We Become Who We Are When We Fall In Love

by summerkid

Sent to live with her aunt in Texas, Santana comes face to face with a past she thought was long gone. She is shown the beauty in life through the eyes of her childhood best friend, Brittany, who ultimately shows her that life and love are one and the same... by making her feel it. AU

4. Chapter 4

Who Believed

July, 2005

"Santana?" Brittany breaks the comfortable silence that had fallen over them since the movie started.

"Hmm?" Santana replies, turning her head towards her friend, her eyes slowly flicker from the television set and over to meet questioning blue ones.

"You know how in fairytales, the prince is always saving the damsel in distress?" Brittany asks, her voice quiet and unsure. Santana smiles and nods in understanding. "And they fall in love and live happily ever after?" She continues, her nervousness flying right over the other girls head.

"Of course Britt, that's the whole point of fairytales." She says through a tiny laugh.

"I was thinkin' the other day how awesome it would be if there was a hero girl instead of a guy hero." Brittany muses, a confident smile now taking over her lips.

"Like, a princess saving a boy?" Santana questions curiously with a tilt of her head.

"Maybe." She shrugs her shoulders. "Or, like, two girls." She watches as her words float around Santana's mind. "Do you think it's possible for two girls to fall in love? And live happily ever after, like in fairytales?" Her voice is soft yet hopeful, and Santana contemplates the idea for a few long seconds.

"My Aunt Lee Lee always says, 'anything is possible if you believe'." She informs her friend with a bright smile, taking note of the blonde's lips twisting and as her head nods once.

"I believe it's possible." She grins, taking her lower lip between her teeth and nodding approvingly.

"If you believe, than it's possible." Santana agrees. "If you were a damsel in distress, I would totally save you." She adds as an afterthought. "And then we'd ride off into the sunset." She waves her hand in the air to emphasize her point, letting her eyes drift off to the side as though picturing it play out.

"On a horse, like in the stories?" Brittany asks, her eyes wide with excitement. Santana turns back to her, nose scrunched up and her eyebrows knit together.

"I don't know how to ride a horse." She admits, lowering her head as she thinks of other ways to get away. "Maybe we could ride off on my bike." She suggests and this makes Brittany smile, and she hums in delight at the idea.

"We could call in love?" It almost comes out more as a statement than a question, and Santana smiles a small smile.

Their attention is brought back to the movie, both sitting comfortably under the blanket they share. Santana can see Brittany grin from the corner of her eyes, so she turns her head to see it fully.

"What?" She finally asks.

"Do you really think your Aunt Linda is right," Brittany wonders, letting her gaze fall to the girl beside her. "That anything is possible if you believe?" Santana nods slowly, making Brittany smile wider. "One day," She begins, turning her body to face Santana's. "Our fairytale will start, and then we can live happily ever after." Santana smirks and then after a few moments, she turns towards Brittany, mirroring her friend's position.

"Our fairytale has already started, B." Santana comments, resting her head against the back of the couch. She sighs out a giggle when Brittany tilts her head in confusion. Then, she lifts her hand up and taps her fingers to her lips, much like Brittany does when she is about to tell a story. "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a beautiful blonde princess." She presses at the tip of Brittany's nose, making them both chuckle.

"And she was always smiling because she was happy, especially when her princess friend came to visit."

"Who is also beautiful." Santana adds pointedly, making her friend giggle.

"And also from a land far, far away." Brittany says, getting a nod from Santana.

"See," She tells her, and shrugs her shoulders. "It's already started." She shuffles closer until her toes are tucked beneath Brittany's butt.

"I can't wait." Brittany thinks aloud, a dreamy look in her eye.

"For what?" Santana asks in a curious whisper. Brittany's smile goes all the way to her eyes that they shimmer and sparkle against the light streaming from the television.

"To fall in love with you."

---

Something Is Not the Same

October, 2011

It's crazy that the sound of silence and the faint chirping of crickets can make sleep difficult to find. Back in Boston, there are cars speeding up and down Tenth Avenue, honking their horns, and the train tracks are barely a half a mile away. The sound of steel grinding and gliding over steel reverberates against the walls of any house within a two mile radius. But, those are things Santana has grown accustomed to, those are things that let her know she's home.

Knox City, Texas, way out by the old farmhouses and the invisible barriers off dirt roads where Aunt Linda resides, is anything but living the 'city life'. It's dusty, sweltering, muggy and worst of all, bugs seem to love it. There are no noises off in the distance to comfort a girl plucked from her glamorous life of noise pollution, blaring horns and the loud, yelling voices of the Thompson's from down the block.

The sound of the random truck cruising over the dirt of the south service road could provide comfort to a city girl like Santana in the way the radio of Phil's Pizza from around the block could, even when it played as early as eight in the morning as they prepared to open at eleven. There are no cars or trucks really even driving up and down the south service road and even if there are, they don't have their radios blasting to the newest club song or even the top forty.

The only people driving up and down the south service road are Aunt Linda and the few neighbors this road has actually got. No one even uses the south service road because it's still mainly dirt, where as the parkway is nice and paved. The difference between the two only reminds Santana of how deep in the middle of nowhere she actually is.

Only adding to her night of a restless night, or more appropriately, no sleep at all, she has her second meeting with the town's social worker. Last week, the ginger haired woman spent the majority of their hour together reading over Santana's file as the teenager sat across from her filing her nails. All in all, Santana deemed it a productive session, where as Miss Pillsbury mentioned that they had much to discuss today. Actually, Santana is pretty sure the young woman hadn't even finished reading her files, considering there was a huge stack of papers that looked completely untouched.

But, first there's school.

It's been going, slowly, but going. Quinn has been very welcoming, and although Santana doesn't see the point in putting forth the effort of developing one of those 'deep and long lasting friendships', she'll pretty much take what she can get while she's here. It's not really taking advantage of her kindness, in fact, the way she looks at it as she is doing the girl a favor. According to her observations, Quinn isn't exactly Knox High's most loved peer, to which she can only assume as always has something to do with the pregnancy circa 2009.

But, with being a bit broody and anti everyone else, Santana finds it only fitting that the two have formed a bond. They share a few classes together, eat lunch together and every now and again they do something outside of school. In fact, Quinn has even gotten Santana to become a regular fixture at the football games every Friday night. Even the away ones. She reasons that it gives her something to do rather than sit at Aunt Linda's and piss and moan about her life here. Plus, Aunt Linda is making her go to the games, so she really doesn't have a say in the matter anyway.

Outfit perfect, makeup flawless and hair amazing, Santana makes her way out to the kitchen to grab herself a glass of juice. She easily tunes out the sound of the phone ringing, mainly because she never answers it regardless. Also, it's never for her. But, today is different because she hears her aunt say 'she's right here', which peaks her interest. Obviously her thoughts go to Miss Pillsbury, assuming the over attentive lady is calling to remind her of their weekly meeting today. As if she could forget. The word 'social worker' sing-songs itself in her mind since the woman first visited.

"Santana," Aunt Linda peeks her head around the corner from where the phone is connect on the wall, and the teenager only rolls her eyes wondering when her aunt is going to finally get a cordless. "It's your mother." To say she's surprised would be an understatement. She hasn't heard a thing from either one of her parents since her arrival in this stupid dust bowl and now, as if only adding to her Wednesday 'day of agony', her mother decides to drop a line.

With a huff, she shuts the refrigerator door and stalks over to where Aunt Linda is standing, holding the phone out for her niece. The heels of her knee high suede boots clicking and clacking against the old wooden floor of the hallway. She eyes the receiver with disdain, not prepared to hear the way her mother is going to ask her how things are going and how she's been and if she's made any friends yet. When she finally takes the phone from Aunt Linda's hand, she stares at it for a while, as though observing the way the phone from 1987 is discolored and cheap. It's a pale blue, which is reminiscent of the powder blue pick-up truck the girl next door drives. Even the cracks by the mouth piece remind her more of the truck, how it has it's worn in look like it's been driven through storms during nightly rides where you turn the radio on full volume and just think for hours on end.

Shaking herself from her tangent of thoughts, she raises the phone up higher, almost like she is staring her mother in the face. Then, without a bat of an eyelash, she roughly puts the phone on the wall, hanging up on her mother without a 'hello' or a 'goodbye'. Aunt Linda gasps and stares at her niece with wide eyes.

"What'd you do that for?" The woman asks, slightly peeved but more so concerned. Her gaze flickers from the phone and to the girl beside it a few times before putting her hands on her hips in that very authoritarian way those adults do. Santana shrugs her shoulders and turns back towards the kitchen to get herself that glass of juice.

"I have nothing to say to her." She explains simply enough, pulling the orange juice container out and sets it up on the counter as she grabs a glass.

"She's your mother." Aunt Linda says from the doorway of the kitchen, obviously having followed the moody teenager.

"Yeah," Santana scoffs. "And?" She glances over her shoulder as she takes a quick sip of her drink and sending her aunt an arched eyebrow, showing her lack of concern in the statement.

"So, you're just not going to speak to her the whole time you're here? Is that it?" Aunt Linda asks, her head shakes side to side in clear disapproval. Santana spins around, shutting the refrigerator door with her hip and finishes her juice.

"Sounds about right." Santana sighs and puts her dirty glass into the sink before heading towards the chair where her bag lies.

"Santana." The older woman sighs, her hands fall from her hips and loosely wrap themselves around her middle.

"Look Aunt Lee," Santana interrupts a probably long speech that is coming her way. "Let's not pretend that they really care about how things are going here." She gives her aunt a pointed look as she leans down to grab her school things and personal belongings. "You and I both know they are only 'checking in' because it's like, in some parental handbook or whatever." She rolls her eyes, tossing the strap of her big purse over her shoulder, letting her thumb settle comfortably under it. "You can talk to them if they really need to know. I'm going to school, doing my time." She shrugs, her eyes flicker towards the door when she hears the tell tale sign of Brittany being out front waiting for her. "I'll see you later." Her head shakes and brushes by her aunt to make her way outside to the powder blue pick-up truck waiting in the driveway.

It's always been hard for her to put into words the exact nature of her relationship with her parents. Probably because there is no relationship. The only thing that she knows is that once upon a time, her parents had sex, got pregnant, and boom here she is. She learned that much in biology and it doesn't really take a scientist to figure out her parents did the deed, at least twice that she knows of.

"Mornin'." Brittany greets with a wide smile when the door opens. Santana forces a smile on her face but doesn't meet those blue eyes. She nods as she shimmies herself onto the worn in leather of the bench that is the front seat of the truck.

