Unicorn

by SantittanyLopezPierce

Santana moves to New York with Rachel and Kurt and meets Brittany, who helps Santana embrace who she is.

October 6th, New York, 5:28pm

Santana groaned in annoyance as Rachel began her third rendition of 'don't rain on my parade' of the day and buried her face into her hands as she leaned on the counter. She could think of a million other places where she would rather be than right here, stuck at work, listening to the gay Olsen twins and serving rude ass people. Don't get her wrong, Rachel could sing, but there was only so much of it that Santana could tolerate and she was quickly approaching her daily limit.

Especially when her patience was already wearing thin and she wanted nothing more than to see a familiar blonde walk through the door of the diner. She hoped that Brittany would come and make her shift a little more tolerable, just like she had been doing for the past few months. But, it had been almost four days since she had last seen her favourite customer, and Santana was beginning to wonder if Brittany would ever come back.

Call her dramatic, that's what living with Rachel and Kurt does to a girl, but Santana didn't care.

Santana kept her glare fixated on Rachel, but her mind was racing with thoughts of Brittany. It had been an entire three months of them flirting, and Santana was scared that she had missed out on all of those opportunities to ask Brittany out on a date. She had never wanted to see anybody more than she wanted to see Brittany, and she wanted a date with Brittany even more.

"If you continue glaring at her like that, she's going to go up in flames," Santana jumped out of her daydreaming and turned her glare to Kurt, who had his eyebrows raised at her and a look of amusement on his face. "What'd she do this time?" He asked.

"What?" Santana asked with a confused frown, and then shook her head, "nothing!"

"Surprising," Kurt mumbled and Santana could hear the genuine shock in his voice, which made her breathe out a quiet chuckle. "Then, why are you burning holes into her?"

Santana sighed, rolling her eyes slightly. "I wasn't," she defended herself. "I'm just tired and she's already sang this song three times tonight. I'm seconds away from snatching that microphone from her tiny hands and shoving it so far up her ass," Santana told him and Kurt gave her a pointed look, seeing through her bullshit almost instantly.

"Liar," he told her, slowly looking her up and down.

He watched as Santana shifted nervously on her feet under his suspicious stare and fiddled with her hands, avoiding catching his eye and keeping her gaze focused on the counter.

"I think-" Kurt continued, a smirk pulling at his lips. "I think that you were thinking about Brittany," he sang teasingly and Santana's eyes widened and snapped up to Kurt's.

"What? That's insane," Santana denied through a small laugh, "I'm not thinking about Brittany!"

Kurt laughed louder, "it's been what? Two days?"

Santana frowned at him, shooting him a glare. "No, actually," she crossed her arms, "today is day four."

"I'm not thinking about Br-ITTANY!" Kurt's mimicking tone suddenly turning into a panicked shout caused the hairs on the back of Santana's neck to prick up as she turned around to face the door behind her, her heart beating faster when she noticed a familiar blonde with a beaming smile.

Brittany shuffled through the door and rubbed her hands together in an attempt to warm them. She had a small pout on her lips, and the tip of her nose and her cheeks were tinted pink from the cold air outside. Santana thought she was fucking adorable, and could feel her heart racing as Brittany walked closer to the counter.

Santana cleared her throat and stood up a bit straighter, her eyes never leaving Brittany. God, I missed her, Santana thought to herself and then bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. She could hear Kurt sniggering beside her and gave him a swift elbow in his ribs, and shook herself out of her haze of Brittany, as the blonde finally noticed her.

"Fucking bitch," Santana vaguely heard Kurt mumble under his breath as he rubbed at his stomach but Santana didn't have chance to feel bad because all she could feel was Brittany's presence around her.

Brittany's smile widened as she approached the side of the counter where Kurt and Santana were leaning. "Hey Kurt," Brittany greeted Kurt with a polite wave and a smile, but then turned her attention to Santana, "hi, San…"

Santana titled her head to the side and grinned dreamily, "hey, Britt-Britt."

"Hey! You finally came back, this one was afraid that you had been kidnapped!" Kurt laughed, gesturing to Santana, whose jaw dropped open.

"Kurt, go away," Santana's eyes narrowed at him and she could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment, looking anywhere but at Brittany.

"Whatever, Satan," Kurt rolled his eyes and then smirked at Brittany, who was trying to hold back a smile from looking at a flustered Santana. "Nice to see you again, Brittany!"

"You too, precious unicorn!" Brittany grinned at Kurt as he bumped his lip playfully with Santana's as he walked past her to the stage. "Are you happy that I didn't get kidnapped?" Brittany asked Santana, finally making Santana look at her with her deep brown eyes and flushed cheeks.

"I didn't think that you got kidnapped! He's exaggerating!" Santana laughed softly, her dimples showing as she tried to cover her face.

Brittany gave Santana a knowing look and giggled at how flustered she was. She wiggled her eyebrows playfully, "sooo, you missed me?" Brittany asked, taking a seat on the barstool opposite Santana.

Santana smiled shyly, "maybe a little."

She tried to ignore how just being in Brittany's presence made her lose all composure. Brittany seemed to alert all of her senses and wake her body up, something Santana hadn't felt before. It was strange, because she had known Brittany for only a few months, but she somehow felt a familiarity of comfort around her.

Santana put that down to Brittany's infectious and bubbly personality, something that was rare in people these days- especially in New York.

"You're adorable when you blush," Brittany commented with a smile, which made Santana's cheeks get even hotter.

"Ethnic people don't blush," Santana grumbled through a small smile.

"Yeah, and unicorns aren't real," Brittany rolled her eyes with a giggle and Santana didn't have the heart to correct Brittany, and instead her smile widened at her cuteness. "For what it's worth, I've missed you too. I'm sorry that I didn't come in for our daily chats, I've been so caught up with rehearsing for this Christmas performance."

"That's okay," Santana smiled. "Christmas performance? It's only October, Britt," she laughed.

Brittany shrugged with a small smile, "better to start it early, more time to make everything perfect."

"Did you get it all finished then?" She asked Brittany, moving around automatically to make Brittany her usual order.

"Not fully," Brittany sighed deeply, "I'm just really nervous about it not being perfect! It's the first time my mom and dad will be flying in and I want everything to be right for them."

"I'm sure they'll love it," Santana told her, placing a cup of hot chocolate with extra cream and marshmallows in front of Brittany, whose face lit up with excitement.

"Thanks, San," Brittany said, tapping her card against the machine to pay before cupping her hands around the hot cup in hopes of warming them up. "I've missed my daily dose of hot chocolate from here. I can't seem to get mine to taste as yummy when I make it at home," she pouted.

Santana giggled, "I would teach you but that would mean you wouldn't have to come here anymore."

Brittany looked amused and gave Santana a knowing look, "I don't come here for the hot chocolate- that's just an added bonus."

One of Santana's eyebrows lifted as she looked at Brittany, "oh?"

"Well, I mean, the first day I did come in for hot chocolate," Brittany told her, then shrugged her shoulders, "then after that I started coming in here just to see you."

Santana could feel her heart flutter from Brittany's innocent admission and the blonde looked at her with sparkle in her blue eyes, almost as if Brittany knew all about the internal effects her words had on Santana. Santana bit down on her lower lip in an attempt to prevent her smile from growing any wider, and tilted her head at Brittany.

"You know," Santana breathed out, "somebody would think you were flirting with me, Britt-Britt."

"I am," Brittany giggled, and Santana's eyes widened slightly, "is that a problem? Because I thought you had been flirting with me too."

Santana giggled when Brittany furrowed her eyebrows and stared at her with confusion, her cheeks tinting pink. "No!" Santana blurted, and then sighed in annoyance at herself. "I mean, no, it's not a problem."

Brittany took a mouthful of her drink and smiled at Santana, "so you have been flirting with me?"

Santana used her finger to wipe it across the top of Brittany's lip, collecting the remainder of the whipped cream around her mouth. "Of course I've been flirting with you, have you seen yourself?" Santana laughed, her eyes subconsciously dropping to Brittany's lips.

The sparkle in Brittany's eyes seemed to glimmer a bit brighter and Santana thought her bashful smile was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was funny to Santana, how Brittany could go from being a totally confident flirt to getting flustered when Santana flirted back.

She leaned onto her forearms on the counter, slightly closer to Brittany. "I would be silly not to flirt with a woman so beautiful," Santana said quietly, her eyelashes fluttering at Brittany as her lips pulled into a flirtatious smirk.

"My, my, my, Santana Lopez," Brittany grinned, lifting her drink with a small, appreciative nod of her head before taking a sip. "Aren't you a charmer, today?" Brittany giggled.

Santana rolled her eyes with a fake-pout, "only today? That's a shame."

Brittany laughed louder, "specifically today."

Santana, again, rolled her eyes and started laughing with Brittany, her chin coming to rest in her hands while she leaned on her elbows dreamily.

"Santana, you have a job, you know," an annoying voice broke her out of her Brittany daydreaming and she turned with a glare directed at Rachel. "Don't look at me like that, Sant-"

"Dwarf," Santana started, and Brittany instantly directed her smirk of amusement into her cup of hot chocolate. Rachel's eyebrows rose, as if she was silently challenging Santana, whose glare hardened. "Can you just be a good friend and cover for me? I'm only supposed to be here for twenty more minutes and Brittany just got here," Santana whined and crossed her arms, deciding to skip out on all of the insults for once and just go straight in with the guilt trip, hoping it would work.

Brittany looked between them with amusement as Rachel seemingly softened. Rachel rolled her eyes, an obvious habit she had picked up from Santana, and groaned loudly. "Fine, sing one more song and you can do whatever, I'll cover you until you're meant to be done," Rachel bargained, and Santana nodded instantly, knowing that was the best she was going to get.

Santana glanced at Brittany, "wait for me?"

"Duh, I love it when you perform, another reason why I come in here everyday," Brittany grinned.

Santana laughed as she took off her apron, "so, how far down the list does the hot chocolate come then, Britt-Britt?"

Brittany winked at Santana playfully, and Santana giggled as she walked over to the small stage. "Kurt, play don't rain on my parade," she grumbled with annoyance, pissed that Rachel had interrupted her flirting with Brittany, and what better way to piss Rachel off? Sing her song.

Kurt's jaw dropped and he looked her at with wide eyes as she approached him. "O-Okay," he agreed, and played the familiar track. He looked from Santana's growing smirk over to Rachel, who was stood in Santana's place gossiping with Brittany and how her face dropped at hearing the familiar song play through the diner.

