She didn't know how it got there, but Santana's rehearsal dinner had arrived. She got all pretty and showed up on time, but something about the whole thing was making her sick.

When Marcus touched her, she'd remember how Brittany would touch her in the same place and she'd cringe at the way Marcus did it. Then she'd remember that Marcus never did learn how to dance and how their first dance was going to be a disaster.

Brittany knew where Santana was, but that didn't stop her from walking to Santana's apartment building and standing outside until a combination of the harsh wind and her own emotion caused tears to stream down her face. She always knew in the back of her head that it was all going to end when Santana got married. She didn't think the end was going to come that soon though.

Suddenly she felt like she did in high school. That one week that they didn't speak to each other after Santana told Brittany that she wasn't in love with her. Her whole body felt crushed.

She hailed a cab and told him where to go before staring numbly out the window. It was all over. She'd lost Santana for a third time and this time was that hardest of all because she knew it was coming and still fell into her world of Santana anyway.

Santana sat at the head of the table next to Marcus, a fake smile plastered on her face. She didn't know when exactly it happened, but she'd had enough. She stood up quickly, sending her chair tumbling on the floor. She shook her head, grabbing her purse and mumbling, "I have to go."

"Wait-wha- where are you going?" Marcus fumbled for the words.

Santana just kept her head down as it shook, "I…" She couldn't even add a verb to that word. Instead she marched out of the room so fast, no one could catch up with her.

When she got into her car, she started it quickly and sped out of the parking lot. It didn't even register to her that her phone had been ringing constantly since she left or that she drove a grand total of two hours before she pulled into the driveway of her parent's lake house. She sighed, letting her head hit the steering wheel. She felt so out of control, it was beginning to scare her.

Brittany had turned down all the lights in the dance studio and lit some candles. For the longest time she just stood in the middle of the floor looking at herself in the mirror. Finally the build up of the music in her head was too much and she started to dance.

Santana sat on the front porch looking out into the snowy night with tear stained cheeks. It had been a few hours and she couldn't really feel any of her body any more. She sighed and heaved herself off of the front porch steps and walked into the house.

Just as she had pulled one of her dad's old sweatshirts over her head, she saw headlights pull into the driveway through the window. After a brief panic that it might be Marcus, she calmed down considerably when she saw her dad get out of the driver's seat. Her mom wasn't far behind him as they walked to the front steps.

Santana met her parents at the door. She could barely hold her head up and was sure that her hair was a hot mess, but she felt some solace in the fact that someone came after her.

"I'm going to go check all the pipes, you know, make sure they're not frozen," Her dad said after he hugged her.

Santana sighed, "Thanks daddy."

"You know he's not much of a talker," her mom sat down next to her on the porch swing.

"I know." Santana sat down on the porch rail, drawing her knees to her chest.

After a pause her mom mentioned, "You still don't have a maid of honor. You must not want this wedding to actually happen."

"I guess not." She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She thought that part was pretty evident to all involved by now.

"Well if you don't do something to stop it it's going to. You can't avoid it. Then all this cavorting

with Brittany has to stop."

"He cheats on me." Santana rolled her eyes at herself when she heard how much she sounded like a kid trying to stay out of trouble.

"Then why are you marrying him?" her mother's answer was patient and even.

"I don't know. You and daddy like him. He had a nice job. People like him. He's handsome." Her answer sounded rehearsed, even to her mother.

Her mom stood up and rubbed her daughter's arm, "That's the wrong answer. You're supposed to marry someone because of love. That you can't see your future without them."

"Is that why you married daddy?" Santana asked, resting her chin on her knee.

"Yes," her mom smiled wistfully, "I had to sneak out to see him when I wanted to and when there was a school dance we were always the last ones to leave."

Santana sighed. Her mom's story reminded her of a certain blonde she'd been sneaking around with.

"You know your father and I have always loved Brittany."

"I know."

"And people love her."

"Yeah."

