By the time Brittany woke up, Jenny was already gone.

Brittany had hung out with Puck for a little while before she called it a night. He had wanted to go bar hopping, but that was just not her thing. After brushing her teeth she decided to just lounge around the house instead of getting dressed. She didn't have to be at work for a few hours.

She fixed herself a bowl of cereal and as she sat watching The Cartoon Network, her phone rang. Her heart started beating faster thinking that maybe it was Santana. She relaxed a little when she saw it was just her sister. "Why aren't you in class?"

"Well, good morning to you too," Jenny said, "I've got 10 minutes before class but I wanted to see what the hell happened between you and Santana?"

Brittany almost dropped her bowl. "What?"

"Santana came by last night looking for you," Jenny went on, "I thought you were going to ask her to hang out?"

"Sh..she was here?" Brittany put the bowl on the table in front of her because she almost dropped it again. "Like, in our apartment? Inside?"

"Yes, you dork. She came by looking for you and she wanted me to tell you to call her. What did you do Brittany?"

"Nothing!" Brittany looked around the apartment to see if it was clean. Santana had been in her home and the thought excited her and embarrassed her a little.

"Brittany?" Jenny used the tone she always did when Brittany was holding something back.

Brittany took a breath. "She knows about dad."

"Oh. I take it you didn't tell her."

"She went looking around in my work file and saw my arrest record," Brittany explain, "I sort of got mad at her."

Jenny was silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Well, I guess I'd be a little pissed too, you know, that she looked into our family like that. But…"

"But what?"

"I did Google her so, I sort of get it."

"Googling isn't the same. Our family isn't public information."

"I would hope not," Jenny said.

Brittany heard a bell in the background.

"Look," Jenny said, "I gotta get to class. I met Santana and she seems really cool and if she came all the way to our place to see you, she wants to make things right. You should have seen her Britt, she looked sad and I wasn't sure why. I'm sure she didn't mean to upset you."

"I know," Brittany said softly, "I'll talk to her."

"You better!"

"Get to class. Don't be late."

"Bye Britt."

After she hung up, she finished up her breakfast then got ready. She needed to go find Santana.

###

Santana waited near the valet station for Blaine to arrive. She had sent a car to pick him up about half an hour ago and the driver had said they were close. She occasionally glanced over to the taxi stand hoping to catch a glimpse of her friend but knew it was too early in the day. Brittany usually worked the late shift.

She had hoped Brittany would have called or texted her but so far nothing. Paul Pierce had proved to be a very sore subject with Brittany and as much as Santana wanted to dig even further into Mr. Pierce, she wouldn't. She'd wait for Brittany to tell her.

Santana was so into her thoughts, she didn't notice when one of the hotel town cars had stopped in front of her and Blaine shouting through the window. "Santana!"

"Excited much?" Santana laughed and hugged her friend once he was out of the car. "How was your flight?"

Blaine stepped back. "It was fine. Geez, I forgot how hot Vegas is."

"Get used it," Santana said, "This is your new home."

Joe, the bellhop, was standing buy with a luggage trolly to pick up Blaine's bags. There were a lot of them.

"Fuck, Blaine," Santana said, "I brought two suitcases with me. You have like six."

"This is my whole life!" Blaine ignored Santana and started walking inside. "Let's get me into some centralized air."

Once inside, Santana instructed Joe to take Blaine's bags to his room.

"Are we on the same floor?" Blaine asked.

"Bitch, please," Santana scoffed, "You're in one of our regular rooms, which is still an amazing room. I arranged to have the hotel cover your stay here for the next four months. After that, you have to move out."

"How come you get to live here?" Blaine did nothing to hide his disappointment.

"It was part of my deal for taking this job," Santana said, "You should have negotiated harder." She winked at him and lead him to the elevators. "Come on, let's go up to my room so I can show off what you're missing out on."

"Gee, thanks. I'm starting to wonder why I even missed you at all."

Santana laughed as the got in to the employee elevator and pressed the button to the 15th floor.