"Hey." Santana replies quietly, situating her books on her lap and her bag in the space between her and the cheerleader. Brittany eyes the other girl up for a little before she pulls out of the driveway, but when the shorter girl doesn't seem to even blink in her direction, she just rides away in silence, at least for a few minutes.

"Everything okay?" She tentatively asks, shooting the other girl a concerned look. Santana rolls her eyes and chuckles, and she stares out the window as the scenery of her present hell flies by them.

"Peachy." Santana answers dryly. Brittany's lips twist in thought, she's never really had to deal with a brooding person before. When they were younger, Santana was a lot happier, she smiled and laughed as much as anyone else Brittany knew. Sure, she was a bit abrasive when they were younger as well, but it was all in jest. For the most part.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" The cheerleader presses, her hands smoothing over the rough material of her steering wheel as she comes to a full stop at a stop sign.

"Not really." Santana hums out, her eyes still focused on the window that she notices is covered in a light layer of dust and dirt. Brittany nods, unsure if she should let the other girl get away with being so shut off, but inevitably she decides against asking for her to open up and that she will do it on her own terms.

"So," Brittany sighs out. "Are you gonna be at the Homecoming game Friday?" She asks, sending a sparkling smile over in her friend's direction, and all Santana can do is huff out a chuckle and roll her eyes. She can't quite figure out how the other girl has this uncanny ability to make her forget about her troubles so quickly and easily. "Come on, you have to come." Brittany practically whines, pouting and giving Santana puppy dog eyes.

"Oh no." Santana lifts her hand and points her finger at Brittany. "Do not even think about giving me…" But she stops talking when the cheerleader lets out the tiniest whimper, blinking so sadly at her. Santana sighs, lowers her hand to her lap and shakes her head to herself. "Fine." She huffs, trying her hardest to hide the smirk that's slowly creeping on her lips. "Not like I had other plans anyway." She reasons, as though it makes it okay for her to suddenly become a permanent fixture for 'Friday night lights'.

"Yay!" Brittany cheers, throwing in a quick clap to emphasize her excitement. "I think you're starting to like it here." She suggests, only to have Santana scoff at her comment.

"I wouldn't hold your breath." Santana mutters to herself.

When they pull into a spot in the student parking lot at school, Santana's passenger door is already open before Brittany can shut off the engine. She just watches as her passenger gathers her things and steps out, closes the door and politely waits around the back of the truck. Brittany smirks to herself, because in spite of this bravado Santana is trying her best to exude, she clearly still needs someone… anyone.

"Do you…" Brittany starts to speak as she rounds the back of the truck but her voice falls short when the sound of a guy's voice interrupts.

"Pierce!" It's the unmistakable, throaty call of one Finn Hudson and he is making his way over towards her. He spares a quick glance at Santana who only stares him down with utter annoyance, especially when he completely invades Brittany's personal space by throwing his arm over her shoulder. "I was thinking that since we are going to be homecoming King and Queen, that you could get your dad to score us a hot ride for the game Friday." He says in an all too hopeful voice. Brittany raises a questioning eyebrow as she tries to subtlely shake him from her, only to fail seeing as he pulls her harder against him.

"I think that he's already agreed to donate like three cars, for the night anyway." She informs him, looking briefly away and over at Santana who is still staring Finn down.

"Sweet, what are we riding in?" The football oaf asks with an unattractive child like excitement. Brittany once more uncomfortably shrugs her shoulders, trying to step away from under his heavy arm when her thoughts are interrupted by Santana's voice.

"I think I see Quinn." She points over in the distance, finally catching blue eyes. "I'm just gonna…" Her voice trails off as she leaves the All-American girl and boy to do whatever it is that is going on between them.

"So, Quinn's finally got a new friend." Finn muses, glancing over his shoulder at Santana's retreating form, letting his eyes fall down to her more accentuated assets for a moment. Brittany finally presses her hand into his shoulder, pushing him away from her and rolls her eyes. "It's about time." He chuckles to himself, turning back to face Brittany after she's finally extracted herself from him.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Brittany mumbles, but the harshness in her voice and even her words go in one ear and out the other.

"I'm just sayin'," He continues, oblivious to the sour mood he's put the head cheerleader in, and he looks over his shoulder at where Quinn and current 'new girl' are standing. "Hanging out with her cousin for the past two years wasn't doing anything for her social status." He comments, bringing his hands up to where his letterman jacket opens and he tugs on it to straighten it out. "Not that I'm sure that girl's gonna help much." He snorts, finding himself rather funny.

"I'll see you later Finn." Is all Brittany says before walking away from him and heading over towards a group of her fellow cheerleaders. She does however, spare a glance over in the direction of Quinn and Santana, wishing that it were her over there with them instead of her being over here with a group of girl's that don't really know her. "Hey girls." She slaps on a smile as she greets her teammates, taking a seat on one of the benches ready to talk strategy for their upcoming cheerleading competition next month.

Over on the other side of the lawn, Santana stands awkwardly with her books in her hands, she had obviously interrupted an important how to on skin care between Quinn and her cousin. She watches the way the boy's hands flail and the limp in his wrist as he continues to inform his cousin on the difference between moisturizer and lotion. When his rant looks like it's coming to a close, Quinn looks over in Santana's direction and playfully rolls her eyes at how fast her cousin talks, especially when it comes to skin maintenance.

"Thank you Kurt, for that in depth analysis of aloe based topical." Quinn jokes, getting a sarcastic chuckle from the boy, who abruptly frowns as he adjusts the bag on his shoulder. "Sorry 'bout that." She says to Santana, nodding in the direction of her cousin. "He gets very excited about cosmetics." Santana raises a curious eyebrow and lets her eyes fall onto the boy before her. Of course it's obvious that this kid is a flaming homosexual, her gaydar went off before she even heard him speak.

"Yeah." Santana drawls out, nodding slowly as she not so secretly eyes up the boys attire. For a second she wonders if this kid considered going to a private school, because there was way too many fashionista situations going on in his ensemble. She's sure RuPaul would definitely have something to say. "You're the kid who always made us have tea parties whenever you came by." She recalls, remembering how familiar this boy looked. Quinn stifles a laugh when Kurt looks over at her.

"They were high noon tea parties." He clarifies, receiving an eye roll from both girls.

"So, like," Her head tilts to the side and she purses her lips for a moment. "You're gay, right?" She asks, her voice a little lower, because truth be told, sometimes even the most flamboyant of gays are ironically not out of the closet. Kurt gives her a perplexed look, his eyebrows knit and he sends his cousin an amused glance.

"Actually, my name's Kurt." He playfully lets out, extending his hand to the girl before him and giggles out something definitely not manly and Quinn follows suit.

"Sorry for the lack of introductions." She smiles at Santana and motions for her to shake Kurt's hand, which she does after a few long seconds. "Santana this is my cousin Kurt, Kurt this is Santana." She points from one to the other. "And yes, he was the desperate high noon tea party thrower." Quinn adds as Santana quickly removes her hand from Kurt's.

"But yes, as for your question. I am gay." He answers, and then lifts his hand as though to cover his mouth ready to reveal a secret. "But don't tell my boyfriend." He sends Santana a wink, finally knocking her back to reality. She sighs out a chuckle and shakes her head.

"I just…" She swallows, looks down at her shoes, inwardly reminding herself to stop wearing these while she's in this town because they are full of dirt. "I didn't mean to…" Kurt places a hand on her shoulder and shakes his head, smiling the whole time.

"It's fine." He assures her, and gets a nod from Quinn as well.

"He came out like, two years ago." She waves off the apology. Santana nods and suddenly relaxes from the fear of just having put someone on the spot. Though she's never had to deal with actually being outed, she can only imagine the horror of it all.

"Does your boyfriend go here?" Santana asks, trying to stay positive on the subject matter, wanting to make it as clear as day that this information does nothing to affect her at all. Kurt's hand falls from her shoulder and he fixes the strap of his bag once again and sends his cousin a small half smile.

"Actually, I don't have a boyfriend." He admits and there is sadness laced in his voice. "It's kind of hard to meet anybody out here." He shrugs his shoulders and looks over to the boys in letterman jackets who are tossing footballs around and laughing.

"All the guys here are jackasses anyway." Quinn comments, following her cousins gaze. "Trust me you're not missing out." She rubs his back comfortingly and they share a brief smile.

"Even if they weren't though," Kurt continues, bringing his focus back to the new girl standing in front of him. "It's not like Knox is the easiest place to be out and proud." He rolls his eyes at the dismay that is his life. Santana nods, looks over her shoulder at the meat heads that 'run' this school and fixes her bag.

"Yeah, well, it's not just here." She states matter of factly, tucking a few stray hairs behind her ear and bites her lip for a few moments. "It's hard wherever you are." She explains in a softer than usually voice, finally turning back to face the two other teenagers, who are staring at her in confusion.

"Sure, but I bet that in a big city, it's a little easier to be out." Quinn reasons, her eyes flickering from Santana and her Kurt, both she and her cousin staring on as the dark haired girl mulls over her words.

"Not really, I mean," Santana starts, shifts her weight from foot to foot and clears her throat before she continues. "It's not so much, I guess, what the world thinks of you." She begins to explain, finding it hard to tear her eyes from the two pairs staring back at her. "But the fear of how the ones closest to you will think of you." Those visions she'd had of disappointment in her mother's eyes clouding her mind for a few seconds, before she shakes them out of her thoughts.

The bell rings before Quinn or Kurt can respond and the three of them head towards the double doors of Knox City High School. The girl's say their farewells to Kurt at the hallway before their lockers, making plans to see him during lunch. The two remain quiet as they exchange their books and even when they walk to their first class. Quinn is busy going through her notes trying to find her homework, while Santana stares idly out the window.

Her mind wanders over to Kurt and she can't fight the feeling that being a gay teenage boy here in Knox has been anything short of a smooth ride. She's pretty certain that those football guys probably hassle him more often than not and deep in her gut it stings. Because even though it's nothing done to her, she can feel the shame and guilt that Kurt probably felt when he was being bullied. She wonders if he is still bullied. If only he had someone here to help him, to be out with him to show he is not different and not alone.

Her pen cap seems to find itself between her teeth at some point in her thoughts, and she glances from the window to the clock on the wall above the door. First period English is nearly over and she has not listened to one single thing the teacher has been preaching about. Turning in her chair, she faces Quinn who sits beside her and she taps her finger tips on her desk to get her attention.

