A/N: A reader mentioned they saw this story mentioned on Tumblr. I, myself, missed the post, but thank you to whoever recommended it!

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Hot July ain't good to me
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The rest of the summer passes quickly. There are many Glee club gatherings, or partial ones, minus Puck and Finn, and Kurt who is also not often able to attend.

Puck and Finn return at the end of July, right around Quinn's 19th birthday. Santana and Brittany throw Quinn a party (which is also kind of for Mercedes, who had a birthday about a week before Quinn's and had celebrated only with Sam, but any time anyone tries to draw Mercedes into the celebration, she politely waves them off and tells them it's Quinn's day), and while Puck attends, Finn does not. Nor does Kurt, though, Quinn does get a card a few days later with sincere apologies for his missing her birthday, and an Anthropologie gift card, much to her surprise. Still, the remaining members of the Glee club hang out together, swimming and laughing and singing. Puck forces Sam to perform some of his individual synchronized swimming routines, and Sam does, performing along to a Jay-Z/The Verve mashup. Artie raps along to the entire Jay-Z part, and Puck mock-cat-calls while watching Sam, but Sam just grins, seeming to enjoy the attention.

As the evening wears on, the guys head home, but the girls stay (even Sugar, who had finally started to grow on the other girls after repeated exposure that summer; Brittany especially seems to like her), and they have a very ridiculous sleepover, enjoying the two bottles of wine Puck brought as Quinn's present. Tina and Mercedes end up surprisingly snuggly again, which no one really knows what to say about, not even Sugar, who inexplicably seems to gain a filter when she drinks. After Santana cries three separate times about the fact that they're all about to leave Lima, and once about how flawless Brittany's legs are, a shirtless Brittany and Santana sneak off to Brittany's room (though everyone notices their departure). And, despite repeated attempts by everyone to get Quinn to indulge, she drinks very little, seemingly preferring to watch as Rachel gets gigglier and gigglier and cuddlier and cuddlier, eventually falling asleep with her head in Quinn's lap.

The next morning before Rachel leaves—and she makes sure she is the last one to leave besides Quinn and Santana, who might never leave—Rachel gives Quinn her birthday present: a nice, though not insanely fancy, camera. Quinn feels her body freeze up as she holds it, and she wants to tell Rachel she absolutely can't accept it—the girl has to save for New York, damn it—but then Rachel tells her New England is supposed to be so beautiful in the fall, and she wants to be able to capture those moments when they experience it together. There's nothing more Quinn can do but murmur, "Come here," and envelop Rachel in a hug.

Finn ships out that day, having seen no one but his family. Quinn feels a tiny pang of guilt that no one at her party thought to make a toast wishing him luck, or give him a group phone call, or anything, but she feels oddly relieved to know he's no longer in town.

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Devil horns, best friends
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Rachel and Santana are to be the first ones leaving Lima besides Finn. Mike and Mercedes are to leave at around the same time, about half a week after Rachel and Santana. Quinn won't leave until a week later. And of course, Kurt and Puck are staying in Lima. For now, they both keep saying.

Santana doesn't want anyone to know, but she's kind of freaking the fuck out. She's excited for New York, but she's leaving behind Brittany, and that's just…it feels like a sucker punch to the heart.

Since Finn has left, Kurt seems to have a little more time, and the frequent hangouts between Santana, Brittany, Quinn and Rachel start to include Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes more often as well. Right now, they're all at Breadstix, despite Quinn trying to convince them to go somewhere else because Rachel could only order a salad; Rachel had assured her it would be fine, because, she said, Santana had been so excited to "gets my Stix on." Santana hadn't been able to hide her snort at Rachel's use of finger quotes and repetition, verbatim, of her words.

At first it seems a little odd. Kurt and Rachel are being overly courteous to each other, which, Santana knows there was some tension there and why, and while it's good to see them growing closer again, she wishes she didn't have to watch the awkwardness. And though Santana has actually liked Mercedes for awhile now, their friendship has mostly been about their compatible voices; talking now, about things like the future, takes some adjustment. Blaine is as pleasant as ever, but he remains somebody Santana knows very little about, and she just isn't sure how to proceed. As for Kurt? Santana has kind of, secretly, always wanted to be closer to him. They had more in common than they had ever realized upon their first meeting: both were trying so desperately to navigate McKinley High as closeted students, both were suffering in such lonesome silence. Santana knows that stereotypically lesbians and gay men often don't get along, but that has always seemed stupid to her. Why shouldn't they be able to bond over their shared trauma?

