After a confusing, yet surprisingly great night at the Pierce household, Santana was ready to wear her heart on her sleeve. She couldn't say what she wanted to out loud. She felt like a bit of a coward for that, but then again, she had a right to be afraid. The world isn't really accepting in nature. Once she was finished with her letter, she folded it up and placed it in her backpack.

"Breakfast is ready!" Santana's father shouted from the kitchen.

Santana could hear her parents arguing about how if her mom wanted to get Santana by yelling upstairs, she could have done it herself. Santana couldn't help but laugh lightly at her parents antics. It was just another typical morning in the Lopez's household.

Santana slung her bag over her shoulder and ran downstairs. She looked at the clock; she really needed to get to school soon. Santana grabbed a muffin, "Thanks mama!" Before her mother could reply, Santana was out the door, practically running to her car.

Santana jumped into her car, throwing her backpack into the passenger seat as she shoved the muffin in her mouth and pulled out of the driveway. The drive to school is pretty short, but Santana wanted to get there a little before the first bell to give Brittany her letter.

Every couple of seconds, she checked the clock. Crap, crap, crap, I'm so going to be late. She looked at the clock again. It's 7:08. Calmate, you have 7 minutes until the bell rings.

As she stepped out of her car, Santana took a moment to compose herself, but then she heard that dreaded sound, the bell rang. Of course, you idiot, the bell rings 5 minutes before class as a warning bell in the morning. Gah!

Santana wanted to act nonchalant. She wanted not to care. She didn't want to run through the halls like a maniac to get this letter to Brittany before class. Despite telling herself not to act like a dork, she found herself running through the halls of McKinley High School.

Her eyes scanned the lockers looking for Brittany's. She's been to Brittany's locker before, but she couldn't remember what number it was. Why do all the lockers in this place have to be blue? There is too much blue? What is wrong with you? Calm yourself Lopez!

Out of the blue, Santana remembered writing down Brittany's locker number and combo because Brittany often forgot what her combo was. She searched through her planner and found the information. Of course, it's 314, you should've remembered that. It's easy as pi. Santana couldn't help but smile at her own lame joke.

Santana realized that Brittany has probably already been to her locker and is on her way to her first class. Instead of handing the letter to Brittany later, Santana decides to shove the letter in Brittany's locker through one of the slits. This is what they do in the movies, right? It's romantic. Yeah, that's it. Santana suddenly became afraid of her own thoughts. She decided that it was probably best to just attempt to forget her thoughts and run off to class before she was late.

Brittany looked around for Santana, but she was nowhere to be found. The five minute bell had already rung, but Santana still hadn't made her way over to her locker. Brittany knew that this was weird, usually Santana is early. What if Santana is trying to avoid her? No, she wouldn't do that to me, we're best friends.

After another minute passes, Brittany decides that it's best to just put the note in Santana's locker. It's weird how I forget where my locker is sometimes, but I always know which one is Santana's. Brittany laughed at the thought as she shoved the letter into Santana's locker. She then ran off to class, knowing that if she was late to biology one more time, Mr. Berkley would have her head…whatever that means. I hope it's not like in Alice in Wonderland, because that's really scary.

"So, are you coming with us to lunch, or what?" Sugar wondered as she popped her gum. Brittany hated the sound of someone popping their gum.

She tried to ignore how annoying it was and simply replied, "Yeah, I've just got to put a few books away."

Brittany opened her locker for the first time since this morning. When she opened it, a note fell out.

"What's that?" Sugar's eyebrow shot up questioningly.

Brittany knew exactly what it was, "Nothing."

"Oh sure, it's probably some love letter from Dave," Sugar smirked as she pulled out a mirror and checked her makeup.

Brittany quickly read over the note in the cover of her locker. Luckily for her, Sugar didn't really care too much about her covertly reading the note:

Brittany,

This is really the only way I knew how to tell you this, so here it goes. I know that I freaked out last night after we kissed, but it's not because I don't like you. I actually really like you. I like you more than I've ever liked anyone, but I just can't kiss you while you're still with David. But I have to let you know that I'll be waiting. I know that it's unfair to ask you to break up with David, so I won't, but I will be here for you, always, no matter what you decide to do.

You are the only person that I've really felt safe with, you're the only person who really understands me, and you're the only person that I can be 100% honest with. Our friendship really means a lot to me. You really mean a lot to me. I want need you in my life.

Please, I don't want what happened to come between us.

-Santana-

A single tear dropped from Brittany's eye before she quickly wiped it away, not wanting Sugar to see. Santana was so patient and understanding. Santana wasn't asking her to dump David to figure out what their relationship means. No, she's telling Brittany to follow her heart and that she will back her up.

