Chapter 20

Brittany had gotten one text from Santana in the last 12 hours. One. One text that she loved her and she promised she'd call. She hadn't called. She hadn't texted. She'd gotten calls and texts from everyone else. Friends had called her to tell her to both check out the news immediately and to warn her against it. She was confused by it. She didn't quite understand what the angle was, but there was no way in hell Santana was dating Rachel Berry. Not a chance.

She'd seen it. She saw the look on Santana's face. When Santana looked at Brittany, there was a softness. She always smiled a smile that seemed to grow slowly and steadily. She tilted her head and she licked her lips. Brittany always felt like she was being drank in, like there was a static in her gaze. She could feel it when Santana looked at her. And, she most certainly did not look at Rachel that way. She didn't in the TMZ video and she didn't in person. Santana didn't look anything other than surprised. Whatever this was, it was had Rachel written all over it in bold gold glittery letters.

That didn't explain the near silence on Santana's part, though.

The lack of communication also didn't stop her from staying up way too late. It didn't stop her from finally passing out with her phone clutched in her hand. It didn't stop her from worrying a little. Not because she didn't trust Santana, but because whatever was going on must be really serious if she hadn't called.

When she shuffled into to the kitchen to pour some cereal the next morning, she was surprised that Sam had picked all his crap up out of the living room. He must feel really bad for her. He was really concerned when he'd first seen the scroll along the bottom of the Kardashians rerun he swore he wasn't watching. He'd spent a lot of the night just watching her watch the phone silently. Sometimes, Sam was really good about just being around. But, eventually, he had gotten a phone call and disappeared for the rest of the night. She didn't want him to worry, so she knocked on his door to insure him that she was fine. When she opened just enough to peek through, she found he wasn't even there. Everybody must have had a crazy night.

So, she ate a bowlful of Lucky Charms in silence. No speakerphone while she crunching through the marshmallows. No furious texting as she got dressed. No listening to Santana sing Amy Winehouse over FaceTime as she gathered her things for the day. It was so quiet. Too quiet. She fed Lord Tubbington without the usual 'Britt, remember portion control' from Santana. Even Tubbs seemed to know something was up, but it didn't stop him from meowing pitifully until his morning meal. Something was off, she just couldn't quite put her finger on what yet.

It was a Saturday, but she still had to go into work a few hours. Not too long, just a couple hours to finish up some stuff the team had started during the week. She liked to start fresh on Monday. She thought the best thing for her to do was just to go to work. Take her mind off of all this Santana stuff for a little while. Not that her mind was ever far from Santana for very long.

Either way, it didn't work out so well.

"Brittany, I'm so sorry," Blaine said as soon as she entered the office. He was waiting on her with a basket of muffins. "You poor thing," he said pathetically as he hugged her.

"It's not true, Blaine."

"It looks pretty true, Britt." He straightened his bowtie from where it had been smushed by the hug. "What does she have to say for herself?"

Brittany blew out a deep breath, "I haven't talked to her yet."

"Ouch," Will said as he leaned against a desk in the open office space. He was giving her the same look she gave him for months.

"She hasn't even called?" Blaine asked. "That's just-"

"That's those celebrity types, Brittany," Artie said just after he rolled by. "They're all alike."

"Artie, c'mon, it's not true."

She didn't miss the look that Artie shot Blaine.

"Guys," Brittany said. "I know her. It's not true."

"Then why would Rachel Berry say that?" Artie asked.

"Uh, maybe because she's crazy and desperate for attention," Brittany answered. "That's just my first guess, I haven't gotten the whole story."

"Rachel doesn't seem like that type," Artie defended her.

Brittany chuckled, "You really are a tool, aren't you?"

"Oh, Brittany," Sugar breezed through the door, waving a piece of paper. She handed it over, "Here, I want you to have this."

Brittany sighed, "Sugar, this is a check."

"Yeah," Sugar nodded.

"Why are you writing me checks for," Brittany looked back at the number, "9,000 dollars?"

"Eight seemed like too little for someone who's recently had their heart smeared all over their life, but 10 grand was just obnoxious."

"I don't want your money," Brittany handed the check back. "Thanks for caring, though."

"Brittany," Sugar frowned. "I saw them at the premiere of Run Joey Run. It looks legit. It's even been songified on Youtube. I-i-i'm-m-ma da-da-da-ting w-w-w-women now. It already has a bazillion views."

"Great," Brittany said tersely.

"Don't worry, I'm all over it. If you look it up, be sure to thumps up the Santana Hopez comment from dollarsignmottabags24."

"Done!" Artie said as he clicked around on his phone.

"Sugar!" Brittany scolded the other woman. "Delete it! Santana is not dating Rachel Berry."

