He stood gaping at Brittany for a solid minute before he cleared his throat to speak, suddenly all too aware of her mother's presence.

"Ugh…" Not the most eloquent way to tell her she looked amazing but he was lost for words.

"Thank you," she replied like he had actually said a coherent sentence and managed to compliment her.

"I'll leave you two alone. Enjoy your night Brittany and remember to be home at a reasonable hour. Nice to see you again Santiago." Mrs. Pierce, or Susan, said as she took off into the kitchen, an amused smile on her face.

"You too," Santiago called after her, reluctantly dragging his eyes away from Brittany.

Brittany.

His date.

"You look amazing," he finally managed to tell her.

"I don't look any different than usual," she laughed, a slight blush working its way onto her cheeks.

"Exactly," he reached out to take her hand. It was a natural impulse and he didn't even realize he was doing until his palm warmed up when she wrapped her fingers around his.

Truth was, she didn't look much different than usual. She was wearing tight jeans, a striped t-shirt and a warm looking cardigan over it. But there was just something about knowing that she got dressed to go on a date with him that made her all the more beautiful. If that was even possible.

"You are unbelievable," she squeezed his hand, looking delighted and embarrassed all at once.

Santiago just squeezed back and led her out the door, back toward his house and into his mom's car.

"I'm excited to see where we're going. You're being so secretive today," Brittany announced from the passenger seat.

She had been trying to persuade him to reveal the details of their date. He was holding out. Barely.

"I told you, I want to surprise you," he said, not for the first time.

"Hmm, well I don't need to be surprised San. I'm happy just hanging out with you," she told him like he should be aware of that fact already.

He smiled widely at her.

"I'm happy just hanging with you too. But I'd be even happier if you let me surprise you."

"Ok then. If it makes you happier..." she reached for his hand that was resting on the gear shift and laced her fingers between his.

"We're almost there anyway," he said, trying to keep his cool. He felt comfortable and nervous all at once.

It wasn't long before they were pulling into a deserted parking lot and Brittany was looking around curiously.

"Where are we?" she asked him with a hint of confusion.

He parked the car and turned to look at her.

"Ok, so there's not much to do in Lima other than go to the cinema or eat, and we've already done both of those and we're not old enough to go to any fancy clubs so I thought I'd do something a little different. I hope you don't mind," he was starting to worry that maybe he was making a mistake. Maybe he was going too far.

"Of course I don't mind." She smiled reassuringly.

He got out of the car and walked around to her side, helping her out.

He led her through some broken fencing that surrounded what appeared to be an old industrial yard.

"This is why I asked you to dress comfortably," he smiled at her, walking her toward their destination.

It was dusk but not too dark, it was still warm out but he hoped it didn't get as cold as last night but he noted that Brittany's clothes were more appropriate than yesterday.

"San, what are we doing here?" Brittany asked once she realized that they were headed for an abandoned train carriage.

"I'll show you," he said before reaching up and pushing the door across the old wooden carriage and jumping up.

Once standing, he took Brittany's two hands and pulled her up, leading her back into main space of the carriage.

"Oh my god," he heard Brittany gasp once she looked around.

The carriage was decorated with a few candles and in the middle lay a blanket with a picnic basket and a bottle of Dr. Pepper placed beside some plastic red solo cups. Rolled up in the corner was a stack of blankets, just as he had requested.

When Kurt had rang him earlier with ideas, after getting a cramp in his left hand from the essay he was being forced to write on the do's and don't of a first date, he eventually snapped and asked Kurt for just one simple suggestion. Kurt didn't have one and after twenty minutes of to and froing he eventually just asked Santiago to choose for himself but told him that he would help out in any way he could. So, Santiago did and Kurt, as always, was on hand to bring his plan to life.

"I can't believe this," Brittany turned back to him and looked almost like she was going to cry.

"It's too much, right? I'm sorry, I-"

"No. It's amazing. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. Ever. I can't believe it," she was looking at him like he was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. She took two steps to close the distance between them and hugged him tight, leaning back to kiss neck; "Thank you." She mumbled.

"Thank you for agreeing to come on a date with me," he said before leaning down to kiss her cheek.

