Glee 1. New

**I decided to redo the story- didn't like where it was going. Hopefully yall don't mind re-reading the chapters, they've changed some from the original ones. Once again: This doesn't exactly follow the show, and some things will be tweaked for the story, but it flows similarly with the original storyline. Reviews are helpful. The only couples already together are Finchel and Klaine. Italics are generally thoughts, flash backs, or flash forwards.**

To say that Junior year for most of the Glee kids ended smoothly would be a bit of an understatement. From the little spat at junior prom between Rachel and Quinn that ended mysteriously in the bathroom, no blood had been shed, to the ever embarrassing "Kiss heard 'round the world" at Nationals; things were ending quite festively. Santana had finally given Matt the time of day- only to find out two relatively fun weeks later he'd be moving to Boston at the end of June with his family. _'Of course.' _Santana was none to pleased to hear the news. She'd finally found someone she could stand being around for longer periods of time than usual, and now he was leaving. Once Noah Puckerman heard the news he was sure to return to his attempts at winning over the Latina, with vengeance. Aside from all of these things, Lima had been relatively normal over the summer. Most of the kids went MIA for periods of time but with the way things were going, it seemed the seniors would have a good start to their last year at McKinley.

_**First Day of School**_

"Ok guys! I wanna welcome everyone back to the first day of school and our first Glee club meeting of the year." Mr. Schue was quick to cut to the chase as he entered the choir room. "I hope you all had a great summer, but now it's time to work. This is senior year for most of you, and _this_ is the year we take Nationals!" The kids all clapped and cheered. "Alright, now for this week's assignment I want you all to come up with some ideas for songs for Sectionals."

"Aren't those like...2 months away or something?"

"Yes Finn, they are," Will replied as he turned around from writing _IDEAS_ on the whiteboard, "but it's never too early to start preparing."

"But now that Matt transferred, we're one short to even be able to compete." Mercedes responded. "Shouldn't we at least find a replacement before coming up with a routine?"

"Oh I'm sure we'll figure a way to get someone new soon enough." Rachel easily dismissed the presented problem before adding, "Mr. Schue, I think for this comp-"

"Can it Berry." Santana interjected, "We know you want the solo and probably a duet with T-Rex, but like Mr. Schue said, this is the year we take it all. And that means we need a change...So I say _I _should get a solo." She crossed her arms and looked over to Mr. Schuester with a raised eyebrow._ 'I am __not_ _spending another year in Berry's shadow. I get enough background time in Cheerios behind Captain Q and the hell if I'm gonna let Anne Frank over there take the last shreds of spotlight I can get before I leave this Godforsaken place.'_

Santana had a lot of time to think about her high school career over the summer in between watching dramatic Mexican soap operas with Abuela and avoiding Puckerman. Despite the fact that she was nearly at the top of the pyramid (_freakin' Captain's the only one allowed at the top_), second in command of Cheerios and feared by over half the school population- she was getting tired of being the Bitch of McKinley who was fawned over (though that last part she couldn't really complain about)- Santana wanted to be admired for the all the talent she knew was coursing through her veins.

"Disagreements?" The attitude in her voice left little room for argument, it seemed to be more of a rhetorical question. Without support from her fellow Glee-mates Rachel felt the need to pipe up.

"Listen. Sandbags-"

"Ohh-kay." Everyone was in utter shock. No one dared to call Santana that, excluding Coach Sue, and here Rachel was, challenging the hot headed Latina. Mr. Schue knew he had to intervene before any claws came out, "Santana, I'm really impressed by this sudden show of initiative."

"Initiative? Are you joking?" Rachel snapped at Will, "What the hell have I been doing for the last 3 years then?" Her voice started to raise a bit. "A _lot _more than _J. Lo_ over there and I'm always getting ragged on for being a spotlight hog."

"A hog with a pelican beak." Santana turned back to Rachel with a devious smirk. She'd momentarily lost her ability to speak from Rachel's little outburst. The little Jew had never been so snarky. '_Looks like Streisand grew a bit of a backbone over break...where the hell did_ that_ come from?_'

"Cool it you two." Mr. Schue looked over at San, then back up to Rachel, "Look, Santana does have a point. We can't go to Sectionals, or any of our other competitions with the same type of routines and line-ups. The judges want to be surprised and entertained.._not _that you aren't entertaining, Rachel. But I think this is the year that we shine the spotlight on some of our other strong vocalists."

"So she just _demands_ a solo after slacking off since the beginning and she automatically gets it?" The annoyance threaded in her voice.

Mr. Schuester took a second to process the words. "You may also have a point Rachel."

"Ugh." San rolled her eyes. _'Of course she'll find a way to derail my plans.'_

* * *

><p>Santana was changing out books in her locker when she felt someone hover closely behind her; she shut the door and spun around to find a devilish smile and dark mohawk. "Can I help you?", attitude saturating her words.<p>

"Woah baby, what's with the hostility? I just wanted to tell you how hot you were yesterday in Glee club with your sassy demands. You know I dig on assertive ladies." Puck's hands went to wrap around the Cheerio's waist, but were immediately slapped away.

"Ok first off. I'm not your baby."

"That's not what it sounded like at my party this past weekend." Puck went in for more contact again, but was shoved back this time,

"That's because my best friends for the night were jello shots and screwdrivers. I was drunk off my ass, and you were there." Santana kept trying to push _that _memory into the farthest, darkest depths of her mind. Puck was _so fucking persistent _the night of his party and since she hadn't knocked boots with anyone worthy of being allowed to stick around at the time, her drunk self decided to give him a chance. Though the next morning, her drunk-hung over self realized it probably wasn't her best idea.

"And I'm still here. So what's the problem?" In Puck's mind- they had a _fan-fucking-tastic _night. '_I even took her to Denny's the next morning!'_

"_You _are the problem. I'm not going to waste my time with someone who's currently sleeping with every girl at this school, and has a credit score even lower than his already pathetic I.Q."

"Hey I'm not sleeping with every girl here...just, maybe _two_ from the Cheerios...and a cougar every now and then when I clean pools."

"Ugh. You're a pig."

"Bu-" Puck tried to get a word in before Santana continued.

"-and this exceedingly time-wasting conversation is over." With that she whipped her body in the opposite direction, hitting Puckerman in the face with her ponytail, and walked off; leaving the jock to soak in his own thoughts and disbelief.

* * *

><p>Rachel walked up to Finn who was sorting through his athletic bag at his locker.<p>

"Hey Finn." She gave him a huge smile.

"Hey Rach...", he didn't seem to be paying attention to her, with all of his focus on rummaging through his bag.

"What are you doing?"

"I can't find my new football cleats anywhere, and my mom _just _got them for me last week. I didn't leave them at your house or something did I?" He looked down at her hoping she'd say yes; even though the likelihood of that was incredibly slim.

"No.."

"Dammit." His head dropped, then he continued rifling through the bag.

"Actually, I took them from your house the other night.", she spoke with a smile

His bag dropped off his shoulder and his eyes got just a bit wider, "W-why would you do that?"

"Well." Her smile grew bigger, "As you know my dads are fashionistas, and they know an excellent shoe repair man who happens to be able to customize footwear as well.", she pulled her arms from behind her back, "And I had him stitch a gold star on the back side of each one for good luck _and_ so you could think of me every time you play." She revealed Finn's "new" new cleats to him. He stared in shock at his Nike Zooms. "It was a process, he said leather is really hard to stitch into, but he did it." She continued to smile brightly.

Finn stared at the gaudy gold star on each shoe. The gold didn't even match the red and white cleats, and they made the cleats look, "_so gay._" He didn't mean to actually say that out loud, hopefully it was quiet enough that Rachel hadn't heard.

"What?" She looked up from the shoes, his quietness started to worry her, and she didn't catch what he had just murmured.

"Uh, s-so great." He let out a nervous laugh, "...thank you, Rachel. These are...awesome." His nervous, gassy looking grin wasn't given much thought by his tiny, beaming girlfriend. She heard his words and assumed they were sincere.

"Well we've been dating a few months now and I just wanted to do something nice for you...well something nice that didn't benefit me for a change."

Finn half smiled, "They're great. But I gotta get this stuff to the locker room", he picked up his bag, "so I'll see you around."

"Oh...ok." Rachel's beaming smile had sizably shrunk. She stood there as her boyfriend pecked her on the cheek and then walked off in an almost hurried manner.

* * *

><p>As Mr. Schuester walked into the choir room the kids were all focused on their own conversations, "Hey guys, I have good news."<p>

"Did you finally get it in with Ms. Pillsbury?" Artie asked with a wink, followed by giggling from the rest of the students.

"Uhm, no..not that that isn't completely inappropriate.."

"We just want you to know that we're totally rooting for you Mr. Schuester. We understand how miserable your life must be with you being divorced and over 30." Remarked Tina with a cheeky smile.

"Uh, thanks...I think." He knew their words were coming from a good place, so he decided to ignore the offensive content, "Anyways. I found 2 new solutions to our losing Matt problem. Please welcome the Glee club's newest members, Brittany and Sam Pierce."

His hand outstretched towards the open door and in walked two tall, gorgeous blondes. The girl, who they assumed was Brittany, had never ending legs, flowing golden hair and a cute nervous smile residing on her face. The boy, Sam, was even taller than his companion and sported bleach blonde shaggy hair, bright green eyes and a confident smile that only complimented his strong appearance. They stopped to stand next to Will and the group wasted no time in allowing their eyes to roam and eye-grope all over the two (undoubtedly smokin') newbs. Every single member was creepin' and they all did it with no shame; their only saving grace was being subtle about the whole thing...most of them at least.

"Brittany and Sam are twins who've just transferred here from Agrestic, California. It's also their senior year so let's make them feel as welcome as possible." The twins took a seat as the club, mainly the girls, began applauding it's new teammates.

"And how do we know they can sing?" Kurt asked, internally worrying about having even more competition to fight with for the scraps of solos and main duets.

"Oh we were in our old school's glee club." Brittany looked at Kurt with a smile.

"Yeah well my Abuela's in her church choir, and she still sings like there's glass lodged in her throat.", Santana remarked.

"Hey-" Mr. Schuester started, but stopped when Sam stood up.

"It's cool Mr. Schue." He turned to face the rest of the members, then looked down at Brittany, "We'll just have to prove ourselves won't we, Britt?"

His twin smiled and stood up next to him, "Guess so."

Brittany walked to the center of the room as Mr. Schuester went to sit, and Sam murmured something to the band. He returned to Brittany's side, whispered in her ear, then turned back to the band,

"Alright guys. Let's do it." The drummer counted off, and then the band started up,

Sam: _"40 detectives this week_  
><em>40 detectives strong<em>  
><em>Takin' a stroll down Love Street<em>  
><em>Strollin' is that so wrong<em>  
><em>Can I get my co-dependant"<em>

_Both: "Hump de bump doop bodu_  
><em>Bump de hump doop bop<em>  
><em>Hump de bump doop bodu<em> (Britt: _"Oh no!"_)

He started to sway and move some while Brittany began dancing around, not noticing Mr. Schue's shocked eyes.

Both: _"Hump de bump doop bodu_  
><em>Hump de bump doop bop<em>  
><em>Bump de hump doop bodu, bump bump<em>

Sam: _"It must have been a hundred miles_  
><em>Any of a hundred styles<em>  
><em>It's not about the smile you wear, but<em>  
><em>The way we make out<em>  
><em>When I was another loner<em>  
><em>Nothin' but a two beach comber<em>  
><em>Anybody seen the sky? I'm, I'm wide awake now"<em>

Britt: _"Workin' the beat as we speak_  
><em>Workin' the belle du monde<em>  
><em>Believin' the havoc we wreak<em>  
><em>Believin', is that so wrong<em>  
><em>Can I get my co-dependent"<em>

Both_: "Hump de bump doop bodu_  
><em>Bump de hump doop bop Hump de bump doop bodu<em>  
><em>Bump de hump doop bodu<em>  
><em>Hump de bump doop bop<em>  
><em>Bump de hump doop bodu, bump bump <em>(Sam_: "C'mon!"_)

As the band hit the breakdown, Brittany continued to show off her excellent dance moves, while Sam did his best combo of sways, turns, and air grinding; a popular move with the ladies.

Britt:_ "Listen to me what I said_  
><em>Try to get it through your head<em>  
><em>A little bit of circumstance and<em>  
><em>A chance to make out"<em>

Brittany winked in what Santana saw to be her direction, causing her eyebrows to shoot up in surprise, while Sam turned his air grinds towards Tina and Mercedes, then both proceeded to dance around the room.

Sam:_ "Livin' in a citadel_  
><em>It's hard enough to be yourself<em>  
><em>Waiting for the bell to toll<em>  
><em>And, I'm wide awake now"<em>

Both_: "Must have been a hundred miles_  
><em>Any of a hundred styles<em>  
><em>It's not about the smile you wear<em>  
><em>But the way we make out<em>

_When I was another loner_  
><em>Nothin' but a two beach comber<em>  
><em>Anybody seen the sky? I'm, I'm wide awake now!"<em>

Their last words were topped off with a crash of cymbals, and was followed by the rest of the club applauding and whistling. The twins smiled, understanding they were accepted, and went to take their seats.

"Wow guys, that was great!" Mr. Schuester went back up to the front of the class, "I really loved the energy, but next time maybe pick something a little less...uh, provocative."

Sam smiled, "No problem Mr. S."


	2. One Thing Leads to Another

Tina and Quinn found themselves to be the first girls waiting in the room together.

"Hey Quinn, you're earlier than usual."

"Yeah well, being prompt is my thing."

Tina rolled her eyes, "Is that why you were late to almost _every_ practice for the last two years?" She looked at the blonde who sat in the first row with knowing eyes.

