Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of their related characters, nor most of the songs that they "sing" in the fiction.

A/N: Next chapter… hopefully it was up sooner than I thought it was going to be.

Chapter 24 Not so Lost on a Late Night

In all honesty, Santana wasn't sure why she had woken up in the middle of the night; she hadn't been sleeping well since Tuesday, but to be completely unable to go back to sleep was unusual. However, it did explain why she had decided to go running at such an ungodly hour. She had thought that by tiring herself out might exhaust her body enough to return back to sleep. At least it was Friday which meant no school, and it was safe to assume that there would be not work for her this weekend since she hadn't heard from TG since she had gotten the note. In fact, she hadn't seen the Asian girl for the rest of the week. It wasn't uncommon for TG would miss school from time to time for a couple of days every few months or so and then come back the following week. But this vanishing act was most inconvenient this situation; TG had forgotten to give her Brittany's address.

Santana looked up; she had never been here before. The signs told her she was on the corner of Andreson and Sylvester. Wasn't Sylvester the street where Sue lived? Santana vaguely remembered being told this during one of Sue's long one-sided conversations.

"Are you going to stand there all night? Or go see the girl?" Sue's distinct voice asked. Santana looked around, startled. "If you had as much CIA training as I did, you'd be able to know where I am without having to look," stated Sue as she came out of the shadows. And Santana suddenly found herself wondering if all of Sue's stories of being trained by various branches of the government could possibly be true. "Stand straight and tell me, for what possible reason are you loitering outside my yard at this god-forsaken hour."

"I couldn't sleep," Santana said answering Sue, she felt drained. She didn't have the patience or the will to play along.

"Your friend left you high and dry." Santana knew that that Sue was probably referring to TG, but how did she know?

Sue gave her a knowing smirk, "Your girl. Brittany right? She lives right across the street." Santana just stood there. "Stop gaping at me, and go see your girl." Sue ordered.

"Yes ma'm!" Santana saluted, she turned to see the house, she was feeling slightly livelier after hearing that news. "But isn't this a ba-" She turned around to find Sue gone. She scowled, she hated it when people did that. She really should come back at a later, more reasonable time of day and do it right. But then when did she ever do anything the right way? She strode forward to the house across the street and stopped in front of the door. What should she say? What does someone say in a situation like this? You know, maybe she should come back later. Santana turned and began to make her way back down towards the street.

"Are you going to come inside?" questioned a familiar voice in a tone that Santana had never wanted to hear again. It was unmistakably Brittany's voice but Santana had never heard it so timid, so muted of happiness since that night. She stood there unsure of what to do, she didn't even register that the blonde was still talking but they fell on deaf ears. Santana didn't want to hear anymore and on instinct she closed the gap between her and Brittany, enveloping the other girl in a hug.

She closed the door and took Brittany by the hand; she had to cheer this girl up. Santana forced her voice to have some cheerfulness she tugged Brittany to where she thought the living room would be and said, "Come on, let's get you sitting down." Brittany looked unsure but when Santana told Brittany all the antics that went on at the school, anything and everything that she could think of except anything to do with her; eventually a smile made its way onto the blonde's face. The phone rang and Brittany got up to answer it avoiding the kitchen, Santana noted worryingly. But she forced herself to stay in one spot instead of asking about it.

Santana patiently waited for Brittany but when she didn't return, Santana became concerned. She got up and wandered through the house trying to figure out exactly where the blonde went. Santana found her sitting, knees to her chest. At first she thought Brittany might have just fallen asleep there, she put her hand on Brittany's shoulder and the vibrations that she felt could only mean one of two things, crying or laughter. And since there were no sounds of joy or even the remote hint of laughter, it was definitely not the latter.

"Don't," Brittany said, wrenching her shoulder away. Santana wasn't prepared for the force causing her hand to hit the wall hard. Not even flinching from the pain, Santana again put her hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"I'm not going anywhere," her voice was steadier than she expected with the emotions that were running through her. Confusion, worry, sadness, anger.

"Don't," Brittany repeated, her voice choking on the next words. Santana felt Brittany swallow. "Please, leave."

"No."

"Please," Brittany was whispering now. "Please, I can't…. I don't… I couldn't take it if you're my friend because you pity me."

Santana was furious, that, that was by far the stupidest thing she'd ever heard. Pity, is looking at someone and doing nothing. Pity, is saying a few words and leaving someone to fend for themselves. Pity, is something you feel when you don't have the guts to do something about it. Pity, driving someone to stay friends with someone? She supposed it wasn't unheard of, but this was her, Santana, Satan, Fallen, they were talking about, inwardly she sneered. Pity was not something Satan felt nor needed. A sob brought her back, how could she have forgotten about Brittany. She pushed the anger down, hopefully it was enough to stop the biting remark that was on the tip of her tongue.

"Don't say that," Santana surprised to hear that her voice shook as she spoke. "Don't you ever say that."

"But-"

Santana silenced her with a kiss, it was brief and chaste, she didn't want to take advantage of Brittany's emotional state but sometimes, most times she had found, actions speak louder than words. And hopefully it would drive the point home.

"Come, let's get you to bed. I promise I won't take advantage of you." She told the tired girl.

Brittany mumbled something tiredly, Santana didn't catch the words but they sounded suspiciously like I wouldn't mind it if you did.