This whole date felt like something more. He didn't know what but he knew that Brittany was fast becoming the most important person in his life. It almost terrified him but when Brittany stepped out of his arms and walked over to the picnic basket, sitting down with her legs crossed and patted the space beside her for him to sit, he felt elated more than scared.

When Santiago took his designated place beside her he opened the picnic basket to start dishing out the food.

"I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a box of Dots, and some Gummi worms for you, I know they're your favorites but they might not go together so you don't have to eat everything…. or anything," he said while laying the food out on a plastic plate in front of her; "oh and obviously some Dr. Pepper too," he poured her some into one of the red solo cups, filling one for himself too.

"This is so wonderful. My favorite food, my favorite drink and my favorite person all in one place," she said before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Santiago couldn't stop the biggest smile from taking over his face. She called him her favorite person.

"I'm so happy," he blurted. He hadn't meant to but it was the first time in his whole life that he felt all of his doubts, his anger, his insecurities melt away only to be left with a feeling of total calm and genuine happiness.

"Me too," she said before finishing off her sandwich.

He took a bite of his Turkey sub and they chewed in silence, listening to the sound of crickets outside.

An hour later Santiago found himself lying on some blankets with his head resting on his folded up jacket and Brittany cuddled into his side, her right arm slung over his waist and her head in the crook of his neck.

"I can't believe that!" she was laughing at one of the many stories he had told her throughout the evening.

"That's what you get for messing with my bro," he maneuvered his head so that he could look at her face, smiling when she made eye contact with him.

"Remind me never to mess with any of your friends then," she lightly slapped his stomach.

"Oh, I will," he grabbed her hand to stop her from hitting him again. When he dropped it, she moved it to his chest and started drawing random shapes over it.

"San, how did you find out about this place?" she asked him, the conversation suddenly losing its lighthearted feel. For Santiago anyway.

He was silent for a beat, contemplating whether or not he should tell her before he realized that he actually really wanted to, surprising himself.

"Well, I've been friends with Kurt my whole life. He's been my closest friend since I can remember." He began, deciding how best to tell her, hoping she wouldn't judge him.

"Yeah, he's always telling me what a great guy you are. You know some of the girls on the squad told me you were gay? They told me that you and Kurt had a thing before he got with Blaine. That's why I wasn't sure if you were into me because I thought that maybe you were gay and you just wanted to be my friend. Which would've been totally cool but it would of sucked too because I definitely didn't want to be just friends. But when you kissed me last night, I knew that our hang out time was more than just friends." She propped herself up on her elbow, head resting on her left hand, looking at Santiago with those bright blue eyes.

"It took me so long to kiss you because I wasn't sure if you liked me" he revealed.

"Of course I do, silly," she tapped his nose with her forefinger, tutting at him. He grinned back and playfully rolled his eyes.

"About those girls though?," he continued "I'm not surprised. Some of them have their issues with me for whatever reason and I guess they wanted to get back at me. But I don't care that they think I'm gay. It's not like it's a bad thing. That rumor has been making the rounds since I first beat up Karofsky when he called Kurt a fag a couples of years ago."

"That's really nice of you. Most guys wouldn't feel the same," she was now making patterns on his stomach and it was sort of distracting him; "Can I tell you something?" she asked him, a tinge of worry lacing her voice.

"Of course," he replied right away.

"I….. last year I had my first ever relationship. And it was my best friend. A girl. I wasn't in love her but I liked her a lot. We broke up a couple of weeks before I moved here." She told him, quietly, as if afraid of his reaction.

"Can I tell you something?" he almost whispered.

"Yes."

"I've never had a relationship. With anyone." Yeah, he was surprised that Brittany had been with a girl but not shocked. She was a free spirit and open minded. He didn't care who her last relationship was with, as long her next one was with him.

"Is that all you want to say? Are you not weirded out with me?" she asked him, biting her lower lip.

"Britt, I'm not weirded out at all. Do you think maybe you're bisexual, maybe?" he asked her, curious.

"Yeah. I suppose. I mean, I like people, you know? Not just gender." She had visibly relaxed, a smile on her lips and relief in her eyes.

"Who likes labels anyway? Except for on things they shoplift," he chuckled. It turned into a full body laugh when Brittany accidentally snorted and they found themselves clutching their sides in pain, unable to control themselves. Each time one of them stopped, they made eye contact with the other and started all over again.

