I hope this is a nice Monday pick-me-up! :)

Later on in this chapter, there's some swimming jargon and I know swimming isn't the most universally known sport so here's just a quick explanation. High school swimming is swam in a 25 yard pool, which is a little less than half of an Olympic sized pool (50 meters). So, a '100' is 4 lengths of the pool, a '100 breast' is a 100 yard breast stroke race, etc. 'IM' is also mentioned, it stands for 'Individual Medley.' This is where all four strokes are swam in one race. The only IM in high school swimming, a 200 IM, is a 50 yard swim of each stroke. Writing the swimming parts is one of my absolute favorites and I hope you like this chapter!

It was officially a new year, a fresh start as they say. I had so many plans this year; my mind was racing through the whole car ride home. I keep thinking about my life, how much I liked being with Brittany. I've only told three people, but it's been so smooth. Obviously, I know that it's not all going to be like that. I've seen that Kurt Hummel kid in my school struggle with bullies and I know the other stories. It's absolutely horrible. I was a strong person but I didn't know how strong I was. All I knew was that right now, Brittany is the only person that I can think about. I can honestly say that I'm falling in love. And I wanted the whole world to know.

The next day after we got back, while unpacking and doing laundry, I realized how excited I was for this date that she had planned out; except I didn't even know what we were doing. I texted Brittany Outfit for the date? She texted back Birthday suit! ;) Wear something nice but not too nice. Like nice jeans and a nice top or whatever. You'd look nice in anything. She made me smile, every time. I drug out skinny jeans, boots, a blouse, and warm leather jacket with a scarf. I never picked out my outfits beforehand; I guess I just wanted it to be perfect. I smiled as I went to sleep in anticipation for the big date.

I woke up the next day around 6, although we didn't have team practice, I went ahead and went to the pool to do a modest 6000 yards. I got home and showered, Brittany wanted me over a 10, sharp. I got dressed, did my hair, and put on makeup. I sprayed myself with my favorite perfume, even though I could still smell the chlorine on my skin, it was worth a shot.

"Dang, you look cute. Do you know where you're going yet?" Ellie walked into my room while I was getting ready.

"Not yet, she just told me to look like… sorta nice."

"I hope you have fun, Santana. Be safe." Ellie winked very obviously.

"You think you're so funny."

She smirked. "When do you think you'll be home?"

"I'm not sure, I didn't ask her. Um, I'll text you?"

"That sounds fine. I love you, Santana. And remember, you'll be away. No one knows you there, well, except for maybe a swimmer but just be yourself."

I didn't really know what she meant. This whole situation made me feel like the little sister.

Ellie saw that I was not catching on and said, "You'll know, just remember what I said. Okay?"

I looked at the clock, I had to go. "I will. Thanks again, Ellie. I love you too."

I gave my sister a hug, grabbed my keys, and headed over to Brittany's place.

As usual, I walked to her apartment door. I took a deep breath and straightened my clothes before knocking on her door. Brittany opened the door in what seemed like forever. She was wearing jeans, a cute sweater, and a scarf. She immediately smiled and pulled me in. I barely had time to put her present and my purse down before she wrapped her arms around me, tightly. She pulled back, her hand cupped my cheek, and she kissed me. I felt her warm and soft lips around mine. Her tongue danced with mine as I put my arms on the small of her back.

"I've missed you so much, Britt!" I said, finally ending our amazing kiss and wrapping my arms around her for a giant hug.

"I haven't seen you in so long; I've been waiting so long to do that." Then she kissed me again and squeezed me hand.

She looked down at the present. "Santana, I told you not to."

I looked around. "Not to what?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're very sweet."

"Do you want to open it now? Or do we need to leave?"

"Yeah! It just so happens that I got you a Christmas present as well. I only told you to be here at 10 because I wanted to see you, we have a lunch reservation at 12:30 though."

"Oh, reservation? Faaaaan-cy!"

"You know me, I'm Miss. Fancypants!"

She went back to her room and came back with a bag. I took my time taking out all of the tissue paper, just to aggravate her.

She looked at me and blinked. "Saving the paper?"

"Yes, I'm kind of frugal."

There were several things inside. I didn't know where to start. Inside, there was new pair of goggles (I had been complaining about mine fogging up lately), a beautiful scarf, and a mix tape that she promised as 'the best ever.'

There was one more item in the bag and it was a small, square mirror. I looked at her, quizzically.

"Take it out."

I did and there was a note taped to it. It said "I just want you to be able to see the beauty that I get the pleasure to see every day."

I reread it at least twice before I almost felt a tear form in my eye.

"Brittany. Thank you so much. You're… Amazing," I said with a smile and gave her my present.