###

Brittany parked her cab in the break area. She was early for her shift but she needed to see Santana and apologize for the way she acted. She was still upset Santana had dug into her family history but Brittany knew Santana didn't mean to hurt her. Brittany also hated that she had lied to Santana about helping Jenny with a project. She had gone on about how she didn't like to lie and she tells Santana a lie when things got tough.

She got out of the cab and again wondered if Santana was in the security room and could see her. She took out her phone and considered texting Santana to come meet her outside but she didn't want to make her come all the way out here.

Brittany took a deep breath and stepped through the casino doors.

She needed to get over this phobia or whatever it was, when it came to casinos. She was 24 years old now and not that little girl who would go with her mom to try to find her dad at random casinos hoping he hadn't lost all their money. Once inside, she practically ran to the reception desk where she luckily spotted Quinn, looking down at her iPad.

"Quinn!" Brittany

Quinn looked up and gave her a big smile. "Hey Britt! This is a nice surprise."

Brittany had met Quinn through Kurt the first day the casino opened. Quinn was head casino host and it was her job to make sure all the big whales were well taken care of so they would spend as much as possible in the casino. Brittany never would have thought they'd become friends, but as it turns out Quinn was pretty cool. "Is Sue Sylvester giving you trouble?"

"That lady is a nightmare," Quinn said with a groan, "Last time she was here was bad, but this time it really might be worse. Now she wants to throw some big charity thing here which means more work for me."

Brittany leaned against the counter. "That sucks."

"You never come in here," Quinn said, "What brings you by?"

"Umm, I'm actually here to see Santana," Brittany said, "Do you know if she's working or in her room?"

Quinn put her iPad down and stepped closer to Brittany from the other side of the counter. "Now, how do you know Santana?"

"We're friends.

"Really? That's…interesting."

"What's so interesting about it?" Brittany asked, confused.

"Just that," Quinn began, "She just got here and you already made friends? You really do know everyone."

Brittany looked down the counter and pointed to a hotel employee. "I don't know that guy."

Quinn laughed. "OK, not everyone but you're great with meeting people. You say the word and I'll get you a job as a host."

Brittany quickly passed on the offer. "Thanks though. So, umm, about Santana…can you tell me her room number? Or if she's working?"

Quinn picked up her iPad and after a few seconds told Brittany Santana's room number.

"Thanks Quinn," Brittany said, "I'll talk to you later?"

"Of course. We need to hang out soon."

"For sure!" Brittany gave Quinn one last smile before heading to the elevators. She took a deep breath and almost sprinted by the casino floor to get to the suite elevators.

###

"Holy shit! This is your room?"

Santana laughed at Blaine drooling over her room. Sure, it was one of the bigger rooms with everything she could ever think of to make the room feel like a home. But it wasn't a home. It was just a room. "Pretty cool, right?"

"And my room doesn't look like this?" he asked.

"Kind of," Santana said, "Just half the size and not so many cool toys."

"I'm sure that even a regular room at The Dalton is still quite impressive," Blaine said as he walked over to the window that looked out to Las Vegas Boulevard. "So, how goes the friend situation?"

"Huh?"

"Last time we talked, you said that you were working on making friends," Blaine said, "So, now that I'm here, will you tell me what's going on?"

Santana couldn't help but smile. "Her name is Brittany."

"Ahhh, I see. Is she hot?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well," Blaine said as he went to sit on the couch, "Considering the big smile on your face when you mentioned her, I take it this may be a little bit more than just friends?"

Santana went to the mini bar, her back turned to Blaine, and poured two glasses of water. "Just friends." She grabbed the two glasses and went to sit next to Blaine and handed him a glass. "She's a taxi driver and she gave me a tour of the city. She's so much fun, Blaine. You're going to love her."

"Wow."

"Wow, what?" Santana took a sip of her water and put it down on the table in front of her.

"I've never known you to gush about anyone," Blaine said with a smirk. He put his own glass down. "When can I meet her?"

Santana knew she may have been a bit too excited to talk about her new friend by the look on Blaine's face. "Maybe after you get settled in, we can…." A knock at her door didn't let her finish. "It's a little early for housekeeping."

Santana got up and went to open her door. She smiled when she saw it wasn't housekeeping. "Hi."

