Chapter 14

Santana would never forget the first birthday she had after she had met Brittany. Her dad had woken her up early like he did every year, kissed her on the head and wished her a happy birthday before heading in to the hospital. Her mother had made breakfast herself, like she did every year, and promised Santana that they would go out to dinner when she got back from work. As Santana got ready for school, she had gotten dozens of birthday texts from her 'friends', mostly just asking when her birthday party was going to be. Quinn had called to remind her that it was important that the party be the best one she had ever thrown, because they were in high school now, and they had to make an impression. She was ready to head out to school with her driver, when the sound of a car pulling into her driveway caught her attention. She walked to the front door and as she pulled it open was assaulted by dozens of balloons and glitter. She was annoyed for only a second, before two blonde heads popped out from behind the balloons, both grinning uncontrollably.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" Brittany and Ashley yelled. Santana bent down and picked up Ashley, who kissed her on the cheek and gave her a huge hug around the neck. Brittany too moved around the balloons, some of which were floating away, and linked her arm through Santana's.

"Do you like them?" She asked after a moment, when Santana still hadn't said anything. Santana had been swallowing thickly, trying not to cry.

"Britt…wow. Yes I love them! Thank you" She turned away from the balloons and looked into Brittany's eyes, trying to convey just how meaningful this was to her.

"Santana dear happy birthday" Susan said, walking up the steps to her front door. "I tried to get them to wait, I was trying to call one of your parents to make sure it was okay-"

"Oh they're both at work. But it's completely okay, they wouldn't care anyway" Santana had interrupted. "Come inside let me put the balloons in my room." Susan nodded and followed Santana and her daughters into the house.

"I'll just wait here dear" Susan told her, stopping before the kitchen. Santana nodded. "Ashley come here" she added as an afterthought.

"Mummy I want to see Santana's room too" Ashley whined, but still jumped down from Santana's arms.

"She can show you another time bug. Go ahead Santana, we'll just be down here." Santana nodded and walked up the stairs leading Brittany.

"So this is my room" she said, as she opened the door. They had only been friends for about two months, and Santana had not yet felt comfortable bringing Brittany to her house. People always treated her differently when they saw how rich she was, and while she usually didn't care, there was something about Brittany that made Santana actually care what she thought about her. Even now she felt strangely self-conscious as Brittany looked around her room.

"It's black" Brittany said turning and smiling widely at Santana. Santana nodded, unsure what to say to this. "Mine's white. We're like Yin and Yang". Santana's smile matched Brittany's.

"Yeah I guess we are."

"Ok so your room is super cool, and I want to come back and look at it properly, but if we don't leave we're gonna be late for school" Brittany informed Santana, who only nodded once again.

"Why are you so quiet today?" Brittany asked her, moving a step closer.

"I just…I don't know. This is really cool of you. No one has ever done this for me before." Santana confessed quietly. Brittany was shocked by this, not sure if Santana was saying no one had ever given her balloons before, or if no one had ever cared so much about her birthday in general. She suspected it was a little bit of both.

"What about Quinn…or your parents." She asked hesitantly.

Santana scoffed. "Quinn didn't even actually wish me happy birthday. She just called to make sure I'm throwing a party worthy of high school." Brittany's eyes widened. "And my parents stopped making a big deal about my birthdays when I was 10. Every year they say we're going to go out for dinner, or cut a cake together or go somewhere special, but they end up cancelling because 'something came up at work'". She didn't know why she was telling Brittany all of this, usually she never told anyone anything about her life, but, and she noticed she thought this a lot, there was just something about Brittany. Something in her eyes that made Santana want to be honest about how much it hurt to have no one care that it was her birthday.

Brittany nodded in understanding and took another step towards Santana. "Quinn's not a very good best friend." She said matter-of-factly. Santana snorted with laughter.

"I wouldn't know"

"What do you mean? Isn't she your best friend?" Santana laughed fully this time.

"No way" she shook her head violently.

"Girls we should get going" Susan yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Brittan grabbed Santana's hand and looked her dead in the eye.

"Well then I'm your best friend" Santana stared into Brittany's eyes, seeing the sincerity in her words, but also something else. She felt as though Brittany was taking her under her wing. As though she had just been adopted into her 'family' like the mafia. She knew that Brittany was telling her that from now on, she would never feel alone again.