She opened it, I had gotten her two BHU Swim and Dive t-shirts, a journal since she told me she was close to filling her last one up, and a certificate for a massage.

"A massage? Santana, I… You're so sweet."

"You've had an exhausting year and these people are so great. I get them for swimming sometimes and I just feel great afterwards."

"Thank you," she smiled and kissed me.

This was a great Christmas with Brittany, even though it was late. It was well worth the wait and we still had the whole day in front of us! We grabbed our purses and coats and left her apartment. She opened the passenger door of her bug for me and I got in. I loved her car; it smelled nice, clean, like Brittany. She pulled out her phone one last time and looked at directions and then we were off.

The drive was a very pleasant experience. She let me hold her hand in my lap or in the middle console. We talked the whole way, of course, never having an unintentional awkward moment. The radio lightly buzzed under our voices. One song started playing and we both stopped talking and listen.

At the same time, we both said, "I love this song."

It was Kiss Me Slowly by Parachute.

Brittany started singing, her beautiful voice. "Hold my breath as you moving in. Taste your lips and feel your skin. When the time comes, baby, don't run, just kiss me slowly."

"Come on Santana, sing!" She urged.

I laughed and started to sing along.

"You have a great voice," Brittany said as the sun faded away. "I really don't think I'll ever find something that Santana Lopez isn't good at."

I chuckled. "You have a great voice too, Britt." I paused for a second. "Can that be our song?"

She laughed because she knew I was being cheesy on purpose. "I haven't had a song with someone since I was in middle school but yes, it can be."

We finally got to Columbus and we pulled into the restaurant that she had a reservation at for lunch. It was a fancy Italian place; much better than Breadstix. As we walked towards the entrance, she grabbed by hand and I felt her fingers fill the empty spaces in between mine. I suddenly knew what Ellie meant by "no one knows you, be yourself." I didn't let her go.

The hostess greeted us with a wide smile and asked if we had a reservation.

"Yes. Pierce for two."

"Okay, right this way."

We were seated and ordered drinks and received our menus. We had a lovely lunch, despite my massive appetite from my swim this morning.

"This is embarrassing," I said, finishing the last bite of my pasta.

"Oh my gosh, it is so embarrassing! We should just leave now before we both embarrass ourselves more!"

I laughed and grabbed her hand that was resting on the table; I held it across the table. Brittany smiled. I looked around and saw families, business people, and other couples. Some were stuck in their own world, their own conversations. One woman in particular saw my gesture and gave us a dirty look. I tensed slightly. Brittany noticed.

"Hey, calm down, sweet heart. Her opinion of you doesn't change who you are. Why would you care what a close minded bigot thinks of you? She doesn't even know you."

I relaxed, she was right. I held on tighter. This was my first real experience as an "out" person. My first experience of distaste, even though it was just slightly. I was determined to eradicate the whole experience from my memory. I didn't need it.

The check came and I grabbed my wallet from my purse. Before I could do anything, Brittany took the check and put down her card.

I frowned. "At least let me get the tip."

"Nooo, it's my date and it's my treat."

"Brittany…"

"Will it make you happy?"

"The happiest girl around!"

"Fine."

We left the restaurant as we came in, hand in hand. We drove and walked around town some; Brittany said we had time to kill before a "special performance." We sat on a bench in the park and people watched, making up fake conversations for the people we saw. The weather was perfect. Although it was quite cold, the sun was shining bright, and just a small bit of snow covered the ground. The way the sun reflected off Brittany's eyes was literally mesmerizing. After people watching, we went into a few little shops downtown. We played hide and go seek in a Staples and walked down to an antique store with her arm lightly around my waist. I loved that feeling. The date was so much fun. It was so different from the predictable dates to Breadstix from Puck. Her date was literally perfect; carefree and easy. I literally could not stop smiling the whole time.

"So, what is the special performance?" I asked her when getting into the car.

"Well, I wanted to take you to a musical because you know, you love that stuff but there wasn't one at this time. So I got us tickets to the next best thing?"

"A football game?" I eagerly asked.

She laughed, probably too much for my lame joke. "Yes. No. Actually, it's a matinee of a ballet; The Nutcracker. I remember you telling me about how you loved the ballet when you were a dancer during your younger years."

I was actually really excited; I hadn't seen The Nutcracker in a very long time.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!"

We watched the ballet, it was astounding. It was actually one of the best performances that I'd ever seen. It also helped that I held Britt's hand in my lap. It just felt right. We left the performing arts center giggling and giddy like two middle schoolers before leaving back to Lima.

When we arrived back at her apartment, it was only 8. I texted Ellie The date was absolutely perfect. We were pooped by the time that we got in. It was such a lovely, beautiful day. She opened the door to her apartment for me and let me inside.

"Do you need to be home?"