"Fine." Quinn knew she was caught, but like she cared, "He's hot, and I ne-want him." Tina knew she was referring to Sam, "So why are _you _here early?" Quinn snapped back.

"I-I'm always here early." Tina got a little tense and began averting her eyes.

"Not unless you're with 'Cedes or Kurt and Blaine. 'Fess up, Rice bowl." Quinn had figured the asian's reason were the same as hers, and though she wasn't too worried, she didn't like having competition of any kind- especially when it came to her potential arm candy.

Coach Sylvester said that being the head cheerleader meant there were certain guidelines one was to follow on how to present herself and the dignity of the Cheerios. The student body _also _had a few expectations of their own for whoever was crowned Head of the squad. Since being appointed Captain her sophomore year (yes, she was _that _good), Quinn Fabray had nearly every expectation thrown at her down to the T. In the top 10% of her class, popular, beautiful, church with the picture perfect family every Sunday, etc etc. There was just that pesky "hot shot boyfriend" problem that she was constantly having. There would be potentials, but no one fit her bill. The last thing Quinn needed was unwanted publicity from the likes of Jacob Ben Israel (the school's version of Entertainment Weekly) or anyone else who liked to derail her reputation with gossip as to why she "couldn't keep a man around." Being at the very top had it's perks- but when you fall, it's a _long_ way down. And Quinn wasn't looking to go skydiving with no 'chute any time soon. So when the opportunity to score a new catch came along, she was on it like white on rice.

Tina sighed, knowing Quinn wasn't an idiot, "Are you gonna make me say it?"

Quinn smirked, knowing she won and was right in her theory, "No. But you'd better watch out- I don't play nice when it comes to what I want."

Before Tina could get another word in, Mercedes and Mike Chang came waltzing in the door,

"Girl I was wondering where you were. I sent you a text." And with that Mercedes sat down next to Tina, leaving only one empty seat on the other side of her Asian bestie.

Tina had a sour smile on her face, noting that her chances of getting to sit next to Sam had just severely dropped, "Oh, I must have lost service and never got it."

Mike sat next to Quinn and before he could even finish saying hi to her, "Move!" She looked back at Tina with a face that said, "_See. Don't play nice_.", and turned back to face the front.

Mike's eyes widened while his head jerked back; he got up and decided to sit on the other side of Tina. While she internally face-palmed herself, she ignored the conversation Mike and Mercedes started having about Quinn's crazy sudden outburst; which Quinn also chose to ignore, given that she generally ignored anything most of the other members talked about anyways. It wasn't long before the rest of the group began shuffling in, filling up the seats until everyone was in the room, except Brittany.

Mr. Schuester walked in and headed for the whiteboard, but stopped before he began writing, "Hey Sam, where's your sister?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. We don't really keep track of one another...but our cat has a chip in him that does." his response was followed by quiet snickering.

"Right." Will let the word slowly fall out of his mouth. "Well, hopefully she turns up." He turned his attention back to the board and started writing out a short list of names: Rachel, Mercedes, Kurt, Finn.

"I thought about what Rachel said last practice and _although_, Santana," He looked over to her, "I really appreciated your readiness to perform a solo, it wouldn't be fair to just _give_ it to you."

_'Oh now he wants to play fair?' _The cheerleader rolled her eyes.

"So I've decided that everyone whose name is _not _on this list needs to tryout for the leads in our performance at Sectionals." Will pointed back to the whiteboard then turned to look over the group with a grin on his face that said "_I'm a genius." _

"Come again?" Kurt asked in disbelief.

"I _know _I heard you incorrectly, right?" Mercedes asked with a displeased tone. Rachel's mouth was hanging too low to the ground to form words and Finn was just sitting there...not really caring.

"Look guys, we discussed on day one that this was our year to make changes. And for the past 2 years we've really only featured Kurt, Finn, Mercedes and Rachel as the leads."

"_That _is because we've proven that we're the best!" Rachel found her words and was growing more tired of Mr. Schuester's "let's play fair" game by the minute.

"Exactly! Besides, we're the only ones who ever volunteer anyways. And for the record, I've only been showcased three- maybe four times." Kurt's face narrowed slightly in growing agitation.

"Guys! We aren't arguing about this!" Will raised his voice, "I'm giving everyone on this list a chance to finally step out of their comfort zones and show us how _great _they can perform if given the chance when we go to Sectionals." He was calm again, "This is a whole new year, and we're gonna have a whole new game plan."

"What game are we playing?" Brittany entered the room; her voice was filled with excitement.

"Seriously?" Puck asked with a questioning look.

"Hey Brittany, where have you been?", Mr. Schue asked.

"Well I got turned around on the way here, so I stopped the giant wearing a track suit to ask where the choir room was." Everyone looked at her in confusion, except Sam- but he was used to her language, "She told me she'd take me, but when she opened the door and shoved me inside, I realized I was locked in a closet full of cleaning stuff."

"Did this giant have short, dirty blonde hair?" Mr. Schuester pretty much knew where this was going.

"Actually..." Brittany gazed out in space to think about it, "Yes."

Will sighed, "That's Coach Sylvester...just try avoiding her." He shot a glance over to Quinn and Santana, who were giving each other sly smirks from across the room. It was sort of a mean thing to do, but they always found Sue's petty, unending attempts to sabotage _any _part of the glee club humorous.

"Why didn't you call me Brittany?" Sam felt bad, he would've been able to help her.

"Lord Tubbington hid my phone." The entire club looked completely confused, "That's my cat." The confusing looks deepened, but didn't phase Brittany.

"How'd you manage to get out?" Blaine _had_ to hear this.

"I guess after calling out Hello for a while, the janitor heard me. He opened the door and gave me the right directions."

"Oh." The group answered in unison. Not as good as hearing about the cat, but they were certain these tangents wouldn't be too scarce if Brittany decided to stick around.

"Well at least you made it out safely. You can take a seat now Brittany." Mr. Schuester continued as Brittany went and took the only seat available, next to Santana. "Alright guys, now we're goin-"

Santana automatically tuned out anything Will was saying to the class once Brittany sat down next to her. "Did you seriously say your cat hid your phone?" She asked in a hushed voice.

Brittany looked at her as if her question were stupid, "Yeah, he does stuff like that all the time. Once, he moved my car from our driveway down to Sam's friend Silas' house several doors down from ours."

Santana had the most questioning look on her face, "They let you drive?"

"Who?" The sincerity in her face never diminishing.

"Anyone?" _  
><em>

"Santana." Mr. Schue caught the girl mid-thought, "Since you seem to be more interested in talking with Brittany than helping the class decide possible song ideas for Sectionals, I assume you already have one you'd like to share with the group?"

She rolled her eyes, but wasn't about to get punked by a 30-something year old with a butt chin, "Actually, _I do._" She got up and stood in the middle of the room, looked to the drummer, "You already know." With a nod from the drummer the beat kicked off,

Santana: _"Ten years livin' in a paper bag  
>Feedback baby, he's a flipped out cat<br>He's a platinum canary, drinkin' Falstaff beer  
>Mercedes Ruehl, and a rented lear<br>Bottom feeder insincere  
>Prophet lo-fi pioneer<br>Sell the house and go to school  
>Get a young girlfriend, daddy's jewel"<em>

Mercedes and Quinn stepped down to help back up the Cheerio with vocals as they all danced around,

_"A change, would do you good  
>A change, would do you good<br>I think a change, would do you good."_

Santana pointed at Puck as she danced and sang, knowing it would affect him; which it did. She could tell by the pursing of his lips, and it was hilarious.

_"Chasing dragons with plastic swords  
>Jack off Jimmy, everybody wants more<br>Scully and Angel on the kitchen floor  
>And I'm calling buddy on the ouija board<br>I've been thinking 'bout catching a train  
>Leave my phone machine by the radar range<br>Hello it's me, I'm not at home  
>If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone!<em>

_A change, would do you good  
>A change, would do you good<br>A change, would do you good  
>A change, would do you good"<em>

The music ended, as did the girls dancing, and they all went back to their seats as the rest of the group applauded the performance.

Mr. Schuester came to the middle of the room again, "That was great Santana."

"Oh I know." She replied quickly with a smirk

"But I'm not quite sure it's strong enough to get us past Sectionals."

"Uhm-" Santana was not pleased, and Mr. S could definitely tell- he quickly backed up his statement for fear of chaotic outburst,

"I-I'm not saying _you _aren't strong enough..but this is why I want you all to take some time to think about a song that's _really _moving."

"Fine. Whatever." She wasn't all that mad; the song _was _off of a whim, but she wasn't going to let anyone know that.

While Mr. Schue kept babbling about the power of a great song, Brittany leaned over to Santana, "I thought you were hot."

As she whispered barely inches from Santana's ear, the brunette quickly turned her head to see a shyly smiling Brittany and for the first time in a long while- she didn't know what to say. It's not like the blonde said something insulting, and she'd heard that she was hot plenty of times, but Santana Lopez found herself being caught off guard by this curious girl. So caught off guard that she didn't notice the only thing coming out of her mouth was, "Uhh...", paired with a raised and questioning eyebrow.

Brittany giggled, "You're cute." And turned back to listen to Mr. Schuester.

_'Ok seriously? Did I just do that stupid "uhhh" thing that all the guys do when _I _talk to them? What the hell is up with me?' _Santana internally thought as she crossed her arms and tried to focus on the rest of Mr. Schuester's lesson.

* * *

><p>"Ok guys, I think that's it for today. Remember, all of your solos and, or duets are to be performed by three weeks from now." Everyone sort of just nodded and parted ways, while Mike decided to stick behind. He walked up to Will who was sorting through papers by his desk, "Hey Mr. Schuester?"<p>

"Hey Mike. What can I do for you?"

"Um, w-well I was just wondering...is trying out for leads...mandatory?" Mike looked nervous as Will chuckled.

"Well yes. That was the whole point of the assignment."

"Oh," he looked down at his scuffed Converse.

"Is there something wrong?" Mr. Schue was confused; everyone always wanted the lead- didn't they?

"It's just that...I'm a dancer. And well, when I joined I kinda just assumed that's really all I'd be doing- aside from quietly joining in on the choruses and stuff."

Will nodded, "And your dancing is outstanding, Mike but I want you to take this as an opportunity to work on your singing abilities too. I mean, none of us have every really heard your voice, right? Even when you auditioned with Puck and Matt you danced around them while they sang."

"That's because I know I'm no good at it." His father always implied "_if you aren't great there's no point_" in anything he did.

"Yeah but how can you know that if you don't try singing out in front of other people?" Will wasn't going to let the dancer give up on himself, "And no one in here is going to judge you, no matter what the outcome of your performance will be."

Mike shrugged, "I guess, yeah."

"Which I'm sure will turn out as excellent as your moves." He gave Mike a smile and patted him on the shoulder, "Look, if you're really worried, why don't you ask one of the kids in the club to help you out? I'm sure there's someone who can give you some great direction."

"That could work..." It was probably better than making a _complete _fool of himself. "Thanks Mr. Schue."

* * *

><p>Tina sat with Mercedes and Artie at their usual table near the back of the cafeteria. She could barely keep up with conversation while she continued to eye Sam from the second he walked in, as he threw every plate he saw on his tray, and wandered the area for a place to sit. His lost looks caused her to perk up.<em><br>_

_'This is my chance'_, "Hey Sam!" She blurted out, startling Mercedes and Artie who were too busy talking to notice her drooling over the new kid. The blonde looked around and spotted Tina waving him over towards the trio. He smiled in relief.

"Hey guys", he said with a smile.

"You looked a little lost", Tina's face was almost glowing as she swiftly moved her bag out of the seat next to her.

"Yeah...cool if I join y'all?" He placed his tray down once receiving a nod from the trio, "Thanks."

"So how do you like Ohio so far?" Tina quickly asked, surprising Mercedes and Artie with her sudden interest in starting up a conversation.

"Well it isn't all that bad. I mean there was way more stuff to do back in Cali, but it's peaceful...and a lot less hot."

"Oh I bet it's so hot." Tina let out a nervous laugh, "So have you made other friends yet?"

"Well not really, I usually keep to myself anyways bu-"

Tina kind of zoned out as she gazed up at the green eyed stud sitting before her; head in hand and all. _'Nice, quiet type. So sexy. I have to make sure Quinn doesn't ge-'_

"-uh, Tina?" Sam was wondering why she was staring a bit awkwardly. He turned to Mercedes, "Is there something on my face?" Then gave his mouth a wipe over with his sleeve.

"Tina?" Artie slightly whispered in a sing song way, "Tinaaaa", he was confused as to why the girl was just sitting, opened eyed but apparently dazed.

She snapped back to reality, "Oh, ha, sorry- I was, thinking...about glee stuff." _'Smooth._ Real_ smooth.'_ As Artie started off another topic with Sam, she looked down in slight embarrassment while Mercedes giggled a bit to herself; she knew what was going on.

* * *

><p>Rachel sat her tray down and sat next to Finn's, "Hello my handsome, handsome beau." Completing her sentence with a kiss to his cheek.<p>

Finn smiled as he leaned into it, "Hey Rachel."

"So. I was thinking we could go on a date Friday after your game- like a double date."

Finn's smile slowly got smaller, "Friday? Like, _this_ Friday?"

"Yes, silly. With Blaine and Kurt. There's a new Taylor Lautner movie coming out and we're all dying to see it."

The smile was getting even smaller, "Ah, well, Puck's having a party after the game and I was sort of hoping to go to that..", he was worried about the response he was about to get.

"Oh- but you know how I feel about parties, they aren't exactly my scene."

"W-ye-yeah but I figured, you know, _I'm_ gonna be there, it'll be cool."

His words were not convincing to Rachel, or settling, "I don't know. Wouldn't you rather spend the night gawking at-", she realized who she was talking to, "-me? While we're at the movies?" She turned to him with a smile in hopes of convincing him.

