Chapter 15

It wasn't completely dark yet but the sun had begun to set, leaving just enough light to pass through the campground. Rachel was the first to notice the couple from her spot on the outdoor loveseat situated on the front porch of her cabin. Quinn was snuggled up close with her head resting on Rachel's shoulder. She tapped Quinn lightly on the thigh. When the blonde glanced up toward her with a questioning look, Rachel pointed toward the tall grass where she had seen Brittany disappear a few hours ago. Quinn followed to where she was pointing and immediately deflated.

Santana and Brittany were walking silently hand-in-hand as they approached the cabins. Both of their faces were blotched and their eyes red and swollen like they had been crying for a while. Quinn met them at the bottom of the few steps of the cabin before engulfing Santana in a bone crushing hug.

Santana stiffened. First from the abrupt contact and second because her muscles were aching something fierce. She relaxed slowly, releasing Brittany's hand and bringing her arms up to wrap around Quinn's frame. She closed her eyes after a pause and exhaled the last bit of exhaustion from the night's events.

"I'm sorry." Santana whispered, just loud enough for Quinn to hear.

Quinn just tucked her head into Santana's neck and squeezed her hug a little harder to let her best friend know that everything was forgiven. When Quinn let go, she pulled away slowly with a pointed look at the brunette that said, 'if you ever do that again I'll find you and kill you myself.'

Santana nodded in understanding.

Rachel, for her part, looked unsure for a moment, but stepped toward Santana and hugged her too. Santana looked uncomfortable and wasn't really sure what to do. She glanced at Brittany and Quinn who wore matching small smiles. Santana sighed, let her shoulders sag, and hugged Rachel back. The hug didn't last long. Just long enough that Rachel felt Santana relax before she pulled back.

Santana was prepared for a lecture as soon as Rachel began to open her mouth but was surprised when the shorter brunette only said, "I'm glad you came back."

Santana waited a beat before her eyes brows rose expectantly. Like she knew there was more Rachel was going to say but it never came.

"That's it?" Santana looked confused for a moment. Glancing briefly towards the two blondes a few feet behind and then back to Rachel. "You aren't going to yell at me?"

Rachel smiled, well… smirked really, before replying, "I can if you want me to, but I have a feeling that it isn't necessary."

They all laughed at that. Santana huffed her laugh and shook her head but a small smile played at her lips. "No, I'm good. I learned my lesson."

Both teams were walking back from the DC along with Santana's parents.

Santana straightened and Brittany noticed her delicately place her walls back up, trying to compartmentalize the events of the last few hours. She exhaled slowly as Brittany placed her hand in Santana's, giving comfort where she could to prepare her for what she was about to do.

When the group arrived in front of the cabins, Santana squeezed her girlfriend's hand and gave her a small smile. Brittany did the same, squeezed Santana's had 3 times in quick succession to say 'I love you,' before releasing her hand and walking a few steps away to stand with Quinn and Rachel.

"I just wanted to say how sorry I am for leaving the way that I did. It wasn't my intention to make everyone worry about me or to storm off and leave you all like that. I got extremely overwhelmed and I didn't know how to handle it so I left. I know that's not how a captain is supposed to behave and wouldn't blame you if you didn't want me to compete with you guys for the tournament. I will let the councilors know that Quinn and Puck can take over as Co-Captains for the remainder of camp."

Everyone was silent for a long time. The Riots looked between each other, having a silent discussion before Puck turned to Santana and spoke for the group.

"We accept your apology San, but we don't want another Captain. We want you."

Santana looked at her team, all sporting smiles without a hint of anger or hesitation in any of them. Santana got slightly choked up but held it together. She really did have the best teammates and friends that anyone could ask for.

They all huddled around their Captain. Puck put his hand in the center of the group and looked around at the rest of his team. Everyone brought their hands in and looked at Santana expectantly.

