Chapter 11

They walked into the hotel an hour later, Santana running ahead, with Brittany just behind her, carrying Ashley on her back.

"Where to next captain?" Ashley asked Santana, who was looking around for directions to the hotel dining area.

"I must seek guidance young apprentice. Stay here and keep watch over the noble steed" Santana responded in a fake British accent.

Brittany neighed and jumped up and down, imitating a horse.

"Aye aye captain" Ashley said, saluting Santana.

Santana nodded, and then walked to the reception desk to ask where the hotel restaurant was.

"I'm sorry miss, but you can't eat there unless you're guest, or accompanied by a guest." The receptionist said, not even looking up from his computer.

"We're meeting our parents" Santana said, trying to ignore his rudeness.

The man looked up at her, and then looked behind her at Brittany and Ashley, who were now running around the lobby, Brittany neighing loudly. Santana fought a laugh.

"Right…" He said. "Room number?" He asked. Clearly not believing her.

Santana rolled her eyes. "I don't know that. Can't I just give you their names?"

"I'm afraid not. You could have heard of someone staying here and decide to use their name. I need to call the room to confirm with them that they are expecting you." He looked back at his computer.

Deciding to be the biggest pain this guy has ever seen, Santana turned back to Ashley and yelled.

"Apprentice!"

"Captain?" Ashley yelled back. Brittany made to move closer to Santana but she shook her head.

"Tame your steed" she said, winking at Brittany.

"Woaah there. Calm down girl." Ashley said, petting Brittany's hair as Brittany pretended to be bucking. When she was calm Ashley looked back at Santana. "Have you been given guidance? A map per chance"

"No." Santana said, looking back at the receptionist. "He asks that we provide the numeral code of our parents living quarters" Santana replied.

Ashley scrunched up her face in confusion as she tried to work out what Santana was saying. Finally, her eyes widened in understanding and she jumped down from Brittany's back.

"I will ask them. I pray you give me but a moment captain." She said, pulling Brittany's phone from her pocket without even asking.

Santana nodded her consent, and then turned back to the receptionist.

"She's just going to call them and ask what room they're in." She said, as though the whole lobby had not heard their conversation.

"Wonderful" he said sarcastically. Santana internally patted herself on the back, noticing his annoyance. "Did you need to yell those instructions across the room?"

Santana looked him dead in the eye and smiled.

"Captain!" Ashley yelled, before Santana could reply. She spun around to face the little girl and cleared her throat, noticing that the other people in the lobby seemed highly amused.

"Speak!" Santana yelled.

"I have the desired digits. Ready to convey to you at your leave"

Santana smiled, amazed at how well Ashley was slipping into this weird 1920s British navy English they were speaking.

"Proceed then" Santana said. "Loud and clear now" She added, trying to hide her smirk.

She heard Ashley clear her throat.

"The Pierce clan, 1-3-2-2" she paused, and Santana turned to the receptionist.

"Room 1322" she relayed, grinning at the annoyed way he nodded his head. "Next!" She yelled back to Ashley.

"Lopez clan, 3-1-0-0" Ashley bellowed, making Brittany wince.

"Room-" she was cut off by the receptionist.

"Yes yes I heard. Thank you." He said, clearly very annoyed, as he punched in the number into his computer. Then he paused and looked at Santana with a look she couldn't place.

"What?" She asked.

"That's our executive suite." He said, swallowing thickly.

Understanding dawned on Santana. She smirked at him. "Is it?"

"Yes. Sorry Mrs Lopez, I'll show you to the restaurant immediately. Right this way." He said quickly. Santana could not contain her laughter at the man's change in attitude.

"You don't mind me telling them to follow do you?" she asked sweetly.

"Not at all" he said, shaking his head rapidly.

"Apprentice!" She yelled, louder than before. "Gather your steed and hasten forward. We have ourselves a guide."

"Aye Aye captain" Ashley said, as Brittany bent down to allow her to jump up and then 'galloped' towards Santana.

Once they reached the restaurant, Santana heard the receptionist tell a waiter that their first drinks need to be on the house before he turned to them.

"Here you are ladies. I hope you enjoy your meal"

"Apprentice, what do we have to say to this man?" Santana asked Ashley.

"Thank you dearly kind sir. You have saved us much meandering and wasted time. Safe journey to you!" She wasn't yelling, but it was still a bit too loud for normal conversation.

The man nodded, looking uncomfortable.

"Don't you have any kind words to return?" Santana asked him.

He nodded again. "Uhh…Not at all fair lady. It was a pleasure."

Santana and Brittany bit their lips to keep from laughing, while Ashley beamed and nodded her head.

After that, the waiter showed them to a table and gave them menus.

"What was that Santana?" Brittany asked once the waiter was gone.

"He was being an….rude. I decided to mess around with him a bit, annoy him as much as possible. But then he found out my mum was in the executive suite." Santana chuckled.