For the rest of the day, Brittany kept presenting Santana with gifts. At her locker before first period, Brittany had pulled out a silver charm bracelet, and in her locker Santana found a small black teddy bear holding a red heart that had "Happy B-Day" stitched into it in black thread. At lunch, Santana had gone to retrieve her bag from her locker and had found it filled with candy and several notes with funny birthday lines on them; 'Another year you get older, time to start getting wiser' and 'I suppose I should congratulate you on surviving the earth's revolution around the sun so…happy birthday'. Before cheerios practice, Brittany had given Santana three drawings from Ashley. One was of Santana at the top of the cheerleading pyramid, one was of Ashley, Santana and Brittany together in a pool, and the last one was of Brittany's whole family, and Santana sitting right in the centre. This had been the gift closest to making her cry. She would have, if Quinn hadn't barged in and dragged them to the field.

When school let out, Brittany convinced Santana to come to her house. She wouldn't say it, but she had realised that Santana was going to go home to an empty house for at least 6 hours before her party. When they got to Brittany's house, Susan and Pierce had decorated the whole house with birthday decorations and balloons. There was a table filled with snacks and a cake, with 'Happy birthday Santana' written across it. Santana had burst into tears, unable to handle the range of emotions she was experiencing. She felt love for the Pierces, anger and sadness that her own parents didn't do this for her, and embarrassed that Brittany's parents now knew what her home life was like. Susan had been the first to reach Santana, and had held her in her arms, shushing her and telling her that everything was ok. She leaned forward so she was right beside Santana's ear and whispered,

"We're family now dear. It's okay"

Spending her afternoon with the Pierces had been so awesome that Santana seriously dreaded going to her own party, but Quinn had called her nearly 20 times and eventually Brittany convinced her that she would regret it if she didn't. Even though the party had been like all of her parties, having Brittany made this one so much more fun. She didn't feel like killing anyone, and actually enjoyed herself. That night, Santana had gone to sleep with a smile on her face, feeling happier than she had in a long time. So happy that even the text from her parents cancelling dinner had not upset her. Every year since then, Brittany had made sure that Santana loved her birthday.

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Brittany woke up at 4 am on November 17th and snuck out of the house to Elaine's. She only had to knock once before the door swung open.

"Everything is in the living room. Goodnight" Elaine said briskly. Brittany smiled and whispered

"Thank you"

Heading into the living room. It took her nearly twenty minutes to move everything into her apartment, and another hour to set everything up. At six AM she went out and bought several hundred flowers, Santana's favourite coffee and a breakfast burrito for Quinn. She got back into bed at a quarter to 8, and had just wrapped her arm around Santana's waist when the alarm clock went off. Santana turned around quickly and shut it off, then settled herself facing Brittany, who was pretending to just be waking up.

"Morning baby" Santana said, kissing Brittany softly.

"Morning my love. Happy birthday" Brittany kissed her again, deepening it until they both had to part for air. "I love you so much Santana".

"I love you t-"Santana was cut off as she saw a balloon floating behind Brittany. She sat up and frowned, then she turned to look around the room and gasped. "Brittany Pierce" she said in awe. She was looking at dozens of black balloons, all filled with different pieces of candy, and the number 22 written in gold on all of them. "When did you even do this?"

Brittany shrugged, grinning. Santana looked just like she had the first time Brittany had given her balloons. She finally turned and looked at Brittany with all of the love she could muster.

"You're amazing Brittany" She said, kissing Brittany again. "What else have you done?" Brittany shrugged again." I know there's more" Kissing Brittany one more time Santana made her way out of bed and down the hall to the kitchen and living room. The whole thing was lined with white daisies, their stems painted black and coated in gold flecks. Santana walked slowly, trying to commit every single flower to memory. Finally turning the corner and walking into the space leading to the kitchen and living room, Santana felt tears filling her eyes.

"Aww Brittany! My heart" she said under her breath. She was staring at a large glass box, about her height, filled with letters, and another identical box filled with jelly beans and lollipops. The elites of Candy according to Santana. Beside it was a small pile of presents all wrapped in black and gold wrapping paper. "I'm sensing a theme" she joked. Brittany giggled and nodded, hugging Santana from behind. "What are the letters?"

"Fan mail" Brittany answered.

"What?" Santana asked in astonishment, leaning forward and turning her head to face Brittany.