"Hey." She whispers out when Quinn continues to zone out at the blank sheet of paper in front of her. So she knocks on the desk a little more forcefully. "Quinn." She says louder, finally getting the cheerleaders attention and the girl leans over towards Santana. "Back home, we used to drive like an hour and a half just to go to this bar." She starts and flickers her eyes to the teacher to make sure she's not paying attention to the disruption in the back of the classroom. "Places like that usually don't care about high school kids going, just cause, well…" She shrugs her shoulders, not quite sure how to explain.

"What?" Quinn breathes out, confusion written as clear as day all over her face and Santana sighs out in frustration.

"Kurt." She says simply. "Doesn't he have places to, like, go to? Ya know, so he can be himself?" Santana clarifies, finally getting an understanding nod and an 'oh' from Quinn. In all honesty, Kurt is probably the furthest thing from her mind and what she is actually banking on, is the info on some place that she can finally get her party on.

"Yeah." Quinn smiles, also letting her gaze fall to the front of the room for a moment and then leans a little closer to Santana so she doesn't have to speak so loud. "It's just out of Knox, on the border of Carter." She informs Santana whose smile only begins to grow, making her eyes sparkle. "It's a small bar called 'April's Rhodehouse'." Quinn tells her, watching the expression of excitement and intrigue form over Santana's features.

"Well, we should totally go." Santana says with a nod before leaning back into her desk comfortably, her eyes fixed on her notebook as she scrawls 'April's Rhodehouse' on a blank sheet of loose leaf. Even if Quinn isn't down to go, she sure as hell is going to trek her ass down to some hole in the wall, pro-lady lovin' place.

"Really?" Quinn asks, hopefulness ever clear in her voice. Santana smiles over at her friend, delighted she has peaked some interest in the blonde, taps her pen to her notebook and then leans over once again. "I mean, usually it's just me and Kurt." She explains with a shrug, and the dark haired girl finds herself rather impressed with the cheerleader.

"Well, of course I wanna go." Santana replies without hesitation and with a straight face. "I mean, Kurt obviously needs to get some action." She informs the other girl who giggles at her statement. "And besides, if I'm going to survive living here, I seriously needs to get my mack on." She shrugs and rests her back into the seat once again. Quinn's jaw drops and she stares on as Santana continues to doodle in her notebook.

"Wait," Quinn breathes out, glances around her and then leans closer to Santana, nearly resting her arm on her desk. "So, you are gay?"

Before Santana can speak through her smirk, the bell rings and the hustle and bustle of the classroom breaks Quinn from her thoughts and she gets up from her seat. She gathers her books together and tosses the dark haired girl a nod and one of her signature soft smiles.

"I won't tell anyone." Quinn tells her as they head to the front of the classroom, her fingers pulling at the corner of her English textbook. Santana shrugs her shoulder that her bag is uncomfortably digging into and glares at some kid who bumps into her.

"Uh," She lets out, awkwardly drifting her gaze to the door and away from the inquisitive hazel eyes. "Actually, it's really not a secret." Santana offers, a tentative smile forming on her lips and in that moment as those words leave her mouth she feels a bit lighter. Quinn practically beams before she spins around, her cheer skirt lifting ever so slightly with the force and the wind from her movement. "But," She reaches out to grab at Quinn's elbow to pull her closer, eyes dart around at the stragglers bumping into them. "It's not like I am telling you to go on the loud speaker for an announcement about it." She clarifies, because even though it feels great to tell yet another person about herself, she's not about to join in on the Pride Parade in Main Street, not that she would mind the attention.

"It's not anyone's business." Quinn assures her, sincerity shining through her eyes and Santana nods in understanding. "And I didn't mean to pry," Suddenly feeling that overwhelming feeling she believes Santana must have felt earlier when she asked Kurt if he was gay. "It's just," She chuckles and rolls her eyes as they finally start walk out of the classroom and into the busy hall of Knox High. "Hanging around Kurt all the time, I guess I picked up on some things." She laughs, nervously glancing over at the way Santana smirks at her words.

"Gaydar's a good thing." Santana nudges her shoulder into Quinn's, finally getting her friend to settle and relax. "For you I mean, just means you'll be better equipped to be my wing woman." She jokes, getting a raised eyebrow from the Quinn, probably wondering when this new big city Santana found the time to make a funny.

"I'll see you after class." Quinn turns to walk across the hallway to her history class, leaving Santana to stand alone in front of her Spanish classroom.

She watches as the crowd thins, teachers yelling at some of the football players 'rough housing' by the lockers and trying to get them into the classroom. Quinn's already gone, in her seat, she can see this much from her spot in the deserted hallway and she wonders if she's going to continue down this new path of opening up. Her 'friendships' in the Heights consists of doing pretty much anything and everything illegal, with Puck at her side and authority hot on their tails.

In a way, she feels as though she's entered some time machine, traveling all the way back to those years she missed during her parent's divorce. Quinn's almost the same, safe for the baby that left her kind of emotionally distant and sarcastic. And Brittany, well, then there's Brittany. The girl is the same, for the most part of course. The years have been good to the head cheerleader, Santana is no slouch in noticing those long, toned legs of hers and the way her uniform fits her in all the right ways that would make any red blooded American think all the wrong things.

---

The unfortunate part about Wednesdays is that instead of wandering around the town to bide her time until her blonde friends are free from cheer practice, she has to head straight over towards Miss Pillsbury's office on Charles. It's down the street from the church and she can't help but think it's a ploy against her from the so-called 'Big Man Upstairs' to try and make her change and become that 'good citizen'.

Miss Pillsbury's office is actually connected to a bigger building that holds a lot of other offices, such as the dentist, general physician and other various doctors' offices. And an even more unfortunate fact, is that it is right across from the Knox City Town Hall building where she is always spotting the big wigs of the town gathering for important meetings for, like, a new tractor trailer or something that is imperative in this stupid Podunk town.

From just across Charles Avenue, where the Knox City Town Hall building is, on the bottom step just before the giant glass doors that read 'Knox City Council', is a woman. She stands there still, like a statue, and any random passer buyer would assume from her pose she was nothing but cold. However, the people of Knox know better than to put such a label on a woman like Annie Pierce, and instead of saying those things about her out loud, they merely think them in their own minds.

Annie Pierce stands with her arms crossed over her chest, loose and comfortable, but powerful. Her aged, yet oddly vibrant blonde hair is pulled up much like it is on Sunday's for church, but today it's a bit more businesslike. Her knee length pencil skirt is the same pattern as her fitted blazer, something big city types refer to as a 'power suit', and she tops off her elegant look with eyewear very similar to that of the late Jackie O. The only visible sign that she is not in fact a statue of the prominent Mrs. Pierce, is the movement of an arched eyebrow, just seen above the dark, large lenses of her sun glasses.

Carefully, she raises one of her hands up to her glasses, bringing her finger just to the bridge of her accessory and lowers them, enabling her to view the street without the dimness her glasses provide. She watches as the girl from next door walks her way into the Knox HealthCare building, unable to help her mind from wandering to various possibilities of her need for such a place. In fact, it was just last week she had seen the young girl going into the very same building, at this very time, on this very day.

"Mayor." The older woman hears from behind her, and at first she pays no mind to the voice of her assistant bustling with papers a few feet behind her, only to continue to stare until the dark haired girl is no longer visible. "Mayor Pierce." Is called out again and the woman twirls her body around, pushing her glasses up as she does so, only to find her assistant, Terri Del Monaco right behind her holding a bunch of files with papers nearly falling out of them. "The meeting is about to start." She informs her boss, who smiles condescendingly at the woman and nods before brushing by her and up the steps.

As Santana hoists her purse at a better position on her shoulder, she walks the steps to the front doors of the Knox HealthCare Building and groans as she makes her way to the elevator. The sound of the elevator slowly creeping down makes her consider taking the stairs, but Miss Pillsbury's office is all the way up on the third floor and she is most definitely not wearing the proper attire for that kind of hiking experience. So, instead, she waits for the elevator to arrive, making her cringe as the doors crackle as they open. She can't help but wonder is she just about to enter some sort of hell cage that will plummet her to her death, and for a moment, it truly sounds appetizing.

The hallway just outside Miss Pillsbury's office smells like Lysol and those air freshener trees the poor kids at her prep school back home put in their lockers. The walls have an ugly off white wallpaper that she is sure is up in every building here in Knox and the carpet is a faded forest green that is oddly very clean.

She doesn't knock before she opens the door, because all this door separates is Miss Pillsbury's assistant's part of the office and the hallway. The woman at the desk nods kindly, sending Santana a smile before telling her that Miss Pillsbury is ready for her, and that she should just go inside.

"Santana." Emma greets, a tentative smile being offered from behind her desk, and she watches as the teenager shuts the door and stalks over to the chair. "How was school?" She asks politely, settling her hands onto her desk while Santana drops her bag and books down at her feet.

"Can we just get this over with?" Santana blurts out, reaching down to grab her nail file from her purse. Emma tightens her lips, sighs through her nose and glances down at the opened files laid out on her desk.

"Very well." The older woman nods, pushing a few papers to spread them out and get a better look. "Last week we didn't get to talk much." She reminds the girl, who only flickers a quick glance in her direction with a quirked eyebrow.

"That's because one of us was unprepared." Santana replies sharply, motioning with her nail file at the mess of papers on the other woman's desk. "I take it you've read your literature this week Miss P?" She tilts her head and smirks at the ginger haired woman, who only furrows her brow at the dark haired girl in disappointment.

"Santana," Emma starts, but then lets out a long sigh and her shoulders drop, because she actually doesn't know where to begin. "Is there anything you can tell me about all of this?" She asks, leaning her chin in her hand and points down to the papers with the pen she's picked up. Santana pauses from her vigilant filing and stares down at the manila folders and assortment of colored paper cluttering the social worker's desk.

"Sorry?" Santana says dryly, staring blankly back at the woman whose eyes only widen, if that's even possible. "Look Miss P," She shifts in her seat and crosses her left leg over her right knee and places her hands in her lap. "I'm pretty sure that most of that," She points to the mess of pink, blue, yellow and white pages. "Is complete bullshit." She spits out defensively. "I'm innocent." She shakes her head, eyes lowering back down to the hands she lifts up to get back to her filing.

"This isn't a joke Santana." Miss Pillsbury tells her, bringing both of her hands flat down to her desk onto the police reports, court files and other various sheets of paper from her prep school.

