Santana hurried up the stairs into church. She hadn't gone to church for more than ten years now. The last time she attended, she was probably ten on Christmas Eve or something. She wasn't entirely sure, but it didn't really matter anyway.

She pushed the huge door open and saw her brother standing in the foyer in his perfect grey suit, fidgeting with the hem of his blazer. He saw her walking towards him and smiled at her. "Hey. How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"I've never been so nervous in my life before," he told her honestly. "I can't focus on anything. I just want to see her now. They are stuck in traffic. Her friend called a couple of minutes ago."

"Yeah, the traffic is pretty bad right now. I was afraid that I would miss the wedding." She felt really badly for him because she could sense how nervous he was. "You look great, by the way."

"Thank you, San. And just so you know, I'm really glad you came." He took her hand in his own and squeezed it quickly. Santana didn't expect this gesture and was really touched by his action.

"Honestly I didn't think that you would invite me, you know. After what happened. I nearly accepted it, but I'm so happy that you want me to be part of it." Santana told him with sad eyes. She looked to the ground quickly.

"San." He moved her head up so that she could see into his eyes. "Look at me. You're my sister, okay? You mean so much to me and I couldn't bear not inviting you. I want you here with us, you understand?" Santana nodded as a tear fell down her cheek. But Manuel quickly took his hand to her face to wipe it away. This situation made Santana think back to the day she got her invitation…

*B*S*

After spending a whole almost unbearable hour "chatting" with her sickeningly cheerful boss, Santana finally made her way back home. It was unbelievable how many words Rachel could bring across her lips within a minute. How did this woman even convince any clients to buy or rent a real estate? Santana would run away if it turned out that Berry was her real estate agent. But the permanent hateful thoughts slowly died down the nearer she was to her apartment. She grabbed her mail, skimming through it after she entered the kitchen: bills, more bills, a postcard from Italy that Sugar sent her…

Santana had to smile at that. Sugar met Tom in their senior year. He was filthy rich and sole heir of a huge firm. Santana still didn't know why he even attended high school and didn't have his own private teacher, but whatever… So Sugar apparently made a really good catch and now sent a postcard from a different country every month. Santana nearly had postcards of every single country pinned on her fridge door and she could now add Italy—Sardinia to be precise.

When she went through the rest of her mail, a golden envelope caught her attention. Her name was placed in the middle of it, written in a curly handwriting. She carefully opened it until she held a folded card in her hand. It seemed to be an invitation to a wedding. She opened it. Her breath hitched when she read the names that were written on the card: Manuel Lopez and Isabella Johnson. Santana's mind went crazy and she had no idea what to think about that. She hadn't talked to her brother for four years now. He didn't even bother asking her what she was doing or where she was going to college. He just disappeared out of her life, just like her parents after the particular day that Santana refused to think about.

In the bottom corner of the invitation, she found a little personal note, which said Call me when you read this. I have to talk to you.

Santana let out a small chuckle. It was definitely her brother's handwriting. She couldn't believe what she was even reading. Manuel had dropped her like a wet towel almost five years ago, and now, when he was getting married, he just came crawling back. She shook her head at the thought. Of course she really missed her brother and a little glimpse of hope was already present in her chest. Even if she couldn't trust him immediately, she wanted to call him.

She pinned the invitation on her fridge door and grabbed her phone. But instead of calling her brother, she dialed her best friend's familiar number and told Mercedes about the strange note she got. After a couple of minutes of contemplating whether to call him or not, she finally decided to do it. She asked herself why she still had his number saved in her phone anyway, but quickly put it in the back of her mind when she heard the free-line signal. Her heart was now pounding loudly in her chest, so loudly that she was afraid that her brother might even hear it.

"Hello?" said a familiar voice. Santana didn't know how to respond. She suddenly wasn't too sure about actually calling him now. "Hello?" Manuel repeated hesitantly. It was now or never. Santana was pretty sure that she couldn't bring herself to call him again, so she decided to speak up.

"Manuel…it's Santana," she said with a small voice. It seemed like all of her confidence was hidden in the corner of her kitchen.

"Santana." Her brother sounded surprised…obviously. "I didn't think that you would call…" he said in a happy voice. "But I'm glad you did."