Eventually when the laughter died down and the silence settled again, Brittany asked him to continue his story about the train yard, apologizing for interrupting him.

"So Kurt and I used to hang all the time and his dad used to bring me to my football games and stuff because my dad was never really around. He was in the army and he was deployed for most of my life. But when my dad came back, he was really angry, you know? Angry at me, angry at my mom, angry at the world. He took to drinking a lot and eventually he started taking his anger out on me. He…he hit me for the first time when I was ten. It wasn't serious but it left a mark and I cried real hard because my mom had never so much as smacked me so I was surprised. I know she tried to protect me but she was scared, he made her feel worthless. She became a shadow of herself. I had never really liked him anyway. He only ever came back a few weeks at a time and I never got to know him so when he came back for good, I was jealous that my mom was spending time with him and not me. Seems like he was jealous too and he started hitting me a lot," it was only when Brittany wiped a tear from his cheek that he realized he was crying.

"San…" she breathed before kissing his cheek, wiping away the next tear that fell.

"Sorry," he said before closing his eyes, willing the tears to stop. He had never cried in front of anyone other than his mother. Not even Kurt.

"No, don't be. Please. If you want to continue, I'm here ok? I'm not going anywhere," she spoke, her lips still on his cheek.

Yeah, he was crying but he felt like a weight was lifting off of his shoulders, speaking about it for the first time in his life. Openly and honestly. Not telling his mom that he's ok with everything that happened or pretending to Kurt that his bruises were not as sore as they looked.

He took a deep breath and continued;

"Long story short, once Kurt saw that I was suddenly getting bruises all over my body he started making me stay at his but I was too afraid to leave my mom at home alone for too long so I would always go back after one night. One day it got so bad, that I ran away. I ran so fast and so far that I came here. I found this old carriage and I sat in it for what felt like hours imagining that it was a real train and that I was on my way to somewhere cool like New York. Then, as we got older and Kurt was struggling with his sexuality, we used to come here together to talk. It's where he first told me he was gay. It's always been our place and I just wanted to bring you here because you're the first person since Kurt that I've felt comfortable with and I wanted to show you something that means a lot to me." The tears had stopped now, Brittany was rubbing her lips across his cheek. Soothing and calming him.

"I am so honored that you would bring me here." Brittany told him, her leg now curled up over waist. It felt like she was enveloping him and all he could feel was her body pressed to his. In any other situation he would have been turned on, but right now he just felt content.

"Would you mind if I asked you what happened with your dad? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." she was running her hand up and down his torso, relaxing him.

"He was caught fucking my mom's friend and she threw him out. It sort of pisses me off that that was the reason why she finally got rid of him. He beat up his own son and she let him stay in our house and he fucks her friend and he's gone. I'm glad though, because my little brother and sister never knew much about his temper. He reserved it for me. Probably because he never bonded with me like he did with them. Eventually, I started hitting him back because he tried to hurt my mom. He had never physically harmed her before. Just got his thrills by calling her fat and stuff. It was my first day in Sophomore year when I came home and he was yelling, I could hear him from the lawn and when I went in he started calling her a whore and he went to smack her and I grabbed him by his shirt and punched him in the back of the head. I never felt so good in my life. Can you believe that though? The best I had ever felt was punching my papi in the head?." he asked her, expecting her to recoil but she did the opposite and moved herself so that she was straddling him, her arms bracketing his head and her legs on both sides of waist.

"He's a bad man Santiago. You're not. You were angry and you wanted to protect your mom and you did that. It doesn't make you bad." She took his hands and placed them on her waist. "You're the nicest person I've ever met. You're caring. You're a great son and big brother. You're a wonderful friend. You tutor me with so much patience even though it takes me a long time to learn. And I've heard you stick up for me when some of the guys called me stupid-"

"You're not stupid," he told her before she could continue.

"And you're not a bad person" She leaned down, her breath brushing over his lips.

"I feel like I've ruined our date," he whispered onto her lips.

"Definitely not. This is the most amazing date I've ever been on," she told him before kissing him.

It didn't take long for him to reciprocate.