Santiago was standing outside of Brittany's early on Tuesday morning. He was smiling from ear to ear as he waited to walk with her to school. Even though they'd already had sex and went on dates, this felt like a significant moment in their relationship. Brittany had texted Quinn to tell her that her mom was bringing her to school instead, she didn't want to tell her the real reason until they were face to face. It's unfortunate that Quinn could never be that honorable.

Mrs. Pierce opened the door almost the moment that Santiago rang the bell, "Good morning, it's a nice to surprise to see you," she smiled warmly.

"We're walking to school together," he couldn't keep the excitement from his voice. He should be in a bad mood because of his meeting with Figgins before class but Brittany insisted that she would accompany him which made it a lot easier to deal with. The Quinn thing was gnawing at his stomach and he had yet to decide what he would say to Sue but regardless, he was definitely going to say something.

"I wondered why Brittany was extra perky this morning," Mrs. Pierce said before calling for Brittany, "Have you had your breakfast?" she asked.

"Yeah, I had some toast," he usually ate triple the amount in the mornings but he wasn't hungry, he had a lot on his mind.

"Would you like to bring a bagel with you? Surely toast won't keep your stomach full for long?" Mrs. Pierce offered politely.

"Oh, I'm fine thanks. There's no need to go out of your way," he really loved that Brittany's family were so kind to him, it made him feel like they supported their relationship. Mrs. Pierce looked like she was about to protest when she was interrupted.

"Sorry San, Chloe wouldn't let me leave until I picked out her clothes for her, she can be really fussy," Brittany appeared behind her mom looking more gorgeous than usual, if even possible.

"No problem, we're still ahead of time," he said checking his watch, he had been a little overeager when leaving his house that morning. Brittany pushed passed her mom and hugged him in greeting. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tight, not lingering too long as her mom was still watching them intently.

"Have a good day you two," Mrs. Pierce called as they walked away.

"You too," Santiago replied with a raised hand that was meant to be a wave.

"Bye mom, see you later," Brittany blew her a kiss.

When her mom shut the door, Brittany reached for his hand. Her warm palm on his made the tingles in his stomach go crazy.

"Lemme carry your bag," Santiago briefly let go of her hand to take her bag which she reluctantly gave him.

"I feel bad," she explained when he asked why she was resisting.

"It makes me feel manly and important though. Like what else are we good for except opening jars and carrying bags?" he carried her bag in his left hand as he threw his other arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. She quickly melted into him with a laugh and pushed her arm under his own backpack to rest on his lower back.

"That's true I suppose. You are good with your hands after all," she said flirtatiously, it made him grin.

"They're like magic hands, or so it seemed the other night." He kissed the top of her head, inhaling the smell of her shampoo and a hint of something that was just Brittany.

"Meh, it was ok," Brittany shrugged.

"Are you serious? I better up my game. This means we'll have to practice. A lot. We need tons and tons of practice for me to get better. I recommend starting as soon as possible, like tonight."

Brittany chuckled before she stopped walking suddenly, bringing them both to a halt. She stepped in front of him and tugged him closer by the waistband of his pants, pulling his lips down to hers by the back of his neck. She sucked his bottom lip in her mouth and ran her tongue over it. His arms hung uselessly by his sides as her tongue pushed past his lips into his mouth. It was warm and delicious. Santiago's brain was on meltdown. She broke the kiss with a loud pop and ran her finger over her lips to wipe away the moisture.

"Mmm, I was just checking your kissing skills too. They're ok but we'll need to work on them as well. We'll see what our schedules are and possibly fit in a lesson tonight." She nodded her head seriously and moved back into her previous position and continued walking again.

"Are you ok?" she asked after a few moments.

"Uh huh," he croaked.

Brittany laughed as she waited for Santiago to regain his brain functions.

"I just wanted to give you something nice to remember for your meeting with Figgins," she said eventually.

That made him plummet back down to earth and wince, he was dreading talking to that useless lump who called himself a Principal. Especially knowing that he'd have to be on his best behavior.

"If today goes smoothly, we should take a drive somewhere and take our minds off the stress. Maybe even get a bit of practice in while we're there," Brittany suggested when she saw his expression turn from horny to sullen in the blink of an eye.

Yep, that definitely cheered him up as McKinley came into view. He would just grin and bear it with the knowledge that Brittany would cheer him up later that day.

Santiago was back in front of Figgins for the second time in two days. Brittany was waiting outside for him, which was the only reason he kept his cool.

"Good morning Mr. Lopez. I see your bi-curious not-so-secret girlfriend is waiting outside. She was very vivacious yesterday, I must say I was surprised," Figgins began as he entered the room.

"Uh that's a little innapro-"

"Hush, we have a lot to discuss," Figgins sat at the edge of his desk and tapped Santiago on the shoulder in warning.

