did this go from a celebratory make out session to a therapy session."

"I'm like Dr. Fraud."

"I think you mean Freud."

"Potato, tomato," I sang and Santana giggled, "Come on, let's get out of here. You're buying me an ice tea."

"Yes ma'am!"

I hoped our little talk helped her and she would cross everything off her list soon. I really wanted to see it.

###

I was trying to decide between my flamingo shirt and deer sweater for my date with Santana when my mom came into my room holding a bag full of stuff. "What is that?"

"Look what your dad and I got at the gay store!" She put the bag on my bed and started taking out a bunch of stuff with the gay flag on it and the colors.

"They gay store?"

My mom showed me a bumper stick that said 'Proud Parent of a Lesbian' in rainbow letters. "Isn't this adorable."

I put the shirts down and went to the bed and sat next to the bag. "I'm not a lesbian, mom." I reached in the bag and started taking out keychains, stickers, a shirt and a towel. "Why did you get all this stuff?"

"Well, your dad and I realized…well, I realized, that we haven't been as supportive about your coming out as we should have." My mom took my hand and smiled. "I guess we just took it for granted since you've always been so open about who you are even if you didn't realize it. But, we are proud of you Brittany and your dad and I want you to know that we don't care if you bring home a boy or girl. Unless they're a convicted convict. Or a Republican."

I knew my parents loved me and supported me but they hadn't said it much lately, so my mom saying these things really meant a lot to me. I took a shaky breath and tried not to cry. "Thanks mom."

She got up and pulled me up to to give me a hug. "You're welcome, honey."

I hugged a little tighter before letting go. "See, now you made me cry before meeting Santana." I smiled and rubbed my eyes.

"You still look lovely," she said, "Is this a date?"

I quickly looked away and went to pick up my shirts again. "Just hanging out."

"Hmm." She picked up the rainbow towel and dropped it over her shoulder. "It would be pretty cool if it was a date."

"Mom!" I whined. I really wanted to tell her the truth because I always told my parents the truth. I hated lying, mostly cause I was pretty bad at it, but also because I saw no point. The truth always came out and lying was just too much work. I was glad when my dad came in the room holding up a calendar with the gay flag on it.

"This fell out of the bag" he said, "It doesn't have a word a day on here but it's got cool pictures. What is….Lagbgat? Is that French?"

"No dad, it's not a word. You say all the letters separately," I explained, smiling.

"Oh, OK." He looked at the calendar again. "Which letter are you?"

"B" I said.

"Like for your name! Look at that." He was smiling really big and looking at the cover, "I like the colors."

I shook my head, and laughed. My dad was so weird and I loved it. I went over to him and gave him a hug. "Thanks dad."

"Come on Pierce," my mom said, "Let's go put this stuff around the house and let Brittany get ready for her…hangout."

My dad let me go and picked up the bag. "Which letter is Santana?" he asked.

I froze again and wondered what I should say. Luckily my mom spoke up. "Come on," she said, "Let's go. Have fun Britt and don't stay out late."

"I won't." I watched my parents leave and wondered if maybe they knew something too, just like Quinn.

###

"OK, Britt, get anything you want," Santana said, "My mom got a $1,000 gift card for Breadstix from a client."

I almost squealed and picked up the menu to find something new to try. Whatever Maribel did at the bank certainly paid off. "OH! Shrimp," I said putting the menu down, "I want shrimp."

Santana laughed and put down her menu. "Just shrimp? Do you want pasta with it? Steak?"

"Oh, uh, I don't know….does it have to come with something?"

"There's the shrimp cocktail but that won't fill you up," she said, "You have the body of a hot model but the appetite of a sumo wrestler."

"It's a blessing and a curse," I shrugged, making her laugh, "OK, fine. I'll get the Alfred Fetch pasta."

Santana kept on smiling and I never wanted her to stop. "That sounds good. I'll get the Alfred Fetch pasta too."

The waitress came and Santana ordered for both of us but she called our pasta something else. Fetuchacho something. Anyway, I didn't worry, I trusted her. When the food came I got my creamy pasta and my order of shrimp. It was so good. We ate and talked about the play and random things. I always loved talking to her but ever since she came out to me, our conversations were even better. She was just…Santana.

Now, I felt like I could talk to her about anything, a feeling I never had before. I hoped that our conversations were this easy when we were in different cities for colleges.

College.

I had been so wrapped up in Santana, I sort of forgot that was still coming up. We still had a few months before we would find out, but now that Santana and I were together, I didn't want that day to come. I still hadn't told her I wasn't going to Chicago and I told myself I wouldn't until I was sure I got into the LA and New York schools I wanted. If I didn't get into those schools, I would go to Chicago with her.

OK, maybe there were some things I couldn't talk to her about.

When we were almost done with our food, Santana reached for my hand and took in in hers. "So, how am I doing in the girlfriend department?"