Brittany placed the note in her backpack. What Brittany didn't know is that Sugar was watching her and watched as she placed the note in the front of her bag. Sugar desperately wanted to see the letter. If she didn't get a chance to see it, she was at least going to make fun of David for being the romantic type.

"So, did he pour his heart out?" Sugar wondered as Brittany shut her locker with a light bang.

"Huh?" Brittany was taken by surprise.

"David, did he pour his heart out?" Sugar pried.

"Uh, sure," Brittany didn't really want to think of a lie to tell Sugar, so she just decided to let Sugar think what she wants to.

"Let me see it," Sugar practically demanded.

Oh hell no, "I don't think so Sugar."

"Oh, come on, let me see it," Sugar continued.

"Not going to happen," Brittany tried to keep her tone as playful as possible, but inside she was very serious about every word that leaked from her mouth.

"Fine, whatever," Sugar said. However, Sugar wasn't going to give up, she was going to get to the bottom of this note one way or another. Maybe she'll just ask David about it.

"No, you are so wrong!" Quinn practically yelled.

"You don't even know what you're talking about! You wouldn't know the first thing about horror movies!" Santana yelled jokingly back.

"Whatever, I know about horror movies and I'm telling you that Scream is not the best horror movie," Quinn added matter-of-factly.

"Okay, Quinn, I don't think you get a horror movie opinion, you're afraid of the dark! Plus, it has an amazing plotline, a scary killer, and it's freaking hilarious. And not in a totally cheese-tastic way either," Santana shot back.

Quinn rolled her eyes at me, "Cheese-tastic?"

"Yeah," Santana shrugged. I make up words all the time this is nothing new.

"I accept that you and Brittany are friends, but you better watch out, she's starting to rub off on you," Quinn nudged Santana in the arm as Santana put in her locker combination.

Once she opened her locker, a note fell out of her locker. Santana knew what it was immediately. "Hey, you dropped something," Quinn said picking it up. Quinn began to unfold it.

Santana was a little too flustered and practically yelled, "Don't read that!"

"What is it? A love note from your secret admirer," Quinn joked as she opened it up and glanced at the page.

"For the love of God, please don't read that," Santana tried to rip the letter out of Quinn's hands, but it was too late.

Quinn's expression fell as she looked up at Santana. She handed the letter to Santana without another word. Santana read over the letter carefully, trying her best to avoid Quinn's expression.

Santana,

Last night was amazing. Thanks for coming by to meet my parents, they really loved you. They keep telling me that you're an amazing influence on me. Whatever that means, but I think it's a good thing.

I know that you were a little worried about us kissing last night, but I just wanted you to know that you don't have to be. I really like you and I know that it's scary, it's scary for me too. You're the best friend that I've ever had. I don't want this to hurt our friendship. I will talk to David, I don't even know why I'm with him in the first place because I feel better with you than I ever have felt with him. I mean, you're amazing, the best. I really hope that we can still be the way we are with each other and that you're not too weirded out. Thanks for not letting me cheat on David. I would have felt bad about it, you're right. You always are.

PS: Look I'm using the commas right… I think. J

Brittany 3

Crap. Santana knew that Brittany liked her back and that Brittany was going to make an effort to see their relationship through, but now Quinn knows too. It's not that Santana didn't want Quinn to know, it's just that she didn't want her to know this soon.

Santana couldn't help herself, as she folded the letter back up, she started crying. She thought for sure that she was going to lose her best friend over this. But instead of running away, or judging her, Quinn simply wrapped Santana in her arms. Santana continued to cry into Quinn's shoulder.

Santana pulled away after a moment and said, "You're not mad?"

"Of course I'm mad, I'm actually furious," Quinn was careful not to raise her tone as she searched Santana's face. "I'm mad because I'm your best friend and you didn't tell me about this, I'm mad because I feel like you don't think that you can trust me. We've known each other since we were in diapers, Santana."

"So, wait, you're not mad at me for being…I don't even know," Santana sniffled.

"For what? For liking a girl? Santana, why would I care? I love you like a sister! The only thing that I care about is that you didn't tell me about this. We used to tell each other everything. What happened?" Quinn practically whispered knowing that Santana wasn't ready for a public announcement of her sexuality.

"I don't know, but I really miss you. I've needed someone to talk to about this and I don't know why I felt like I couldn't tell you, but it's just really hard. I'm so scared," tears continued to stream down Santana's face.

"It's okay, I understand. Just know that I'm here for you, for anything. Now, you need to tell me how all of this happened," Quinn said with a smile on her face, "Because we're best friends and by law you have to tell me about all of your crushes."