"No, it is not." Santana chuckles with faux amusement as she shakes her head. "Let me paint you a picture." She lowers her hands back down to her lap and smiles placating back at the doe eyed woman behind the desk. "I was sent here because my 'loving' father couldn't pull some strings like he usually does." She shrugs her shoulders and lowers her eyes. "Guess he got tired of bailing me out or that he's just a loser who doesn't care." Her voice is lower, but she shakes herself out of this little 'woe is me' moment. "So instead of spending six months stuck in my house with some lame ass and tacky looking little anklet that I very well could have made a new style, I'm sitting here," She slumps into her chair and crosses her arms over her chest as she eyes up Miss Pillsbury. "With you, in this sweaty town, where everything is trucks and football." Her eyes roll at the very picture that is her life currently. "And I'm stuck with my aunt!" She huffs in frustration.

"She's a nice lady." Emma responds instantly and Santana gives her an incredulous look.

"She's unreasonable." Santana clarifies the reason for her aunt to be in her sudden rage of 'I hate Knox and here's why'.

"What makes you say that?" Miss Pillsbury asks, letting herself relax a bit seeing as she is finally getting Santana to open up to her about something. The teenager rolls her eyes, sighs and leans her head to the side.

"Where do I start?" She sarcastically hums out. "There's the errands, the chores, the going to church at the ass crack of dawn." She lists out, staring at something's on the shelf behind the social worker.

"Are those things really so bad?" The red head counters with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't you have chores at home?"

"Fuck no." Santana blurts out and freezes for a moment when she receives a stern look from Miss Pillsbury. "Sorry, I mean, no." She rewords in a quieter voice. "My mom's never home and when she is, she's too busy sitting in front of the television with her drink of choice."

"Does your mother drink a lot?" The woman asks, grabbing her pen once more and scribbles down a few notes. Santana lowers in her seat and stares down at the nail file she's playing with between her fingers.

"She's not an alcoholic if that's what you're trying to say." She says, glancing at the woman over the file in her hand for a second. "She's just…" She quirks an eyebrow and twists her lips. "Lonely and sad." She mutters, swallowing the uncomfortable lump in her throat, images of her mother passed out in front of the television while 'The Notebook' or some other kind of tragic romantic movie plays in the background.

"Well, you're here." Emma gently taps her desk to get the girl's attention once again and when she does, she offers the girl a smile. "They obviously thought it was a good idea for you to stay with your aunt in Knox City." She bobs her head back and forth as she thumbs through some of the files. "They are expecting you to understand your wrongs and right them."

"Right them?" Santana counters, sitting up straight in her chair and cocks her head to the side. "How am I supposed to 'right' breaking and entering or vandalism?" She asks, thinking about it for a moment and then her eyes widen and she shakes her head. "Oh no, I am so not doing community service. You will not see me on the side of the road in some orange jump suit painting over some graffiti." She lifts her hand in the air to emphasize her disapproval of such a thing. "Uh uh."

"Surprisingly," Emma lifts a particular piece of paper, which Santana tries her hardest to try and look through, as she can almost make out the letter head. "There are no requests for community service, so," She glances at the girl over the piece of paper. "You're in the clear for that." Santana lets out a sigh of relief, bringing her hand up to cover her chest for good measure.

"So then what?" She asks, almost nervous to hear the answer. Emma places all of the loose pages and papers into the file folder neatly, stacking the three thick files accordingly and then folds her hands over her desk.

"You're going to have to stay out of trouble." The red head simply says.

"That's it?" Santana stammers, almost sure there's a 'but' somewhere hidden there. But, to her surprise, Emma just nods.

"But," She knew it was coming and she inwardly groans as she awaits the rest. "We are still going to meet every Wednesday. I have your teachers sending me weekly reports and your aunt as well." Santana's eyebrows knit together wondering when the hell Aunt Linda is finding time to write things about her between fiddling in her 'garden' and watching Wheel of Fortune. "As long as you go to school, get good grades and don't add anything to your record you're as good as gold." The red headed woman nods and smiles, enthusiasm radiating from the very tips of her fingers as she pushes her chair back and gets to her feet. "So, I will be seeing you next week right?" Santana hesitates, but eventually finds her body moving out of the chair and gathers her things.

"Uh, yeah, next week." She nods and all but stumbles out into the hall, barely hearing the assistant saying 'so long'.

Santana never thought she'd find comfort, or even consider a place like Pierce Parts and Tires as her 'hangout', but that is exactly what it is panning out to be. Both girls seem to always be here, and it feels like Aunt Linda is always sending her over to pick something up, so she doesn't exactly find it odd that she is sitting on the desk Thursday after school chatting it up with Quinn. Well, let the other girl attempt to chat it up with her anyway.

Since the revelation of Santana's interest in wanting to explore April's Rhodehouse, Quinn can't help but ask questions, finding herself intrigued in getting to know more about her childhood friend. To say she was surprised would be a lie, she pointed out to Santana just moments earlier that she had a feeling considering the way the girl had eyed her up and down the first day they ran into one another. And it wasn't one of those ever so usual Mrs. Pierce type of stare downs where judging is going on, it was a legit appreciation stare of the female body.

"So, is there a girl back home?" Quinn asks once she gets the topic out in the open again. Santana scoffs at the comment and rolls her eyes.

"There are girls, plural, but no one in particular." She nearly chuckles at the words, knowing that Quinn is wondering if she has a 'girlfriend' or some kind of steady waiting for her back in Boston. In fact, what's even more amusing to her is that the closest thing to a 'steady' fixture in her life back home is Puck, and he is most definitely not her type.

"So, no girlfriend?" Quinn tilts her head to the side as the pen in her hand taps against the text book that is open up on the front desk of the shop. Santana purses her lips, glances down at the History book and shakes her head with absolutely no interest at all in continuing some sort of 'feelings' conversation.

"Maybe we can find you one here." She perks up, huge smile on her face, like she has suddenly found the meaning for Santana's reasons for being sent here and hums proudly to herself.

"I don't do relationships blondie." Santana tells the cheerleader as she reaches into her bag to pull out her compact, instantly opens it and gazes at her reflection. "The longest relationships I ever have are when I'm too tired to ask them to leave and they wind up spending the night." She explains without any remorse or guilt for clearly using those girls for her sexual desires.

"Maybe you just haven't found the right one." Quinn offers with a shrug of her shoulders and leans her chin in her hands.

"The right one does not exist." Santana scoffs, lifting her finger to wipe just under her eye and then grazes her lips as she pouts into the mirror. "Even if it did," She shrugs herself and tosses her compact back into her bag. "I don't want anything to do with that crap."

"Well," Quinn sighs, taps her fingers against her cheek as she thinks. "What kinds of girls do you like? Blondes, brunettes…" She trails off when the door separating the garage and the office opens and Brittany comes striding in with a water bottle in one hand and a dirty rag in the other. The taller girl senses a shift and that she has possibly just interrupted something, so her eyes flicker nervously to each girl to read their faces better.

"What's going on?" She tentatively asks and Santana tries to shoot a stare over in Quinn's direction but the girl is too busy smirking.

"Oh, I was just tryna figure out what kind of girls Santana is into." Quinn explains with a wave of her hand, her other still gripping onto the book she was reading. Brittany quirks an eyebrow and tilts her head to the side innocently.

"What?" She asks in an airy, half laugh of a voice, confusion written all over her face as her eyes flicker from Santana to Quinn.

"You know." Quinn giggles, figuring Brittany is only pretending to not know what she is talking about, only to figure out by Santana's silence that this is not the case. "Oh," Her eyes go wide and she sits up straighter in her chair. "I, have to… I'm just going to leave the awkwardness right now." She informs the girls before vanishing behind the glass door of the office that leads out into the noisy garage.

Brittany glances over her shoulder at the retreating figure that is Quinn before sending a look in Santana's direction. She is staring down at the spot Brittany is standing, wondering if she is actually looking at her shoes or the space around her shoes. Finally, after a few but very long seconds, her eyes flitter up to find those questioning blue eyes.

"What's with Quinn?" Brittany asks, seeming to be unfazed about what Quinn has just said. Santana's eyebrows furrow and she turns her head to the side, watching the tall cheerleading mechanic take a quick sip from her water bottle. "What?" Brittany nervously laughs out, feeling self conscious with the other girl staring at her.

"Britt," Santana kicks her legs as they dangle from the desk she is sitting on. "I," The word, letter, whatever, croaks out of her throat and she drops her gaze for a moment, she can't understand why this feels so hard. "I just," She's already come out to her aunt and Quinn, this should not be so difficult. "I like girls." She finally blurts out, turns her head away from Brittany and squints her eyes as though prepared to shield anything about to come her way. But, instead of vicious words and a look of horror and or hatred, she hears a tiny giggle.

"Okay." Brittany replies easily and when Santana looks over the other girl shrugs her shoulders, lifts her now empty bottle of water and shakes it before tossing it into the trash. "Hey," Brittany looks at Santana. "When Q gets back, can you ask her to call Mr. Evans and tell him he can just pay whenever?" She patiently waits for her words to sink into her friend's brain, and smiles when she slowly nods. "Alright, thanks." She winks at Santana before pulling on the glass door and heading back out to whatever piece of machinery she's working on.

Santana takes her usual seat on the bleachers, right behind where the cheerleaders do their thing, leading cheers and whatnot. She crosses her legs at the knee and shoves her hands into the sleeveless, hooded jacket her aunt made her put on, even if it is still a million and one degrees out with all these people practically breathing on her. She tilts her head to the side as she watches the girls in short skirts stretch and chat while the boys on the field practice their throws and catches or whatever it is they do before games.

Brittany has her leg up on Quinn's shoulder, leaning forward, and she wonders if that is actually a stretch because it is pretty fucking hot. Shaking her dirty thoughts from her mind, she can't help but smile at the fact that the two girls are here at a game 'stretching' together and talking animatedly with one another. With a nod, she thinks she deserves a pat on the back, because she most definitely has something to do with this new rekindled friendship between the cheerleaders. Maybe they just needed some common ground to finally push that barrier known as Annie Pierce out of the way to get back together.

She feels movement beside her and when she looks to her right she finds the beaming smile of Quinn's cousin Kurt shining back at her blindingly. He sends her a quick little wave that she notices is covered in some fingerless gloves.

"It's like a sauna out here." Santana comments dully.

