Chapter 1

It had always been impossible for other people to understand. If she was being honest with herself, it was not something that she understood either. This had never bothered her though, after all, why kick a horse you'd been given as a gift…or something. Whatever the saying was, she knew what it meant, and it applied perfectly to her situation. There was no need to understand, because that was just the way things were. She liked to think that it was something bigger than themselves. That seven years ago she had transferred to Mckinely high because the universe had specifically wanted her there as part of some bigger plan. Chalk it up to fate, destiny, God's plan or whatever, but she was sure they would never really know, so, she was content to simply enjoy it.

A hand suddenly tightening around her waist pulled her from her thoughts. She smiled down at it. She would never get tired of waking up this way. It made every morning just that much more amazing. She turned her head slightly to check the time on the alarm clock perched on the stand by the bed. 5:13 AM. She had to be up in just under 20 minutes. The hand tightened again, this time pulling her closer as if knowing she was about to leave. She smiled again, with a hint of sadness. They had come far, but they were still working on some things. That was okay though, she would take being pulled closer over being constantly pushed away. She shook her head as if to physically dispel the thoughts; she didn't need to think about that. She looked at the clock again. 5:20 AM. How is it that time always seemed to move at lightning speed in the mornings?! She sighed lightly and then turned back to the person beside her. She really could stare at this face forever. Even in sleep, with her mouth slightly open, traces of drool at the corners, she was the most breath-taking being she had ever seen.

"Baby I have to go"

There was no verbal response, but she knew she had been heard. For one, the hand around her tightened further, making her smile for the third time in ten minutes. Then there was the deepening crease in the brow, showing her girlfriend's displeasure. She had to laugh at that. It was the same way every morning. She lifted her hand and traced along the side of her face.

"Baby. Everyday?"

"Britt…"

"No I can't stay five more minutes. Yes I have to go in today. Of course I would love to stay in bed with you all day but you don't really want that because you love how awesome I am and you're really proud of me." She cut her off quickly. She loved this routine but she didn't have the time today. She had spent too much time thinking. The lips in front of her turned up slightly, but the hand did not let her go.

"Baby" she said again. She had found out long ago that calling her that multiple times always made it easier to wake her up. She didn't do it often, but today she had a feeling she would need all the help she could get. Last night had been a late night after a long day. This would not be easy.

"I know what you're doing"

She laughed again, resuming her gentle hand movements along her cheek, over her eyebrows, down the bridge of her nose.

"Then would you like to save me the trouble?"

"Trouble???"

She cringed a bit. That was not how she had meant it to sound. She looked at the clock. 5:30 AM. Yup, she was going to be late today.

"Baby-"

"Don't 'baby' me". Brittany felt the hand begin to move off her. "Didn't realise I was such work. My bad". Brittany sighed, then caught the hand before it fully left her and draped it around herself again.

"Don't be that way Santana. You know that's not what I meant." She kissed her cheek. "I love our morning routine." She kissed the tip of her nose. "I love that you argue with me to stay even though you don't mean it. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside." She kissed her other cheek. "Cuddly clingy Santana is my favourite. If you were to stop I'd be a sad panda."

Santana giggled before remembering she was supposed to be mad. Before she could continue the act though, Brittany kissed her gently on the lips. Santana exhaled slowly as if releasing her will to fight, and smiled into the kiss.

"We can't have that can we?"

Brittany smiled brightly. "mmm-mm" she hummed, kissing her again.

"I guess-"Brittany cut her off with yet another kiss. So what if she was late?

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She walked into the studio just after 6:30 AM, dropped everything she was carrying by the door and hurried over to set up the music. Her dancers would be in any moment and she had to pretend she had been there for at least 20 minutes. Just as the song started, she dropped to the floor and began stretching, exhaling deeply. At least she hadn't been caught by-

"That was good. If I hadn't seen you walk in I'd believe you'd been here a while."

Damn. Guess she was caught. She turned slowly, brandishing the best Brittany S. Pierce, or rather BSP smile she could.

"Don't even try. If you weren't the best damn dancer I ever saw I'd cook up some kind of punishment"

"So I'm off the hook?" she asked hopefully.

"What's the reason this time?"

She sighed deeply. 'How many times am I going to sigh today?' she asked herself. She couldn't tell him that it was all Santana's fault. It was not only completely unprofessional, but she also knew her boss, and he would get that disgusting smile he always did when she mentioned her girlfriend, and then she would feel like punching him. Obviously she wouldn't, but damn would she want to. And then she'd be in a bad mood. So instead of going down that road, she took the one she had perfected in high school.

"Well my alarm didn't go off. I think the shoe elves in my closet finally got tired of being in there since I moved all my shoes from in there, have to keep my shoes safe you know? Anyway, they must have done something because like I said, my alarm didn't go off. And then I found Lord Tubbington with another cigarette. That's the fifth time this week! So I had to look for his new stash and throw it out because I don't want him to get cancer. But he didn't like that and told me he'd sick his gang on me, which really scared me because, I mean just imagine a gang of cigarette smoking, leather jacket wearing-"

"Ok Brittany, I get it. Never mind. Just never mind."

She smiled internally. She was tired today. She wasn't sure how much longer she could have rambled. When she was younger she had really hated how stupid people thought she was, but then Santana made her realise that she could use it to her advantage. They had started a game; Santana would see how creative she could make her insults, and Brittany would see how long she could keep up a random and confusing monologue. She had been saying such outlandish and nonsensical things for so long that it was like second nature. At first it had been hard to keep a straight face, but now she only struggled when Santana was around, because she would always give her this "I can't believe you just said that-oh my god that was so funny" look and she'd want to just burst out laughing. Santana wasn't here though, for which she was grateful.

"BRITTANY"

She jumped. Was he still talking? She could've sworn he had walked out.

"Are you listening to me?"

She wasn't. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? She was here to dance, not chat.

"I'm worried about the elves. What if they're the ones giving Lord Tubbington the smokes?"

"What?...oh you're still going on about that? Ok... I'm just gonna… go"

She wanted to cheer and jump for joy. FINALLY.

She watched him walk towards the door when it suddenly opened to show three dancers walking in. Great, now she'd have to begin without her usual warm up.

"Good luck with her today guys." She heard her boss say, "she's more ditsy than usual."

She sighed. Again. Maybe she should have stayed with Santana.