"She did not," Rachel gasped, her hand coming to her chest as Santana started to sing.

"She so did," Brittany grinned, cupping her hands and shouting, "sing it girl!"

Santana winked over to Brittany as she sang, moving around the tables and working the crowd, before finding her way to standing next to Brittany and in front of Rachel.

The pure adoration in Brittany's face as she looked at Santana made her almost stumble over her words, but the absolute shock that was written on Rachel's face was enough to make her power through. She sang the final few notes and then did a playful bow to the customers, making Brittany giggle and nudge her gently.

"Oh god, I'm going to have to fight off all of your fangirls when you're super famous one day," Brittany groaned with a small smile playing on her lips when Santana turned back around to them.

"Ha!" Santana laughed loudly, and then shook her head, "those girls could never compare to you."

"Alright, alright, break it up, I'm still here," Rachel laughed, hiding her face in her hands.

"Sadly," Santana grumbled.

"I'm going to ignore that," Rachel added, and then gave a knowing glance between the two women in front of her, "I'm also going to ignore the fact that you sang that song just to piss me off because you sounded great. I'll clock you out, enjoy, ladies…" Rachel smiled sarcastically at Santana, who beamed widely at the compliment.

"Wow, a compliment from the Rachel Berry?" She gasped in surprise, holding her chest mockingly. Rachel rolled her eyes and walked away from the counter as Brittany giggled at Santana. Santana turned to Brittany with raised eyebrows, "I swear that girl needs reigning in sometimes."

Brittany looked at Santana with raised eyebrows, "just sometimes?"

Santana giggled and then motioned to Brittany's hot chocolate cup that was now empty. "Are you busy?" She asked softly, "Rachel and Kurt are here for another few hours."

After checking her watch, Brittany frowned. "I have to go to the studio to practice my solo for like thirty minutes, do you want to come with me?" She asked with hopeful eyes, not wanting to miss out on spending time with Santana, especially after not seeing her for four days.

Santana grinned, "I'd love to. Let me go grab my coat and bag. You ready to go now?"

"Sure," Brittany grinned, watching as Santana disappeared into the back and came back wearing her leather jacket and purse. "You're gonna be freezing, San," Brittany pouted, noticing just how thin Santana's jacket seemed to be.

The smaller girl shrugged and gave Brittany a reassuring smile, "I'll be fine."

Brittany gave Santana a weary look, obviously not believing her, and reached down for Santana's hand. Santana felt butterflies in her stomach as Brittany's fingers laced through her own and a warmth spread from their hands up into Santana's stomach, starting a frenzy of butterflies.

Biting down on her bottom lip to stop her smile from spreading, Santana looked at Brittany questioningly. "To help keep you warm," Brittany told her simply. Santana grinned back at her, letting it take over her entire face, and she nodded in understanding.

"Thanks," she whispered shyly.

As Santana walked, hand in hand with Brittany, out of the diner, she briefly caught sight of Kurt watching them with a shit-eating grin and his thumbs in the air as she locked eyes with him. Santana inwardly chuckled and rolled her eyes at how lame her friends are, and silently followed Brittany out onto the busy streets of New York.

"Fuck," Santana muttered through as the cold air hit her in the face and she frowned- the temperature had definitely dropped since this morning.

"Cold?" Brittany teased, looking at Santana knowingly as she tried to subtly inch in closer to Brittany. Santana just looked at Brittany with those big brown eyes, clearly refusing to admit that she was actually freezing, and Brittany giggled. "Come here," Brittany pulled Santana closer, deranging their hands and instead wrapping a secure arm around Santana's body.

"My lady knight in shining armour," Santana smiled and breathed in the warmth and comfort of Brittany's body heat.

"Your nose is all red and cute," Brittany laughed.

"I'm fucking freezing," Santana finally admitted, her teeth beginning to chatter together as they walked through the crowds. Santana had no idea where she was actually going, and let Brittany guide her. "Are you not cold, too?"

"I'm okay, I actually have a real coat on," Brittany told her quietly, half amused and half concerned at how much Santana was shivering and trying to practically bury herself into Brittany's coat.

"Hey! This is a real coat!" Santana defended.

"San, it's a leather jacket, not a coat," Brittany corrected her with her eyebrows raised challengingly. "Which you should really invest in before the weather gets worse in winter," she told Santana sternly.

"But, then I wouldn't need your body heat," Santana replied with a smirk.

"Hmm," Brittany hummed, rolling her eyes playfully, and tugged Santana slightly closer to her. "Can't have that can we?" Brittany asked through a small laugh, "but I also can't have you freezing your pretty little ass to death."

"I guess not," Santana agreed, titling her head to catch Brittany's eyes.

"You're something else, Santana," Brittany laughed.

"Where are we even going?" Santana asked, as they seemed to just be walking and Santana couldn't quite figure out where they were heading. Mainly because all of Santana's focus was on Brittany and how close she was; and also on trying not to freeze to death.

"The studio at the back of campus. I have a key and they told me I can come and practice whenever I wanted to," Brittany explained. "Don't worry, we'll be there in a few minutes," Brittany reassured her, noticing that Santana still looked like she was about to freeze to death.

Santana gave her a thankful smile, "o-okay," she stuttered out through her trembling lips.

Santana spent the next six minutes cuddled into Brittany, walking in silence. She enjoyed the smell of Brittany's vanilla washing powder, she enjoyed how Brittany used the hand around her to guide her through the crowds almost protectively, and she enjoyed when Brittany would look at her every few seconds with a smile, just to look at her.

"We're here now, San," Brittany whispered into her ear comfortingly as they approached a building that Santana didn't recognise.

"Oh thank fuck," Santana breathed out, "now I might just have to listen to you and get a coat for when you're not there to warm me up," she teased, giving Brittany a smile.

Brittany grinned and as they walked up the stairs to the studio, Santana was able to make out the sign on the building through her watery eyes.

The Juilliard School - Creative Dance Studio

"Holy shit, Brittany! I can't believe that you go to freaking Juilliard!" Santana gasped, her eyes widening.

"Santana, you've known this from like the second day we met," Brittany frowned as she slotted her key into the studio and finally pulled Santana inside and out of the cold.

Santana looked at Brittany with a beaming grin, both of their noses and their cheeks red. "I know, I just, this is crazy. Why do you even have a key?" She asked, her eyes dropping to look around the studio appreciatively when Brittany moved to flick on the lights, "woah!"

Brittany giggled at Santana's reaction and watched as Santana connected with the space she had also come to love. "I do a lot of the choreography for the performances and teach classes here some evenings, so they gave me my own key and told me that I could use it whenever. They have a few of the other dance students doing the same with the other two studios on campus," Brittany explained.

Santana rose her eyebrows in shock, "and they just let you?"

Brittany shook her head, "not like that- It's a selective position," Brittany explained. "I had to audition for it. Only three of us got it and there were around sixty people who auditioned, and it'll all go down as extra credit and will really look good when applying for jobs in the future."

Santana was impressed for three reasons: This obviously meant that Brittany was extremely talented and she was impressed that Brittany was obviously a talent recognised by freaking Juilliard. She was impressed because Brittany seemed to know exactly what to do and how to make her dreams come true, and she was also impressed because well, this was Brittany. And Santana was always impressed by Brittany.

"I can't wait to see you dance," Santana breathed out, looking intriguingly at Brittany, who was dropping her coat down onto the floor and leaving herself dressed in sweatpants and a crop top, exposing her abs and making Santana's eyes widen.

Brittany, completely unaware of Santana's inner thoughts as her eyes zoned in on Brittany's stomach, continued to set up the space and moved over to the speaker. "Make yourself comfortable, San. You wanna wear my coat to warm yourself up a bit more?"

Santana quietly cleared her throat, nodding her head as she tried to shake herself back into reality. "O-okay, thanks…" she whispered, moving to collect Brittany's coat and then sat down on the floor against the mirrored wall.

She hugged herself, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Santana could smell Brittany's familiar scent as the warmth of Brittany's coat spread across her body and she smiled, watching as Brittany got herself in the zone when she started doing some warm up exercises.

Santana remained silent, watching Brittany move and stretch her body to the music as if this was something as simple as breathing to her. She watched as Brittany's abs tightened with every movement, how she had a small content smile on her face and her brows slightly furrowed in concentration. Santana thought that watching Brittany warm up was better than any movie or broadway show she had ever seen.

That was until, of course, Brittany changed the music and began dancing. Because Brittany's dancing easily became the best thing she had ever watched. Brittany moved to the music, her body flowing gracefully and Santana was in a trance. She couldn't move her eyes away, and could feel her heart racing faster as she watched Brittany.

"Holy shit," Santana breathed out quietly as Brittany did the cleanest front ariel she had ever seen, all of her moves filled with strength and purpose, but still somehow looked so effortless.

As the music faded to a stop, Brittany recollected her breath and wiped away at her forehead with the back of her hand. Then, she caught Santana watching her with wide eyes and looked down shyly.

"How did it look so far?" She asked, her chest still heaving slightly.

"Britt, are you kidding me?" Santana asked, "that was fucking amazing! You were, without a doubt, born to dance!"

Brittany's cheeks turned pink and she smiled bashfully at Santana. "Thanks…" she trailed off softly, her heart racing wildly from both the dance and the way that Santana was looking at her. "I feel like it's still missing something," Brittany admitted.

Santana shook her head, "I think it's perfect. Just the right amount of emotion, how long have you been working on this?"

"A week," Brittany told her.

"A week?!" Santana exclaimed in shock. Brittany nodded her head and Santana stood up from the ground, shaking off Brittany's coat and taking a few steps closer to the woman in front of her. "You really have to start believing in yourself, Britt. To have a routine looking like that in just a week? I think you're the most talented dancer I've ever seen".

"You really think so?" Brittany asked unsurely.

"I know so," Santana reaffirmed and reached out to hold Brittany's hand. "I bet your parents are going to be really proud of you, you're going to be amazing in this performance if this is how all of your routines are looking."

"That means a lot, San," Brittany blushed and Santana bit her lip when Brittany took another step closer to her. "You know what else would mean a lot?" She asked, a small smile on her face.

"What?" Santana asked, her eyes searching Brittany's face slowly.

"You coming out for dinner with me after I've practiced a few more times…" Brittany stated, tilting her head to the side as she stared at Santana.