"Ahhh that makes sense." Brittany said, nodding in amusement.

"Do you know what you wanna drink Ash?" Santana asked her. But Ashley didn't reply. "Ash?" there was still no reply. Then Santana understood.

"Young apprentice!"

"Captain" she said instantly.

"Might you know what you want to quench your thirst?"

"I must admit that these strange drinks befuddle me. However, this one has milk in the title, so I shall try my hand at it."

Brittany laughed at her sister's dedication to the game.

"What is that pray tell?" Santana asked.

"Some concoction named, 'oreo milkshake'" Ashley said, reading the words slowly like a foreign language.

Santana nodded slowly. "A brave choice that is"

"What about you captain?"

Santana looked at Brittany. They had started a game a few years ago where Brittany always orders Santana's first drink at a new restaurant.

"Hmmm" Brittany said, looking over the drinks menu. Then she pointed at a drink on the menu. Santana burst out laughing.

"What?" Ashley asked.

"She has selected a form of…"Santana struggled to find a word. "Mead I suppose we could call it, dubbed 'single ladies'."

Ashley laughed.

"I found it fitting captain, considering that it what you are." Brittany said smirking.

"Indeed." Santana said. "Maybe it shall bestow some luck unto me and I shall find a lovely maiden"

Ashley giggled. "You guys are silly"

"What was that young apprentice?" Santana asked in mock alarm.

Ashley sat straighter in her seat. "I said the pair of you are rather amusingly strange" she corrected.

Brittany and Santana laughed.

"What's so funny kids?" they heard Pierce call as he approached the table. Brittany and Santana stood up to greet them.

Before they could answer, Susan and Maribel had grabbed Santana and Brittany into big hugs.

"How are you girls? How was Ashley last night? Behaved herself today?" Susan asked.

"Of course I did mother." Ashley said.

"Fancy accent dear, what's the game?" Pierce asked.

"Not sure what you speak of father."

The Pierces laughed. "Alright well whatever is going on, can you drop it till after dinner. This mother/ father stuff is weird." Susan said.

Ashley looked towards Santana.

"Alright, at ease for now young apprentice." Santana said after a moment, pretending to be really torn up about it.

"Okayy" Ashley said, slightly disappointed.

The waiter came back and took their drink orders, and then they all launched into stories about their day.

"And then she chased me all the way home" Santana finished.

Pierce was beaming at her, obviously happy that his youngest daughter was acting like a kid again, Brittany was laughing, and Maribel and Susan looked slightly disapproving.

"Mija you mean to tell me that you let this child run around on the streets?" Maribel asked her.

"Ma, I was never that for from her, and it's not like we were crossing roads when the light was green. Plus she's fine."

"By the grace of god" Susan said.

"Muumm" Ashley whined. "I'm not a baby. Plus it was so much fun."

"Come on dear, they're clearly both fine and they had a blast." Pierce interjected.

Susan sighed, a sign that she was going to let it go. Maribel however, was still going on.

"Seriously Santana, I shudder to think about what you will be like with your own kids."

Without hesitating, Brittany cut in. "Santana's going to be an awesome mum."

Santana tuned and smiled at her, mouthing 'thank you baby'.

"Definitely!" Ashley added. "Your kids are going to have so much fun with both of you as parents."

Both Brittany and Santana blushed.

"While we're on the subject, when will you be giving us some grandbabies?" Susan asked.

Santana choked on her drink. "Not for a while ma" Brittany said, rubbing Santana's back.

"We aren't even married yet. Can we deal with one thing at a time?" Santana asked, waving down a waiter and asking for some water.

"AHA! So you are still planning on getting married then. I was scared you had cancelled it, or worse yet, gone and gotten married without us." Maribel declared.

"Why would we do that mami?" Santana asked.

"I don't know why you do a lot of things Santana." Maribel said, making the table laugh.

"I have to admit I thought you cancelled it too girls" Susan said.

"Why?" Ashley asked.

"Well…they've been engaged for I think, eight months now?" Susan said, raising an eyebrow at both girls. They both nodded.

"Just about" Santana said.

"So?" Ashley asked.

"Well, that's about as long as it takes to plan a wedding. Unless they're about to tell us we were actually invited here for the wedding, which would really annoy me because I have nothing to wear, then they've spent eight months engaged without planning a single thing." Maribel said.

Brittany and Santana looked at each other. They had gotten engaged before they decided to move, and you can't exactly take back an engagement. So they had decided to wait until they were settled into their new life in San Jose before beginning wedding planning. But then both of their careers had become so hectic, and Santana had all these new things to think about, like tour dates and record releases and stuff that they had just never talked about it. They both didn't see the problem with a long engagement. After all, they couldn't really see how life would be different after the ceremony, besides the name change. They were both fine waiting.