"No." I said, smiling.

"Stay. Let's watch a movie. I have popcorn."

"Popcorn? How could I turn that down?"

"Do you want to change? Like into something more comfortable?"

"If you don't mind…"

"Not at all."

We went to her room. Her room was a perfect mixture of Brittany. Like her apartment; it had never super cluttered or messy. The messiest I had seen her room was when we tore it apart looking for Lord Tubbington's favorite cat toy that ended up being in his litter box in the other room.

The whole room was warm; a very soft, pale yellow color graced the walls while the deep red curtains contrasted perfectly. On the walls, there were a couple pieces of art and pictures. Her bed was never made but the way the black and white sheets, pillows, and blankets formed around the particular spot where she slept made it so cozy. Three pictures were hung above her head board; one black and white picture of a contemporary dance move on each side and then one of a ballet dancer's feet en pointe in the middle. There was a small lamp on the black night stand next to her bed that only had an alarm clock, allergy pills that she usually forgot to take, and some pocket change on it. Clothes were scattered on the floor outside of the entrance of her closet and her dresser on one wall. It was never too many clothes, her room was still tidy. A cat bed was perched in the corner right next to a small bookshelf containing only Brittany's absolute favorite literature; all the rest of her books were found in another bookshelf in her guest room/office. At the opposite end of her bed, there was a black vanity where she kept all of her makeup and jewelry.

She opened her closet and offered me shorts, a t shirt, and hoodie. We both changed, neither of us went to the bathroom, I couldn't help but look at her as she changed. Her body was great, abs toned perfectly and I could see her ribs ever-so-slightly poking out of her sides. She saw me staring, but I also caught her staring at me as well. I pulled her hoodie and shirt over my body. It smelled so good, just like Brittany. After we changed, Brittany went into the kitchen and started popping some popcorn and I started the movie. She came back with a giant bowl and some drinks for us. I sat down cross legged on the couch and grabbed a blanket. Brittany sat next to me and maneuvered herself underneath the blanket. She placed her arm through mine and leaned her head against my shoulder. I kissed her forehead. At the end of the movie, Brittany's head was in my lap and I was stroking her hair. The credits started to roll and Brittany got up to turn it off. It was a little before midnight

"It's really late. Stay here tonight, Santana," she said, sitting back down.

I didn't say anything, I wasn't sure. I had stayed the night with Puck a million times before. Brittany wasn't Puck though. She was Brittany, this was different.

Since I didn't respond immediately, she started singing, "Stay with me. Baby, stay with me. Tonight, don't leave me alone." It was "our song."

"Well, since you asked me in song form, how can I say no? I just need to call Ellie."

She smiled as I got up to get my phone.

"Hi sister!" Ellie was wide awake, I wondered where she was.

"Hey, where are you?"

"At home, with a few friends."

"Are mom and dad home?"

"Yes. The boys are about to leave. They wondered where you were, I covered for you, told them you were with Rachel Berry, working on a project."

"Rachel?" I scoffed. "Oh, that's believable. But thanks, can you do me another favor?"

"Yes?"

"Tell them I'm staying the night with her since it's late and we just finished the project.."

"I KNEW YOU WOULD BE DOING THIS!"

Brittany laughed because she could hear Ellie through the phone, even though I was several feet away.

"I sure hope you're not around all of your friends."

"I'm not; I went into the other room. But I will. I see that your date went well! When you come back, you tell me everything, okay?"

"Yeah, deal. Thanks, Ellie. Love you!"

"Love you."

I hung up and threw my phone back down by my purse.

"She's a great sister, huh?"

"Yeah, she really is. We used to fight all the time when we were younger but now she's my best friend. I guess we just grew out of it." I walked over to her and spread my legs apart, sitting down on her lap, facing her. "But I don't want to talk about Ellie right now. Actually…" I placed my hand on her cheek and kissed her. "I don't want to talk about anything right now."

I leaned back down and kissed her with even more passion, running a hand through her hair. She deepened the kiss and I felt her hands grasping my back, pulling me closer into her. After a few minutes, I felt her gently bite my bottom lip and say, "Let's go to my room."

We kissed, wrapped up in each other's arms, while we walked through the apartment turning out the lights. When we got back to her room, she pulled the hoodie off me and threw it on the floor. She did the same with hers and placed me on the bed, in her arms. I leaned my whole body into her and held onto her waist. I felt her hands travel on my back and one hand make its way to my chest to cup one of my breast in her soft hands.

"Do you want to feel them for real this time?" I daringly asked, even surprised by my own words.

