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

6. Chapter 6

And Dreams

July 8, 2006

Santana rests her arms onto the window sill of her bedroom. Well, it's not really her bedroom, but it is when she comes to visit Aunt Linda. But she doesn't dwell so much on those tiny details and just calls it her room regardless. She grins, it's more of a half smile, and she leans her chin onto her forearms as she continues to stare ahead.

Sometimes when she is lucky, lucky enough for Brittany to forget to close her curtains, she can see perfectly into the blonde's bedroom. And this is what she is doing right now and enjoying every moment of it. According to Brittany and her parents, she's been in dance since she was five, and man is she good. Santana strains to hear the music, but sometimes it doesn't even matter when it comes to watching her friend dance. She can swear that the music plays out of Brittany and that's how she is able to move so effortlessly.

She hums along, recognizing the song as one she's heard before, and she moves her head from side to side along with the slow beat. Mesmerized by those long legs as she moved about in her bedroom, the way her arms reach out to her side only to be drawn back in a little quicker, make Santana oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Wow." She breathes out and her eyes widen when she watches Brittany complete what had appeared to be a pretty difficult spin or twirl or whatever it's called.

Santana always thought Brittany was brilliant. It never really mattered to her what the rest of the kids around town said about her behind her back or even to her face. Brittany is the smartest person Santana has ever met. And she always thinks it more when gets the chance to watch her friend dance. She's pretty certain that the phrase 'poetry in motion' was penned for people like Brittany.

It's towards the end of the song and Santana tilts her head to the side when she notices Brittany's arms come up, acting as though she is dancing with someone. The dark haired girl wonders if her friend has a dance partner in her classes, some boy who leads her around the dance floor to some snooty classical song. Her nose crinkles at the thought of some grubby pre-pubescent boys hands all over Brittany, actually, it's kind of irritating.

A sigh escapes her lips, her forehead smoothes and she brings her hand up to let her chin fit into her palm. She doesn't really know how to dance, not like Brittany anyway. As she watches her friend move around her room across the way with her invisible dance partner, Santana thinks about asking Brittany to teach her to dance like that. Surely it would come in handy in the future for something like a wedding, a sweet sixteen, her quincenera or even a school dance, just to get the basics of course.

She nods to herself and purses her lips confidently. Tomorrow, she's going to ask Brittany to teach her how to properly dance. Maybe they can take their bikes over to the barn, this way no one will be around to watch them, and she can show her how to move gracefully around a dance floor. It couldn't be too hard to learn, besides she has rhythm, she's a Spanish girl so of course she has the hips to move to a beat, that's not in question here.

Brittany will probably love that she wants to learn. She'll probably squeal, giggle and throw herself into Santana's arms with excitement. But for now, Santana will settle for just being a spectator a little while longer, until Brittany realizes that her curtains are open and blush at being caught dancing alone in her room, again.

---

You Say Why, I Say I Don't Know

November, 2011

Santana loves the weekends, always has. It's when she gets the chance to sleep in and regain her energy from the early mornings of school and usually from a late Friday night out. The first part stays the same, but since moving in with Aunt Linda, Texas has yet to keep her out till all hours of the night. It doesn't help that her aunt is keen on keeping tabs on her whereabouts; she has also given her a strict curfew. But, it wouldn't matter anyway because Knox City is chock full of boredom and dirt roads that go on forever without a party in sight.

In a blissful state of deep sleep, she turns on her back prepared to continue her journey through dreamland. The late morning sun, however, has other plans for her. Her eyes flicker as sunlight hits her face and she wakes up. With a groan she tries to keep her eyes tightly shut, trying to ward off the annoying brightness and fall back into that heavy sleep she was jostled from. The offending light has no plans of letting up anytime soon and the wonderfulness of sleeping in is being ruined.

She grunts as she throws her blankets off and kicks them away from her body. It's a battle, but her eyes instinctively open as she gets up from her bed to go over and pull the curtains she was sure that she had pulled shut last night. Aunt Linda must have come in at some time and opened them up on her before she went out for her usually routine of running errands early on Saturday morning. Giving the dreary colored curtains a distasteful stare, she reaches her hand out to yank them closed and hopes she hasn't been awake for too long to disturb her still groggy mind.

Just as her hand reaches the fabric of the curtain, her eyes pick up on movement from across the way. Beyond the fence that separates the Pierce lawn from the Lopez lawn is the open window of the youngest Pierce. Santana stands there, her tank top slightly askew, her boxers bunched up and her hair haphazardly tossed in a pony tail. She blinks the sleep and blur from her eyes and looks through her bedroom window into the one of the girl next door.

She can't hear the music, if there is any even being played, but she can see it wash through Brittany's body as she shamelessly dances alone in her room. Her arms stretch out showing off her long body and as she spins perfectly on one foot, her blonde hair follows her movements. A memory creeps into her mind, one from many years ago and one from this very spot in this exact room. A small, sleepy smile tugs at the corner of her mouth as she recalls the ideas and thoughts of her younger mind. So simple, honest and excited was her mind back then.

There were days, too many to count, where she would stand at this window and do just this. She was never too sure if Brittany knew about it or if she did it on purpose. The curtains in her room were always open, as though welcoming an audience to a dance that was only for the two of them. Her movements were always so free and inspiring. The way Brittany danced made Santana feel as though anything was possible and watching her now a tiny bit of that feeling made its way inside of her. Or maybe it is just a memory of the feelings she used to get when watching her friend dance around her room without a care in the world.

Santana shifts her feet and for a second she feels like that small move has caused Brittany to stop dancing. She holds her breath and scrunches her eyebrows because, well, that's impossible. It's only when she sees Mrs. Pierce through the bedroom window does she realize the actual reason for the dancing to end. The older woman waves an arm and then Brittany vanishes from her room to do whatever it is her mother told her to do. The older Pierce walks over to where Santana can only assume the music is coming from and leans down to probably shut it off.

That's when Mayor Pierce makes her way to the window and pushes her daughter's curtains more to the side, letting in more sunlight, and looks across the way to find Santana at her own window. The stare down only lasts for a few seconds, but they feel like minutes, hours even. Mrs. Pierce doesn't smile or offer a tiny wave. Instead, she turns around and walks right out of the room. Santana lets out a breath, remembering she'd been holding it when she thought she'd been caught spying on the dancing blonde next door.

With a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head, Santana pulls her curtains closed, the initial reason for her to go to her window. She quickly jumps back into bed and under the covers, but it seems that sleep has absolutely left the building. While wasting the day away in bed usually sounds like the most fantastic idea in the world, she doesn't feel as comfortable with crazy, icy Mayor Pierce being only feet away from her. So, she rolls over to grab her ancient cell phone and decides to give Quinn Fabray a call. Surely they could find something semi exciting to do on their Saturday off.

At Santana's plea to 'get the fuck out of the house', Quinn picks her friend up and drives them into town. She brings them to Holly's Daze, a small little café just off of Main Street that has a quaint fifties vibe to it just like most of the popular places here in Knox City. When they walk in, Santana rolls her eyes at the juke box against the wall among a bunch of tables that reminds her of that show 'Happy Days' that her mom watches on Nick at Nite.

Since picking her friend up, Quinn has been making most of the conversation seeing as Santana sulks in her interrupted sleep funk. She nods and grunts to let the other girl know she hears her talking, even if she isn't really listening. A small chuckle leaves her lips as they sit down and Quinn informs her that sometimes at night, the little café turns into some sort of karaoke joint and open mic situation. That the owner of Holly's Daze is Holly Holiday, a woman who grew up in Knox and traveled the country trying to find herself. Oddly enough, she found herself back in Knox City after her father fell ill and could no longer watch after his burger place which turned into the very café the two teenagers are currently sitting in.

"My parents went to school with her, she was a few years younger though." Quinn continues after the waitress drops their drinks off and tells them she'll be back in a few to take their order. "My mom said she was always throwing the craziest parties and was pretty much a wild child." She lightly taps her fingers on the table and watches on as Santana looks around with her straw between her lips. "When she first came back, she was subbing at the high school and everyone was skeptic about her being in charge of their kids. There were always these insane stories about her gallivanting around New York with famous people and L.A. with movie stars. Probably half true, the gallivanting part, but probably not the famous people part." She shrugs her shoulders and starts to play with the straw in her own drink. "I don't know, I think she's pretty cool. I had her as a sub for Spanish and History a few times, she's entertaining which is more than I can say for most of the teachers at our school. But she doesn't do that much anymore, so she can keep an eye on this place." She points to the ceiling as though to emphasize that she means the café that they are sitting in.