"By law?" Santana managed somewhat of a laugh through her tears.

"Yup," Quinn nodded. "I'm sure it's written down somewhere."

Santana shrugged, accepting the answer and said, "Thanks Quinn. I know that I've been a really crappy best friend."

"If I had known what you were going through, I wouldn't have thought twice about the distance you put between yourself and well…everyone else. It's understandable."

"So, lunch," Santana decided to lighten the mood and change the subject, at least for now.

"Oh, don't think you're getting off that easy missy. We're talking about this. Maybe not now, maybe not here, but we are defiantly talking about this," Quinn smiled as the two made their way down the hall towards the lunch room.

Sugar and Brittany sat down with their food at a table with David, Puck, and Azimio. Lunch was the best time of the day; the time when you got to hang out with your friends, a time when you could be worry free. You could just let go of everything and have a good time, no matter how crappy your day was. Despite the icky food, lunch was a pretty okay time of the day.

Brittany knew, however, that today was going to be a rough, drama filled lunch. She was going to pull David aside and break up with him. She wasn't sure about breaking up with him at first, but after Santana's note, she knew that she had to. Brittany really likes Santana. Santana gives her that butterfly feeling in her stomach. David never did. It really wasn't that hard of a decision.

"So, after that dude caught the ball, I totally laid him out," Azimio fist bumped David.

"Then Dave threw the game winning touchdown, it was awesome!" Puck piped in. Usually Puck was quite, but he couldn't contain his excitement. The football team has been having its first winning season in years.

"Yeah, Dave, you're so awesome. You're an amazing quarterback, and the perfect boyfriend," Sugar commented.

David gave Sugar a brief and confused look before searching Brittany's expression for an answer, "Why do you say that?"

Brittany knew why she was saying it. Brittany tried to shoot Sugar a look that said 'drop it' but Sugar clearly didn't catch the hint and continued, "Well, only an amazing boyfriend leaves love letters to his girlfriend in her locker."

Before Brittany even knew what happened, Sugar pulled Santana's letter out of her backpack and handed it to David. Oh no, what is she doing! Brittany tried to intercept the letter, but David had already gotten his hands on it. That was it, she was doomed.

David's expression turned from excited about the game, to questioning about the letter he never wrote, to furious about what he just read. Brittany didn't know what to expect next.

"You bitch!" David yelled so loud that the entire cafeteria heard.

"Dave, give it back," Brittany said calmly.

"What is it?" Sugar was now genuinely confused.

"This fucking lesbian bitch cheated on me with the Queen of Geek!" David stood up so fast that his chair flew behind him.

Puck looked from David to Brittany, worried about what David might do, "Dave calm down dude."

Quinn and Santana walked to their usual table. Mike and Tina were already there. They sat at a small table at the far side of the lunch room. The table was only big enough to occupy four chairs, which was perfect for the four good friends. They tried to stay away from the crowds of kids who think they're popular in the middle of the lunchroom. Like everything else, the 'popular kids' feel like they need to be in the middle of everything, the center of attention.

"So, how's tutoring going?" Mike spewed his words like venom. He hated Brittany, but everyone knew that already.

"Hey, lay off," Quinn defended Santana.

"It's okay Q. Tutoring is great, Brittany is really nice and she's really starting to grasp the material," Santana smiled.

"San, are you doing anything after school?" Quinn wondered, ignoring Mike. They were all still good friends, Mike just didn't like the popular kids and held some animosity towards the situation of Santana tutoring Brittany, but ultimately wasn't mad at Santana for it.

"You bitch!" David's voice rang out in the cafeteria.

"What the hell is going on over there?" Tina wondered as the group of four looked toward the rising drama coming from David's table.

Santana and Quinn shared a knowing look. "Mike, you're going to have to back us up on this one," Quinn said as she and Santana stood up from their table. Santana ran over towards Brittany's table. Without thinking, or questioning, Mike followed suit. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew that he had his friends' backs.

Brittany stands up from her seat a little terrified of what David might do next. David stalks towards her. Santana runs in front of Brittany, "Stay away from her you creep, or I'll go all Lima Heights on your gigantic ass!"

"Get out of my way Ellen!" David yelled.

"Oh, you really got me there. I don't think I've ever heard that one. Clever comment of the year goes to, lumps the clown, David Karofsky," Santana kept herself between David and Brittany.

David was about to lose it, but Mike and Puck stopped him. David started to flail around, trying to give Brittany and Santana a piece of his mind…or rather his fist. David managed to squirm free of Puck's grip and punches Mike in the face. He then turns to begin his attack on the girls, but a bulky administrator pulled him away. It wasn't long after that that the resource officer had David in handcuffs.