Santana didn't know what she expected Brittany to say, but it definitely wasn't that. Her eyes widened and she could feel her heart beating faster in her chest, the sound of it thumping in her ears. "Like on a date?" She asked. Brittany nodded shyly, and Santana beamed at her, "I would love that."

11:39pm

Five hours later, Santana found herself stumbling slightly into her apartment, giggling to herself with a beaming smile on her face.

She sighed with contentment as she hung up her leather jacket and grinned wildly as the thoughts of Brittany still swirled around in her mind, those butterflies still active in her stomach.

"Has hell frozen over or are you actually smiling?" A sudden voice startled Santana out of her inner daydreaming and she jumped, her hand coming to rest on her chest in hopes to calm down her rapidly beating heart. Santana turned to Kurt with a frown, who had been watching her from the kitchen since she had entered the apartment.

"For fuck sake, Lady lips! Give a woman a warning next time, Jesus Christ," Santana groaned loudly. "What are you still doing up?"

"I think the better question is where have you been all night? It's almost midnight, Santana!" Kurt lectured her, almost mockingly, and Santana rolled her eyes at him.

"What are you, my mother?" Santana chuckled at her friend's ability to always be all up in her business, but still lifted herself to sit on the counter beside him. Kurt rose his eyebrow at her and Santana rolled her eyes again, and mumbled a quiet, "I was out with Brittany."

Kurt smirked at the admission and Santana instantly put her head into her hands, knowing what was about to come. "Out with Brittany?" Kurt mocked and Santana groaned louder.

She looked at him with a frown. "Yes, Brittany, as in super hot blonde woman that has been flirting with me for months," Santana clarified, and then bit down on her lip before spilling out the rest of her sentence before she could stop herself, "she asked me out on a date."

"Finally! Yes… Rach so owes me twenty bucks," Kurt grinned, clapping his hands in excitement.

Santana's frown deepened. "Twenty bucks?" She asked, Kurt nodded and Santana glared at him, "you guys made a bet on us? You know what, don't answer that. Not even you and Berry could ruin my mood right now."

"So, when is it?" Kurt asked, looking at Santana expectantly.

"What do you mean when is it? We just had it tonight…" Santana told him, confused.

"Like that?" Kurt asked, horrified as his eyes trailed down Santana's uniform clad body.

Santana nodded slowly, her gaze dropping down to inspect her own outfit. "Uh, yeah…" she trailed off, her eyebrows furrowed together. "We went to her dance studio and then she asked me, we both had nothing to do after and we hadn't seen each other for a few days so it just made sense. I don't care about her dressing up or taking me somewhere fancy, I just wanted to spend time with her. We could've just stayed at her dance studio all evening and that would have been fine too."

As Santana rambled to Kurt, her cheeks reddening as she spoke about Brittany, he watched his friend in silent awe. He had never seen Santana like this, especially because she had spent so much time hiding herself from the world. During high school, Kurt had seen the Santana that pushed her feelings away and built walls of insults around them, spitting fire at anybody who dared to get through them. He had seen Santana force herself into relationships with the boys that only wanted her for her looks, or their social status, and he had seen Santana be miserable for years.

But this Santana, this Santana in front of him, she was anything but miserable. This Santana had a beaming smile on her face as she told him about the woman that she liked, with no walls around her, no insults and nothing forced about it.

"Santana," Kurt grinned, "I'm so proud of you."

Santana paused her ramblings and stopped to look at her friend, with raised eyebrows. "What?" She laughed quietly.

"I'm serious," Kurt told her seriously. "It's only been a few months since leaving Lima and you've changed so much. Not even changed, you've just become this even better version of yourself. When you came out to Rachel and me at graduation and asked if you could come with us, that you wanted to finally be who you really was, it meant a lot to us. But I just want you to know that, I really like this Santana," he told her.

Santana stared at Kurt for a few seconds, processing the heaviness that his words left on her chest. His words seemed to hit Santana right in the heart, that spot that made her tear up instantly.

"Kurt," She cooed, wiggling her eyebrows, "I knew that you secretly had a soft spot for me."

Kurt laughed loudly, knowing that Santana was trying to distract herself from crying. "Look, I'm just saying, it's nice to see you happy and I think Brittany is going to be really good for you. I'm glad that you're finally getting to that place."

Santana grinned, "me too." She shrugged her shoulders at Kurt and her look turned appreciative. "Thanks, Kurt. You really are a great friend… you and Rachel, but don't tell her I said that because I'll never hear the end of it and I'll have to deny it."

"Just be careful with your heart, okay?" Kurt warned, and then added with a small laugh, "and be careful with hers too.. I like Brittany- probably more than I like you, sometimes."

"Well, way to ruin the mood, Lady Hummel," Santana laughed and hopped down off the counter. "But don't you worry that pretty little gay face of yours, I don't plan on breaking her heart. I'm going to bed, what are you even doing awake?"

"Waiting for you to get home. I didn't know if you had your key or not," Kurt shrugged and followed Santana out of the kitchen. "Next time, answer your fucking text messages, Lopez!"

"But I was on a date," Santana teased as she pouted playfully and then gave him a smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't see. Next time I'll let you know."

"I'll let you off this once, only because I'm glad you finally went on a date. Night, Satan…"

Santana grinned at him and stepped closer to her room, "night, Kurtie!"

All Santana dreamed of that night was Brittany.

---

November 12th, 8:16pm

Santana never liked kissing boys. It was always too rough and forced. Kissing boys felt like a chore, something she had to do to keep up her mask and keep herself hidden. Kissing boys never gave Santana the butterflies that everybody always told her about, and kissing boys never made Santana's head spin or her heart race.

Kissing Brittany was different.

Santana loved kissing Brittany. It was always soft and gentle, and their lips moved together effortlessly. Kissing Brittany never felt like a chore to Santana- in fact, Santana wished that she could kiss Brittany forever. Kissing Brittany made butterflies erupt in her entire body, not just in her stomach, and kissing Brittany always made her head spin and her heart race.

Kissing Brittany was her favourite thing to do, and Santana couldn't get enough of all of the things Brittany's lips made her feel.

"Hmm, Britt," Santana moaned and Brittany rocked her hips into her slowly, her kisses moving down her jawline and to the sensitive spots on her neck that Brittany had become familiar with. Brittany smiled into Santana's neck, before sucking a bit more firmly on the tanned skin and then soothing over it with her tongue, a small whimper falling from Santana's lips. "God, Britt, you're so good at that," Santana whined, her hips bucking up as her fingers came to thread in Brittany's hair.

Brittany giggled into Santana's neck, her hands smoothing delicately over Santana's topless body and leaving a trail of goosebumps under her fingertips. "You're so sexy, San," Brittany breathed out between kisses, leaving a few more open mouthed kisses to her neck and then coming back up to pull Santana into another heated kiss.

Santana wasted no time in pulling Brittany closer, their naked chests coming together and causing Brittany to let out a moan into Santana's mouth. The kiss was deep and hot, all teeth and tongue, and Santana never wanted it to end.

"Hey, Sa- oh my god!" The kiss was broken and Santana let out a loud groan of annoyance, her chest heaving heavily as she tried to fill her lungs with air that Brittany had taken away.

"Fucking, Berry, get out!" Santana said, as Rachel still stood in the doorway of her room with her hands covering her eyes. Brittany chuckled on top of Santana, but didn't move.

Santana watched as Rachel blindly stepped out of the room and shut the door, and gave Brittany a sexually frustrated pout. "I hate her," she grumbled.

Brittany laughed and rolled off of Santana, now that it was safe to do so without giving Rachel an eyeful of their boobs, and lay on the bed beside Santana. "No you don't," Brittany giggled, and then made a move to pick up both of their hoodies. "Come on; we can finish this later…"

"Promise?" Santana pouted when watching Brittany pull on her shirt, already missing the sight of her perfect boobs and abs.

"Baby, I promise that I'll make it up to you later, don't be mad at Rachel," Brittany told her with amusement, thinking Santana looked adorable with pouty lips and flushed cheeks.

"But I want to have really hot lady sex with my beautiful girlfriend-"

"Girlfriend?" Brittany teased, catching Santana's slip up and interrupting her.

"Uh, I, you…" Santana trailed off through a stutter, staring at Brittany with wide eyes.

Fuck fuck fuck, way to go, Lopez. Santana thought to herself, panic rising in her throat. Santana wasn't panicking about labelling Brittany as her girlfriend, she was panicking because she had it all planned out how she was going to ask her, and then ruined it by blubbering it out.

"San…" Brittany cooed softly, a small tugging at her lips when she noticed Santana frozen. She quickly moved to re-straddle Santana and gently lifted her hands to cup Santana's cheeks. "Hey, look at me," she encouraged and Santana lifted her dropped eyes to look directly into Brittany's.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I wanted to ask you properly this weekend and I ruined it."

Brittany giggled, because Santana was just too damn cute, and gently rested her forehead against Santana's. "You didn't ruin it… I'm still saying yes," Brittany told her and Santana smiled bashfully.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Yeah," Brittany confirmed, her thumbs rubbing softly against Santana's cheekbones.

"You make me so happy, Britt, I've never felt like this before," Santana told her, feeling a happiness and contentment settle in her body. "You make it so easy to just be myself and I love that about you."

"You make me so happy too," Brittany smiled and couldn't help but drop her head slightly to kiss Santana again.

Santana smiled against Brittany's mouth, this kiss completely different to their previous make out session, but still left Santana with as many butterflies and just as breathless. Santana pulled back slowly in a daze and Brittany grinned, her arms resting over Santana's shoulders.

Tanned hands came to snake around Brittany, coming to rest in the back pocket of her jeans. "We better go and see what the hobbit wants before she comes in here again," Santana said regretfully.

Brittany nodded in agreement and slowly lifted herself off of Santana for the second time, and offered Santana her hand to help her up. "Don't look so sad," Brittany giggled, noticing Santana pouting again, "soon, baby!"

"Not soon enough," Santana told her and kept hold of Brittany's hand as they walked out into the kitchen to see Rachel sat on a stool with her head against the counter. Santana and Brittany shared a look of amusement before Santana cleared her throat loudly, resulting in Rachel jumping in shock and almost falling off the stool.

"Bitch," Rachel glared at Santana, who was making no effort to conceal her laughter.

"Serves you right for interrupting us," Santana told her with a shrug of her shoulders. "What was so important that you just couldn't wait to tell me?" She asked, lifting herself to sit on the counter and pulling Brittany to sit on the stool between her legs.