"I know" Brittany said, raising her eyebrows and nodding in shared shock.

Santana forgot her shock though as she noticed what was on the kitchen island. There was a massive banner with "Happy 22nd" written in gold, a spread of doughnuts and a large cup of coffee. More flowers were scattered all over the island as well.

"Baby… seriously why….are you…so…good to me? When did you do all this?" Santana was cupping Brittany's cheeks, kissing her after every few words.

"Because I love you Santana, and it's your birthday." Brittany answered, ignoring Santana's second question.

"Uhh….woaahhh" Quinn said. Walking into the room. "Did you see the corridor?" She was looking at the glass boxes as she spoke. "Oh Happy birthday Santana" she said, jumping forward and hugging Santana fiercely.

"Thanks Quinn" Santana croaked. When she was released she gave and exaggerated gasp for air, which Quinn rolled her eyes at. "And yes I did see. Britt did it."

"It's so awesome. You guys have forever ruined love for me you know?" Quinn said in mock annoyance.

"Yeah, Britt is totally awesome" Santana said, smiling at Brittany.

"What's with the letter? Don't tell me it's reasons you love her or I'm seriously going to throw up"

Brittany laughed. "Relax. It's fan mail." Quinn gasped and spun around to look at the box again.

"What? Really?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes really" Brittany answered.

"All of it?" Santana asked sceptically. "For me?"

"Yes Santana. Let's go open some and see."

An hour later, Quinn, Brittany, Elaine and Puck sat reading fan mail. Some of it was not letters, but photos, drawings or songs people had written that they wanted her to sing.

"Wow listen to this..." Puck said, getting everyone's attention.

"Dear Santana, My name is Rachel, I am from Brazil. I saw your many videos on youtube and I have fallen in love with you. There are so few Latina musicians for our generation, and you represent us beautifully. The way you integrate Spanish into your songs is so different from other artists. You aren't doing it to seem different, you aren't doing it to prove you're ethnicity, you're doing it because it's who you are. Your music is authentic and I have downloaded all of them so far. You inspire me and so many other Hispanics to just be who we are, not what the whites think we are. I am a huge fan of yours, and I hope to one day be able to tell you how much you mean to me in person. I love you!"

Santana stared at Puck in utter shock. She could not wrap her head around the fact that there was someone in Brazil that knew who she was.

"Oh gosh, listen to this one…" Quinn said.

"Hi Santana, my name is Macy, I'm 13 years old and live in Lima Ohio. My sister told me that you also come from Lima Ohio. She's 17, and she's the one who showed me your videos. I love you so much! Your voice is like the voice of an angel, but mostly I love you because you are a lesbian. I think I am a lesbian too, and my sister told me that it's not normal. But when I watch your videos and see you having fun with your friends and dancing with your girlfriend, it looks very normal to me, so I think my sister lied, or she was wrong. I think a lot of people in Lima are wrong. If you can be so happy, and become famous and sing for the whole world, and look so gorgeous too, then I think I can too. Thank you for showing me that. You make me believe that I will one day get out of Lima and find where I belong. Where people love and accept me. I hope you come back to Lima so I can meet you."

Quinn finished and looked up at Santana, the same astonishment reflected in her eyes. Everyone was silent as they took in the actual impact Santana was having.

"I didn't know I was…I mean I haven't done anything." Santana said, speaking to herself but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"You don't have to do anything. People are being inspired by just you being you, and they should" Brittany said, grabbing Santana's hand. "You're showing people that it's ok to be Hispanic, gay and a woman. You making it shows people that they can too Santana."

Santana seemed in a daze. She nodded slowly, but unconvincingly. She was wringing her hands together like she always did when she was panicking, and her breathing had picked up slightly.

"Ok, let's just take a minute. We can read more later, or another day" Puck said, placing the letter he was holding into the 'read' pile and standing up.

"Yeah" Brittany agreed. "S stand up, we have a birthday to celebrate." She stood up too and pulled Santana up by the hand she had been holding.

"Yeah ok…a birthday?"

"Your birthday" Quinn said, standing up too.

"Right yeah" Santana said, shaking her head and refocusing on the conversation.

"Alright what's the plan?" Elaine asked, remaining seated.

Brittany looked at Santana and grinned. "Well you guys may want to leave for about two hours,"

"Oh gross!" Quinn groaned, covering her ears. Santana laughed.