The waitress comes back over and thankfully interrupts the nonexistent conversation Quinn is having with Santana. They order some burgers and fries and soon enough the waitress is gone once more leaving them in a quiet bubble of awkwardness. It hasn't been so weird for either of them to be in each other's company and not talk about much of anything. But for some reason, today seems a bit extra hard to pull Santana out of her shell and actually use her words besides for ordering lunch.

"You don't say much do you?" Quinn finally asks after too much silence.

"Not much to say I guess." Santana shrugs, but finally meets her friend's stare.

"When we were kids no one could shut you up." Quinn giggles, but its short lived when she receives an eye roll from the girl sitting across from her. "What?"

"You…" Santana shakes her head and shifts in her seat, letting out a sigh. "You and Brittany. You keep re-telling these stories, memories of when we were eight years old and… we aren't those little girls Q." She keeps her eyes on Quinn's. "Not anymore. You should know out of all of us." Santana explains, her eyes drift from Quinn's and towards the window that looks out to the corner of where Main Street ends.

Before Santana can even think to apologize or before Quinn can come back with a retort, the kitchen doors swinging open loudly catch their attention. Quinn smiles brightly over at the tall blonde woman who has on the same grin and makes her way towards their table.

"Hola chica." The woman greets Quinn and leans down to give her a hug before sitting in one of the extra chairs at their table.

"Miss Holiday." Quinn beams back and Holly shakes her head, chuckles and waves her hand.

"We are not in school Q." She points out and gives Santana a 'seriously' look before turning her attention back to Quinn. "It's Holly when we meet on the streets." She explains and then offers her fist to Quinn for a fist bump. Santana can't bite back the laugh that pops out when Quinn Fabray fist bumps a forty something substitute teacher slash crappy café owner. "Hey new girl, what's your name?" Holly turns her attention to Santana who is snickering to herself about this woman and her obvious too cool for school attitude.

"This is Santana, she's Miss Linda's niece." Quinn provides the need to know information.

"Is that so?" Holly eyes the dark haired girl up and nods. "Definitely a Lopez for sure." She winks and playfully nudges Santana's chin with her knuckles. Santana jerks her head back wondering if this Holly lady knows anything about personal boundaries. "I think I remember hearing some rumor floating around about a little Lopez gracing the lovely town of Knox."

"This town is like its own high school. The grownups are worse than the teenagers." Quinn groans, grabbing her drink and takes a quick sip. Holly nods in agreement as she leans back in her chair, obviously getting comfortable around the two girls.

"Ain't that a fact." Holly throws her head back and slaps the table at the ridiculousness of the statement as well as the truth. "So sweet cheeks, how is it that you're all buddy buddy with my girl Quinn here?" She asks, pointing in Quinn's direction but looking at Santana.

"Oh, uh…" Santana shifts awkwardly in her seat as Holly stares her down. She's usually not one to be intimidated, especially by adults. It's not so much that she's intimidated really, but more so shifting because this woman is actually asking because she is interested and not just making small talk.

"Santana's family used to come here every summer." Quinn once again chimes in as Santana's question responder. "They stayed with Miss Linda and, well, that's right next door to the Pierce's." She explains easily enough and Holly nods in understanding.

"Oh," Holly drawls out with a chuckle. "How's living next to Mayor Pierce?" It's clear in her tone that Holly Holiday is pretty keen on Annie Pierce and her ice bitch ways. She even fakes a shiver being sent down her body just for referring to her. "Chicks a little frigid if ya know what I mean." Both girls can fully attest to this statement seeing as Mrs. Pierce has never actually sent a smile in either of their direction.

"It just doesn't make any sense how Brittany is her child." Santana finally speaks up. Quinn shrugs her shoulders as she leans back to let the waitress put the basket holding her burger and fries down in front of her.

"Thanks." The Holly says with a smile.

"Uh, yea, thanks." Santana adds after the waitress has already walked away and watches as Holly snags a fry from her basket of food.

"It's kind of funny." Holly hums out as she chews the stolen fry and the girl's look at her questioningly. "I mean, that girl is determined to be everything her mother wants her to be." She says with certainty, waving her fry in the air while she speaks as if using it to make her points. "But, more determined to be everything her mother don't want her to be." Santana stops putting her burger together and watches Holly get up from their table and push her chair in. Quinn is in her own world, enjoying her extra bacon, bacon cheeseburger. "Brittany," The older blonde starts, wipes her hands on the back of her worn in, boot cut jeans and looks over her shoulder. "She'll get herself out of Knox. Come hell or high water."

Santana thinks that this Holly chick is the most observant adult she has come across here in Knox City, Texas. She wonders if what this woman says is fact or simply hope, and that Brittany Pierce, the girl destined to be the beauty queen of this small town, will get out and be something regardless of her mother. When the café owner vanishes into the double doors of the kitchen, Quinn starts up on trying to make conversation with Santana again. It takes a few topics but eventually, Santana bites and they start talking about the Annual Knox City Late Fall Fair.

---

Another Sunday means another day at church. Santana's stopped counting the days down until her departure, only because it reminds her of how many Sundays are left for her here in this small town. That and the phone call she had received, or that Aunt Linda had received earlier this week. Turns out that the plans for her to go back to Boston for Thanksgiving fell through due to some court order and now it seems as though she is going to be breaking bread with who only knows.

She remembers when she was younger and her Aunt would tell stories of how she and Santana's Uncle Roger would spend their holidays at soup kitchens or the church for those less fortunate. All Santana knows is that this upcoming holiday she is the unfortunate one. Sure, she was able to remove herself a week and a half ago when little goblins came knocking on the door for free candy. But, she figures it's going to take a nuclear war and her getting drafted to fight zombies to miss Thanksgiving with Aunt Linda.

All of the possibilities seem to be running through her mind as she and Aunt Linda reach the bottom steps of the church. She contemplates a twisted ankle, even going so far as slipping off the top step, letting her head hit the pavement, rendering her unconscious. But, then horrors of a southern hospital and random scenes from Texas Chainsaw Massacre flood over her and she decides that throwing on an apron and shoveling food to the poor part of town might not be so bad.

Like every Sunday in Knox City, the town's folk gather outside the doors and catch up on their past week. It's always the same old crap over and over again, with everyone pretending like they care more this week about Sherriff Hummel's low sodium diet more than they did the week before. Or giving a more sympathetic head tilt at the fifth time of hearing about how Mrs. Hudson found out her son was giving thought to joining the military like his late father. And as always, everyone turns a very obvious blind eye away from Sherriff Hummel's son, Kurt, in his flashy yet elegant Sunday best.

Same stories, same day.

Aunt Linda makes small talk with the first woman she sees, who just happens to be Judy Fabray. Luckily for Santana its Quinn's mom this week, unlike last Sunday when she was forced to listen to the Spanish teacher from her school try and have an ethnic conversation with her and her Aunt. While the older women talk, the teenagers roll their eyes and Quinn brings up how stressful cheerleading has been even though she knows Santana could care less. Just when Santana is about to fall into that perfect state of bliss where she's managed to fall asleep with her eyes open and standing up, a different voice breaks through her reverie.

"Wait, what?" She shakes her head, blinks her eyes one and turns her head finding she is now in the company of her two blonde companions and not just one any longer. Quinn chuckles to herself and Brittany lets out a light, airy laugh through her nose and smiles.

"I just asked if you were ready for today." Brittany repeats herself only to get a stifled laugh from Quinn and a perplexed look from Santana.

"For church?" She asks in utter confusion which makes the two other girls laugh a little more.

"On that note, I think my family is heading in." Quinn tells Brittany, pointing over her shoulder towards where her parents are indeed making their way inside. "Good luck." With one last giggle, she spins on her heels and meets her mother at the doorway of the church and disappears inside.