"First of all, Santana, I think it's super in appropriate for you to have sex when I'm here-"

"We weren't having sex!" Brittany interrupted her.

"But we could have been if you didn't walk in and ruin the mood," Santana muttered under her breath and Brittany gave her a pointed stare.

"Exactly my point," Rachel gestured between Santana and Brittany with a smug grin, and Santana rolled her eyes with a huff.

"Get over yourself," Santana told her through a disbelieving chuckle, challenging Rachel with a glare. "If I want to have sex with my girlfriend in my bed, then I will. You don't like it- put in some damn earplugs or have a walk… I really don't give a shit."

"Wait, girlfriend?!" Rachel asked, her eyebrows raised so far up on her forehead that Santana thought they almost blended in with her hairline.

Santana paused at hearing the new title out loud for the first time and she couldn't stop the heat from rushing to her cheeks, a shy smiling appearing on her face. "Yeah, my girlfriend," Santana confirmed in a small voice, the tone of the conversation suddenly shifting as she looked softly from Rachel to Brittany, her girlfriend.

Brittany hands came to rub her thighs soothingly, returning Santana's look of utter adoration.

"Shut up!" Rachel squealed, looking between her two friends with a beaming grin. "When did this happen? Does Kurt know? Tell me everything!" Rachel almost looked as if she had just been told she had gotten the role of Fanny Price in the latest broadway production of Funny Girl, and Santana knew then just how much Rachel approved of her relationship with Brittany.

It made Santana feel good, that her friends could see the good in Brittany. It also made her feel good that they could see the good that Brittany brought out in her, and how good they seemed to go with each other. In fact, Santana and Brittany went together perfectly. Santana knew that, Brittany knew that, Rachel and Kurt knew that, and so did every other person that had ever seen them together, or how they spoke of each other and how they looked at each other.

"Like five minutes ago after you walked in on us," Santana admitted with a small laugh.

"So this happened because of me?" Rachel asked, her smile widened.

Santana scoffed, shaking her head. "More like my lack of filter," she said, "I had it planned perfectly, too. I was going to do it at thanksgiving," Santana admitted, then glanced at Brittany, "though I've been secretly calling you my girlfriend in my head for weeks now."

"You're so cute," Brittany smiled, lifting Santana's hands that she had laced with hers to her lips, pressing soft kisses to tanned knuckles. Santana got lost in Brittany and how she was smiling back at her so sweetly, her heart racing from Brittany taking over all of her senses.

"You two make me sick," Rachel laughed, "I'm still here, you know?"

"Couldn't forget that could we?" Brittany spoke sarcastically, her eyes not shifting from Santana.

Santana looked at Brittany with amusement, and then took a quick glance to Rachel to see her staring back with a blank expression. Brittany was hardly ever sarcastic, but whenever she was, Santana always found it funny and couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up her throat. Rachel's frown deepened and Santana cleared her throat in an attempt to cover it up, "Sorry," Santana sighed, "we'll be serious, what's up?"

Rachel chuckled a little at Santana and Brittany's ability to get so easily lost in each other and now they were around each other. She actually found it quite fascinating just how different Santana seemed to act around Brittany. "It was nothing important," Rachel shrugged, "I was just going to ask if you got the email from everyone and if you had, what are you going to do?"

A silence fell between the three of them as the big gigantic elephant in the room was addressed and Santana took a deep breath.

Santana had known that this moment was inevitable, that she would have to do this sooner or later, and lately, that didn't seem so scary. For years, the idea of opening up this side of herself so comfortably and freely was so frightening to Santana- even just admitting to herself that she was a lesbian was frightening. But all of that fear just seemed so foreign to her now. Now, Santana had Brittany, and Santana had experienced just how amazing being free and open made her feel, and Brittany made her feel better than anything. Santana couldn't imagine going back to a place of hiding herself. Not after coming so far, and discovering that the forbidden parts of herself that she had kept so well hidden, were also the happiest parts of herself.

Brittany had made her completely embrace all of her unicorn so confidently and without fear, and Santana never wanted to go back to the place of hiding that special part of herself.

"I'm not going," Santana told Rachel. Rachel and Brittany both looked at her with uncertain frowns, obviously expecting the complete opposite of what she had said, but then Santana quickly continued to clarify, "just tell them I'm working, I want to spend my first thanksgiving here with Brittany. Not because I don't want to tell them that I'm a lesbian but because I would much rather be here with Brittany getting our mack on," Brittany sniggered and Santana grinned, carefully adding, "I'm going to tell my parents."

"You are?" Santana smiled at Brittany and Rachel's simultaneous question, watching as the proud smiles instantly morphed onto their faces.

It felt good that they were proud of her; Santana was proud of herself. Honestly, it had taken years to get to this point of acceptance and self-love- years of pain, heartache, internal hatred and hiding. Santana was so proud of herself for overcoming all of that and she was so proud of herself for opening herself up to love. Looking at her girlfriend and her best friend- Santana knew that she could never go back to her old, defensive self.

Santana nodded in confirmation, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah," she giggled, "I'm going to video call them during the week and tell them, about me and about Britt. Then, I'll come home over Christmas with Britt and actually bring her to glee club. Aren't your dads going on that super gay cruise over new years? We can have one of your Rachel Berry train-wreck extravaganzas!"

Brittany frowned, "Wait- what's a Rachel Berry train-wreck extravaganza?"

Rachel shot Santana a glare, "exactly what it sounds like!" She mumbled, folding her arms over her chest as Santana cackled loudly.

"Don't be mean to Britt," Santana told her, still giggling at herself. "Basically a party in Rachel's Oscar room basement which always ends up in me getting Rachel and Kurt absolutely shit-faced," Santana explained to Brittany, and watched as Brittany's frown deepened.

"Oscar room?"

Santana laughed loudly again, "what do you expect from Rachel and her two gay dads?" Brittany shrugged like that was a seemingly good enough answer to her question and turned her attention back to Rachel.

Rachel rolled her eyes at Santana, "I'm going to ignore those rude comments because I'm actually quite proud of you right now. It sounds like you've got it all planned out, Lopez," Rachel commented, looking impressed. She nudged Santana playfully, "awww, you're growing up!"

"Get off me, you weirdo," Santana laughed and pushed Rachel's prodding hands away from her, but couldn't stop herself from getting a little bit flushed.

"You're so amazing, you know that?" Brittany asked her softly, looking at Santana.

Santana softened and smiled at Brittany, "duh!"

Brittany leaned up quickly and kissed Santana, wiping the smirk away.

"Can you two, like, not?" Rachel asked, and laughed when the two pulled away with a small glare directed at her. "How about I call Kurt and he can get us some drinks on the way home from work to celebrate your blossoming relationship?"

"I think that is the best idea you've ever had," Santana agreed with a grin.

Santana played with the ends of Brittany's hair affectionately as Rachel reached for her phone to dial Kurt's number. She put the phone on the counter between the three of them and clicked on the speaker button.

"Rachel? I'm still working," Kurt answered the phone and Santana almost groaned when she could hear the broadway in the background.

"Yeah- I know, that's why we called and you're not here," Rachel told him, and Santana gave her two proud thumbs up.

"You've been spending too much time with Santana," Kurt groaned.

"Gee thanks, Lady lips," Santana commented sarcastically and she could practically see Kurt's eyes widened through the phone.

"Oh, heyyyyy girl," Kurt tried to cover up and Brittany smirked at Santana.

"Don't hey girl me, Hummel," Santana told him, and that added in an overly sweet tone, "also, we called for a reason! We're celebrating tonight so we need you to tell Gunther that we need a couple of bottles of rum, pretty please…"

Kurt stayed silent for a second, "what are we celebrating?"

"Brittana is real," Brittany cheered, her hands rubbing Santana's thighs gently.

"Brittana?" Santana asked her, tilting her head.

"Brittany and Santana, Brittana," Brittany told her with a wide smile.

Santana softened, and looked at Brittany with an equally wide smile. Just when she thinks that Brittany couldn't get any more adorable and she couldn't catch any more feelings for her, Brittany would say something like that and completely make her melt. Santana thought Brittany was everything good in this world, and that small statement just proved that correct.

She giggled, pecking Brittany's cheek, "I think that I like Santitany better."

"It's definitely Brittana," Rachel agreed with Brittany.

"Yeah I agree with Rachel and Britt," Kurt added and Santana just rolled her eyes. "But haven't you two been on for like months now?" He asked.

"But like on on, Kurt," Santana exaggerated and she heard Kurt gasp as he finally understood what they were saying, followed by a loud high pitched squeal that was definitely too loud for him still being in work. "Wow, I'd still like the use of my ears," Santana groaned, rubbing her ears soothingly.

"Whatever, Satan," Kurt laughed, "I'm so happy for you both! It was a long time coming! I'll be home in like an hour to celebrate!"

"Thanks, Kurtie," Santana grinned, giving Brittany a high-five in accomplishment.

She couldn't wait to drunkenly make out with her girlfriend.

10:52pm

Santana giggled as she fell down on the sofa, landing on top of an also giggling Brittany. Brittany wrapped her arms securely around Santana and pulled her closer, so that Santana was effectively straddling her.

"You're so beautiful, Brittz," Santana slurred, a drunken smile tugging at her lips while she stared down at her girlfriend with hooded eyes. "I can't believe I have such a hot girlfriend," Santana continued, her warm hands tangling in Brittany's messy blonde hair.

"I can't believe that I have such a hot girlfriend," Brittany argued back with a smirk, her hands firmly resting on Santana's hips. Brittany pulled Santana closer into her, their chests coming flush together as their lips met in a messy kiss.

Santana moaned at the taste of alcohol mixed with Brittany's cherry lipgloss and naturally began rolling her hips into Brittany, as their tongues mixed together hotly. "Hmm," Santana hummed, her chest tightening and beginning to feel a heat that swam around her body in response to the kiss. "Britt," Santana mumbled against Brittany's mouth, "Brittany," she mumbled again when Brittany continued kissing her.

"Wha-" Brittany breathed out, and then moaned when Santana's hands snuck their way up her shirt and cupped her bare breast. Their kiss stopped as Brittany tried to regain focus from Santana's soft but firm touch, their lips barely grazing together. "Baby, Rachel and Kurt…"

"Is it later, yet?" Santana whispered and Brittany knew what she meant.