"What? It's tradition." Brittany said, still grinning. "So you guys leave, and then we can go out for lunch"

Puck high fived Brittany and headed to go get changed while Quinn showered and Elaine left to her apartment.

20 minutes later, Puck and Quinn walked out of the apartment. Brittany turned the lock and then turned to look at Santana.

"They're gone" she whispered, walking towards Santana. "And you are wearing too many clothes."

"Oh sorry" Santana said smirking. She lifted her shirt up slowly, taking in a sharp breath as she felt Brittany's hands on her stomach, following her shirt up as she pulled it off. When the shirt was off, Brittany moved her hands further upwards, trailing up Santana's neck and then cupping her cheeks.

"A bit better" She said before capturing Santana's lips with hers. She licked her top lip with her tongue, and when Santana parted her lips, she hesitated momentarily, feeling Santana's breath on her face, and then snaked her tongue into her mouth, exploring it fully before meeting Santana's tongue. Santana suddenly pulled Brittany's shirt upwards, forcing them to separate so that it could pass her head, but before the shirt hit the floor their lips were connected again.

Brittany began to walk forward, forcing Santana back until she hit the Kitchen Island, then Brittany bent down and caught Santana by her thighs, lifting her upwards and resting her on top of it. Santana moaned into Brittany's mouth as she landed on the counter, and pulled her so close to her that their breasts were pressing together. They both moaned at the contact. Brittany used one hand to pull Santana's head back roughly by her hair, while the other unbuttoned her jeans. She trailed kisses from Santana's mouth down her chin and along the side of her neck. She nibbled on the point just below Santana's ear, breathing heavily so that her breath tickled Santana's ear.

"Fuck B" Santana breathed out, beginning to squirm as she looked for some pressure between her legs. Brittany smirked and moved the hand that had been playing with the hem of Santana's underwear upwards to her boobs. First she cupped the left breast and squeezed, making Santana arch her back slightly. Then her index finger moved in slow circles around the nipple, which was hardening rapidly. After a few seconds, when Santana's breathing had gotten heavier, she lowered her head and nipped at the right nipple through the bra.

Santana's back arched violently now, and her hand shot up to the back of Brittany's head, pushing her breast further into her mouth. Brittany moved a hand to Santana's back and unclasped her bra, which Santana threw off quickly, hurriedly guiding Brittany's mouth back to her nipple. When she felt Brittany's wet tongue against her skin she moaned loudly, throwing her head back. Brittany took turns ravishing each breast, leaving small hickies on each one before she could no longer take the aching of her own core. She pulled Santana closer against her and then grabbed her ass.

"Lock your ankles babe" she husked, her voice thick with arousal. When she felt that Santana had complied, she stepped back from the counter top. As she walked to their bedroom, Santana kissed along the side of her face, licked and bit her lips and jaw, and then began a descent to her neck. She had to pause several times, too aroused to properly see where she was going. Finally, she entered their room and walked quickly to the bed, where she dropped Santana.

As soon as she hit the bed, Santana was removing her pants, while Brittany had thrown off her own bra, and pushed down her pants, leaving on the underwear. Santana pouted.

"Don't pout Santana, we can think of a fun way to take them off later." Brittany said, crawling up the bed and positioning herself between Santana's legs. They kissed passionately for several minutes, hands roaming each other's bodies. Brittany then pulled away and tugged Santana down the bed, so that she was lying flat. She licked down Santana's neck and between her breasts, then stopped just above her belly button.

"I love every single part of you Santana" she said, looking up at Santana who was looking up at the ceiling.

"I lo…I love you t..too Brittany" Santana stuttered. She was finding it hard to form thoughts as she felt Brittany's breath on her lower stomach, so close to her throbbing clit, and Brittany's fingers pinching her nipples.

"I love every mole, birth mark and beauty spot" Brittany said, rubbing her breasts up and down Santana's mound, trying to ignore her growing lust as she smelled Santana's juices, and felt them coating her chest.

"Every one?" Santana managed to ask, almost shaking with anticipation, knowing what Brittany was going to do next.

Brittany licked the collection of beauty spots below Santana's belly button. Santana shivered. Brittany moved her head to Santana's right side and licked a small mole there. Santana shivered again. Brittany moved lower until her face was between Santana's legs. She kissed a beauty spot high up in the inner centre of Santana's right thigh, making her moan. She kissed the same leg on the knee, where Santana had a birth mark, then she moved to the other leg, raised it and kissed the calf, where another birth mark was. She then kissed up Santana's leg, as close to her centre as possible without actually touching it, and looked at Santana.