Anger started building up inside her once again and she really had to keep herself from screaming at him. It was like all of those years were nonexistent to him, by the way he was talking to her, but so many questions were swirling in her mind. "I'm just going to ask one question now and I want you to answer it honestly." She waited for a response and continued when her brother stayed silent. "Why?...Why now? You just disappeared out of my life and NOW, after almost five years I'm supposed to come to your wedding and act like nothing happened? Do you really think I'm that desperate to just forgive you?" Ignoring the question she had asked in the first place, Santana couldn't stop the all of those words that came pouring out of her mouth, so she didn't. She wanted to tell her brother how he treated her and hurt her. She wanted him to know. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I can't just pretend these four years didn't happen. I don't even know if you respect me now for who I am. I know Mom and Dad will never change their minds about me and I accepted it. But when you turned your back on me and I left, you didn't come after me! You never called or wanted to know what I was doing. You just dropped me. It really hurt not having a brother anymore. When people asked me if I had siblings, I didn't know if I should tell them no and just drop the topic and go on, or to tell them that I have a brother, but it doesn't feel like he is. Do you think that it's easy, not having parents who support you? Parents that would rather hate you than to sit at one table and talk." Her voice broke audibly. Santana's eyes couldn't hold back the tears anymore and they started to fall freely down her cheeks.

"Santana, I'm so sorry, I…" Manuel tried to speak up, but Santana didn't let him.

"No, I'm not done yet. I imagined how it would feel when you would call me or wanted to talk to me. I even dreamed about it. I imagined it to be perfect and sweet…the reunion everybody wished for. But now that I could have it, I'm angrier than ever before in my life. I realize now that I really missed you, Manuel. I still do. But it will not be easy to convince me that you missed me, too." All of the feelings that Santana had hidden in her chest for all those years finally found their way out. She felt more light-heartened and a smile made her way to her face. What an inappropriate moment to smile, but Santana couldn't help herself. It felt like a huge rock was lifted off of her shoulders and she finally was able to listen to what her brother had to say. "It's your turn now, Manuel," Santana asked him to speak. And after some moments, he did.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am about all of this. For pushing you away in the first place, for ignoring you, for not calling you, and for leaving you. I am truly sorry. I can only imagine how much I hurt you, but I promise you that I will change. I love you for who you are. I don't care that you're gay. I love you nonetheless and I really want to try to make it up to you. I know it's hard for you to trust me…but I would be so happy to meet you someday and talk. I can't find a reason for my behavior, but I hope that you will at least give me a chance to explain…"

Santana's head was spinning and she had to steady herself at her kitchen table. Those words that left Manuel's mouth were the words Santana was longing for since he left. And now hearing them made her heart jump out of her chest. She wished she could forgive him someday. She really would try and a little flame of hope was now slowly gaining height.

"Okay…" Maybe she should hear him out…

*B*S*

Santana had talked to her brother a few times after that particular phone call to get to know each other better again. They had many things to catch up on. But apart from Manuel, Santana didn't talk to her family for almost five years. "Do they know I'm here?" Santana asked carefully. She wanted to mentally prepare herself for their confrontation.

"I made some indications, but I never really told them. No matter what happens tonight, I'm on your side. Don't forget that, Santana."

"Thank you, Manuel. You have no idea how much this means to me." She cleaned the few tears that had fell down her cheek with the back of her hand and added quickly, "But this day is about you and Isabella, so no more tears, only happy ones." She laughed lightly.

"You will find someone, too." She threw herself into his arms and held him so tightly that it hurt, but it didn't matter to her right now. She had her older brother back. Finally. She would still need time to completely forgive him, and most likely this was never going to happen, but his effort to try was reason enough to let him be her brother again. But Santana was still a bit anxious about how far their mother's presence would influence Manuel. She just couldn't imagine him to stand up against their mother and tell her his opinion about Santana.

"San?" a familiar voice asked behind her. She turned around and saw Puck, his brother's best man and long best friend. "You came," he simply stated.

"Yeah, of course I showed up. What were you thinking?" She wrapped her arms around him quickly. "How are you doing?"

"Great, really great." He nodded and had a pleased expression on his face.

"He's engaged," Manuel said from behind them with a smirk on his face. "Can you imagine?" he added with a small chuckle.

"Seriously?" Santana made a shocked face and turned back to Puck, who just nodded proudly. "THE Noah Puckerman is engaged? Who is the happy bride?" She asked curiously.

"Quinn. You remember her?" he asked her. "Actually, she's also here tonight." He looked proud. Santana had totally not expected that. Puck was never the guy who got into serious relationships. Yeah, Santana always listened to them talking about girls, when she was supposed to do her homework.

"Oh, my God, Quinn Fabray from high school? The head cheerleader you got pregnant? Wasn't she…"

"Whoa, hold on right there, okay?" He held up his hands in front of him to stop her from speaking.

"Who would have thought that Puck would become a softie and get married?" He rolled her eyes at her. Santana heard Puck's phone buzzing in his pocket, and he took a quick look and shoved it back inside.

"Okay. Shit just got real. She is finally here now, so I would suggest we get our asses in this church and wait till she arrives." He pushed against Manuel's shoulder. Santana smiled to herself. Nothing really changed between the two of them. And it really felt good that somehow one thing stayed the same.

