Thank you again for everything! :)

We still have 2-3 chapters left on this one.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Santana scoffs as she forcefully pushes Dani away from her, eyebrows scrunched in a mix of confusion and anger. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Dani sarcastically chuckles, dramatically wiping smudged lipstick from the corner of her lips. "What do you think? I think it's pretty obvious that I have the hots for you. You have such soft lips. Great for kissing."

"What the fuck, Dani? You can't just jump on people like that!"

"Would you prefer that I begged on my knees and asked you to fuck me?" Dani smirks and crosses her arms.

Santana growls and shakes her head in disbelief as she gathers her stuff, having enough of this. Fucking unbelievable! In any other day a few months ago, she would have grabbed the chance and had her way with this girl without any second thoughts. But no, everything's different now. It's not just the Brittany factor. For her, no matter which angle she would look at it, she can't seem to grasp the idea of doing anything intimate other than Brittany again. She's in love with Brittany. That's the only reason she needs.

"Stay away from me, you bitch." Santana sneers.

"Oh please. You liked it!" Dani exclaims back and slowly approaches Santana once more. "Come on, baby. How about we take this to one of the beds upstairs? Well, a bed is definitely optional if you want to be adventurous."

The nerve of this fucking bitch.

Santana holds a hand up and makes Dani stop from taking a step further towards her. "Don't ever, ever call me 'baby' again." The brunette says and leans towards Dani with a death glare. "Approach me again, talk to me again, and I swear I will fucking skin you alive and make you an appetizer for the dogs to eat. Do you fucking understand?"

Dani gulps and tries to act unfazed but Santana sees right through it, making her smirk and declare victory on her part. She doesn't add anything else and walks toward the event are as she leaves the girl behind her shaking and a bit embarrassed at being turned down like that.

Dani takes a few deep breaths and brushes off the encounter. Fuck Jamie and her morals or whatever. Brittany's probably the lamest girl she's met. Dani's tired of the blonde's miss goody two shoes act like the bitch is fucking Virgin Mary. Instead of stressing about it, she suddenly remembers a vital part of the conversation from a while ago and smirks to herself as she fetches her phone from her clutch bag that fell on the ground earlier. Slowly, she searches for the name she'd been trying to find and after a few seconds, dials said number. The other line picks up after a few rings.

"Rory?" Dani exclaims with a bored expression and almost doesn't let the other line speak. "Do you still want to make it in the radio industry? Good. I need you to do something for me. I want you to find out whatever you can about Jamie, Brittany's girlfriend. Oh, and check out the name Santana for possible connections to Brittany as well, will you, sweetheart?" Dani utters nonchalantly with a devilish grin.

The Hummels' Indoor Pool Area is the stuff made for dreams. It's huge as hell with ceiling painting and ocean-like painted walls, it generally boasts about the most modern stuff known to men. Numerous deckchairs, benches for the event, diving boards, big ass changing and powder rooms, Jacuzzis, and more. But the pool itself is an Olympic sized one with marble designs underneath rather than those plain ones.

Momentarily, Santana finally finds Brittany by the corner at the pool area. She glances at her watch to see that there's still about five minutes before the event starts and judging from the way everyone's scrambling, it's about to start soon. She looks back at the events from a few minutes ago and tries to shake it off instead. Fuck Dani and her plans. So not fucking cool. At least no one saw right? It doesn't matter now though because she seemingly forgets everything and smiles to herself upon seeing Brittany. Even more so when she's only a couple of feet away because fuck, Brittany's a sight in that swimsuit!

"Wow. Y-You look amazing, Britt." She gushes with a dopey grin but suddenly falters when she sees the look on Brittany's face. She prides herself on knowing the girl well but this one is something she's not familiar with. She's sure she has seen it before somewhere or numerous times but now, she can't place it.

"Thanks." Brittany replies nonchalantly without looking at Santana as she hides her phone in her bag.

"So, I was thinking that maybe we could duck out after we smoke their asses out for some little loving, you know..." The brunette teases with a smirk but only gets a shrug from Brittany who seems bored and disinterested from everything.

"Haven't you already gotten some?"

Santana's face scrunch up a little, not really quite figuring out what's happening here and quite taken aback by the blonde's bitter tone and general disdain.

"Uhmm.. Is everything okay, babe?"

"I don't know. Is everything okay, babe?" Brittany snaps back in a mocking tone finally looking back at her, surprising Santana when she stands up and goes on to walk away from her.