"Every single one" she said, making sure to breath directly onto her glistening lips. Santana's whole body tensed, and she seemed to be holding her breath. Her hands were clutching the sheets at her sides in a fist and her eyes were closed tightly as though she was in deep concentration.

"Santana" Brittany called. The second Santana looked down at her, Brittany flicked her tongue through Santana's wet folds.

"Fuuuuck" Santana moaned out, letting out the breath she had been holding and arching her back off the bed. Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana's thighs and pushed them apart. She kissed her pussy lips twice before separating them with her tongue and taking a long lick, stopping at Santana's clit. She could feel Santana trembling with desire.

"You like that baby?" She asked, kissing her lower lips again.

Santana took in a deep breath and nodded. "So good" She said. Her voice was deeper than usual and had acquired the sexy raspiness that drove Brittany crazy. Brittany took another long lick, stopping again at the clit. Santana groaned and bucked her hips.

"What do you want baby?" Brittany asked, blowing on Santana's now dripping pussy.

"Take it in your mouth"

Brittany supressed a shiver at the lust dripping from Santana's every word. She had wanted to tease her more, but she found herself unable to deny the request. She moved her head upwards, licked Santana's clit rapidly once, twice, three times, and then took it suddenly into her mouth.

"Ohh fffuck" Santana practically growled, spurring Brittany on. She sucked on her clit and licked it simultaneously, something that always sent Santana into a frenzy.

"Oh God Bitt. Shit just like that….Oh God…Oh God Brittany" Santana was breathing quickly now, and her hands were moving all over her body, squeezing her breasts, rubbing her stomach, clutching the sheets, tangling in Brittany's hair. It was like she couldn't decide what would feel most good.

Brittany let go of one of Santana's thighs, feeling her way upwards until it rested on one of her breasts, then she lowered herself flat on her stomach and brought the other hand close to her mouth. As she grazed Santana's clit gently with her teeth, she entered her with two fingers.

Santana gasped, raising her hips, and let out a long high pitched moan. Brittany moaned as well, feeling wetness pool in her underwear as she witness Santana writhing in pleasure.

"Come here" Santana said breathlessly, pulling Brittany's hair to bring her upwards. Brittany kissed her clit one more time and then crawled up Santana's body, her one hand still moving in and out of her at a slow pace. "God Britt you feel so good" Santana breathed into her mouth as she kissed Brittany recklessly, tasting herself on her lips and tongue.

"Yeah?" Brittany asked, picking up her pace slightly and moving to kiss Santana's neck.

"God yes!" Santana nearly shouted, as Brittany hit a particularly sensitive spot inside her. "I love how your fingers feel inside me baby. You make me so wet. Can you feel it?"

Brittany moaned deeply, moving her fingers faster and deeper in Santana. She could feel it. Santana's juices were coating her fingers, and she could feel it dripping down the palm of her hand. "Yeah" she finally breathed out.

"For you baby. You do this to me" Santana said, her voice straining as she moaned again. Brittany bit down on Santana's nipple and added a third finger as she penetrated her.

"Oh FUCK BRITT" Santana yelled. "I'm so close baby" her grip on Brittany's hair tightened.

"Yeah" Brittany moaned more than asked. Santana just nodded. Brittany brought her thumb to circle and push against Santana's clit.

"Oh yeah…yeah Britt don't stop. Fuck fuck fuck" Santana's back was again arched off the bed. Brittany used her body to push her back onto the bed, moaning as the felt Santana's full naked body against her then lowered her head and whispered into Santana's ear.

"Cum for me Santana. Come on my fingers"

Santana's eyes fluttered closed and she threw her arms around Brittany, holding her tight against her body. Brittany could feel every shudder and quake that Santana's body made as juices rushed over her fingers and into the palm of her hand.

"Fuuuck" Santana moaned out, loosening her grip on Brittany. She turned her head and kissed Brittany slowly and lazily, clamping her thighs together when she tried to remove her fingers. "Wait" she whispered. Brittany nodded and propped her head on her hand, hovering over Santana.

"You're so beautiful" Brittany told her.

Santana blushed and used one hand to cover her face.

