A/N: Thank you for the reviews, and for all the guesses. Some of you guessed things that will pop up in later chapters, but unfortunately, no one guessed the thing that I was thinking of. However, there will be a guessing game in each chapter, for the same prizes, because I love games. This is mainly a filler chapter, as some major stuff will be happening in the next few chapters and I needed to bridge it (and I couldn't help but write Brittany's birthday and more Brittana friendship!)

It's a Saturday morning and she'd be more than happy to spend the day in bed. She doesn't have any classes and its Tina's birthday, which is enough of a reason to sleep through the day.

Brittany has other ideas though.

At 7:10, there's a loud shriek and a flurry of blonde hair and long limbs catapults herself across the room until she comes in contact with the other bed.

"Brittany..."

"Don't use that grumpy tone! It's my birthday today! Santana is gonna be here soon and she's going to take us to the zoo like she always does. Normally she just takes me but she said you could come too so Quinn wants to tag along, so it's gonna be like a party. Mike will pick us up for lunch and Matt and Puck will be there too and it's gonna be a great day!" Britt rambles, her hair tangled and her eyes alight with excitement.

"It sounds great Britt, it really does, but I feel really gross today so I think I'll just stay in bed. I wouldn't want to ruin your day", she lies, hoping her face won't give away the fact that she just doesn't want to go.

"But you have to go! We never invite anyone else and Santana will kill you if you don't go 'cos she doesn't like spending time with Quinn. She's already upset that we have to spend my birthday with Quinn after she deserted us but she can't say anything 'cos I like her. If you don't go Santana will be mad and my birthday will be ruined", Brittany whines, her face falling into a pout.

She knows not to argue with Brittany, especially not after she disappeared last week. She also knows better than to protest because of Puck's attendance at lunch – any mention of the argument between her and Puck makes Brittany cry and she refuses to make Brittany cry on her birthday.

Sighing, she crawls out of bed and stumbles to the bathroom. She's going to the zoo.

Santana shows up at 7.55am, a huge smile on her face and her arms filled with presents. A beautiful blonde walks in behind her, a hesitant smile on her face and a giant toy duck under her arm.

She immediately knows that this is Quinn and she does her best to smile reassuringly at the blonde but all she gets in return is an evil glare. Her smile falters but she doesn't have a chance to analyse Quinn's actions because of the noises behind her.

Santana's thrown her presents onto the bed and Brittany has quickly sat at the top of the bed, tearing open the wrapping paper. Quinn turns to look at the source of the noise and a melodic giggle tumbles out of her lips. Even her laugh is perfect.

She forces a smile onto her face and laughs along with Santana and Quinn as Brittany rips open present after present (including a gift from her she definitely didn't buy and a smirk from Santana makes her realize that the Latina was responsible for making sure she wasn't empty handed).

(She has to fight back tears when Brittany opens a photo frame with her and Santana smiling from behind the glass, because it reminds her so much of her best friend and the birthday she should be celebrating today).

They get to the zoo for 9am, Brittany practically skipping the entire way (she chose to walk and Santana was more than happy to oblige her wishes).

Brittany's quick to pull them towards the penguins. She hears Santana warning to Quinn to put a proper smile on her face because the pinched look doesn't suit her and she sees the way Santana's eyes light up every time Brittany laughs.

The fake smile falls off her face when she gets a text message from her dads, wishing her all the best for such a difficult day.

When everyone else walks into the serpent house, she escapes to the bathroom. She's crying before she manages to lock the stall door and she's only alone for a couple of minutes before there's a large bang on the door.

"Occupied..." she calls shakily.

"Open the door Rachel. You and I need to have a little talk" Santana calls back, her voice hard as steel.

She slowly opens the door and Santana storms in, furiously slamming and locking the door behind her. "Now listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once. Brittany is my best friend. That means that I have her back and she has mine. We protect each other and right now, I'm protecting her from you spoiling her birthday. It's our tradition to go to the zoo on her birthday... we've been doing it since we were seven years old. It's always been just Britt and me but this year, she wanted you and Quinn here too and I couldn't say no. I should have though because you and Quinn are fucking ruining it – Quinn's all pissy and nervous about lunch and I have no idea what the hell your problem is but it's going to stop now"

"Santana..."