Brittany raised her hand to her chest and waved. "Umm, hi. I didn't wake you or anything, did I?" Brittany pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and hoped she didn't look sweaty. She did have a little panic attack, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it'd be.

Santana was literally shocked to see Brittany at her door considering it meant that Brittany would have had to go through the casino floor to get to the suite elevators. "No. No, I'm not busy. Come in. You walked through the casino? By yourself?"

Brittany nodded. "It wasn't easy, but I really needed to see you." Brittany took a deep breath and stepped foot through the door into the large living room before Santana could say anything. "Wow."

"I said the same thing!"

Brittany jumped a little at the unexpected voice. She stepped back a bit as she saw a short guy with shiny hair come at her. "Umm, hi!"

"Hi! I"m Blaine."

Santana made a mental note to slap Blaine later. "Brittany, this is my friend Blaine. Blaine this is Brittany."

Brittany shook the man's hand and smiled. "Friend? This is awesome! I thought I was Santana's only friend. Do you work for the hotel?"

"I do!" Blaine said with a big smile, "Santana just hired me. I'm actually a friend from back home."

"Did you work with Santana in Atlantic City?"

Santana saw Blaine smirk in her direction before answering Brittany. "I did. I've known her for years. Do you work at the hotel too?"

"Not really."

Santana clapped her hand together. "OK! Blaine, don't you want to go see your room?"

"But I want to talk more with your friend Brittany," Blaine teased.

"Umm," Brittany began, "That'd be awesome, but I actually have to be at work soon. I just came to talk to Santana really quick. But hey, maybe we can hang out later?"

"That would be amazing!" Blaine said.

Santana went to grab his arm and pulled him away from Brittany. "Go see your room and I'll be down in a bit."

"She's cute," Blaine whispered when they reached the door, "Is that the friend you were working on?"

"I'll tell you later," Santana said as she opened the door. "Go settle in."

"But I don't know where the room is!" Blaine protested.

Santana pushed him out to the hallway. "Elevators are down that way, just hit the floor number and look for your room number. You remember how to count, right?"

"You better tell me everything," Blaine said. He looked past Santana. "Bye Brittany!"

Brittany waved at Blaine. "Bye!"

Santana shut the door and turned to Brittany. "Sorry about him. He gets excited when meeting new people."

"He's nice," Brittany said with a smile, "I'm glad you have another friend here. I didn't want to have to worry about you when I couldn't hang out with you."

Santana let out an embarrassed chuckle. "I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me."

"Good." There was an awkward silence between them and Brittany knew it was her fault. "So umm…this room is like really fancy."

Santana took a breath. "Yeah, it is. I mean, it's too big for just me, but hey, it's free." She walked over to Brittany who was standing by the couch. "So, are you still mad at me?"

Brittany shook her head. "I know you didn't mean anything bad by checking up on my family."

"I am sorry." Santana reached over and grabbed one of Brittany's hands. "I requested the files of the taxi drivers who use the hotel as their home base and you were one of those files."

Brittany stared at her and Santana's hands before looking into Santana's eyes. "I know. It's your job."

"But it's not my job to pry into your family." Santana felt relief that Brittany wasn't mad, but there was still this underlying tension between them and Santana wanted to fix it.

Brittany pulled her hand back and saw Santana's hand fall to her side. "My dad…he didn't make my childhood all that much fun."

Santana felt a heaviness in her chest at seeing the sadness in Brittany's eyes. Brittany was so sweet and full of life that Santana had imagined her just growing up without a care in the world, but that did't seem to be the case. "You don't have to tell me anything, Britt. I don't want you to think you have to because of work."

"OK," Brittany said softly. She felt a lot better knowing Santana wouldn't look into her family anymore. Brittany wanted to be the one to tell her. "Thanks."

"OK," Santana repeated. She went over to the mini bar. "Do you want some water or juice?"

"No thanks," Brittany said, "I actually have to get to work. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for getting so mad and for lying about Jenny having a project."

Santana went over to Brittany. "You have nothing to apologize for, OK? I'm the one who crossed the line. And I figured the Jenny thing was just you trying to get me to back off."

"I feel really bad about lying to you," Brittany explained, "I hate lying and I really hated lying to you. It's just…." Brittany sighed. "It's embarrassing."

