Pairing: Santana/Brittany
Rating: PG this chapter.
Summary: AU. There was one thing that Santana had always been regardless of her station in life, and that was arrogant, secure in herself and her abilities to carry out whatever she had set her mind to.
Spoilers: Bits and pieces from everywhere, so to be safe, up to current episodes.
Word Count: 2500

Author's Note;; After...a year... I kick out a little chapter. Sorry to those who've been reading and checking back! Also, I'm way rusty at writing, and this is unbeta'd. My sincere apologies.

As it was in any clichéd film or book, silence reined for a few moments before pandemonium broke out.

"What?"

"She can't own New Directions, we're not animals!"

"Oh hell to the no! Lemmie at 'er! Lemmie at 'er!"

"That's bullshit!"

"Dissension in the ranks. How delicious."

"I'll knock her teeth in, just let go of me!"

"I don't see how she could own any part of New Directions, seeing as she left us a long time ago."

"Are you lot insane? You can't beat her up in the White House- The President would totally execute you!"

The smug grin still on her face, Santana lounged casually on her seat and watched as the members of the group flailed and screeched their little hearts out. When Sue sat next to her, she offered the older woman a nod and a firm handshake, revelling in the proud gleam in Sue's eyes. Despite the threats flung her way and the couple of people who had to be restrained by others so that they wouldn't be able to charge over and punch her lights out, Santana seemed totally at ease, to the extent that she was now sweeping her gaze appreciatively over a silent Brittany's form.

Brittany hated her for it.

But Santana had always been the definition of keeping cool- Hardly anything managed to ruffle her feathers when she projected that facade of being completely in control. Brittany used to think that Santana's acting skills were marvellous, but now she just wanted so badly to wipe that smirk off her face. With another slap, most preferably.

It took an irate Noah Puckerman letting out an ear-splitting whistle (Santana grinned, because she had been the one to teach that to him) before everyone quieted down. And even then, most of them were glaring in a rather hostile way at Santana.

"Explain yourself, Lopez," Noah managed through clenched teeth, the placating hand Quinn had placed on his upper arm going unregistered.

"What, no 'Auntie Tana'?" Santana teased, her grin widening as the man flushed darker. "I don't see why I should; I was quite enjoying watching all you headless chickens fall over yourselves. It's the most entertainment I've had in years, to be frank."

"Santana." Quinn's reproachful tone had the Latina looking at her, before she deflated a little.

"Okay, okay." Santana grumbled. "Way to ruin my fun, Fabray."

"You can have as much fun as you want later, Napoleon. They are, after all, bound by contract."

Santana brightened again at Sue's words. "That's right," She leered (mostly at Brittany), "And all you moneybags can't break that contract or I'd throw you out of house and home- Except that none of you actually have houses, do you? It really is splendid and nostalgic to find out that your aspirations are still as low as they used to be when we were all in High School."

"San." This time, it was Brittany who sighed out Santana's name, reminiscent of how she used to before, when she'd thought Santana was being too mean. The use of her old nickname had the woman doing a double take, brown eyes widening ever so slightly before she managed to compose herself.

"I don't owe any of you any explanations but long story short; I left, got rich, bought all of you out and got you to sign ironclad contracts. Who do you think manages you all? Who do you think even wanted to bother managing the group of loser wannabes who didn't have a clear proposal for anything?" Getting to her feet, Santana crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes.

"I made all of you great. If it weren't for me, you all would still be in Lima, talking about what might have been and getting together every other week to warble out some show tunes. New Directions owes me everything- Except wait, I already own this group of ragtag howler monkeys. I want for nothing else." The way her gaze lingered on Brittany though, seemed to contradict her bitter statements.

"There's really nothing you can do, so I suggest you sit tight and make as much money as you can, and I'll let you all buy yourselves out when your contracts end in three years." Smoothing out her dress, Santana gripped Brittany's arm and once again started towing her towards the exit. "As for me, I wants to gets mah drinks on with the president."

