Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters, though I wish I did! I also don't own the song The Story by Brandi Carlile

A/N I'm so sorry this has taken me a while to get out. I'm a professional horse trainer and coach so the summer time is my very busy time. Thanks to everyone who is still sticking with the story, I really appreciate it! Reviews are very welcome!

Chapter 5

…you see the smile that's on my mouth, it's hiding the words that don't come out…

Santana grabbed Quinn aside the moment she walked through the door. "Ok, so you're sure you know the whole plan, right?"

Quinn shook her wrist free from Santana's grip, rubbing it gingerly. "Yes, I know what to do, we went over it a million times." Quinn couldn't help but laugh at how nervous Santana was getting. The normally very self assured, confident girl was acting like anything but that at the moment. "Relax, Santana. Everything is going to go perfectly."

Santana took a deep breath, trying to clam her nerves. "I know, but I just want, no need, this day to go perfectly. You know Rachel. Girls like her dream of this day their whole lives. I want every part of it to be perfect."

Quinn turned to face Santana, placing her hands on the taller girls shoulders, and looked her right in the eyes. "Look at me, we have been planning everything for weeks now. I'm going to take Rachel out for a while, she doesn't suspect a thing. Besides, that girl is so in love with you that anything you do or say is going to make her day."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Thank you so much Quinn, I owe you."

"San, Love, are you talking to someone?" Rachel called out as she came down the stairs.

"Quinn just got here to take you out for your girly day. We're in the living room." Santana felt her heart skip a beat as Rachel entered the room. She still had to pinch herself sometimes to remind herself that the beautiful girl before her was in fact her girlfriend, and hopefully by the end of the night would be her fiancé.

Rachel went right to Santana, hugging her from the side, resting her head on Santana's shoulder. "You sure you don't want to come with us? It'll be fun!"

Santana placed a gentle kiss on her girlfriend's forehead. "No, I'm so busy with work, I have a lot to catch up on. You go ahead with Quinn, and I'll see you later." Santana tried to keep her voice cool. She hated lying to Rachel, even if in this case, the lie was for the big surprise coming up later this evening.

"If you insist," Rachel said, looked up towards Santana, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "Ready to go Quinn?"

"Yup! Let's go. A day of nothing but relaxing and pampering."

"Have fun girls," Santana called out to them as they left. The moment Santana closed the front door behind them, the nerves started to take over again. Her hand went right to the ring that had been burning a hole in her pocket since earlier this morning. She took it out and looked at it one more time, giving herself the confidence she needed to get through the rest of the day.

XXX

"Thanks for suggesting this day out, Quinn," Rachel said, as she sat beside her during their pedicure.

"I figured a little girl time would be good for us. I always hate bringing up the past, but we were never close in high school, and now that you and Santana are serious, I think it'll be good for us to get closer too."

Rachel laughed as she thought about all that had happened in the past few years. "It has been quite an interesting few years. I never in a million years thought that I'd be here with you, having fun." A slight frown crossed over Rachel's normally optimistic features.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just that, I never expected to be with Santana, and now we have been, ever since Burt's funeral. I've never been happier, but lately, well…" Rachel paused, unsure whether or not to go on. Santana was Quinn's best friend and maybe she should just keep this to herself.

"Want to talk about it?" Quinn asked softly.

"Well, you're Santana's best friend, I'd hate to drag you into anything. It's just, lately, she's been acting a little weird, and I'm probably just being paranoid but I get the feeling she's hiding something from me. I'll be leaving for New York soon for auditions, and I don't want to lose her."

Quinn did her best to hide the fact that she knew exactly what Santana had been up to the last few weeks. "Rachel, Santana loves you. I can tell you that with a one hundred percent certainty. I think you are just getting a little paranoid knowing that you're leaving for New York."

Rachel smiled at Quinn. "Thanks. I just needed to hear it from someone else, I guess."

Quinn leaned over and grabbed Rachel's hand reassuringly. "Trust me, Santana knows how special you are, and she loves you just as much as you love her. So tell me, what are you auditioning for in New York?"

XXX

Santana paced back and forth waiting for the roses to be delivered. She had specially ordered a couple dozen pink roses, Rachel's favorite, and didn't know what to do with herself while she waited. She was mentally going through the checklist for the rest of the day when the doorbell rang. Opening the door to the catering company from Rachel's favorite restaurant, she led them to the kitchen. Finally all the pieces of tonight were slowly coming together. The food had been delivered, the flowers were on their way and really Santana needed to make herself relax. Once again, her hand went to her pocket, the ring was still safe, along with the notes she wrote down of everything she wanted to say to Rachel. She immediately picked up her phone when she saw Quinn's name flash on her screen.

