How much time had passed? An hour? Five? Ten minutes? Brittany wasn't really even sure if she'd fallen asleep in that time. She was hyper aware of Santana sleeping next to her. At some point, Santana's grip had fallen slack, and she'd let go of Brittany's hand. But her arm still remained close enough to brush against Brittany's.

Brittany thought maybe she'd have a better chance at sleeping if she turned her back on the woman, so as gently as possible, she flipped over. She immediately missed the little bit of contact they'd shared. She even considered turning back over, sleep be damned. But she felt Santana rustling and thought she'd woken her when she turned over. Brittany felt terrible for waking her up. She knew now that Santana hardly ever slept.

She was therefore very shocked when she felt the woman scoot up behind her and gently rest an arm over Brittany's waist. When she felt Santana nuzzle into the back of her neck, Brittany knew she probably wouldn't be sleeping for the rest of the night.

Exhilarating yet calm. Relaxed yet very, very awake.

That was the best way to describe being held in Santana's arms.

The brunette hadn't shifted positions since wrapping herself around Brittany. If anything, she was holding on a bit tighter. Her hand lay inches under Brittany's chin, and several times, Brittany thought about resting her own hand over it. But then she remembered that Santana had made no conscious decision to spoon her like this. That they were in this very intimate position by chance, not by intention. She therefore remained as motionless as possible and tried to just enjoy the comfort of resting in Santana's warm embrace.

Once or twice, she felt herself even grow a bit drowsy and thought maybe she might actually fall asleep. But then, Santana's even breaths would slide along the back of her neck. Or her soft breasts would press into Brittany's back with the rise and fall of her chest. She was zapped back into alertness every time. It was worth it.

The hours seemed to pass quickly, as they always do when you wish they'd just slow down. Way before she was expecting it, light was beginning to filter through her bedroom windows. At first, it was a dull gray, but all too quickly, it turned red with the sunrise, and then even faster to yellow. And then, she could hear the traffic that let her know the rest of New York was up on this Sunday morning.

She didn't think that the sun had been up very long when she felt Santana start to stir. The brunette started to retract her hand, but instead of withdrawing it completely, she rested it on Brittany's hip and just barely gave it a small squeeze. The next thing Brittany knew, it was gone completely, and so was the feeling of Santana's body against hers. She lay still, wondering what Santana would do next. She felt the mattress shift a little, and she guessed that Santana had gotten up, but she heard the bathroom door shut seconds later and felt relief. She'd be back. Sure enough, a few minutes later she heard the door open again and waited for Santana to get back in her bed. When she heard the slow turning of another doorknob, she sat bolt upright.

There she was, in the clothes she'd come in, trying to sneak out. Brittany felt herself instantly frown.

"You aren't actually trying to leave now, right?" Brittany asked sarcastically. Santana immediately stopped trying to slowly open the door, and Brittany saw her eyes close, as if embarrassed at being caught.

"It doesn't look good, no matter how you look at it," Brittany continued. "You're leaving me here alone, hoping I wake up long after you've gone. Plus," she lowered her voice in mock seriousness, "the neighbors will probably think you're doing the walk of shame."

Santana let go of the doorknob and turned to face Brittany. "Did you hear me trying to leave?"

Brittany opened her mouth to answer but then closed it. Maybe she didn't want Santana knowing she'd stayed up all night. Lying in her arms. Really enjoying it.

"Yeah, I heard you," she finally said, not looking into those brown eyes for fear of Santana seeing through her lie.

"It's not like that," Santana responded. She started wringing her hands as she said it. "I just...I have to go. I have somewhere to be."

Brittany sighed and looked back up. "Look Santana, I get that there's apparently a lot of stuff you don't want to talk to me about. I wish you would, but that's completely your decision, so fine. I can try to deal with the fact that I literally know almost nothing about you. But please, don't lie to me. It's kind of rude and rather insulting to my intelligence," she finished, feeling pleased with herself.

Santana looked a little surprised at Brittany's words. It made the blonde smile.

"You're feisty in the morning," she said dully, almost as if she was admitting defeat.

Brittany's smile grew wider. She really usually wasn't. Santana brought out a lot of things in her.

"Come here," she said, pointing to the empty space that the brunette had vacated.

"Brittany," Santana started, but she was cut off.

