First of all, THANK YOU so much for all of the reviews. I cannot even begin to describe how happy they all made me. Can we please keep it up? This chapter sets up a lot that is going to happen throughout the rest of the story (the length of which has yet to be determined) and also focuses a lot of Santana. Enjoy!

Chapter 24

"Mr. Anderson, I have to say I like what you did with the space."

Blaine jumped and turned around to see Mr. Parson standing above him. "Thanks! It still isn't perfect, but I figure it will do for now. I guess I should actually start working." Blaine had decorated his water closet of an office. It had posters of his favorite bands, a small desk, his guitar sat in the corner, and there was a small couch for visitors to sit on. It was near his boss's office, and seemed to be a hub of people coming in and out. Apparently everyone wanted to see the "grandson of Jack Anderson," "the new guy without a degree," or "the hottie down the hall."

Mr. Parson sat on the couch, gazing at Blaine, "That's not really necessary yet. We tend to take the week between Christmas and New Years slowly. I know it isn't the most ideal situation to work this week."

Blaine shrugged, "It's fine. Kurt works all this week anyway. I would have just been alone in the apartment." Kurt had been spending extra time at Hayden's store working, she had given him a key and told him to just sit there and sell things. She hadn't been in since the fight with Santana, and Kurt was ready to send out the search crew.

"Kurt is your fiancé?" Mr. Parson asked, glancing back at the pictures Blaine had affixed on the walls.

Blaine couldn't help but shake the thought that this was weird, the boss of one of the biggest music companies was sitting in his office talking to him. But he nodded and pointed to a picture of Kurt, "That's him. He's with our dog, Abu." Blaine also had pictures of his grandparents, parents, Hayden and Santana, the Warblers, his college friends, the fraternity brothers, the Hudmels, and a picture of himself with Katy Perry. Blaine hoped to add more to the celebrity side.

"Very nice," Mr. Parson leaned forward, "Blaine, I hope you understand that when I gave you this job, I was taking a risk. But sometimes one just has to go with gut intuition, am I wrong?" He stood now, walking to the front of Blaine's desk, "So we decided that because this is a new field for you, we were going to get you some help."

Blaine head was swimming, "Okay? I mean, yes sir."

"So we've arranged for you to fly to LA in January to meet up with a few people we found in the job search. You'll be there for a week." Mr. Parson started walking for the door, "I'll have my secretary forward you the details. Also, can you pop down to the open mic luncheon in SoHo right now? Just take notes and forward them to me tonight? Thanks."

Blaine nodded, "Thank you so much!" He grabbed his Ipad and bag. This job was crazy, but fun.

Kurt shifted uncomfortably on the stool. He was sick of spending nine hours a day sitting there. Usually when he was at work for Hayden, he was dressing mannequins or helping customers shop. She would normally sit at the stool and sketch outfit ideas or bead something.

It had only been three days since the Christmas train wreck extravaganza, and Kurt was already plotting how to get Santana and Hayden back together.

He sighed when he realized that it was the slow time of the day, and no one was going to come in and try anything on. He put down his copy of Crime and Punishment and glanced at the Vogue sitting by his bag. He'd already looked through that twice. He debated starting the search for locations for their wedding, but decided it was best if he did that with Blaine, that way he couldn't go too crazy.

Tapping his foot against the stool, he looked around for something, anything to do. The shelves didn't need dusting, the mannequins changed outfits more than Kurt, the beads were organized by hole size and color, and the paints were properly mixed and organized.

There was literally nothing for him to do.

He grabbed a sheet of Hayden's sketching paper and started drawing. It felt like coming home – he hadn't drawn anything since college. When he left Ardmore, he hadn't felt any inspiration in anything. The city and times were too heavy and he couldn't find any joy in his drawings. But now, with a wedding just around the corner and things finally looking up for Blaine, he had inspiration.

The next few hours were filled with sketching, shading, and looking through the store for things he could use. However, in the end, it was futile. He wasn't classically trained, he didn't have the means to accomplish any of it, and he was convinced it wasn't any good.

When six came around, Kurt crumpled his drawings and threw them away. He spent his walk home dreaming about Broadway, fashion, but most importantly – his fiancé who was waiting for him.

Blaine looked at the email from Mr. Parson and groaned, Kurt was not going to like this. He was going to have to leave in the middle of January for LA, and that was right when Kurt had wanted to start planning the wedding. Nevertheless, Blaine couldn't argue – this was his job, and it was a great job.