"Brittany." Mrs. Pierce calls out, breaking the teenagers' attention from one another. Annie Pierce still has on her shades, but Santana is able to see that red, burning laser pushing through the dark lenses of her most definitely real designer sunglasses.

"Coming." The head cheerleader tells her mom before turning her focus back to the girl in front of her with kind of a grin and an annoyed eye roll. "Every year 'round the same time, me and my dad go out to the barn to meet with ranch hands to send the horses over to Dixon for a few months." She explains vaguely and Santana just nods that she understands the words but by the expression on her face, she has no idea where this is leading to. "Umm, I'm sorry, I thought Miss Linda asked you." Brittany's head tilts to the side in that cute way it used to when she wanted some more popsicles when they were kids and Santana's eyes dart over in her aunt's very direction. "Daddy can't this year, what with the business kind of being low and he needs to focus on the dealership." She shrugs her shoulders. "That's what my mom said anyways."

"Okay, so, what do you need me for?" Santana questions with trepidation. She is more than sure her aunt has promised to loan her out for some sort of labor that her perfectly manicured and moisturized hands are not ready for.

"I asked Quinn cause I was sure she could, but she can't." She rapidly explains, tucking her hair behind her ear as her eyes scan over the rush of the town flooding into the church. "And then I ran into Miss Linda the other day, over at The Library."

"At school?" Santana interrupts and gets a furrowed brow out of her friend.

"No, The Library." Brittany repeats.

"Brittany!" Mrs. Pierce says again, a little louder and Brittany moves a step in her direction to show she's heard her for the second time.

"She said you'd be happy to lend me a hand." She finally blurts out, with a smile, a small head tilt and a scrunch of her nose. "I'll see ya inside." Brittany waves and turns around quite like Quinn did moments ago, and quickly meets up with her parents before vanishing beyond the doors of the small church.

Feeling a body sidle up beside her, she can only assume and slightly hope that it's the arm of her Aunt Linda brushing against her own. She turns her head to thankfully see that it is indeed Aunt Linda and after letting out a breath, relieved that it's not some redneck townie, she scowls. Linda merely rolls her eyes, throws her arm around her niece's shoulder and leads the way to find some seats. She's sure her aunt was never going to tell her about this promised manual labor and that the woman knew if Brittany simply showed up with that perfect smile that Santana was destined to fall for whatever it is she had in mind and needed.

The Lopez ladies find seats behind the Fabray family while the rest of the congregation fall into their spots and soon the entire place is packed with Knox City citizens. It goes slowly, as per usual, and Santana counts the minutes that are being drained from her youth. She finds herself glancing over a few times in the direction of the Pierce clan to find Brittany staring at the back of Sherriff Hummel's head. Chuckling to herself, she wonders if she too has found that tiny little pattern on the hair he has left that kind of looks like the lamp from Aladdin. Aunt Linda elbows her when her giggle fit gets a bit too loud and she muffles the sounds, trying to turn them into a cough to fend off the inquiring stares of her new Knox City neighbors.

When church lets out, the town scurries out onto the sidewalk to either continue their conversations from earlier or reflect on the day's 'lovely sermon'. Aunt Linda hurries them to the truck, explaining that Santana needs to get changed into some more appropriate attire if she is going to be working in the dust of Knox, hauling heavy loads into trucks and moving horses. Of course she cringes at all of this terminology, especially when she gazes upon her newest Sunday best threads that Aunt Linda had picked up for her. Something about a sundress and her exquisite rack does not a vixen make. At least, she reasons, Aunt Linda did not go for the whole 'Blossom' look and force her into a pair of low top Doc Marten's and scrunchy socks.

Passing the Pierce's house only seconds before pulling into Aunt Linda's driveway, Santana notices that the family next door is already home. She rolls her eyes at the promptness that apparently comes with being a town's person of Knox City. She can't help but figure all the boys who take girls out don't honk the horn when picking them up for dates like they do back in Boston. The boys most definitely do not keep the girls out past curfew and that they respectfully meet the parents before stealing the little girl away and most likely still doing what the boys do back home behind closed doors of their Ford pick-up.

With Santana a few feet behind, Linda is in the house in a flash, talking about lending her niece a pair of sneakers and going on about how three inch heels are in no way suitable for working on the farm. Santana can't fight the laugh that flies from her mouth and throws her head back. Never in a million years did she ever think she'd hear the words 'working on the farm' and her own name in the same sentence. Maybe once upon a time it was a viable idea, but that was so long ago and she no longer had flights of fancy for living on a farm oh so far away from her city life to raise baby cows and chickens with her bff's Brittany and Quinn.

"Here, I think we're the same size." Aunt Linda holds out a pair of worn in Converse sneakers towards her niece as she eyes up the lace up suede boots Santana is wearing.

"Hey, don't get any ideas about having a little fashion show while I'm off sweating and getting hay in my hair." Santana points at the woman before grabbing the offered foot wear. She rolls her eyes, a common occurrence, and walks away before getting a smart remark from her aunt and goes to her bedroom. "Am I supposed to wear my daisy dukes and a flannel shirt too?" She jokingly asks, a bite of bitter sarcasm in her voice. Aunt Linda's bellowing chuckle emanates through the house and the silence that follows only leads Santana to believe she is being giving that Lopez eye roll back in full from the other room.

Maybe in jest, or from pure exhaustion of trying to fight the old southern wardrobes that haunt her at night, she kicks her boots off and makes way to her dresser. In the second drawer, she retrieves her cut off jean shorts. She laughs to herself as she matches them with a tight white wife beater from her top drawer and a worn in flannel shirt she's had since she first realized she was a lesbian. It just seemed like a rite of passage for her to go out and get a flannel shirt. It seemed a lot better of an idea than going out and getting a rainbow flag.

She pulls her sundress up and over her head, thrilled to finally be out of that 'girl next door' costume and tosses it to the floor. The jean shorts are tugged up, zipped and buttoned while she stares down at the next articles of clothing. But, as she reaches towards the tank top on her bed, she is startled at the tiny knock and movement from where her window is. She jumps back and even lets out a tiny yelp as she pulls the tank top to cover the front of herself.

"Hey there." Brittany laughs with an innocent smile as she climbs through Santana's bedroom window.

"Uh, hi?" Santana breathes out with relief but still kind of scared because that could have been anyone. She holds her hand to her chest, feeling the way it beats hard and fast. "What are you doing? I could have been ass naked here." She points out, finally pulling her shirt over her head after getting over the intrusion. Sure, strangers have walked in with her wearing much less, but it never makes it any less traumatizing. Brittany chews on her bottom lip, shrugs her shoulders and shoves her hands into her back pockets as she walks around the room looking at everything else but her friend who was nearly naked.

"Didn't know if you were gonna try and ditch me." She explains with a hint of amusement and chances a glance over her shoulder to catch Santana shake away a smile. "I know how you get about having to exert yourself." Brittany says in a long voice, almost dramatically and then lets herself fall to her friends bed pretending to be as delicate as a princess.

"You're a comedian." Santana retorts back dryly. "Are you ready?" She asks, pulling her flannel shirt on and tying it down at the bottom before rolling the sleeves up. Brittany turns on her stomach, sticks her tongue out and playfully rolls her eyes before pushing herself up from the bed.

"Nice outfit." Brittany bumps her hip into Santana's as she brushes by her and out the door to the hallway.

"Aunt Lee, we're heading out now." Santana calls out without any clue as to where her aunt could possibly be. She hears a faint 'have fun', grunts to herself and then follows Brittany out to her truck which is still parked in front of her own house. "You know you totally owe me for this." She comments before jumping into the passenger side of the powder blue pick-up. Brittany giggles her little girl laugh as she does the same but on the driver's side.

"I will most definitely make this worth your while." She says with a raise of an eyebrow before turning the ignition.

The ride over to the Pierce barn is the usual fifteen to twenty minutes it has always been. Santana had forgotten the times when Mr. Pierce had brought the three of them, Quinn included, out to the barn to pet the horses and even hop on them a few times. She was never one to be animal friendly with anything bigger than Rambo, the German Sheppard that they had back in Boston. But, there was something about the way Brittany was around the massive creatures that put Santana's nerves and tension at ease. Not one to admit to fear, she would usually be found a few steps behind her two buddies whenever around the beasts were close by.