A wide grin surfaced across her face as she pulled my shirt over my head. We had fooled around so many times and yeah, we had both felt each other's boobs but, surprisingly, it never went past tank tops or t-shirts. She flipped me under her, pulled her own shirt off and kissed my collar bone, flirting with my bra strap. She smiled and I felt her lips on my neck. I placed one of my hands on her breast. I squeezed it and I suddenly knew why guys were so obsessed with them. Brittany's were soft, supple, and just wonderful. Before we knew it, both our bras were off and I was gently kissing and playing with her boobs as she hovered over me.

Suddenly, she leaned down and I felt one of her legs in between mine and her hand placed on the hem of my shorts.

"Do you…?" She asked gently, gazing at me with her mesmerizing blue eyes.

The whole room was at a virtual stand-still. "Britt, I-I can't. I'm not…" I trailed off.

"You don't have to explain. I understand."

"I'm sorry."

"Baby, you have nothing to be sorry about."

She kissed me lightly on the cheek and laid down next to me and faced me. I felt her pull a sheet over us. All I could do was stare at her, I still could not believe how fast I was falling for her.

She placed a strand of my hair behind my ear and said, "You are so beautiful."

"No, you are."

"Today was one of the best days that I've ever had. I felt like pinching myself like it was a dream and then I realize that I cannot dream something as good as this reality, the reality of being here with you; of being your girlfriend."

I smiled. "When I'm with you, Brittany, I don't think about anything else. I don't have to worry because I know that with you, I'm truly happy. You make me have a feeling that I've never had before, I can't even explain it."

"Come here." She motioned for me to come closer.

I snuggled into her as she wrapped her legs through mine and held onto my hand in between our bodies. She kissed my hand very gently. She felt so warm and it was such an intimate moment. It wasn't about sex, or lust, it was just about emotions and feelings; these deep feelings for each other.

"Tell me about your first time, Britt." Brittany knew that I had sex with Puck and a few other guys but I had never asked her about if she had.

"My first time…" When she spoke, I could feel her breath and lips, so close to my neck. "It was probably a lot like yours; just some guy in high school. He meant something to me at the time but that's all."

"So you've had sex with girls?"

"Oh yeah…" She said with a hint of humor. "Um, my first time with a girl wasn't with anyone who I was even in a relationship with. It was in high school. It actually happened at a party. Her name was Molly. We were really good friends, we were in Glee club and danced together and hung out a lot. I had just gotten over a breakup with a guy and was struggling with my sexuality. Molly and I were both kind of tipsy and it just… happened. And then it continued to happen throughout the rest of high school, basically friends with benefits in a weird way. Well, when neither of us was dating someone. We were only friends; I was never really romantically interested in her, just attracted to her and it never amounted to a relationship. We still talk all the time and we're great friends."

"So, you guys hooked up a lot?"

"Eh, it definitely wasn't… not a lot. We were just really great friends and it was pleasant to have a warm body without having to worry about a relationship because we both never developed feelings."

"What's it like? With a girl?"

"It's different. I've not been with that many girls but I think it's so much more about feelings than with a guy, just because girls are over all more emotional that guys. It's not as stressful either because girls are so much more understanding. However, it can still have the same emotional baggage, at least, from experiences that I've had."

"Who were the others?"

"Just like a couple people here and there. Like, they all meant a lot to me at the time. Except for Molly, I don't just throw sex around or anything. Uh, My last serious girlfriend, her name was Lindsay, well her name is Lindsay. She was…something else. She was a year ahead of me and she had a full scholarship to Lima for tennis. She is a phenomenal tennis player, last year, which was her senior year; she went to the championships in singles for the third time and lost in the semifinals."

"Are you just attracted to athletes?" I asked

"I must be," she grinned and continued, "We met through mutual friends and connected since I knew a lot about tennis because of Matt and all. Then we just hit it off. Lindsay… she was so gorgeous and so charming, I was definitely very much in love with her. So I let her push me into having sex pretty early in our relationship. I wasn't ready. But back then, I wanted to do anything for her. As the time I spent with her progressed, I let her push me around and our relationship ended horribly. She was so experienced and.. you could say our relationship was kind of toxic and she messed me up for awhile. It just, I don't regret it. I try not to regret things because I know it's exactly what I wanted at the time but if I could go back, I would have changed what I did; starting with never getting involved with her."

"Britt, I'm so sorry." Brittany is my girlfriend, she's my girl. Even though she is older than me, I felt protective of her because she's so cute and so innocent. I know she can take care of herself but knowing that someone could do that to someone like her hurts me.

"No, I mean, that was years ago. I don't really think about it anymore because it makes me sad. She's irrelevant to my life. I've moved on." She shrugged. "And hey, since we are talking about this, I want you to know that I'm never, ever going to push you into something you're not ready for, especially this. That's why I told you that it's not a big deal; that you didn't need to be sorry. Obviously, it's something that we both take pretty seriously."