"Hey, I rescued you last night. And I know you slept well, which you appear to only be able to do when you're here. Don't you think you owe me a little?"

Santana narrowed her eyes, and Brittany wondered if she'd gone too far, but then she just shook her head and walked back over to the bed. She sat, facing Brittany expectantly.

"Yes?"

Brittany debated hard over what she wanted to say and exactly how she wanted to say it. Finally, she just started talking and hoped for the best.

"So, I'm assuming you remember everything from last night. You didn't seem that far gone."

The look on Santana's face told Brittany that she did, in fact, remember everything. In that moment, she was sure they were both thinking of the same thing. She pushed the thought away and pressed on.

"Santana, I want to know why you were drinking at the office."

Her boss licked her lips, seemingly without thinking about it, while she thought about her answer. Brittany tried not to think about how sexy the action was.

"Like I said...I don't really like...being home," she said quietly as she played with the corner of Brittany's sheet.

"That doesn't really answer my question though. Why were you at the office? And why were you drinking there? It was Saturday night, you could have been drinking anywhere. You could have been with friends."

"Brittany," Santana hesitated. "I don't...I don't really have any. Any friends." Her face was heartbreaking.

Brittany didn't really know how to respond to something like that. She sort of just blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.

"None? You don't have any? What about friends from school? Are any of them in the city?"

"I don't have any friends from school," Santana replied quickly. She sounded a little bitter.

"You didn't make any friends when you were in law school?" Brittany asked incredulously.

"I did...but then..." she stopped and took a huge deep breath. "I don't anymore, okay?"

"Please, Santana, just tell me. You can trust me."

Once again, Santana gave her that piercing gaze, the one Brittany was sure could penetrate her thoughts.

"It's nothing I want you to concern yourself with." Damn it, she was frustrating.

"Fine, then why were you drinking? Just tell me." She heard the very subtle plea in her voice. She hoped Santana didn't.

"It's pathetic...drinking just relaxes me enough to get an hour or two of sleep."

"And I assume you're still not going to tell me why you sleep so badly?"

"I'd rather not," she deadpanned. She was still fiddling with the corner of the sheet.

"Damn it, Santana. How are we supposed to be friends if you won't talk to me?"

The brunette looked down and shook her head. "I don't know Brittany."

"Is this why you aren't friends anymore with the people from school? Did you push them away too?" she asked bitterly.

Santana dropped the sheet and locked eyes with Brittany. Her expression was completely unreadable.

"I think I should go."

Regret immediately settled in Brittany's stomach. She felt like a fucking jackass.

"Santana, wait. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I don't know anything about it."

"It's not your fault. You're right, you don't know anything. And I know I'm frustrating you," she paused like she was thinking carefully about her words. "You were really great last night. Thank you for letting me stay here. But I really have to go."

"Santana...don't." The plea in her voice was evident now. "Stay. I want you to."

She looked like she was about to respond when suddenly a very curious look crossed her face. "Wait...did you say earlier that you know I slept well?"

Brittany was completely taken off guard by this question. "I...yes, I did."

"How do you know?"

Brittany swallowed and decided to go with the truth. Fuck it.

"I didn't...sleep well." Okay. Half-truth.

"Why not?"

"I dunno...I had a lot to think about, I guess." Like Santana's body pressed up against hers.

"Then I should go. And you should sleep. And Brittany?"

"Yes?"

"Tomorrow, at work, can we just go back to the way things were?"

For some reason, this request saddened Brittany. She knew she didn't really learn anything new just now, but she felt like she was maybe a little bit closer. She also didn't think arguing with Santana would help though.

"Sure, Santana. Can I ask you one thing though?"

Santana smiled in relief and indicated for Brittany to continue.

"You obviously know how to get here now. And my apartment isn't far from the office. If you don't want to stay home, or if you just want some company...you can come here, you know."

Santana's smile turned a little sheepish, but she replied playfully. "That isn't a question, you know."

Brittany smiled back, mirroring Santana's sheepish expression. "I guess not. But you know what I was getting at."

"I do."

"Okay."

"I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Santana got up and crossed the room to the door again. When she reached it, she turned around and gave a fleeting smile before walking out. Brittany heard the front door close moments later.

Laying back down, she instantly felt all the exhaustion catch up with her. Despite the sound of the traffic and the bright sunlight now pouring through the windows, Brittany fell into a deep sleep within minutes.