"You fucking bitch! You fucking…" David shouted.

The resource officer interrupted his yelling, "You shut up right now young man!" The officer then practically dragged David out of the cafeteria.

Santana turned around so that she is facing Brittany. Without saying anything, Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana in a tight hug. No words had to be said.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, while David was going ape-shit crazy, Sugar and Azimio had read the letter that made him go ballistic.

Tina helped Mike up and examined the new bruise on his cheek. Santana let go of Brittany to see if Mike was alright, "Mike, are you okay?" There was newfound worry in Santana's voice.

"Yeah, I've been worse. What a creep," Mike said as he stood up with the help of Tina and Santana.

"Thank you so much," Santana hugged Mike.

"Anytime Santana, but next time can I have some 'you might get hit in the face' warning?" Mike laughed.

"Of course," Santana poked his side playfully.

Brittany helped Puck up off the floor, "Thanks Puck."

"Yeah, what the hell was that all about?" Puck wondered. Azimio tapped Puck on the shoulder and handed him the letter.

Santana and Brittany shared a look. They knew that this was not going to be pretty. Every one of their friends now knew about their feelings for each other. Everyone would have known eventually, but the pair didn't think that it was going to be this soon.

Sugar was the first to break the awkward silence, "What the hell Brittany? This is just…disgusting!"

"Back off super bitch," Quinn stood up for the two.

"No one's talking to you, whatever your name is," Sugar spewed. "How could you even think of kissing a girl? Especially Santana freaking Lopez!"

"Hey, don't talk about her like that!" Brittany shot, looking from Sugar to Santana.

"Sugar's right Brittany! What the fuck? Dave had every right to lash out the way he did!" Azimio added.

Puck pushed Azimio, challenging him, "Dude, you are so wrong, Dave had no right to do what he did, and you have no right to talk to these two ladies like that!"

"I don't see any ladies here, just a couple of lesbian freaks!" Azimio pushed Puck back.

The same administrator from earlier pushed Puck and Azimio apart, "If all of you don't stop this right now, you are all suspended. That means from football as well. Do I make myself clear?!"

Everyone nodded their heads in silent compliance. The administrator looked from Puck to Azimio and finally Azimio threw his hands up in the air and stomped out of the cafeteria. Sugar followed after him, but not before shooting a death glare at both Brittany and Santana.

"Thanks Puck," Brittany says as she wraps her arms around her stomach. She feels like she's going to get sick.

"Anytime," Puck says before adding, "You didn't deserve any of that: not the way David acted and not what any of them said." Puck walks over to Brittany and wraps her up in a tight bear hug.

Brittany felt a hand on her arm after Puck released her from the hug. She realized instantly who it was. She turned and was looking straight into Santana's golden brown eyes.

"Thanks for sticking up for me," Santana said, a few tears flowing freely down her face. Brittany hated seeing her cry, but she understood Santana's tears because she was also crying.

"Always," Brittany replied. "Plus, you stood in front of the psycho, I just used words."

Santana looked deep into Brittany's saddened blue eyes, "You stood up to your best friend for me, and it means a lot."

"Yeah, some friend," Brittany said looking to Quinn. Quinn had been so understanding through the whole thing and Brittany just wished that she had a best friend like Quinn; instead of Sugar.

"I kind of know what's going on, but…huh?" Mike wondered as he observed the transactions taking place in front of him. Brittany simply handed him the letter. Mike and Tina read the letter together. Everyone looked to them to read their expressions.

"Really? This is what that was all about," Tina rolled her eyes.

"Hey, just know, we have your backs," Mike said as he handed the letter back to Brittany without consulting Tina. Tina simply nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry that Dave hit you," Brittany looked down to the ground.

"It's okay, it makes me manlier. Battle wounds," Mike said proudly.

"Yeah, whatever," Quinn laughed at Mike trying to be a badass.

It was only then that the group in the middle of the lunchroom realized that everyone in the room had their eyes on them. They all felt a little self-conscious.

Before the group could really ease the tension built by David, the bell rang for lunch to end. Everyone grabbed their things and got ready to leave and pretend like nothing really happened.

"We'll talk during tutoring," Santana said as she walked with Quinn, Mike, and Tina out of the lunchroom. Brittany simply nodded in response.

That's the thing about lunch. It's the like a timeout. Everything school related is forgotten for an hour and people have fun and laugh and hang out…or they fill their lives with drama and scream and fight… but whatever happens in the lunchroom is put aside once the hour ends, and everyone has to get back to classes until the end of the day. It's strange; like the lunchroom is a mini Las Vegas of the school system.

