What happened after the slap? Why was Brittany so quiet for so long? Spans from just before the outing until "On My Way". Spoilers for a good part of Season 3. Canon-ish? Canon Adjacent? Stuff that I think might have happened, maybe? (Or maybe wishful writing?)

A/N: Apologies for the rather long A/N on this one.

This actually is part of my Brittana head canon universe that (generally) tries to follow canon.

I'm working on what I call my "Canon-ish" or "Canon Adjacent" Brittana (which is my head canon universe that tries to stick to canon but my imagination fills in some blanks with how I hoped/wished stuff we didn't see went). The current reading order (it will change as I write more):

1) New York Lights

2) The Spaces In Between

3) Ain't It Shocking What Love Can Do

4) Negotiating the Terms of Our Reconciliation

5) The Only Dream that Matters.

My ideas for the next fics are going to be Lesbos/Hawaii/New York; The mall tour/engagement/wedding; another future!fic that's a kind of sequel to The Only Dream That Matters except TODTM is (probably) going to be absorbed into a longer fic that happens after the wedding.

I am, however, having a small problem with the wedding fic: I cannot, for the LIFE of me, figure out why Brittany wanted Blaine & Kurt to share their wedding day. Her reason in-show was complete BS: she didn't think much of Blaine (she's sly about it but she basically tells Kurt to change everything about himself to get Blaine back and she loves Kurt so you know she's just trying to get Kurt to see that Blaine is continually trying to get Kurt to change.) She and Santana were a thing long before Klaine. Her show reason just doesn't track. (I mean, really, while she was planning her "high-end barn wedding" ALL she could think about was Klaine? I don't think so.) Anyway … if anyone has any ideas they're willing to share, I'm completely open to suggestions. It'll be awhile before I get there – gotta do Lesbos/Hawaii/New York first ;)

I will NEVER write a canon season 4 … I hate Bram with a fiery passion; my breasts ache with rage.

Warning: I hate Finn Hudson.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Part 1: Chapter 1

Santana rounded the corner and saw a ring of people surrounding a scuffle. Never one to miss a fight, she moved closer. She saw a small figure on the ground being attacked by two girls; one was roughly Santana's height and slimly built, the other was taller and heavier.

'No me gusta,' she thought. While not against violence, Santana didn't like unfair fights. The girl on the floor was smaller than either of the other two and was already down. Santana was already pushing her way through the crowd to intervene when the figure on the floor cried out.

"Oh, hell no!" Santana recognized the voice and roughly shoved people out of the way. There were protests until they noticed who was doing the shoving … then it was like the parting of the Red Sea.

She reached the smaller of the two aggressors and grabbed her by the back of her shirt, roughly pulling her away from the girl on the floor, and throwing her into the row of lockers on the opposite side of the hall.

The girl looked surprised and started coming back at Santana.

"Stay out of this Lopez! This has nothing to do with you!"

"Thought I made it clear that the dwarf was off limits for anything but slushies, Diane," Santana responded, watching for the other girl's next move while trying to keep an eye on the larger girl who, apparently unaware of her partner's removal from the fight, continued to kick at Rachel Berry.

Diane rushed her but Santana easily sidestepped the clumsy attempt and shoved against Diane's back as she went past, forcing her head first into the lockers near the larger girl. Diane hit the lockers with a resounding clang and slid to the floor dazed.

'One down,' Santana eyed the larger girl and sighed; she knew she was about to get her ass kicked. She started forward but was stopped by a bellowing Coach Beiste.

"What in blue blazes is going on?" Coach grabbed the larger girl around the waist and pulled her away from Rachel.

Santana moved to help Rachel up.

"Dunno, Coach," she answered as she helped Rachel to her feet. "Came around the corner and Berry was on the floor."

Coach Beiste looked at Rachel. "That true, Rachel?"

Rachel nodded. "Santana was trying to help me," her voice was small and held none of her trademark confidence and superiority.

Coach nodded and looked at the two assailants. "You two! Let's go! Principal Figgins' office now!" She looked back at Rachel and Santana. "Berry – get cleaned up. I'm going to want to talk to both of you later. I'll write you a tardy pass for your next class. The rest of you … don't you have somewhere to be now?"

With that, the crowd dispersed. Santana picked up her backpack from where she had dropped it as Rachel gathered her books off the floor. She grabbed Rachel by the elbow and steered her into the girls' bathroom and quickly assessed the visible damage; split lip, the beginning of a shiner under her left eye, blood on her blouse, and a hole in her tights.

She opened her backpack and pulled out a first aid kit, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a small container of Arnica gel, and a plain black t-shirt; with all the injuries the Cheerios racked up, all the squad members carried first aid supplies. Rachel stood silently as Santana dampened a paper towel and gently cleaned the blood off Rachel's face.

"Nothing too damaging but you're probably going to want to avoid kissing Finn for a couple of days … so there's a plus," she snarked as she handed Rachel the t-shirt. "Here. It'll probably be a little big on you but get out of that blood-stained blouse."

Rachel changed and Santana took the blouse and used the peroxide on the blood spatter; the stains ran and faded to a pale pink. She ran the blouse under cold water and watched as the majority of the blood ran down the drain.

"Cold water wash with a stain remover should keep the stains from setting."

Rachel finally found her voice and asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Santana shrugged. "Britt says we're a family. No one messes with my family."