"I don't see why there's a rush. They've basically been married since they got back together. And if marriage is forever, why rush an engagement?" Ashley said.

Everyone looked at her with wide eyes.

"What?" she asked.

"You're a real genius kiddo" Santana said. "She's exactly right. Britt and I don't mind waiting. Our lives are so hectic right now, and we want to really cherish our wedding, not just remember it as another thing that we had to do the year we moved and started new jobs and I got signed and went on tours and everything. You know?"

"That makes perfect sense" Pierce said, smiling. "You're mothers will learn to be patient, you guys take your time."

"As long as you don't get married without me nena" Maribel said sternly.

"I promise when we get married, you'll be right up front ma" Santana said seriously.

*******************************************************************************

Chaos, is the word Brittany would use to describe the morning of Santana's first performance. Santana was in one of the foulest moods anyone had ever seen her in, so that she was speaking in a near constant stream of Spanish that Brittany wished she didn't understand. At first Quinn and Puck tried to ease her nerves by making jokes, but after Brittany had to drag her away for fear that she might actually kill them, they had quickly stopped. Eventually everyone had been banished to their parents' hotel rooms to wait for show time.

Brittany was now watching Santana fight with her make up. She had been sitting at the dresser, applying and reapplying the same eyeliner for almost 20 minutes, and Brittany wasn't sure if it was kinder to let her continue or to stop her.

"Fucking piece of shit eye pencil" Santana shouted, as she threw the pencil at the mirror.

Brittany exhaled deeply and stood up from her place on the bed. "Santana…enough." She said, in a soothing voice. She placed her hands on Santana's shoulders and squeezed.

Santana tried to shrug off her hands but Brittany remained in place. "Britt I don't…"

"Shut up"

Santana stared at her in shock.

"I'm begging you right now, as your girlfriend and future wife, and as your best friend. Please stop. I hate seeing you like this."

Santana lowered her eyes and shook her head.

"Why are you fighting what you're feeling? It's normal to be scared."

"I'm not scared Britt. I'm terrified. If this doesn't work that's it. It means I'm not god enough. Everything my grandmother told me would be true and I really couldn't take that Brittany. I feel like if this doesn't work…if it turns out that nobody gives a fuck about my singing…" her voice cracked and she trailed off.

"Santana…"

"I don't think I'll be able to move on if that happened Britt."

"Santana, listen to me." Brittany moved around to Santana's side and turned her body to face her. She then used her index finger to push Santana's head up by her chin. "First of all, people will give a fuck about your singing, because you're singing is beautiful. You have such passion and soul, and you sing with emotions that just flow through your voice and connect with everyone listening."

Santana closed her eyes and shook her head as though she physically could not believe what Brittany was telling her.

"But if this doesn't work, it will be because you didn't give it your all" Brittany said, crossing her hands over her chest. Santana's eyes and mouth snapped open in disbelief.

"Brittany how can you say that? You of all people should know how much I've put into this." She asked, her voice raising.

"Yeah, up until now. I know you. I know you better than I know myself. You'd rather this didn't work because you didn't put everything into it than have it fail even though you did. You won't do it on purpose, but Santana if you keep this up, and go on stage with all these negative thoughts in your head, you're going to sabotage it. It's just like prom junior year. People are going to be able to sense all your doubts and you're not going to succeed. So just stop!"

Santana sat, looking up and Brittany, not knowing what to say. Finally she took in a deep breath and held it, then as she exhaled, she nodded.

"Okay." She said, a new determination in her voice.

"Okay?" Brittany asked in surprise.

"Yes, okay. You're right. I have to go in with as many positive vibes as I can. I have to make sure than no matter what happens, I won't have any regrets or 'what ifs'. It's all or nothing."

"All or nothing baby." Brittany said, leaning down and placing several kisses on her temple.

"I need you to call everybody and tell them that from now until the end of the show there will be nothing but positivity. No jokes about blowing it, no 'whatever happens it'll be okay'. All I want to hear from people is that I'm awesome and am going to kill it."

"Aye Aye captain" Brittany said nodding seriously, then walked out of the room to get her phone.

Two hours later, Brittany watched Santana walk back and forth in front of the stage that was being set up in the mall. She was no longer snapping at everyone, but she was still so nervous that she had decided to spend the remaining time before the show by herself.

"How is she now?" Susan asked, looking worriedly at Santana. "She looks a wreck"

"Don't say that ma. We're only allowing good vibes in this space. She looks great." Brittany hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but her nerves were not fairing much better than Santana's. She was putting on a calm exterior, but internally she was just as scared as Santana was.

"Sorry honey." Susan said, turning her concerned eyes on Brittany.

"And she's doing great under the circumstances. Better than this morning. And the closer we get to show time the better she'll be."

"Yes I heard about this morning. I'm glad to see she's better. How are you?"

"Fine" Brittany said dismissively.

"Brittany you're allowed to have feeling about this too."