"How are you holding up?" Quinn asked.

"I'm doing ok at the moment. Where's Rachel? Can she hear you?"

"No, relax. I slipped away to the bathroom. This couldn't be coming at a better time, I think she's so ready Santana."

"Did she say something to you?"

Quinn paused a moment. She didn't want to tell Santana that Rachel had been getting suspicious of her and ruin the night. "Not really. I can just tell that she really loves you and she's ready for this next step."

Santana let out a deep breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Thanks again for helping Quinn. I owe you one."

Quinn laughed. "It's my pleasure Santana. Rachel and I are having a good time. It's nice to get closer to her. You still want me to have her home around 6?"

"Yes that would be perfect."

XXX

Rachel tried to hide her disappointment when Quinn dropped her off to a dark house. While she had a great time with Quinn, she was hoping to spend the rest of the night with Santana. With the house being dark, she must still be at work. As Rachel put her key in the lock and opened the door, she saw that nothing could be farther from the truth. She felt as if her jaw literally hit the floor as her eyes took everything that was in front of her. Dozens of pink roses were scattered around the house, candles were flickering away in what seemed to be a path Rachel assumed she needed to follow. The candles and roses led her up to their bedroom, where a simple note on the door told her to enter.

Santana held her breath as she heard Rachel coming up the stairs and open the bedroom door. She couldn't help but smile as she heard soft whispers of 'oh my god' coming repeatedly from a very shocked Rachel. "Surprise," Santana said, from her hiding place in the bedroom.

Rachel spun around to face Santana, throwing herself into her girlfriend's arms. "Everything is so beautiful" she whispered, looking into Santana's deep brown eyes.

"Always the best for you." Santana took Rachel's hand as she got down on one knee. "Rachel, from the moment we started dating I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. You have made me a better person, and I am who I am today because of you. You are my everything, and I want to be able to wake up next to you everyday as my wife." Santana paused as she took a deep breath, gathering the courage for what she was about to say next. "What I'm trying to say is, I love you. I love you more than anything or anyone I've ever loved in my entire life." Santana took the Tiffany box from her pocket, opening it up to reveal the ring that Rachel had mentioned in passing once that it was her dream ring.

Rachel gasped in shock as she watched Santana open the blue Tiffany box. "Oh Santana," she said through tears of joy.

"Will you make me the happiest girl in the world and marry me?"

With shaking hands, Rachel put the ring on her finger, and pulled Santana up to face her, taking her into a big hug. "Yes! Yes! Of course I will! You just made me the happiest girl in the world! I love you so much Santana."

Santana wiped away tears of her own before leaning in to kiss her beautiful girlfriend, who was now her beautiful fiancé. "The night is only beginning," she said, pulling away form the kiss. "I have more surprises in store for you."

Rachel held her hand out in front of her, admiring the ring glistening off her left ring finger. "More? I don't need anything else."

"Oh but you do, for you my Love, I'd give you the world."

XXX

Present day

Santana was taken away from her daydream as she heard a key turn in the lock of her front door. Assuming it was Quinn, she didn't bother to wipe the tears from her eyes, and continued to look through an album of pictures of her and Rachel.

Brittany found the key that she knew was hidden right outside the door and used it to let herself in, since Santana hadn't returned a single call she had made to her in the last few weeks. She knew that Quinn was sugarcoating how Santana was doing when she would talk to her, so she flew in from New York and now here she was, pretty much breaking into the house. She had always admired how Santana and Rachel had kept the large formal house from feeling cold and uninviting but it was very noticeable as she walked in that Rachel had not been in the house for some time. It was sloppy, toys were strewn about, and it was obvious not much care had gone into cleaning the house in weeks. Her breath caught in her chest as she saw a silhouette of what used to be Santana, her best friend, illuminated by the tv sitting, well more like slumping over, on the large black leather couch. "San?" Brittany said tentatively.

Santana jumped a mile as she heard a voice which was definitely not Quinn coming from behind her. Forcing herself to close the photo album, she stood to face her visitor. "Brittany?" she asked, with obvious relief.