What the hell?

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to start to program. Please take to your places as we are going to start with our first race for today, the 4x100 freestyle women's relay..."

Santana blocks out the announcement because for one, she couldn't care less. What she wants to know though is what's up with Brittany. Disregarding everything, she tries to find the girl among the crowd, it's only when she hears their name being called for the race that she sees her by their designated area and lane stretching out.

"Hey, Britt. What's wrong?" Santana asks worriedly while Brittany just seems to ignore her as she warms up and continues stretching.

"Again, our first race for today is the blue team composed of Brittany Pierce, Jamie Ryan..."

"Nothing is wrong. Just drop it. Get stretching or something because I won't save you when you drown."

"The relay will start in two minutes, please gather your team and go to your designated places."

"Well, I find it hard to believe that nothing's wrong when all you've been doing is snap on me like this." Santana quips back as she starts stretching herself.

"Hello ladies! Brittany will go first, I reckon. Then you, miss Jamie, will be last." Random teammate # 1 in her 40's greets them and they just politely nod in agreement.

"We can do this! Let's make them eat our chlorine based pool water!" Random teammate #2 in her mid-30's adds and disappears to stretch before they get to react.

"So?" Santana turns to face Brittany again after a moment as she stands up from stretching her legs, a bit impatiently this time.

"Well, when you see the girl you thought you have feelings for and had an amazing time with last night making out with the person who's been trying to sabotage you from the very start then I doubt you'd been jumping for joy now, are you?" Brittany sneers with a hard glare at Santana.

Santana mouth drops and her heart stops beating for a second.

Fuck.

"B-Britt..."

"Take to your places everyone..."

"You don't have to explain anything, San. You never had to." Brittany whispers with a sad tone as she finishes stretching and positions herself on the elevated granite paving decking, igniting a bunch of confusing and heavy feelings in Santana upon hearing those words and the blonde calling her by her real name.

Santana remains frozen in her place with Brittany's back towards her. She wonders whether or not she should explain right now, let it go, or just tell Brittany the whole damn truth. She can't explain but it hurts her in a weird way that Brittany's like this towards her. It's as if a needle had been pricked in her heart, making it not only hard for her to breathe but digest everything's happening. In the past, she would just usually leave and get out before drama like this would ensue. Actually, she couldn't care any less before. Once there's tears, stress, or drama involved, she's out of there before you can even blink or beg for her to come back.

But this is different. This is Brittany.

Instead of walking away like she always does, Santana takes a long deep breath and decides that there is no way in hell she's going to give up on her. So, for the first time in her life, she goes on to approach a girl and try her best to make everything alright.

"Britt, hear me out, okay? Just please-"

"Swimmers… The race will start at the sound of the whistle."

Brittany looks over her shoulder and shrugs while fixing her swimming cap and goggles. "I said, it's okay. Just leave it be. The race is about to start, let's focus now."

"3…"

"No. I'm not having it, Britt. You need to listen to me. You've got it all wrong!"

"2…"

Brittany sighs and turns her body halfway to face Santana. "What is there to explain?! Dani had her tongue in your throat and you seemed to be liking it enough so really, what really is there to explain?!" Brittany snaps back and goes back to assume her position, leaving Santana gaping.

"1…"

In a flash, a gun goes off signaling the start of the race and everyone who's supposed to go first, jumps into the pool as they race one another to do a lap as fast they could then the next one does the same for the relay until the whole team finishes.

Santana's left baffled by this. She's just about to say something, anything to change Brittany's mind when that fucking gun had to interrupt their moment. So, here she is, like a fucking idiot staring at Brittany who's swimming away from her. Not like that there's a difference when she's on land because as far as it concerns her. Nothing she can do as of the moment than to wait dumbly for Brittany to come back and think of the hundred things that's going on in her mind and filter all the nasty and swear words that's been brewing in it.

"Are you okay, honey?" Random teammate #1 asks worriedly as she gets ready herself, being next an all. Santana only nods absentmindedly and walks to the back of the line just as her brain goes into overdrive.

Damn Dani and her freaking evil plans. Whatever that bitch has on her mind, it's certainly not really helping because Santana's had about enough of it. Now, it's not really flying with her. The last thing that she'd want is for Brittany being like this and lashing out at her. An hour ago, they were probably the happiest couple-esque and now, fuck this shit. She feels like her brain is about to explode from thinking too much and her heart about to combust from so much hatred and feelings waiting to come out. Not even the loud, cheering crowd is drowning out her thoughts.