"No I'm not. I have to be her rock."

"You can be her rock when she's there, but she isn't here. It's just us."

Brittany looked at her mother for a moment, considering just telling her everything, but then she changed her mind.

"I'm fine mum"

Susan sighed sadly. "Ok dear, but if you need me…"Brittany just nodded.

Susan looked at her daughter for several moments before deciding to leave her be and go find her husband. As she stood she rubbed soothingly on Brittany's back. "Today will be great Britt. You'll see." And she walked off.

"I hope you're right ma" Brittany whispered to herself.

Quinn and Puck stood off to the side, watching Santana pace back and forth, muttering to herself, and Brittany sitting close by, watching her like a hawk.

"Those two look like they're going to have a panic attack at any moment." Puck said, his voice lacking it's usually calmness.

"Yeah…I feel like we should have drugged them or something. This whole day has been insane, and it's only one." Quinn didn't want to admit it, but she was worried about her friends. They were clearly trying hard to seem calm, but everyone could tell they were on their last nerves.

"If Santana keeps this up she's going to bolt" Puck said.

"Don't let Britt hear you say that. We're only supposed to say positive things."

"I am positive, that if no one stops Lopez from her current freak out, she's going to high tail her sweet ass out of here."

Quinn shook her head. She couldn't deny that Puck had a point. Santana was not good at facing her fears, and possible failure was very close to the top of her list of things to run away from. She would do something if she could, but her and Puck had tried everything that morning. They had picked fights to try distract her, made jokes and offered words of encouragement. None of it had worked. She was simply so far into her own mind that nothing they did drew her out.

"She doesn't think she's worth all this." Puck said quietly. "She thinks this is a wasted effort."

Quinn didn't know what to say. How do you convince someone that they deserve to be happy? That they deserve to have their dreams come true? Instead of trying to speak, she allowed the silence between her and Puck to grow. Puck himself seemed on edge and that was making Quinn uncomfortable.

As time wore on, Brittany began to get more concerned about Santana. She had not stopped pacing, and was refusing to talk to anyone. When Brittany tried to get her to talk, Santana had cried in Brittany's arms for a solid thirty minutes, but had still not said anything. Both of their mothers had been turned away, and Quinn and Puck had been warned not to come anywhere near her. Now everyone was looking at Brittany like she was the only answer, but she was at a loss. Her presence seemed to allow Santana to let out everything she was feeling, but either she was feeling too much, or it was not what Santana needed, because even after crying, her nerves had not let up. It surprised Brittany that she herself had not given in to tears yet. She certainly felt like breaking down, but every time she looked at Santana she remembered that this was not about her. If she started crying then Santana would be forced to comfort her, or worse, try to push all her feelings down again, thinking that she was upsetting Brittany. So instead, Brittany just sat and watched, wracking her brain for anything that could help her girlfriend. And then as she saw Santana squat down and bury her head in her hands, it came to her.

"DAD" She yelled. Pierce appeared quickly, though Brittany was not sure from where.

"Yes love?" He asked, speaking much softer than usual.

"I need you to go hold Santana. I need you to go hold her and talk to her about how you've always thought of her as a daughter, and how you've watched her growth and how proud of her you are. I need you to tell her that she's amazing and that this is just the moment that the rest of the world is going to see it. I need-"

Pierce stopped Brittany with a hand to her shoulder. "You need me to be her father." Pierce said, understanding.

"Yeah." Brittany said, relief flooding through her that her father so easily got what she was saying.

Pierce nodded, kissed Brittany's head and then walked energetically towards Santana. Deciding to give them their moment, Brittany looked away, her eyes finding Maribel Lopez. She watched, wondering what Santana's mother was thinking and feeling if she was in such an anxious mess. Just as she was about to look away, she saw a sad expression cross Maribel's face. She looked somehow simultaneously heartbroken and relieved. Following her line of vision, Brittany saw Santana nod vigorously, and then fall into the outstretched arms of Brittany's dad. The huge smile on Santana's face made Brittany's heart soar, and for the first time all day, she felt like she could breathe. She turned back to Maribel, wondering why she had looked so sad, but saw that she was no longer there. Brittany didn't have long to ponder what she had just seen though, because Santana came sauntering up to her, wiping away tears, but still smiling.

"I love you BSP. Do you know that?" She said, tapping Brittany nose with a finger.

"I think you may have mentioned it once or twice yeah" Brittany replied, returning her smile.

"How did you know what I needed?"

"What do you mean?" Brittany asked innocently.

"I know you sent him B" Santana said, narrowing her eyes.

"Who?" Brittany asked, trying to contain her smile.

Santana just shook her head. "Fine, keep you secrets then"

Brittany laughed. "So you're feeling better?"

"Much yeah."

"For real this time?"

"Yea, for real. I'm actually a little excited."

"Good" Brittany said, pulling Santana closer to her and resting her head on her chest.