I kissed her forehead.

"I know. Thank you."

She turned around and pressed her backside against me. I wrapped my arms around her and rested a hand on her hip. I woke up and looked around. I looked at the clock; it was 3:46 AM. We had moved around and Brittany was curled up, sleeping and facing me. I slowly climbed out of her bed. I was cold so I found the hoodie that I was wearing earlier and put it on. I climbed back in bed, careful not to wake Brittany. Then I felt her hand intertwine with mine as the other put her blankets on top of me. I fell back to sleep quickly, once again, feeling so safe with her next to me.

I awoke a few hours later with Brittany's head on my stomach and my arm around her. I inhaled, groaned, and rubbed my eyes. I looked down and gazed at Brittany, she was even so beautiful while sleeping, so peaceful. A few moments later, she woke up and rustled around. She looked up and saw me.

"Are you staring at me?"

"Yes, you look so pretty when you sleep."

She rearranged herself and slid up next to me. "Are you cold?" She pinched the sleeve of the hoodie.

"I got cold throughout the night so I woke up and put it on. And it smells like you, it's great."

"You can keep it. Just so you never forget about me."

I smiled. "Well, if it stops smelling like you, I'm going to give it back to you to sleep with for a few nights so it will smell like you again."

She laughed. "Alright, deal. Are you hungry?"

"Ehh, kinda."

We got up and she made me an omelet and we talked before I took off back home to get ready for practice. She needed to get ready for work as well.

As soon as I walked in the door, Ellie greeted me.

"SANTANA SANTANA. Tell me everything. Well, not everything because that might be gross. Just tell me everything."

"Shut up! Nothing like that happened. I mean… no, nothing happened. We went on a really great date, she took me to an Italian place and then to a ballet performance. Then we went to her house and we watched a movie and then just fell asleep. Oh, and she made me breakfast."

"So you slept together but didn't sleep together?"

I nodded. "Basically." Ellie narrowed her eyes at me. I smirked and went off to the pool with an extra skip in my step.

Walking into school on the first day back from break seemed almost surreal. This was my last semester as a high schooler. We all traded holiday stories, talked about all the places that we went too, and how excited we were for graduation. All of my friends were getting a serious case of senioritis, I have to admit, I think I was starting to catch the bug too. But I couldn't. I was going to be valedictorian, there was no way I was letting my grades slide.

In English, we started the second semester curriculum: literature. Mrs. Hansen was informing us on all the books we would read this semester, starting with The Great Gatsby. Fortunately, I had already read that, it would be pretty easy. The Great Gatsby was easily one of my favorite books.

Mrs. Hansen was passing out the copies to everyone. Colby leaned over and whispered, "Man, I wish that Miss. Pierce was still student teaching. I'm so bored. I wonder how she's doing."

Irony at its best. "Oh, I actually saw her over break at the grocery store before we left for vacation. We had a little chat. I think she's doing well. She's looking for teaching positions around Ohio for the fall. She's pretty cool."

"Yeah, I always thought she was pretty cool."

I just nodded. I realized that sometime I would have to tell Colby the truth. Now really wasn't the time yet. I still haven't completely warmed up to the idea of telling everyone that I'm dating the former student teacher. I knew it would start with her though.

Later on that week, on Saturday, I had a swim meet. Of course I remembered to take the penguin, I never, ever forget my little Tux! It was a small invitational here at McKinley. I had two more events I had to qualify for state in; the 500 free and the 100 breast and that's what I'd swim today. I would be able to easily get the state mark on both of these events at this meet. Then I'd finally focus on my 200 free and 100 back.

Quinn had a different strategy. She didn't want to take a straight shoot at her state events. In one of the most surprising turns of the season, she failed to qualify in the 50 free when she swam it in the last meet. I guessed that she would probably build back her ego by swimming the back or breast again and the 200 IM before attempting the 50 free.

After school, I quickly went to my car to grab my crap and then headed to the pool. Even with Quinn and I's newfound common ground, we still never failed to find things to fight about.

"Tighten the freaking lane lines, Santana," she said, handing me the wrench that I had just put away.

"I just tightened them."

"Doesn't look like it…"

"Well if they're not up to your standards, do it yourself next time, Captain."

"Whatever, I hope you kick ass today. Even though I'll kick more ass, I always do."

It was the closest thing to a compliment that I ever got from her, I'll take it.

"Yeah, good luck Quinn."

She scoffed. "Luck is for losers."