A lie, but it wouldn't do any harm to inject a bit of awe in the stew of hatred and astonishment that was rolling around the room.

Once they were out of the room, Brittany yanked her arm back- Or at least, she tried to. Santana clung to it, placing her free hand over Brittany's and smiling charmingly at whomever they happened to pass. After what felt like forever to Brittany, though in actuality had only been a few minutes, Santana pulled her into an empty room before locking it and leaning on it with a sigh.

When it didn't seem that the older woman was going to say anything, Brittany spoke.

"Was that true?" She asked, her voice sounding too loud and defensive even to herself.

Finally, Santana looked up, eyebrows raising in question. Brittany had forgotten just how expressive Santana's face could be- With a twitch or twist of certain muscles, she could portray exactly what she was feeling without saying a word. Back then, Brittany had loved being able to discern Santana's every thought just by looking at her face (and the fact that it's such a lovely face helped), but now she didn't really like that Santana was staring at her with such…disdain.

"Do you really own New Directions?" Falling silent, Brittany watched as that slight sneer was replaced with an involuntary smile that bordered on a smirk.

Santana's smile widened when she saw where Brittany's gaze was fixed. "Eyes up here, Britt," She crossed her arms and cocked her hip to the side in a gesture of confidence that Brittany used to admire… and adore.

By the flush that was rapidly darkening Brittany's fair skin, Santana guessed that it still had a bit of an effect on the younger woman. Or she was just embarrassed at being caught looking at Santana's lips. Either way, it was a win for Santana.

Taking a few steps forward, she sank into a chair and kicked off her heels before drawing her feet up and under her. A small tilt of her head in invitation had Brittany hesitating, before she sat on a couch that practically tried to eat her. If she wanted to make a hasty escape later, it wasn't going to be easy to get off this couch. For a brief moment, Brittany wondered why the president had bought a people eating couch before her thoughts jerked back to Santana, who was silently gazing at her.

Brittany was still as lovely and gorgeous as she had been six years ago- Lovelier, if that was even possible. At eighteen, Brittany still had this certain innocence about her that shone forth when she smiled. With a small pang of dismay, Santana wondered if she was the cause of Brittany losing that. At twenty-four, Brittany had matured, with laugh lines crinkling the corners of her eyes when she smiled and laughed. Not that Santana had been on the receiving end of either…yet. But she had had the chance to observe her ex-girlfriend when New Directions had been performing. Throughout the whole thing, one of the only words Santana's brain could conjure was 'guh'. If the blonde had been a great dancer when Santana had left, she was now a fantastic goddess of dance. Sue, who had undoubtedly caught on to the one-sided eye-sexing that had been taking place, had placed a firm grip on Santana's upper arm. She wasn't sure if there wouldn't be bruises later.

"I'm sorry, Britt," Santana said finally, ignoring Brittany's previous question for the time being. "I never meant to leave that way- Leave you that way. In hindsight, sharing my plans would probably have been the best solution. I have no excuse." Well, she actually did. They were jealousy, intense dislike and panic, to name a few. But she really had nothing to say that could explain her almost total abandonment of Brittany. And her failure to communicate until now, six years later.

"Why did you leave, Santana?" Brittany asked, ignoring the fact that Santana had pretty much said she had always intended to leave them- Leave her. "I thought we were happy."

"No," Santana blurted out more forcefully than she had intended, mentally smacking herself when she saw Brittany flinch. "No, I wasn't. Don't get me wrong- Being with you made me happy, but staying around all that lack of ambition and then-nonsensical plans was killing me slowly. I've always liked having a plan, but everyone seemed content to float along and expect good things to fall into their lap."

And Brittany, being Brittany, had been content to follow where the rest of them lead. Santana, knowing that Brittany didn't want to go to college and would have been miserable being separated from the rest of her family, had chosen what she had then deemed the lesser of two evils.