Santana combed her fingers through Brittany's hair for a few minutes as they stayed silent.

"I wish my dad was here" Santana said quietly, as if hoping that Brittany wouldn't hear. Brittany pulled back and looked at Santana, then pulled her arm down till she was sitting on her lap and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"I know baby. Me too." She kissed Santana on the cheek and rested her head on her temple. Again they sat in silence.

Ten minutes later, Santana was being called up to do sound check. She was still nervous, but after another pep talk from Brittany, she was more excited than scared. Brittany finally went to sit with Quinn and Puck to watch her warm up, and was amazed to see that even now, people were already stopping to listen to her.

"She's going to be okay Britt." Puck said as he draped an arm over her shoulder.

Brittany nodded, not taking her eyes off Santana as she sang. "I'm not so worried about that anymore"

"Alright guys, we're ready to begin. Santana and the band are all warmed up and everything is set up. You guys ready?" Emma asked them. Brittany noticed that she looked as nervous as Santana had been an hour ago.

"All ready here Emma. More than ready" Quinn said. Brittany and Puck nodded enthusiastically.

"Great!" she exclaimed a little too loudly. "I'll give them the go ahead then" and she walked away.

"The sooner this is over, the better for everyone apparently" Brittany said with a small laugh.

Nobody had a chance to reply, because just then, the band started playing the intro to the first song Santana was going to sing. At first, there was no reaction from the people in the mall, but as Santana began to sing, more and more people stopped walking, and a crowd gathered around them. By the end of the first song, there were close to 30 people, standing by the stage, all of whom applauded and cheered loudly.

"Thank you so much guys. Thank you." Santana said, her voice full of emotion. As she spoke, the crowd quieted down. "My name is Santana Lopez, and I hope you enjoy my little show here today." There was an uproar of applause as she said this, making Santana blush and laugh shyly. This next song is for my beautiful girlfriend Brittany." She pointed towards Brittany, who turned bright red as the crowd turned to look at her.

The next song started, and Brittany smiled widely.

"Well sometimes, I go out by myself. And I look across the water…"

"Of course she did this song" Quinn said, laughing and shaking her head. "Britt you should go up there and join her."

Brittany shook her head quickly.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten the choreo" Puck asked incredulously.

"Of course not". She would never forget that choreography, but could she really just go on stage? This was about Santana, and they hadn't planned it that way. But her question was soon answered by Santana beckoning her forward with her index finger.

"Go on Britt, it will be awesome. Everyone will love it." Quinn encouraged her.

Brittany shook off her hesitation and jogged up to the stage. As her and Santana danced, she couldn't help but notice that it felt just as good as it had on the last day they had danced in Mckinley. She felt like her body was alive in a different way, and she was reminded of what she had said in senior year. She liked dancing with Santana the best.

All around them people were clapping and dancing, but all Brittany could focus on was Santana. She had a huge smile on her face as she sang, and she looked so at home, as though there was no other place on earth that she was supposed to be.

At the end of the song, Brittany and Santana bowed to the crowd, who had now increased in number and were giving them thunderous applause. Quinn and Maribel were giving them huge thumbs up, while the Pierces and Puck were screaming along with the crowd. Brittany turned towards Santana, a bright smile across her face, and as she looked into her deep brown eyes, could no longer resist the urge to kiss her. As their lips connected, the applause somehow got louder, now accompanied by many calls of 'aaww' and whistling. Santana broke into a fit of giggles, and buried her head in Brittany's neck.

"You're amazing Santana" Brittany whispered. Instead of replying, Santana placed a quick soft kiss to her neck, and then pulled away facing the crowd.

"You guys are really awesome. We have a couple more to go, but I think…" she turned towards her lead guitarist, who nodded, "we can take requests if there are any. Hopefully I know the songs." She said with a wink. A few girls at the very front raised their hands, and Santana jumped from the stage to pass them the mike.

"Hey, how are you guys doing?" she asked the now furiously blushing girls. There was a chorus of 'good'.

"What can I sing for you guys?" Santana asked, pointing the mic at them.

"You're really pretty" one of the girls said timidly.

The crowd laughed good-naturedly, while Santana smiled sweetly at the girl.

"Thank you so much. You're really pretty too." Santana replied, making the other girls giggle and the one girl turn a deep shade of red.

"Do you know any Brittany spears?" she asked after a moment.

Santana's smile grew wider, and she turned back to Brittany who was still standing on the stage, then to Quinn. "I sure do." She turned to walk back up the stage, as she addressed the whole crowd.

"Do you guys mind if I bring out my best friend to join me and my girlfriend on this one?"

The crowd cheered in response.

"Quinn bring your ass up here" Santana yelled.

Quinn hesitated at first, but after Santana got the crowd to cheer her name, Puck practically dragged her up the stage, winking at girls all the way there.

