AUTHORS NOTE: Hello, how's everyone doing? Good, I hope.I see more and more people getting into Quitt/Fierce over time and it makes me smile. Anyways, here's chapter 26. I am not an angst writer, so forgive me if it's super bad. I don't really know what else to say, so...Review? I'm almost at 100 reviews...that excites me :)

CHAPTER 26

It was one more week till Sectionals. Quinn and Brittany stopped talking about what had happened for the duets competition, mainly because Sam had kept his distance from Quinn and Brittany, still embarrassed by his actions toward the head cheerio. However, that distance was quickly closed at the fact that Mr. Schue had decided to pair Sam and Quinn to sing a duet at Sectionals.

And Santana well, she was feeling extra lonely lately, not ready to address her so-called feelings for Brittany. All she wanted was straight feelings; she even tried another proposition with Finn, wanting him to break up with Rachel so they could be the top couple at William McKinley High School. If Brittany was in some kind of relationship with a stupid boy like Artie or Finn or even Puck, she probably could have convinced Brittany that it would be okay for her to hook up behind the boy's back, but no. Brittany was with Quinn, and she was very observant of the feelings Santana still had for Brittany.

When Mr. Schue told Brittany and Mike that he wanted their dancing to be showcased in the show, Quinn was ecstatic for her girlfriend, but once again the insecurities came around when Mr. Schue revealed that they were dancing with Santana during her solo. Quinn immediately thought of the time that Brittany was going to spend with Santana practicing.

"Mike, I need to talk to you," Quinn interrupted the conversation little love fest Mike was having with Tina.

"Um, okay…" Mike answered as he was being pulled away from his girlfriend.

"Sorry, Tina. You'll get him back in a few," Quinn yelled over her shoulder, leaving a confused looking Tina behind.

"Look Quinn, if this is about me dancing with Brittany and where I have to keep my hands off, no need to worry, I have Tina and she's all I need…"

Quinn rolled her eyes, but envied the fact that Mike and Tina seemed like the only relationship that was drama free. "It's not so much you that I'm worried about…"

"Okay? Then what?" Mike asked a bit intimidated by Quinn.

"I need you to do me a favor. I know you and Brittany are practicing with Santana so I just want you to…you know…let me know if something seems off."

"Trust is the most important thing in a relationship. If you don't have that, then it gets all screwed up."

"Look Mike, I don't need you to channel Confucius; I just need you to tell me if Santana is getting a little too close for comfort okay. I trust Brittany; it's Santana that's the problem."

"They're best friends and have been since they were little," Mike said, earning another eye roll from Quinn.

"How would you feel if Tina had to practice alone with Artie?" Quinn retorted.

"I tru…"

"Mike." Quinn cut him off, clearly irritated.

"Okay, okay. I'll do it."

"Thanks." Quinn said in a softer tone.

"Me and Tina sometimes go to Asian couple's therapy. I could talk to the therapist and see if he could see you and Brittany; he likes to change things up," Mike suggested in a serious tone, as Quinn stared at him with a raised eyebrow, "It was just a suggestion…I, um, I'm gonna go now."

"Yeah, thanks again Mike."

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Sectionals flew by and the New Directions had won. Sam and Quinn's duet screamed chemistry and Santana's solo with Brittany and Mike blew the judges away. However, while the latter performance went on, Quinn kept an eye out on the interactions between her girlfriend and ex-best friend, seeing all the subtle touches and glances, and it frustrated her. Mike had told her nothing went on, but her insecurities kept flooding her mind, even though at the end of the day Brittany was still with her.

"Have I told you how amazing you were tonight?" Quinn asked as her girlfriend straddled her on her bed.

"Only about 5 times," Brittany smirked tucking a strand of Quinn's hair behind her hair.

"Well you were amazing tonight," Quinn gave Brittany a light squeeze.

"I know. I can't help it," Brittany shrugged before kissing Quinn softly, "But let's not forget how amazing you were tonight."

Brittany moved her lips down, trailing kisses down Quinn's neck, determined to praise Quinn on how amazing she was.

"You and Santana performed well together," Quinn began.

"Mhmm," Brittany was still intent on praising her girl.

"You two must have practiced a lot together. I mean, all the looks and the touches, people in the audience probably thought you two were…"

"What looks and touches? Mike was there, too, you know…" Brittany sighed rolling off of Quinn, feeling another "I don't trust Santana" fight coming on.

"Mike has a girlfriend." Quinn stated as a matter of fact.

"I thought I did too," Brittany responded, looking anywhere but at Quinn.

"Santana still seems like she isn't aware of that." Quinn also avoided eye contact, but traced patterns along Brittany's thigh.

"Santana's always going to be a touchy subject for you." Brittany jerked up, somewhat alarming Quinn.

Brittany walked over to Quinn's computer desk fidgeting with her hands and turned around to face Quinn, leaning back, waiting for some kind of answer. Quinn looked up and responded, "Because she's your first everything and she's still part of your life."

"We're teenagers and we go to the same school. I can't not see her. If I went to another school, I wouldn't be able to see you and I wouldn't force her to go to another school or something…I mean, that's a little ridiculous." Brittany sighed.

"That's not what I…" Quinn reacted, before getting cut off by Brittany, not expecting what Brittany was about to say.

