A/N Once again... thank you for the reviews :)

Sorry this took longer than expected to update... I'll try and been a bit quicker next time!

Hope you are enjoying it :)

Chapter 4

July 2012

Today was going to be the hardest day of Brittany and Grace's life. Today they buried their parents. The sun was shining as people started to arrive at the Pierce residence offering their heartfelt condolences. Santana had not left her girlfriends side and along with the older Lopez's had helped the two blondes through the trauma.

The two hearse's and cars pulled up outside the house, Brittany went to check everything was as she planned, as Santana helped Grace with her shoes and coat.

"Sanny?"

"Yes Gracie?" Santana replied.

"You are not going to leave me and Brittany too are you?" the little girl asked.

"Why would you think i'm going to leave squirt?"

"Because mummy and daddy left us and I don't want you to go as well" Grace responded sadly.

"I will be here for as long as you both want me to" Santana replied

"Promise?"

"I Promise Gracie. Now let's go and find your sister" she said taking the little girls hand and heading outside.

"Ready Britt?" Santana questioned taking her girlfriends hand.

"Ready as I'll ever be San" Brittany whispered as she headed towards the waiting car.

The day was a complete blur for Brittany and she knew she would never have got through it without the love of her life stood next to her. Santana had been a tower of strength for both the girls and she felt that as long as they had her, things were going to be ok.

Present day

"Britt? Where are you?"

"I'm here Grace!"

Grace was now 18 and, despite everything, had grown up to be a perfect beautiful young lady, well Brittany thought she was perfect but then again, she had thought that from the moment she laid eyes on her.

"Morning sis and how are we this beautiful morning?" Grace asked with a massive smile.

"I'm alright Gracie" Brittany responded keeping her eyes fixed towards the window "You seem to be happy this morning?"

"Well... Remember we were talking last week about holidays?" Grace didn't give Brittany a chance to respond to her question "Debbie and I booked to go away for a couple of weeks after your wedding and I'm super excited about it" she finished as she ran towards her sister to hug her. Brittany jumped as she felt her sister's arms around her waist.

Brittany smiled at her sister, trying to hide her sadness from Grace.

"That's great hun, where are you going and for how long?" Brittany responded sounding as positive as she could.

"We are going to travel around Europe for a few weeks. Relax a bit before heading off to college and to give you and Harry some time to enjoy married life without your baby sister hanging around" Grace said as she gave her sister a wink.

"EUROPE? FEW WEEKS?" Brittany screeched at her sister "But But, you have not been away from me for more than a day since..." she trailed off as she looked down at the floor fighting back the tears.

"Mum and Dad died" Grace finished off the sentence for her sister "Yes I know that Britt Britt, but I need to start being more independent, besides, you'll be a married woman soon and you don't want your baby sister ruining your 'honeymoon' do you?".

Brittany looked away from her sister when she mentioned the fact that she would be married soon, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the younger girl.

"What's a matter sis?" Grace asked concerned "you don't seem too pleased by the fact that you will be married soon, what's going on?" Grace asked, with panic evident in her voice.

"Nothing's a matter" she tried to reassure her baby sister "I will just miss you that's all" Brittany replied with a fake smile.

"You are lying to me, I've seen that look before, so are you going to tell me what is going on or do I have to guess?" Grace asked as calm as she could.

Brittany knew that she had to tell her sister that Santana was coming to the wedding and that she would be arriving today, but she was scared of her reaction. Best get this over with she thought to herself.

"Santana..." was all Brittany had the chance to say before her sister reacted exactly as she had expected her to.

"What does SHE have to do with your wedding" Grace screamed at her sister "Don't tell me... you invited her didn't you?" Brittany just nodded. "After everything that has happened you still want her at the most important day of your life?" Grace could not hide her anger.

"She's my best friend Gracie"

"No she WAS your best friend; Aunty Quinn is your best friend now! She broke her promise to me, to you and to our parents, yet your still stupid enough to invite her back into our lives" Grace suddenly panicked as she realised what she had said and could see the hurt in her sister's eyes.

"Don't you ever call me stupid" Brittany responded in a venomous tone "It's my wedding and I will invite whomever I so wish" she said as walked out of the kitchen.

"I'm sorry Britt but" Grace called after her "don't you remember the pain she caused you, caused me" she said as she heard Brittany's bedroom door shut.

Christmas 2012

It was nearly Christmas and this was normally Brittany's favourite time of the year but of course this year was going to be different. She was trying her best to keep everything as normal as possible for Grace's sake, this was proving to be more and more difficult.