Momentarily, Brittany comes back from doing her lap as she leads the race. The moment she touches the side of the pool, Random teammate #1 jumps next and goes on to do the same lap, while Random teammate #2 helps her out of the pool. She takes a breath upon being handed with a towel by some kid, watching the race a bit but subtly searching for Santana among the crowd.

"You know, you're wrong about me, Brittany." The familiar raspy voice utters behind her, making her jump a little. When they lock eyes, she really doesn't know what to say so instead of going on about how angry and hurt she is, she just lets Santana continue first.

"You're wrong about me liking her or anything else. I'm done with all those women, okay? I've told you already. Why can't you believe me?" The brunette adds with eyebrows scrunched up.

Brittany doesn't respond. She doesn't move. She only looks at the girl with a heartbroken look. Hearing those words again only makes her want to slap herself for actually believing in them. She took a risk. She acted on her feelings for someone she's not supposed to be in love with and she failed. Words cannot explain or convey how she feels right now because it just plain sucks.

"You can't change overnight and I know that. But I don't like games and people who make me feel stupid. Last night was a mistake for us. Let's just move on and leave it at that." Brittany utters nonchalantly in a cold tone. She stands up, trying to hold back the tears that she can't believe are in her eyes, turns around to leave the venue but Santana holds her back by the arm and looks straight into her eyes.

"We're not done talking, Britt. You've gotta stop this. You weren't there before she kissed me. You don't know what happened!"

Brittany sizes up next to Santana while trying to act all normal as to not gather attention among them.

"I don't need to be there to know what happened, San. She kissed you and for all I know, you kissed her back. And, that's fine!." Brittany whispers with a hard tone. "You can do anything with your life and I can with mine. We're not together. So, just let it go."

Santana breathes deeply for a second. She fucking needs to because anymore of Brittany being like this and her attitude is going to shine bright like a diamond on the blonde. But she is who she is and when she's pushed like this, she goes low or whatever it is just to hurt the other or to make herself feel better. Or herself feel less hurt.

Aunty Snixx has arrived.

"Sure. Because apparently last night was to help you feel better, right?" Santana says with a smirk.

Brittany gives her a questioning look. "What exactly are you insinuating?"

"To get over Jamie. That's what I am, right? A rebound."

"And now… we are on to the third swimmer for all the teams! Just one more and we have a winner for the women's relay, everyone!" A voice exclaims and for a second, breaks the tension between the two women.

Santana's words cut through Brittany like a stab in the heart. Never had that thought cross her mind. It's funny that Santana mentioned that though because after she and Jamie broke up and she got thrown into this pretending-to-be-her-ex thing with Santana, she never really thought about it again. Of course, there were a few nights that Jamie crossed her mind during when the break up was still fresh but now, it's not really anything to ponder anymore.

"That's not true! I-I moved on from Jamie before uus- this, started!"

"Yeah, right." Santana chuckles sarcastically. "I'm not stupid, Brittany. Don't act like you have no idea about this. This has always been about Jamie. Pretending to be her to get this damn syndication. Jamie who's in the middle of nowhere right now. Jamie this, Jamie that! It's all been about Jamie and nothing about us!"

"You're being unfair with this on me! You're the one who wanted to push through with this act. I told you before that I wanted to tell everyone the truth but you didn't. I told you that my dad wouldn't have-"

Santana mirrors Brittany's death glare and leans closer, trying to size up against the tall girl. "Of course! Your perfect dad! It's always about your dad! No one can match the amazing person that your dad is! That's why Jamie left you because she can't ever, and so does everyone else including me, replace him. You're freaking perfect and everyone knows that. But fuck this. No one is good enough for you, Brittany!"

"You're more than good enough for me but you just chose to break my heart!"

"The Blue team is now leading the race and in just a few seconds, we will be on our fourth and last swimmer for the relay!" The announcer declares over the microphone.

Brittany and Santana share hard looks with no one backing down. Santana tries to calm down and not show any emotion. But that last statement from Brittany, those words almost makes her surrender from all the fighting and just kiss and have the best makeup sex with the girl. However, it's Brittany who breaks it off upon realizing that the last swimmer for their team is Santana. A fuming Santana at that.

"You have to go there. You're up next." Brittany whispers in a defeated tone.