Taking a deep breath, Santana continued, "I went to business school and graduated after two years. All of my time went into studying and working, and when I was done with school I worked for one of my old lecturers, who had a small shoe company on the side." Her eyes rolled as she said, almost affectionately, "He was Irish." Brittany's confused look prompted her to carry on hurriedly.

"Sue somehow found me and told me about how ND was still performing on roadsides and such. She said, since I had been in business school, I would know how to manage ND and make it the greatest band of wailing cats that ever existed. Her words, not mine." The slight twitch of Brittany's lips inspired newfound confidence in Santana. "It's… Kind of complicated. It started off as me being the silent partner- I mean, she said that she told you all that she was ND's business manager, right?"

Brittany nodded.

"Not really. I didn't have the money, but Sue did. I had the business degree, Sue didn't. So she fronted the money to turn ND into a business and for your salaries, and I wrote up all the paperwork. Then, two years ago, Rory decided that America wasn't green enough, and he returned to Ireland. He made me a partner." She couldn't help the proud grin. "Three months ago, he bought me out and with that I finally had enough to buy ND as a company from Sue. About that time, a date was being set for your performance here, at the White House. I thought tonight was the best time to let everyone know that I'm back and I don't intend on leaving again. I liked singing and dancing- But I think I prefer this, though I really did miss you something horrible. But I figured that you hated me… Would hate me more if I came crawling back, after causing you all that pain, with nothing to show for it."

Throughout her speech, Santana had been inching closer and closer to Brittany, moving off her chair and onto the ground, unmindful of her dress. Hesitantly, she reached out and clasped Brittany's hands in her own gently, nearly cheering when Brittany didn't pull away. As steadily as she could, Santana looked into Brittany's deep blue eyes.

"I love you, Brittany. I always have. Six years doesn't change anything for me- I just wanted us to have more, aside from each other and New Directions. I knew they could be great, and I was going to tell everyone what I was leaving for. Then they said that if I left, I was a traitor." Lips twisting, Santana looked away. "I was so angry when they said that… So I just left."

Brittany looked as though she was about to cry. "You left me because you were angry at what our friends said?"

Santana winced. It sounded so horrible when phrased like that- Though technically, it was true. "It wasn't just that…" She protested feebly. "I just-"

"Why did you have us sign contracts?" Brittany interrupted, pulling out of Santana's grasp and angrily dashing at her eyes with a hand. "We thought it was weird when Sue gave it to us but we all signed anyway because we thought she was our business manager. Not you."

Another wince. Brittany really was in fine form tonight. However, Santana figured she was allowed to show as much attitude as she wanted as long as it didn't go on for forever. And in this case, forever meant hours. Santana wasn't a particularly patient person, but the years had mellowed her. Slightly.

"Those contracts protect everyone involved," She answered a little belatedly, "After my replacement up and quit so that he could set up his own acapella group, I thought it was best for that to get fixed. After all, I couldn't have everyone just leaving, could I? Every person in New Directions has a role- I'll be damned if I had to keep finding new talent to replace quitters. Besides, it would suck if everyone had the chance to just quit when they found out that I was handling the business side of things." She paused, then shrugged one shoulder.

"They're also to ensure that you guys have a steady income and that I can't just fire anyone who pisses me off without probable cause. And no, slapping me once is not something you can get fired for." In for a penny…

"Neither is getting involved with someone else in the group- Me included." Slowly, she reached for Brittany's hands again, linking their fingers.

"I did what I did because I was running on my emotions and I was very obviously a stupid kid who made a ton of assumptions that are coming around to bite me in the ass." Her fingers ran up and down Brittany's arm, trailing up till they rested on her shoulders, thumbs briefly caressing Brittany's exposed collarbone before she cupped Brittany's face. Then she held her breath, internally exhaling a relieved sigh when Brittany leaned into her palm ever so slightly.

"I really do love you, Brittany… And I really am sincerely sorry for hurting you." Anxiously, she used one hand to rummage about in her purse before pulling out a little black box. Flipping it open, Santana sucked in a breath.

"We have so much to sort through, I know. But you should marry me anyway."