"You know, as fun as watching Taylor Lautner whine about something for 2 hours sounds, I'd _really _rather go to Puck's."

"I will have you know that it is an action movie." Rachel's voice started speeding up- which wasn't good for Finn.

"He's still gonna be whining in it..."

"And that it would be an excellent time to catch up with our friends."

"But, we see them in glee club all the time. Besides, yeah they're cool and all, but they're kinda more your friends, aren't they?"

Rachel was becoming impatient with Finn's aversions and excuses, "So you don't want to go?" Her voice was cold and straight forward.

"Nope."

"Fine. Go to your party and _I _will go have a wonderful night with Kurt and Blaine, _by myself._"

Finn smiled, "Alright- thanks Rachel."

As he tried to kiss her cheek, his lips were smooshed against the diva's hand. She then stood up, "I'll be having a wonderful lunch by myself as well." And with that, she grabbed her tray and walked out of the cafeteria, presumably towards the choir room, her own little sanctuary. Finn just sat there, arms out in question. _'What the hell is her deal?'_

The slushy facial count for Rachel had been increasingly dropping off since freshman year- she hadn't even gotten one this year (_yet_), but the star still had reason to worry. Years of abuse via dyed ice wasn't something one simply forgot about overnight. And just because those facials weren't coming in on the daily like they first were didn't mean she was being any more accepted by her peers. Sure she had been dating the quarterback for some time now, and the New Directions were slowly crawling up the social latter with each new trophy they brought in, but that didn't negate the fact that the majority of the school still thought Rachel was just a weirdo who liked to sing and had a knack for dramatics. What would happen if she just showed up at a party that was reserved for the 'penthouse socialites' of McKinley? _That _was something she was scared to find out. And she wondered how long she could maintain her paranoia around Finn before it ruined their already less than perfect relationship. It took so long for them to finally get together stably and officially, and she wasn't about to throw it all away over something like that.

* * *

><p>Brittany got her food and began scanning the room for <em>any<em> friendly and familiar face. Sitting alone for lunch was not something she was used to; and though she _could _sit with Sam, she didn't like feeling like she was tagging onto him like a safety blanket. As she searched, her eyes caught the back of a wavy, dark high-pony. A smile spread across her face as she made her way towards the owner of said pony. When she arrived at the table she sat her tray down next to her new...friend? She wasn't sure what to call the girl just yet, but she hoped.

"Hey Santana." As she sat and flashed the girl a smile, she noticed another familiar face also at the table, "Oh hey Quinn.", giving a second smile.

"Hey..." The word dragging as it passed her lips, "..Brittany right?" Santana replied with a slight smile- in surprise to Quinn and the other girls at the table.

"Santana." Quinn quickly snapped the girl into reality, causing the Latina to quickly turn her head back to Quinn.

"What?" She asked with a shrug.

Brittany noticed the attitude in Quinn's voice, "Is something wrong?"

Quinn shut her eyes for a nano second, her thoughts already processing, and opened them with a tugged grin, "I just- I'm so sore from Cheerios this morning and I forgot to get milk while I was in line. I'm such a lazy ass.." The blonde pulled out a five dollar bill quickly from her purse, "Brittany would you _totally _mind doing me a favor and getting me some?" She slid the bill over to Brittany with the sweetest smile she could conjure in her insincere state.

"Oh, yeah no problem." Brittany flashed a quick grin and walked away from the table to get back in the lunch line.

Santana waited until the girl was out of ear shot, "What the hell was that? You don't even like milk." Quinn was all over the place in a matter of 20 seconds and the Latina knew something had to be up.

"Maybe you hit your head recently, but only Cheerios sit at this table and I _know _you know that rule." The captain glared at her second in command for only an instant, "I was about to set that girl straight but then I realized what a stupid move that would be."

So maybe she was attempting to be sorta nice for a change? '_Sue me.' _"And why is that?" The blonde didn't do things she wouldn't normally do if it wasn't for outstanding reasons.

"How am I supposed to get that stud of a brother of hers if I'm a complete bitch to her right on the spot?" She answered like her friend had just asked the dumbest question in the world. The other girls at the table were quiet, but attentive as to what was happening. If Quinn had an order- they made sure to follow it.

"So you're being fake-nice to the new girl to get into her brother's pants?" Santana knew Quinn would protect her rep even before saving a drowning kitten, but this seemed borderline desperate for her. The girl _never _played nice. Not with _anybody._ She would know- since 7th grade the two girls had had a number of choice words and a handful of fights with one another- and _they _were supposed to be best friends...or something of the sort.

"That's a little crude San. I'm not trying to jump his guns, I just need a nice new boy and he's the one I want. So yes, _we're all,_" She looked around the table at the few other cheerleaders sitting with them, "going to make nice and let the cretin sit with us for as long as it takes. Got it ladies?" She returned the giggles and nods received from the other girls with a raised eyebrow and devilish grin.

"You're fucked up Fabray." The Latina shook her head. Yes, Santana was a bitch- but that was to people who deserved it; _and most of them did, _but this girl was fresh off the plane from...where was she from again? She at least deserved to get settled in a little before getting wrapped up in one of Quinn's devious schemes.

Before Quinn could get another word in Brittany was already sitting back down at the table, handing her a carton of milk and change. She looked over with an almost sour smile, "Thanks Brittany."

"No problem." She smiled and began eating the food on her plate.

Santana just rolled her eyes as she got up and headed out of the cafeteria.

All of the girls watched the raven haired cheerleader while she walked away. "Is she alright?" Brittany asked with concern.

Quinn shrugged like she didn't care, and she probably didn't, "I think she got sick or something."

Brittany's lips fell into a slight frown, "Aren't you gonna go check on her?"

"I'm more than certain she'll be fine." The head cheerleader quickly replied before turning to another Cheerio to discuss routines to perform for the football game.

* * *

><p>"Look. I don't wanna have to whoop your ass <em>again<em> Z."

Santana had walked out into the hallway to get away for a minute from the bullshit-fest that had started up with Quinn. As she was about to round the corner she could hear a couple familiar voices and decided to step back and listen in from the other side of the lockers- this could get interesting.

"That was a _fluke _Red Pants! I got something in my eye and couldn't see for shit." She could hear Azimio getting frustrated.

"Yeah- you got Blaine's fist in your eye!"

_'Oh, Porcelain...wait. Blaine's fist?' _The Latina was _definitely _interested now.

"Listen gay boy." Z's voice had raised slightly, "Maybe it's been a while since you been around normal people what with you being in that glee club and all- but this _ain't _the school of the glee and home of the gay. So next time you decide you wanna swap spit with ya boy here-" She heard a body slam against a locker, "Find somewhere else to do it!"

There were feet scuffling against the tile, "Blaine! Blaine, calm down.."

Santana quickly came from around the corner to see Azimio walking past her back towards the cafeteria with a scowl on his face and Kurt holding Blaine back from going in the direction the jock was heading. Blaine, who normally dawned a sweet smile on his face looked like he was seething.

"Are you guys ok?" Santana asked as she walked up to them.

"Oh, hey Santana..." Kurt looked surprised to see her, as did Blaine, and the two separated; Blaine's face instantly relaxed.

"What was all that about?" She didn't want to come out and say she was totally eavesdropping, so she hoped they wouldn't question her question.

Blaine shook his head, "We just.." his cheeks flushed slightly, "got caught up in the moment and that giant _ass_ found us here in the hall with our tongues tied." Kurt quickly looked over to Blaine, his eyes widening at the bluntness in his statement.

He looked from Blaine back to the girl in front of them, "Needless to say, he was none too pleased with our hallway PDA."

Santana nodded, "And..." _Eh, who cares. Latinas are notoriously nosy anyways..."_What was that about Blaine's fist and Azimio's eye?" She asked with a grin.

* * *

><p>Quinn had no real intention of becoming buddy-buddy with Brittany, and it was pretty evident with the way the new girl was basically being ignored while sitting at the table with the Cheerios. So when Brittany got up without a word and walked away, Quinn wasn't too bothered. She only briefly let her eyes follow the blonde as she made her way across the room towards the doors leading out to the hallway.<p>

* * *

><p>A wicked smile grew on both boys' faces, "I might've totally kicked his ass over the summer when him and Karofsky thought it'd be fun to harass us in the movie theater parking lot."<p>

"Seriously!" She couldn't hold the laugh that came flying out of her mouth. The guys started chuckling as well.

"It was pretty epic." Kurt added.

"Well, Mr. Anderson...I didn't know you had it in you." Santana gave him a proud smile. If they were going to be given shit for being out and proud at least they could dish it right back. Well, at least Blaine could...and Kurt would be there for moral support and backtalk.

"Ha, thanks- I didn't actually _want _to fight but he just kept at it and..well I just thought he needed to be taught a lesson. Luckily for me, my older brother is an expert in Krav Maga so he taught me all about defending myself."

"Doesn't seem like he learned much." The Latina remarked, "But at least your bro taught you Tai Chi or Krack Magic or whatever."

They laughed and shook their heads, "One day they'll realize how ridiculous they are." Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand, "Well, we're off to catch the rest of lunch. Bye San."

She giggled as they walked away, "By boys- stay out of trouble!"

Just as they went around the corner she could hear them talking with a third person, but couldn't make out the voice. When she saw blue eyes come from the other side of the wall, Santana looked around for a moment wondering why the blonde was out there instead of in the cafeteria "befriending" the Queen Bee.

"Hey are you ok?" Brittany asked with concern in her voice.

"Uh..yeah, I'm fine." Santana was confused by her question.

"Quinn said you got sick." She was now standing directly in front of the shorter girl, examining her all over with her eyes.

_'Real slick, Quinn.' _San just shook her head, "It was nothing, I'm good." She nodded with a barely-there smile to prove that she was fine.

"Oh..ok.." Britt looked down at the floor. "I guess that's why she didn't care to check on you." She looked back up into deep brown pools.

"Look, she just...with Quinn.." She tore her eyes away from the zaffre eyes that were boring into her own, shifting in her stance slightly and looking at anything that wasn't blue.

A grin formed on Brittany's face, "Uh huh..."

The Cheerio sighed, not knowing how to explain the complexity of Quinn without telling the girl's life story. Though still annoyed with her captain after that little plot she conjured up, she didn't want to throw her friend totally under the bus. "It's just probably a better idea if you don't hang around Quinn ok?"

"But you-" She stopped for a moment and the look of realization came across her face, "Ohh. I get it." She nodded and turned around, walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Santana wasn't sure what just happened for the girl to just start walking off.

Brittany turned around but didn't walk back, "Y'all are the cool kids and I'm the new girl that nobody talks to. This is high school...doesn't take an idiot to figure out what that means." She didn't look upset, and from her voice she seemed un-phased.

_'Isn't the phrase Doesn't take a Genius?' _San wondered for a moment before she shook the thought away, "No, Brittany, that's not it." _'Yeah it pretty much is you liar.' _If she was going to be admired she figured being at least a little bit nicer...to some people, was the way to go.

"It's fine Santana. I'll go tag with Sam and the other glee kids, they seem really nice." She smiled a little and started to turn around and walk away again.

_Now _she was sort of offended. _'And what do _I _seem like? A horrid wench? _I_ was being nice.' _"Quinn's just kind of a sneaky bitch ok?" Her eyes widened for a moment at the sudden word vomit. '_So much for not throwing her under the bus.' _Better Quinn than Santana though. San was actually trying to improve her image while Quinn just wanted in New Guy's pants and was willing to fake-friend his sister to get there.

Brittany stopped abruptly and turned around to find Santana walking up to her. "What would that have to do with anything? She doesn't even know me."

Well she wasn't going to tell the girl _everything. _"Let's just say she likes fresh meat."

Britt laughed a little, "Are y'all even really friends?" From the brief interaction between the two girls, she wasn't sure what to think.

The Latina nodded, letting out a small laugh, "Pretty much best friends..on a good day, kinda. We're just a little too honest about some things for our own good." She shrugged then continued, "And I'm telling you for your own good, don't hang around Quinn."

"So why do you?" The blonde was curious now.

"Because I've known her for so long that she knows if she crosses me I'll explode her." Santana grinned deviously.

"Does that mean I shouldn't hang around you either? That we can't be friends?" Brittany raised an eyebrow, challenge etched across her face.

"No." Could she have responded any faster? "I-I mean, if you wanna hang around or whatever...that's cool." _'Wow Lopez since when are you desperate for friends?'...oh yeah, since most of yours aren't real friends.'_

"Good."

She smiled and made San realize she was staring at those eyes again. Probably because she'd never seen any that blue in person before. _'Still acting creepy..'_ She cleared her throat, "Um, you wanna like..go back I guess?"

"To Quinn's table?" There was teasing in her voice.

"Didn't we _just _have this conversation?" The Cheerio smirked.

"I know, I was kidding. I'll be going back to Sam so you can have fun trying not to explode your _friend." _Her smile not faltering.

She just rolled her eyes, "I think I've had enough of Quinn today to get me through the rest of lunch. Lets go find our own table and you can tell me where that '_y'all' _word came from." Just because Santana was trying the whole "nice" thing out, didn't mean she was ready to slum it with half of the glee kids for lunch. Other people had eyes and she wasn't trying to demote her rep, simply improve it.

Britt giggled, "Alright."


	3. Highs and Lows

There was no conversation on the way back to the cafeteria, each girl seemingly wrapped in their own thoughts as they entered the room and scanned the area for somewhere to sit. Since lunch was already underway, most of the students filled their tables and had been engaged in their own conversations.

"I guess Sam's it is." Brittany spotted and pointed over to Sam who was sitting with some other Glee kids. Santana didn't want to waist time trying to figure out which ones they were.