"How can you blush at me calling you beautiful after what we just did?" Brittany asked incredulously. Without lifting her hand Santana shrugged.

"It's different" she said simply. Brittany giggled and kissed Santana's hand until she removed it from her face.

"I love you so much you weirdo" she told her.

Santana's eyes softened, and Brittany felt the mood shift. Santana pulled Brittany's hand from out of her, shivering at the loss, brought the fingers to her lips and put each one in her mouth. She swirled her tongue around them and then released them with a loud smack. Brittany's forgotten arousal shot like lightening through her stomach straight to her clit, which throbbed. Santana leaned up and kissed her, then swung her leg around Brittany's waist and flipped them smoothly.

"Fuck" Brittany said. "I love it when you do that".

"I know" Santana said coolly, kissing down Brittany body. The way she licked and nibbled Brittany's nipples worked her up so quickly that Brittany could not stand anymore teasing.

"Santana" she said quietly. Santana looked at her and winked, then continued to kiss down her body until she settled between her legs. She kissed each thigh from the knee up to the centre, making Brittany squirm and her breathing quicken so that it was almost like she was hyperventilating. Then she caught Brittany's underwear between her teeth and dragged it down, stopping to let Brittany raise her hips, and then using her hands to pull them off her legs.

Suddenly, and without warning, Santana plunged her tongue into Brittany's pussy. She went straight into her extremely wet hole as deep as she could go, then pulled out, pressed her tongue flat against her folds and licked all the way up to her clit. She did this many more times, then just as Brittany was about to beg, she pulled her clit into her mouth.

"Ooooooh" Brittany drawled out. "Fuck meeee"

Santana moaned when Brittany cursed, and let her clit pop out of her mouth.

"You like that baby?" she asked her, sticking her tongue out and drawing figures around Brittany's clit, occasionally brushing over it. Brittany shuddered and bucked her hips up each time she felt Santana's wet tongue against her furiously throbbing clit.

"Yes baby. I love your mouth on my pussy. You're so good" Brittany knew how much Santana loved dirty talk. Santana moaned and plunged her tongue back into Brittany.

"Fuck me with your fucking tongue Santana" Santana picked up her pace, spurred on by Brittany's moaning and filthy words. Brittany reached down and grabbed Santana's hair, pulling harshly, though not hard enough to hurt. Santana brought her left hand over Brittany's thigh and began to rub, pinch and flick her clit as fast as she could.

"Yeah baby….oh fuck don't stop" Brittany moaned, pushing Santana's head closer to her pussy and spreading her legs wider. "Don't stop Santana I'm gonna cum"

Santana licked and sucked and fucked, alternating quickly and shoving her tongue into Brittany as deep as it would.

"Fuck….Santana Holy F…F..UUCK SANTANA" Brittany yelled, cuming hard into Santana's mouth. Santana didn't stop her assault until Brittany pushed her head back, her whole body convulsing with the power of her orgasm. Santana felt her own lust rising again as she watched Brittany cum. She ran her arms over Brittany's body, over her abs, clutching her breast, but not squeezing them. She then followed the trail her hands had followed with her lips, planting kisses as Brittany's body relaxed and her breathing returned to normal.

"You're so fucking sexy" Santana said, kissing Brittany neck and then laying on top of her, hearing her heartbeat and tracing a finger up and down her abs. "You're so sexy I could cry"

Brittany laughed and lifted up Santana's head so she could look at her. "Are you trying to tell me you want to go again?" she asked her, raising one eyebrow.

"That too. But I'm also just telling you facts" Santana said smirking. "It's ok if you're tired"

Brittany clutched her chest in mock offense. "Excuse me. My stamina is better than yours"

Santana closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm going to need proof."

"Proof huh?" Brittany asked, looking at the alarm clock and pretending to think. "I think we could find some in the shower" Santana nodded and got off the bed, holding out a hand for Brittany to take.

"I think we better go check."

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"Do you think it's safe to enter?" Puck asked as he, Quinn and Elaine stood outside the door to Santana and Brittany's apartment.

"They said two hours, we've given them an extra 45 minutes. It should be fine." Elaine said. Puck nodded, but Quinn looked unconvinced.

"Wait Noah" she put a hand on Puck's shoulder as he was about to open the door. "This is Britt and Santana"

Puck nodded in understanding, then frowned. "But I'm so hungry" He complained.

