A/N: This is just my take on what could have happened during the weekend of 5.12 & the week of 5.13.

Constructive Criticisms are always welcome.

There is a TW for homophobia, hinting at ED, and mentions of attempted suicide/suicidal thoughts in a couple of the chapters so I'll label them ahead of the chapters they're in.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Chapter 1

Santana sat with her eyes closed, head back against the wall.

Brittany kissed me.

Brittany wants to be with me.

Brittany kissed me.

Brittany. Kissed. Me.

I kissed her back.

Shit.

The sound of heels clicking against the linoleum alerted her to the approach of another person. It wasn't Britt; she'd been wearing ankle boots and they'd have made less of a click, more of a clunk or a scuff, maybe. The clicking stopped and someone sat down next to her; she'd hoped that if she kept her eyes closed the person would go away. No such luck.

"What's going on with you and Brittany?" Quinn's voice was curious but not accusatory.

Santana opened her eyes and looked at the blonde. "What do you mean?"

Quinn arched a brow with a look that said 'Really?' before saying "Well, anyone who knows you two, anyone who was around for Brittana: The Original Series, has spent the week watching Brittana 2.0. You two have spent the week together; YOU have gone out of your way to pull her out of her funk. We've been watching you fall in love all over again. Now, we're all supposed to meet in the auditorium and Britt tells me you're in the choir room and could I please come get you so I'll ask again: What's going on with you and Brittany?"

Santana sighed. "She kissed me."

"So? That's good, right?"

"Quinn … I've lost her twice. I worked my ass off to get over her and with one kiss, five sentences, a kiss on the cheek, and two more sentences … I'm all of sudden not so sure I actually did get over her." She shook her head and looked at Quinn. "I don't know if I can handle losing her again. What if … what if we try and it doesn't work and we break up again? It was so hard to come back from that break-up. So hard becoming friends again. What if …"

Quinn cut her off. "What if it does work out and you two get married and live happily ever after? Santana, you always overthink everything." Quinn paused for a moment. "You know, you lost her to Artie because you were afraid. You lost her to Sam because you flinched. The next person you lose her to? May not be as easy to get rid of as Artie and Sam. The next person may be willing to fight you for her because they're not afraid of or intimidated by Santana Lopez and Brittany is worth fighting for. Are you willing to take that chance? Or is she not worth fighting for?"

Santana groaned. She'd always assumed she and Brittany would find their way back to one another but it just seems like it's always crappy timing. "Quinn, the reason we broke up …"

"You broke up with her," Quinn snarked.

"Fine. The reason I broke up with her was because the distance was killing her. I couldn't be here for her. I couldn't come home or text or call or Skype with any regularity. I was hurting her. I promised myself I wouldn't do that anymore. We still have a distance problem."

"She's not in high school anymore, Santana. It's different now. For what it's worth? I think if anyone can make it work, it's you two. Look … you and Brittany can be 'just friends' if you're not in the same zip code. If you are in the same zip code? It's like a magnet to a lodestone. Don't fight it."

Santana nodded. "Yes, she is absolutely worth fighting for." She sighs softly. "I think we need to talk."

"Probably a good place to start." Quinn stood up and offered Santana her hand. "Come on, I'm sure they're all waiting for us."

Santana took Quinn's hand and stood up. She looked at the pretty blonde. "You know, I have to tell her about us."

Quinn looked surprised. "I'd have thought you already did."

Santana shook her head. "The only reason to tell her would be to hurt her. I mean, think about it, she was with Sam so it really wasn't her business and if I randomly told her 'By the way, Quinn and I hooked up' what would be the point? I didn't tell her about every hook-up I had," she shrugged. "Don't take this the wrong way but it wasn't important. We weren't going to date or become 'something'. It wasn't important to tell her. Now it is. If I DON'T tell her and we get back together … what happens three months from now when someone casually mentions it and I didn't tell her? She'll wonder why I didn't tell her and what else I'm hiding. I don't regret it and I'm not embarrassed or ashamed, it just wasn't something I needed to tell her."

Quinn nodded. "I get it. I'm completely fine with you telling her, Santana. I don't regret it and I'm not embarrassed or ashamed either."