"What you up to Gracie?" Brittany asked as she found Grace in the front room with her colouring pencils everywhere.

"Making a card for Sanny for when she gets home" Grace replied without taking her eyes off her masterpiece in front of her. "Will she be home soon Britt because I miss her" the little girl replied sadly.

"Soon hun" Brittany replied as tears began to form in her eyes.

Grace had been asking her sister everyday for the last two weeks when Santana would be home for Christmas and all Brittany could reply was "Soon". So for the last few weeks the sisters had been preparing for Christmas, with Brittany wearing a fake smile the whole time. This was because she knew that not only was this their first Christmas without their parents but it was also because Brittany knew Santana wasn't coming home for Christmas. Brittany just didn't have the heart to ruin her sisters Christmas so she carried on as normal, hanging three stockings above the fire and buying Santana presents. It felt nice to just carry on regardless and Brittany held onto the hope that maybe, just maybe, Santana would change her mind.

As Christmas Eve began to draw to a close, Brittany and Quinn were having a catch up and making the most of Quinn being home from college. Grace was sat by the window, where she had been for most of the day.

"Are you waiting for Father Christmas Gracie?" Quinn asked "Because you know he only comes when all the good girls are in bed?"

"I'm not waiting for Father Christmas Aunty Quinn" Grace replied "I'm waiting for Sanny, she's coming home!" Grace stated excitedly.

Quinn shot Brittany an inquisitive look and mouthed "You haven't told her?" Brittany just simply shook her head.

"Maybe Santana is like Father Christmas and will only come when you are asleep Gracie" Quinn said with enthusiasm.

"Really?" Grace said with wide eyes as she jumped from her position by the window and ran over to Quinn and Brittany and threw her arms around both of them before running off towards her room without saying goodnight.

"So..." Quinn started "When are you planning on telling Grace that Santana is not coming home for Christmas... or ever as far as we know Britt?"

"I can't Quinn" Brittany replied sadly as her tears began to fall "She will be heartbroken" she stuttered as her emotions got the better of her. Quinn wrapped her arms around her friend, who was absolutely devastated that the love of her life no longer wanted to be part of her life... or Grace's life.

"So what happens tomorrow when Grace wakes up and finds out that Santana is not here then Britt?" Quinn stated firmly. She knew this was destroying her friend but she also knew that Grace had a right to know what was happening.

"I don't Quinn; I suppose I will deal with that in the morning. I just keep h..." Quinn cut her friend off

"She's not going to just appear in the morning Britt you know?" Quinn stated feeling the anger build up inside her. She wasn't angry at Brittany, she was angry at Santana for doing this to the girls.

"I know she won't" Brittany sobbed "I will tell her tomorrow. I just wanted everything to be as normal as possible but it never will be, will it?" Brittany questioned her friend.

"One day it will be, I promise Britt" Quinn said sadly

"Don't make promises that you can't keep Quinn. I've had enough of broken promises" Brittany replied.

"I'm sorry Britt" is all Quinn could say and Brittany knew Quinn truly was sorry for everything.

The next morning Grace ran into her sister's room and suddenly stopped when she realised that her sister was alone.

"Where's Sanny?" Grace asked as tears began to fall. Brittany sat up and looked at her sister as her own tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"Come here Gracie, I need to tell you something.

Present Day

"Britt? Grace? Where are you?" Quinn called as she walked into the house

"In here Aunty Quinn" Grace replied.

Quinn found Grace in the kitchen and it was clear she had been crying.

"What's a matter Gracie?" Quinn asked with concern "Where's that sister of yours?"

"We had a row. About Santana. I called her stupid and she stormed off to her room" Grace whispered as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Quinn just formed an O shape with her lips and wrapped her arms around Grace. All this time she was worried about how Santana's return would affect her best friend, she had forgotten about how this would affect Grace too.

"When is she arriving Aunty Quinn?" Grace questioned

"Today darling. I'm on my way to the airport now, just thought I would pop in and see if your sister wanted to come with me" Quinn replied with a shrug of the shoulders. With this Brittany appeared in the kitchen, it was clear she had been crying too. Quinn just looked between the two sisters, not sure what to do.

After what felt like an eternity, Quinn jumped up and said "Right I better get to the airport. Would either of you like to come with me?" Quinn questioned. Brittany and Grace just looked at each other as Quinn made her way to the door.

A/N I will TRY and update asap... but please be patient if im a little slow! Thanks again for reading :)