It's eighth hour. That means tutoring. That means that all of the feelings and all of the pain that had been stored away when lunch ended now is finding its way back to the surface. Brittany and Santana knew that they had to talk, but they both knew that it would be hard and they were both afraid of the outcome of the conversation.

"Hey Santana," Brittany practically choked out as Santana sat down next to her.

"Hey Brittany," Santana replied in a voice so low that Brittany almost missed it.

"So…"

"So…"

Neither of them really knew what to say. Where do you even begin after everything that happened? Both of them stared at the desk in front of them for what seemed like forever.

"Britt, I-I really like you…" Santana began.

"I really like you too," Brittany interrupted.

The both laughed, lightening up the rather awkward ambiance that had surrounded them. For the first time since they sat down together, they looked at each other, blue eyes meeting brown.

"So we're on the same page," Santana smiled. She already knew this, but it was nice to have it confirmed.

Brittany looked confused, "What page?"

"We're thinking the same thing, we have the same feelings for each other," Santana clarified.

Brittany nodded, "Yeah, we're on that page."

"But I'm scared," Santana looked defeated as she said the words.

"Scared of what?" Brittany needed some more clarification.

"I'm afraid of the looks that we'll get walking down the halls, the anger that we'll bring out of people's hearts if they knew who we are, the whispers, everything," Santana admitted.

Brittany placed her hand on top of Santana's. "I'm scared too. But, I'm not afraid of that. I'm afraid because I've never done this before, I'm afraid that I'm going to mess up. I'm not the brightest tool in the shed. I mess a lot of things up, and I'm afraid that I'm going to mess this up."

Santana chuckled lightly to herself at Brittany's idiom usage before saying, "You don't need to be afraid of messing up. You won't. You are smart and beautiful and don't need to be afraid just because this is new."

"And you are strong and don't need to worry about what other people think. You are the bravest person I know. You stood up to David. He's like twice your size. You put yourself in between David and me. You are too brave to worry about what people might think. And if anyone were to ever say or do anything mean to you, I'll be there to protect you, like you protected me today," Brittany added.

Santana turned her hand over on the desk and interlaced her finger's with Brittany's. "You're right. You know what, as long as we go through this uncharted territory together, we'll be fine," Santana stated.

"Yeah, we'll be like Lewis and Clark!" Brittany said excitedly.

"Just like Lewis and Clark," Santana laughed with Brittany as she gave Brittany's hand a squeeze.

"You have the best friends," Brittany said randomly once the laughter died down.

"They're pretty cool…Hey, I never thanked Puck for fighting for us," Santana pointed out that Brittany has someone standing up for her too.

"He knows that you're grateful. But, Mike took a shiner and Quinn was ready to cat fight with Sugar. Which means that you're friends are more awesomer."

Grammar, we need to work on grammar. Santana thought before saying, "They're pretty okay, huh?"

"Yeah…" Brittany and Santana glanced over at each other at the same time earning a blush from them both.

"So where does that leave us?" Santana wondered.

"I don't know," Brittany shrugged a little sad that she didn't have a solid answer.

"I guess we'll figure it out as we go," Santana shrugged too.

"But, no matter what happens, we're still best friends," Brittany slid her hand out of Santana's and held out her pinkie.

Santana took Brittany's pinkie in hers, "Promise."

"So, I know that there is all this drama, but I still need to get my learning on," Brittany got that bubbly look back in her eyes and Santana was glad.

"Yeah, let's look at some more grammar things and then we can move on to history," Santana said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a notebook.

"I hate grammar," Brittany pouted.

"I think it hates you too," Santana joked.

Brittany crossed her arms across her chest and stuck her tongue out at Santana for the comment. "Meany."

Santana and Brittany shared a smile. Santana loved being around Brittany. She loved hanging out with her, she loved tutoring her, she loved that Brittany stuck up for her, and she loved whenever Brittany would look at her with those piercing blue eyes. "Hey, Brittany…"

"Yeah?"

"I will always be there for you," Santana decided that she had to say something. She couldn't say 'I love you.' At least not yet. They weren't at that point.

"I'll always be there for you too," Brittany said as she picked up her pen and they began their lesson.

Maybe nothing was officially resolved and there are a lot of problems that need to be fixed, but this is still a big step for the both of them. They know that they have people who are willing to support them, they know that there are people who hate them because of their feelings for each other, they know that they have no clue what they're doing, and they know that they're going to get through all of it together. They know that they don't know…and that's okay for now. They don't have all of the answers and they don't need to as long as they have each other.

Author's Note:

"She Is" by The Fray