"She has a nice job."

"Mhmm."

"She's pretty."

"She's beautiful." Santana paused trying to figure out where this line of statements was going, "Are you trying to tell me you want me to be with Brittany?"

"I'm merely pointing out that that should not be the criteria for choosing a mate."

Santana's mother paused the conversation and took a deep breath. Then she leaned forward toward Santana and lowered her voice so that it was gentle and comforting. "You used to be in love with her."

"How did you know?" Santana asked, shocked.

"Something about how your eyes would light up around her and how protective you were of her. And how you tried so hard to make everyone think you weren't in love with her." Her mother chuckled at the memory.

"I think I still may be. But I'm scared it's just residual feelings. Maybe it's just because I don't want to marry Marcus and she's an easy way out."

"What is your heart telling you?"

Santana paused. She knew what her heart had been telling her since she met Brittany in middle school and it had been screaming it since she'd found her again, "That I'm still in love with her. After all these years. Is that completely insane?"

"No honey. That's love... Real honest to goodness love."

"What if she's not in love with me?"

"Then you move on. Try to rebuild your life with someone new. Who doesn't cheat on you like a drunken sailor."

Santana laughed. "Are you still in love with daddy?"

"I'm more in love with him now than I was when we got married."

"I want that."

"You'll have that someday but probably not with Marcus."

"I guess I should call him and tell him it's off."

"He probably figured that out from you running off to your parents' lake house in the middle of your rehearsal dinner."

Santana leaned into her mother and closed her eyes, "But still. I think I should explain it to him."

"What are you going to say?"

"I have no idea."
"There's someone else you need to call too."

Santana looked up at her mom and saw in her mother's eyes who she was referring to. Santana smiled a little and asked, "So you're okay with it if by some miracle Brittany wants to be with me? After all this…"

Her mom hugged her tightly, "Of course. Your father and I just want you to be happy. We've loved Brittany for years now, not just because of her but because of how she makes you feel."

"Thanks mom," Santana looked out into the dark water and shivered. The night was getting colder and she still had an unpleasant thing to attend to.

Marcus didn't react as well as she'd hoped he would. He yelled and cursed and demanded to know why. Santana simply told him it was because she wasn't in love with him. When he asked if she was in love with someone else, Santana responded the only way she could. "Yes."

"Who is it?" he demanded, "Is it that asshole attorney you work with? Because let me tell you something-"

"No it's not him," Santana answered evenly although her tempter was nearing it's end, "I doesn't matter who it is. I just couldn't go through with it. It wouldn't be fair to you or me."
"Fair to me?" He raised his voice again, "You've been fucking some guy behind my back and-"

"Oh please!" Santana lost it, "You've been screwing around on me since our third date. You're not as sneaky as you like to think you are dumbass. And by the way, the panties I found in your bedroom the other day were definitely not mine. Do I look like a size ten?"

Before he could answer, she hung up. She'd had enough. Their conversation was through and so was their relationship.

"Well," her father's voice came from behind her, "Everything is all set. Just remember to turn the water off when you go home."

"Thanks," Santana smiled softly at her father.

Although he was a man of few words, his actions spoke volumes. He took a step toward her and swept her up into a hug. Santana instantly felt safe in his arms.

"I love you too daddy," she quietly added.

He pulled away and smiled at her, "Do you need money or anything?"

Santana shook her head, "No. I'm fine. Thank you."

"Well," he rubbed the back of his head, "I'm going to go get your mother so you can have your alone time."

Santana nodded and followed him back into the house where her mother was in the kitchen standing at the stove.

"I made you some soup," Santana's mom told her. She hugged her daughter, "We'll be at the hotel in the city for a few more days if you need us."

When her parents were gone, Santana looked at her phone as she paced the living room floor. The number on the screen was one she knew by heart, but she couldn't manage to press the little green button that put the call through.

"It's just Brittany," Santana scolded herself. Then she shook her head, "She's never just Brittany."