"I saw it with my own eyes, Brittany."

"Has to be true, it's all over the place," Blaine agreed.

"I'm convinced," Artie echoed.

"I'm sorry, Britt," Will looked everywhere but her. "But, I saw it. She never denied it."

"You think that's why she hasn't asked yet?" Holly asked Brittany as she swept in the room. "I hope you're still considering my offer."

"No, Holly." She didn't want to hear that. "I think she hasn't asked because she's overly cautious. She's always like that, especially when it comes to me. I, mean, even the first time we had sex, I was all naked and ready and she just stared at me like she didn't know what to do first." Brittany looked up to see all her coworkers wide-eyed. "I think I may have said too much."

"No," Artie objected. "Go on."

"I second Artie's suggestion," Sugar said taking a seat.

Will still couldn't look at her, but now for a different reason.

"What did she do first?" Holly asked.

"I definitely said too much," Brittany shut them down. "But, that's how I know that all of this Rachel stuff isn't true. And that's how I know that Santana isn't just messing with me. She loves me and she wants us to be together. She just thinks it's up to her to figure out how. Which is why I'm turning down your offer, Holly."

"Brittany..."

"No," Brittany held up her hand to stop her. "I'm going to New York after we get done with the Whoopsies account. I'm telling Santana as soon as she calls me back."

Holly patted her shoulder gently, "I won't accept a 'no' until the deadline we talked about."

"That's fine, but by that time I'll be wherever Santana is."

"Okay," Holly said. "We'll discuss again another time. Some time when you have a bit more clarity."

"I'm clear," Brittany told her. She then addressed the rest of the people gathered in the office, "Can we not talk about this anymore?"

The hubbub had mostly died down and Brittany had resumed her work, when she saw a check sliding slowly across her desk. Sugar had drawn in a 1 in front of the 9,000. In the memo she had written: To Unbreak Your Heart.

That's when she decided that she probably wasn't going to be productive at all.

She left the rest of her team at the office and went home. She loved that walk. It was calming, even more so on a Saturday. It was less rushed. Despite the drizzle, the city seemed a bit brighter. Passersby seemed a bit friendlier than they normally would. When she got back to her apartment, she rested her trusty yellow umbrella in its usual spot. She had nearly made it to the couch, where she was planning on watching some television, when her phone rang.

"San." She knew she was giving everything away with the breathy way she whispered it. But, she was just so relieved to see the name. "Are you okay?"

"Hey baby," Santana answered in that cool, collected Santana way. "I've never been better."

"You scared me."

"I didn't mean to," Santana said. "I know I should have called you earlier. I know, but...there was a lot of things I had to do and not much time to do them."

"Okay," Brittany replied. "It's just that you've never not called. I was worried."

"Don't be worried, Britt Britt."

"I'll try not..." Brittany trailed off. "What are you doing?"

"Uh...dodging the rain."

"You sound weird."

"How do I sound weird?"

"I don't know," Brittany frowned at how off everything seemed. "You just do."

"Babe, I'm fine. Everything's fine."

Brittany really wanted that to be true. "You know I don't believe the thing with Rachel, right? Is that why you didn't call me?"

"I know you don't," Santana answered. "I knew you wouldn't believe it. And I should have called, or texted, or whatever. There were just things...things I needed to get in order."

"I know."

"You don't, but you will very soon."

"I'm going to move there," Brittany told her. "As soon as I can, I'm going to New York. I want to be there with you."

"I appreciate that, Brittany," Santana replied. "I do. If you had said that yesterday, I would have let you. But, that's probably not for the best."

"Britt!" Sam bounded through their apartment door. "Britt, get off the phone."

Brittany waved him off. "What do you mean?" she asked Santana.

"I don't think you moving to New York is going to work for us, babe."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"Brittany," Sam was still trying to get her attention, waving both arms like a lunatic.

"Sam," the blonde covered the mic. "Not now, San's on the phone."

"I've got something better. Way, way better," he said nearly giggling. He was pointing back toward the door he left open.

There stood Santana Lopez, dressed in track pants and Brittany's favorite hoodie, leaning against the door frame. She was waving her phone with a smile. "Because I just moved to Seattle."

The first thing Brittany did was drop her phone. She didn't need it anymore. Afterwards, she moved faster than she ever had in her entire life to get to Santana. She practically rolled backwards off the couch and had her girlfriend in her arms in a flash.

"You're here?" Brittany asked in wonder as she sat the brunette back on the floor.

"I'm here," Santana smiled and rocked up on her toes to capture Brittany lips with her own for a quick kiss.

"Why are you here?"

"Because you're here."

Brittany was pretty sure her smile was bigger than her whole apartment, but the reality still hadn't set in, "What?"

"I couldn't be away from you another day."