"No I got this." The raven haired girl nodded for Britt to follow her as she made her way towards the middle section of the cafeteria. The two girls stopped in front of Jacob Ben Israel who was talking with a few other weirdos and nerds. "Move trolls!" Santana barked and the boys all immediately got up with their trays and backpacks and scattered. _'JBI is someone I'm willing to not be admired by.' _With a proud smirk on her face, she turned to Brittany who was giggling, "Sientate mija." She placed herself down in one of the chairs, and though Brittany wasn't sure exactly what she was saying, she got the idea and sat next to the Cheerio. "So where were we?" She paused for a second, "Oh yeah..._Y'all_?"

"Y'all what?" Brittany asked, not sure of the question being asked.

Santana smirked, _'This girl..' "_I mean, who even says y'all? Didn't Mr. Schue say you came from..." She trailed off, not remembering where the new girl was even from.

"California." She finished the sentence. "And yeah, that's where we _came _from but that's not where we're _actually_ from."

"So are you from the South or something? Cause you don't sound like a hick." She'd never really met anyone originally from the South but wasn't that what the majority of them sounded like?

Brittany giggled, "We lived in Texas for a while, that's where I picked it up from. But for the record, they don't all talk with that twang everyone thinks they do."

"Hm, I didn't know." San shrugged, "So that's where you're from then?"

"Not really. My family's moved around a few times so we're kinda from a little bit of everywhere." The blonde replied with a smile.

"Military?"

"Railroad."

"Huh?" Santana was confused now. Maybe the girl meant that's how they moved...which sounded like a pain in the ass.

She let out another small giggle, "My dad's an engineer for the railroad. And since the trains go everywhere, him and my mom like to move around when the opportunity comes. They didn't want to move us during high school but they really needed an engineer in Defiance, so my dad took the position, along with a slight raise for making the trip."

_'Well then.' _She wasn't expecting the full story but it was short enough. "That's cool. Why the Hell would you live in Lima though if he has to work all the way in Defiance?" There were billions of other places in Ohio that were closer and less...well, shitty.

"They were tired of the big city life in Cali so he wanted to settle somewhere nice and quiet. A friend of his from work told him about Lima and they liked it enough.

"Well quiet you definitely got, I'm not so sure about nice though. The guy who told your dad about Lima must've hated his guts."

Brittany laughed, causing a smile to spread across San's face. "Do you really hate it here?"

"Hate? Maybe not completely. But the _second _I get my diploma I'm haulin' ass a million miles in any direction away from this place."

She shook her head and grinned, "You're funny."

Now _that_ was something she hadn't heard before. Hot? Definitely. Bitch? From time to time. Even witty if you asked certain people. But no one had ever called Santana funny- so she wasn't sure how to take that one. _'Was that an insult?'_

As several long seconds passed Brittany could sense her uncertainty as the girl next to her sat there unsure of what to say and with that same raised eyebrow as she had in the choir room. She liked when the Latina did that. "And cute when you don't know what to say." A very light tint of pink spread across her cheeks, accompanied with a shy smile. Britt had no problem with speaking her mind but she had to remember not _everyone _was as comfortable with it as she was.

Santana's mouth was slightly agape as she attempted to find words that just _would not_ come out. Was this girl hitting on her or was she just being...well San wasn't sure what she'd call it. No girls had ever talked to her the way this one did.; throwing that 'cute' word around again. And it's a little hard to get offended and be rude to someone who isn't a sleeze or isn't actually insulting you. _'At least say _something _dummy!' "_Uh-" She coughed a bit, "Uhm, n-no I _was _gonna say something but I just- I forgot what it was."

The pink had faded away but the smile was still there. "Oh, ok." She didn't wanna put the cheerleader further on the spot than she already had.

They sat in silence for about 5 seconds. _'Think of something before this gets awkward..' _"So I have to ask.." Santana blurted out but trailed off a little, slightly worried of the girl's reaction.

"Yeah?" Brittany's voice perked up.

"Well, ok I don't mean to be rude but..._how_ is your brother's mouth so huge?" She had been wondering ever since the twins arrived at McKinley and she figured this was a good way to break the slight awkwardness _and _get an answer to her burning question.

Brittany's immediate laugh calmed Santana's slight worries about offending the girl, "Well when I was little and asked, my parents said it was genetics. Our grandpa on my dad's side has a huge bass mouth too.." Santana was laughing a bit now, which created a smile on the blonde's face, "But _I _know what it's really from." Brittany's tone seemed fairly serious.

"And what's that?" She was pretty sure no amount of collagen could do that for a person.

"I'm pretty sure my foot was jammed in his mouth the entire time our mom was pregnant with us, up until we were ready to bust outta there at least."

Santana was fully laughing now, highly satisfied with herself in choosing to question Sam's mouth, "I like your theory. Very plausible."

Brittany nodded her head, "I know right? My mom said that's definitely not what happened, but I think she's just trying to save Sam's feelings. I'd be embarrassed too if I was sucking on a foot for 9 months." Which earned another chuckle and smile from Santana.

Before either girl could get another word in the bell for the next period sounded off. Both girls slightly jumped in surprise, not realizing how fast the time had gone by. They got up from their table and followed the herd of people exiting the vicinity and flooding into the hallway, "So what class do you have now?" Brittany asked.

"Ugh, English. What about you?"

"Um..." The blonde got her schedule out to look; she hadn't memorized it just yet. "Calculus" She looked up from her paper.

Santana looked up at Brittany with questions burning across her face, "C-calculus?" She wasn't sure if she heard that correctly.

"Yeah." She smiled a little. "Numbers and equations are easy. They're like..." The taller girl looked out to find her explanation, "weird puzzles." Followed by a blink and another grin. "It's also kind of the only subject Sam doesn't have to help me in." She laughed a bit.

Santana slightly cocked her head to the side and smiled, "So you're Rainman huh?", followed by a small giggle. She was becoming more amused and intrigued by this new girl. It was probably just something about her quirky remarks and friendliness; a trait not held by many a girl at McKinley, even herself usually.

"Is that a superhero?" The dancer grinned while her eyes sparked slightly.

As the Cheerio shook her head and laughed she negated the question by changing subjects,"So I guess...I'll..see you around?"

Brittany smiled, "Yeah definitely. I'll be hangin' around." She winked and started walking backwards, "I officially have my first friend..and I'm glad it's you." With that she turned around and continued walking towards her class. The Cheerio stood there for a second wondering how she had gotten herself into befriending the new girl, not noticing the casual grin spreading across her face, before she shook her thoughts away and headed off in another direction.

* * *

><p>Mike was changing into his football gear before practice when he caught Finn walking into the locker room. "Hey Finn." He called the quarterback over to his locker.<p>

"Hey what's up?"

Mike was a little embarrassed. He never really had to ask anyone for help with anything, especially something as simple as singing. The fact that he was asking a guy too worried him, if the other football guys knew, they'd both be sure to start each morning with a slushy facial until the 'private lessons' stopped. But Finn was the glee club's go-to male lead, and Mike knew he'd be nice enough to help him get good. "I was wondering," He looked around to make sure none of the other players could hear them, "Think you could help me with my singing after practices? Mr. Schue said those tryouts were mandatory and I don't wanna go out in front of the whole club and make a fool outta myself. I'd ask Artie or Blaine but I know they're probably busy working on their own solos...and Kurt kinda intimidates me. He's got more attitude than Rachel I think."

Finn chuckled, thinking it over for a second. "You may be right about that one dude. And I would totally help you out but Coach Beiste has me staying after practice for extra passing drills. She says I kinda throw like a girl..." Finn looked around awkwardly with that gassy face.

"Oh ok," Mike replied, slightly defeated, "Thanks anyways."

As Mike finished putting the rest of his pads on he started to walk away quietly, but Finn stopped him before he passed, "But hey I bet if I asked Rachel she could help you." The dancer stopped and turned back to Finn, considering his offer. "I know she's a little- well, crazy.." Causing Mike to chuckle lightly, "But she's actually a real good teacher, and...not to brag but, kinda the best one in the club." Finn let out a slight laugh. Mike was quietly debating, "Plus you said yourself..less attitude than Kurt." He grinned.

That was probably what made up his mind. "I could be down for that." He nodded his head.

"Ok, cool. Well I'll call Rachel before I go out to the field and let you know what she says when I get out there." Finn started pulling out his phone as he made his way to his own locker so he could dress out.

"Alright. Thanks Finn."

"Yeah no problem. Anything to help the team out right?" The boys fist bumped before Mike headed off to the field. Finn scrolled through his contacts on his phone to find Rachel's name, then pressed the call button. After a few rings he got an answer, "Hey Rachel...n-no I'm still going to the party...but- well," Before he could be hung up on by his still-irritated girlfriend he quickly broke through her rant, "Mike Chang needs your help!" The few guys that were still in the locker room looked over towards Finn awkwardly. He saw the half-glares and sat on the bench, crouching over slightly and lowered his voice, "What? No he isn't being deported- he just needs help with his singing since he has to audition for a solo...oh come on, he's a nice guy...it isn't helping the enemy if they're on your team. He actually seemed nervous when he asked me...Ok, alright great." Finn smiled into the phone as he stood up and started undressing, "Ok I'll let him know, thanks Rachel...Alright, bye." As he shut his phone he grinned and continued to change out of his school clothes and into his practice gear.

* * *

><p>Finn rushed out onto the practice field, one of the last ones to arrive, and quickly found Mike on the ground with 2 other guys jumping over one another. "Hey Mike?"<p>

"Yeah?" Mike asked winded as he continued jumping from his push up position over the other guys.

"I talked to Rachel. She said you can go to her house after practice as long as you take a shower before you get there...ha, she doesn't like sweaty football players." Finn laughed a bit to himself.

Mike huffed as he tried to reply, "Shower...Rachel's", he breathed in deep and made his last jump over his teammate before the 3 of them stopped- the Asian rolled onto his back, out of breath, "Got it. Thanks Finn."

"Yeah no pro-"

"Hudson!" Finn was cut off by Coach Beiste, "Get your ass over here!" She called out from across the field. Before either boy could say anything, Finn was running over to Coach Beiste, leaving Mike laying there on the field.

* * *

><p>"That was horrible! I would've had more fun having a stroke than watching you flail through the air like seals having conniption fits!" Sue shouted into her megaphone violently. The Cheerios stood in their ending places, each one completely breathless- having just finished their new routine. They were used to being yelled at by Coach Sylvester, so it didn't really phase them. Sue looked down at her watch, "Hit the ovens...showers!" The teens rolled their eyes at her voice which was echoing through the gym and walked off towards their locker rooms. "Santana! Quinn!" She walked down from the top of the bleachers onto the basketball court as they walked towards her.<p>

"Yeah Coach?" Quinn asked, almost sounding worried.

Sue's voice sounded calm, "Q..Fake Boobs," Santana rolled her eyes, "Do you two remember what I told you two years ago when I promoted you to Captain and second in command?"

The girls looked at each other and chose Quinn answer for them, "You said Santana was the most malicious girl you had seen since you had 'Val 'the Viper' Guerra' on the team back in 1982, and that I was undoubtedly a younger..._less attractive_, (that always annoyed her) Sue Sylvester." The blonde subsided her eye roll and smiled proudly, almost surprised at remembering the exact phrasing.

"Exactly. And do you two remember the _one_ job I gave you?" Sue's eyebrow rose as her lips started to purse.

Santana rolled her eyes slightly, so as not to be too obvious, and the two girls answered together in monotonous voices, "Destroy the glee club."

"Precisely. And the funny thing is- you've been in this little club for the past two years, and you both have _yet_ to make even the _slightest_ of triumphs over the club, or even Will Schuester." The girls were quiet, not sure of what to say. They _had_ intended on trying to sabotage the club, but had gotten too caught up in actually enjoying themselves (though they'd likely deny it) to make any progress in that endeavor. "And _now_, Santana, I hear you're going to be singing a _solo_ in your next competition? Sounds to me like you're just jumpin' on the loserwagon now."

Santana looked down as Quinn quickly tried to step in, "C-coach.."

"Don't 'Coach' me." She put her hand up to stop the blonde from continuing, "You know, I _really_ thought you two had what it took to run that club into the ground, but you can't even do _that. _You've turned soft, ladies. Into mushy, sad, melted cups of goose poo. How can I expect you to lead us to our 8th consecutive national title when you can't overturn a bunch of nerds?" The girls looked confused at each other, then back up to Sue. "I have no choice- but to rid you of your positions _and_ uniforms."

The girls both quickly went wide-eyed, "You don't mean-" Santana started but was quickly interrupted by a hand inches from her face.

"Yes, Salma Hayek- you're both _out_." Coach Sylvester felt nothing upon seeing the initial shock in both girls' eyes, "I want those uniforms clean and on my desk by noon tomorrow."

"But Coach Sylvester!" Quinn's eyes were lightly glazed over, "We're two of the best girls on the squad! We keep _everyone_ in check and-"

"We're the leaders for Christ-sake!" Santana wasn't sad; she had anger in her eyes.

"Oh don't bring Buddha or whoever else into this." Sue shook her head, "I gave you a task, which you both have immensely failed. There's no room in this squad for traitors- and that is exactly what the two of you have become." Sue stared them down with glaring eyes.

"Coach _please. _There must be _something _we can do. You know how much being on the squad means to us." Quinn's voice was starting to shake as she looked between Santana and Sue.

"We're _not _traitors." San's voice filled with animosity.

Sue stood there for a moment weighing her options. She took a quick breath in through her nose, "I'm giving you an ultimatum. You quit the glee club, proving that your allegiance is to this squad or you're _out_ and those uniforms and poms poms are on my desk in pristine condition tomorrow by noon." Leaving no room for debate she turned around and headed towards her office.

The girls stood there in silence staring out to the door that their Coach had just walked through. Santana's lip curled while her eyes glared and she turned to Quinn, "What the hell are we gonna do?" To say she was pissed would be an understatement.