She wore an ear splitting smile and placed her hand in the center with the rest of her teammates. "Riots on three! One… two… three!"

"RIOTS!" They all shouted together.

The Showstoppers smiled at their friends as everyone began to disperse to head off to their respective cabins for the night.

Brittany noticed Santana walk over to her parents. Talking low so that everyone still in the vicinity couldn't hear. Santana had her eyes downcast and would nod or shake her head every so often. Obviously very ashamed of what had happened. Brittany knew her girlfriend's parents would have been very worried about their daughter and she was glad to see that it wasn't turning into a shouting match.

After a few minutes, the blonde noticed Santana lean in to hug her parents. A small smile crept up her cheeks at the sight. Mr. Lopez kissed his daughters head and they all pulled away. Mr. and Mrs. Lopez taking each other's hand and walking back down the pathway towards the parking lot, presumably to head back to their hotel for the night.

Santana stood on the path and watched them leave, waving as they pulled out of the parking lot about 100 yards away. She turned back towards the cabin, noticing everyone had already dispersed minus one person.

Brittany sat comfortably on the front steps of her cabin, watching her as she stepped slowly back towards her girlfriend. The brunette sat hesitantly next to the blonde. They stayed silent for a few minutes, Watching the last bits of light fall behind the trees on the outskirts of the camp.

"I'm really sorry Britt." Santana said as she glanced to her left. Brittany was quick to reply.

"It's alright San, I.."

Santana didn't let her finish though.

"No Britt… listen." Brittany stayed silent, watching as Santana shifted in her seat towards the girl she was falling more in love with every day.

Santana took hold of Brittany's hands, her eyes downcast for a moment and her features scrunched up in deep thought, like she was trying to figure out exactly what she wanted to say.

After a beat she looked into the blonde's eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself before she started to speak. Brittany noticed the brunette's eyes were a little watery and knew Santana was fighting not to start crying again.

"I know what I said and did hurt you.. a lot. It was a HUGE misunderstanding on my part but that doesn't excuse my behavior. I blamed you for something you didn't do and I compared you to a girl that broke me for no other reason than to win. And I know that's not who you are and I know you wouldn't do that. It wasn't fair of me to do that to you or run away from you without explaining. I've never been good with feelings, especially ones that scare the shit out of me.I just.." She paused briefly to compose her thoughts and to swallow the emotional side long enough for her to finish without the threat of tears.

Brittany closed her eyes as a few of her own tears began to fall. Her lower lip quivering as she tried to stay silent.

Santana reached up slowly, using the pad of her thumb to wipe away the drops of liquid slowly moving down the blonde's cheeks.

When Santana began to speak again, Brittany slowly opened her eyes, looking into brown, now much closer than they were a few moments ago. Their breaths were mingling, and Brittany had to swallow hard, sniffing to stop her nose from running.

"I love you, Britt. So much that It scares me to death. There aren't any words that I can say to tell you how sorry I truly am for hurting you. I just hope that you will give me the chance to make it up to you."

Brittany sucked in her lips and swallowed. She leaned forward slowly, closing the distance between their faces and rested her forehead against Santana's.

"Just promise me you won't run off like that again. That you will talk to me if something is bothering you… without shouting at me… even when you're angry." Brittany said the last part with a small smile and a pointed look to lighten the mood. Because honestly she was exhausted. She had forgiven Santana back at the lake but she knew that what Santana was telling her was not an easy thing to say. However, she did want her to understand that she was still a little peeved about how she went about dealing with it.

Santana huffed a small laugh but her features turned serious when she answered and looked back to meet Brittany's gaze.

"I promise."

Brittany smiled, moving her hand up to cup Santana's cheek and pulled her in close. The last bit of distance between them vanished when their lips met in a soft but sure kiss. It was slow, not intended to deepen but it conveyed every bit of feeling they both had and wanted to express to one another.

Brittany whispered as she pulled away just enough to say it back, "I love you too."