It's obvious Brittany is unfazed by the new company, but then, Brittany has always been so open with others. And Quinn? The former Ice Queen and Mercedes share sisterly smiles and giggle together at inside jokes that no one else gets, she beams when she watches Rachel and Blaine get excited about something together, and she and Kurt clearly regard each other quite fondly. Santana remembers how often Quinn and Kurt were dance partners early on in Glee and wonders idly how that went at first, with the clearly-gay but not-admitting-it kid forced into close quarters with the uptight HBIC with a conservative-Christian upbringing. Evidently, it had gone okay, because although Santana can't remember them interacting much outside of Glee, they clearly respect one another.

Mercedes talks idly about how much she's looking forward to L.A., and about how she couldn't have done it without Sam. Blaine just shrugs and says he's looking forward to seeing what the next year brings to the New Directions. Kurt smiles blandly and says he'll be helping out at his dad's shop for awhile, but knows he won't be able to do that for long. He then compliments Santana on her spaghetti strap dress, calling it, "Very lesbian chic."

Santana's eyebrows rise, but not warningly "How is this a remotely gay outfit?"

Kurt chuckles, "Aside from the fact that it's on you? The fact that it has pockets so you don't have to carry a purse."

She can't help but laugh, "Alright, you've got me there. Thanks, I think, Gayby Face. Although I'll have you know I own several purses. They're just…annoying," she admits.

Kurt laughs and murmurs, "your gay is showing," and regards her with the same fond expression he gives Quinn (which, Santana has realized, isn't the same one he gives Rachel or Mercedes). Santana's again struck by the pang—why had she waited so long to get to know Kurt?

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Dreaming like a picture taken of you when you were young
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Brittany knows she should be sadder about the fact that so many people around her are packing up to leave town—and, don't get her wrong, she is sad, and she cries more than she'll ever let Santana know—but since midterms of Senior year, she knew she wouldn't be going with them. Though secretly, she also realizes her GPA is impossible. She knows what cumulative means, and she passed every other year. She won't tell anyone, not even San, who will just rant about lawsuits, but she's pretty sure Coach Sylvester messed with her records, not ready to lose all of the Unholy Trinity in one shot. She's had months to reconcile her future.

Her future? She's going to re-do Senior year. Privately, this excites her just a little. She didn't fail on purpose, but she didn't exactly try either. She's not sure what it is, but learning has always been very hard for her. It's only when she's really interested in something that learning is easy—it's like she is able to narrow down the world to that one little topic and just suck in all the information. She's finally started to figure out what she needs to do to learn, and vows to try harder this year—get a tutor if she needs to. She's already talked to Tina about that.

But re-doing Senior year! Brittany fantasizes about being Senior class president, Head Cheerio, captain of the Glee club. She's pretty sure it's all within her grasp. Maybe this year she'll be Prom King, too.

It's just…there's a part of her that's not ready to go out into the real world yet, and the familiarity of high school is about all she can handle for the upcoming year. She knows that a year without San or Quinn, though, will kick her into gear. She'll miss them so much that she'll be sure to graduate, just so she can be closer to them again.

But Brittany likes being young. She likes feeling like a kid, still. Is it such a bad thing that she wants one more year in a comfortable place where she can let her imagination run wild, where her unbelievably sweet parents still take care of all her needs, before she has to face the real world? She knows there's scary stuff out there; Santana has told her about some of it, and she's seen some of it (Quinn Sophomore year, once things actually went to shit, had been so difficult for empathetic Brittany to watch, and she remembers holding Santana as she sobbed to the point of dry heaving after her abuela had cut her out of her life). She just…can't. She can choose to be young. The unbelievable strength of her imagination gives her the option to arrest her development one final time, and she consciously chooses it.

And she's always had such a good imagination. She had created a whole pantheon, a whole mythology of animals and monsters and warrior women and magical men by the time she was six, and had told her parents stories about them every night. Sometimes, she gets so caught up in her imagination that she forgets other people can't see the things she sees, swirling behind her eyes. Not even Santana, though she always seems to understand. It's so easy to pretend.

There's a reason Peter Pan is her favorite book.