The gears weren't turning this time. Quinn just shook her head and opened her mouth but nothing came out. "I don't know." She finally spoke with a quiet voice.

One would think they could easily just drop the glee club and be done with it, but it wasn't that simple. Though they'd never admit it to a soul, even each other, they stuck around in the group for a reason; and it wasn't to help Coach Sylvester destroy everything they all worked so hard for. It was a sort of escape, albeit socially frowned upon, for the girls that allowed them to express their everything through something everyone understood. Even if the group was comprised of a bunch of odds and ends of the social ladder who couldn't stand each other at times, in the end everyone had a reason for being there. Quinn and Santana included.

Quinn looked to Santana, who's expression had softened from angered to worried, then simply walked away without a word, leaving the Latina alone in the gym.

She shook her head and muttered, "Hijo de puta." Then walked out, racking her brain for a decision. Three long years of busting her ass and forging a name for herself at the top of the school's hierarchy was _not _about to be flushed down the toilet. _'Not all because of Sue Sylvester.'_And she wasn't a quitter, so dropping the team days after demanding a solo and attempting to improve her image didn't seem like a viable option either.

* * *

><p>Mike stared down at his phone as he pulled into the driveway of a two-story white house. The map on his cell had lead him to this location. As he looked up and got out of the car he re-read the address on the phone to make sure it matched the numbers on the house. The dancer slowly walked up the front steps and rang the doorbell. After a few seconds of waiting the door opened to reveal Rachel standing behind it.<p>

"H-hi Rachel." Mike smiled awkwardly. He had never talked to Rachel outside of school, let alone gone over to her house. The boy wasn't sure if she would immediately try to boss him around or not.

"Hello Mike." Rachel grinned a bit, "Come on in." She opened the door more so he could enter the house. Mike stepped in, closing the door behind him. "You can follow me." She spoke as she continued into what he presumed to be the living room. The room had two couches facing each other and a piano off in the corner by a window. "This is our living room." She let her arms spread to show off the area. "I figured we could practice in here since we have the piano."

Mike nodded and slowly went to sit on one of the couches, "Thanks for doing this Rachel."

Rachel nodded her head, "Why did you ask for help in the first place?" He looked up at her, "Not that I mind helping." She caught herself so as to not sound too rude, "It's just that...well it's not everyday that I get asked for help from anyone in the group." She looked from Mike down to the keys on the piano in front of her, "No one really likes me enough to ask for anything."

"Well I originally asked Finn, but he's busy with football stuff. He said you were a good teacher, and I don't want to sound like complete crap when I sing." He looked at Rachel who was now listening to him.

"Oh, right." Rachel looked back to the keys.

The Asian could sense the slight disappointment in the girl's voice, "It's also because you're pretty much our best singer." Rachel quickly picked her head up to look at the boy, "Always good to learn from the best right?" He grinned as she slowly smiled back.

"You do have a point there." She looked down and placed her fingers over the keys of the piano, "Now. Let's start with Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star, and see where we go from there." She looked up at Mike, "Ready?" She began playing as the football player nodded and started singing along with the music.

* * *

><p>Santana walked into the school the next morning and immediately felt the numerous pairs of eyes that lingered over in her direction. It could have been that her hair was down and flowing over her shoulders in contrast to it's normally bouncy ponytail. Or maybe it was the Cheerios uniform that she was holding up in her right hand on a hanger; freshly dry cleaned. It was both of these things; but what it <em>really <em>was, was no one had seen Santana Lopez wear anything other than that Cheerios uniform to school since she was a freshman. It had been four years, and the Latina wore it with pride each and every day of school. So to see the fiery woman in tight jeans and a purple V-neck that hugged her everywhere the right way, was rather astonishing. The questionable looks followed her as she walked through, returned with a piercing glare that said, "_Do we have a problem?_" No one questioned her aloud though; it was all silent. Santana was headed towards Coach Sylvester's office when she caught a glimpse of blonde hair and a red outfit. She stopped dead in her tracks and stormed straight for the golden ponytail.

"_What_ the _hell!_" Santana questioned loudly as she slammed Quinn's locker shut, barely seconds after the girl removed her hand from the inside.

Quinn's eyes widened as she turned to Santana, "What's _your_ problem?" Asking nonchalantly as she now faced the darker haired girl.

"My _problem _is that after you totally _bailed_ yesterday and I tried to get a hold of you all night with no success, you show up here wearing _that." _She let her hand wave over Quinn's body.

"Yeah well," The blonde started off whimsically, "I needed to think some things over by myself; I'm allowed to do that you know." She began walking as Santana started following her, "I _cannot _lose my position as Captain. My college applications depend on it."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Oh please. You're like in the top 7% or something, you'll be fine."

"It's not all about grades San. They look at extracurriculars too. And besides, do you understand how hard I've worked to get where I am around here?" Irritation was creeping up in her voice.

"What the fuck do you think _I've _been doing the entire time we've been in this shit box?"

Quinn stopped and grabbed San's arm to face her. "You don't _get it _Santana. Without this uniform all I have is that club and that's _not _going to do me any good in this hell hole."

"So you're so stuck on a power trip?" The Latina's voice was raising. She'd thought about it all night after not being able to get to a hold of Q and decided Sue and no glee was like Hell with no water. She figured that uniform couldn't posses _all _the powers in the world and she'd still be the hottest piece of action at school without it. Hopefully her reputation was as highly regarded as she assumed, and maybe, though she wanted to shed the Bitch Title, the fear of her wrath would still place her at the top of the food chain. At least until she could woo the students of McKinley to her admiration by showing off her magnificent talents...and.._'sigh', _her new "nice" personality. "You're just gonna walk away from what we've been working towards for the last two years?"

"That's not what this is." The Cheerio glared lightly, "And don't act like we haven't been working our _asses _off in Cheerios to bring back those National trophies."

"Oh I know we have. But we both know Sue. And we're _both _easily replaceable to her." Santana and Quinn hadn't realized they had gravitated closer to each other, basically in a stand off position. The glares of frustration could cut glass.

Q's normally hazel eyes had an extra flair of deep green, "Yeah well I'm _not." _Her jawline clenched for a moment before she started to walk past Santana and into her classroom.

Santana furrowed her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side, "What?" Before anymore of her thoughts could be processed a voice ripped into her ears and brought her back to reality.

"Hey there sexy layday." A dark voice rang behind her as she turned to see Noah standing in front of her; face plastered with his sly grin. "What's the occasion?"

Santana rolled her eyes and kept walking to Sue's office so she could rid herself of the uniform she was seconds away from ripping to shreds. "What are you talking about Puckerman?"

Puck quickly followed behind her, "You know...your human clothes." He gestured towards her outfit, "You never wear stuff like that unless you're like, out of school or something."

"Well only Cheerios get to wear these stupid outfits." The girl's voice seeped in irritation. Puck couldn't tell if it was at him, or at what she was stating.

"Woah, wait." Noah grabbed Santana's free hand and turned her around, "Why aren't you on the Cheerios anymore? I thought you loved being on the squad or whatever?" His concern threw the Latina off slightly.

Santana sighed, "Sue made me choose between quitting glee or being a Cheerio because I hadn't done anything to help ruin the club since she made us join when we were sophomores." She reminded herself what was going on and took her hand back from Noah's; she noticed his eyes linger down and half-second frown.

He could see she was upset so he put his thoughts aside, "I'm sorry." He looked down at her as she nodded her head, "You know what'll make it better though?"

San rolled her eyes slightly, "Enlighten me."

"Comin' to my party Friday after the game." Puck nodded his head and grinned as he winked at the Latina.

She laughed a bit. _'Same old Puck.'_ "How's that gonna make anything better?"

"Cause you know my Pucky fucky rubber ducky _always _makes everythang better." He thrusted towards Santana once as she pursed her lips and pushed him by his chest.

"Ok _t__hat _is something I _never _want to hear come out of your mouth again."

"Aw come on. You know I always throw ragin' parties; regardless of what happens between us." His voice teased.

The raven haired beauty thought to herself for a few seconds. She _did _feel like getting a little loud with some friends; and Puck usually _did_ throw decent shindigs. "Fine. I'm in."

"Yes!" Puck smiled, "Starts at 10, don't bring any dudes." He winked at her again as he ran off into the hallway.

Santana just rolled her eyes a bit and smiled as she finally walked into Coach Sylvester's office. It was empty, so she tossed the Cheerios uniform onto the desk and stood there with her hands on her hips. "I'll getchya back one day." She mumbled to herself quietly as she turned and walked out of the office.

* * *

><p>Mercedes and Tina walked down the hall catching up on the latest gossip when they rounded the corner only to see a grape slushy being hurled into Sam's face.<p>

"Welcome to Glee Club Aerosmith!" Karofsky yelled as he dropped the 7-11 cup to the ground and left a completely stunned Sam standing there; letting the icy drink drip down his face.

"Are you ok?" Tina asked with urgency in her voice as she and Mercedes approached him.

Sam shut his eyes and began rubbing them as the burning sensation hit them. "Ah..." He continued to rub violently, "It's starting to burn!"

The girls rushed him quickly to the nurse's office. When they guided him in and the nurse looked up at the 3 students Tina simply stated, "Slushy." The nurse nodded and let them sit Sam down on the cot behind the curtain then go into the wash room to get wet towels for his face. Within minutes they had most of the purple gunk out of his eyes and hair, leaving only his now red face from having the cold substance there for a period of time.

"Thanks guys." Sam continued to blink as he rubbed the towel over his face one last time. "I coulda gone blind there." He grinned at them, causing Tina to swoon a little; then resulting in Mercedes' amused giggle. She wondered if it was as obvious to Sam as it was to her that Tina was practically constantly drooling over him.

"Yeah no problem. Unfortunately being in the glee club at this school comes with targets printed on your face that say Slushies Here." Mercedes responded when it seemed Tina was about to stammer out something incoherent.

He chuckled a bit, "I guess I'll have to watch out for those guys." He got up from his chair and walked past the girls, starting to leave the room, "See you at practice." With a wink and a short nod he turned and headed out the room.

"See ya." Mercedes waved, unphased.

"B-bye." Tina responded, dreamily. When he was out of sight Tina looked over at her best friend, "He is _too _cute." Followed by a deep smile.

The dark girl laughed, "Come on girl let's get to class before your heart bursts." She lead them out of the room and towards their first class of the day, but stopped when Tina quickly hit the breaks on her moving legs.

"That's it!" Tina announced, seeming to realize something in her head.

Mercedes was startled, "What's it?"

"A duet with Sam! That's how I'll get to his heart!" Tina's eyes widened as they glimmered while her thought process sped quickly through countless song ideas.

"Wait...what?" The girl was confused now.

"Don't you see?" Tina continued walking as she smiled, "If I can get Sam to do a duet with me when I tryout for lead for Sectionals, we will have bonded so much that our feelings won't be able to be contained anymore. He'll realize I'm all that and we'll be together." Her thoughts floated on into her own little dream world as she aimlessly walked with Mercedes at her side.

"Uh huh..." Her best friend wasn't so convinced though, at least not really. It didn't seem as practical as Tina made it out to be, but she supposed there was still the possibility of that happening. "And you're gonna make all that happen before Sectionals?"

"Yes." Tina replied with confidence and a smile. "We have three weeks. Do you know how much can happen in three weeks?" Visions surged through her mind.

"Ok girl." She responded as they walked into their classroom, "Then I hope it all works out for the best."

"Thanks." Tina ended with a smile as they sat down and set their focus on the assignment that was written on the front board.


	4. Tick Tick Boom

The kids all sat in the choir room when Mr. Schuester walked in.

"Ok clase!" Will stood in the middle of the room as the kids quieted down. "Has _anyone _thought about a song they'd like to audition for Sectionals?" Will looked around a bit slowly and saw a couple students fidgeting, "_Anyone besides _Rachel or Kurt?" The girl and boy both looked down a bit in defeat. Mr. Schue looked around the room again, "Guys. We cannot go into Sectionals and perform songs we've barely prepared." His voice a bit urgent, "You all _really _need to step it up." He looked at them seriously. Before he could start ranting again, Quinn walked into the room and quietly took a seat in the last row of risers. "Nice of you to join us Quinn."

"Sorry Mr. Schue." She responded dully.

_'What the hell!' _Santana stared disbelievingly at Quinn as she sat down. _'Sue-is-going-to-_fucking _kill her.' _She pulled her phone out and typed a quick message.

**'Are you looking to get mutilated?'**

She stared at the blonde to make sure she felt her phone go off and read the message.

**'whatre u talking about?'**

**'HELLO! Sue said we're outta glee or cheerios and youre still HERE in THAT uniform'**

**'ya well I had a discussion w her and im still in both'**

**'WTF. So its ok for you and not for me?x|'**

**'told u im NOT replaceable.'**

She scoffed, but it wasn't loud enough for Mr. Schue to stop his attempt at giving helpful ideas or whatever. Santana's death stare could have ripped a hole through Quinn's head if the girl was actually looking at her.

**'Lucy. YOU HAVE SOME ESPLAiNING TO DO.'**

"Are you ok?"

San jumped a bit in surprise to the whisper. She was too busy throwing flaming daggers at the side of Quinn's face to notice that Brittany had been watching her for the last 10 or so seconds. "What?"

"You look like you wa-"

"Brittany." Will spoke her name loudly so as to draw her attention from Santana back to him. "As glad as I am to see that you and Santana are making nice, your lack of attention is disruptive and unsettling. How are you supposed to focus at a competition when you don't exercise the discipline here at practice?"

"Well I exercise on my own outside of school." Brittany was quick with her words, which earned a snicker throughout the group and a sigh from Will. "But, uhm..." She looked down to Sam who was sitting in the front row.

