A/N

Rating and disclaimer from the first chapter apply.

Chapter 20.

It was Sunday afternoon and they were having dinner. Brittany hadn't talked to her father since she revealed the truth to him three days earlier. Santana had spoken to Anita though and she said that they should lay low and let Jack get his head around everything. Brittany felt as if the ball was in his court now, she'd told him the truth and the rest was up to him.

Santana was going back to work tomorrow but they'd already decided that Brittany would stay with Santana for at least another week. The following week Brittany's vacation was over and she had to return to work. She didn't even want to think about that but knew she was going to have to deal with it sooner rather than later.

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The week passed way too fast for Brittany's liking, and Santana's too for that matter. Santana had returned to work and Brittany had been trying to keep busy at Santana's apartment. She'd cleaned and done the laundry and visited the recycling station but when Wednesday came Santana's apartment was beyond clean and it was just ridiculous to clean it again for the sake of keeping herself busy.

The rest of the week she'd done everything and nothing trying to occupy the days with something while Santana was working and before she knew it, it was Sunday again and she had to go home...

She was inside Santana's bedroom packing her stuff into her bag. Santana stopped by the doorway and just looked at the blonde for a moment before she walked over to her and wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist from behind. Brittany was a little startled but instantly relaxed in Santana's arms.

"Are you okay?" Santana said gently.

"Not really, but there's nothing I can do about this situation..." Brittany said and sighed.

Santana held her tighter and placed a kiss on the side of her head.

"God I wish I could come with you... I hate the thought of you going back there all by yourself." Santana said and placed another tender kiss on Brittany's head.

Brittany turned in Santana's arms and put her own arms around Santana's neck and met her eyes.

"I know... and I really wish you could come with me too but you can't... It will be okay Santana..." Brittany said, not sounding too convincing when she said that last part.

"Have you decided where you're gonna stay?" Santana asked.

"No...not yet... I'll just see how I feel when I get back." Brittany answered.

Santana nodded then closed the distance between them and gave the blonde a soft kiss.

"I'm gonna miss you so much..." Santana whispered as she met Brittany's eyes again.

Brittany pulled the other woman close and held her tight. She really really didn't want to leave...

"I'm gonna miss you too... so so much..." she said softly and placed a kiss on Santana's neck.

She pulled back and met Santana's eyes then she kissed her tenderly. Santana pulled her closer and deepened the kiss briefly before slowly pulling back. When they parted they rested their foreheads against each other's, their eyes still closed.

"I'm gonna get going... it's only going to be harder to say goodbye to you if I prolong it... So I'm gonna go..." Brittany said and stepped out of Santana's embrace.

"Okay..." Santana said quietly as she watched the blonde return her focus to the bag on the bed.

Brittany packed her last pieces of clothing into the bag and zipped it shut. She picked it up and turned around to face Santana again. She swallowed hard before she spoke, trying to keep it together.

"Thanks for everything Santana, I don't know what I would've have done without you and-"

Santana interrupted her and took hold of her shoulders gently.

"Don't talk like that, like we're saying goodbye. This is not a goodbye Brittany, this is just a 'see you later' or something, not goodbye okay? Everything will be okay, we'll find a way to be together. We'll work something out. You going back is not goodbye, it's just temporary till we can come up with something." Santana said and looked into beautiful blue eyes before she continued.

"I love you." she said softly and watched as those blue eyes slowly started to fill up with tears.

"Hey... don't cry..." Santana said and pulled the blonde close to her.

"If you cry I'm gonna cry and I don't want to cry." Santana continued and kissed the side of Brittany's head. Brittany chuckled against Santana's shoulder.

"I won't cry." she said and pulled back to wipe her eyes before the threatening tears would fall.

"But I am gonna go now cause I know for a fact that I won't be able to hold it back for much longer..." Brittany continued and kissed Santana tenderly before she left the brunette standing alone in the bedroom while she made her way out of Santana's apartment building.