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Or is this the way love's supposed to be
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Puck throws a party the day before Rachel and Santana are supposed to leave. It starts in the afternoon, unusual for a Puck party, but Rachel and Santana are leaving very early in the morning, and Rachel had planted her hands on her hips and stomped her foot and insisted that Puck's party must end early enough for the two girls to get "a full eight hours of restful sleep before their long journey." Brittany knows Santana won't sleep well tonight regardless; she wants her to, she knows that she and Rachel spent the whole morning loading up their moving truck (with Brittany and Quinn's help, of course, and Sam and Mike had even showed up toward the late morning to lend a hand, Sam claiming he would have been there earlier, but it was his only day off in four days and he wanted to sleep in some) and she'll be exhausted, but she'll also want to make love for hours, and there's no way Brittany can ever deny her that, when she needs it just as much.

Even though Puck's family is home, he's still managed to make it an authentic Puckerman party; soon, the fact that the blue Kool-Aid is spiked becomes the party's not-so-secret, and everyone has immediately indulged (later on, Puck's mom will come out to check on things, will notice everyone acting a bit goofy, but will decide not to comment; she knows Puck's going to be quietly heartbroken with the diaspora of the Glee club and allows him this indulgence).

They're all mostly gathered outside. Puck doesn't have a pool, but he does have a hose, and has set up a sprinkler on the "mist" setting, so it's refreshing without being soaking; everyone's jumping and dancing around the sprinkler like a bunch of kids. Puck's manning the grill, wearing a "Kiss the Cook" apron, which has earned him sarcastic air kisses from all the guys in Glee, but from none of the women, which makes him pout until Rachel takes pity on him and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Careful, Rach," Quinn calls with a scowl, her cheeks lightly flushed from the blue Kool-Aid, "That was step one of the worst decision of my life!" Rachel looks chastised until Quinn forces a smile at her, and Puck wraps an arm around Rachel and says, "Don't worry, baby mama, she's like my Jewbro. I don't see her that way, although she is undeniably a hot Jew." Rachel giggles, and Quinn glares at Puck until he finishes serving Rachel a black bean burger and she walks back to sit next to Quinn.

Kurt had said that Blaine is going to be a little late, and he arrives about an hour into the party, grinning conspiratorially. A smile breaks out over Kurt's face and he jumps up from the table to give Blaine a hug and a quick peck, and Blaine whispers something in his ear. Kurt pulls back, wide-eyed, and breathes, "You didn't."

At this point, everyone else is waving at Blaine and calling greetings, and he turns from Kurt to smile at everyone, and calls cheekily, "I'm going to need a few hot, buff guys to give me a hand. I've brought a surprise!"

"Sam and me have got this!" Puck shouts, nudging Sam in the ribs. Sam grins and stands up.

"What's the surprise?" a clearly impatient Rachel hollers.

"You'll see!" is Blaine's answer, and Rachel huffs.

"In case you haven't noticed, I am not a patient person, Blaine—"

Quinn interrupts to call, with a smile in her voice, "She's really not!"

Ignoring the interruption except to fold her arms and pout slightly, Rachel continues "—and I would like to know at once. I'm sure Santana agrees with me, and as this is our party—"

"Berry, don't you drag me into this."

Blaine's just laughing now, pointing Puck and Sam toward his car, "Oh, fine. It's a karaoke machine!"

At this, there's an eruption of excitement. Rachel launches herself up from her seat and fires herself at Blaine, tackling him with a huge hug and crying out, "I could kiss you!"

Blaine laughs awkwardly, and shoots a glance at Kurt, who has huffed and folded his arms, though there's humor in his eyes, "Been there, done that, sweetie," he tells her, and they look at each other and both erupt into giggles.

Puck and Sam carry the machine to the backyard, making a show of grunting and flexing even though it's not that heavy. As Rachel begins to chatter to Kurt about her repertoire, wondering what she should sing first, Mercedes grabs Santana's arm, "C'mon, S-Lo, we got this, girl."

Laughing in surprise, Santana follows Mercedes up, where they have a brief discussion, and stand around waiting impatiently for Blaine and Puck to finish hooking the machine up. But as soon as it's set up, the speakers erupt with sound and Santana and Mercedes let loose with "We Belong." Mercedes grins at Sam, who is recording the performance on his phone, and Santana winks at Brittany, who feels her heart bob up into her throat, and she blows her girl a kiss.

Brittany keeps most of her attention on the performance, but as Santana has broken eye contact to read the words she needs to sing, Brittany sits back and gives some attention to the others at the table with her. She realizes Tina, who has been sitting on her other side, is looking at her with a slight smile. Mike, who had, understandably, been holding Tina's attention for much of the afternoon, is over talking animatedly with Artie. Brittany smiles back at Tina, and searches for a way to break the ice, "I'm glad you're going to be with me at school next year. You'll be a great co-captain for Glee."