I participated in the first relay and rested until the 500 free. As far as high school swimming events go, the 500 free is the longest and, arguably, the hardest event. For the elite swimmers, it was 4 and a half to 5 minutes of flat out sprinting and all you wanted to do was give your lungs a break. For less experienced swimmers, it was 7 or 9 minutes of hell, just trying to finish the race. It's a long enough race that requires another person on the other end of the pool to count the laps so the swimmer knows which lap they're on. I didn't hate it though, I really didn't mind distance freestyle and thought about branching out when I got to college. I finished the event with a time that would have easily landed me a spot in the finals of the 500 at state and jumped out of the water with a huge smile.

When I got back to our team section on the pool deck, I grabbed my towel took a little break to prepare myself for the next race. I sat down and grabbed my phone from on top of my jacket. I checked my messages and saw that Brittany had texted me a few times. But my phone said that they were already read. I hadn't read them, I was racing. I sat around contemplating what could have happened while texting Brittany back and plugging in my earbuds to my phone. I watched as the events went by. I was right and Quinn did swim the 100 back again. She was gloating; her time was faster than my last back time. I didn't let it get to me. I could maybe get my seed faster in another meet. Either way, we were still some of the fastest backstrokers in the country.

My heat for the 100 breast was coming up. I put my phone back into the pocket of my jacket on the bench and walked toward the blocks with my goggles and cap in my hands. I walked passed Quinn.

"I saw that time," I said. "Nice job."

She smiled and said, "Good job on the 500, Santana! Under five minutes, that's pretty great, I think Brittany would be really proud of you too."

I felt my heart beat start racing and blood rush to my cheeks.

"What?!"

"Oh, it's almost your heat for the breast," she said, emphasizing the word 'breast.' Good luck!"

A smirk surfaced on her face. I stormed past her pushing my shoulder against hers.

I was angry. So many thoughts were racing through my head. I needed to push them away, at least for now. I needed to focus on this race, to put all of my anger into the water. Breast stroke can look so calm on the surface without much splash. However one look at the swimmers face tells it all. I stepped behind the blocks and looked towards my parents who definitely noticed my change in visage. They gave me a questioning look and pointed to the pool, I inferred that they were telling me to knock it off. I saw Quinn at the side of the pool, her cap and goggles dangling from the strap of her suit, arms cross, watching me. I pushed it all aside, stepped up, dove in, and raced.

Breast stroke is not my stroke at all, I was fair at it but it was never my favorite. I especially hated it because Quinn was so great at it. With breast stroke, I always seemed to be moving despite how much I was trying to swim. I watched in my peripheral vision as the swimmers beside me slowly faded away. I didn't even think about going faster, I knew I easily had the time. I knew I was going to make history the moment I came up after the dive. I smashed my hand into the touch pad and checked the time on the wall. It blasted my personal breast stroke time and easily qualified for state. I got out of the pool and Coach Roz greeted me.

"SALSA CALIENTE! Where did that breast stroke come from?! Maybe you should rethink that whole backstroke thing and swim breast at state!"

I stifled a laugh and mumbled a reply. I was done for the night, luckily. I briskly walked myself over to our team's section. There were several girls hanging around so I grabbed my towel and sat close to Quinn, who had retreated back to her spot.

"Whoa, Santana! I don't really like you that much. And you're all wet."

"Shut up," I said, my face super close to hers so no one could hear. "What the hell did you do?"

"Well, you were swimming the 500 and I was watching the race because I always watch you but I heard your phone vibrate. I ignored it and then it happened again. I guess curiosity got the best of me. Maybe you should rethink that whole I-don't-have-a-password-on-my-phone-thing."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You looked through my freaking messages?!"

"No. Well just your conversation with Brittany Pierce. Wait, I seem to remember our English student teacher had a similar name. There was always something about you, Santana. You were always lurking around in the locker rooms, always watching the girls events but not usually the boys."

"Fuck you Quinn."

She chuckled. "You wish. But don't worry, Santana. Your secret is safe with me. We're teammates. If visiting all these college teams last fall has taught me anything, it's that the bond between teammates is what really makes or breaks the team. And we have this bond here at McKinley! I'm not telling anyone."

"I have a hard time believing that."

"I'm not going to tell anyone, Santana. Seriously. And look, it helped you in the long run; you absolutely killed that breast stroke. …Oh wait! Maybe it wasn't because you were angry with me, maybe it's because breast stroke is your new favorite stroke!"

If I wasn't so furious, I actually would have laughed at that joke. Instead, I was on the verge of tears.

"Quinn, seriously. It's not funny. This is my life; I'm confused about everything right now." I took a deep breath. "Look, you're the last person I want to confide in. Just please don't tell anyone."

"I won't, Santana. But you better watch yourself. And I'm not telling anyone but I won't let you forget that I know." Quinn got up and motioned for me to put her cap on.

I put her cap on perfectly. "Fine, whatever."