"Fashion first Santana." Kurt notes, his eyes flickering around the field, feigning as much interest in the proceedings about to take place as Santana. "So, a little birdie told me that you are just as into visiting a quaint little place called April's Rhodehouse as I am." He smirks raising one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows at her.

"Quinn told you." Santana breathes out, turning her attention back to the long legged cheerleaders practicing their splits before the big game.

"She didn't exactly have to." Kurt says, glancing over at what the girl's attention is on and chuckles. "I've seen you at school." He continues all the while her head stays forward. "Your eyes linger a little longer on the backsides of cheerleaders and you don't exactly make eye contact with any of the girl's at school." He points out jokingly and she finds it hard not to grin at his assessment. "Then again, I tend to hone in on things like that, ya know, birds of a feather."

"Do you like birds or something? Or do you just not have any of your own material?" She bites back, but not in a harsh manner, luckily he gets her sarcastic wall of bitchiness and laughs to himself.

"Anyway," He begins again after a few moments of silence dancing between them. "I was thinking we should plan a drive over there. You, me , Quinn and Tina." He suggest, the new name peaking Santana's interest and she turns her head to finally look at the boy beside her.

"Tina?" She quirks an eyebrow.

"Yeah," He nods and motions with his hand a few ways down the bleachers to some Asian girl sitting alongside a kid in a wheelchair. "She's dating Mike Chang." He points out onto the field at the football players. "He's like the best dancer at this school." He informs her with a smile. "Well, besides Brittany Pierce of course." He adds as an afterthought, his eyes shifting from the muscles on the field to the dancing cheerleader. Santana nods in agreement, though she's never seen that Chang kid move, she's pretty certain that no one can dance as well as the girl who lives next door.

"Does this Mike Chang go to April's?" Santana inquires, wondering if a Knox High football player would actually be seen at a gay bar in Texas.

"Are you kidding me?" Kurt gasps, bringing his hand to his chest just as any flamboyant gay boy would at a clearly incredulous question. "That boy will go anywhere music is playing." He explains with a flick of his wrist. "Actually, he and Brittany used to go to the same dance school." He further provides. "They were dance partners for a few years even."

"Oh." Santana lets out slowly, unaware that a boy's parents would ever enroll their son in a dance school, let alone parent's of a Texas high school football player.

"Are you going to Stars Lake after this?" Kurt asks, completely changing the subject, throwing Santana off guard for a moment.

"Uh," She shakes her head to get her mind back on track and pauses for a moment. "I, I don't think so." She informs the skinny boy, glancing briefly at his perfectly quaffed hair and wonders what kind of hair product he uses because it looks so soft. "Britt asked me to, but, I don't think it's my scene." She explains, pulling her hands out of her jacket pockets and resting them on her bare thighs.

"Oh," He lets out, obviously not happy about her response. "You should come, we can make plans for April's and, maybe you can even get Brittany to agree to come." He pushes, nudging his shoulder into Santana's, getting a curious look from the girl in the process. "I mean, the girl practically dances to the beat of her own heart, she won't care what kind of place it is."

"Psh." Santana rolls her eyes and shakes her head, lowering her gaze to her hands that are now fumbling over each other. "I bet Mrs. Pierce wouldn't be too happy about her daughter's whereabouts." She comments, quickly glancing over her shoulder to where she'd spotted Brittany's mother when she first arrived to make sure she was far enough out of ear shot.

"Yeah, that woman is ice cold." He notes, looking back at the woman as well. "But, well, Britt is gonna do what she wants." He shrugs his shoulders. "Her mother is just an inconvenience in her life. That's all." Santana sends him a questioning look, but it goes unnoticed by the boy who smiles and waves over at Quinn who is waving back over at them. When Santana looks over she smiles back at Quinn, but then her eyes fall onto the girl a little behind her, and she finds her smile widen a bit as Brittany waves cutely at her. "Well, I'm gonna go back over to sit with Tina, you're more than welcome to join us over there." He points to where his friends are, but Santana declines the invitation with a polite shake of her head.

Instead, she stays put, by herself and watches the game solo. The crowd is louder than usual, seeing as it is the homecoming game, and the fences are more decorated to commemorate the event. She watches in boredom as the first half of the game slowly drones on. When the whistle blows to signal the end of the first half, she adjusts her body on the metal seat beneath her, wondering somewhere in the back of her mind if they sell those pads team mother's are always carrying around with the school's name on it here.

But, before she has the opportunity to go venture off to the food shack to check that out, a voice comes over the speakers to announce the Homecoming King and Queen. Realizing this is a moment she should pay attention to, considering Brittany is a part of it, she sits a bit straighter at peers over the fence to only notice the absence of said cheerleader. Everyone begins to 'ooh' and 'ahh' at the end of the field where three shiny new cars are driving up onto the track with six couples sitting on the back of the convertibles.

---

Santana waits by a brown pick-up truck, her eyes flicker over towards that powder blue one every now and again, as she waits for Quinn. Brittany had won Homecoming Queen, and she looked so beautiful and gracious as she accepted her crown and sash. It was a nice moment. But then when Finn Hudson was declared Homecoming King, it kind of put a damper in Brittany's moment. He fist pumped, shoved the other guys who were in the running, playfully of course, and then wrapped his arm around the poor girl's shoulders like he'd won her and not some stupid sash and crown. He even topped it off with a kiss on her cheek.

She'd already told Brittany she had decided against the party the other day, claiming she'd promised Aunt Linda she'd help with something. But, truth is, now she wants to go to this party to keep an eye on Finn fucking Hudson. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see he's got the hots, or something for Brittany Pierce, and considering his track record with blonde cheerleader's from Knox City, well, Santana is just not willing to play with those odds. If for any reason she has been sent to this hell hole, she can't help but feel it's her duty to keep that losers hands off of Brittany, feeling guilty she wasn't here to do the same for Quinn.

"Hey." Quinn calls out when she finds Santana leaning against her truck, hands in her pockets and a glare on her face. "Who are you staring at like that?" She chuckles and glances around to find someone worth that kind of Lopez look of death. Santana shakes her head, pushes herself from the truck and tucks some hair behind her ear.

"I was wondering if you'd mind another passenger to this… Stars Lake thing." She wonders, of course knowing that Quinn would even be willing to kick her cousin out of the truck if it meant Santana had changed her mind and wanted to come to the party.

"Of course." Quinn smiles as she tosses her cheerleading bag into the back of her truck. "I just gotta stop home and change first, and then gotta go by Kurt's." She motions for her cousin to head in their direction from where he is busy talking to Tina and the kid in the wheel chair.

Santana watches as Kurt gently pats the shoulder of the kid in the wheel chair, kisses Tina on the cheek and then quickly walks over to Quinn's truck. She stands to the side as the boy slides in on the front bench of the truck and glances over her shoulder quickly. Over by the powder blue truck she spots another blonde cheerleader looking in her direction, her blue eyes curious and slightly dim as she watches Santana move closer to the brown truck.

Her focus on the dark haired girl is broken however, when Finn Hudson comes barreling over in her direction. He lifts her up in a cheerful way, spins them around with a huge smile on his face, all the while she is trying to push her body from his grasp. When her feet finally meet the ground again, she presses her hands to his chest to put some distance between them, but he pays no mind. He goes on and on about how it was meant to be that they won King and Queen, that much Santana can hear. But when she closes the door to Quinn's truck, their conversation turns into a silent movie, and she makes up the words that go along with their moving mouths.

As Quinn pulls out of the field house parking lot, Santana stares out the window one last time, finding those blue eyes looking to where the brown truck just was.

---

Santana is leaning up against a tree off to the side of a big group of people who are standing around a small fire set up a few feet away. She glances down to the contents of the red cup that some jock had given her and for the first time in ever, she isn't in the mood to drink at a party. Laughs and loud voices catch her attention and she looks around the wooded area to see a bunch of different tiny groups standing around, drinking, joking around and seemingly having a good time.

She lets out a sigh, she'd let Quinn drag her here because… well, because otherwise she'd be sitting at Aunt Linda's forced to watch reruns of Three's Company. So, standing around with her 'peers' seems like the better option. Besides, Quinn isn't so bad. In fact, hanging out with her has actually been pretty cool. But Quinn and avoiding her aunt's television programs are not the only reasons she opted to join in on Knox City High festivities.

Brittany is standing on the other side of the field with a group of her fellow cheerleaders and some stray jocks who are clearly trying too hard. While the other girls laugh along with some most likely awful pick up line or horrid joke, Brittany is glancing around, obviously not paying attention at all to anyone. Seeing her again has definitely done something to Santana, what that is she is unsure of but she is definitely sure that she likes it. It's easy with Brittany. Kind of like how it's easy with Quinn but, it's different.

Feeling as though she has been leering too hard for too long Santana tears her eyes from Brittany and looks around at the other kids that have become her classmates since her move from Boston. She finds Quinn easily enough, she's standing as far away as possible from Finn Hudson who has been yapping to some dim witted cheerleader who is either too stupid or already too drunk to realize that every time she laughs she spills half of her drink all over the ground. She also believes that this girl is either too stupid or too drunk to realize how incredibly boring Finn fucking Hudson is.

She rolls her eyes and huffs as she bends down to place her still very full red cup onto the ground. Santana has no intentions of drinking this evening, especially not with Aunt Linda waiting up for her. Just as she stands straight up again to lean her back against the tree she feels a soft touch on her shoulder and before she can turn around to find the culprit she feels lips ghosting her ear.

"Hey." The soft voice says, and she knows who it belongs to before she even meets those sparkling blue eyes. She half smiles in return, nods, continuing to rest up against the tree that has been keeping her company as she watches the kids of Knox act a fool.

"Hey." Santana drawls out, glancing down briefly to the cup she hasn't forgotten, but dares not to pick up again. The wrath of Aunt Linda still very much tingling her 'Tana-senses'.

"Why are you over here by yourself?" Brittany asks, her eyes flitting from the scene of her classmates and teammates wandering around in groups with red solo cups in hand. "Are you okay?" She queries, taking up the spot only inches away against the tree from the other girl. Santana shrugs, looks to Brittany and then back out to the field just beyond the beginning of the lake.

"Yeah." She replies, forcing a smile and a nod to make it more believable. "I guess I'm just thinking about home." She adds, her voice sounding a lot sadder than she had intended and she can feel those blue eyes land on her without having to see them.

"Oh," Brittany breathes out. "Okay." From the corner of her eye, Santana can see the cheerleader nod her head and rest comfortably against the tree some more.