"Right, but I mean-"

"Anyway, let us begin by talking about your very obvious anger issues. I believe that we must address these in order for you to have a future here at this wonderful establishment. It's well known that McKinley ranks in the top five of schools in the Lima district-"

"Yeah because there's only si-"

"And you are wise to want to continue your education here, so I suggest you seek counseling from Ms. Pillsbury our critically acclaimed guidance counselor."

"Isn't she the one that cries constan-"

"She will talk through your various issues and hopefully provide you with a solution. Then I must insist you enroll in our new anti-bullying program that will be spearheaded by your blonde counterpart. We are currently in the process of getting some nifty costumes designed to make it more appealing to the populace of students here. And finally, I will be giving you this report card that must be filled out by all of your class teachers for the next two weeks. They will be keeping a close eye on your performance in and out of class. Now please be gone, I am famished and I believe Coach Beiste has jelly donuts in the staff room." Figgins shooed him out of the office with disinterest and Santiago was completely confused by the whole thing. Yesterday he had expelled him, today he was acting like it never happened. It pissed him off.

Brittany stood up as Santiago closed the door behind him, "So…?" she asked anxiously.

"Can I just say that I don't know how that man has a job at this school?" he threw his arms in the air in complete exasperation.

"I know, he's offensive and awful at his job. At least Sue is just offensive," Brittany stepped closer, invading his senses.

"Basically, I've gotta go see Ms. Pillsbury tomorrow, we're starting an anti bullying campaign and I gotta get this card filled out," he held the yellow report card up for Brittany to see, she took it from his hand and glanced over it.

"That doesn't seem so bad, right?" she reasoned hopefully.

"No, I guess not. I just hate this school." Between his awful Spanish teacher, a psycho cheerleading coach, an offensive Principal and an emotionally unstable guidance counselor, he wasn't sure how they'd get through life at McKinley at all.

"It's a lot worse than my old school, but I didn't have you there so it so it's not all bad." she blushed slightly and ducked her head in embarrassment. He was amazed that she could be so open sexually and so shy emotionally. It's something he really loved about her.

"And now that I've got you, I've something to look forward to when I get up for school," he pecked her cheek, over where the freckles dusted her nose and let his lips linger for a beat. She hummed contently.

"I better head to class," she sighed sadly.

"Thanks for the support," he ran his hand down her arm and took her hand in his, tracing the soft skin of her knuckles with his thumb.

"I'll always be here to support you, I love you," she smiled bashfully as her fingers laced in his.

"I love you too," they kissed briefly before parting ways.

Maybe now things were starting to look up.

During an unexpected free period before lunch, Santiago decided it was time he made his way to Sue Sylvester's office. The fear creeped up his neck and sent shivers down his spine as he tapped on her door.

"Come in," the voice from inside said in annoyance. He took a deep breath and twisted the handle to enter the office, where Sue stared at him in mild interest and intrigue.

"What brings you here? I had tacos for dinner last night for the first time in 6 years and it would be just my luck that the entire Hispanic immigrant community would smell me out." She said with a snarl.

He stood at the door, knowing not to take a seat unless asked to, and played nervously with the straps of his backpack.

"I've come to talk about something," he straightened up to appear more confident, but internally he was absolutely crapping himself.

"No, I will not change my policy on shipping immigrants back home in the industrial container they arrived here on and I really wish you liberals would stop the pointless and time wasting lobbying."

Santiago was made speechless for a moment as he gathered his thoughts.

"Uh.. no it's not about that. It's actually about Brittany," he said with a lot more confidence than he felt.

"The adorable blonde with the brain capacity of a walnut. Please don't tell me you've gotten her pregnant with your mixed race child because I can't afford to lose her before Nationals. Despite the vast emptiness that exists between both ears, she can move like no other and is as flexible as Obama's missile defense policy. Except you probably already know that. You Latin types are so predictable," Sue was now writing in her diary and wasn't even looking at him.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't talk about her like that," he snapped before he could stop himself. Hearing anyone talk badly about Brittany was like adding fuel the embers that slowly burnt within him.

"How precious. Usually I would chew you up and spit you out without so much as a second thought but I like your fiery attitude. It's what makes you a good footballer and good footballers make our cheerleaders look better. But please hurry up as you're taking longer than the Cold War lasted to get to whatever ridiculous point you insist on making." Sue snapped her fingers in a gesture for him to stop wasting her time.

With a deep breath, Santiago bit the bullet and went for it, "I want you to to be able to guarantee Brittany her place on the team this year," the room went eerily silent after he spoke and Sue finally put her pen down to stare deep into the depths of his soul. Her face was like stone, not a muscle moved. She looked affronted and insulted by what he had just asked.

As she opened her mouth to speak, the undeniable voice of Quinn Fabray filtered in from the hallway.

"Come back here now Brittany!" she shouted so loudly that it was as if she were standing in the room beside them.

Santiago and Sue stared at each other in confusion.

Oh shit.