"Maybe we should go to a restaurant and tell them to meet us there." Elaine suggested.

"They won't come. We have to go together or else they'll convince each other to blow us off" Quinn said.

"Fuck this then" Elaine said, and she walked forward and opened the door….or she tried to open the door.

"Locked"

"Of course they locked it" Quinn said in exasperation. "We might as well go to lunch without them"

Puck began banging furiously on the door and yelling "open up! Open up! Stop having sex and let's go" over and over again like a chant. Close to ten minutes later, after Quinn had called both Santana and Brittany's phones relentlessly, the door swung open and Puck nearly fell over.

"Are you guys serious??!" Santana asked angrily.

"It's 12:20 Santana, an hour later than we were supposed to come. So go get dressed and let's go." Elaine said, brushing past her.

"Gross Santana, couldn't you pick up your clothes as you came to open the door?" Quinn yelled, as Santana walked towards her room.

"NO" Santana yelled back.

"Why is she always so difficult?" Quinn asked nobody in particular.

"Wouldn't be Santana if she wasn't." Puck told her smirking.

"Is that the shower?" Elaine asked in disbelief. "Wasn't her hair wet when she answered the door?"

Puck guffawed and slapped his thigh. "I bet they had tons of shower sex. Now they actually have to get clean. Go Lopez-Pierce!"

"Shut up Noah…that's so disgusting I don't wanna think about that." Quinn grimaced.

"Maybe they're doing it right now" Puck said, wiggling his eyebrows. Quinn threw a couch pillow at Puck's head while he laughed at her dramatics.

"15 minutes and I'm going to get them" Quinn said, looking at her phone to check the time.

It turned out that Quinn's threat was unnecessary. Brittany and Santana had come out of the shower in 10 minutes, and only took another ten to get dressed. By 1 PM, they were all walking out the door.

"Ok where to?" Brittany asked, as she opened the passenger door for Santana, kissing her temple as she sat down.

"Thank you baby" Santana said. Brittany winked at her.

"I heard of this place on Cedar" Quinn said. "I think they're like a lunch lounge bar type thing."

"Where did you hear that?" Santana asked.

"At work" Quinn told her. Brittany and Santana turned round to face her, completely taken aback by her response. "What?"

"What do you mean 'at work'?" Brittany asked.

Quinn stared back at them. "What did you guys think I do all day when you leave the house?" Brittany and Santana looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Puck and Elaine knew" Quinn added, buckling her seatbelt.

"Ok…well…where do you work?" Brittany asked slowly, finally turning back to face Quinn.

"At a bar"

"What?" Santana asked in bewilderment. "Hold on a second Fabray…what the hell are you working in a bar for? What about Yale?"

Quinn looked uncomfortably at Elaine, then sighed. "We're really going to do this now aren't we?" she asked in a defeated tone.

Santana frowned at Elaine, then looked at Brittany. Brittany shrugged.

"What the hell is going on Quinn" Santana asked her. Quinn closed her eyes as if in anguish.

"I left Yale" she finally said. There was silence as Santana tried to understand what she was hearing.

"Why would you do that?" Santana asked, growing angry. "Was this your idea?" Santana accused Elaine.

"What? Santana are you serious?" Elaine asked defensively.

"Well…she looked at you, what did that look mean if it wasn't your idea?" Santana asked, her voice raising.

"Santana I don't think-"

"And you knew about this?" Santana rounded on Puck, who had tried to speak. "Why the hell wouldn't you talk her out of it? You know how much it meant for her to go there after….everything."

"Santana stop" Quinn yelled, before Santana could continue her accusations. "Just stop. This is why I didn't want to tell you. It wasn't Elaine's idea, I just told her about it a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to figure out how to tell you. And Puck didn't even know till now"

Santana was frowning deeply. "Why are you being so stupid Quinn?" she asked her. "What on earth would possess you to drop out of college? Of YALE" Santana yelled.

"I don't know Santana…It wasn't right for me to be there. I'd been feeling so empty since I started there. I tried to fill my time with secret societies and being the best, affairs with my professors…I mean what was that?"

"That was pretty dumb" Santana agreed, "about as dumb as you dropping out."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "That's not why I left though. When I got here and saw how you guys were just living your dreams and being happy together, I thought… 'I want this'-"

"So you dropped out of Yale because Britt and I are in love. Are you serious?" Santana asked, her anger peaking.