_'Come on, Britt you're a pro at on the spot excuses..' _He hoped his thoughts would relay into his sister's mind; hey sometimes that twin telepathy thing worked. Plus with all the practice they had dealing with their parents, he knew she could spit out an explanation faster than light. He nodded up to her and she seemed to use the encouragement.

"I was just asking Santana if..I should perform my audition piece today." She looked over to the Latina who had a bit of a surprised look across her face.

"You have one prepared already?" Will asked surprised but slightly excited.

"Y-yeah totally." She kept her stare locked on brown orbs with a grin spreading on her face. Santana grew her own smirk and continued to hold the gaze as she lightly shook her head.

_'Lets see if she can come through.' _Since her own performance, which was also on a whim, wasn't "strong enough" for Mr. Schue's liking she wondered what Brittany was about to dish out for the life sized Chia Pet.

"Well that's excellent Brittany! I wish you would've spoken up when I asked." He said with a smile.

"Welll, I guess I was just a...little nervous." '_Think of somethin' good B!'_

"Don't worry Brittany, I'm sure what you have will be great. We'd love to see what you've got." He held his arm out across the middle of the room before he took a seat in the first row to give Brittany the floor.

She took a breath in, tore her eyes from Santana, and slowly stepped down from the second riser over to the band. The guys all nodded when she whispered to them and each got ready for her cue. The blonde walked back to the back of the room and turned around from the group. She dropped her head, _'Improv is _your-shit. _You practically invented it. This will be cake."_

"Tu-tu-today jun-yah!" Puck egged the blonde but received a slap on the back of the head and a scowl from Santana who was sitting next to him. "Ah! I was just kid-"

"Puck!" Will turned around to give him his own disapproving look before turning back to the front. "Whenever you're ready Brittany."

Brittany simply nodded then looked up and over to the band, throwing her hand out towards them as her signal to start. The music started up and after slightly rocking with the first 12 seconds or so, she turned around to face everyone.

_"Haven't we met?_  
><em>You're some kind of beautiful stranger<em>  
><em>You could be good for me<em>  
><em>I've had the taste for danger"<em>

Her rocking subsided as she started to slowly saunter closer to the middle of the floor.

_"If I'm smart then I'll run away_  
><em>But I'm not so I guess I'll stay<em>  
><em>Heaven forbid<em>  
><em>I take my chance on a beautiful stranger<em>

_To know you is to love you_  
><em>You're everywhere I go<em>  
><em>And everybody knows"<em>

She added a few spins to the go-go dancer moves she was doing before slowing down with the pace of the verse to let her body roll smoothly to the music.

_"To love you is to be part of you"_

The tempo quickened with her moves and she expertly danced around while managing to stay on key.

_"I paid for you with tears_  
><em>And swallowed all my pride<em>

_Da-da-da-dum da-dum da-dum da da da-da dum_  
><em>Beautiful stranger<em>  
><em>Da-da-da-dum da-dum da-dum da da da-da dum<em>  
><em>Beautiful stranger<em>

_If I'm smart then I'll run away_  
><em>But I'm not so I guess I'll stay<em>  
><em>Haven't you heard?<em>  
><em>I fell in love with a beautiful stranger<em>

_I looked into your face_  
><em>My heart was dancing all over the place"<em>

Brittany stared Santana down and kept her routine going, not missing a beat in her steps or singing.

_"To know you is to love you_  
><em>You're everywhere I go<em>  
><em>And everybody knows<em>

_I looked into your eyes_  
><em>And my world came tumblin' down"<em>

In between those last two words Britt threw in a quick spin and dropped to the ground instantly to a split, bobbing there for a second it two. Jaws smacked onto the floor in surprise and delight, followed by drool dribbling down agape mouths.

_"You're the devil in disguise_  
><em>That's why I'm singing this song to you"<em>

She nodded over to the Latina with a devious grin, almost teasing a blushing Santana, and quickly swung her legs out from under her back into a stance; rolling once more with the slower pace before it picked back up again.

_"To know you is to love you"_

The swift moves and turns came back, everyone rooting her final moments on.

_"You're everywhere I go_  
><em>And everybody knows<em>  
><em>I paid for you with tears<em>  
><em>And swallowed all my pride<em>

_Da-da-da-dum da-dum da-dum da da da-da dum_  
><em>Beautiful stranger<em>  
><em>Da-da-da-dum da-dum da-dum da da da-da dum<em>  
><em>Beautiful stranger"<em>

Her final word rang out as she stood in the middle of the room, decidedly pleased with her performance from the amount of applause and whistles she was getting.

"Wow Brittany, those moves were great!" Mr. Schue stood up as he finished clapping and walked over to stand next to the blonde. "See what you can accomplish guys when you put a little effort and practice into something?" Britt nervously laughed and nodded, leaving his side to take her seat next to San again. "Great audition. And I can't wait to see what the rest of you guys come up with."

* * *

><p>As the club started to near the end of rehearsal, Kurt looked over and decided it was time to point out the apparent overnight change in Santana's wardrobe; he, as many of the people at McKinley, had never seen her out of uniform during school hours.<p>

"Santana." He called to her before she got up to leave, "Where's the skirt and pompoms?" His loud question caused the others to turn to look towards her as they were gathering their backpacks or other bags. They had noticed it too and weren't sure of the reason, aside from Puck and Quinn, no one knew what was going on.

Santana rolled her eyes, "I decided Cheerios just..." She trailed off not really knowing what to say. She turned towards Quinn on the other end of the room and subtly glared, "Wasn't really for me anymore." Tearing her venomous glare from Quinn didn't completely go unnoticed; but not everyone saw it. They decided to leave it be for the time being. With that Quinn took another glance over to Santana and practically sprinted out of the room. She shook her head '_You can't hide forever Q.' _Her theories on what could've been going on with the girl subsided as she was bumped into while walking down the hall.

"So how'd you like my song?" Brittany looked down to her with a smile.

_'You mean the one where you totally hit on me?' _Santana was quiet for a moment thinking over what to say. _'But I mean..who doesn't love Madonna?' _"It was good." She nodded, "Kinda..great actually. How you came up with all those moves outta nowhere.." Suddenly the ground became incredibly interesting.

"You think?" Britt perked up, "Well I'm glad you liked it ca-"

"Were you intentionally undressing me with your eyes the entire time though?" San blurted out. She couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. Either she was right or the other girl had been staring at Puck the whole time...which bothered her in a way. Was it jealousy? Over _Puck? _Something must've been in the water these days. Last she remembered he was still kind of annoying.

"I wouldn't say _undressing."_ The dancer smirked. "But I'd be lying if I said I didn't find you attractive Santana."

Brown eyes turned to saucers and eyebrows found their place at her hairline. "Y-you what?"

"Oh come on, you know what you look like." Brittany's eyes trailed over the shorter girl's body for a few seconds before she locked a gaze. "I'm just being honest." She let out a small laugh, "Don't worry, I'm not in love with you or anything. I just figured if I was gonna get us out of getting lectured by Mr. Schue I'd might as well let you know how I might feel...about you."

"W-which is how?" Her heart rate seemed to be picking up. She could listen to guys tell her this stuff all day and she'd stand there unphased, but this was a _girl_. Out of the ordinary was a phrase that would've definitely downplayed what this was becoming for the recently ex Cheerio.

Brittany looked between her eyes and grinned, "That's what I'm not completely sure about. Yeah we're friends but I don't know you all that well just yet. You could be some diabolical person and I wouldn't know."

A laugh escaped her mouth, surprisingly to herself, "Well I'm not an evil mastermind or anything- unless you ask certain people.."_ 'Berry might say other wise'_ "But uh...Brittany, I-"

"Hey listen." The blonde cut her off with her hands up to stop the girl, "I'm not looking to make you uncomfortable, but I like to keep it real with my friends...which is still what we are, right?"

"Yeah of course." Santana nodded quickly. _'Dont get too excited, weirdo.'_

"So don't take it too seriously." She smiled at the raven haired beauty and lightly pushed her shoulder, "You should lighten up some. I saw you in there today before we got called out. You looked so stressed I thought your eyes were gonna burst out of your head." San let out a tiny giggle. "I figured since you weren't in your uniform something must've happened, but I didn't wanna bring it up earlier this afternoon and ruin your day."

She looked into deep blue only a moment, thinking over how they hung out together at lunch by themselves again. The blonde didn't know it, but she'd taken away some of the stress on San's mind for those short 30 minutes. "Yeah well...that's a bit of a story." She looked down to the floor before letting her eyes float up to meet Brittany's again.

The girl simply nodded, "Well if you wanna talk about it or whatever," she grabbed Santana's wrist while reaching for her back pocket. The smaller girl quickly looked down wondering what was going on, then felt cool metal glide across her palm. Brittany finished writing quickly then brought the small hand closer to her mouth and lightly blew over where she'd just marked, letting her thumb sweep over the spot before dropping it back to San's side. "You can hit me up."

She looked down to her opened hand and saw a number written neatly in blue ink. A grin formed and she looked up to find the blonde walking away. She opened her mouth to speak but was beat to the punch.

"Bye San." Brittany called behind her shoulder with a smile and rounded the corner of the hall.

"Bye." The words were spoken but the Latina wasn't sure how loud they came out. _'So...what just happened?' _Santana stood there a bit thrown off, because she was pretty sure Brittany had just said she might like her...that's pretty much what it sounded like. _'But she said don't take it too serious...so..' _Shaking her head, dismissing the questions that started suddenly floating around in there, she hurried off to the student parking lot.

* * *

><p>"I'll call you tonight, ok?" Finn rubbed his hand down Rachel's arm as she nodded in response. "Have fun...and <em>be nice.<em>" He smiled as he started to turn away.

"I was nice last time, you know." She teased back.

"Alright. You have a point." The quarterback nodded his head in agreement and walked out of the room.

Rachel stayed seated in her chair in the choir room as she looked over to Mike Chang who was putting a binder up in his backpack. "Mike. You still up to practice?" She wasn't too certain just how committed he was going to be with practicing with her. The Asian grinned a bit and nodded as he zipped his backpack up. "Ok," Rachel answered, "Mr. Schue? Would it be alright if Mike and I work on his voice lessons in here?"

Will looked up from the papers he was organizing in his briefcase, "Yeah that's no problem. I'm really glad you took the time to go find help Mike." He gave the two a smile and stuffed another paper or two in the case, "Just make sure you turn the lights off and close both doors when you leave."

"Ok." The two answered in unison.

"Have a good practice you two." Mr. Schuester called behind him as he left the room.

The brunette walked down in front of the piano and turned to look up at her newest "student" still sitting in his chair. "I think your lessons went fairly well yesterday. You actually aren't so bad you know?"

"Thanks." Mike looked down at his shoes for a second.

"What probably needs the most work actually is your confidence when you perform."

He chuckled down at his shoes then looked back up, "So what do we work on today?"

Rachel let out a small smile, she liked Mike's work ethic and was glad he wasn't there to just waste her time. She loved being at center stage, but she loved winning with the group just as much. If private lessons for _everyone _in glee was what it would take for them to win then she had no problems; as long as she was being shown appreciation. "Well we're going to run through those scales I showed you yesterday first. Once we can really find your best range we can find the song you want to sing for the class."

The dancer nodded his head, "Ok, cool." He got up to stand next to the piano as Rachel sat down in front of the keys to begin playing the notes for the scale.

* * *

><p>Sam was throwing his backpack into his dark blue Jeep when he heard a voice call him out. "Hey Sam!"<p>

"Oh hey Tina." He gave her a grin and refrained from climbing up into the vehicle.

Tina smiled brightly and stopped for a second, fighting off her nerves, "Um, I was wondering if maybe..you'd like to, you know, " The words were trailing from her mouth slowly but she fought back the urge to panic, "Help me sing a duet...for my audition for Sectionals?" She spat out the point and gave Sam an evidently worried grin.

He smiled, "Well thanks Tina, that's really cool of you to offer." He was glad to see the worry in her face slowly seep away, "Are you sure though? I wouldn't wanna be stealing any of your spotlight."

The two chuckled a bit while the dark haired girl shook her head, "No it's fine. I think I'll actually be more comfortable knowing _all _the attention isn't on me." She couldn't stop her face from smiling.

"Ha, alright." Sam nodded his head, "Then yeah. I'd be happy to help."

"Really?" Tina replied enthusiastically, "That's great! Thanks Sam." She smiled and awkwardly went to hug him; the offer was kindly accepted. "Well if you give me your number I can get a hold of you later and we can talk about practicing and all that."

"Ok."

Sam took the girl's phone and began punching in the numbers, her heart skipping a beat at the sound of each digit. "K-kay then, I'll uh, text you later or something." She stumbled on her words as she headed in the opposite direction.

The blonde chuckled a bit noticing her nerves, "Alright Tina. Later." She watched him hop up into the Jeep and start up the engine, waving her off as he pulled out from the parking spot. Tina sighed longingly to herself as she made her way to her own car.

* * *

><p>"Laaa!" Mike let the final note of the scale ring out. He had been matching the notes of scales that Rachel was playing on the piano for over 30 minutes already.<p>

"Very good Mike." Rachel looked up from the piano, "And it's only your second day. Imagine how far you'll be by next week."

The dancer nodded, "Thanks Rachel. Finn was right about you being a good teacher and all." He grinned down at her.

"Thanks." The brunette replied with a smile. "So. Since we pretty much know where your range is, do you have an idea what sing you want to sing for the tryout?"

"Well not really." He knew he'd have to prepare a song, but he hadn't taken the time yet to decide which would be the best sing. Rachel could hear the hesitation in his voice.

"Like I said before, what we really need to work on is your confidence. I have a feeling that once you get over those nerves, and practicing these scales more, you could be really great."

"You think so?" He seemed hopefully.

"Definitely." The diva giving him a reassuring smile.

"How are we gonna do that though?" He looked down for a moment, "The thought of messing up, even if I know all the words and keys, is what's got me all..." He shrugged, "Worried I guess."