I watched her relay swim and waited for the meet to end so I could cool down. I straightened out after cool down, got dressed, and went over to where my family was. They were getting ready to leave but I knew they would wait for me. I gave my mom and dad a kiss and thanked them for coming.

"You know we love watching you swim, Mija," my dad said.

"You looked really angry before the breast though. I mean, it obviously worked but are you alright, sweetie?" My mom was always so nice.

"Yeah, just some Quinn stuff."

"I thought you guys were starting to get along, we saw you talking to her just a few minutes ago."

"Well yeah, she pissed me off before the swim. I guess it worked out, that was my fastest breast ever." They continued to look at me so I went on, "I was just talking to her, we were kind of working things out."

"Well, if you need us to talk to Coach Roz or anything."

"Thanks, mom. But it's alright, I promise."

My dad asked, "Are you coming straight home after the meet or going out with the girls or something?"

"Uhmm, I might go eat with a few of the girls and maybe go out if that's alright." I may have been lying because I really just wanted to see Brittany.

"Okay, well, be careful and don't be out too late." It was a Saturday night so they assumed I'd go out afterwards.

I barely laughed. "I won't. Te quiero!"

Brittany had a dance rehearsal at her studio until later on that night, so I really did go out to eat with a few teammates.

When we were waiting for our food, Chloe asked, "Santana, what's wrong? You did so amazing today! You seem really sad."

"Oh, what? No. I'm just really tired. I guess it was from that breast stroke!"

I tried to play it off but they could see right through it.

"Santana, seriously. I've seen you tired and you're still hilarious. You haven't insulted someone once this whole time," Leah said.

I could come clean now. Get everything off my chest. Tell these girls everything. They were my teammates. They'd understand. Then I rethink. They're my teammates that are one the swim team. Swimmers are half naked all the time. They're not going to take that very well. Locker room changing is going to turn really awkward. It wasn't a good time. Especially now, not to them at least, maybe I could wait until the end of the season. After though, there was no more putting it off. I had to do it. I had to tell everyone.

"Nahh, it's nothing. I just had a fight with Quinn, that's all."

"You guys always have fights," Paige points out.

"No, this time she really pissed me off. She just… talked about Puck and was being all gross and then called me a bitch for no reason. It was just a bunch of things put together and I finally just lost it. I think maybe Snix came out there for a little bit. But after breast, we talked about it, I'm still pissed. But, it'll be alright, it always does."

"Well, we're here for you."

"I know. You guys are the best."

For the rest of the dinner, I tried my hardest to keep to my regular self. I texted Brittany that I needed to see her and she said she to go over to her place and wait for her and apologized if it was a mess. There was a party that night that the other girls were going to. I politely declined and made up some excuse so I wouldn't have to go. We said goodbye and parted ways. I got to the complex and found her spare key; it was in the fake plant on the floor below her, she was pretty sneaky.

I went into her apartment with my backpack slung over my back like I had done a million times before and was greeted by Lord Tubbington. He tried to eat my leg so I fed him and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. I opened up my backpack and started to work on homework. I tried to push all my thoughts aside and just wait for Brittany to come. It worked pretty well. I finished up my homework and laid down with a blanket. Lord Tubbington jumped on me and we curled up and went to sleep.

I heard jingling outside of the door but I couldn't open my eyes. I heard her walk in, she smelled like winter.

"It's the greatest thing in the world to walk in to your apartment and see a gorgeous girl peacefully sleeping on the couch. Oh and I'm glad Lord Tubbington found his place," Brittany said, throwing off her coat.

I forced my eyes open, seeing her made me glad that I did.

"He loves me. You look stunning."

"I'm in yoga pants and a sweater with a kitten on it and I probably smell like little kids."

"I'm sorry, I lost you at 'I'm in yoga pants.' I'm so glad you're here, despite your sweater."

"Then I guess I'll just have to take it off," she smirked and took off her kitten sweater to reveal a small tank top.

She came over to the couch and I sat up. I took a deep breath and told her everything. I started tearing up because I was so scared. I buried my head into her chest. She wrapped her arms around me and let me cry.

"It's going to be okay. I know that's not what you want to hear. Here me out, what's the worst that will happen? She outs you. Right? If she does, that's one thing that you won't have to worry about."

I knew she was trying to make me happy. "But I want it to be on my terms. This is a big thing for me. What about you? What if she tells that it's you? They know you, too."

"Really, I could care less about what a bunch of high school students think of me. I only care about the opinion of two of them."

"Who's the other?"

"Ellie." She smiled.

"The teachers…"

"Ehh, teachers won't really think about it, I think that they'll think it's just a rumor. They don't really pay attention to high school stuff, unless they're Schuster or that cheer coach. Trust me, they talk more about TV sitcoms than anything else, including students. Besides, at McKinley they think I'm some kind of genius."