Kurt walked into the apartment and smiled when he saw Blaine laying on the couch, rubbing Abu with one hand and looking at his Ipad with the other. He still had a little bit of pride over getting the best Christmas gift. "Hey there handsome. How was work?" Kurt pulled a pillow out of the way and snuggled up to Blaine.

"It was good…just." Blaine set his Ipad on the table, "I have to go to LA for a week in January." Blaine winced and looked at Kurt, ready for his wrath.

Kurt pouted a little but didn't get mad, "Okay. If you have to go to LA, you have to go to LA."

"But you said you wanted to start planning the wedding in January…"

"And I do," Kurt took Blaine's hand, "But I'm not going to be upset if we need to spend a week or so not planning. It's our wedding, Blaine, we can plan it how we want."

Blaine hadn't expected that. "Oh. Great. Are you going to be okay without me here for a week?"

"I'm not seven, Blaine. I'll be okay without you." Kurt stood, "You, on the other hand, would be lose without me. What do you want for dinner?"

Blaine was about to answer when he felt his phone vibrate.

My life sucks. Santana sucks. Everything sucks. She won't answer her phone, she won't answer her door, she won't even talk to me! What can I do? Ask Kurt if you don't know!

"Hayden is having a hard time of this fight," Blaine made to sent a text back, but couldn't think of anything to say, "What should she do?"

Kurt grabbed the pone out of Blaine's hand and looked at the text message, "You know, I'm not sure she should be alone like this…and I'm worried if Santana isn't answering her text messages or door either." He rubbed at his temples, "Do you think we should go check up on them?"

"Yes," Blaine answered immediately, standing and grabbing his wallet.

"Okay, I'll go see Santana and you go get Hayden," Kurt went to grab the keys but Blaine stopped him.

"I think you should go to Hayden."

"Why? She's your best friend?" Kurt held the keys in his hand, waiting to hear Blaine out.

Blaine reached out for the keys, "You're my best friend. But this is exactly what she worried about when she started dating Santana, that if something would ever happen, you would pick Santana over her."

"I'm not…"

"No, no," Blaine held up his hands, "I know you're not. But it will seem that way to her. She's much more fragile than I thought. She knows I'm there for her, Kurt. She knows I have her back. But she doesn't always feel that from you because you both have an awkward situation where she has to be your boss and your friend."

Kurt thought for a moment, "I agree…for once."

"Good," Blaine started for the door, "Do you think Santana is going to kill me? She does blame me for this?"

"Santana's bark is worse than her bite, you know that." Kurt glanced at Blaine, "Just…watch your eyebrows. We don't need them growing back even weirder for the wedding."

"Weirder?" Blaine nearly chased Kurt down the steps, "What do you mean weirder? They are perfectly normal!"

"We'll talk about that later, for now, go to Santana. Whoever gets home first texts the other, okay?" Kurt started walking towards Hayden's house, turning to see Blaine walking backwards, "Okay?"

Blaine nodded "Yeah. It's just, I really wanted to spend time with you tonight."

"We will get the chance. They need our help right now. They helped us."

Blaine laughed, "True. Without them, we might not even be together anymore." He turned and started walking.

Kurt looked for a few more seconds and started towards the brownstone again.

"Hey Kurt?" Blaine called.

"Yeah?"

"I love you!"

"I love you too, Blaine."

Blaine realized as he walked that he had never been into Santana's apartment. The party and Christmas were both in Hayden's house. Blaine doubted even Kurt had been inside.

He grumbled when he realized that if he moved the car now, he would never find a parking spot later. So he jumped on the subway, thanking god that he convinced Kurt to see Hayden, he never would have ridden the subway this late.

Blaine arrived twenty minutes later and saw the Victorian-style apartment building. He knew that Santana lived on the second floor, so he climbed the stairs quickly, hoping to catch her with the door open.

It wasn't.

Blaine knocked and waited. He could hear someone moving around inside, but no response came. "Santana?" he called out, figuring she thought it was Hayden.

The door creaked open and Santana's head popped out, "Hobbit?" Her speech was slightly slurred.

"In all my glory," Blaine noticed her red eyes and unbrushed hair, "Can I come in?"

She opened the door a little further and Blaine's eyes widened at her short, silk red negligee. "I wasn't expecting company," she shot at him, clutching at her wine bottle.

"Why don't I go put that in the kitchen for you?" Blaine looked around the apartment. All of the lights were off and she had around thirty candles lit. Amy Winehouse filtered throughout the apartment, and it smelled like cherries.