"Alright, we're gonna do toxic" Santana told them, making Brittany squeal and Quinn to groan, though she was obviously excited.

She turned to the band and told them which song, and then went to take up her position between Quinn and Brittany.

Their performance was once again met with huge applause, and as she walked off the stage, Brittany noticed that there were now almost 100 people surrounding the stage.

Santana performed three more set songs, and then continued to take requests from the crowd. After her fourth request, Emma signalled that they had time for one more song. When Santana relayed this to the crowd, they made their disapproval known with loud boos and yells of 'No way!'

"If you guys really liked it you can come out to my other shows, I'm putting on a few around the city, so follow me @Snixxlopez to get all those updates. As my last song, I'm going to slow it way down. I'm sure you guys know Adele." There was a lot of screaming in response. "Yeah I thought so, she's totally awesome. Well here is my version of set fire to the rain."

The crowd went quiet as the instrumentals picked up, and once Santana started singing, the entire space was so quiet, it was hard to believe that this was a public place. Every eye was fixed on Santana, who was sitting on a stool with her eyes closed. When she finished, there was a moment of silence, and then a sound like an explosion erupted. Santana looked on the verge of tears as she thanked everyone again, and told them about her next show.

"I hope to see you guys there." She said to the girls in the front who had requested the first song. They all blushed and nodded vigorously and walked away. Santana continued to interact with people as the band stripped down their equipment, and the stage manager barked out orders.

"Did you tell her to do that?" Quinn asked Emma, nodding her head in Santana's direction.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Talk to people and stuff."

"No I didn't. The song requests wasn't planned either."

"Santana is made for this. She's built to be a star. It all comes naturally to her. She looked at the crowd and knew what she had to do" Brittany said proudly.

"She's damn good at it too. They loved her." Puck said. Brittany and Emma nodded.

"I fully expect the next show to have 200+ people." Emma said.

"Wow really?" Brittany asked in surprise.

"Look at her" Emma said, pointing to Santana, who was laughing with a group of teens.

"She's building personal connections with people. When they think about her, they're going to remember two things, amazing singing, and a great experience. They'll feel like they owe it to her to come." Emma told them, looking impressed. "Not many people take the time to do that."

"Santana isn't like many people" Brittany said, as Santana looked up from the little girl she was talking to and smiled at Brittany.

**********************************************************************************

As Emma had predicted, the next show, which was at the park, had close to three hundred people. After the show at the mall, there had been many video postings on Facebook, instagram and YouTube of Santana singing, talking to the crowd and dancing with Brittany and Quinn. People were so excited about her next show that they were messaging her personally to tell her they would be there, or to ask for song requests. They had actually expected there to be more people at the show, but Emma had told them that it was too short of a timeline for people to come out in larger numbers than 500 for now. She predicted that the fifth or sixth show would be where they see the number reach the thousands. Santana for her part was just happy that anyone wanted to come at all. Before the show started, she walked around talking to people, thanking them for coming, asking if they were at the last one, and even jammed out with a few guys who had brought their guitars. By the end of the show, Brittany was in a state of shock. More people had shown up as the day went on, and the noise level was so loud that Brittany actually felt like she was at a concert. Emma had told her to start a live instagram recording with Santana's account to capture the whole thing, and Brittany being who she was, had gone around to ask people what they thought of Santana.

"She's amazing. I don't really know who she is, or where she came from, but her voice is so sexy!" one person had said.

"She's the hottest person I've ever seen in my life. I'd let her sing to me anytime" another guy had said.

On and on the comments went, people talking about how good she was, how beautiful she was, how nice, real, funny and relatable she was. After two and a half hours, Santana regretfully ended the show. She again spent close to an hour interacting with a few people, while the park cleared out, and the rest of the band left.

"That was amazing Santana" Puck said, as Santana finally said goodbye to the last people and walked towards them.

"Thank you Puck. Seriously!" she walked straight into Brittany's arms and rested her head on her shoulder. Brittany ran her hands up and down her back soothingly and kissed the top of her head. "Maybe next show you should come jam up there with me."

"Really?" Puck asked surprised.

"Yeah. You're guitar playing is badass, and our voices sound good together. Why not?" Santana asked, shrugging.

"I don't know…" Puck said, trailing off as if to think it over. "You sure? I don't want to steal your thunder."

"HA! As if" Brittany said, laughing.

"Alright then Lopez. You're on."

"Great. Now let's go home, I'm tired as hell."

They headed towards the car in silence, all in various states of shock over the day's events. Santana could just not believe the sheer amount of people that had shown up, and was still running on the adrenaline rush that the show had been. Puck was imagining himself in front of that crowd with Santana, trying not to freak out, while Brittany and Quinn were so proud of Santana for getting here and completely rocking the show that they felt they could burst. The car ride home was decidedly less silent though. It seemed that everyone had gotten over the initial shock, and had taken to talking excitedly.