I swallowed the last bit of shrimp I had in my mouth. "A for Awesome."

She smiled and intertwined our fingers. "I think I can do better."

"I could do better too," I said, "How about I do all the date stuff for next week? Ever since we became official, you've commandeered all the date planning."

"Calendar word?" she asked with a soft laugh.

I nodded. "Anyway, let me plan some stuff."

She squeezed my hand and nodded. "I'm all yours. I guess I have sort of taken over but I just…I just feel like I need to make things up to you. You know, for all the shit I put you through."

"When you told me how you felt and and when you came out to me, that was the day you made it all up to me." She smiled and nodded slowly but I could tell that she didn't think that was enough but I didn't push it anymore. I knew Santana wouldn't think a million dates would be enough.

"Anything else ladies?"

Santana let go of my hand so fast she almost knocked over her water. I told the waiter that all we needed was the check and he left.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, "It's like a knee jerk reaction."

"It's fine," I told her.

"No, it's not," she said. She grabbed her water glass and took a long drink. When she was done, she put it down and sat back. "I told you I didn't want to feel like I was doing anything wrong. Especially not with you. I hated that feeling at the club when I thought that was Sue and I told myself I would do something about that."

"Like what?"

"Tell people."

"Te…tell people? Like, tell them you're a lesbian?" I asked, my voice really low.

"I have to. I told you I'd try and I think it's time others knew who I am. Right now it's just you and Holly that know here in Lima. I think it'll be better if I just tell people in waves instead of one big announcement. I don't think I could handle if everyone knew at once."

I didn't know what to say. Part of me wanted to jump up and down and tell her this was amazing news and that it was time everyone knew the real her. Another part of me was worried that she was rushing to do this because of me and it would backfire somehow. "You don't have to do this for me, you know."

"I'm not," she said, "Well, maybe a little but I'm doing it for me. I have to cross some things off my list that don't involve you. One of them is telling someone in Lima and another one was telling someone in my family, which I did yesterday."

I sat up straight and shook my head, hoping I heard her right. "You…did you tell your mom?"

"Not yet," she said with a sad smile, "I will. I told Gloria."

I felt the ends of my lips stretch into a smile. "You did?"

She smiled really big and nodded. "I did. She called me and we just started talking and we ended up talking about Mario…and I just, I just blurted it out."

Santana had talked to Mario a few weeks ago and she had been really supportive. Most of the family still ignored the fact that he was gay but he didn't care. I still worried how Santana's family would react to her news. She was so focused on coming out to herself that she had pushed the rest of her family to the back of her mind.

"What did she say?" I held my breath and I expected the worst. Gloria was really cool and she defended Mario when that whole thing went down, but I still worried.

Santana laughed. "She told me she had a strong suspicion I was gay and her very first question was about you."

"Me?"

"She wanted to know if I was, and I quote, 'locking Britt down'. God, she's such a nerd."

I started to blink really fast and tried to process everything. Did this mean someone knew about us? "What did you say?"

"I told her about us. I told her that you were my girlfriend and that I was in love with you."

I slumped back in my seat, feeling like all the wind got knocked out of me. She told someone. Someone knew about us. We weren't a secret anymore. "She knows?" I asked, trying not to let my voice crack.

"She knows," Santana repeated, softly.

I took a deep breath because I did not want to cry into the last of my Fetch pasta and shrimp. "Someone knows," I whispered.

"I don't want to hide you Britt and I am going to try so hard to get past this," she said, and I could see she was trying not to cry too, "Gloria was a safe person to tell. She'll keep it to herself and she's in another city."

I felt like I was dreaming but I knew I wasn't. "Who do you what to tell?"

"Quinn," she said without thinking, "The three of us have been a team since Freshman year, plus I'm actually really looking forward to her reaction."

"Quinn," I repeated with a grin, "I'm pretty sure she also suspects."

"No way," Santana scoffed, "She doesn't know what's going on."

I laughed and just nodded because I was 99.9% sure Quinn wouldn't even blink twice at the news.

Santana reached for my hand and held it again. "I still want to hold your hand." With her other hand she took her napkin and draped it over our joined hands. "But, like, under this napkin."

I was so happy right now that I just went along with her napkin idea.

"Oh hey, Birtt, I've been meaning to ask. Why is your house decorated for St. Patricks' day? It's still months away. Halloween comes first."

"Oh that. My parents signed up for some foreign exchange program and we're getting a leprechaun."

"Excuse me?"

"A leprechaun is coming to live with us for a few months." I sighed, "All I know is, he better bring me a whole bunch of Lucky Charms."

Santana looked really confused and I just shrugged.

I was serious about my Lucky Charms.

-tbc-

A/N: I can't thank you all enough for your support. I'm sorry I don't reply to comments in reviews, I'm much better at PM. Just know I read everything and I look forward to knowing what you think. I've also gotten some great feedback on my old stories. So thank you to those reading those.