She held it to her lips and took a sip, "No, I need more. I can get some. I'll get glasses so we can share."

Blaine shook his head, "No, no thank you. I don't really want to drink…"

"Misery needs company," Santana shot, "Go sit on the couch, I'll be out."

Blaine, feeling chastised, moved to the leather couch. He sat stiffly and heard Santana fumbling around the kitchen. She came back carrying to huge glasses of wine, he took it and sipped. He had to admit, it was good. He watched as she assembled herself next to him, pulling her knees to her chest. "Care to tell me what's going on?"

"Other than the fact that you ruined Christmas?"

Blaine reached out a hand and pushed her hair behind her ear, watching as she shuddered lightly from the touch, "Santana, I didn't ruin anything. You should have told her about Brittany. Why didn't you?"

She stared at him for a moment, then dropped her eyes, "Look, Hobs, I don't really want to talk about it. It's old news."

"But it's still affecting you! You're letting something get in the way of your relationship with Hayden. I care about both of you and I want you to be happy. You've been perfect so far."

The candles reflected out of Santana's eyes, "You only think we've been perfect. We fight, Blaine. Not a lot, but occasionally."

"But that isn't what's going on. Why didn't you tell her about Brittany? Why do none of us know about what happened between you two?" Blaine wasn't as close to the members of New Directions as Kurt was, but even Kurt had no idea what happened. He just knew things hadn't ended well.

"Because, Hobbit, not all of us get the fairytale that you and Kurt got. Some of us don't get the person we first fall in love with. Some of us are probably destined to be alone forever." Santana didn't meet his eyes, "Some of us don't get that love story. Remember, sometimes love doesn't come at all."

Blaine fought back the urge to roll his eyes. Perhaps saying that to her the first time he met her wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done. "Santana, I wish I knew what to say to you. Do you actually love Hayden?"

"Of course I do!" Santana snapped, her eyes burning, "I love her more than I thought I'd ever love anyone again."

"Then why are you ignoring her phone calls and not letting her in?"

Santana sipped her wine, "Because I'm not ready to tell her about Brittany."

Blaine sipped at his own wine when he saw her staring at his almost full glass, "She knows about Brittany, and I'm sorry for that. But she has to know. Santana, what happened? You can tell me. I won't tell anyone."

"And by anyone you mean anyone other than you and Kurt." Santana smiled slightly.

"Well…yes. Kurt doesn't count in the "anyone." Santana, you can't keep it in. This isn't healthy," he motioned to the dark room and the wine. "This isn't good for you."

"I know. It's just…I can't lose someone else. You know? I don't want to lose her, Blaine." Santana's eyes filled with tears already, "I barely talk to my parents. I don't have very many close friends. I don't want to lose Hayden like I lost Brittany."

Blaine leaned over and wrapped his arms around Santana, and he felt her damn break. She started crying into his shoulder, and didn't stop for nearly twenty minutes. "Santana, I'm here for you. Kurt's here for you. Hayden is here for you. Just because you're fighting right now doesn't mean she won't be."

Santana leaned back, but stayed in Blaine's grasp, "You really won't judge me when I tell you what happened?"

"Santana, after all the mistakes I've made, I'm not going to judge you." Blaine wiped her tears away, and took another sip of his wine. He had a feeling this was going to be a long story.

"Okay, now, you know how I had a…difficult time coming out? Well, the only reason I really came out was to show Brittany how much I cared. She wouldn't be with me until I was proud of who I was. Brittany…shaped me and let me take my time and let me grow When I finally did come out, I thought that would be it. That we would both move to New York and be together forever."

Blaine was connecting the dots in his head. That's why it was difficult for Santana to see him with Kurt, they were essentially living the life Santana had dreamed of with Brittany. But she could live that life now, with Hayden. "But?"

"But I was selfish. I didn't think that she had her own dreams. I didn't realize that just because New York was where I wanted to go, it didn't mean she would go. So I sat and I made all of these plans, and I didn't ask her what she wanted. Then on the day we were supposed to move together, she showed up and she didn't have any bags with her. She told me she wasn't going. For the first time in her life, she stood up to me." Santana blinked a few times and more tears fell.

Blaine didn't understand. "What did you do?"

"I left," Santana said simply, finishing her glass of wine. "I got in my car and I drove to the city. I had dreams I wanted to live. I was mad, and hurt, and angry. I couldn't understand why she didn't want to come live with me. I changed my number, I changed my email address, I deleted her from Facebook. I literally cut off all contact with her."