"Every time we fight it always leads to Santana. It was one thing when you got mad when we did Rocky Horror. It wasn't my fault that Mr. Schue partnered me and San together. I mean, why can't we have a fight about one of us being stubborn about where we go out to eat or the fact that Lord Tubbington likes to get in the middle of our cuddles? It's always about Santana and I don't get it."

"I, well…how about Sam? He doesn't even want to be friends with me…Do you know how hard it was to get him to loosen up for the duet we did today?" Quinn needed an excuse, and that excuse was Sam.

"What does Sam have to do with this? I never said you couldn't be friends," Brittany replied, confused as to why Quinn decided to bring Sam into the argument.

"Yeah, but you told him off…" Quinn had no idea what to say, but she wanted to keep her ground.

"Just like you told Santana off. It's not my fault Santana doesn't listen."

"Come on, you know it's different…" Quinn stood up to walk towards Brittany, hoping this little argument would end soon.

"Maybe we just need to…" Eye contact was again averted.

"Baby B…" Realization was settling in for Quinn.

"I think…I don't know. I don't want to, but maybe we should take a…" Brittany started to choke on her words.

"No…don't say that. A break always means a break-up." Tears were threatening to fall. Quinn didn't plan for this to happen.

"I love you Quinn and I don't want to break-up with you, but I just…"

"Then don't…"Quinn interrupted, bringing Brittany's hands up, placing a soft kiss on them. "We're in love with each other. Why take a break? You love me right?" Quinn continued as she stood on her tippy toes to place a kiss on Brittany's forehead.

Brittany closed her eyes at the feel of Quinn's touch. She felt bad for even thinking about taking a break, but the whole thing with Sam and Santana scared her. This was her only real relationship, so everything was new to her and feelings were heightened. She wasn't really sure what taking a break meant, but maybe that's what her relationship with Quinn needed, especially if they were going to keep having arguments about Quinn's trust issues. It was all so confusing.

"I do love you Quinnie. I just…I don't know what I have to do to make you trust me."

"I do trust you…" Quinn interjected, hoping Brittany wasn't still thinking of taking a break.

"You keep saying that you trust me and that it's Santana that you don't trust. It's so confusing because if you trust me, then shouldn't that be all that matters? Like all the stuff you say about me and Santana, I just don't get it." Quinn had taught Brittany to stand her ground, and that's what she was doing.

"I…" As if on cue, Brittany's cell phone began to ring, interrupting Quinn.

"It's my mom. She wanted me to come home earlier to tell me something, but I wanted to spend time with you first…" Brittany trailed off. "I should go…Can you…can you take me home?"

"Yes, I'd do anything for you, Baby B." Quinn said sounding a little too dramatic, but she just wanted to reassure Brittany that she wasn't just referring to a car ride home.

The whole ride to Brittany's was silent. Quinn opened her mouth to speak several times, but she didn't know what to say without sounding like a desperate girlfriend. It broke her heart a little every time she looked over to Brittany, who just sadly stared outside the car window. She cursed herself for making Brittany sad and confused, but not without silently cursing Santana for making her feel so damn insecure.

When they finally got to Brittany's, they sat in silence a few more minutes, both not knowing how to say goodbye for the night.

Brittany was the first to break, "Thanks for taking me home."

"Baby B?" Quinn said, softly placing a hand on Brittany's cheek, feeling Brittany instinctively lean into her touch. As Brittany turned her head to look at Quinn, Quinn took the chance to kiss Brittany goodnight; she took the chance to try and show her that she loved her with that one kiss. Both girls pulled away breathlessly, both with eyes closed and their foreheads remained in contact.

"I love you, Brittany," Quinn whispered, and received a short kiss from Brittany.

The taller blonde pulled away altogether, turning to face the dashboard of Quinn's car.

"I love you too, Quinnie the Pooh." Although Quinn was saddened by the quick loss of contact, she perked up a little hearing Brittany respond. "You know I love you…but…"

"but you love me…that should count…" Quinn grabbed Brittany's hand and brought it to her lips, placing a soft kiss on her palm.

"I still think that we should take a break," Brittany continued looking the opposite direction, still allowing Quinn to lace their hands together.

"You can't even look me in the eye and say that…" Quinn stated as a matter of fact, hoping that Brittany wouldn't accept the challenge.

"You're making this way more than it should be," Brittany sighed and turned to face Quinn.

"I'm making this more than it should be? You're the one who wants to take a break…not me."

"We're not breaking up, Quinn…it's just a break."

"This is a break, so you can run into Santana's arms, isn't it? What did she say to you?"

"This is exactly why we need a break…"

"I'm sorry…"Quinn mentally kicked herself for bringing up Santana again. Quinn just didn't want to risk losing the love of her life. Yeah, sure they were juniors in high school, but she loved Brittany and wanted a happily ever after ending with Brittany.

"Yeah, me too, Quinn. Goodnight…" Brittany said before placing a soft kiss on Quinn's temple.

Quinn waited a few seconds after she heard the passenger side door close before looking out the window to watch Brittany walk to her front door. She watched as Brittany typed something on her phone before sending a small wave towards her and then waited till Brittany disappeared behind the door, to let go of the breath and tears she was holding.

"Remember, it's just a break, not a break up. Drive safely, Quinnie the Pooh. I love you..." read the text that Brittany sent Quinn right after closing the front door.

But it still scared Quinn…and Brittany.