I felt a little better. "I mean, I really don't think Quinn will tell anyone. She's a jerk but she has some morals. She'll hold it against me though."

"Blow her off, act like it doesn't bother you. She'll eventually give it up. It won't be fun for her. You know how it is, if you don't react, she'll stop caring."

I kissed Brittany. She always knew what to say. She ran her fingers through my hair and started to kiss my neck. I immediately forgot what I was even upset about. When I'm with her, it feels like nothing is wrong.

"You taste like chlorine."

I blushed. "Thanks for the newsflash."

"I'm just saying."

I wrapped my arms around her and put my head on her shoulder. "How's the job hunt?"

"It's going…" This was somewhat of a sore subject for us. She knew that I would be in Hamilton but we didn't know what the future held for us. We hadn't been dating for that long and we hadn't told each other that we loved each other yet. Shoot, I hadn't even come out to my parents. It just sucked that we had to make such huge life decisions not knowing the future of our relationship or really anything.

"Where is it taking you?" I ask instead.

"A few places. Some schools in Canton, Cincinnati, Columbus, and… Hamilton."

"Really?!" I ask.

She nods. "I snagged an interview at Hamilton High. I don't know when it will be though. We'll have to see."

The topic was dismissed and we moved on. It really was hard to talk about it. It was just to uncertain; to make such a big decision on something that may on our relationship was a risky kind of move. I knew how I felt about her, I knew how she felt about me, it's just a big commitment.

The next few weeks passed by, just the same, more or less. Word spread quickly that I had made state times in every event, I had made school history! People were congratulating me left and right, it was so great and such an honor. Although I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Quinn loved to walk right next to me while we were all changing from morning practice and whisper in my ear "Hey, how does my butt look?" or "Now I know why you chose swimming" and many more. At first I let it get to me and got all worked up over it but then I remembered what Brittany told me. I learned to ignore her. And she kept her word, she didn't tell anyone. Honestly, she just liked knowing that she had something against me.

I decided that I was going to come out to my parents before state swimming. I was going to tell them because they can't be ashamed of me. I had finished qualifying for all the swimming events. I broke almost all of McKinley High swimming records in the process and I was in a really good position to win multiple state championships. I could be a four time all American swimmer at the end of this season, easily. I was still tied for number one academically and now I was just against one other student, and I was being handed scholarships right and left. How mad good they really get?

One day after Ellie and I got home from practice, I told her my plan.

"I think that I should tell them like… tonight. State is in less than three weeks. I only have sectionals and districts left."

"Have you thought about this, Santana? How are you going to tell them?"

"I'm just going to lay it all out there. All or nothing right? I might as well tell them everything so I don't have to keep telling them."

"You're doing it tonight? It's a Tuesday, they'll be home late."

"I'll stay up, I can get ahead in homework and I don't have morning practice."

"Have you told Brittany that you're going to?"

"Yeah. She said that she's proud of me. And she also said that I shouldn't expect the worse.. or the best. And she said that if things go completely wrong that I could drive over and stay with her."

"I like your girlfriend and all but you're staying here if I have any say in it. Do you want me to be there with you?"

"No, I mean. Not tonight, it's something I need to do alone. But will you stay up long enough for me to talk to you?"

She chuckled. "No guarantees, knowing our parents, they could be home past midnight but you can wake me up for sure."

"Thanks."

We made dinner and then retreated to the living room to do some homework together. I was able to finish a lot of homework before Ellie left to shower and get ready for bed. I changed into a tank top and pajama pants and went back to the living room. I called Brittany and was able to have a brief conversation with her before I had to hang up because I was so nervous. She wished me the best of luck and told me that if I still wasn't ready, there was no rush. I told her that I was ready, this was it. Then I waited, I did more homework, watched TV, and rationalized my thoughts. My mom walked in at about 11:00. I heard her put her keys on the kitchen counter and pour herself something to drink. She walked into the living room.

"Santana! What are you still doing down here?! Didn't you have two practices today?!"

"I'm not that tired, I was doing homework." I look behind her. "Where's dad? I need to talk to you guys."

"He's just finishing up. He had some last minute paperwork. He'll be home in about 15 minutes. What do you need to talk to us about?"

"It can just wait until he comes home."

I started talking to my mom about new academic scholarships that I was applying for that would literally put money in my pocket for this next year. Buttering her up was the best to get her in a good mood. We heard my dad walk in.

"Santana, honey, what are you still doing up? It's a half hour till midnight!"

"Jorge sit," my mom said. "Santana has something to tell us."

Thanks so much for reading! The next chapter is a big one for Santana and her familia!

Annndd, we got a little hot there for awhile didn't we? What do you think? Too hot?! ;)