"Embarrassing?"

Brittany looked down at the floor. "I didn't want you to find out my life is so messed up."

Santana reached out and placed her hand underneath Brittany's chin and lightly lifted her face. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Britt. I'm not going to stop being your friend because of this."

Brittany felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her chest. She had only known Santana for a short while, but the thought of losing her almost made her want to cry. "So you're not going to put me in the casino jail?" she joked.

Santana smiled and ran her thumb across Brittany's chin. "No." Santana want desperately to give Brittany a reassuring kiss but friends didn't do that. It would be so easy to just lean in and softly kiss her.

Brittany couldn't understand how Santana's thumb on her chin could feel so good and so comforting. She looked into Santana's eyes and couldn't look away. Aside from being the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen, she saw something else there that made her feel safe. Brittany reached for Santana's hand and held it in her own. "Thanks."

"Hmm." Santana felt Brittany's warm fingers envelop her hand. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Brittany's except for that split second when Santana looked at Brittany's lips. Maybe it was her imagination but she was sure Brittany had leaned in a bit closer.

"I should go," Brittany said softly, chancing a glance at Santana's lips. They looked so soft. Brittany knew she needed to leave because if she didn't she'd end up kissing Santana.

"Do..do you have to?" Santana said, surprised at how low her voice was. She felt like the temperature in the room had just gone up 10 degrees and wondered if the air conditioning had given out.

Brittany smiled and despite her brain telling her not to, she leaned in and gave Santana a quick kiss on the cheek. When she saw Santana's surprised expression Brittany hoped she hadn't crossed a line. "Sorry, I'm kisser too. A huger and a kisser…of cheeks."

Santana laughed and stepped back. She felt a tingle on the spot Brittany had kissed and Santana was a bit confused how a simple kiss on the cheek could cause such a reaction. "That's OK. Maybe that's another thing you can teach me."

"I can totally do that," Brittany said with a shy smile. She really didn't want to leave, but knew if she didn't, she'd be late for her shift. "I really have to go," Brittany said and suddenly realized she was still holding Santana's hand. She smiled and let it go.

Santana walked Brittany to her door and almost told Brittany to call in sick so she could stay longer. "What time is your break?" Santana asked as she opened the door and Brittany stepped out into the hallway.

"Like around 4. Why?"

Santana let out a chuckle. She felt like she was back in middle school about to ask the most popular girl in the school out on a date. "Umm, I was going to suggest we have dinner but we're not 70 years old and eat dinner at 4."

"My grandparents eat at 5," Brittany said.

"You're grandparents are still alive?" Santana had assumed Brittany's only living family was her father.

"They live in San Francisco," Brittany said, "They're my mom's parents."

Santana was having a hard time not asking questions. She wanted to know everything about Brittany. About her family, what her favorite color was, everything. "Do you visit them often?"

Brittany shook her head. "I can't afford to take time off right now and they're retired and living on a fixed income and plane tickets are crazy expensive."

"I see," was all Santana said.

Brittany hated that she always had to worry about money. She hadn't seen her grandparents since the funeral and she missed them. She and Jenny talked with them all the time, but it wasn't the same. "I really have to go. I'll call you later, OK?"

"What time are you off?" Santana really didn't want to wait days to see Brittany again.

"8."

"That's perfect dinner time," Santana said with a smile, "Have dinner with me?"

This almost sounded like a date but Brittany blamed that on Jenny who had put that idea in her head. "Friends have dinner together."

"So yes?" Santana asked, hopeful.

"OK," Brittany grinned, "I'll call you when I'm done with my shift."

Santana let out a relieved breath. "Great. Great. I guess I'll see you tonight then."

"Bye Santana." Brittany gave her friend a wave and began walking to the elevators all the while trying to stop these no so friendly feeling she was having for Santana.

Santana closed the door and walked back into her room unable to stop smiling. She was happy Brittany wasn't mad at her and happy she would see Brittany again later. Santana was glad Blaine was here to be her friend because she knew Brittany would end up being something more than just a friend.

-tbc-

A/N: So sorry for the long breaks between updates. This summer is proving to be super busy.