"Doesn't mean you have to stand in solitude with me." Santana tells her, lifting her hand from behind her to motion out to the Knox City High School student body. "I'm fine on my own." She says a tad quieter and looks to the ground as her hand moves down to her side.

"Oh." Brittany sighs in understanding and Santana can feel the movement beside her as the blonde makes to push herself from the tree. Santana inwardly groans to herself and rolls her eyes. She didn't mean to come off snappy or rude, and before the Brittany can fully remove herself from her spot Santana reaches out to grab her wrist.

"But," She starts, catching those blue eyes with her own, but only for a second. "Doesn't mean you have to leave." Her head shakes, wondering where this feeling of slight regret for speaking before she thinks came into play. "I can still think with you here." She explains, finding Brittany's stare once more before she takes her place against the tree again. Santana smiles to herself triumphantly, operation be polite is a lot easier with Brittany, Aunt Linda would be proud she thinks and smirks to herself.

"Are you at least having fun?" Brittany asks, tilting her head to the side to gauge Santana's expression before she answers. The shorter girl knits her eyebrows and opens her mouth to speak, glancing around before she comes up with a response close to the truth.

"Uh," She clears her throat and shrugs her shoulders. "It's definitely different." She offers, looking down at the ground where her shoe has been digging into the dirt.

It's totally different from the field parties she's used to back home. There, no one's wearing a stupid uniform or saying 'dude' in every other sentence. Guys aren't fist bumping about touchdowns and trying to get the cheerleader's to twirl around in their short skirts, though, as she thinks about it she wouldn't mind that last part much. But, truth is, back home there's just people standing around taking shots off of each other, swallowing pills offered on a randoms tongue and a lot of raids by cops. Again, she finds herself thinking the latter for this place seems to be a lot better, no cops, no problems.

"Are you?" Santana asks after a few moments of silence between the two of them, realizing she's been in her own mind for a while now.

"I guess." Brittany replies dully, her shoulders shrug and Santana notices how completely uninvolved she is with this whole gathering. This is someone who has pretty much put this whole thing together, standing idly on the side lines looking utterly bored. "I mean, this is about all there is to do here that is even remotely fun." She smirks and playfully rolls her eyes, getting a small chuckle from Santana. "It's either this or go bowling, and putting my feet in shoes that smell that bad doesn't have the same appeal as it used to." They both laugh, but it's brief and then there's nothing but silence, safe for the party going on around them. Brittany looks across the way at some of the football players making some freshman go into the lake and she twists her lips as her smile begins to fade. She nudges Santana's shoulder with her own, catching the girl's attention back onto her. "But, I'm having fun talking to you, so I guess it makes up for this mess." She looks back out to the 'mess' she is referring to and Santana can't help but grin.

"Wow, thanks." She chuckles. "Good to know I'm a step up from beer bongs and swinging from a rope into a probably very dirty lake." Santana continues to laugh and shakes her head when she receives a playful slap on the arm from Brittany, not noticing how the hand lingers for a moment longer than it probably should or was meant to.

"Shut up." Brittany giggles, finally bringing her hand back to her own personal space. "You know what I mean." Santana's laughter subsides and she nods, even if she may not fully understand Brittany's words. But, before she can really go over them again she feels movement beside her and then lips ghost her ear. "Follow me." She whispers to Santana and although she does not have to turn around to place the voice to a face, confusion still covers her features and she tosses a raised eyebrow in Brittany's direction. Brittany just smiles, she's already walking in the opposite direction of the party and she waves her hand for Santana to do as she says and follow her.

As she pushes herself from the tree, Santana glances around the sea of Knox City High students but none of them are paying attention to anything else except themselves and the conversations they are all too wrapped up in. So, with a deep breath she spins around the tree and follows the faint image of Brittany ahead, picking up her pace to catch up before she gets lost in the woods by herself. Within in seconds she is right behind her and the tall cheerleader looks over her shoulder, that same smile on as before and a twinkle in her eye thanks to the moonlight.

"Take my hand." Brittany tells her and her hand is already reaching back to take Santana's in her own before the shorter girl can react.

She's a bit weary when she feels Brittany's hand grab hers and she can't help but be very aware of the way her fingers wrap around hers, touching the back of her own or the way that she shifts her palm so that she can lace their fingers together. At first Santana just lets her hand be held by Brittany, too shocked by the way she is so open and touchy not having a care in the world about anyone seeing. But then she remembers they are in the woods, its dark and its Brittany, her childhood best friend and she holds her hand back.

Brittany giggles when she feels Santana's fingers curl with her own and she tugs her further away from the party. They've already gone pretty far seeing as the music is but a faint background noise and the only sound that can be heard is water. It's not loud in fact, it's soft and soothing, kind of like the way a mobile sounds hanging above a child's crib.

Brittany slows down once they enter a sort of clearing and Santana follows suit, her steps turning shorter and come to a near stop. Her brow furrows, her head turns to the right and her mouth opens and she is only broken out of her daze when she walks into Brittany who has stopped moving. Brittany chuckles when Santana almost falls back and then carefully pulls her hand from Brittany's grasp. Their arms hang between them and Brittany watches brown eyes take in the scenery.

"These parties are lame." Brittany says, facing the small lake in front of them and takes a few steps wrapping her arms around herself. Santana eyes flicker to Brittany who is now a few feet in front of her and watches the way her hands rub up and down her pale, toned arms even though it's not cold at all. "You know," She spins around, a tentative yet friendly smile gracing her lips. "I would have driven you here tonight." She tells Santana whose eyes quickly look away to the water. "You're not exactly out of my way." Brittany adds and she tilts her head to the side when Santana finally looks back at her with a guilty expression on her face and she shrugs.

"It was last minute." Santana half lies while she kicks the ground with her not appropriate footwear and crosses her arms over her chest. "Besides, I don't really roll with your crowd." She raises her eyebrows as if to make a point but Brittany scrunches her nose and tilts her head to the other side.

"But," Brittany drawls out, smacks her lips together and takes a step towards Santana. "You 'roll' with me." She smiles making Santana chuckle at the way Brittany says 'roll' like she's from Boston or some big city. "Don't worry about those other girls." She assures her, glancing off somewhere behind Santana, the pathway they had just emerged from and waves her hand towards it. "They're like… robots."

"So then why do you hang out with them?" Santana asks her, finally removing herself from the spot she has been standing completely still in since they arrived. Brittany watches her walk, twists her lips as she thinks of her answer and shrugs her shoulders.

"It's easy." She replies but is quick to shake her head at herself and laugh at her words catching Santana's attention and a raised eyebrow. "Actually, it's the opposite of easy but, with my mom…" Her eyes look up to the bit of sky that is visible through the tress and she takes in a calming breath. "It's easier for her if I'm 'friends' with those girls."

"I guess." Santana offers, feeling as though the explanation for why Brittany runs with the crowd she does will never become something she'll understand. Brittany steps out a little bit further and takes a seat right in front of the much smaller lake that seems hidden and secret.

"So," Brittany interrupts the quiet that has taken over them, glancing over to the spot about two feet away from her where Santana has taken up residence. "I was thinking about what you told me the yesterday."

Santana sucks in her lips and gently bites down, she nods a few times, she knew this topic was going to be brought up again. And not because Brittany wants to interrogate her, one thing she remembers vividly about the girl next door, is her insatiable need for facts and understanding, so questions were bound to arise.

"Oh, well, it's not a big deal." Santana muses, tilting her head from side to side, her focus on the lake before them as to avoid those curious blues. But, then she stops being so blasé about it all, and worry enters her mind. "Wait, is it?"

"No." Brittany giggles, tossing a few pebbles Santana's way playfully. "It's not at all." Santana lets out a sigh of relief, she hadn't even realized she was holding her breath. It's only been recent that she's found herself being able to say those words out loud and they just felt so natural rolling off her tongue she hadn't even considered them to be damaging. So, with Brittany's airy giggle to follow her assurance that sexuality is no problem, Santana feels at ease once again in her presence. "Did you think I would react differently?" Brittany questions, tilting her head towards the girl beside her and watches as the shorter girl's shoulders shrug up and down. "I don't judge, you of all people should know that. Besides, I'm friends with you because of who you are, not who you want to be with." She states simply.

"You don't know who I am." Santana blurts out, her words coming out a lot harsher than she had meant. And Brittany sends her a startled gaze. "I mean, it's been a few years Brittany. I'm not the same little girl I was." She looks Brittany up and down and then adds, "Neither are you." They stare at one another for a few minutes, until the stillness around them fades away with the crack of a smile forming on Brittany's lips.

"Maybe we are." Brittany shrugs, smile still in place, her hands move to take her shoes off and she puts them beside her. Santana studies the other girl as she stands up and carefully lifts her tank top over her head, prompting a look of confusion to come over her friend's face.

"Uh, so, how'd you find this place?" Santana inquires, shaking her head as to not stare at Brittany who is now standing in her bikini top and ready to push her short shorts down her legs.

"I come here to think and get away from everything." She explains, turning away from her friend and walking towards the lake. "I found it once when I was bored at some other lame ass party." Brittany looks over her shoulder when her feet become submerged in the lakes water and she smiles. "Are you coming in?" She asks with a quirked eyebrow.

"Definitely not." Santana firmly states with a shake of her head, eyeing the lake up like it's just called her mother easy or something equally offending. Brittany's angelic chuckle catches her attention from her stare down with the mini lake and she can't help but smirk. "I can't believe you're going in there. You can't even see the bottom, there could be bodies in there." Santana sternly explains as she crosses her arms over her chest, but Brittany only continues to laugh.

"Uptight." Brittany sing songs. Reminding Santana of what she had said at the garage that one time, about her needing to let loose.

"Ugh…" Santana groans, her hands battling whether or not to push herself up from the ground, and she looks at the blonde in confusion and uncertainty. But then Brittany gives her that look, the one she used to give her when they were kids, and Santana finds herself on her feet within seconds. Her shirt finds Brittany's as well as her shoes and then she shimmies out of her skirt, not wanting the murky water ruin her designer threads. "Ah!" She yelps as soon as her feet come in contact with the lake. "It's so cold." She informs the giggling blonde, who is already ventured further into the water to where it's up to her waist. "Why?" Santana questions, sending her friend a curious stare as she slowly continues in the same direction.