Two trailers perfectly set up just outside the barns large red, wooden doors are waiting for them when they pull up. Three men with their oversized cowboy hats, one with a toothpick between his lips and the other two looking like they'd missed a bath or several, lean comfortably against their hard driven, paint chipped trucks. A wide grin comes over Brittany's face as she throws her own truck into park and sends a friendly wave over to the men that Santana can hopefully assume are the 'ranch hands' here to gather up the horses from the Pierce barn. She's really not prepared if this turns into some kind of backwoods horror movie because she didn't bring her purse which has an unused canister of pepper spray her brother had given her a few years ago. But that's another story for another day.

"Hope we didn't keep you waiting." Brittany tells the tallest of the three men. He smiles, dips his hat to the two young girls and offers a smile.

"Just got here few minutes ago Miss." He winks and chuckles, but not in that creepy serial killer way so Santana allows herself to let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps all of those stereotypes about rednecks being as dumb as rocks ring true and that these men wouldn't know what to do with a stick and hole even if it were laid out in front of them. "Ready when you are." He tells them and then motions with his arm for the other two gentlemen to follow suit.

"Okay, then let's get 'em in." Brittany says with excitement and all but bounces over to the doors that lead into the barn. "We moved 'em in here the other night on account of the rain and all. They're all fed up though so, hopefully you won't have to stop much on the way over to Dixon like last time." She giggles and the three men chuckle, nodding their heads obviously recalling the last time they drove the Pierce's horses two towns over.

Santana stands just outside the barn doors and watches as Brittany leads the horses towards the men one by one and cutely says goodbye to each one as though she's seeing them off for summer camp or college. She laughs lightly to herself at the way the Brittany pats one of the smaller horses on its back saying, 'I'll see ya soon'. A half hour later, the two of them are standing in the middle of the dirt path as the trucks pull the trailers now filled with horses away to bring them over to Dixon where they'll stay for until spring time comes around again. It's silent for a few moments afterward. Santana uncomfortable shifts from foot to foot waiting for her friend to stop staring off into the distance because it is not going to bring her animal friends back any sooner.

"Well," Brittany breaks the quiet and steps back, brushing some hair away from her forehead and then pushes her shoulder against Santana's to get her attention. "Better get started then." She turns around and Santana unsurely follows suit, wondering exactly what is in front of her for the remainder of the afternoon.

"What do I have to do now?" She asks once they get inside the great big barn. Oddly enough, this is the one place that seems just as big as it did when she was just a kid. The walls go on forever, still unpainted as they were those years ago and the man made stables for the horses are as rickety and uneven too.

"We've gotta gather up these hay bales." Brittany points over by the right side of the barn where everything looks a right mess. "And stack em up by the door for the trucks." She explains while she moves over to a very small wooden chest that is connected to the wall on the opposite side of the barn. Santana rolls her eyes, because of course she should not have been shocked by this. Talk about real manual labor. She scrunches her nose and raises her hands to look at the most luxurious manicure she'd given herself just a day ago and how grabbing at blocks of hay that probably weigh more than her is going to completely ruin it. "Here ya go buddy." Brittany shoves a pair of thick, working gloves towards Santana who begrudgingly takes them with a huff.

"These are disgusting." Santana notes, her eyes peering along the worn in material and the random stains from who knows what all over the finger tips. "I am not putting my hands in these." She shakes her head and places her hands on her hips watching as Brittany does just that. The taller girl throws her head back and chuckles as she pulls on her equally gross gloves.

"Don't be such a princess." Brittany mocks before brushing by her towards the messy bits of hay they are about to wrestle with. "Seriously, it'll go super fast and I promise you won't break a nail." She bites her bottom lip, clearly trying to bat her eyes and not laugh so hard at her dainty friend. Santana squints her eyes and gives Brittany a not so subtle glare before stomping a foot to the dirt ridden ground and pulls her gloves on.

"Fine, but you totally owe me." She mutters, blowing some hair from her face and flicks her head to the side to ensure the strands won't block her vision. Brittany lets out another laugh before reaching out to grab a bale of hay to bring over to the other side of the barn.

"You got it doll face." The blonde says in the sweetest, most innocent tone and Santana can't fight the adoring eye roll she sends her friend's way.

---

Annie Pierce sits at her desk, pen in hand and her eyes stare at the window open on her computer screen. It's quieter day in the office than usual, but considering it is a Sunday there wouldn't really be much traffic in the halls of the Mayor's floor. She jots down a few notes, letting out a sigh as she turns the page and pinches the bridge of her nose with her free hand. Mayor Pierce tries not to go into the office on Sundays, but she needed to keep her mind off of the bothersome things in her current life.

The argument she and her husband had gotten into earlier in the week replays in her mind. It should not have even been a confrontation, but as it turned out, they simply didn't meet eye to eye on the subject. Mrs. Pierce was not and is not too keen on the idea of Linda Lopez's niece hanging around her daughter, especially without any supervision. Mr. Pierce, as always, doesn't see the problem with Brittany and Santana picking up where they left off all those years ago, telling his wife that the girl isn't as bad as his wife thinks the entire world is. Clearly his easy going, everyone's got good in them way of life is a part Brittany has inherited.

Just as she decides to graze over the details for the Annual Knox City Late Fall Fair, a beep from her cell phone breaks her focus. It's a message from her assistant Terri so she opens it instantly. The text message isn't much of a memo but instead a link to a website. She quickly types the information into her computer and comes upon the Facebook page of one Santana Lopez. Annie Pierce lets out an unamused snort as her eyes trace over the webpage open on her desktop computer.

Going by the name on the page, Snixx-Pez, she's sure she would not have been able to figure out that this is Santana's Facebook page. The picture, however, gives her up instantly. It's a picture of Linda Lopez's niece, scantily clad in tight clothing that leaves nothing to the imagination. Her eyes squint at the glass in her hand, which Mayor Pierce can only assume is alcohol and the background to be a club of sorts judging by the dark yet multicolored lights.

With a click of the mouse, she begins to browse through the numerous pictures of Santana and all of her friends. There's one of her doing a body shot off of a girl lying on a bar. Another picture shows her biting a lemon or a lime wedge out of a guy's mouth that has a mohawk. There is a bunch where she is kissing a bunch of different people, guys and girls alike. Clearly, this girl does not discriminate and this makes Annie Pierce cringe right down to her very core. The fact that her daughter is wandering around Knox City with a girl like this rattles the very perfection the Pierce's have created for their family.

Unable to continue perusing the Lopez girl's online photo albums, Mayor Pierce scrolls down through her main page to see what kind of friends the girl usually keeps. Her head shakes as she sees that majority of the comments contain profanity and refer to some sort of delinquent activities. Some say 'Miss u Snixx' and others say 'where r u?', while there are a few that have girls asking why Santana hasn't called them.

Not being able to go onward, Mrs. Pierce cancels out of the Facebook page and leans back in her chair. She lets out a long breath, closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose as she taps her fingers on the arm of her chair. When she opens her eyes she glances over at the clock on her desk and remembers that at this moment, her daughter is alone, on a farm with this very girl who has half naked pictures of herself on the internet. The girl next door who obviously has no lines or boundaries when it comes to the decency of sexuality and has the proof of her depraved lifestyle displayed for anyone to see. She can only hope that she has taught her daughter the right ways of life and that she will not find herself in clutches of this deviant lifestyle.

It takes a while before Santana finally gets the hang of this whole country girl on a farm bit. Brittany takes her time showing the other girl how to properly pick up the smaller bales and lug them over towards the door. They work mostly in silence, little huffs and puffs for air to aide them in their exertion plus small remarks of how atrocious this activity is for Santana's personal grooming that she usually prides herself in. She even pokes fun at the tall blonde, not quite understanding how the most popular girl in school, head cheerleader and homecoming queen can be happier than a pig in shit working in, well, shit.

Santana lifts a small bale of hay onto the little stack she has created then leans against it to get her muscles ready for another round. She bends over to catch her breath, which only makes her realize how out of shape she is. It also doesn't help that the sun is insanely hot out today and no matter how high she puts her ponytail, it still sticks to her neck.