Rachel nodded. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Don't make a big deal out of it." Santana handed her the jar of Arnica. "Here. You can keep it. Use it under your eye and on any other bruises you've got; it'll help with the swelling and discoloration." She frowned at Rachel's tights and noticed the blood on her knee. "Those tights are a loss. Take them off before the blood dries and they stick to your skin."

Rachel did as she's told and threw them away. Santana squatted down and quickly cleaned and bandaged Rachel's knee. She stood up and gave Rachel a once over, nodding in satisfaction at her handiwork.

"So, what'd you do? Or what do they think you did?"

Rachel sighed. "Diane and Kathy had a presentation in American History. At the end of their presentation they opened it up for questions. I asked a question and they weren't prepared. It cost them half a letter grade."

"Did you know the answer before you asked it?"

Rachel shook her head. "I actually was looking for clarification on one of the points they made and they just assumed I was trying to make them look stupid. Honestly, I was simply wondering about …"

"So they were under-prepared," Santana interrupted before Rachel could really get going, "and got pissed at you for their lack of preparation. Typical of Diane; she used to be a Cheerio and was always making excuses for not knowing routines. Don't worry about it; I'll take care of it."

Rachel looked at Santana. "Thank you," her voice was barely a whisper.

"Yeah. It's whatever. Come on, dwarf, we gotta get to class." Santana opened the door and waited for Rachel to follow. "See ya in Glee."

Rachel followed Santana into the hallway and tried to identify what she was feeling as she watched Santana walk away.

Xoxoxoxoxo

The next morning Rachel waited for Santana at the Latina's locker.

"Santana, can I talk to you?"

Santana shrugged. "Sure." She wasn't really paying attention to the shorter girl's nervous fidgeting.

"Well, first, here's your shirt. I washed it."

Santana took the shirt and put it in her locker. "Thanks." Santana continued pulling things out and putting things back into her locker according to her own organizational logic.

Rachel cleared her throat. "I also wanted to thank you again for your assistance yesterday. It was really very kind of you to not only step in and stop the assault but then to also assist me in cleaning up. You were right, by the way, the stains came right out of my blouse."

Santana shrugged as she closed her locker, slinging her backpack over her shoulders. "Yeah. Sure." Santana made to move away but Rachel stopped her by placing a hand on Santana's arm. She immediately removed it when Santana looked at her with a quirked brow.

Rachel took a deep breath, her voice shaky as she began to speak. "Santana, it would seem that I may be developing feelings for you." Another deep breath. "Romantic feelings. I think I may be falling in love with you."

Santana gaped at her before roughly grabbing her elbow and dragging her into an empty classroom.

"Okay, first, this is Lima, Ohio. You can't just say shit like that in the middle of the school hallway." Santana snapped. She took a deep breath and stopped talking, trying to center herself. She could do this. She promised Brittany she WOULD do this. She looked at Rachel, took another deep breath, and softened her features.

"Look. What you're feeling isn't love, okay?" She held up a hand to forestall Rachel's argument. "You had a bad day yesterday and, instead of being my normal bitch self, I was helpful and nice about it. You saw a different side of me that most people never see and don't even believe exists. It gave you some warm fuzzies. And, yeah, I'm hot so, OF COURSE, you want all up on this." Santana smirked, gesturing to herself. "But Rachel, you don't know me well enough to love me. Can you think of one below the surface thing you know about me?"

Rachel shuffled her feet. "I saw YOU yesterday, Santana," she said softly, "and right now you're being really sweet …"

Santana sighed. "Rachel. Look." She paused to make sure she said what she wanted to say without being mean. She took another deep breath and settled her mind. "I don't think it's love, you know? Infatuation, maybe. Lust, probably." She smirked again, "but … even if it is love," she said seriously, "I'm flattered, really, but I can't reciprocate." Santana took another deep breath; she could do this, she PROMISED Britt. "I can't reciprocate," she repeated, "because I am head-over-heels in love with someone else."

Rachel nodded sadly, almost as though she'd been expecting it. "Brittany," she said softly.

Santana nodded. "Yeah." She waited for the panic that doesn't come. "I'm not ready to be 'out' so if you could not say anything …" she trailed off.

"Of course I won't tell anyone," Rachel assured the Latina. "I have two gay dads, remember? I know how damaging being outed can be."

"Thanks."

Rachel nodded and looked at her feet. "I'm going to hug you now, okay?"

Santana laughed. "Yeah, okay."

"Santana?" Rachel asked after they break apart.

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you lie to me? I mean, you didn't have to tell me about Brittany. You could have easily deflected and told me you're not gay or bisexual."

"I promised Britt that I wouldn't lie anymore. I mean, yeah, I could have just told you I wasn't interested and left it at that but …" she shrugged, "I promised her I'd try harder to be honest about who I am. So … congratulations … you're the first person I'm trying this honesty thing with."

"I'm honored. Thank you, Santana, not just for helping me yesterday but also for the way you've handled this conversation and for trusting me with your secret."

"Don't get all sentimental on me now, Berry," Santana grinned.

"Heaven forbid." Rachel laughed.

"Alright, enough of this, let's go."

They exited the room and Santana came face to face with a stricken-faced Brittany.

"Santana … ?"

"Britt …" Santana moved forward and enveloped Brittany in a reassuring hug. "Trust me? Please? I'll tell you all about it later, I promise."

Santana felt Brittany melt into the hug for a moment before Brittany seemed to remember where they are and pulled back. Santana smiled and booped her nose.

"Come on," she said, holding out a pinky, "we're late for English."

Brittany smiled as she wrapped her pinky around Santana's and walked off down the hall.