As the blonde opened her mouth again in an agreement to sneak off back to Santana's bedroom, they were, once again, interrupted. However, luckily for Rachel, this time it was Kurt's annoyingly loud shriek that pulled them out of their own bubble.

"Can you two not have sex on the couch in front of us?" He whined, looking a bit in disgust as Santana regretfully retracted her hands from under the warmth of Brittany's top. "I swear, you two are always sucking face and trying to make lady babies. Don't you ever need to breathe?"

Brittany sniggered despite her cheeks turning pink, her hands still planted firmly on Santana's hips to prevent her from moving off of her lap. "Not really, no," she told him playfully but honestly.

Santana grinned sarcastically at Kurt. "That's right!" She shouted enthusiastically, and lifted her hand for a high-five, her smile widening when Brittany slapped it with hers.

"How much have you two had to drink?" Kurt asked through a chuckle, looking cautiously between Santana and Brittany.

"Hey! We're celebrating!" Santana told him defensively, as if Kurt didn't already know, and then added excitedly through slightly slurred words, "Brittz is my girlfriend!"

Santana looked dreamily at Brittany as she announced their new relationship status for the tenth time that night, seemingly still in shock over the earlier events of the evening. Brittany's face softened when noticing Santana's expression, and how hooded and dark her eyes were- due to the excessive amounts of both alcohol and making out.

"We know, Santana!" Rachel laughed, walking over with a fresh drink and taking in Santana and Brittany all over each other. "Geez, you two are honestly something else. I can't believe that we thought you were straight."

"Yeah, at this point, me either," Kurt agreed and Brittany smiled widely.

"I can't imagine you kissing a boy," Brittany laughed, looking at how disgusted Santana looked just from the mention of it.

She watched as Santana fake heaved and almost shuddered. "Ew, gross, Britt," Santana grimaced, "that's because I only kissed a boy when I thought that it was absolutely necessary and every single time I did, I imagined kissing Britney Spears!"

Rachel smirked, "now, you actually have your own Brittany to kiss!"

Santana grinned, "I know, and it's more awesome than I ever imagined. Probably even better than Britney Spears," Santana shrugged, nonchalantly and her eyes instinctively began focusing on Brittany's lips again.

She subconsciously licked her lips, as she hyper-focused on Brittany's mouth and everything else around Santana began to fade away. Santana watched silently as Brittany's lips pulled up into a beaming smile, the sound of her quiet giggles ringing in her ears. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion, which was probably also due to the amount of alcohol she had consumed, and what had only been a few seconds felt like a lifetime, before Santana surged forward and clumsily took Brittany's lips in hers.

"Not again," Kurt groaned loudly, but Santana couldn't break away.

Brittany's lips were the softest lips she had ever kissed and her kisses always made her feel dizzy, especially the drunken, messy ones.

Santana couldn't think of anything better than kissing Brittany.

---

November 18th, New York, 4:03pm

Santana had always thought of different scenarios as to how her big "coming out" was going to go, how the conversations would go, how the person that she was telling would react. Santana had thought about it almost everyday since she first began acknowledging those parts of herself, and no matter how many times that she did think about it, Santana was always left with that same pit of fear in her stomach.

Santana spent years hiding herself in silent pain because of that fear. She felt better being labelled as a bitch than being labelled over something she couldn't change, because that didn't seem as personal. Santana knew that from living in a small town like Lima, people weren't as accepting, and that scared her.

But now, here with Brittany, Santana felt a different pit in her stomach; a pit of butterflies that were swirling and dancing around in happiness. Brittany didn't make her feel scared, their relationship didn't make her feel scared- in fact, Brittany gave her so much security and Santana had never felt so safe.

Santana knew that this was the moment, the moment she had spent the last few years of her life obsessing over, and right now, she couldn't understand why she let something like this construct her entire life for the past couple of years. Because Santana didn't feel scared, or anxious, instead, she felt excited.

Santana wanted to share Brittany with her parents, she wanted to tell them every good thing that Brittany had done for her, or just how happy Brittany makes her feel. Santana wanted to tell her parents that she was falling in love with the most beautiful woman she had ever met.

Brittany was sitting beside her, their thighs touching cautiously as they sat side by side on her bed, her laptop loading up a video call with her parents.

"Are you ready?" Brittany asked Santana softly, giving her an encouraging smile. "This is a big moment for you, how do you feel?" Her question was heavy and Santana knew that Brittany wanted to make sure that this was definitely something that she wanted to do, for herself.

"I'm ready, baby," Santana nodded, "I actually feel good and positive. I want them to know about me, and about us. I want them to know how amazing you are and how happy you make me." Santana squeezed Brittany's thigh and gave her a small smile, reassuring Brittany that she was okay.

"Okay," Brittany breathed out, "I'm right here."

"You seem more nervous than me," Santana observed, raising her eyebrows at Brittany expectantly, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Brittany chuckled and then admitted sheepishly in the next breath, "it's just- I've never met anybody's parents before and I really like you, and I really want them to like me."

Santana's expression softened and she gently pecked Brittany's cheek, letting her lips linger against flushed skin for a few seconds longer than necessary. "Hey, they will love you," Santana spoke quietly and softly, her voice barely above a whisper as she nudged her nose against Brittany's cheek and trailed it to her hair so that she could speak directly into Brittany's ear. "Because you, mi amor, are so amazing," Santana told her, "and it's impossible not to love you."

Brittany tilted her head to stare at Santana bashfully, her cheeks bunching in a wide smile. "What did I ever do without you, Santana Lopez?" She giggled, that twinkle in her glistening blue eyes letting Santana know every silent word Brittany was trying to tell her.

Santana shrugged cutely and tilted Brittany's chin to softly kiss her. "Don't be nervous," Santana cooed, encouragingly, "we've got this!"

"Damn right," Brittany laughed, her shoulders dropping and Santana winked at her, feeling pretty good from successfully calming down her girlfriend's upcoming panic attack.

"Shit, let's hope this all goes well," Santana mumbled and rolled her eyes, before moving to request the call with her parents.

The ringing sound echoed in the otherwise silent bedroom, Santana and Brittany seemingly holding their breath as they anticipated the call being picked up any second. Santana could feel her hands beginning to fidget in her lap as she stared at the screen, waiting for the appearance of her mom and dad, and she subconsciously shuffled in closer to Brittany's side.

"Santanita!" Her mom's voice cooing to her immediately as she answered the call instantly settled some of Santana's growing nerves, a familiar warmth of her mother's voice calming her down. "Hola, baby!" Her mom greeted softly, a gentle smile on her face as she clearly took in her daughter and the woman beside her, her smile beginning to turn into a small smirk.

"Hola mami," Santana smiled, biting her lip slightly and blurting out, "this is Brittany."

"Hi Brittany, I'm Maribel, I'm glad to see Santana finally made a new friend," Maribel chuckled playfully, and Santana rolled her eyes.

Brittany smiled shyly at Maribel, "it's nice to meet you. Santana talks a lot about you!"

Maribel smiled, "all good things I hope?" Brittany nodded her head in confirmation. "Santana, your papi says that he's really sorry, but he had to work last minute. He will call you tomorrow, mija," she told her daughter.

Santana nodded in understanding, "that's okay, mami. How are you both doing? I miss you," she admitted with a small smile, taking in her mom's familiar appearance and realising just how much she missed that woman.

Maribel smiled at her daughter, "I miss you too, Tana, but don't you worry about us. We are doing just fine, I want to hear about you! How is New York going? Do you know what you are going to do for thanksgiving yet, mija?"

The questions made Santana's heart begin to speed up again, and she knew that she had to do it. There was only so long that she could act un-couply around Brittany; it had been around three minutes already, and she was already beginning to miss proper contact with her.

She knew that this was the moment.

"Well, mami," Santana started, clearing her throat to gain control over her voice and lifted her gaze to meet her moms on the screen. "I um, I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I think I'm going to stay here in New York with Brittany… who is," Santana took a deep breath, "who is my girlfriend." Santana smiled at Brittany and then looked back to her mom hesitantly and repeated softly, slower and much more firm, "Brittany is my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend?" Maribel repeated. Santana nodded stiffly, her breath caught in her throat, "should have guessed you wouldn't make a new friend," my mom teased, and Santana laughed, remembering her earlier comment about Brittany.

"Yeah, well," Santana trailed off.

"Santana, I don't know why you think I'm so surprised," Maribel chuckled, looking at Santana with that familiar smirk on her face. "Mija, I'm so happy that you're finally comfortable with yourself. Me and your papi realised, well, we've thought it for a couple of years and we hoped that you would get to the point in your life where you accept yourself as much as everybody else accepts you."

"Mami, I-" Santana stuttered out, her mouth falling open because out of every single scenario that her mind had made up over the years, the one that actually happened did not once appear and she was left stunned into silence. She raised her eyebrows, "wait, you guys knew?"

"Guess you can call it a mother's instinct," Maribel shrugged, "and Tana, you aren't as subtle as you think you are. Now, tell me all about your beautiful girlfriend! Is she treating you good, Brittany?" Maribel asked, her eyes bright and her smile soft.

Brittany giggled at the question, and at how Santana's mom was seemingly oblivious as to just how much Santana had been panicking about this conversation. "She's perfect," Brittany told Maribel, glancing adoringly at Santana, "you've raised a wonderful woman, Mrs Lopez."

"Oh, call me Maribel, darling!" Maribel corrected and Santana grinned, her hand finding Brittany's.

"That means she likes you," Santana added, feeling her chest tighten from the moment of utter acceptance from her mother. "You're really okay with this? I thought you would hate me," Santana admitted, her eyebrows furrowing slightly as the confusion continued to cloud her happiness.

Surely, her mother would be at least a little bit disappointed. That's what she had expected during all of these years of hiding herself, when actually, Maribel was reacting in the complete opposite way. Santana couldn't believe this was happening, she could believe that her mother was practically accepting her and Brittany with opened arms, and she also couldn't believe that apparently it wasn't even that much of a surprise to her.

Maribel chucked at her daughter, "Santanita, listen," she began, her expression softening. "A lot has changed over the years, and even though your Abuela grew up with those views, that doesn't mean that me or your papi have them. We love you, we love everything about you, and we love it especially when you're happy. Does Brittany make you happy?"

"Yes," Santana breathed out instantly, not even needing a second to think, "The happiest I have ever been is with Brittany."