She breathes out in a huff and looks to the side to find Brittany standing just a few feet away, very still with her eyes closed and her face towards the sky. A small content smile dances over her lips and her blonde hair seems to glow in the late afternoon sun. Santana furrows her eyebrows, takes off her gloves and places them on the stack of hay just shy of her own petite height. Slowly, she walks over to Brittany, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"What are you doing?" Santana asks softly as not to startle her friend. Brittany looks over her shoulder to find Santana standing a little bit behind her and she offers her a small smile.

"Nothing." She replies, and the way she says it makes Santana think that's exactly what she means when she answers, 'nothing'. "I'm doing nothing and it feels great." She clarifies before turning her face to the sky once again and Santana can't help but grin at Brittany's innocence and simplicity for everything, life included. "Follow me." Brittany says turning her head to at Santana again and extends her hand for her to take. Santana's eyes flicker to the hand quickly then back up to those blues to give Brittany a questioning look. "Let's do nothing together." Her voice is kind, soft and welcoming that Santana can never imagine anyone turning this girl down when she speaks like this and looks the way she is looking at her right now, Santana included.

"Okay." Santana responds her voice barely there and then she carefully places her hand into Brittany's. She allows herself to be tugged along, being led out into the tall grass that hides all of the pretty flowers.

She doesn't question her, even when she notices how far they are from the barn and from Brittany's truck. Santana let's herself be led and she gets this funny feeling in her stomach when Brittany looks over her shoulder, smiles and squeezes her hand. Those blue eyes seem to sparkle with something that Santana has never noticed before but it makes her tear hers away and for some reason or another, she can feel a blush creeping up her neck.

"Here." Brittany waves her free hand towards a small patch of grass, a clearing that is hidden behind the tall grass and pretty flowers. "Lay down." She releases Santana's hand and walks to the middle of the clearing only to stop and lower her body to the ground where she lies down.

Santana watches for a few seconds, it isn't until the other girl pats the spot beside her that her legs finally begin to work again. She slowly brings herself to the ground, taking up the spot beside Brittany, letting the back of her head gently rest against the grass. They lie there in silence for a short while. Just breathing in the fresh air mixed with the scent of lavender, from the flowers, and looking up at the sky.

"Sometimes people forget what all of this stuff is really about." Brittany's voice breaks their comfortable and relaxing silence and Santana turns her head, squinting one eye shut to get a clear vision of the girl next to her. Blue eyes are staring up to the equally blue sky, as if looking for something in particular yet absolutely nothing at all.

"'This stuff'?" Santana inquires and Brittany merely nods, keeping her focus on the sky above them.

"Life… living." She replies with ease. "So… beautiful." She breathes out and Santana's eyebrows furrow in slight confusion and she turns her face back up where some fluffy white clouds are.

"The sky?" Santana wonders out loud.

"No." Brittany quickly answers. "I mean, yes, the sky is beautiful but… I meant life." She looks to her left, her eyes rake over Santana's features before closing them once more and faces the sky again. "Everybody forgets how beautiful life is, how beautiful it can be." She decides on, letting the sun hit her eyelids and she smiles at the feeling. "The sky is beautiful, flowers are beautiful… I'm sure love is beautiful." She explains, letting the last part kind of hang in the air. Santana closes her eyes at her words trying to see this beauty that Brittany sees, even if only in her mind. Brittany moves her left hand from her stomach, lets it fall to the grass quietly and she looks over at Santana one more time. "You're beautiful." Brittany breathes out, her pinky catches Santana's and she hooks them together.

At the skin on skin contact and the words Santana's eyes flutter open and she turns her head to look in Brittany's direction. Their eyes lock and they just lie there for a little while longer staring at each other, pinkies linked. After losing the battle to will her focus to something other than those penetrating blue eyes, Santana clears her throat and shakes her head a few times.

"You shouldn't say things like that to me." Her voice comes out low and raspier than usual and with a little uncertainty. The strange feeling in her stomach slowly makes its way all throughout her body. Brittany blinks twice before she shifts her head on the grass to see Santana better.

"Why?" She asks straight faced.

"Because…" Santana tries to reason but all that gets her in response is an arched eyebrow. "Because, you say things and then I do things and… and I won't be able to take them back." She elaborates, all too well aware of Brittany's eyes flickering from her own and down to her lips.

"Maybe I don't want you to take them back." Brittany softly replies and shuffles her body a little closer to the girl next to her.

"What do you want?" Santana gulps through her words and lets out a ragged breath, licking her lips unconsciously as she watches Brittany moving over closer until their arms are touching.

"What do I want with life?" She asks herself, her eyes looking to the grass behind the Santana's head in thought. It's not the right question and both girls know this but before Santana can speak up Brittany answers her own question. "I want to be happy, I want to be successful, I want… I want to laugh until my sides hurt." Her eyes drift back down to meet Santana's. "I want to fall in love." She lets her eyes look deeper into Santana's and to be honest, she's not quite sure why. But she does it anyway.

"What do you want with me?" Santana swallows the lump in her throat as Brittany's face comes closer to her own.

"I…" The blonde breathes and the warm air hits Santana's lips. "I want…" Her eyes flicker down to those luscious lips that are slightly parted. "Ummm…"

One little motion forward is all it will take, they are barely an inch apart, their lips anyhow, it would be easy to lean forward and close the gap between them. But, there's a small glint of uncertainty Santana rarely sees in Brittany's eyes. She knows that this is not just another girl she's just met. Brittany is not another girl back home who is here for her enjoyment, not in the way she would normally have 'fun' with chicks. So, Santana clears her throat and pulls her head back.

"We should probably stop doing 'nothing'." She lets out with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood and the obvious tension she's been more often than not oblivious to. Brittany nods. "Sun is almost down anyway and Aunt Linda will kill me if I'm not home for dinner." She explains.

"Yeah, you're right." Brittany agrees, even though she can hear that twinge of relief mixed with disappointment in her tone. She pulls her pinky free from the Santana's and pushes herself up.

The sun is setting off in the distance as the girls drive back home. The ride is relatively silent except for the music playing softly in the background and their breathing. They're headed down their road coming up to Brittany's house in about a half of a mile.

"You can just pull into your driveway and I'll walk home." Santana tells her, their first form of conversation since the clearing.

"That's ridiculous, I can just drop you off." Brittany says through a chuckle.

"No seriously, it's pointless to have you do that just to have to turn around. I can walk." She insists.

"Well, then I'm walking you home." Brittany decides, clearly not offering the idea but stating it rather.

"I can walk myself Britt." Santana informs her, giving a quizzical stare, but when Brittany doesn't respond she sighs. "If you walk me home, then I'm gonna have to walk you home and we'll just keep doing that until we're old and can't walk anymore." She dramatically announces, finally getting a legitimate laugh from the girl beside her. "So how about you walk me home, stay for dinner and then we'll figure it out."

"No, I couldn't impose. Your aunt won't be happy about an unannounced guest for dinner." She shakes her head.

"Don't be silly, Aunt Linda loves you." Santana gushes. "Besides, it's the least I can offer the girl who walks me home. " She smiles kindly at Brittany, who sighs another chuckle.

"Okay, okay." Brittany finally complies and she pulls into her driveway. "Guess it works out." She sighs and points towards her own house when she turns the trucks engine off. "Parents aren't home anyway. I would have starved." She dramatically whines and both girls laugh at her.

They make their way over to the Lopez house, cutting through the bushes that separate their houses and right before the fence starts. They giggle and poke fun at one another, remembering past times of when they would find themselves hiding in these very bushes. They race in a quick walk up the steps, Brittany winning mostly due to the fact that she has longer limbs, and she taps the side of the door to prove her first place finish. Santana huffs but smirks as she pushes the front door open and waves for her friend to follow.

"Santana?" Aunt Linda calls out from the kitchen and Santana rolls her eyes because honestly, who else would it be?

"No, it's Santa Claus." Santana replies sarcastically, closing the door once she and Brittany are inside. "Ho. Ho. Ho." Brittany giggles as she follows her into the kitchen.

"Very funny." Linda retorts, only half amused by her niece's sense of humor. "How was… oh, hello Brittany." The older woman smiles, wipes her hands on the dish towel by the sink and waves once they're dry.