"I don't want to hear it. You have two minutes to dry your eyes, fix your make-up and get your ass back into the goddamn snake house with a goddamn smile on your face or I'll kick your ass from here to Sunday"

And with that, Santana storms out of the bathroom, leaving a speechless Rachel sitting on the lid of the toilet, tears stopped.

(One minute and fifty-eight seconds later, she walks back into the snake house, a large – and not entirely fake – smile on her face).

At one pm, Brittany's phone goes off, announcing that Mike, Matt and Puck have arrived to take them to lunch.

Brittany claps excitedly and skips to the front of the zoo, Santana's eyes flicker with what looks like jealously and Quinn's face loses what little colour it had left. Brittany's the only one who seems even remotely excited about the lunch and by the time they get to the restaurant, she understands why.

They hadn't been able to find a taxi, and after a lot of cursing, Puck finally agreed that they could just walk to the Chinese restaurant. She ended up walking next to a silent Santana, a fuming Puck and a nervous Quinn while she tried to forget the fact that she and Tina always used to eat Chinese take-out on her birthday.

When they get to the restaurant, there's a giant argument over seating. Puck refuses to sit near Quinn, Quinn refuses to sit near Rachel, Brittany won't let Puck and Rachel sit anywhere near each other, Santana and Mike had a minor (complete with Santana cursing in Spanish) disagreement over who got to sit next to the birthday girl...

It was absolute hell.

The conversation revolved around Brittany rambling about the zoo, Santana bragging that she was there and that Mike wasn't, Matt trying to force Santana to stop talking, Quinn attempting to check her phone (multiple times) and Puck shooting Rachel sympathetic looks (multiple times).

All she wants is to go back to the dorm room but as soon as they've finished lunch, she learns that Santana has other plans.

"Rachel... do you think we could talk?" Puck whispers to her across the table. She's saved from answering when Santana cuts across the conversation.

"It'll have to wait Puckerman. Rachel and I are going out for coffee while Mike and Brittany go on a romantic walk or whatever the hell they do. You have to work anyone", she reminds him.

She can hear the finality in Santana's voice so she doesn't dare to disagree. Clearly, no one else does either, as they all disperse according to Santana's directions.

That's how she finds herself sitting in a Starbuck's with Santana Lopez.

"Look, I'm sorry I acted like a bitch to you at the zoo today", Santana begins as soon as they sit down. "The zoo has just been our thing since we were seven years old and I was already upset about people intruding on that. I already have to put up with Mike snatching half the day away from me, and it just makes me more determined to make my half of the day perfect, but you and Quinn seemed determined to ruin it"

"You don't have to apologize Santana. You were just trying to make Brittany's birthday perfect. I would have done the same if I was in your situation"

"Well, I had no right to talk to you like that. Clearly, you were upset and I showed no concern or respect for you. If you want to talk about it, I'm a pretty good listener when I'm not being all crazy and manipulative", she offers, her voice light and teasing.

"I was just tired. It's been a long week and I'm missing home and today was just a bit too much for me"

"I know you probably don't feel the same Rachel, but we consider ourselves a family, and Brittany's adopted you into that family so we have your back now, no matter what"

"Thank you Santana. That's just what I needed to hear... especially today"

"I know, I'm amazing. You can thank your lucky stars later. Now, I have to go and pester Puck at work – he's probably a bit grumpy because I only just let him back in the apartment and I stopped him from talking to you. I'm gonna bring him a coffee... you want to come with me?"

"Go with you where?"

"To Puck's tattoo parlour... it's about 15 minutes away from the NYU campus. It's actually quite a nice place... a few clothing shops, a chemist and this amazing kebab store... it's this really close-knit little street and it always feels like home. I think that's just what you need today!"

A/N #2: And I'm back. There's something important mentioned in this chapter that will be heavily featured in the next two chapters. Guess correctly and you win a one-shot of your choosing or a question about any of my stories that I will answer 100% truthfully (unless it ruins the entire plot of this story).