"Wait, no that's a good question, why are you still here Puckerman?" Quinn asked.

Puck glanced momentarily at Santana and then turned back to Quinn. "Why are you still here Quinn?" he deflected.

"Why won't you just answer the question? Did you violate parole or something?"

"Very funny"

"I wouldn't be surprised"

"What about you? Get expelled from Harvard?"

"Yale! You know very well I go to Yale"

As the two of them bickered back and forth, Brittany watched Santana. She could tell that she knew why Puck was still here, but she couldn't understand why she wouldn't just tell them. From the way Santana was refusing to meet her eyes, she knew they would be talking about it later, so instead of pushing Santana now, she focused back on Quinn and Puck.

"Why can't you accept that I want to support Santana?" Puck was asking. "Why is it so hard for you guys to believe that Santana may need people other than the two of you all the time?"

"Noah" Santana warned.

"No look Santana, I'm not being mean, and I'm not trying to undermine Britt. We all know she's your every sun moon and star-"

"Noah" Santana said again, though with less aggression than before, as she wondered where he was going with this.

"The point is, I respect Brittany's position in your life, I accept that Quinn is your best friend, but I assume I'd take third position…" he trailed off, looking at Santana. She nodded, looking at him through the rear view mirror. "Alright, then I feel like it's time these guys start to respect that, and stop treating me like an unwanted guest all the time. If I'm actually not welcome I'll leave."

"No one is asking to leave. I want you here okay?" Santana stopped at a red light and turned to face Puck. "Okay?" She asked him again.

"Yeah okay" He said, somewhat sullenly, as though he didn't fully believe her.

"Look guys I get what he's saying. I know you don't understand it, and maybe you don't like it," Santana looked between Quinn and Brittany as she said this, "But I think Puck has proven to you guys that he's not the idiot we knew in high school. Well not just that idiot." Puck cracked a smile.

"Anyway, it's really great having all of my favourite people here, and…" she turned to Brittany, "it would make me really happy if you guys would get closer to him."

Brittany took in a deep breath, and then nodded, mouthing okay and kissing Santana quickly. Santana mouthed back a thank you before turning back to the road and driving. Puck whooped and grabbed Brittany by the shoulders from behind her seat.

"I'm your awesome bi-bro from now on Britt."

Santana and Brittany laughed. Quinn seemed unamused.

"Come on Quinn, what's the problem?" Santana asked.

"Let's see, he got me pregnant-"

"You both decided to have sex, no one forced you so your argument is invalid." Santana cut in.

"Well he was completely useless during the pregnancy, too busy looking for other-"

"As I recall, you practically yelled at him that you didn't want him to have anything to do with it. You said you were going to do it alone and he needed to respect that." Santana cut in again.

"Well he was an ass" Quinn mumbled.

"No denying that fact" Santana said, nodding her head. "Puck?"

"Quinn, I thought we were okay after Shelby came back with Beth?" Quinn just scoffed. "What is it that you're holding against me exactly? Cause as Santana just pointed out, other than being a jerk for the better part of high school, which we all were let's not forget, I haven't done anything to you." Quinn still didn't say anything.

Puck looked at Brittany for help, but even she was at a loss. She didn't understand what Quinn's problem was. Puck decided to do things the old fashioned way.

"You know what…you're probably just having another crazy episode. This will blow over in a bit."

Quinn gaped at him in utter disbelief that he would so casually bring up her meltdown. "Just another crazy…Why do you think I went crazy IN THE FIRST PLACE" She screamed, banging the seat in front of her making everyone else in the car jump. Santana's foot consequently pressed on the gas, and the whole car jerked forward, before she pressed the break.

Clutching her heart and ignoring the loud honking from the car behind her, Santana pulled the car into a free space in front of a clothing store and then turned the car off. After a moment of silence, she got out of the car and leaned against the open door.

"Okay Quinn…what? Just say it. What's wrong?"

"Nothing Santana let's just go. I'm sorry for yelling but Puck…"

"Forget about Puck, Quinn." Brittany said. "There's obviously something wrong. Tell us what it is."

"Guys come on"

"I'm not driving this car until you spill Q"

Quinn sighed deeply, the look on her face showing that she was trying not to scream. She got out of the car and slammed the door harshly, walking a few feet away from everyone, muttering to herself.

"Maybe we should just leave it guys" Puck said, nervously watching Quinn. Everyone had now come out of the car.

"No" Brittany said. "I have my reasons for not liking you, but even I can tell you're not the same as you were in high school. It's not fair for her to keep treating you like you are." Santana looked adoringly at Brittany, and gave her a kiss on the temple.

"Thank you baby" she whispered. Then she turned back to Quinn, who had her head raised to the sky. "Fabray, are you going to make us wait all night?"