"Well, once we find your song we're going to polish it up to perfection in the auditorium. You'll start slow by just performing for me, but shortly after we can bring in another member or two from the club, and by the time auditions are due you'll be confident enough to perform for thousands even in your sleep. You dance like Michael Jackson. I'm telling you now the singing won't be much harder."

Mike laughed, "I'm not so sure about thousands but I appreciate the help..and the compliment."

"Not a problem, plus it's the truth. And if Mr. Schue wants to hide away my talent I'm more than happy to offer my services to someone willing to be helped."

The asian smiled and shook his head; Rachel was a character for sure. "Well thanks Rach."

She nodded. "Now, we can narrow the song selection down by first taking into account what kind of music you enjoy listening to."

"I like rock and hip-hop, you know, the general stuff."

"Ok. Contrary from popular belief, I _do _listen to music other than show tunes, so I'll be happy to give you some sort of direction for finding the right song for us to possibly sing at Sectionals."

Mike nodded his head, "Sounds good." He took a seat next to Rachel on the piano bench.

"Well I can tell you right off the bat that a hip-hop song might not exactly be the best option- for this audition. The song should show off your best capabilities and rambling fast about money and 'bitches' might not do that.

"But that's not all rap-" The dancer started but was cut off by Rachel's continuos ranting,

"You want something that could be a crowd pleaser, but also have depth in the meaning. It should show off your obvious dance talent, such as Brittany's performance did for her today, yet have the ability to add simpler choreography to the music; for our less talented dancers. You don't want a song that just drags _on and on_..."

"What if!" Mike cut in smoothly before she could go too far, "I just look through my iTunes at home and next time we do this," He motioned between himself and Rachel, "I'll bring a few tracks that I feel like performing. You can help me pick which one I'd be best at singing and that'll be my song." He ended with a grin.

Rachel thought for a second and nodded slowly, "That works."

"Great." Mike started getting up from the bench to get his backpack. "When should we practice again?" He asked as he headed over to the door.

She looked up to think for a bit, "Can you get to school early Friday morning?"

"Yeah. What time?"

"How's 7:00?" Rachel asked cautiously; normal high school students wouldn't dream of being at school earlier than minutes before the first late bell rang.

"Yeeah, that's fine." He started out slowly, mentally checking with himself if he could actually be there.

"Great. Don't forget those song ok?" Rachel reminded as she gathered her bag from the stands.

"No problem. Thank you Rachel." Mike called with a smile as he walked out the room towards his car.

* * *

><p>Sam was sitting on the bed in his room turning around a cylindrical object in his hands when he heard the phone sitting on his night stand go off. He looked over to open the new text he had just received.<p>

_**wanna meet before school & talk abt songs? -Tina**_

**_Sure. 7:30, choirroom?_**

**_Definitely. See u in the morning!_**

He put his phone back down and continued to spin the cylinder. Once he spun it back and forth a few more times he opened the bottom to look down inside. The smirk that grew across the teen's face was momentarily subsided when he heard a light knock at his door. Before he could close up and cover the contents in his hand, his door opened halfway to reveal Brittany poking in.

"Hey creep." She greeted with a grin, "You almost ready?"

Sam breathed out a small sigh of relief, "Yeah." He started getting up from the bed to put his shoes on, "When are mom and dad coming home?"

Brittany looked up to remember what her mom had just told her on the phone an hour earlier. "Umm...dad got called in a little after 3 today so he won't be back until around 5 or 6 in the morning..and mom won't be back from her conference until some time tomorrow afternoon."

"Ok." Her brother nodded his head while he put the round object in his hand into his back right pocket. "I didn't have to help you with any homework today right?" He quickly asked before he took any further steps away from his bed.

"Not today." Brittany shook her head and looked down at the cat rubbing his face against her ankles, "Lord Tubbington and I are ready to hit it." She looked up and grinned.

"Alright." Sam chuckled as he bent down to pick the fuzzy feline up; bringing him lovingly to his chest, "Got everything?" Brittany nodded her head, "Then let's get to it." He started walking out behind his sister and closed the door behind them as the siblings made their way out to the backyard with the beloved Lord Tubbington in tow as usual...

30 minutes later the twins were laying on the soft grass in their spacious backyard, listening to a playlist off of their iPhone speakers.

"..you know what I mean Britt? S-she's funny, aand cu-"

"You've never had a real conversation with her." His sister cut in, her voice soft and light. It wasn't an insult; just an observation.

"But she looks funny."

"She _looks _funny? Sam I'm pretty sure that's not something you'd wanna tell her." Brittany started giggling as she lifted her head slightly from the ground to look over to her brother who seemed to be thinking about her last comment.

His mouth opened in realization, "You're right. She'd probably _never _talk to me then...but that's not what I meant." Blonde eyebrows furrowed a bit.

"I know, I get what you meant. I was jus-" She was cut off by her phone buzzing in her pocket. Reaching into her shorts to look at her phone, Brittany sat up to properly look down onto the screen. She raised an eyebrow at the unknown number that had sent her a text message.

Sam sat up as well to be nosey and leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen. Not knowing the number he looked down to Lord Tubbington who was laying flat on his side lightly purring and rubbed the top of his head, "I think LT's read for roun' dos."

Britt wasn't paying much attention and only mumbled, "Uh huh" as she opened the message.

**Does "hitting you up" entail bitching about my problems? **

She smiled and quickly replied.

**Totally:)**

**You sure? Once I start I may not stop...might even sound whiney**

**LT is whiney. You probably arent**

Brittany's giggle pulled Sam from his task and he looked over to his sister. "Who's that got you gigglin'?" He smirked, having an idea who it was though.

"Santana.." She picked her phone up again.

**LT?**

**Lord Tubbington. The koolest most evil sweetest cat on planet e-arth, of course**

"Ahh, so that was fast. I thought she'd be weirded out after that stunt you pulled today in glee." Britt had told him when they got home how she had given the Latina her number after practice.

"You really think that was weird of me?" She asked only with a hint of worry.

Sam looked back down and kept fiddling with glass as he chuckled, "Nah not really. You didn't ask her out or anything right?" He looked up to see the other blonde shake her head, "Then you're cool."

"I don't know if I like her or if I just think she's foxy, but I'm pretty sure she's straight." Brittany started to think over their few encounters when her phone buzzed again.

**Oh I see. Well ok...**

Her reading was broken by her brother's voice. "Straight enough to text you after you basically hit on her in front of everyone in the glee club." He smirked, "Who cares what she is or isn't. She obviously wants to have some kinda contact with you if she's texting you already. At the very least she still wants to be your friend."

Brittany thought about it and nodded, then looked back down to quickly read over Santana's lengthy text message. "Woah."

Sam looked up as he searched around his pockets, "What?" Then stopped feeling around and leaned over Britt's shoulder to read the message she'd just been sent. "Holy shit that's like a novel." He didn't bother trying to read it.

"She's really stressed out." The gist of the message she'd just read came out to: San got kicked off Cheerios for staying in glee but Quinn was still in both and she didn't know how that was even possible. Quinn had been avoiding her since they talked that morning, barely gave her an explanation and still wouldn't respond to her calls or texts since they left glee. And _that_ was the short version. "She says she doesn't know what to do." And for once Brittany didn't know what to say. Her head was swimming in chill land right now so a response that was expected to be longer than a sentence or two was definitely not gonna happen right now.

"Heyy." The lightbulb went off in Sam's head. "Tell her to come chill out with us! That way you two can hang, you can figure out your feelings and I'll assess the situation." His giant grin forced Britt to sport one of her own.

"Assess?"

"Yeah totally. See if she's feelin' you or not." He waved the piece in his hand with that grin still plastered on his face, "And either way we still get to have our fun time."

The blonde looked down to her phone, back up to Sam then down to the phone again. "I'm not sure I'll figure my feelings in one sitting..but it couldn't hurt...but what if she doesn-"

"Have you _seen _where we live now B? There's like, almost nothing to do here."

She shrugged, "Fuck it right?"

"Attah girl!" Sam patted her back twice and continued to feel around his pockets, then look around on the grass around them, "Now where'd I..."

Brittany tuned her brother out as she thought of what to tell Santana. She didn't want to seem dismissive about her evident conundrum, but she _did _think this girl needed to chill the fuck out for a minute. Take some time to relax before she could properly "assess" (she grinned) the situation she was dealing with. But the words just wouldn't form out properly in her mind. She was almost too clouded. So she shrugged and wrote what seemed to make the most sense; simple stuff.

**Sounds hectic:/. Wanna come chill out with me and Sam? Clear your head**

She quietly sang with the music playing and laid back onto the grass waiting for a reply. She was a little nervous to read Santana's response. After passing up Sam's offers, wanting to wait for a text back first, she finally got one a few minutes later.

**...what the hell. Better than sitting here doing nothing. Where?**

Her tiny squeal made Sam laugh, "I guess she's coming over?"

"Yes!" She leaned into Sam with a huge grin and grabbed the glass from him, "I gave her our address. Let's go inside for now until she gets here."

Sam nodded and got up, "We were getting thirsty anyways, right Lord T?", scooping the feline in his arms. "Grab the stereo?"

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>'<em>Seriously, <em>what _am I doing?' _Santana found herself wondering as she followed her GPS to the address she typed into the device. It had only taken her about an hour and a half (not like she was checking the time) to text Brittany after the blonde had written down her number for the Latina. She didn't normally venture over to people's houses for fun or to hang or whatever. Occasionally she'd swing by Quinn's but through their high school career those visits had begun to dwindle. And now, only shortly after meeting this girl, and not even talking to her brother, she was going over to "chill out" with the twins. It _did _seem like a good idea, clearing her mind as Brittany said, and she'd found that talking with the pretty blonde- _'woah..' _was rather entertaining. So maybe she was just in the need for some friends at the moment to distract her from the fact that Quinn was acting oddly shady, _'Even for her.' _and kind of pissing San off.

* * *

><p>"Brittany if you keep walking back and forth like that mom's gonna wonder who <em>burned a hole into the carpet <em>with their shoes. I'll have no choice but to blame LT." Sam shrugged with a smile and looked over to the cat sitting beside him on the couch.

Britt stopped and looked over at the two, "You wouldn't." Challenging her twin.

"So you expect me to rat you out then?" His pitch raising slightly in surprise.

She thought it over for a moment, "Touche brother." With a grin she relaxed her shoulders some and walked over, plopping down on the other side of Sam.

"She'll be here soon alright?" He took a sip of Kool-Aid from the cup in his hand, "Shouldn't you be chilled out right now anyways?" He asked lazily, letting his head fall back into the couch.

Brittany simply shook her head, "Wore off."

"Too much excitement I see." Rolling his head over he winked.

The girl scoffed, "Shut up." As she shoved his shoulder lightly the doorbell sounded.

If she stood up any faster she would've easily sent herself flying through the roof. "Calm down crazy legs!" Sam chuckled. His words were ignored as Brittany made a swift flee out of the living room to the front door, though he noticed once she got there she took a moment to collect herself. He stood up from the couch with a grin, grabbing his cup and glass, and strolled to the kitchen.

* * *

><p>'<em>Cute place.' <em>Santana looked back to the neatly manicured front lawn and few tall trees scattered across the yard that were blossoming with white flowers. The large, dark wood door opened slowly to reveal a grinning Brittany. Blue iris' seemed to pop more against barely pinked scleras.

"Hey." Her grin growing to a smile, "Come on in." She opened the door wider to allow Santana in from the small front step.

"Hey." She stopped in the middle of the foyer so she could let the blonde lead, scoping out the two rooms she could see on either side of the entryway from where she stood. Brittany closed the door and turned around to face her, "Thanks for inviting me over." A shy smile creeping up.

"Yeah for sure. I figured some company might help you relax."

"Yeah I think you may be ri-"

"Brittany!" A deep voice called from what Santana assumed to be the other end of the house. "Tubbs just knocked my piece off the count-!" The loud voice had come closer and closer as it rounded the corner and traveled the few steps down the hall, "-er." Sam's voice drastically lowered in volume upon seeing Santana standing next to Brittany. "Sorry." He spoke, putting one arm behind his back and stretching the other out to shake the Latina's hand.

"So, have you met my goofy twin brother yet?." Britt rolled her eyes but smiled when the other girl accepted Sam's gesture.

"Not formally." She giggled at his sideways grin and blushed cheeks. "Santana."

"Sam." He nodded and let her hand go. "Welcome to the digs."

"Thanks." She let out another quiet laugh.

Brittany shook her head, "So what were you hollerin' about?"

"Uhh..." The green eyed boy looked to Santana a bit nervously for a moment before looking back to his sister, "LT knocked Squirtle off the counter..."

_'The fuck is a Squirtle?' _San raised an eyebrow in confusion while turning to look at Britt.

"Seriously?" The blonde pouted a bit then glanced over, "Uhm...San, do you mind giving Sam and I just a minute?"

Now she was really confused. "Yeah..." She looked around for a second and noticed the couch in the room to her right.

"You can take a seat in the living room, we won't be long." Brittany motioned to where Santana was looking.

"Ok." With curiosity running through her mind, Santana made her way over to the couch while she heard the siblings run up the stairs that were placed just after the foyer.

* * *

><p>The two went into Brittany's room, "Is he broken?"<p>

"Yep." Her brother sighed, "Cracked right at the carb." He pulled his arm from behind his back to show her.

"Aw no." She grabbed the piece and pouted again, "He was good to us." Sam nodded. "Well at least we still have a few others but..." Britt looked out the door, "How are we going to bring this up? I thought it was a good idea but now I'm not so sure. What if it scares her off?"

Sam could sense the worry in her voice. "Look don't worry about it, I got that all under control."

"How? You're gonna be subtle right? I don't want her to think we're like, trashy or something."