"I don't think that's-" Brittany tried to speak, but was cut off by Quinn.

"SANTANA WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LET ME TALK"

Santana narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, but didn't speak. Quinn exhaled loudly.

"Look, I got here and you guys had just moved on from high school. You'd completely let go of the masks we'd made for ourselves, you'd even moved away from and excommunicated our friends. Meanwhile, I was at Yale still trying to be the top bitch slash perfect girl next door. I hadn't changed at all. But when I was here, I could just be me. You guys…you're good for me. I need you guys. So I called my mum and we talked about it, and I decided I'm not going back."

Brittany was looking at Quinn with a warm smile, nodding in understanding, but Santana was still frowning.

"What Santana?" Quinn asked her, irritated.

"Oh I can speak now?" Santana asked sarcastically.

"Baby don't do that. You're best friend is trying to tell you something important." Brittany said quietly, reaching for Santana's hand. But Santana jerked her hand away, still frowning at Quinn.

"Oh my best friend is trying to tell me something? I guess I should just shove away all my feelings about this and just accept what she's telling me"

"Santana"

"No Quinn…you know what, fine…maybe you weren't meant for Yale, maybe it is better for you to stay here, but I'm allowed to be mad. You've been here for months! You live in my apartment and we see each other every day. Before that, when Britt and I were still in New York, you visited once a month and we Skyped all of the time."

Brittany sighed, understanding what Santana was really upset about. Quinn continued to glare at her.

"So?" Quinn asked.

Santana scoffed. "SO…you had plenty of opportunities to tell me how you were feeling while you were at Yale. To talk to me about it, I could have helped you. Instead….you just dropped out and got a job and didn't even tell me."

Quinn closed her eyes, feeling the guilt wash over her. Without realising it, Quinn had just admitted to Santana that she had been doing for months what Santana hated most. Keeping secrets. She sat in silence, thinking hard. Her next words would have to be carefully chosen, otherwise this could really blow up.

"Santana, do you even know how important to me you are?" She started. Santana blinked, shocked by the sudden change in Quinn's voice. She sounded close to tears. Brittany smiled in approval. Only Quinn would be able to get out of this kind of conflict with Santana. Besides herself obviously.

Santana didn't say anything, so Quinn continued. "You're my oldest friend. You're the only person who can go toe to toe with me when I'm being bitchy, you call me out on my shit, you're the best slapper I've come across, and you have my back. We've been through so much Santana and it was ugly for a really long time, but you've always been there. Since kindergarten, you've always been there. Then we graduated and you weren't there anymore, and I mean in more than just the physical sense. You were going through a lot with Britt and you were always busy, and I'm pretty sure you were depressed."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic" her tone was still annoyed, but it had lost its previous bite.

"Then you moved to New York and I was jealous because you were with all these other people and I was hearing stuff about you from Rachel, but you still weren't really talking to me."

"Yes I did, I called you all the time" Santana defended.

"Yeah, but it was short calls, and they were completely superficial. We didn't talk about anything real. Occasionally you'd tell me about how you feel about Britt, or about Dani, but that was it. We weren't really close anymore."

Santana bit her lip and nodded. Brittany turned and looked out the window, understanding completely what Quinn was saying. She had been in the same position with Santana before.

"When you got back with Britt you were so happy. You were different, and I was so happy for you."

Santana smiled.

"And I was so glad to have you back to normal that I didn't want to ruin it by telling you that I was kind of not happy in Yale, but didn't know why. So I said I'd tell you when I figured it out. I only figured it out when I came here, but then I was scared you'd be mad at me…like you are now" Quinn smirked and Santana laughed, uncrossing her arms.

"Alright alright, let's stop with the emotional dramatics please. I forgive you." Santana said raising her hands in surrender.

"Thank god" Puck said. "I thought that was the end of the birthday celebrations."

"So you moving out here?" Brittany asked Quinn.

"I might…yeah." Santana smiled widely. Brittany whooped.

"The unholy trinity united again!" she exclaimed. Turning back to the front and starting the car.

"Unholy trinity?" Elaine asked. Puck barked out a laugh.

"They didn't tell you about that?" He asked, raising his eyebrow at Quinn. "How could they tell you anything about them without mentioning that?" and he proceeded to tell her about the reign of Brittany, Quinn and Santana.