Tina looks slightly surprised, but grins a bit, "Thanks, Brittany. I'm glad you'll be there, too. We'll need your dancing with Mike leaving and all."

Brittany nods seriously, "I'm Mike Chang, but neutered. And with better abs," she states, making Tina's eyebrows tick up and a laugh bubble out of her throat.

They turn back to watch as Mercedes and Santana finish up the song with proud smiles, and both applaud enthusiastically. Mike and Artie step up next, while Rachel tugs at Santana and Mercedes and begins yapping excitedly at them, pointing to several songs in the karaoke machine's book. The sound of "Just Like Heaven" begins to come from the speakers, and Artie takes the lead vocals, while Mike dances and sings along during the chorus.

Tina is focused on the performance for a bit, but then turns back to Brittany with a small smile, "Isn't it weird that we're both going to be at McKinley with Artie, while both our loves will be so far away?"

Brittany twists her mouth. She hasn't thought too much about that. She was pretty certain she and Artie had made peace. They hadn't talked about it, but she had a feeling he knew that she'd never really given him all of her, that Santana had always had a piece of her heart. She had loved Artie—falling in love was easy for Brittany—but Santana would always come first, and he had known that. It had been so hard for her to not just break up with Artie and be with Santana when they'd finally put their feelings out in the open, but Brittany always had strong ideas about what was fair, and she had thought at the time that it was only fair to give Artie a full chance. And then, because Santana was always so prickly about feelings, she had avoided talking about it when they so obviously were dating. She was afraid to push Santana away again, and she knew her heart couldn't handle that.

She wonders if Santana has been thinking about this—but who is she kidding, of course Santana has. She's always wanted Santana and Artie to make peace, and she supposes they have, somewhat. Both are adamant that they don't hate each other, though there's always tension. Brittany's pretty sure Artie is over her, so she thinks the tension is more habit than actual jealousy on his part, but Santana has always been jealous. She wonders if she should reassure Santana somehow that Artie's her friend, and that's all he'll be.

"I guess I haven't thought about that," Brittany admits, "San and I haven't talked about it."

Tina nods, "Mike and I talked about it very briefly. He's not very worried; he and Artie have become good friends these past few years. Artie was my first boyfriend, my first love, but Mike has always treated me better." Tina fixes Brittany with a look, "You…may want to talk about it with Santana. We all know how she gets. She's very protective of you."

Brittany smiles, "I know. I…sometimes wonder if I can do this without her." It's such a vague phrase, do this, and she really does mean it. Do this. Do everything, do anything, without Santana holding her hand, linking their pinkies.

"You will," Tina reassures, "You still have friends here who will watch you back. Besides, who is going to mess with a two-term Senior class president?"

"And head Cheerio and Glee captain. And Homecoming and Prom king," Brittany recites. Tina raises her eyebrows at this, but smiles anyway, and they watch as the boys finish up their The Cure song. They both hear Rachel, loud in her tipsy state, shouting at Santana, "You sounded so good on that song! Please sing it with me!" Santana rolls her eyes playfully, and the two step up and begin to perform "Constant Craving," which is how Santana Lopez ends up again singing a homoerotically charged song with Rachel Berry, much to the intrigue and amusement of the rest of the club.

Brittany smiles and murmurs, "This is so hot," which makes Tina laugh and nod her agreement, and they watch silently for a good part of the performance, until, hesitating, Tina then asks, "Do you wonder…what it's going to be like for them? I mean, for like, Mike and Santana? Or even Mercedes, who I assume is going to try to make things work long-distance with Sam?"

Frowning a little, Brittany questions, "They'll be living their dreams, won't they? I think it will be great for them."

Tina shakes her head, "No, I mean…they'll be off somewhere brand new, with so many other new, beautiful people…and we'll be so far away, and we won't get to see them that much…I guess I'm worried they'll forget us."

A smile from Brittany, "First of all, we're both really hot. So I don't think New York or Chicago will have much on us. Second, they love us." Tina gives a relieved chuckle, but then Brittany continues, "I have thought about it, of course. Everyone thinks I don't worry about things like this, but everything that has to do with San, I think about. She could fall for somebody else. And if she does, I would have to let her go. I want her to be happy. This year…might be a bump in the road for me and San, but I think it's a long road for us. I think she's my future, and that's all that matters."

Shock all over her face, Tina says, "You'd…let her go?"