"I don' know why it's cold." Brittany laughs out, finally submerging her arms and bending her knees so the water is up to her neck. "I'm not a scientist. Stop being a baby." She teases, tossing her head back to glance up at the stars in the sky. When Santana gets waist deep, Brittany smiles at her and waves her to come her way. "See, it's not so bad." Santana scoffs at this statement, but lets her feet and arms take her further out into the lake nonetheless.

They tread for a little while in silence, both staring up at the starry sky, comfortable in each other's presence. Santana's teeth have stopped chattering, the water and the air not too much of a contrast now, probably because she's focusing on other things.

"Do you think it's possible for people to change?" Brittany asks suddenly, breaking Santana from the few moments of complete blankness. The shorter girl lowers her gaze from the sky to glance over at the blonde who is still very much staring at the sparkles above.

"Of course." Santana shrugs, mulling over the vagueness in the question itself as well as the answer. "I mean, I think." She adds, because she isn't the knower of all. "People grow up and learn from mistakes, well, some do." She points out with a roll of her eyes.

"No." Brittany breaks her friend's philosophical thought process and looks away from the sky to the dark haired girl. "I mean, like," She twists her lips in thought, her eyes flicker down at the way the top of the water moves like little ocean waves when her arms move beneath. "Do you think someone who has been 'straight' their whole life could turn gay one day?" She asks innocently. Santana's head jerks back, not fully prepared for this line of questioning whatsoever. She chuckles a bit, tilts her head to the side and looks at the water Brittany had just moments ago.

"I don't know." Santana says, because in all honesty she doesn't have an answer. "I guess it's possible." She offers realizing that this question probably has no real answer. "But, I don't think they change really. They just… realize something that was always there." She clarifies, trying her hardest to put her intricate thoughts into actual words and she watches the blonde take her response as she swims a little closer, obviously thinking hard.

"Santana," Brittany pauses and looks down for a second. "You know what I think?" She half smiles and meets Santana's eyes again. "Well, I'll tell you." She continues before the other girl can even jump in. "I think that it's not about boy or girl, gay or straight." Still getting closer, both girls realize that they can reach the bottom and their feet rest to the ground. "I mean, it's possible that it's about the person, right?" Her head tilts to the side, speaking so quietly to ensure their conversation is solely between them.

"That would be nice, I guess." Santana replies with a smile.

"Well, I believe that." She affirms with a nod and then playfully splashes water at Santana as she moves back to shore. The shorter girl laughs, wipes her eyes, and follows the blonde's lead. "We should probably head back to the party before they start thinking we were abducted by aliens." Brittany jokes.

When they get back to the party, the crowd has already kind of dwindled down to couples making out against trees and a jock or two passed out on the ground. Santana glances around, almost instantly finding Quinn and her cousin standing a few feet away talking to that Tina girl and her football boyfriend. She taps Brittany's arm to get her attention and motions over to the blonde and her group of friends. The head cheerleader nods, but hesitantly follows the dark haired girl over.

"Where have you been?" Quinn asks curiously, eyeing Santana up and down, taking in the fact that the bottom of her hair is a little damp. She tilts her head, purses her lips, but doesn't say anything because she notices Brittany's blonde hair is the same kind of wet.

"Around." Santana says, clears her throat and looks over her shoulder to find Brittany standing right beside her.

"So, we were just talking about April's." Kurt interrupts the awkward silent stares going on around him, and he bounces on the balls of his feet.

"What's that?" Brittany inquires, stepping forward to be a part of the circle of conversation.

"Oh Britt, I can't believe you haven't been yet." Mike, Tina's boyfriend chimes in and instantly gets the blonde's attention and smile. "We would totally dominate the dance floor there." He grins widely and confidently, getting a chuckle from his girlfriend as well as a nod from a few of the other's.

"It's a club?" The tall blonde asks, her head tilts to the side and she looks to Kurt.

"It's a gay bar outside of Knox." Quinn informs her, saving any strange silence from falling over them. Brittany's head nods, her eyes flicker to Santana briefly, but she still holds her smile.

"Oh," She says gently and then nudges Santana's arm with her elbow. "We should totally go." She tells the dark haired girl.

"Well, that's what we were planning." Kurt interrupts with a clap of his hands. "Santana told Quinn she wants to go, so I took it upon myself to gather up the group of misfits here." He motions to his friends who roll their eyes at his name for them. "And plan a night out for us to get our gay on, well, me and Santana always have it on, but… well, you get it." He waves with a giggle at Brittany who chuckles in a breath and nods.

"If it's alright with… you're group," Brittany speaks up after Kurt's laughter fades. "I'd love to join you. I mean, any excuse to dance and I'm in." She smiles over at Mike who returns it with a grin of approval and then her blue eyes travel over to hazel ones. "Quinn? Is it cool if I crash?"

"Of course." Quinn replies softly with a nod of her head. "Is it cool if you take Santana home?" She giggles. "I'm pretty tired here and, well, you two live next door to each other."

"Sure." Brittany laughs out and rolls her eyes, stepping across the tight knit circle and throws her arm over Quinn's shoulder as she leads them out to where the trucks are parked.

Santana follows suit, a little behind Kurt, Tina and Mike, simply watching the five people conversing and smiling at one another. She doesn't really care so much about the other three, but more so the two blonde's that look like they used to when they were little. They are laughing and playfully hip checking one another, and Santana finds herself smiling along with their friendly banter. She may not admit it, to anyone including herself, but it's things like this, the little moments between people that she misses the most.

Santana and Brittany wave and say goodbye to the other four kids before shutting the doors to the powder blue pick-up truck. Its dark, the trail leading out of Stars Lake, but straight above them is completely clear of trees allowing them to see the night sky without a problem. Once they get onto the south service road, it's still a while's way down until they reach their homes. Santana is taken out of her quiet thinking of what she would be doing back home when the truck slows down.

"What happened?" She asks cautiously, hoping upon hope that they haven't broken down or something worse. Brittany chuckles as she rears off to the side of the road and parks.

"I've been thinking." Brittany twists her lips as she unbuckles her seatbelt and glances over at Santana, taking in her nervous face. "If you keep driving Miss Linda's truck the way you do, you're gonna have to keep bringing it into the shop." She comments with a raised eyebrow, getting an embarrassed grin from the girl beside her. "So, how's 'bout I show you how to properly drive stick." Santana rolls her eyes playfully and shakes her head.

"Britt, it's like pitch black out here." She motions out to the darkness covering the dirt path of the south service road, but the blonde shrugs and shuffles across the bench seat.

"So what?" She laughs out. "Come on, I know this road like the back of my hand." Brittany assures her tapping her leg and motions for her to climb over her and into the driver's spot. Santana hesitates for a moment, but eventually gives into the blonde's requests.

"Fine, but if I break your truck do not think you're gonna trick me into one of those monkey suits to help fix it." Santana spits out in amusement.

When she adjusts her position behind the wheel, Brittany moves closer, their thighs touching and she grabs Santana's hand to bring it to the gear shift, letting her hand remain over the dark haired girl's. She taps her hand against Santana's left thigh, indicating her to press down onto the clutch and then maneuvers the shift into first gear.

They laugh, bicker and yelp as Santana drives the powder blue truck recklessly and less than perfect down the south service road. Brittany tries to give her pointers, all the while continuing to gently lead the gear shift into the correct positions whenever Santana hits the clutch. When she gets into a steady speed, not having to adjust the gears any longer, she smirks over at the blonde who beams back at her.

"See, it's not hard." She notes and of course the truck jerks a little. "Well, not so hard." She corrects. "Pull into your driveway." Brittany points over with her free hand to Linda's pathway and Santana does as instructed.

"Ah." Santana squeals when the car abruptly stops and squeaks.

"I think that after a few more lessons, you'll be good to go." Brittany points out with a hearty chuckle.

"Well, thanks." The shorter girl breathes out, glancing over in the direction of the living room of her aunt's house where the light is still on. "For everything I guess." She shrugs her shoulders, sliding her hand from the shift and from beneath Brittany's hand.

"Uh," Brittany shakes her head, a nervous laugh escaping her lips, finally letting her hand fall from the shifter. "Yeah, anytime." She smiles politely at the dark haired girl.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Santana says and reaches to open the door and hops out.

"Wait." Brittany calls out and climbs out of the truck quickly and catches up with Santana.

"What?" She asks, slightly turning her body to the blonde who only motions for her to continue walking up towards the steps.

"I," Brittany starts, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her shorts and walks with Santana to Linda's porch steps. "I was thinking that," She stammers, eyes fall to the ground where her feet kick at pebbles and clumps of dirt. "You wanna sit and talk for a bit?" She bites on her lower lip, then slowly lifts her gaze up to meet Santana's.

"O…okay." Santana nods, her eyebrows knit and unknit as she watches a pretty smile come to the blonde's lips. "Sure." She adds, turning fully to face Brittany unable to fight the arched eyebrow that comes to her face when the blonde's hand comes up to tuck a lock of her brown hair behind her ear.

Brittany clears her throat and then quickly, as well as nervously, yanks her hand back down to her side before taking a seat on the bottom step of Miss Linda's porch. Santana tentatively follows, taking a seat beside the blonde, resting her hands onto her lap. She can't help but stare up at the stars as Brittany starts talking about school, cheerleading and memories because she fears if she looks over at the blonde, then the burning on her face will be seen. Brittany's voice sends tingles through the air waves, the same tingles Santana still feels on her cheek where Brittany's fingers grazed only moments ago when she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"You know what I haven't done in years?" Brittany suddenly breaks away from her rant about how her cheer coach makes the girl's weigh in before each competition and looks over at Santana.

"Taken a breath." Santana jokes getting a playful eye roll from Brittany as well as a slap on the arm.

"Funny!" The cheerleader giggles.

"What's that?" She asks, wondering what kind of information Brittany is going to give her.

"I haven't made up any 'once upon a time's' in forever." Brittany nods, affirming her statement as truth, raising an intriguing eyebrow at the girl beside her.

"Wow." Santana leans back, her elbows resting on the second step of the porch. "Neither have I." She admits with a shake of her head, remembering how many stories the pair had made up in their hay day. "You used to tell the best stories." She comments with a soft voice, her eyes flitter from the nights starry sky and over to twinkling blues.

"Well, I had quite the imagination then." Brittany muses, looking down at her hands that have found comfort between her thighs. "We used to sit up all night and go back and forth, adding to one another's tale of princesses and love." She giggles, her head tilts from side to side as she recalls those nights under Miss Linda's over sized coffee table, telling long, never ending fairytales of the two princesses.