"Alright." He took a deep breath. "Are you coming, San?" Her brother sounded nervous.

"No, no, go ahead. I just want to say hi to Isabella and then I'm taking a seat in the back. Because if Mom and Dad see me, your whole ceremony would be ruined," she said quickly, which caused a sad expression on Manuel's face. "You can do this." She held her crossed fingers up to make her point clear.

"Okay, see you later." He turned around and started to enter the huge room through the double doors with Puck.

"Puck?" She waited till he turned around to look at her. "Congratulations," she told him earnestly. He smiled softly. He really had changed.

"Thanks. You will find the right girl soon. I can feel it," he added with a wink and entered the church. Great, really great. She really hoped that not everybody will tell her today that she will find the right person eventually, because she gets really frustrated hearing it.

The moment that Santana turned around, she heard the huge wooden door opening. Isabella came up the stairs, careful not to step on her wedding dress. Santana realized the bridesmaid who held the door open was Quinn, Puck's fiancé, in a full-length violet dress. She helped Isabella's veil to not get stuck in the plants besides the door. Isabella was wearing a beautiful white dress, which was a bit wider under the tight corset. Her hair was pinned up, only a few strands of curly her were hanging at the side of her face. Two girls, which Santana had never seen till now, followed them through the huge doors.

"Santana," Isabella stated when she looked up from her dress and spotted her in front of the doors. "Nice to see you." She came walking towards her.

"You look amazing, Isabella," Santana said as the corners of her mouth curled up. Isabella smiled back at her hesitantly. Santana didn't really know what to think about that, but quickly shrugged it off. She was most likely very nervous. It was her wedding day after all. Her eyes fell on Quinn, who stood there with her mouth slightly agape. "Nice to see you, Quinn," Santana said with a small chuckle, when she saw Quinn staring at her. The two of them were pretty good friends since elementary school. In high school, they lost touch after a big mistake Santana made. Both of them found other friends and tried to rule the school on their own.

"Long time no see, San," Quinn said, a smile forming on her face. She came closer and stood in front of her now. Santana could see that Quinn was in deep thought, whether she should be mad or friendly. Santana wasn't exactly the nicest person in high school.

She noticed Quinn`s inner conflict. But, deep down, Santana was pleasantly surprised to see her and took a step closer to her and opened her arms. "Come over here, Quinn." Quinn's smile widened and she closed the gap between them and returned the hug. They both let out a small laughter at the unexpected and awkward situation. They both let go, smiling at each other. "I heard you a Puck are getting married…"

"Where did you hear that?" She had a shocked expression on her face. "Only a few people know. We don't want to spread it around at Manuel and Bella's wedding day… Oh, he's so dead…"

"He didn't tell me." Quinn's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Manuel did."

"Seriously?" Isabella asked behind them, clearly listening what they were talking about. "He wasn't supposed to tell." Santana and Quinn turned towards Isabella.

"Don't worry. I can keep it a secret." Santana didn't want to cause an argument at their wedding.

"Oh, I bet you can." Isabella muttered with her face directed to the floor. Something told Santana that she wasn't supposed to hear that. But before she could question it, Isabella quickly added, "Okay let's go, everyone is waiting and we're already late." She was looking around her three bridesmaids. She got a confused and questioning facial expression as if she was searching for someone. "Where the hell is…"

"Coming!" a bubbly voice came from outside the church. "I'm right here." Santana had a slight smile on her lips at the randomness of the situation.

And then Santana noticed who was running up the huge stairs. Her baby blue dress caught her attention and the curly locks, which were pulled into a cute side ponytail. And then she looked into the prettiest and bluest eyes of the universe. Brittany's. She stopped running and just stood there by the main entrance.

Santana couldn't hide her huge grin anymore. Brittany returned the goofy grin. When they stood there, lost in each other's eyes, nothing seemed to matter anymore. A small blush crept across both of their cheeks.

Isabella realized what was going on and quickly made her way towards Brittany. "Oh good, you have my bouquet." She grabbed the flowers, which caused Brittany and Santana to snap out of their day dream state. Isabella grabbed her hand and yanked Brittany towards the entrance, where everyone was still waiting. "Thanks, Britt. Let's go now. My dad is waiting." The music began to play and the sound of chatting voices died down.

Santana stood there, still a bit dazzled by the blonde's appearance. Brittany quickly mouthed a "Hi" in Santana's direction, which she gladly returned. Before she disappeared into the church, she winked, making Santana's face turn into a bright shade of red. Maybe the wedding wouldn't be a total disaster…

I would love to hear what you think of this chapter. ;)