"Hello." Brittany waves in return, for some reason feeling nervous and shoves her hands into her back pockets.

"Oh yeah," Santana speaks up when her aunt looks back at her. "I invited Brittany to stay for dinner." She explains the blonde's presence, motioning towards her. Linda nods and continues to stare between the two girls.

"It's last minute, I should just go home and…"

"No." Both Lopez women interrupt her, glancing at one another.

"You are more than welcome to stay for dinner." Linda grins at her, turning to the counter to grab the casserole she'd prepared for dinner. "It's nice to have Santana finally inviting you over, officially." She glances at her niece as she heads through the kitchen to the dining room. "Get another place setting for your guest Santana. Come on Brittany, I want to hear all about you putting Tana to work, most likely against her will." Aunt Linda laughs out as Brittany follows her and Santana watches the two disappear into the other room, grinning to herself as she sees the way Brittany throws her head back laughing and helping her with the casserole dish.

The three of them sit around the table, Brittany rehashing every single second of the day at the barn to Aunt Linda, who is listening intently to each word. Santana just sits in silence and shovels food into her mouth as she is obviously the amusing part of dinner this evening. Every few moments Aunt Linda or Brittany gives her a look to assure her that they are merely laughing along with the events of the day and not at her.

"And finally she got the hang of it." Brittany beams over at Santana who is sitting across from her while Linda chuckles. The blonde blushes under the other girl's stare, averting her eyes to her glass and reaches out for it.

"Do you want some more lemonade Britt?" Santana asks, noticing the less than half filled glass.

"Oh, I can get it myself." Brittany places her glass back down and moves to get up, but Santana beats her to it, pushing her chair back and jumping up.

"No, I totally got it." Santana all but runs to the kitchen while Brittany and Aunt Linda stare at her.

"I've never seen Santana so attentive before." The older woman comments before moving back to eating the rest of her meal. "Maybe she is changing." She shrugs.

"She's not changing." Brittany says matter of factly, her gaze fixed on the entrance of the kitchen, and a small smile tugs at the corners of her lips. "I think she's finding herself again." Aunt Linda, in mid chew, turns to look at her curiously.

"Alright Miss Pierce," Santana re-enters the dining room with a full glass of lemonade, placing it in front of her dinner guest. "Here is you refreshed drink." She grins.

"Thank you." Brittany smiles at her friend and then at the glass.

"So what did I miss?" Santana asks as she takes her seat again. Aunt Linda raises her eyebrows and shakes her head.

"I have no idea." She mumbles under her breath.

Dinner continues on, eventually, with the conversation turning to Brittany and dance, which entertains both Santana and Aunt Linda. When they are finished the girl's clean up the table together, while Linda prepares three bowls of chocolate ice cream.

"Thanks so much for having me for dinner." Brittany says softly, as Santana grabs the dishes from her hands.

"It's not over yet. Dinner first and now, dessert." Santana smirks.

"Okay, ladies," Aunt Linda calls out with a claps of her hands to get their attention. "Eat up before it melts." She tells them, grabbing a bowl for herself and motions with her spoon to the other two. "Santana, you can do the dishes after ice cream."

"Oh really? Can I?" Santana mocks enthusiasm.

"You have your father's humor." Linda bites back, waving her spoon in the air as she disappears into the living room.

Santana grabs the two bowls, handing one to Brittany and then the same with the spoon, before leading the way to the living room where her aunt is. The three enjoy a short television program for a half hour, Aunt Linda tossing a quirked eyebrow in the direction of the teenagers as they giggle and goof around beside her.

"Alright girls," Aunt Linda pushes herself up, slapping her nieces thigh. "I'm off to bed." She leaves the two.

"Yea," Brittany lightly claps her hands together and then rubs them on her thighs. "I should probably get going." She announces as she gets up from the couch.

"Oh, okay." Santana is slightly caught off guard, not really ready to part with her friend just yet. "You're parents are probably wondering where you are." She remembers that Brittany's parents, well, mother is probably not too keen on her being over at Santana's until all hours of the night.

"Well, I guess I'll see you bright and early in the morning?" Brittany says as she reaches the front door of the Lopez house. Santana smiles, nods and leans in the door way.

"Sure thing." She waves as the Brittany steps out onto the front porch. "Hey." Santana calls out and walks a step out onto the porch as well, getting Brittany to turn back to face her. "Why is it that your mom hates my guts?" Brittany's eyebrows furrow, her head tilts and she chuckles.

"She doesn't hate you." The cheerleader offers innocently. But when Santana's hands fly to her hips and a stern look takes over her features, Brittany looks over to the hedges where her house is hidden behind. "She's just protective I guess." Her shoulders shrug and her feet scuff the wood of the porch.

Santana nods. She understands. It's too late to get into a big conversation about all of this. She's pretty certain that after the exertion her body went through today, she does not at all have the energy to enter into any form of debate. The fact that Mrs. Pierce is 'protective' is true, but only to some extent. There are certain parts of this big Texas life that a good Christian mother would not approve of. But, that's probably an argument she'd lose to the majority.

"Well, have a good night." Santana tells Brittany and steps back into the door way, ready to close the door.

"Sweet dreams." Brittany says softly and then disappears into the night.

---

Mr. and Mrs. Pierce take their usual seats on the bleachers. Three rows back and to the right just in front of the cheerleading squad. Mrs. Pierce spots her neighbor's niece walk out from the tunnel and up towards the stands. She watches as the young girl stops at the fence, leans on the metal bar that separates the bleachers from the field and how her daughter runs over to greet her. Brittany smiles wildly up at the Lopez girl, who is leaning over the railing, bringing their faces closer. Her eyes squint under the bright lights of the Friday night game at their home field as she sees her daughter lift her hand up to the bar and pat Santana's hand affectionately.

Something funny must have been said because Brittany tosses her head back and that angelic giggle pops from her lips. Mayor Pierce clenches her jaw and lightly shakes her head from side to side. All she can see are the images from Santana's Facebook page and she wonders if anyone else in the crowd has as well. If they have, then they'd know the depraved lifestyle the Lopez girl leads and how she clearly has no clear defined sexuality which is not as God had intended. For all Annie Pierce knows, anyone who is privy to the porn like webpage this girl has, might think that her own precious daughter also lives this sinful lifestyle.

Unaware of the death stare she is receiving from her friend's mother, Santana turns and sits on the edge of the first row of bleachers. Soon enough the game starts and she stares on, pretending to watch as the crowd around her goes wild. Her gaze falls down to the ground just below the risers. Out on the track, only a jump over a tiny fence and a few feet away is where her eyes land. The cheerleaders are jumping up and down in place, clapping their hands and she can only assume it is because something goo happened on the field. Her lips twist and her focus remains on that blonde ponytail moving up and down, swaying side to side. Brittany turns to her right, Quinn is there, and the way she smiles, nods and the way her eyebrows raise bring a tiny smirk to Santana's lips.

Her hands get shoved into the pockets of her jacket and her legs cross at her knee. She decides to look down the field to see what the big deal is and finds the team setting up some sort of play right by the goal. Brittany turns her head and smiles to herself. There, just beyond the fence that separates the track from the bleachers is Santana. She can tell that the girl in the stands is feigning interest in the actual game.

Inside, she laughs at how her friend scrunches her nose, the way her eyebrows crinkle together in the middle and how her lips part a bit in confusion. It's cute and she can't really explain why it is such a thing. Why it has to be cute that Santana is here, watching a sport she not only doesn't like, but doesn't even understand. Why is it cute that she is sitting by herself, watching a bunch of 'stupid boys' run around hitting each other over a ball? Probably because the she knows the real reason Santana is here in spite of the fact that she hates sports.

Quinn glances to her left as she claps her pom-poms together, slowly bringing her jumping to an end, and catches a smirk on Brittany's lips. She quirks an eyebrow when she watches her friend look over her shoulder and wave goofily at whoever she is looking at. Quinn takes a quick look to spot Santana sending a wave back at Brittany and she awkwardly smiles to herself.

It's not strange for Brittany to be cheering for a game and making time to send casual waves and glances to any Knox City fan in the stands. So, Quinn honestly should not think anything of it. But, she can't help but do anything except question it. She's been watching and noticing things ever since Santana rolled back into town with the way Brittany has seemed to fall back into everything that was way back when.