He laughed, "It's gonna be fine B." She stared up to him, hoping he was right. "Hey Santana!" Brittany jumped at the sudden boom of her brother's voice.

"What are you doing?" She whispered as if the Latina could hear her.

"Yeah?" She shouted back from the first floor.

With a grin, her twin simply rushed out of the room and glided down the stairs; Britt was hot on his heels in seconds. "Do you smoke weed?"


	5. Loft Groovy

**Don't worry, that isn't what this story is going to revolve around anyways. I feel like this chapter takes a little bit to get into, but please bare with and continue reading:)**

* * *

><p>Brittany could have <em>died. <em>Her feet stopped dead in their tracks, halfway down the staircase. She saw Santana standing there at the bottom of the stairs looking up at Sam who was on the first step.

San cleared her throat, "D-do I what?"

"You heard me." Sam looked back up to his sister with a smile then turned to the girl in front of him again, "If you don't it's ok."

_'Since when is _that _subtle!' _Britt was too busy having a heart attack to speak. All she could envision was a disgusted look on Santana's face followed by the girl storming out.

"W-well..." San looked down, blushing lightly.

"Sam!" It wasn't much but it got the blonde going. She walked down the steps to stand next to her brother, "Santana I'm sorry, don't answer that." The blonde shot a glare over to her brother. "Sam's just b-"

"Hey, no it's cool." Santana cut her off, much to Brittany's surprise. She cleared her throat, "Actually...I do." Her eyes fell to the floor for a moment then back up to meet blue, "But since I _was_ on the Cheerios, I couldn't really smoke often or tell too many people. Sue has this image she wants- _wanted, _us to have and if she caught wind that I dabbled in _those _extracurricular activities, she would've murdered me."

Sam had a proud smirk on his face as he looked from the smaller girl to his sister, "See! I told you it'd be cool." Brittany blushed and covered her eyes with her hand while she shook her head. "She thought you'd be like, appalled with us or something for it." He said, looking back to the raven haired girl.

Santana giggled, "No, B." _'Oh so we're using nicknames now?' _She brushed the thought off, "It's totally cool. Especially now since I'm not even _on _the squad anymore." Brittany dropped her hand from her face and nodded. "Why do you ask anyways?" She did find the question _incredibly _random.

"Well..." Brittany found her words again, "We were sorta.." Why did she all of the sudden feel shy about it?

"We were definitely tokin' it up in the backyard when you texted my sister so she thought it'd help you calm down if you smoked with us." No need to beat around the bush; plus Sam figured he'd need to just spit it out for Britt since apparently she was getting all nervous now. _'Oh this is gonna be an easy assessment.' _He grinned and turned to his sister.

"Yeeeah. What he said." _'She said it's fine. Now _I'm _the one who needs to relax..'_

_"_Oh...ok." Santana shrugged and looked from Britt to Sam, "I'm down for that."

"Excellent! Let me go grab another piece from my room and we'll be good to go." Sam bumped Brittany's shoulder then headed up the stairs.

"Since when do you not know what to say?" San smiled up to the twin, "I thought that was my job." She let a quiet laugh come out, hoping to loosen Brittany up from her apparently nervous state.

That laugh. It was so quiet and simple, yet it brought a smile to Brittany's face and a calm to her nerves. "I just..I wasn't sure what you'd think. I didn't wanna run you off because I enjoy a little Mary Jane." She shyly grinned and stepped down to be level with San.

She appreciated the fact that Brittany had taken her feelings into consideration. It was sort of sweet, considering most people wouldn't have thought twice to ask about it. Sort of like Sam did; not that that was a bad thing. A devious grin appeared at the thought of his question. She let it pass and bumped the blonde's elbow lightly with her hand, giving her a smile."No worries, I'm here to stay." _'Well _that _sounds weird..."_

_"_Good." Brittany smiled and looked deep into brown orbs for a moment before the sound of Sam's feet hurrying down the stairs broke their very brief moment of...well she wasn't sure what it was.

"Ok!" Sam jumped the last two steps and landed in front of the girls. "Y'all ready?" He smiled.

"Lead the way." Santana motioned for the two blondes to go first before they all headed out to the backyard.

"Don't forget the speakers B." Sam looked over his shoulder as they passed the kitchen, turning to San while his sister got the speakers from the counter, "We always jam during sessions."

"Noted." Santana smiled and the three were soon out the door.

* * *

><p>"So not a lot of people know you smoke?" Brittany asked as she handed Santana the pipe to hit it first. The 3 were sitting in a circle in the the lawn near the back patio, the stereo in the middle of them quietly playing.<p>

"Are you sure?" She looked down to the glass piece, "It's your bud."

"I'm positive, go ahead." Britt held her hand out still to the Latina so she would take it; finally she grabbed it from the blonde.

"Pretty much no one. Just Puck, a couple of my cousins and..." She let her words die, then took a big hit. Her eyes widened at the sudden rush of smooth smoke rushing into her lungs and mouth. It had been a couple weeks since she'd last smoked but nothing had ever caught her that off guard.

"Good huh?" Sam asked with a grin. He knew all too well the personality of the batch they were smoking. Santana held the smoke in her lungs for a moment, but nodded with a small smile in response and handed the piece to Brittany.

"Well don't worry, we can keep secrets if you want us to." Britt smiled and brought the pipe to her mouth, lighting it.

A large cloud of smoke escaped past perfect lips and Santana nodded, "I'd really appreciate that."

"Yeah for sure. We can do that for you." Sam grinned and took the pipe from his sister.

They sat in a comfortable silence, listening to the music and passing the piece around. It only took 2 or 3 rotations for the high to start coming up; and they could all tell they were feeling it.

"S-so...," Santana let her eyes close as she hummed a sweet 'hmm' sound, passing the pipe to Brittany, "What's this called again?"

"MILF weed." Brittany grinned, taking the glass and staring at a peaceful looking Latina.

She laughed at hearing the name again, "Why the hell would somebody name it that?"

"You haven't seen the woman who grew it." Sam sighed and looked up to the sky, leaning back on his elbows.

Santana caught the eye roll and grin from Britt, "And who would that be?" She asked curiously. This stuff wasn't like any of the dro she'd gotten in Lima for a long while. The taste, smell, and even high she was getting- it was all better. And from the size of the bowl they were hitting, an easy gram's worth, she knew she'd be feeling _mighty _good by the end of their little smoke sesh.

"Nancy Botwin." The blonde boy smiled then looked from the clouds back to the Latina who was taking her 6th hit, "One of the coolest ladies you'd ever meet. Funny, loyal and a _total _babe." He sighed again and took the pipe he was being handed.

"She _was_ pretty much the hottest mom of the suburbs." Brittany smiled over to Santana who flashed a raised eyebrow before looking down and picking at the grass with the tiniest of smiles. It brought a devious smirk to the blonde's face. "Don't worry Santana I still think you're more beautiful."

The Latina looked up from the ground, blush faced, and grinned, "So...she was your dealer?" _'Her voice is soft...' _The grin turning to a smile.

"Yup. Lived 5 doors down from us. She had the best bud in town and almost didn't even sell to us since we're 'still kids' as she says." Sam used air quotes, "But we worked out a deal so it was cool." He shurgged and handed San the piece again.

"Deal?" She put the glass to her mouth.

"Well when she first caught us on her roof with Silas, that's her oldest son," Britt started, "She was gonna go tell our parents and we thought it was cause we brought someone else's bud to her place. But she said it was cause we were too young to let this stuff fuck with our potential." Santana laughed while trying to keep the smoke in, "So we said we could prove to her that it wouldn't mess us up as long as she didn't tell mom and dad."

"Now at first she didn't let us buy from her, but eventually she caved since we were so good." Sam had a proud smile.

Smoke billowed from the Latina's mouth, "And how'd you do that?"

"Every report card and progress report we got, we took it to Nancy. She said as long as we got at least 2 A's and the rest B's she'd keep our secret." Britt smiled, remembering the day they struck up the deal.

"A dealer who gives a shit? I'm impressed." She smiled and passed the pipe.

"She was more than that..she was our friend." Sam's red eyes enhanced the green of his iris' and he smiled, remembering Nancy. "That was at the beginning of junior year and we've kept up our grades ever since." He grinned as Britt handed the piece over.

She looked to Santana and the two stared at each other for a few long seconds, "She was great."

Now Britt was apparently talking about Nancy, but Sam thought otherwise. These girls were just looking at each other, not even smiling really, but (he guessed) just trying to read one another. Maybe feel things out. _'Britt's _definitely _talking about Santana...I think..' _He looked down to the bowl, feeling pretty much stoned since he'd smoked basically alone before San showed up anyways, "I just remembered, speaking of Nance," He stood up and handed San the bowl, "I gotta make a phone call. Y'all can finish that off. I'll be back in a minute."

"A phone call?" Britt finally tore her gaze from San and looked up to her brother who simply nodded and walked inside. "Crazy ass." She giggled as the door shut.

Santana giggled as well, "I like him. He's nice." Brittany's eyes widened just a bit while her mouth dropped some as she watched San smile and take a hit. Noticing the reaction of the blonde she quickly blew the smoke from her lungs, causing her to cough, but shook her head as she regained control of her breathing, "No, not like that. I just meant he's cool...like you." She gave Brittany a smile and passed the piece over. Why she felt panic to the blonde's reaction, she wasn't sure. But dismissed the thought quickly.

A wave of relief washed over Brittany, who tried to stay cool. "You think I'm cool?"

"I think..." The girl was feeling too good for her own good, and she knew it, but the notion to care seemed to be far off, "I think you're pretty..." '_You did _not _just tell her that.' _And then the notion slapped her dead across the face, back into reality. "Uhm, p-pretty..cool. Yeah. So..I guess I do...think that. That you're cool, that is." _'Welcome back to the real world, weirdo.' _

The words had already been spoken though, and Brittany heard them loud and clear. Even if San played it off, not well it should be added, she still meant it the way it came out the first time. A deaf person could've told her that. The way she said it- it had sincerity. Seeing that the girl was starting to mentally have a panic attack though, Brittany decided to cool it, for now at least. She smiled, "Thanks." She looked down to the bowl, changing the subject, "This is cashed by the way." She put the pipe off to the side and turned to face away from Santana. The Latina was confused until Britt leaned back to lay on the ground, so that when she looked up she was looking at Santana. "How are you feeling?"

_'Awkward.' _The thought made her laugh at herself though, that was probably the high she was most definitely feeling, "Good."

Brittany giggled, "I see that." She nodded, "Good. You needed to relax. Too much stress can kill you, d'you know that?"

San smiled down to the blonde before her, "I think I was born stressed." The laugh that escaped Britt's mouth...Santana let out a quick sigh. _'What is my deal? I never get so...weird, when I smoke...'_

"Well _that _can't be good."

"Huh?" Santana snapped out of her thoughts at Brittany's remark. _'I didn't say that aloud did I?'_

"You born stressed. But that's what they made fun stuff for I guess." The blonde smiled up.

"Oh...yeah.." Her thoughts were clouding her now and messing with the good high she had.

Britt could tell something was up. "Why don't you lay back? It helps to chill out."

The raven haired girl stared at deep blue lined against bright red for only a moment, telling her worried thoughts to fuck off for the time being. She spun around as Britt had before then laid back, so that they were laying beside one another, head to head. She let her eyes fall shut, trying to 'relax', as her friend was telling her.

"You're gonna get this all figured out, San. Don't worry." Brittany looked over to Santana, as the girl opened her eyes and stared into dark brown pools; noticing the worry hadn't completely washed away. "With Quinn and everything. I'm sure she'll come around soon enough."

Santana let out a deep sigh then turned from Brittany to look to the slow moving clouds, "I hope you're right, B." Her eyes closed again.

"I'll help keep you distracted in the mean time. Apparently I'm very distracting...at least that's what I've been told." She still wasn't sure what they meant when people told her that..

Finally a smile made it's way across San's face, followed by a giggle, "I'm sure you have." She liked that Brittany was being so nice to her even when they'd barely just met each other. Despite the fact that the girl possibly had a little crush or whatever on the ex-Cheerio, she felt that the blonde was being kind simply because it was in her nature. And Santana could always keep a friend around who was an actual _friend. _Not some form of the definition like Quinn was being at the moment. She'd actually forgotten about the head cheerleader while she'd been there until Brittany had brought her up; other questions had found their place in her mind.

They sat quietly, letting their bodies be consumed by the high. Upon thinking of distractions Santana remembered something. "Hey. What are you doing Friday?"

"Nothing. Why?" Brittany wasn't sure if Santana could see the grin that spread across her face, but she didn't care either way.

"Puck's having a party...you should come." She stayed cool, and it calmed the slight nerves she'd gotten just before she opened her mouth.

"Definitely." The blonde wanted to play it just as cool as San had. Inside though, she was glowing. It had taken about 45 seconds from the moment the girl stepped through the doorway for Brittany to realize that she was totally interested in a one, Ms. Santana Lopez.

"Starts at 10, alcohol will be provided. I have a DD so if you need one you can tag with me at the end of the night." _'Slow your roll Hot Rod. She barely said she'd go.' _The Latina sighed quietly to herself. This was getting a bit weird for her. Maybe it was justing the weed, but Santana was starting to get the feeling at times that she was slightly hitting on Brittany, or noticing her too much. _'You haven't been high since they came to town though...' _Whatever was going on with her would surely be fixed by the time the party came around. It was probably being kicked out of Cheerios that was throwing San into a funk. Nothing a little alcohol and music couldn't fix.

"I just might have to take you up on that offer." B looked over to the girl and winked quickly with a smirk.

Her reply had calmed the awkwardness that was growing slowly in the Latina's mind. She giggled, "Creep."

Brittany looked back up to the sky and smiled, "You know it." She didn't see the smile that shyly made it's way onto Santana's face.


End file.

Glee