Blaine couldn't help himself, "Like you're doing now?"

Santana glared, but relented, "Yes. Like I'm doing now. But then one day I had to go home for my mom's birthday, and I went to find Brittany. I wanted to tell her that I missed her, and that I was willing to do whatever it took to be with her. So I went to her house and when I knocked, some little girl answered. Some little girl that wasn't related to Brittany."

"She moved?" Blaine filled his own glass again, leaning in and letting Santana grip his hand.

"Her parents moved to a smaller house. They didn't need it because Brittany had moved to Vegas. I only found that out once I broke into Puck's Facebook and checked her account." Santana gave a hollow laugh, "She's a dancer in one of those shows that people pay too much money to go see."

"She's a stripper?" Blaine immediately resolved to go to Vegas and drag Brittany at least back to Ohio.

"No! She's a dancer. Like, with gymnastic moves and shit. Okay," Santana actually giggled, "that still sounds like a stripper. But she isn't."

"Well okay, wait…" Blaine thought carefully for a minute, "How do you know?"

Santana bit her lip and didn't quite make eye contact, which Blaine now realized is what she did when she felt uncomfortable, "I went to Vegas when I found out. I went and tried to find her. I succeeded. She was beautiful, Blaine. Her eyes lit up so much when she was up there. She wasn't the Brittany we all went to high school. I went out to dinner with her the next night…and the Brittany I loved wasn't there anymore. She matured and changed and…she had a girlfriend." Santana laughed again, "She had a girlfriend named Rhonda. She has, HAS a girlfriend named Rhonda. They're still together."

Blaine didn't quite know how to pose his next question, "Santana…if Brittany and Rhonda broke up, would you leave Hayden for her?"

Santana is silent for a few minutes, then she slowly shakes her head, "No. Hayden is the woman I fell in love with when I grew up. When I realized the world didn't revolve around me. Hayden might not be the love of my life or my first love, but she is the woman I never even thought I'd deserve. Brittany and I wouldn't even work anymore because we've both changed so much."

Blaine let out a sigh, he didn't want to show how happy he was, but he really was happy that Santana said that. "So you're going to go explain this to her. All of it. Even the parts you don't think she wants to hear?"

"Yes. But seriously…now can we talk about something, anything else?" Santana filled her wine glass again and poured more in Blaine's glass.

They spent the rest of the night talking and laughing.

Kurt walked the almost two miles to Hayden's at a fast pace. He wanted to get there, because he knew she shouldn't be alone. When he got to the house, and didn't even knock, he walked right in. "Hayden?" he yelled into the house, walking through the kitchen, living room, and dining room.

"Kurt?" Hayden's voice sounded panicked and upset.

Kurt followed her voice to the bathroom, where he realized she was soaking in the bathtub. "Oh. I'm sorry." He felt his face flush, "I will…go wait for you in the living room."

"Please do," Hayden said in a small voice, drawing the shower curtain around her.

Kurt waited until she emerged in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. "Thank you."

"For being here? Anytime." Kurt smiled.

"No. For making this the week you saw me naked, and not the week Santana and I broke up. I think you seeing me in the nude is more horrifying." She laughed again, curling up with a pillow. "Kurt…I know this is going to sound weird. But can we just watch a movie or something? I don't want to talk about Santana right now. All you need to know is that if she explains herself well enough, I will understand. I love her. I don't know if we can actually be together, but I want her as a friend."

Kurt wrapped an arm around Hayden, "Are you sure? I'm here to listen."

Hayden swallowed thickly, "I feel alone, sometimes, Kurt, around the three of you. You all have so much history together and this one thing that you all knew – no one told me. It took Blaine being an idiot and letting it slip."

"Well, in his defense, he didn't know it was a secret."

Hayden rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Anyway, I just…I want all of you to keep reminiscing about your histories. I love hearing your little stories. But promise me one day we'll all have stories like that? Stories that make other people jealous?"

"We already do!" Kurt grabbed the remote bought the newest Romantic Comedy starring Emma Stone. "Now let's get your mind off of this whole thing. I need you to come to work tomorrow. I'm literally dying at that place."

Neither Kurt nor Blaine got home until well after midnight that night, but they were glad that for once, their relationship was the one that was drama free.

Reviews! Will Blaine's job cause a rift between the boys? Will Hayden ever take Santana back? Is Santana lying about being over Brittany? Darren doesn't know. :)