Just a few seats away, Mayor Pierce watches the way Santana pays no mind to the game going on. How she smirks in the direction of the cheerleaders and how her short skirt seems to catch the attention of the boys sitting a few rows behind her. The older woman shakes her head in disapproval and tries to turn her focus back to the game and her daughter cheering on the boys. She wonders if there is a way for her to keep this budding friendship between Brittany and Santana from growing. To hopefully stop it from taking a road that would leave her daughter as a snapshot on the Facebook page of 'Snixx-Pez'.

"Go Finn!" Carol Hudson's cheer for her son breaks Annie Pierce from her thoughts and she looks over to where the quarterback's mother claps frantically. She turns back to the field and finds Finn Hudson fist pumping after throwing a touchdown. The corners of her mouth turn up and she grins.

When the game ends, the fans find their way down from the stands and out into the parking lot with the rest of Knox City, along with some parents and fans from the opposing school. Knox City citizens are in brighter spirits seeing as their boys have brought in yet another victory, nearly cementing their position for playoffs in a few weeks to come. The boys head off to the locker rooms, shouting and hooting over their win while the cheerleaders congregate just outside of the tunnel that connects the parking lot to the field. They are all smiles and chatty about the win, but more so about how awesome it will be to go to the playoffs for the third year in a row.

As the crowd thins and the players come out to either greet their parents, friends or girlfriends, Santana stands just outside of the tunnel and off to the side. She watches as Mike and Tina meet up for a kiss and she sees the way Tina swipes her thumb over Mike's lips afterwards. Artie rolls up a few moments later to congratulate his friend on another great game while Kurt stands fashionably casual beside him. On the other side of the lot she spots Finn Hudson walk up to his mother who happens to be in a conversation with the Pierce's and Sherriff Hummel.

Before she can look away from them, she notices Brittany bouncing over in their direction as well. Her mother throws her arm around her shoulder and pulls her in to a tight and uncomfortable looking hug. Her nose scrunches at the awkward moment and wonders if Mrs. Pierce is a cold stone robot, unable to produce a human emotion because she's sure grade A bitch isn't an actual emotion. The tall, blonde cheerleader looks around the parking lot and doesn't stop searching until her eyes fall onto Santana. She smiles, a real smile. Not the fake one she gave when her mother tried to show her affection, and she waves the shorter girl over.

With hesitation, Santana finally unglues her feet from the dirt ridden cement and makes her way over towards the strange group. She puts on the best smile she can come up with that doesn't spew that much venom and even tops it off with a 'friendly' wave. Brittany steps away from her parents and in the direction of Santana while her mother watches on intently.

"Hey." Brittany greets, taking a step towards Santana so she is standing beside her. She bumps her shoulder into the shorter girl's shoulder and smiles at the way her friend shoves her hands into her jacket pockets.

"Hey." Santana says back, sending a smile right back at her and then awkwardly glances around, nodding as she does trying not to lock eyes with the ice woman from next door.

"Santana, I didn't know you liked football." Mayor Pierce asks, her voice loud enough to get everyone in the little group to turn their attention to the teenager. Santana's plans to avoid eye contact clearly broken, and she sends the woman a smirk.

"I don't." She tells the Mayor of Knox City. Annie Pierce nods, showing she hears the girl, but her eyes give away that she begs to differ.

"It seemed you were enjoying yourself though." Mrs. Pierce points out matter of factly and Santana shrugs, sending a quick glance over at Brittany.

"What can I say?" Santana starts with a subtle wink at her blonde friend. "I can appreciate some team spirit." She states straightforwardly, but with a smug tone in her voice. "You ready?" She asks Brittany with excitement. "I told Quinn we'd wait for her by your truck." She explains, pointing over her shoulder where the powder blue truck is parked.

"Oh, alright." Brittany replies in a quieter tone and sends a tight lipped smile to the group a little behind her. "So, let's go then." She motions for them to make their move and Santana doesn't question it. She actually wonders if saying 'Quinn' was like saying Voldormort in front of Mayor Pierce.

"Where are you off to now?" Mr. Pierce asks with a laugh. "It's just like when you two were little, always running off to get into something." He jokes and his daughter chuckles with uncertainty.

"We're just going to grab a bite." Brittany tells him as she continues to walk away, not wanting to give her mother the chance to stop her. She knows that whenever she and her mother are in the company of the Hudson's, the woman is always trying to play matchmaker.

"Those girls used to be attached at the hip." Joe Pierce adds, even though the girls in question are long gone. Mrs. Pierce looks over at Finn who nods in agreement and is obviously watching on as her daughter vanishes beyond the crowd of Knox.

"Sorry my parents are so weird." Brittany mumbles when they hop into her truck. Santana shrugs her shoulders as she slips into her seat and shuts the door.

"They're not weird." Santana tells her, but then laughs at her own statement. "Well, your mom is, but your dad's cool." They both laugh until there is a light tap on the passenger door with a smiling Quinn on the other side.

Their destination is an easy decision. Carmel's. Even though they will most likely be running into a bunch of kids from their school, the craving for a milkshake from Carmel's is too strong to fight. Even with the blaring lights from the overcrowded lot of the popular burger joint, Santana can't turn away her need for a malted beverage and some fries. Brittany pulls her powder blue pick-up into slot three, between two other trucks containing groups of kids from their school, and the three girls jump out to sit in the bed of the truck.

A boy on skates rolls on over to greet them and get their typical order of three strawberry shakes, three fries and four bacon cheeseburgers. As he skates away to put in their order, they glance around the parking lot at the various groups of teenagers around them. There are a lot of football players and cheerleaders and then the odd gang of other students from Knox City High School.

"So, nearly four months in," Quinn changes the subject from Brittany and Santana's debate over X-men characters to a completely different topic once their food arrives. "Still wanna go home?" She asks Santana after tapping her leg to get her attention. Brittany bites her burger and she watches Santana swallow the bits of fries in her mouth before she answers.

"Uh," Santana sips her shakes and looks down at her untouched bacon cheeseburger. "Yeah, actually." She lets out with a cough and Quinn chuckles to herself. "I mean, you guys are great." She tries to quickly clarify that her current company has nothing to do with her desire to go back to Boston. "You're definitely making it more tolerable to be here." Santana adds with a shrug of her shoulders as she lifts her burger to her mouth.

"Wow." Quinn laughs out. "You're too sweet." She shakes her head and turns her attention full onto the food on her lap.

"It's not like you would stay here if you had the choice." Santana points out matter of factly. Brittany looks between the two as she munches on her fries.

"I don't have it as easy as you. I don't have a time limit to be here and then get shipped off." Quinn bites back. Santana snorts and rolls her eyes as she shakes her head, meanwhile Brittany glances over her shoulder in hopes to avoid a silly fight.

"Really?" Santana asks incredulously getting the attention of both blondes. "I was unaware that you were stuck here forever and ever." She laughs with sarcastic amusement and continues to chow down on her burger and French fries.

"What is it that you want to get back to so bad?" Quinn continues and sits up in her spot on the bed of the truck. "I mean, you don't have anyone back home. You've made that super clear." She rolls her eyes as she recounts the way Santana is totally anti-relationship. Brittany shifts awkwardly in her spot, sifts through her fries as she tries to avoid being sucked into this conversation.

Santana sighs, looks around and shakes her head. She notices the groups of people around them, the jocks sitting in all of their way too expensive trucks and how they are talking loudly about football and getting on with girls. The cheerleaders who are hanging on all of them and their words even though most of the things they are saying are crude and not very Christian. This town, it's not her. Even though the two girls she is currently in the company of have been making Knox an easier trip to take, she's not a southern belle with priorities of being prim and proper. Mommy and daddy are not waiting up for her to get home after the big Friday game. Mommy and daddy didn't care much when she was home let alone several states and a time difference away.

"Whatever." Quinn gives up and goes back to her food. She didn't mean to get into it with Santana, but this moody version of her childhood friend is so very hard to read.

"You guys ready for the fair?" Brittany finally speaks up, completely changing the topic and trying to smooth out the wrinkly tension. Quinn and Santana both shrug their shoulders, focusing more on their shakes and French fries than each other.