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It was pretty late when Brittany turned onto the road that led to her and Nathan's house. She didn't know when she'd decided that she would go back to her home, where Nathan would be, but somewhere during the long drive back she decided that she would take her chance and go home. She really didn't have anywhere else to go, all her friends in Green Bay were also Nathan's friends. Other couples that they consorted with on a regular basis and though they all were really nice and sweet she didn't feel comfortable with confiding in any of them about this new situation that had occurred. She was fairly certain than Nathan hadn't said anything to their friends either.

Her two closest and best friends lived across the country and she really wished they would be closer, especially now.

Turning off the engine she took a deep breath and braced herself before she slowly stepped out of the car, grabbed her bag and walked towards the front door. She quickly realized that Nathan was home cause she saw reflections of light from the TV when she looked through the small window on the large wooden door. Taking another deep breath she put the key in the lock and slowly turned till she heard a clicking sound that indicated that the door was unlocked. She pushed the handle down and opened the door instantly hearing the sound coming from the TV and she suddenly felt very nervous with the fact that she would see Nathan again.

Nathan though he heard something and got up from the couch. He was shocked to see Brittany standing in the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Brittany looked at him, she couldn't quite read him and the tone of his voice didn't indicate anything either. Still, she prepared for a coming outburst.

"It's my house too Nathan." she simply answered.

"Oh, so your little trip to 'Lesbianville' is already over? Let me guess? You weren't gay enough for her, you realized that something was missing so you decided to come crawling back to me?" he said sarcastic.

Brittany just looked at him, she didn't recognize the man standing in front of her. Nathan had never ever talked to her like this ever before. He'd never been mean to her and she knew he was hurting but it still surprised her that the man she spent five years of her life with would feel like a complete stranger.

"I didn't come here to fight with you, I know you're hurt and I know that you don't want me here but I live here too. This is my house too and if you can't handle me being here I suggest you leave. I'm gonna go to the guestroom, you can either pack up and leave or continue to watch the game. It's your call." she said and walked past him.

Nathan stood and watched Brittany walk into the guestroom and close the door behind her. He hadn't expected her to say that and he stood debating on whether to pack up and leave or just go back to watching the game and just ignore the fact that his fiancee, well ex-fiancee now, was in the guestroom.

He thought about it for a moment and then returned to the living room to watch the end of the game.

The Packers had won the game and normally he would be thrilled but as he sat in front of the TV he hardly even registered that the game was over. Why had Brittany come back? Had she realized that the Santana thing had just been a mistake? Did she want him back, was that why she was here? Thousands of thoughts were running through his mind and he knew he wouldn't be able to think about anything else until he got some answers.

Slowly he made his way over to the guest room and raised his hand to knock on the door but hesitated. He wasn't sure this was such a good idea but then again, he had to get some answers so he knocked.

Brittany was surprised to hear a knock on the door, she thought for sure Nathan would either leave the house or try his damnedest to avoid her.

"Brittany? Can we talk?" she heard him say from outside the door.

She walked over to the door and slowly turned the knob and opened the door.

"I don't know Nate... I've just spent over four hours on the road, I'm tired and I really don't have the energy to fight with you." she answered.

"I just want to talk." he said.

"Okay..." Brittany replied and walked past him and into the kitchen where she started to make some coffee.

Nathan followed her and leaned against the door frame and watched Brittany who stood by the counter. As she turned around she noticed that Nathan was looking at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing." he said quickly and averted his eyes.

"Okay. So what do you wanna talk about?" she asked and took a seat by the kitchen table.

Nathan waited for a moment before he slowly made his way over to the kitchen table himself and sat down opposite the blonde.

"I just... Why did you come back?" he asked somewhat hesitatingly.

"I'm going back to work tomorrow." she simply answered and saw that that was not the answer he wanted to hear.

"Oh.. right... work." he said feeling really stupid for asking. If he'd taken a second to think he would've remembered that.

"What? Did you think I came back for you?" she asked and looked at him.

"No." he answered way too quickly but Brittany decided she wasn't going to push it.