"No. We're not finished talking." Santana replies sternly with eyes still trained on Brittany.

"But you have to go there now. We're going to lose!"

"And the Blue team finishes the lap but…" The announcer looks around genuinely confused. "…their last swimmer, Jamie, is nowhere to be found. Is this considered a default now? Every team has now caught up with them, with their last swimmers now in the pool!"

"You have to get in the pool!" Brittany whispers, a few people around them stare while a few try to eavesdrop.

Santana breathes deeply. As much as she wants to whisk away Brittany and tell her everything that she wants to say, everything that's been on her mind for the longest time, she can't. Not just yet. So, instead of attracting more attention and letting her competitors smoke their asses, she takes a deep breath and heads for the pool. She doesn't even look back at Brittany or anyone, she just dives straight into it and swim as fast as she could, throwing a lot more effort than she should have as she catches up to the others. Sadly, no amount of strain or hurt could make her body feel how badly her heart is aching right now.

Bittersweet. That's what this will be when she wins this for them while her world is crumbling around her.

Santana wins the race by the skin of her teeth.

As soon as they are declared the winner, Brittany goes to the nearest shower and changing room in the venue to wash up and get away from awhile while Santana does the same but somewhere far away. Hopefully a little space would clear their minds out. After changing and getting themselves ready for dinner and the impending announcement, Santana sees Brittany drinking champagne by the corner, deep in thought.

"Brittany!" Santana voices out as she fixes her blue floral Sunday dress.

Brittany looks up just in time to see Santana approaching her by the side. "We're done talking, San. Let's just wait for the syndication announcement then we'll be done with it." She whispers.

"Is it true?"

"What exactly?" Brittany asks in a defeated tone, too tired to argue and basically, emotionally exhausted from today's events.

"You think I'm good enough for you?" Santana utters softly with pleading eyes.

Brittany looks down and tries to get it together. She doesn't regret saying that. She regrets not saying it sooner. "You're not just 'good enough', you're way more than that and not just for me but for everyone else, San. More than you know."

"Britt, I told you that I wasn't in on that with Dani. I pushed her away immediately and I said no."

"Well, it didn't look like you were saying 'no' very loudly to me."

Santana takes a deep breath and tries to think of words to properly convey how she feels but to no avail. "What do you want me to do, Britt? I'm here now, right? If I leave you then I'd be just like Jamie."

"This isn't about Jamie, okay? Just stop it." Brittany sighs and doesn't say anything more not because she doesn't know what to say but she doesn't want to force herself on someone who may not wholeheartedly want her. "Maybe this whole pretending-to-be-in-a-relationship thing wasn't such a good idea."

Santana feels like she's suddenly hit with a ton of bricks by that. She never thought that baring her soul out and letting herself open up would result to this. But she can't show that. She can't show that she's weak. Instead, she nods hesitantly. "Y-Yeah. S-So, I guess w-we should go back to being friends?"

Friends. She never thought that a word like that could hurt so much.

Brittany nods once, albeit with no heart at all because she knows deep in her heart that she could never be friends again with someone like Santana who she's fallen deeply in love for. "Y-Yeah. F-Frien-"

"Was last night just sex for you?" Santana cuts her off. Funny because usually, all the girls she's slept with or have been cozying up to in the past would be the ones saying that and of course, she'd break their hearts without thinking about it twice. Fucking ironic that she's on the other end now, desperate for Brittany to say 'no'.

Brittany doesn't even think about it twice. She gives out a small smile and shakes her head, making Santana breathe a little. "Of course not, San. It means everything to me. W-Was it like that for you?"

The stupidity in Santana kicks in. Maybe to protect herself from getting hurt any further. Maybe to hurt Brittany because she hurt her. Or maybe just to make herself feel better. One thing she knows in her heart though is that she shouldn't never have said it but she did anyway. Stupid. So fucking stupid.

"Maybe." Santana utters nonchalantly without looking at Brittany.

And, fuck.

It feels abstract. It feels as if someone just ran her down with a ten wheeler truck. It feels like Brittany's heart had just been removed and stomped on with how painful to hear those words are. Brittany almost bursts out in tears. Was that all she is to Santana? A notch in her bedpost? A conquest? She's never quite had her heart broken like this before and to make it worse, they're not even together. How can you face someone again after hearing something like this? It hurts. It fucking hurts so bad.