"I guess so." Quinn mumbles, some burger still in her mouth. "My mom is in charge of the pie tent." She rolls her eyes because this is the third fair in a row that the Fabray's are going to be serving pies out to the Knox City public.

"I probably don't have much of a choice." Santana groans. Aunt Linda has probably signed her up to clothe the homeless youth of Knox.

"It should be super fun this year." Brittany beams. "My mom seems real excited." She hums out, enjoying her food very much.

"Yay." Santana laughs at Quinn's faux excitement and sure enough, the two have forgotten about the almost argument from a few moments ago.

"Hey Pierce." Finn's voice comes barreling over the other loud mouth student body of Knox City High School and his oafish body nearly slams into the back of her truck.

"Uh, hey Finn." Brittany half smiles and waves at the way too tall teenage boy.

"So, I was thinking that when we get to the playoffs your cheerleaders and the team should have a hotel party." He sends her a stupid looking smirk and he tries to casually lean further onto her truck but he looks awkward.

"Oh." Brittany glances over in Quinn's direction, but the girl is pretending to talk to Santana about something. "I guess I'll talk to the squad about it." She offers. Finn smiles and nods, staring at Brittany's legs for a little too long.

"Hudson!" Another jock comes barreling into him and it's quite obvious, to Santana anyway, that this kid is a little drunk. "What are you doing over here at reject central?" He asks, motioning towards Santana and Quinn who both give him a dirty look. "What are you staring at new girl?"

"Karofsky, she's friends with Britt." Finn says as he pushes his buddy off of him. "And," He sends Santana an uncomfortable smile. "Any friend of Britt Pierce's is a friend of mine." Santana scoffs at the way this boy has absolutely no skills in the impressing of the ladies.

"The hit it and quit it kind, right Finny boy!" Karofsky hollers and slaps his friend on the back, getting a small chuckle out of the team captain.

"Fat chance dough boy." Santana spits out catching the small group off guard. Quinn laughs to herself, Karofsky raises an eyebrow at the challenge, Finn's jaw drops and Brittany smirks.

"You should probably take him home Finn." Brittany breaks up the possible fight. "Before he starts saying more things he knows nothing about." She gives Finn a good hard look and within seconds he nods and drags his teammate away from the powder blue truck and far from the three girls.

"Hey, I gotta get home soon." Quinn tells her friends as she gathers the garbage from their food. "I'll throw this stuff out and then we can head out?" Brittany nods and watches as Quinn hops from the back of her truck and walk over to the garbage which happens to be right by where the jocks are sitting.

Santana notices how the guys from the football team are howling and saying things to Quinn. She's sure she heard them call her 'preggers' and the 'Virgin Mary', an obvious poke at her being pregnant a few years back. Quinn takes it all in stride, telling the dark haired girl that this is something she has gotten used to since the pregnancy.

The ride home is quiet for Santana, she just listens to the girls chattering about cheerleading and the playoffs. She wonders how Quinn does it. Lives in this world where she is practically the butt of some joke gone wrong. Kids are mean, that's for certain. But, Mrs. Pierce comes to her mind and she thinks about what Brittany had told her. How her mother had pretty much black mailed her into leaving her best friend in the entire world because of the situation she had fallen into.

With a million and one things running through her brain, before she can zero in on a specific one, Quinn has been dropped off and the powder blue pick-up truck is parked in front of the Pierce house. It's not quiet, Brittany is actually talking a little bit about the fair coming up and then how at Thanksgiving she is going to the church for the soup kitchen. She comments about how it's not much of a soup kitchen but more of a little party for the people in their town to have a little pre-party before going home for dinner.

"Do you want to come over for a bit?" Santana jumps in before Brittany can venture on to another topic of conversation. The cheerleader looks to her house, noticing the light in the living has been turned off.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." She nods and unbuckles her seat belt, even though the truck has not been running for over ten minutes.

They walk around the hedges, kicking rocks and pebbles along the way and talking about how night time is getting cooler recently. The front door to the Lopez house is unlocked, which doesn't much surprise Brittany, but she laughs when Santana comments that in Boston doors have several locks. They remain quiet because it's apparent that Aunt Linda is asleep and probably has been for a while.

In a decision made by Brittany, Santana finds herself being sucked into a movie that the two used to watch when they were little. It's 'Teen Witch', a movie that they had found in Aunt Linda's collection from even before they were born, but absolutely fell for. Santana feels like she's slipped back in time when she catches herself grinning from ear to ear and swaying to the musical number that is currently on the screen. It feels like those times when they were single digits, up way beyond their bedtime and soon could be found under the coffee table.

"When this is over," Santana says softly, not wanting to interrupt any bit of the movie she hasn't seen in years. "I have an idea of what we can do next." Brittany eyes her curiously, a small smile on her lips, and sees a little sparkle in her friend's eyes. Something she hasn't seen since they had last watched this movie.

---

Aunt Linda wakes in the middle of the night for her usual glass of water. It's silly really, that she doesn't bring one with her before bed, but she reasons it lets her make sure her home is still standing. It is dark as she makes her down the hallway and as she turns into the kitchen she checks the time on the microwave. She grabs a glass and sets it under the faucet letting the water run until the glass is full.

She turns the water off and as she lifts the glass to her lips, she pauses. Her head cranes towards the direction of the living room where she hears quiet whispers and soft giggles. With a furrowed brow, she carefully maneuvers her way through the dark house until coming to the entrance of the living room. Her eyes squint, hand comes up to rest on the wall and she holds her breathe. She doesn't see anyone, but she knows who it is and she grins because this moment brings back memories from so long ago.

A few feet away, hidden by the couch where the coffee table usually is but is now pushed closer towards the television, she notices two streams of light. It's like a blast from the past for Aunt Linda and she recalls numerous nights from years ago at seeing this sight practically every other night.

"Did she ever find her prince?" Her musings are interrupted when she hears her niece's soft but unmistakable raspy voice. She watches the lights on the ceiling above them dance around each other, dip into each other and the shadows from hands and fingers that appear.

"She never found him, but, she also never stopped searching." Brittany breathes out. Aunt Linda can see her hopeful smile as she speaks so clearly in her mind. "She knew she'd die still loving him and he her. So, that was worth it I suppose." Brittany sighs.

"That's a really sad story Britt." Aunt Linda has to suppress a laugh when she hears the disappointment in Santana's voice. She's still that little girl deep down who wants to believe in fairytales and happy endings alike. Regardless of the way she scowls.

"But, they loved one another and they never stopped." Brittany reminds her.

"True, but they spent the rest of their lives alone. Never being able to be with their true love." Santana explains, still not accepting the end of the story she's just heard.

"Are you really 'alone' though? You know, when you are loved so much and love in return so equally?" Brittany counters, sincerely curious of her friend's answer and thoughts. "I think it's sadder to never have what they had. Sure, they never got to drive off into the sunset, but, the time they did have together changed them so dramatically. They found what so many people only dream to catch a glimpse of." The cheerleader says softly and one of the flashlights starts to move side to side.

Aunt Linda stands still, a small smile on her lips and her eyes drift from the ceiling to the tops of flashlights that she can see. She hears a long sigh and cranes her neck to hear whatever it is that is going to be said next.

"You're really kind of smart Brittany." She hears her niece mutter affectionately and Brittany scoffs at the statement.

"Shut up." Linda hears a soft slap of a playful tap.

"No, I'm being serious." Santana says. "I mean, you really look at things, differently than most people. You make all this shit, the bad and the not so bad sound so… beautiful."

"My mom says I live in my own world." Brittany admits shyly after some silence.

"Well, if that's the case, I want to live in your world." Aunt Linda smiles, the corners of her mouth quiver at Santana's almost silent confession. "She shakes er head at herself, realizing that she has been standing here and eavesdropping for too long.

On the way back to her bedroom with the smile still etched on her face, Brittany's words echo in her mind. Perhaps the blonde girl from next door is right after all. Santana is not changing, but merely finding who she once was and is supposed to be. Tonight, through the simple act of listening, Aunt Linda caught a flash of the little girl she once knew. The little girl who dreamed, wished, laughed and smiled. And although it was only a glimpse, it was beautiful.