"But how?" Brittany tried to shake herself out of the dream she was obviously in. "What happened last night?"

Santana took a deep breath, "Well, a lot of things. Rachel...had psychotic break, I guess. I don't even know. She devised a whole scheme that... it doesn't matter. What I do know, is that all of a sudden in all this chaos, you called. And I just knew. I knew the best option. For me. For us. It's this. It's you taking a job that you're perfect for and me doing something for me. Which I hadn't done since I started doing everything for Rachel. So, I packed and I changed my plane ticket and I told Rachel I was done."

"Changed what plane ticket?"

"Uh," Santana laughed. "It was all part of a flawless plan. Then I made a more flawless plan that got me here faster."

"Yes," Brittany agreed. "I don't know what it is yet, but I like it already."

"Me, too."

"So...Rachel? How did she take you leaving?"

"Oh, she didn't have much of a choice. Mercedes was all too willing to help me out. I got a kickass severance package in lieu of a sexual harassment suit. Oh, and she broke up with me."

"Did she break your heart?" Brittany asked with a giggle.

"I'm devastated," Santana said in mock seriousness. "You better kiss me before I fall apart."

"Mmm, I love you," Brittany said right before her tongue teased over Santana's bottom lip.

"You more," Santana barely got out before they were doing a full on make out session in the doorway.

Sam averted his eyes, they must have forgotten he was there. He tried clearing his throat to no avail. He was a nice guy, he'd let them have their moment. And then Santana's leg curled around Brittany's hip, "I'm kind of still here..."

The noise seemed to distract Santana and she pulled away, "Oh yeah, sorry Sam."

"Have you two met?" Brittany asked clearly still in shock from the surprise.

"He picked me up from the airport, Brittany," Santana answered for both of them.

"And now I'm going to...go, and I'll be gone...until it's safe to come back," Sam told them as he gave Santana a pat on the back. "It was nice finally meeting you."

"You, too, Sam," Santana smiled. "Thanks."

He smiled a big-lipped smile before engulfing Brittany her in a hug, "You got the girl," he whispered before he let go.

"Thanks for delivering her," she teased.

"No problem," he said.

Brittany shut the door behind him. "So, what about...your stuff?"

"I have clothes," she pointed to a suitcase that Sam must have brought in and dropped behind a chair.

"That's all?"

"We'll figure it out," the brunette grabbed her hands in her own, "You still have to be in New York for Whoopsies, we'll stay at my place and I'll bring back what I can. We'll figure it out. My lease isn't up for another few months and the rent is paid up."

"What are you going to do?"

"I have some money saved for a rainy day. Doesn't get any rainier than Seattle. I'll be fine until I find a grunge band to make famous...or create some kind of internet start-up."

"So, you're really here?" Brittany asked. Now it was starting to sink in because the tears were stinging her eyes.

"I'm a Seattle-land-er-ite or whatever," Santana shrugged. "I have a lot to learn."

"I will teach you," Brittany promised. "I can't believe you just...moved."

Santana pulled her in closer, "I love you, Brittany. I've never wanted anything more than this and I've never needed to be close to someone so much. And this was the best way for us. So, yeah, I moved. Well, maybe not technically yet, but I'm here with you and I'm not going back without you."

"Ah!" Brittany didn't even try to contain her excitement.

Santana watched her hop around for a second before cluing her in, "You just did it."

"What did I do?"

"The cute butt wiggle, baby," Santana slapped her ass, "you just did it."

"I did not."

"You did."

"I still don't believe it." Whether she as referring to the wiggle or the move, neither of them knew or cared.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" Santana asked as she slid her arms around Brittany's waist.

"Have I told you how sexy those track pants are?"

"Yes, actually, you have."

Brittany popped the waistband, "You're even sexier out of them."

"Yeah?" Santana asked. "You should give me a tour, starting with your room so we can test that theory."

The blonde took her hand to lead the way, "Have you thought anymore about that armpit thing?"

"Britt..."

"I'm just asking."

"We're still working up to it," Santana told her as she trailed behind.

"We pretty much have forever, don't we?" Brittany said as she closed their bedroom door.

Thirty seconds later, it reopened and Lord Tubbington was gently pushed out of the room. "Sorry, Tubbs," Brittany whispered. "I'll give you extra treats later."

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Hi.

Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, followed, accidentally clicked on, tumbled, retumbled (reblogged?), tweeted, retweeted, posted, quoted, recommended, fan-arted, movie postered, or wrote a song for 2859. Thank you to everyone who messaged/askboxed/tweeted me. It was a blast to get to chat with you. I hope you all had as much with this story as I did.

Also big thanks to Alex/Ace/Nay/Cee for various things.

Halfrobotchicken.