Finally she built up all the courage she had left in her and pressed the button.

It had been hours. Santana had put her mom's soup on the back burner in the kitchen and had moved out to the front porch to listen to the water move around. She was exhausted, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. She was way too wound up for that.

She was picking at the splintering wood under her feet when headlights made their way down the driveway. This time instead of her father getting out of the driver's seat, Brittany rose from the car. The blonde hurried from the car to the porch against the harsh wind and looked Santana over.

"Are you okay?" she immediately asked. She reached for Santana's hand and as soon as she touched it, she pulled Santana inside, "You're freezing." They went directly to the couch in front of the fireplace where Santana's dad started a fire before he left. Brittany took a blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over Santana.

Finally after she was satisfied that Santana wouldn't freeze to death she turned to her and asked, "What happened?"

Santana hadn't told Brittany about what happened. She just told her that she needed to see her and where she was. Brittany took care of the rest. She let out a small smile and shook her head, "Tonight was my rehearsal dinner and I…all I could think about was you and how I let you go without telling you how I felt twice. I can't do it again."

It took a minute for Brittany to process Santana's words. Then she waited patiently to hear Santana finally articulate how she felt.

Santana beamed at the adorably thoughtful look on Brittany's face. She couldn't help, but kiss her pouted lips and stroke her cheeks, still pink with cold. When she pulled away, Santana just laid it all out, "I'm so in love with you. I always have been."

Brittany's shoulders deflated and she looked down at her hands, her hair falling over her face hiding it from Santana. Santana started to panic. Was that too much too soon? Did Brittany not feel the same way? She had to know, "B?"

Brittany finally looked up, her blue eyes meeting Santana's concerned brown ones. "I've just…wanted to hear you say that out loud for a long time."

Santana was so relieved she tackled Brittany back onto the couch and kissed her feverishly. "I'll say it as many times as you want."

The sun was peeking over the edge of the lake when the girls finally went to sleep curled up into each other. Santana was able to sleep a lot better than she had in months.

A buzzing on the nightstand woke Brittany up at about nine in the morning. She blindly reached for it and felt a resistance around her waist. Santana's arms were snuggly wrapped around her middle. She smiled and grabbed her phone before snuggling back into her arms.

"Who is it?" Santana mumbled, dropping a kiss on Brittany's collarbone.

"Mike," Brittany answered, "He's wondering where I am and if I want to go to lunch with him and Tina."

"Mmm," Santana grabbed her phone off of the nightstand. There were a lot of calls from caterers, florists and the like wondering what was going on. Apparently Marcus was leaving the canceling of everything to her.

She sighed and laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She was more content than she'd ever been but this was not something she was looking forward to explaining thirty times. She was also going to have to call her mom and ask her to explain to the rest of her family was happened.

"Are you okay?" Brittany scooted close to Santana and draped an arm around her hips. She softly stroked Santana's side with her thumb, looking up at the brunette.

Santana looked at her and smiled, "Yeah. I just have to do some things today that will be redundant."

Brittany kissed her sweetly and closed her eyes as she nuzzled against Santana's neck, "I love you."

Santana grinned, "I love you too." After a few seconds she got a bright idea. She looked down at Brittany, "Let's get married."

"What?"

"Will you marry me?"

"I- wha-San you just broke off your engagement."

"I know but I also know that even after all these years I'm still so in love with you that I can't keep my hands to myself and I want to call to tell you everything and that I think about you everyday even though I hadn't seen you in four years and-"

"Yes."

"What?"

"I wanna get married right now."

"Right now?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Really?"

"I have a whole wedding planned for tomorrow and all my friends and family are coming. How fast can your family get here?"

"I'll call them." She ran out of the room and ran back, tackling Santana onto the bed, "We're getting married."

Santana added with a lazy grin, "Tomorrow."

Brittany giggled, kissed Santana and ran back out of the room.