"Then I'm more than okay with it," Maribel reassured her, smiling at the two younger women who had naturally started inching closer together. Maribel could see it; she could see it as soon as she answered the call. It was a nice change to see in her daughter, how just a couple of months could help her flourish into the person she was supposed to be and lift all of the walls from around her guarded daughter. Maribel knew that Brittany was the reason behind that, and she also knew the look of love that Santana gazed at her with, and she was silently told that Santana was where she was supposed to be; in New York with Brittany.

"H-how did you think Papi will take it?" Santana stuttered, still not completely relaxed.

"Mija, todo estará bien," Maribel reassured her softly, taking away the rest of her daughter's worries, "Papi will just be glad that you're finally living the life that you were meant for!"

Santana let out a puff of air and laughed a little, almost in relief. "Wow," she laughed, "well, I'm glad that's all over!"

"Feels good?" Brittany asked sweetly with a small smile, knowing how good the weight of coming out feelings to be lifted. She squeezed Santana's hand in hers and then brought it to her lips to kiss the back of it lightly.

"Fucking amazing," Santana grinned.

"Santana!" Maribel chastised, "Just because you've come out as a lesbian it does not mean that you can use that language!"

"Sorry, Mami," Santana apologised through a mumble, as Brittany sniggered beside her quietly, and then quickly changed the subject. "What are you doing for thanksgiving?"

Maribel chucked with raised eyebrows, obviously knowing her daughter's tactics. "Probably just go and visit Abuela and then have a quiet night in," Maribel told her daughter, "what have you two lovebirds got up your sleeve? You better not be enticing Brittany into any trouble, Santana Lopez!"

"Mami, what?" Santana defended herself, "I'm not getting into trouble, tell her, babe!"

"I can promise you that she's being good, Maribel, I've got her all under control," Brittany laughed.

"Not helping," Santana whispered and Brittany just rolled her eyes playfully.

"San, I'm sure your Mami knows that you're really just a big softy!" Brittany giggled, and then rubbed her thumb against Santana's lower lip which was jutted out into a pout, "stop pouting at me!"

"Now you know how it feels," Santana laughed, "Mami, I promise you, I'm being good!" She looked back at her mom, Maribel had a massive smile on her face as she watched them. "Britt is going to take me ice skating on thanksgiving because I told her I had never been. Although, now, I'm kind of regretting it because I know she's probably going to be amazing at it and I'm going to suck."

"You're not gonna suck," Brittany laughed, "I'll help you. It's not that hard once you know how, maybe I can even teach you how to spin!"

"Spin?" Santana gasped, her head whipping back to Brittany with wide eyes. "See, I knew you'd be freaking great at that too.." Santana paused and then shrugged, "although now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not even all that surprised you can dance on ice, too."

"You like to dance, Brittany?" Maribel asked curiously, wanting to know more about this woman that appeared to have her daughter so unusually giggly and happy.

Brittany nodded shyly. Partly from getting flustered by Santana's comment and partly from being directly addressed by Santana's mom. "Yeah, I love it. I'm studying dance at the moment, actually."

Santana scoffed, and looked from Brittany to her mom in disbelief. "She doesn't just study dance, mami!" Santana told her, "Britt goes to Juilliard and is the best dancer I've ever seen! She's even part of a dance leader programme that only accepts three students from the entire school!"

"San," Brittany smiled shyly, a bit embarrassed by how much Santana was talking her up to her mom.

"You must be good if you've impressed Tana! She grew up around some pretty good dancers, it's in our blood and we have always celebrated that tradition as a family," Maribel told Brittany, who softened at her words. "It's nice that Santana has found somebody with that love for dance and music too," Maribel added.

"I've actually got a showcase coming up in December, you're more than welcome to come with Mr Lopez," Brittany told her, and then wrinkled her nose adorably at Santana when she noticed her girlfriends smile widening.

"A dance showcase?" Maribel asked.

"Yeah," Brittany confirmed with a giggle.

"Britt has a few solos and a few group routines. She also choreographed a lot of them, too. Britt's mom and dad are flying in to watch it too, she's been working really hard, Mami," Santana explained and watched as her mom grinned.

"Then I would love to come," Maribel told them.

Brittany beamed and Santana kissed her cheek lovingly, her lips lingering on flushed skin for a few seconds.

Santana watched as two of her favourite people continued to interact with each other for the first time, and tears almost brimmed in her eyes from just how important this moment was to her. The two people that brought her the most comfort in the world, were finding a common comfort in each other and that was all Santana wanted when coming out to her mom.

She smiled softly at them both, and Santana knew, that what she thought would be the scariest moment in her life, was actually the happiest moment in her life.

---

December 22nd, New York, 9:08am

"San," Santana hummed softly in response to the light cooing of her name into her ear. "Sanny," came the repeated voice, and then she felt featherlight kisses being trailed across her face, slowly bringing her into consciousness.

"Hmm," she mumbled quietly, the haziness of her dreams fading away as she came back into reality. "Britt?" Santana asked sleepily, eyes still shut and her voice raspy.

"I love your morning voice," Brittany giggled into her ear, pressing a few more kisses to her cheek. "It's so sexy," she added, then kissed directly below her ear in that one spot that made her entire body shudder. Of course, it had the desired effect, and a coat of goosebumps immediately appeared under her lips.

Santana's eyes fluttered open to find Brittany staring directly back at her as she hovered over her. "Hey," Santana whispered, smiling.

Brittany grinned back at her and pecked her lips softly, "good morning sleepy head," Brittany giggled. "I thought I would wake you up a bit early to get my good luck kisses in now, you know, since we probably won't be able to make out in front of our parents," Brittany told Santana, her blonde hair forming a curtain around both of their faces.

Santana felt her stomach tighten and her heart race in anticipation, because, talk about a wake up call.

"Is that so?" Santana giggled, and Brittany nodded. Santana smirked and in one quick motion she was hooking her arm around Brittany and flipping them, effectively pinning Brittany under her. She noticed the bright blue of Brittany's eyes darkening as they widened in shock from her sudden movement, and how they flickered down to her lips. Santana leaned in closer to Brittany, hovering just above her lips, but not closing the gap between them. "You're gonna feel so lucky after this, Britt-Britt," Santana husked against Brittany's lips, before taking them in her own and silencing Brittany's whimper.

Brittany's hands instantly slid down Santana's back and over her ass, shifting Santana to pull her completely on top of her. Santana rested her elbow at the side of Brittany's head to steady her weight as her lips moved fluidly against Brittany's in a passionate kiss, while her other hand found its own way under Brittany's shirt to feel her skin.

"What time is it?" Santana mumbled through their kissing as she shifted slightly to pull Brittany's top off and blindly threw it somewhere.

"About half nine," Brittany replied, her head rolling back further into the pillows as Santana trailed kisses across her neck. "Oh my god," she groaned quietly, threading her fingers through Santana's hair and subconsciously bucking her hips up when Santana simultaneously sucked on that sensitive spot on her neck and firmly used both of her hands to cup her boobs.

Santana frowned against Brittany's hot skin, "wait, what? Half nine? Britt, I thought you said you woke us up early?" Santana whined, pulling away from Brittany with raised eyebrows.

"I did, we don't have to be at the airport until eleven," Brittany told her and used her hands to try and pull Santana back into her, "kiss me."

"Hold up, baby," Santana continued talking with a frown, "that isn't enough time for us to get our sweet lady loving on, you only woke us up an extra twenty minutes early!"

"Yeah, so we can make out," Brittany told her with a roll of her eyes, "now kiss me!"

Santana pouted, "but I want to make sweet, sweet love to my gorgeous girlfriend before she makes me so proud tonight…"

Brittany's heart melted, and she grinned wider, "I love you so much," she whispered.

Santana beamed, her lips inching closer to Brittany's, "I love you too!" She kissed Brittany softly, but then pulled away again teasingly, "maybe we can be quick?"

Brittany smirked, "I'm down for that."

Santana laughed, "me too," and finally closed the distance between them.

11:14pm

"Maybe they aren't even here yet," Brittany suggested, hoping it would slow Santana down from speed marching them through the airport to where they were supposed to be meeting their parents, fifteen minutes ago.

"Next time we really need to wake up earlier," Santana noted, sending Brittany an apologetic smile and slowing down into a more reasonable pace.

"Agreed," Brittany chuckled with a small shrug, "we aren't even that late!"

Santana gave Brittany a grateful smile, "you're cute. I know you're trying to stop me from freaking out." She chuckled at her girlfriend and then pecked her on the cheek as they came to a stop at the correct departure gate.

Brittany grinned, "it'll all be fine. My mom and dad already love you and your mom totally supports your unicorn and practically welcomed me into the family as soon as she heard that I dance," Brittany reassured Santana, wrapping her arms around her.

"You're right, I'm freaking out for nothing," Santana agreed through a deep sigh.

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't worry," Brittany giggled knowingly, glancing at her girlfriend and then beaming when she caught sight of their parents huddled together a bit further behind them. "Oh! They are already here!"

"See, I knew we would miss them arriving," Santana grumbled as Brittany began marching them excitedly to their parents.

"Mom!" Brittany shouted to gain their attention, her long arms untangling from around Santana as she started throwing herself at her parents.

Santana watched with a small smile as Brittany reunited with her parents, and then turned to her mami and papi with a more nervous smile. This was the first time she had seen her parents since coming out, and this was also the first time that her parents were meeting somebody that she was in love with. Santana felt nervous, good nerves, but still nervous.

Santana felt like her parents could see her for the first time, like her honest true self, and Santana, surprisingly, didn't feel the slightest bit exposed.

She looked at her parents and inhaled subtly in hopes that she didn't pass out from all of the overwhelming emotions that were pulsing through her body. "Hey, Mami, papi," Santana greeted them shyly, fiddling with her hands.

"Mija," her papi grinned widely, and they both wrapped her in a big hug.

"Hola baby," Maribel whispered into the hug and Santana melted into her parent's embrace.

"I missed you," Santana breathed out and she pulled out of the hug to try and stop herself from getting all teary eyed from seeing her parents.

"We missed you too. You're still so beautiful," Maribel complimented with a smile, and then glanced back at Brittany, "and I see that your girlfriend is also beautiful."

Santana nodded, "yeah, she is," Santana turned to Brittany and her parents. "Hi, Susan, hi, Daniel," Santana greeted at she finally was able to hug Brittany's parents.

"Hey Santana, it's nice to finally meet you," Susan told her and squeezed her arms around Santana.