"Fuck off Santana"

"Quinn come on. Whatever it is just tell us, why are you making it such a big deal?" Brittany asked her. Then she turned to Puck. "Did you do something to her that we don't know about?"

"Really? No Brittany. I haven't seen Quinn since glee got shut down." Puck said, his annoyance mounting.

"Did you ignore her calls or something? Were you guys supposed to like…keep in touch?" Santana asked.

Puck laughed and then pointed at Quinn. "Look at her. Does she look like she wanted to keep in touch with me?"

Santana and Brittany shook their heads.

"I haven't done anything-"

"That's right Puck, you've never done anything. You've just always been Puck, doing your Puck thing not being affected by anything." Quinn said, now walking back towards them.

"What?" Puck asked exasperatedly. "You're mad at me because I didn't do anything?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Don't be an idiot." Puck opened his mouth to respond, but Santana cut him off shaking her head quickly at him.

"What do you mean then Q" she asked.

"I mean that he likes making jokes about how crazy I am, as if what made me lose it was completely removed from him. He walks around just living life without consequences, but I had to suffer those consequences." Quinn looked on the verge of tears, and no one was daring to question her further. They decided to just let her speak at her own pace.

"We had a baby Puck. A beautiful baby. And then we didn't have her anymore. Yes I know that it was my choice to give her up, but that doesn't mean it was fun for me. It sucked. And I was lost and hurt and I lost it. But you, you were just fine. You went on to sleep with a bunch of girls and dated whoever you felt like and kept up your rubbish badass reputation. You were fine, like nothing happened, and as hard as I tried I was still a wreck." Try as she might, Quinn could not stop the tears from falling. She wiped furiously at her eyes, and turned to walk back to where she had previously been, growling in annoyance.

Brittany and Santana stared at each other in shock, not having expected the turn the situation took. Puck grabbed Quinn's hand and turned her back around before she could get away.

"Are you fucking kidding me with that shit Quinn? You hate me because I was fine after Beth?" his voice was breaking and his hands were shaking, he was so angry. He could not believe what Quinn was saying.

"Puck-"

"No fuck you Quinn-"

"Puck" Santana tried to calm him down.

"No. How dare you Quinn. I was ready to step up. I was ready to be a dad. Yeah, maybe you're right and we would have sucked as parents, but you don't know for sure. You took her away from me because I didn't want to be your boyfriend, so sorry if I wasn't overly concerned with how you were handling it."

Everyone was quiet again. Puck seemed to be trying to calm himself down, and Santana and Brittany were both trying to ingest everything being said, while debating leaving and giving Quinn and Puck some privacy.

"I wasn't okay" Puck finally said. "I was far from okay. I drove a car into a convenient store and drove off with the ATM. I went to juvie and did my community service as helping Artie get with Britt. I flunked Geography and was going to drop out of school. I slept with and fell in love with Shelby, Quinn. I wasn't fine at all." Quinn's eyes were wide, as though she was understanding something for the first time.

"At least with you everyone knew you were losing it. Nobody even batted an eye at my behaviour." As he said this, he looked towards Santana, who nodded slowly. Brittany noticed, but decided that this wasn't the time to ask what that look meant. "Everyone just laughed at me or called me an idiot. Nobody was even surprised by the things I did. How could I possibly be okay living like that?"

Quinn finally broke down. She cried, and hugged Puck tightly, sobbing into his shirt. Again, everyone was silent, this time, because nothing needed to be said. After a couple of minutes, Quinn's breathing evened out and she took a step back.

"Puck I'm really sorry. I didn't know. I'm really sorry."

Puck shrugged. "Are you going to be nice to me now?" he asked in a light tone that changed the mood.

"Maybe" Quinn said laughing and wiping the rest of her tears.

"Alright does that mean we can go now? Santana's really tired." Brittany said as she rubbed Santana's lower back.

Puck and Quinn nodded and turned to enter the car, but Brittany held Santana in place. When the doors were closed she leaned forward to rest her forehead against Santana's.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah I'm ok. Are you? That was heavy." Santana asked her.

Brittany smiled a small smile and nodded her head slightly. "You knew Puck was staying indefinitely."

It was not a question, so Santana didn't bother lying.

"He talked to me about it the day before he was supposed to leave." She looked directly into Brittany's eyes, gauging her reaction.

"Okay" Brittany said, turning to head back inside the car.

"Wait are you mad?" Santana asked confused.

"I'm not mad. I wish you had talked to me about it first, yeah" Santana nodded, looking towards the floor. "But I'm not mad. I'm getting it a little bit more the longer he stays." Santana looked up, frowning slightly.

"What?"

Brittany stepped forward and kissed Santana softly and slowly, until the frown on Santana's face eased away. After a moment, she pulled back and ran her thumb over her cheek.

"No one noticed you struggling either" she said quietly. Then she turned and walked around the car, leaving Santana standing alone looking after her, wondering how she got so lucky to have someone like Brittany love her.