Brittany smiles sadly, "If that's what she needed. I don't want to. But wouldn't you do the same for Mike?"

Tina bites her lip, "I don't know if I'd be strong enough."

"Maybe I wouldn't be, either," Brittany agrees, "So we'll just have to help each other if it comes to it. Which it won't," she finishes confidently.

Tina smiles tremulously and leans in to give Brittany a one-armed hug, as Santana and Rachel finish their song and Rachel skips back over to the table and plops down next to Quinn. Brittany accepts Tina's hug and leans into her for several moments, and they watch as Sugar pushes a slightly shell-shocked looking Rory up to the microphone, screaming, "Come on! You're Irish, show me your Commitments!"

Quinn's head shoots up from the cheeseburger and blue Kool-Aid she's been nursing, "I love The Commitments!" she purrs excitedly.

From a few seats down at the table, Brittany hears Mercedes murmur, "Buncha white folks singing Motown? That does sound like your thing, White Funk."

Giggling, Rachel leans into Quinn and says throatily, "I believe that movie set records for use of the so-called 'f-bomb'."

Quinn's already halfway out of her seat as the beginning sounds of "Mustang Sally" fill the air, but she pauses to pat Rachel slightly on the head and husk in her alcohol-soaked voice, "Sounds about right," and Brittany sees something of Santana in Quinn's hazel gaze, trained on Rachel's bright smile, but the moment passes and then Quinn's prancing over to Rory and grabbing the other microphone to sing along with him.

Brittany feels arms circle her chest from behind, and she leans into the cinnamon-scented warmth of her girlfriend with a contented smile, "Come on," Santana rasps in her ear, "I want to sing with my baby."

After applauding Rory and Quinn, who grin at each other shyly and give high-fives (Brittany can't remember if they've ever interacted much; Rory tended to make himself scarce when Quinn visited, probably because that usually meant Santana was there, too, and he was kind of afraid of Santana), Brittany and Santana step up to sing "Nothing Else I Can Say." Which…first of all, trust Blaine to get a karaoke machine with full Lady Gaga discography, but Brittany chose it as something to reassure Santana, she hopes.

Rachel loops her arm through Quinn's before Quinn can get back to her food, and even while singing with Santana, Brittany can hear Rachel telling Quinn that "this song would be perfect for your voice; it's in your range, and you've got the perfect smoothness to your voice to make it more sensual than the original!" Quinn's kind of wide-eyed and looks like she might want to protest, but Brittany knows Rachel Berry has some sort of magical powers—maybe she's a wizard?—because, like always, Quinn just shakes her head an amusement and agrees, and they stand, arms still linked, to wait their turn.

They turn out to be singing "Heaven Tonight" and Rachel is absolutely right about Quinn's voice. Rachel has allowed herself to take backing vocals (Brittany hears Sugar loudly proclaims in her unabashed way that she "thought I'd never see Berry play second fiddle to anyone!"), which is a lot of "aaah"s and some repeating Quinn, until the last verse, where she harmonizes with Quinn, and Brittany gets chills all over. Brittany glances over at Santana, to see her eyebrows raised as she watches, "They're really good, huh?" she asks.

Shaking her head as if coming out of a daze, Santana smiles and wraps her in a hug, "Yeah, baby, but we're better."

"Duh," Brittany responds, and nuzzles Santana's cheek.

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Now we molt past our skin and make room to begin
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The karaoke machine gets pretty constant use as the afternoon drifts into the evening, and as Tina and Kurt enact a lively rendition of "Marry the Man Today" (laughing a lot, though Kurt is glancing at Rachel more often than Blaine as he sings), Brittany is snuggled into Santana's lap on one of Puck's fold out chairs. Alcohol eventually makes Brittany sleepy, after the urge to dance wears out, and though she's kept her shirt on this evening, they have definitely danced.

Quinn is sipping on another cup of Kool-Aid; she's probably been drinking more than Brittany has ever seen, which is unusual, but she's not ridiculously drunk, so Brittany isn't too worried. She's more worried about Santana, who has her face buried in Brittany's neck and is probably minutes away from bursting into tears.

So when Joe approaches Quinn and they begin to talk and laugh, Brittany is understandably distracted. They've been talking for several minutes, and Quinn is smiling at him engagingly, and it's when he leans in to actually take a sniff at her that Rachel appears, seemingly out of nowhere, and asks Quinn to please accompany her to sing a song.