"Did you guys already all meet?" Brittany asked as she pulled away from hugging Santana's parents, glancing between the group in front of her. Maribel and Emilio nodded, smiling over at Brittany and her parents. "Great! Sorry we're so late," Brittany apologised to them as she grabbed hold of Santana's hand as their parents made a move to collect their luggage.

"That's okay, Brittany, I'm surprised she even managed to wake up this early on a Saturday!" Emilio laughed, watching as Santana crossed her arms defensively.

"Excuse me!" She scoffed, "I'm a changed woman now! I'm also never late!"

"What Santana means is," Brittany interrupted with a laugh, "that she's very rarely late and when she is there's a very good reason!"

Four sets of eyes turned to stare at the two women, and Maribel chuckled knowingly. "And what is your good reason for being late today?" Santana and Brittany's eyes widened and they looked between each other uncomfortably, their cheeks flushing as they shifted on their feet awkwardly.

Santana forced out a laugh through gritted teeth, sending a quick warning glance to Brittany, "we just got out of bed a little too late," Santana lied.

Maribel eyed her suspiciously, "oh I bet."

"Mami," Santana whined, "can we not?"

"I can imagine that it was just as much Brittany as it was you," Susan reassured Santana, and Brittany opened her mouth to respond, but then shrugged because her mother was so right. "Now, are we all going to meet up later for dinner before the show to celebrate?"

Brittany and Santana nodded, "totally," Brittany agreed, "we can go to San's work!"

Santana snorted, "Rachel and Kurt are gonna love that," she told Brittany.

"Are Rachel and Kurt working tonight? I miss their dramatics at dinner," Emilio laughed, remembering plenty of days back when his daughter and her friends had bickered back and forth at dinner, keeping him and his wife rather amused and entertained.

"Hmm," Santana nodded.

"I look forward to meeting them, Brittany has told me all about them," Daniel laughed, excited to be introduced to the new people in his daughter's life. He liked Santana, and he liked that she had also given Brittany friends and a life all of her own.

"I hope she's also told you that you're probably going to want to bleach your ears after having one conversation with them," Santana deepened seriously, hoping that Daniel's expectations of Rachel and Kurt weren't that high. "They can be a lot, just a warning!"

"San, don't be mean," Brittany giggled, nudging her hip into Santana's playfully.

"I'm just being honest, babe," Santana defended and lifted her hands up in mock innocence, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Whatever, you love them," Brittany laughed knowingly when Santana just looked at her coyly. "I guess I'll see you all later?" Brittany rolled her eyes with a smile as they approached the taxis waiting outside the airport. She turned to Santana as their parents said their goodbyes and stepped closer to Santana, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I'm gonna miss you," Brittany pouted a little as she rest their foreheads together.

"I'll miss you more," Santana told her cutely, her dimples appearing on her cheeks as she smiled at Brittany. "I love you," Santana whispered, cupping her face in her hands gently and pulling her into a soft and slow kiss.

"I love you too," Brittany giggled as they pulled apart a few seconds later, her cheeks turning pink. "See you soon, baby…"

"Bye, Britt-Britt," Santana sung softly as they stepped away from each other. Santana looked at Brittany's parents with a grin, "it was so nice to meet you! We will come over to Britt's place at around four," Santana waved at them and gave Brittany a soft smile.

"Damn, you really are in love, mija," Emilio chuckled at his daughter as she watched the Pierces load their bags into a nearby cab and drive away.

Santana sighed happily, "I know."

9:58pm

Everybody sat around in Santana, Rachel and Kurt's apartment that night with celebratory glasses of champagne. They were all cuddled together in the warmth of the home their children and their friends had created with each other, and they all felt the emotion of knowing that their children had so much love around them.

Santana raised her glass as she stood up, clearing her throat and gathering everybody's attention. "I would like to make a toast to an amazingly talented woman. What you did tonight, what you created and what you shared with everybody in the room, Brittany- that was magic. It was the most unicorn thing I have ever seen in my life," Santana giggled a little, tilting her head a little as Brittany beamed at her words. "You are magic, Brittany. Your love for dance and your passion for it is beautiful, and that shows every time you dance or every time you create a piece. Everybody in that room tonight felt every bit of emotion those dancers were feeling and that's all because of you. So, here's to you and here's to all of your dreams coming true, because you deserve all of them…" Santana smiled widely at a teary eyed Brittany, who sniffled through a chuckle.

"San.." Brittany said softly, almost shyly as everybody stared at them affectionately and with proud eyes.

Brittany took a sip of her champagne along with everybody else and then pulled Santana to sit down on her lap with her free arm, her arm remaining wrapped around the smaller girl. "I love you so much right now," Brittany whispered into Santana's ear and pressed a couple of kisses to the back of Santana's shoulder and neck.

Santana leaned further into Brittany, their bodies almost melting together. Brittany smiled at the feeling and then noticed that attention was still on them, "are they always like this?" Maribel asked Rachel and Kurt with amusement, who just nodded.

"Pretty much," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Awww, leave them alone," Kurt nudged her, and smiled fondly at Santana and Brittany.

"You won't be saying that when you walk in on them," Rachel muttered so only he could hear and Kurt just laughed at her, shaking his head.

"I'm so happy that you could all come over and watch, tonight really meant a lot to me, so thank you," Brittany told them all seriously, smiling appreciatively at all of the people in the room and how they all have supported her.

"I'm very glad that you invited us, Brittany," Emilio told her, "Santana told us that you were amazing but you truly are talented! You'll be a perfect addition at our Lopez family dinners!"

Santana smiled bashfully at her father complimenting her girlfriend, and turned her head back slightly to watch as Brittany's cheeks reddened. "I can't wait," Brittany grinned, and Santana could see just how truthful Brittany's statement was.

It gave her butterflies thinking about it; how she would have Brittany with her celebrating the holidays. She was already thinking about her favourite places around Lima that she would take Brittany, and she was already thinking about how nice it will be to have Brittany by her side. Santana smiled and pressed a delicate kiss to the side of Brittany's head and then sipped happily on her champagne, enjoying the moment of her girlfriend, their parents and her friends all being together for the first time.

"Well, Santanita," Maribel started with a small sigh, as she smiled at the couple, "we better head back to the hotel. Are we still all meeting up for breakfast in the morning?"

"Of course, Mami," Santana agreed, nodding her head and lifting herself from Brittany's lap.

Ten minutes, and a whole lot of goodbyes and hugs later, Santana fell back onto the couch with Brittany and instead of a glass of champagne in her hand, Santana had her usual rum and coke. She took a gulp of her drink and then cuddled into Brittany's side, taking in the comfort of the warmth radiating from Brittany as she wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm so proud of you," Santana whispered to Brittany, looking at her adoringly with a smile, "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Brittany told her softly and then then nodded in the direction of Rachel and Kurt across from them, "want to leave these two and go celebrate in your room?"

"Duh," Santana grinned excitedly.

"We're going to make out," Brittany told Rachel and Kurt casually as she pulled Santana to her feet.

"Britt!" Santana snickered as Rachel and Kurt looked at them with shocked expressions. "We really gotta work on your filter," she laughed, grabbing the bottle of rum and the bottle of Coke as they passed the counter.

"Night guys!" Brittany called over her shoulder, giggling as Santana pushed her into the room, not bothering to wait for a response from their friends.

Within seconds, Santana was setting down their drinks and putting the bottles on her dresser, before she was eagerly pushing Brittany onto her bed and climbing on top of her. Brittany's arms wrapped around her, securing her in place, and Santana smiled as Brittany's lips instantly found hers in a much needed kiss.

Santana whimpered as Brittany's tongue wasted no time in wrapping around her own, heating up her entire body in response, and her hands came to rest on Brittany's cheeks. Santana's emotions were already heightened from the events of the night, and now kissing Brittany like this, Santana felt like the happiest person alive. Brittany kissed her with such conviction and purpose, like kissing Santana was her sole purpose on this earth. She kissed Santana exactly how she loved- slowly, deeply and with tongue and passion.

As their kisses deepened and Santana felt Brittany's fingers dig slightly into her hips as she held her in place, Santana moaned loudly and pulled away breathlessly. "I love kissing you," Santana told Brittany through a pant, trying to collect her breath, but Brittany just smirked and flipped them over, before she went straight in to trail her kisses across Santana's neck and jaw. "Oh god," Santana moaned again, her head falling back into the pillows as she exposed more skin for Brittany to kiss.

Brittany's lips kissed against her flushed skin, nipping and sucking and making Santana's heart race even faster. "Hmm," Brittany hummed when Santana's entire body shuddered when she licked at a particularly sensitive spot.

Santana breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling quickly and her hands dropped to the hem of Brittany's top, tugging it at weakly. "Off," she muttered and Brittany smirked into her neck, before pulling back and discarding her shirt onto the floor. "Much better," Santana grinned, her eyes shining as she appreciated the bare milky skin.

She softly dragged her fingertips up Brittany's bare back, before bringing them to swiftly unclasp her bra and leaving Brittany's chest completely naked. Santana licked her lips eagerly and then flipped them again, so that she was on top, her hands immediately cupping Brittany's boobs.

"San," Brittany whispered hoarsely, her throat suddenly dry when Santana flicked her thumbs over her hardening nipples. Santana smiled at her, and Brittany giggled, "yours too."

Santana nodded, quickly moving to pull off her own shirt and throwing her bra onto the floor with Brittany's. Brittany smiled widely and pulled Santana back down, flush against her, and into another heated kiss. Santana's body melted into Brittany and they both moaned loudly at the feeling of their bare chests together, Santana's hips starting to rock into Brittany's slowly.

Santana felt like she was in heaven, the alcohol intensifying every feeling Brittany was giving her, and right now, kissing Brittany and feeling closer to her than ever, Santana couldn't believe that she was ever scared of these feelings.

---

31st December, Lima, 10:30pm

Santana hurried around to the passenger side of her car and opened the door, smiling at Brittany as she helped her out. "Thanks, San," Brittany grinned and pressed a thankful smile to her tanned cheek, "so this is Rachel's house?"

After locking up her car, Santana glanced at the familiar house in front of them and nodded, "yup," she rolled her eyes, lacing her fingers with Brittany's. "I think that everybody is already here," Santana told her.

Brittany nodded, "you ready?"

"I should be asking you that," Santana chuckled, and then gave her a soft smile. "But yeah, I'm totally ready to show off my beautiful girlfriend," Santana winked playfully at Brittany, who blushed slightly and followed Santana into the house.