There was a moments silence, the only sound that filled the room was the sound of the percolator. Nathan looked at his hands and seemed to be having thousands of thoughts. Brittany couldn't stand the awkwardness that was slowly growing so she got up and went to grab a cup from the cupboard and then went to stand in front of the percolator as if watching the thing would make the coffee finish sooner.

Finally after what seemed like forever it was done and she poured herself a large cup. Turning around she looked at Nathan who still seemed deep in thought.

"Do you want some coffee?" she asked and he looked up and met her eyes.

"Uh? Yeah, yes please." he said.

Brittany poured another cup and put in in front of Nathan then took a seat again.

"Thank you." he said and picked up the cup.

After taking a few slow sips he put the cup down and looked at Brittany.

"Are you really sure about this?" he asked.

Brittany met his eyes.

"What? Coming here? Well I didn't really have anywhere else to go so yeah." she replied.

"No, no... That's not what I mean. Are you sure about... about this Santana thing?" he said with a hint of disgust in his voice.

"This 'Santana-thing'?" she replied a little annoyed.

"I know you Brittany, you're not gay. I know you're not. Look..." he started and reached for Brittany's hands which she quickly removed from the table.

"We were so good together Brittany and I know you still feel something for me deep inside" he got up from his side of the table and walked over to Brittany and got down on his knees in front of her.

"I can make you happy and I can take care of you if you just let me..." he continued and reached for her hand. This time Brittany let him take it.

"I love you. I love you so much and I know I can make you happy. We can work things out Brittany...I know we can. We belong together..." he said and cupped her face with his free hand.

Brittany looked at him and felt her heart break all over again. He really was a great guy and it killed her to see his blue eyes looking at her so hopeful when she knew she would take away his hope again.

Before she knew what happened, Nathan had moved forward and captured her lips with his own. She pushed him away and looked at him shocked.

"What the hell are you doing Nathan?" she said furiously.

"I love you Brittany." Nathan replied and got up on his feet.

Brittany got up from the chair and was about to go back to the guest room when she felt Nathan take hold of her hand.

"Please... I know we can work it out."

"No Nathan, we can't work it out!" Brittany said and pulled her hand away from Nathan's.

"You know we're great together. You're not gay Brittany, look-" he was interrupted by a very furious blonde.

"No you look! I didn't plan this okay? It just happened and I don't know if this makes me gay or bisexual or whatever, but what I do know is that I fell in love with Santana! I'm in love with her Nathan and that's not gonna change. Maybe this has always been a part of me but I just didn't know about it until now. But Nathan, it's not gonna change, what I'm feeling for Santana is not gonna change. What we had together you and I was wonderful and I wouldn't change it for the world but we're over and I know that deep down you're hoping that I'll 'come to my senses' and come back to you but that's not gonna happen. Me coming back now is only because I have to return to work tomorrow. That's the only reason. If you'll excuse me I think I'm gonna go to bed now." she was so furious she couldn't stand to be in the same room as him anymore.

She just wanted to get the hell out of there and never go back. He could have the house, she didn't even care anymore but as she got into the guest room and slammed the door shut, she took a couple of deep breaths and started to calm down a little.

She really didn't want to fight with Nathan, she knew he was hurt but he'd really gone too far by kissing her.

She crashed down on top of the bed and picked up her phone. She debated on whether or not to call Santana. She really wanted to hear her voice but she was afraid she would break down and start to cry if she did so she decided that a text message would be the best thing.

I made it home okay and I'm staying in the guest room in the house. Nathan's here but everything is alright, I'm alright. Sorry for sending you a text instead of calling you but I'm really tired and I'm also afraid I'll start to cry if I talk to you... I really really wish I was in your arms right now... I love you xx

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Santana was sitting on the couch half watching some comedy show on TV when her phone beeped. She picked it up immediately. After reading Brittany's message she started to type her reply.

I'm glad you made it home safe and that you are alright. You know that you can call me at any time if you want to, okay? Just close your eyes and go to sleep and I'll be there holding you. I love you too. .. so much. Good night xx