Brittany wanted to look away from Santana as she saw the state her friend was in, scarily skinny, dark circles under her eyes, which instead of sparkling and full of life were dull and listless. Instead of walking away, she walked quickly to her, taking her into a big hug. "Oh San, why haven't you retuned my calls?"

Santana had no good answer, so she just clung to her oldest friend as if she was afraid she would disappear.

Brittany stepped away once Santana loosened the tight hold she had on her. "You look awful. I'm going to yell at Quinn for telling me you were doing just fine."

"Don't do that. I told Quinn I was doing fine. I thought I was doing fine, it's just some days are harder than others."

"Is Addison home?"

"She's sleeping upstairs. I have been sleeping on the couch since, well that day. I can't bring myself to even go in our room," Santana finally admitted.

"It's a good thing I'm here to get you back on your feet because if the Berry's were to come and see this, you know they'd take Addison right back."

"I can't lose her too, I just can't Britt, but aren't you busy with dancing and your girlfriend?"

Brittany shook her head. "Nope, I'm all yours. I'm on a break from dancing, and I'm actually single at the moment," she admitted.

"Oh Britt, I'm really sorry."

"Don't be, it was nothing serious, besides, there's no place I'd rather be than here with you, San. You need me, even if you don't want to admit it."

Santana smiled for the first time that day. As much as Quinn had been helping her, she had to admit no one knew her like Brittany did, and that comforted Santana in a way she hadn't felt since she lost Rachel.

Brittany walked over to the answering machine. "Santana!" she scolded. "You have over twenty messages. You need to start facing reality." Brittany hit play on the machine, but immediately wished she had just left well enough alone.

"Hello, this message is for Rachel Berry. We are very happy to tell her that we decided to give her the part in Wicked that she auditioned for recently-"

"Oh God! Turn it off, please, make it stop!" Santana heard a voice scream, only to realize it was her own voice when she saw the look of shock on Brittany's face. Santana ran to the machine, pulling the cord out of the wall and throwing it across the room.

Brittany once again took Santana into a big hug, trying to calm her down. "Shh, Santana, it's ok," she said, trying to quiet her down. "You don't want to scare and wake up Addison."

Santana tried to calm herself down, and let herself just collapse into Brittany. "I need help," she admitted quietly.

Brittany ran a soothing hand up and down Santana's back. "I know, San, I know. I'm here now, ok?" Brittany led Santana over to the couch and sat her down. "Stay right here, ok? I'm going to make you some tea, and I'm going to help you through this."

Santana just nodded, she didn't trust herself to speak.

Brittany leaned against the granite countertop as she waited for the water to boil for the tea. Santana was much worse off than she had imagined and she was glad she was here now to help take care of her. Once the tea was ready, she carried two mugs out to the living room, placing one in Santana's hands. "Drink this and try to relax."

"I'm really glad you're here," Santana said after sipping her tea. Santana had always felt that no one really knew her, well besides Rachel and since she couldn't have her, Brittany was the only other person she could let her guard down with. She even had Quinn fooled into thinking she was fine.

Brittany knew exactly what Santana was saying, without really saying it. "It's going to be ok Santana. I'll help with Addie and we'll get you two back on track in no time," she said, more to convince herself than Santana.

Santana set her tea down on the coffee table, stifling a yawn.

"It's bedtime. Your challenge tonight, sleeping in your own bed."

"I can't Britt, please don't make me."

"You won't be alone, San. I'll be with you, every step of the way." Brittany took Santana's hand in hers and led her up the large staircase towards the bedroom.

With a deep breath, Santana opened the door to her bedroom for the first time in a long time. She felt sick to her stomach as the smell of Rachel's perfume hit her like a slap in the face. Everything had been left as if Rachel had just been in the room. She felt her knees go weak and had Brittany not been there, she would have been on the ground for sure.

Keeping a tight grip on Santana, Brittany led her to the bed. "Lay down San, I'll be right back as soon as I change."

Santana laid still, closing her eyes tightly, it was like she could almost feel Rachel in the bed beside her. She felt the bed dip and knew Brittany was getting in beside her. Soon Brittany's strong arms were around her, and for the first time in weeks, she fell into a deep sleep.

…and all of my friends who think that I'm blessed, they don't know my head is a mess…

A/N: Just a quick note, don't worry my Pezberry fans, this will not turn into anything other than friendship for Brittana