When Rachel took her seat in the back of the small coffee shop to watch Puck perform, she smiled. This was one of her favorite things in the whole world. She loved watching Puck and his guitar quietly demand the attention of the thirty or so people in the building. She loved that he had developed a small cult following and that, although women threw themselves at him, he seemed to only harbor eyes for her.

He was on the small stage, sitting on the stool, guitar in hand and halfway through a song when Rachel saw his eyes stop on someone in the audience. He smiled and continued with his song, the smile still on his lips.

Rachel looked over to the mystery audience member, wondering who deserved the special attention. However when Rachel saw who it was, she too smiled. She silently got up and slid into one of the vacant seats at Brittany's table.

The blonde grinned at her, welcoming her to the table that was occupied by a rugged hipster of a man as well. Brittany moved her eyes back to Puck and occasionally mouthed the words to his songs.

When his first set was done, Puck announced his break and set his guitar down. A few people walked up to him and asked for his autograph. He threw an amused smirked at Rachel and Brittany before accepting the marker that was thrust in his face.

"I thought you had tickets to see one of your favorite singers," Rachel smirked at Brittany.

The blonde chuckled, "I do and I'm here using them."

"You didn't tell me you liked Noah's music," Rachel nearly burst with pride.

Brittany nodded, "I downloaded his demo and carry it with me everywhere." She picked up her phone to show Rachel how Puck's tunes traveled with her. "It calms me down and makes me happy when I'm sad."

Rachel joked, "It's hard to imagine you being sad."

How forced Brittany's next smile was, threw Rachel off. She'd never seen that look in Brittany's eyes. It was a slight falter in her happy exterior, but Rachel caught it, if only barely. Her smile was flawless but her blue eyes gave her away. It was like watching two rain clouds perched over of a dazzling sunset.

Unfortunately, before she could call Brittany on it Puck walked over.

"Oh," Brittany snapped out of her momentary haze and looked at her friend that was sitting at the table, "This is Aiden. Aiden this is Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman."

Puck shook his hand and nodded.

"Great set," Aiden commented.

"Thanks," Puck let out a small smile and sat down next to Rachel.

After the show, the trio went home, saying goodnight to Aiden at the coffee shop. Brittany quietly made her way to the guest room and closed the door.

Rachel sat on the couch, staring at the hallway where the guest room was located. She knew why she was watching it and tried to restrain herself. She knew she butted into other people's business frequently and she was trying not to this time. However, her caring for Brittany won out in the end. She pushed off of the soft couch and made her way to Brittany's door. She softly knocked and when there was no answer, she opened it.

She found Brittany sitting on her bed staring at the ground. She saw tears in the blonde's eyes. Rachel immediately moved to sit by her.

However Brittany was hell bent on trying to conceal her emotions so she wiped away her tears and put on a smile. "Um, sorry. I…I just got something in my eye."

"Both eyes?"

Brittany nodded, guiltily, but still stuck to her story.

Rachel sighed and rose from the bed, "Well, I'm right down the hall if you want to talk about…what you got in your eyes."

The blue eyes followed Rachel out of the room before she shot up from the bed and went to her suitcase. She didn't feel like staying in tonight. She needed to go out.

So an hour and a half later, she was dressed to kill along with some other dancers she knew from around town. They strutted into a nearby club and went to the middle of the room to do what they all did best.

While they were all playing around, making up small dances and trying to make each other laugh, Brittany's eyes caught sight of a familiar looking woman. The hair and slender frame made her chest tight. As her heart pummeled her insides, she mumbled to her friends about being right back.

Brittany moved to get a better look of the girl, staying along the wall of the club. When she got close enough, she saw that the girl wasn't Santana. However before she could look away the girl caught her eyes. A smile came from her lips and she let her eyes give Brittany a once over.

The blonde felt embarrassed so she decided she needed to explain, "I'm sorry. You looked like someone I know…from behind."

"Not a problem. I get that a lot," the girl grinned, "I'm Kayla."

"Brittany," she answered.

Kayla flashed a dangerous smile, "I saw you out there with your friends. I'm kinda glad you came over here. I probably wouldn't have gotten the courage to ask you if you wanted to get a drink if you didn't come over here."

All kinds of alarms and triggers were going off in Brittany's head, but she chose to ignore them. She let out a playful smile, "I'd love to get a drink."

Santana stumbled out of a bar close to her apartment. She knew even then that she was going to hate herself in the morning for drinking to this point, but in the moment she didn't care. She was out celebrating the biggest mistake she'd ever made.

Her feet carried her to her favorite bar in the city. She didn't know how long it took to get there, but when she saddled up to the bar she wasn't surprised to see Puck there.

"You look wasted already," he slid a bottle of water to her.

Santana didn't say anything. She just opened the bottle and promptly drained the contents.

Puck shook his head, "You should just tell her you're sorry already."

The brunette just rolled her eyes, "Leave me alone."

He raised his hands, "You are alone."

"Fuck you Puckerman," Santana snapped.

He sighed, "That's not what I meant." He got out another water bottle and set it in front of her. "You know you don't have to be alone."

Santana slid off the stool and glared at him, "I have to find another bar."

"Hey, no," Puck stepped back from the bar, "I won't talk anymore okay?"

After thinking it over, and getting dizzy for standing too long, Santana sat back down.

Quinn had fallen asleep sitting on the couch, looking through the headshots of half of New York City when she heard a knock on the door. She rose from the couch and walked to the door, checking the peephole. When she saw Puck she opened the door.

As soon as the door swung open, Quinn saw that he was basically carrying a semi-conscious, fully drunk Santana. Her arm was around his shoulders, but most of her weight was supported by his arm around her waist.

"What happened?" Quinn asked, moving everything off of the couch so Puck could set Santana down.

He gently set her down and sighed, "One guess."

Quinn shook her head looked at Santana who was finally passed out, "If there's no hope for Santana and Brittany, how is there hope for any of us?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. Are you okay here with her? I gotta get home."

Quinn nodded, "Yeah, I'll take care of her. Say hi to Rachel and Brittany for me."

"Okay," he put his hands on his hips looking over Santana again before shaking his head. "See ya."

Somewhere in Brooklyn, Brittany looked over at Kayla who had fallen asleep in the dimly lit bed. She didn't look like Santana anymore. She definitely didn't act like Santana. Brittany shivered remembering how Santana would always snuggle into her afterwards.

The dancer silently found all of her clothes and put them back on before tiptoeing out the door. She stepped out into the pre-dawn night in Brooklyn. She felt so out of control. She told herself she needed to get a grip and tightened her jacket around herself to make the long trek to the train.