Santana hugged Quinn. "Thanks, Q."

"Yeah. Yeah. Let's go."

They headed down the hallway toward the auditorium to meet the rest of the OG members.

Xoxoxoxoxo

As they were walking off the stage, Santana gently grabbed Brittany's elbow.

"Hey. Um, I think we should talk."

A smiled ghosted across Brittany's lips. "But we never do that."

Santana grinned. "Come on. Let me buy you dinner."

Brittany put a hand to her heart in mock surprise. "Why, Ms. Lopez, are you asking me out on a date?"

Santana laughed. "Well, Ms. Pierce, it IS Friday night."

"Well then it would be churlish of me to refuse."

Santana laughed and took Brittany's hand, leading her off the stage and out of the building. "You want to drop your car at home?"

"Mom dropped me off this morning."

"Okay."

They got to Santana's car and she opened the door for Brittany before climbing into the driver's seat. As she pulled out of the parking lot she made a left and headed for the thruway. They'd gone about twenty minutes down the road when Brittany spoke up.

"Um, Santana? This isn't the way to BreadstiX. If you don't want to be with me, you don't have to dump me in the middle of nowhere, Ohio, you could have just said so." Brittany's voice sounded nervous.

"What? No, Britt," Santana chuckled. "I'm not planning on dumping you in the middle of nowhere. I just want to talk and if we go to BreadstiX we're not going to be able to actually TALK. Everyone is in from out of town; the Gleeks because of the Glee Club folding, older siblings here for graduation … it's like a big frickin' reunion all over Lima. If we go to BreadstiX people are going to see us and they're going to stop and chat. Then we're right where we started; still needing to talk. So I thought I'd take you to this little steak and seafood place mom and I found on our way back from orientation at Louisville. It's just south of Dayton so a little over an hour to get there which means we shouldn't run into anyone we know. When mom and I stopped I thought you'd like it and I always planned on taking you there …" she trailed off.

"Oh. Okay. I was nervous for a second."

"Why, Britt? It's just us."

"We've kind of had a hard time being us. I don't mean as a couple, I mean even as friends it's been hard getting back to being best friends after the break up and Sam and Dani and everything."

"Britt," Santana paused for a moment, "it doesn't matter what happens. We will always find our way back to being us. You were my first love. My only love if I'm honest. But, more than that, you ARE my best friend. You always will be."

"How can you be so sure?" Brittany's voice was barely a whisper.

Santana glanced at Brittany, who was looking at her. She reached over and took one of Britt's hands in her own and interlaced their fingers together. "Because in the past three-and-a-half months I've gotten three phone calls that tell me so."

"Three phone calls means we're always gonna be best friends?"

"Yup."

"What were they?" Brittany's voice was now full of curiosity instead of nervousness.

Santana smiled. "Well, about three-and-a-half months ago I was getting ready for a date with this insanely hot, off-Broadway choreographer and my phone rang. Normally I'd have ignored it but I picked it up. In five minutes: I had texted the choreographer and told her I needed to leave town unexpectedly and I'd text her when I got back to see if she was still interested; I called my boss and told him I needed a couple of days off; I packed a bag, booked a flight, and called a cab; I left a note for Kurt and Rachel telling them I'd be back soon. In less than twelve hours, I was in your room while you tried to treat me like I was just anyone and film an episode of Fondue for Two. I saw right through you and called you out, reminding you that I still cared about you … as a person and a FRIEND. You opened up and told me everything that no one else had been able to get out of you. Britt, I can count on the fingers of one hand, with four fingers left over, how many people I would drop everything for. It didn't matter that things had been awkward between us. It didn't matter that we weren't talking or texting on any kind of regular basis. Sam called and told me something was wrong with you and that's all I needed to know."

"Santana … you didn't tell me all of that."

Santana shrugged. "It wasn't about me. It was about you. You were in some sort of trouble and you're my best friend and you needed me."