Shooting a wide-eyed, pale-faced look of panic at a nearly oblivious Santana and Brittany (Santana can't identify the expression through her watery eyes, and Brittany is so sleepy that she just smiles and waves in response), Rachel pulls Quinn away until they're several yards behind Santana and Brittany's chair, kind of near the karaoke machine but theoretically out of earshot of those hanging around it. "Quinn! Are you alright? Was he proposing anything untoward?"

Chuckling a little, Quinn answers, "He was fine. He's a gentleman, and even if he were suggesting anything sexual, there's no way I would have agreed to anything with him anyway. I'm not that drunk."

"Oh," Rachel sounds almost dejected, "Well, then. I'm sorry to have interrupted your conversation."

"S'okay," Quinn responds, "I liked the interruption. Very dramatic."

Giggling shyly, Rachel pushes her hair behind her ear and then glances up at Quinn, "Can I ask a question? I…thought you didn't drink at Noah's parties?"

"Oh. Right." Quinn seems to be debating her answer, but finally shrugs and says, "I trust everyone here. Maybe that's naïve, but as Puck's mom is here, too, I really don't think there will be any rendezvous. At least not any that are non-consensual."

"You're probably right," Rachel agrees, and then, without warning, leans in to hug Quinn. Quinn seems to be caught off balance and emits out a husky bark of a surprised laugh before righting herself and holding Rachel in return, her nearly empty cup of Kool-Aid laying forgotten on the grass beside them. "I'm going to miss you," she hears murmured against her shoulder.

Quinn swallows thickly, "I'll miss you too. So much, Rach. I wish I could come with to help you unpack."

"I know," Rachel whispers, "But we should be saving our money to make the most of those weekends when we visit each other. I'm sure Santana will charm some boys who live in our building to help us carry everything up, and if not, well, she and I are both quite fit, and my dads aren't too old to help lift yet. We'll make it work."

"I'll come visit you as soon as I can. Like, first weekend of my semester. I don't even care what my workload is like," Quinn's tone is fierce, and her arms pull tighter, and something about it makes Rachel think Quinn is about to go into angry-drunk Quinn territory, it's just so intense.

So as she disengages gently, an idea hits her and her eyes pop, "Want me to come help you unpack?" she asks so quickly that Quinn needs to take a moment to process it.

"When I move in to Yale? Oh, sweetie, that's isn't necessary. Besides, it will be a weekday, so that I have a long weekend of orientation to look forward to, and I am not having you miss your own on my account!" Quinn nods firmly.

Rachel laughs again and leans into Quinn, "You're right. You're right. But okay. As soon as we're both settled, we'll visit. It won't be too long. Right?"

"Right," Quinn smiles down at her, and Rachel thinks that Quinn is really not an angry drunk at all. She's a very sweet drunk.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Santana had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation, her tears having abated somewhat when Brittany fell into a light doze on her shoulder. She smiles wryly, torn between how sweet it is and the slight jealousy that her best friend seems to have another best friend. But when she remembers that they'll all hang out in New York, the former wins out. She's never heard Quinn be open quite like she has this summer, and she's starting to think she knows what—or rather, who—pushes Quinn to be that way. And even if it wasn't for her, and their friendship, she loves that someone is bringing it out of her.

Additional A/N: Chapter titles are from Chairlift, "Bruises," Sleigh Bells, "Infinity Guitars" (though there is apparently some disagreement about whether these lyrics are accurate), Silver Swans, "Let Me Know Now," Martha and the Vandellas, "Heatwave," and Crystal Castles, "Empathy." Other songs mentioned are "Bittersweet Dirt Off Your Shoulder," a Jay-Z/The Verve mashup that I can't definitively find who created, Pat Benatar, "We Belong," The Cure, "Just Like Heaven," k. d. lang, "Constant Craving," The Commitments, "Mustang Sally," made famous by Wilson Pickett, Lady Gaga, "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)," Hole, "Heaven Tonight," and "Marry the Man Today" from Guys and Dolls. Song heavy chapter, for sure.

And yes, Artie singing The Cure is a nod to Powergrapes's "Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise."

Executive decision has been made about the age of all the characters, which the show is very inconsistent on. Relevant to this chapter, even though Quinn says she is 17 in season 3, I think it makes much more sense if she is 18, as Shelby says (the whole pregnant at 16, and having piercings and tattoos by the time she gets back to school are part of my rationale). I don't think she was held back or anything, she's just one of the oldest people in her class because of cut-off date for birthdays for school enrollment or something.