"Yeah." Santana chuckles, nodding in rememberance. Her head flickers towards the house behind them and notices the light in the living room is shut off, informing her that Aunt Linda has gone off to bed. "I should probably go in." She motions with her hand over her shoulder. Brittany nods and pushes herself up from the spot on the step they'd been sitting on for the past hour.

"Yeah," She glances over in the direction of her own house. "It's passed my cerfew, sure my mom's freaking out or," She laughs, though there is no amusement behind it. "Having a party probably thinking I'm out with Finn Hudson." She rolls her eyes, making Santana purse her lips at the mention of the boy.

"What is it with him?" Santana asks, as she wipes the back of her skirt off of dirt from the porch step. Brittany opens her mouth to speak, tilts her head and then sighs.

"He's annoying." She offers with a light giggle, getting a confused smirk out of the shorter girl.

"He likes you." Santana states the obvious. Brittany runs her fingers through her long blonde hair and shrugs her shoulders.

"Not gonna happen." The cheerleader says, lifting her eyes up to find brown ones staring back at her.

"But you'd be like, the perfect couple." Santana mockingly replies, doing her best valley girl accent which receives a laugh from Brittany. "I mean, head cheerleader, captain of the football team," The dark haired girl shrugs, putting her hands into the back pockets of her jean skirt. "Why wouldn't it work? It's almost like it was written in the stars for you guys." She rolls her eyes at how corny that sounds, but how true it seems in those stupid 80's movies and prime time television shows. Brittany twists her lips and shakes her head, letting out a long breath through her nose.

"I could never fall for a guy like Finn Hudson." Brittany lets out, getting a sigh of relief from Santana.

"Thank God, he's an asshole." Santana points out with complete sureness.

"I mean, I don't even like him, so," She nervously bounces from the balls of her feet to her heels. "How could I ever fall in love with him?" It's not really a question in which an answer is needed so Santana doesn't feel she has to answer, but instead nods in agreement.

"Love is bogus anyway." She offers, freeing one of her hands from her pocket and tucks some hair behind her ear, watching how Brittany's hands fidget in front of her body.

"I don't think so." The dancer comments softly, getting a huff from her friend.

"Meet my parents." Santana rolls her eyes.

"Well," Brittany drawls out, her feet shifting against the ground which sounds loud considering the silence around them. "Goodnight Santana." She smiles up at the girl who nods.

"Yeah, goodnight." Santana says and then finds herself catch her breath when Brittany steps forward, brings her hand to her cheek and then leans in to set her lips to Santana's other cheek.

She slowly pulls away, watches Santana's eyes flicker between her own, as she lowers her hand from the other girl's cheek. Quickly, she averts her eyes back down to the ground and awkwardly turns her body. Santana stands there stock still as she watches Brittany walk down the dirt walk way of Aunt Linda's driveway and hop into her car. The roar of the engine finally breaks through the thumping of her heart in her ears and she takes a breath again. When she sees the tail lights of the powder blue truck vanish, she sighs out, a small smile graces her lips and her hand comes up to her cheek. Her fingers touching the spot where Brittany's lips just were.

---

On any other day, the annoying buzzing sound coming from her alarm clock would cause her to throw an arm and knock it to the ground. On any other day, the thought of waking up to have to go to school so early in the morning rather than sleeping in all day long would send her into the depths of her usual moody self but, not today.

Today, Santana welcomes the annoying daily reminder that it's time for school. She even smiles when she sits up in her bed and reaches over to turn her alarm off, which is so very unlike her. It's such an unusual day that her body sighs through her smile.

"Santana you've gotta get…" Aunt Linda, just like every other morning, comes barreling into her room prepared to wake up her niece but is beyond shocked to find the girl sitting up in bed.

"Morning Aunt Linda." Santana yawns, stretching her arms above her head and bouncing up from her bed.

"Are you…" Aunt Linda watches the girl walk by her and into the hall and she is quick to follow. "Are you smiling?" She asks curiously and semi cautiously, almost prepared for a complete 180 to take place and Santana to revert to her usual bitchy self. Santana grabs the coffee pot and a mug to pour herself a nice hot cup. Glancing over her shoulder as she does so she shrugs, smile still firmly in place.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that smiling was not allowed." She jokes, her sarcasm not at all falling light even with the odd facial expression on her face. With a quick roll of the eyes she turns her back to her aunt and heads into the living room to watch some television before her morning ritual of getting ready.

"What is going on?" Aunt Linda whispers to herself.

On any other day, the annoying buzzing sound coming from her alarm clock would cause her to groan and desperately search for the offending object blindly. On any other day, she would wake up and like a drone go through the motions like a pod person, her usual 'perfect' self. Not today.

Today, Brittany welcomes the reminder that she needs to prepare herself for a day of school probably much like any other day of school. She will be wearing her usual cheerleading uniform, hair in a perfect pony tail and her regulation trainers. But today is different, she can just feel it in her bones and she can still feel the humming on her lips.

Brittany descends the tiny staircase, like every other day, but today there is softness to her step and airy lightness. She rounds the banister, making her way to the kitchen where her mother is preparing breakfast for her and her father. Brittany wraps her arms around her father's neck and kisses him on the cheek.

"Well good morning to you too sweetie." Mr. Pierce lightly taps his daughter's forearm with a huge grin on his face. "Someone woke up on the right side of the bed this morning." He points out and watches the young blonde skip from him and to the refrigerator to grab the carafe of orange juice waiting for her.

"Guess I just had a good night's sleep." She sighs, smile firmly in place as she pours her juice.

"I would hope so, you didn't come in until past curfew." Mrs. Pierce, always the buzz kill. Brittany's shoulder's slump slightly and she turns around with her lips twisted.

"Yeah, sorry bout that." She apologizes but it's clear on her father's face that it's no big deal.

"Oh honey, it's alright. You're a senior, this is the year you should be hanging out with your friends and making memories." Mr. Pierce assures her but Mrs. Pierce is quick to cut in.

"Who were you out with last night?" The older woman asks and it's not curiosity in her voice or even trying to make conversation, she is prying, trying to get information from her daughter. "I heard from Judy Fabray that that Finn boy has been chasing you around since the beginning of the summer." She winks at her daughter and turns to the stove where her pancakes are in need of being flipped. Brittany internally rolls her eyes, outwardly she shakes her head.

"The squad got together." She decides to leave the part out about how she actually threw the party, that was simply a minor detail. "So a bunch of us hung out all night." She shrugs. "Some football guys were there too." She adds as an afterthought to let her mother know that the Hudson boy was present at the party and hopefully this bit of information would suffice.

She hears her mother comfortably sigh and she knows that somewhere in that superficial mind she is most likely picturing Finn Hudson coming around for dinner sometime soon. Brittany always felt it's best to let her mother thinks what she wants to think.

"Here sweetie, eat up quick so you can get to school on time." Her mother tells her as she plops some scrambled eggs on her plate and her father ruffles the paper in front of him with that grin he always wears.

It's the same as any other day in Knox City, Texas but really, it's so different. At 7:15 Brittany Pierce pulls into the Lopez driveway to find Santana waiting on the front porch for her, leaning up against the railing with a small smile playing on her lips. Normally Brittany is waiting for a good ten minutes or so for the dark haired girl and more often than not greeted with a half of a smile and a grunt of appreciation.

She had been nervous, she still is nervous, that events from the prior night would dramatically change their dynamic that perhaps things would be uncomfortable and even tense. But it's hard for her to think that now as Santana stares into her eyes as she walks up to the truck.

"Morning." Brittany says, her voice soft and her smile thoughtful. Santana shuts the door as she slides onto the leather seat more comfortably and places her bag down by her feet. She turns her head towards Brittany, her hair flipping to the other side in the process and she sucks her lips in to her mouth briefly as though trying to hide her whole smile.

"Mornin." Santana replies, her eyes flitting from blue eyes to lips a few inches lower. Brittany feels her cheeks burn and clears her throat as she turns her head to the gear shift.

"Alright, off to school." She announces in a pathetic way to ease the tension she hoped wouldn't happen. But really, it's not the tension she had dreaded in fact it's an almost comfortable tension. One that makes her want to leave the truck in park in front of the Lopez house and slide a little closer to her passenger.

"Yeah, let's go." Santana chimes in slowly, tucking some hair behind her ear. The tension is clearly not one sided and Santana does her best to remain cool, calm and collected.

For the first five minutes of driving its pretty quiet in the truck, the only noise is that of the engine and their breathing. Santana's eyes remain forward, staring at the road ahead but every now and again they glance over to the girl who is sitting next to her. Brittany is doing her darnedest to keep her eyes focused on the road but finding it difficult when all she wants to do is look at the girl to her right.

With only a block and a half to go before they hit the high school Brittany rears off the road and onto a deserted side street and throws the truck into park. Santana squeals at the abrupt turning motion, her eyes wide with concern at first but then she calms down and curiosity takes over. They sit there, not moving and silent for a few more seconds until Brittany lets out a long sigh and all Santana can do is watch her.

"I had fun… last night." She tells her friend softly and Santana can't fight the grin that comes to her face. Brittany is nodding to herself, as though encouraging herself to continue and she slowly lifts her head to finally look at Santana. "With you. I had fun with you last night." She clarifies, not wanting to generalize the statement or the meaning behind it. Santana looks at her for a little while, taking in her features, her eyes and her lips that are slightly parted.

"Me too." She admits in a small voice that resembles a whisper and she can't understand why her voice is almost not there. Brittany half smiles and nods some more at the response.

"Truth is…" Her eyes look down to her hands that are twisting together nervously and she shifts in her seat as if fixing her posture. "I've been havin' fun hangin' out with you." Santana knows she is speaking to her, but in a way it kind of sounds like Brittany is having the conversation with herself. Especially with what comes out next. "I just don't know what that means." She turns her head in Santana's direction but her eyes don't meet brown ones at first, like she is carefully routing her stare to its destination.

When Brittany's eyes finally do find Santana's, the dark haired girl only looks back. She doesn't have any answers to give her and she surely doesn't have any reasons, if there were any. So she nods a few times, letting the words come into her brain and marinate there. You can't force understanding on anyone all someone can do is have patience and let them find their answers.

"Okay." Santana decides on, her words cautious and slightly guarded but understanding.

"I just know that I do like being around you, a lot and well, I guess I wanted you to know that." Brittany adds, so worried that her words weren't coming out right.