Santana saw Brittany's smile out of the corner of her eye. "The second call came about a month or so ago. Rachel had left and said a lot of really awful things to me and I was lying on my new bed, curled up in a ball. I was bawling my eyes out and trying to be quiet so Kurt wouldn't hear me. Of course, I didn't want Rachel or Kurt to know how badly I'd been hurt. My phone rang and I wanted to just ignore it but I made the mistake of looking at the caller ID and saw it was you. So I answered … because it was you. Before I even had a chance to say 'hello' you asked me 'What's wrong?'. You knew something was wrong before I said a word."

"I remember that night. I got this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was the same feeling I got the day you found out about that ad. That was the only other time I'd had that feeling so, mathematically, the odds were that it had something to do with you. I played the odds and called you first, figuring if I was wrong I could start going through my contacts to find out who or what it was. Turns out, the odds were in my favor."

Santana smiled. "You knew I was hurting and you reached out to check on me."

"And the third call?"

"Last week. Thursday. You and I were talking on the phone and you asked me if I'd heard about Glee Club and I said that Kurt had told me. You said 'I guess I'll see you tomorrow?' and I answered, 'Yeah, of course.'"

"I don't understand."

"Britt, I wasn't coming back for this. I told Quinn on Tuesday I wasn't coming back. I didn't want to spend two weeks with Rachel's diva behavior reliving her 'glory days' as the 'star' of the Glee Club and bad mouthing me to whoever would listen. I planned on spending two weeks Kurt and Rachel free. Drama free. Two weeks of the apartment to myself. Two weeks of them not working shifts at the diner with me. Two weeks of peace."

"Then why'd you come?"

Santana spared another look at the woman next to her. "Because it was more important to spend time re-connecting with you than it was to spend time avoiding them. Ultimately, you trumped them."

"You are something else, Santana Lopez."

"That's how I know we'll always be best friends, Britt."

"Okay."

"Good. Now that that's out of the way. There's something I need to tell you."

"You're married."

"What? No."

"Engaged?"

"Also no."

"Pregnant?"

"Oh, HELL to the NO! Are you done?"

"Yeah. The only one I couldn't work around would be married."

"You could work around my being pregnant?"

"Well, yeah. A little Santana? My dream come true." Brittany giggled.

"Are you done now?"

"Yeah. I think so." She giggled again. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

"I don't have a girlfriend anymore."

"What?" Brittany's voice was suddenly serious. "What happened? Are you okay? Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't KURT tell me?"

"Britt, take a breath. Kurt doesn't know yet. I asked Dani not to say anything to him so I didn't have to worry about him wanting to stay in New York with me to 'comfort me'. We broke up on Wednesday. I'm fine. Really, I am. We weren't going to last much longer anyway."

"What happened?"

xoxoxoxoxo

flashback

Santana was leafing through a magazine in Dani's apartment waiting for her girlfriend to get out of the shower. She liked Dani. She was fun and sweet and funny and talented and smart and cute. They had fun together. She sighed. She knew she was trying to convince herself to give Dani more time. But after Dani had sided with Kurt and Eliot and kicked Santana out of the band, she knew it wasn't going to last. Santana felt betrayed and her first thought had been 'Brittany never would have done that to me.' The moment the thought went through her mind she knew she and Dani were on borrowed time. Santana had managed to avoid comparing Dani to Brittany for the almost three months they had been together. Until that moment. And the minute she compared Dani to Brittany she knew she and Dani weren't long-term; Dani couldn't come back from that comparison, she'd just never measure up.

"Hey, babe? I need to talk to you." Dani came out wearing a pair of cut-offs and pale blue t-shirt; hair still damp from the shower.

"Okay," Santana set the magazine down. "What's up?"

"So, last week I was working the overnight shift at the diner and it was pretty dead, as usual, so I was playing around on my guitar, as usual, working on a song and this guy comes up and hands me a card. He was a producer from LA and was here in New York scouting talent for a new television show. He took a video of me working on my song and sent it to his co-producers. They liked what they saw and think I'm perfect for this one role. They want me to come out to LA and film the pilot. I'd be gone at least three months and if the show gets picked up," she shrugged, "it'd be a permanent move."

"Holy shit! Dani, that's awesome! Congratulations!" Santana felt a small twinge of jealousy but her bigger emotions were pride and happiness.

"Yeah? You think I should do it?"