If Santana were to actually be honest and actually follow through what she'd really want to say then it means everything to her too. So much more than that. It's the part of baring out her feelings that scares the fuck out of her. Why does she have to be such a coward? Why does have to stoop so low and regret it almost immediately? Why does she have to hurt the person she loves so much and with all her heart?

"I-I…" Santana trails off as she gulps down the big lump in her throat, gathering all the strength she has to say it. "I-I have f-feelings for you, Britt. But I don't think it's a good idea to act on it with everything's that happened, I-I don't know if we can ever go back to being friends again. M-Maybe we should just keep our space first from each other."

It's not quite 'I love you' or 'I want to be with you' but the effect is ultimately negated just the same. Brittany is torn to pieces. She just wants Santana. The whole of Santana with no one to share her with. Then to add insult to the injury, she gets this.

"S-San, I-"

"Brittany, Jamie! There you girls are! We're about to announce who gets the syndication before dinner, come join us in front." Carole exclaims, effectively ruining the moment as she drags them both towards the front of the courtyard where a few people are now situated. They settle beside each other with neither talking. Just standing there as they bathe themselves in the awkwardness.

"Brittany, Jamie." Dani approaches beside them with a smirk but only receives a glare from Santana and gets ignored by Brittany on her side. "I hope there are no hard feelings when they announce my name later. I'd hate for us to ignore each other in the hallways. I could always give you a guest spot every now and then though, you know." She adds with a fake grin, irking only Santana more while Brittany just gives back a small smile.

They may be rivals in the radio industry and as it turns out, personally and romantically as well, but Brittany's a professional and the last thing she'd want is to cause a commotion when she takes this bitch out in front of everyone.

"And now, it gives us great pleasure to do this special announcement on behalf of the Hummel Communications Group. As you all know, during these past few weeks, we've been watching two of the biggest names in radio today or as to fondly put it, listening to them very closely." Carole exclaims as she pauses to flash a grin. "And I'm delighted to announce that the time has come to announce who between these two very special ladies, after some extremely deep consideration, will be getting the syndication as the board have made their decision." She smiles and hands the microphone to Burt who takes it.

"Dani and Brittany, you are both extraordinary hosts and it's been difficult making this decision. So, without further ado, the Hummel Communications Group proudly welcome to the family, Miss…" Burt trails off with a grin while looking alternately at the two nervous radio hosts in front of him but then, rests his gaze on the blonde. "Brittany Pierce!"

The crowd cheers in an instant as Brittany breaks out into a big grin, a bit in disbelief until Santana motions for her to go up while also flashing a genuine grin and clapping. She forgets everything for a moment and obliges to go up to give both Burt and Carole a hug. From this view, she doesn't miss the anger and disappointment on Dani's face as the girl walks out.

"Congratulations, Brittany!" Burt exclaims and the applause grows louder once again while Brittany thanks him and everyone else in the crowd. "Now, why don't we call your fiancée who's really Aquawoman up here for a photo op?" He adds much to everyone's amusement and chuckle.

Santana forces a grin and gets up on stage then forced to stand awfully close to Brittany while Carole calls the board for a photo. Brittany says her thanks and whatnot but a weird feeling settles in her stomach when the brunette's this close to her after having heard all those things a while ago. She admits that it hurts because if it weren't for what she saw and heard earlier, they'd be the happiest couple here celebrating and probably confessing that they love each other if Santana feels that way as well.

On the other hand, it's not like it's that easy for Santana to feel genuinely happy. She'd most likely look like a fool on camera with the uneasiness of all this. Fake grins and all to mask the pain of what they both feel.

After a couple of snaps, they are slowly about to get off from the stage when a grinning Carole stops them. "Alright then. Now, the two of you together. Just you two."

They both take a deep breath and share a quick but pained look as they lean close to each other for the cameras. It makes Santana want to scream and shout when she puts her arm around Brittany's waist but the happy feeling isn't there anymore. Never mind fake grinning for the cameras. The real struggle is to not tear up and walk out of this since there's only so much that someone could take. The sinking feeling when they glance at each other almost at the exact same time together with the 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the crowd are bittersweet. They both know that the other isn't okay with this. The dilemma is moving forward and the question of what happens after today. Everything combined is more than enough to send someone on the edge and struggle to act normally for the publicity. Just for the publicity like usual.

See you on Sunday!

I've received a few questions about this and for everyone who's thinking the same way: No, this story won't end exactly as the movie. Not going to follow it. Nope :)