"I don't know why, but I was expecting all of the walls in her house to be covered in broadway posters," Brittany admitted as she looked around the classy black and white decor in the entrance. Santana snickered in amusement, raising her eyebrows at Brittany.

"You should see her bedroom," Santana agreed and pulled Brittany towards the stairs to the basement, where they could already hear the familiarity of Rachel and Kurt giving everybody a rendition of some broadway song. "Just wait until you see the basement," Santana told her, and Brittany looked at her curiously as she chuckled.

The two walked hand-in-hand down the stairs and Brittany squeezed Santana's hand when they reached the bottom, giving her a reassuring smile. Santana quickly pecked her lips, and when Brittany pulled away to take in the room, her eyes widened, "there's a whole stage?"

Santana laughed loudly, "Rachel's dads are almost as bad as her," she explained.

Brittany nodded hesitantly and Santana pulled her further into the room, and towards the group sitting in front of the stage.

"Oh! Santana and Brittany are here!" Rachel shouted excitedly through her microphone mid-song, effectively getting all eyes to turn to them. Santana rolled her eyes when Brittany shyly inched closer into her side.

"Nice one, Berry," Santana groaned.

Rachel shrugged, jumping off of the stage and wrapping the two in an embrace. "How was your Christmas together at Brittany's?" Rachel asked them with a beaming smile, seemingly forgetting all about her performance.

"Get off me, Rach," Santana huffed, trying to push Rachel away from them both.

"San, don't be mean to Rachel," Brittany laughed, and everybody watching turned from Brittany to Santana, expecting Santana to flip out at Brittany.

"Sorry, Britt," Santana apologised quietly and everybody looked with wide eyes. "What?" Santana snapped, noticing them all staring.

"You just apologised," Quinn stated obviously.

"Yeah," Mercedes agreed, looking between Santana's and Brittany with curiosity. "You never apologise to anybody, unless it's sarcastic or followed by an insult."

Kurt and Rachel cackled loudly, "yeah, right!" Kurt laughed and Santana glared at him.

Brittany looked at Kurt pointedly, "don't instigate," she told him. Then she shrugged at everybody else casually with a smile, "San always apologises."

"See," Santana glared at Kurt again and then reached back for Brittany's hand. "Everybody this is Brittany, my girlfriend," she noticed Quinn and Sam opening their mouths and quickly clarified, "and yes by girlfriend, I mean my girlfriend girlfriend…"

"Shit, Lopez likes girls?" Puck asked, "no wonder you never wanted all up on this."

"Ew," Santana heaved, "but yeah, I like girls, and I love Brittany. So you all better be nice and welcome her otherwise you'll have my fist to answer to," Santana smiled sarcastically.

"I see you've still got your snarky attitude," Puck laughed and then wiggled his eyebrows, "at least you've scored a hot chick!"

"Don't be gross," Santana told him, pulling Brittany in closer to her almost protectively. "Leave Brittany alone," she warned him.

Puck waved his hand at her dismissively with a smirk on his face, "I don't want your girl, Lezbro, I'd probably end up without any teeth if I even tried."

"Ha!" Santana laughed, "you got that right!"

"Since when did you even like girls?" Quinn asked, her questioning voice snapping Santana's attention to her. She could see the guilt in hazel eyes, knowing that Quinn was probably kicking herself for not noticing Santana's sexuality and struggles.

"Always," Santana told her quietly, "I knew that it was always in me, but I just tried to hide it. When Rachel and Kurt told us all that they were going to New York, I knew that it was my chance to finally open myself up. Then, I met Brittany…" Santana trailed off her sentence and smiled bashfully at her girlfriend beside her.

"Do you go to NYC too?" Mercedes asked Brittany, trying to make the conversation lighter.

Brittany shook her head, "no, Juilliard."

Mercedes looked shocked, "Damn girl!"

Santana grinned, "she's amazing!"

Brittany rolled her eyes with a blush- she should be used to Santana bragging about her, but she wasn't, and every time made her cheeks redden shyly. "Yeah…" Brittany agreed quietly, and tried to hide her face in the crook of Santana's neck.

"Wait, so how did you two meet?" Quinn asked and Santana giggled.

"At work," she told Quinn simply, "now, can we talk about the other giant elephant in the room- why the fuck is everybody still sober?"

"We're drinking at a reasonable pace, Santana, unlike you and Britt," Kurt laughed, holding up his cup to show Santana.

Brittany frowned and then glanced round the room as all of the new faces, "is everybody else here lightweights like you two?"

"Just Rachel and Kurt… maybe Mercedes, too," Santana told her with a chuckle, "let's get this party started and do some shots!"

11:54pm

Everybody gathered together in Rachel's backyard, drunkenly huddled together and waiting for the countdown to conclude the year and introduce the next as Finn and Puck set up the fireworks.

Santana smiled dopily at Brittany, her eyes hooded and glistening from the alcohol. She couldn't have imagined how this year would have ended for her, but as she looked at her girlfriend and her friends, Santana thought this was the best ending that she could have asked for. Santana couldn't wait to bring in the new year with her favourite people; she thought that it would be even better than this one.

Everything had changed for her this year. She left Lima- her parents, most of her friends, everything she had ever known. But she had also gained a whole new life in New York- working her first job, starting college, moving into her first apartment with her two best friends (tell them that, and she'll deny it), and fell in love for the first time.

Santana was so in love with Brittany, that it was sometimes painful. She couldn't quite believe just how lucky she had gotten, and she felt even luckier knowing that Brittany loved her back just as much. Brittany was everything Lima was missing, everything she was missing, and Santana couldn't wait to experience every day of the next year with Brittany right by her side.

"You've got that really adorable look of concentration on your face," Brittany's voice gently brought her out of her daydreaming and she quickly whipped her head to the side. Pale arms snaked around her waist as Brittany came up behind her, sneaking under the front of her top and resting flatly on her stomach.

"Fuck," Santana mumbled under her breath as she shivered in reaction to Brittany's touch- partly because of the coldness of her hand, and also partly because of simply just Brittany touching her.

"What ya thinking about?" Brittany asked quietly, before placing a few gentle kisses to the side of Santana's face.

Santana smiled adoringly and turned around in Brittany's embrace to face her, her arms automatically draping over Brittany's shoulders. Santana stepped closer, "you," she whispered, crinkling her nose at Brittany.

Brittany's cheeks naturally turned pink from Santana's comment, and she giggled, "hmm, well aren't you just the cutest fucking person ever!" Brittany tilted her head as she stared dreamily at Santana, her eyes softening.

Santana bit down on her lip, taking a final step closer to Brittany so that they were practically completely flush together. Her heart quickened and she could see as Brittany's eyes dropped down to glance at her lips. "You know I love it when you say fucking," Santana told her with a smirk, and Brittany gave her a knowing look.

"I know…" Brittany agreed and Santana breathed it in as she finally closed the gap between them and kissed Brittany slowly, their lips falling into a very familiar patten that wasn't even slightly effected by the alcohol in them.

However, her ability to breathe properly through kissing Brittany had seemingly been effected and Santana was reluctantly pulling away breathlessly a few minutes later. Her eyes had darkened, and she stared and her girlfriend with an intensity of love, "I love you so much, Brittany," she told her.

"I love you too, baby," Brittany grinned, kissing her cheek, "I'm so proud of how far you have come this year. I love how you are embracing all of your unicorn- you are the best unicorn I have ever met," Brittany told her truthfully.

Santana grinned and opened her mouth, but was cut off when their friends chatter calmed down and turned into a ten-second countdown.

10

9

8

Santana looked at Brittany with a beaming smile, and they just stared at each other, everything around them slipping away.

7

6

Santana couldn't wait to spend every year from now on like this, looking into Brittany's eyes and knowing that everything would be okay.

Everything would be fine, as long as she had Brittany with her.

5

4

"3…" Santana and Brittany simultaneously breathed out, pale hands pulling Santana closer and tanned hands cupping Brittany's cheeks.

"2…" they whispered and when they could hear the cheers and the first firework exploding in the sky, their lips crashed back together.

Santana moaned into Brittany's mouth as their tongues danced around together and Santana felt the warmth of Brittany's kiss in her entire body. Her lips were soft, gentle, but moved so passionately against Santana's that she felt dizzy.

She pulled back in a haze, her eyes fluttering open slowly with a smiling covering her face. "Happy new year, baby," Santana cooed, her thumb affectionately rubbing across Brittany's cheek.

"Definitely the best way to start it," Brittany giggled, "happy new year, San, I can't wait to spend even more time with you."

"I agree," Santana giggled in agreement, and then they were promptly burst out of their bubble when Kurt, Rachel and the rest of the group huddled in on their hug.

"Happy new years!" Rachel cheered, "another year of us all living it up in New York together, aren't you both excited!"

"Oh great," Santana deepened with a chuckle and then laughed louder when Rachel pouted at her- well tried to, she was too drunk, so it wasn't really working for her. "Fine, I'm ecstatic," Santana corrected herself trying to not sound as sarcastic.

"Oh please! You love us," Kurt laughed, and Santana just winked at them both.

"I may or may not ever admit that," Santana raised her cup and took a sip, making Kurt roll his eyes.

"She totally does," Brittany slurred at little with a small smile, looking innocently at Santana as she looked at her with wide eyes.

"Britt!" Santana whined, her bottom lip jutting out, "you aren't supposed to tell them that!"

"Oh," Brittany pouted, "sorry."

"That's okay, baby!" Santana grinned, kissing Brittany's pout off of her face. "Now stop looking so sad before I start to declare my undying love for the Olsen twins."

Brittany giggled and everybody looked at them both with confused frowns, well, everybody except Rachel and Kurt. Santana looked at them expectantly when she noticed them all staring questioningly between the two of them. At least, she thought they were, or that could just be her general drunken paranoia.

"What?" She snapped defensively, instinctively shuffling in closer to Brittany.

"You're different with her," Quinn commented, and it came out as more of a statement than a question.

Santana nodded slowly, "yeah, well, she's my girlfriend… so?"

Quinn shook her head, "no I know, it's just nice for us to see this side of you."

Brittany giggled at Santana, nudging her playfully, "they all totally love your unicorn too, Sanny!" Santana giggled, and sighed happily at her girlfriend, because Brittany was totally right.

Everybody seemed to love her unicorn and Santana couldn't think of why she was so scared of it for so many years- because her unicorn was now her favourite thing about herself.