"I think you'd be crazy not to." Santana answered her honestly.

"You could come with me?" Dani turned the statement into a question.

Santana looked at Dani. This was actually the perfect solution. "Dani … do you love me?"

Dani looked uncomfortable. "Well, I mean, I like you a lot. I care about you …"

"Exactly. Not really the best basis for moving cross-country with someone. Look, this is an amazing opportunity for you, you don't need me riding your coattails. Go to LA. Film the pilot. If you come back to New York, we'll see where we are."

"So you wanna break up?"

"I think it'd be for the best. Let's say you go to LA and it's great out there and you meet someone. Do you really wanna do the phone call break-up? Or, on the flip side, I meet someone and I get to do the totally uncool phone call break-up. Long distance is hard and LA isn't exactly a two hour road trip or even a three hour flight. I'd rather we part as friends and, if you come back to New York, we can see if we're both still free and interested."

"Makes sense. A lot of sense, actually, because if it does get picked up then I'd make the move permanently and we'd have to break up anyway or I'd be out there torn because I left you back here thinking I was gonna be back in three months."

"Exactly. I want you to be free to act in your best interest without worrying about what you left behind. We've had fun and I really like you, I think you're awesome but we're still pretty new and it's not love so … go with a clear conscience and no ties back here to hold you back."

"I'm scared. I mean, I don't even know anyone in LA. It's really pushing me out of my comfort zone and I'll be all alone out there. They're going to fly me out and put me up in a hotel while we film the pilot but, after that, I'm on my own."

"Oh, hang on." Santana grabbed her phone and fired off a quick text to Mercedes. In less than ten minutes she got a reply and forwarded the information to Dani's phone. "I just sent you a contact in LA. When you get out there, call him and tell him Mercedes gave you his number and he'll help you out."

Dani gaped at Santana.

"What?"

Dani shook her head. "You didn't even think twice about sending that text, did you?"

Santana was suddenly nervous. "Shouldn't I have sent it? I mean, 'Cedes has been out there for almost a year, she's got contacts, knows people. I just thought … I dunno … maybe she could help."

"Babe, I didn't mean you shouldn't have sent it. I mean, you try to put out this bitchy, I don't care about anyone, vibe but you reached out to an old friend to help me out. You didn't have any reason to do it or any obligation to me but you did it anyway. You take care of the people you care about. That was really sweet. But … Santana Lopez doesn't 'do sweet'." Dani grinned.

"Shut up." Santana could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. "It's no big deal."

"Right."

"Hey, can you do me a favor, though?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Can you NOT tell Kurt, Elliot, or Rachel? I mean, Kurt's the only one I don't want to know but Eliot and Rachel would probably tell him. I just don't want him thinking I'm so heartbroken and he needs to stay in New York to 'comfort' me." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. I get it. I can totally not tell them as long as you explain it so they don't get mad at me. I mean, you are the bitchy one." Dani grinned.

"Whatever. When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"So … we don't actually have to break up until tomorrow morning?"

Dani grinned and stood up, grabbed Santana's hand, and dragged her down the hall to the bedroom.

end flashback

Xoxoxoxoxo

"Okay, well, I didn't really need to know about your … um … activities but, that's cool for her. And you're really okay?"

"Yeah, I really am. As soon as I compared her to you, our relationship was doomed." Santana shrugged. "No one can compare to you so I try not to do it. Once it's done, though, it's done. You never sided against me. If you thought I was wrong, you stayed quiet and talked to me about it privately. She didn't have to side with Kurt and Elliot; there were five of us, Kurt and Elliot were two votes, of course I'd have voted Rachel out and she'd have voted me out so Dani could have just abstained and Rachel and I would have still been out." Santana shrugged. "It just felt like a betrayal, like, why wasn't she on my side?"

"San … I'm not going to be a rebound am I?"

Santana smiled. "You can't be a rebound from Dani, Britt; she was my rebound from you."

Brittany grinned. "Dani was right about one thing."

"Oh?"

"You are sweet."

"Shut up." She said as she pulled into a gravel parking lot about half full of mostly pick-up trucks and SUVs. "And we're here."