"Who's your visitor, Lopez?" Shelley asks as Santana walks in the building.
"Visitor?" Santana mentally reviews every relative she could have possibly forgotten about. "No visitor."
"Oooo, a surprise, then. Don't be late for practice!"
It's probably just her lousy Geology lab partner or something equally stupid to interrupt her lunch. Rocks for jocks guy is no big deal. Santana waits for the elevator, rides to her floor, walks to her room. It's nothing, she reminds herself before opening the door to find Brittany sitting at her desk, eyeing her chem book suspiciously.
"You're here! I'm so--is everything OK? Why didn't you call?"
Why didn't you call? Why did you decide instead of driving to school this morning you'd drive to Santana's school? Why are you here? What are you going to tell her now that you are here? Before you're ready she's dumped her bag on the floor and is kneeling at your feet.
"Can we talk?" you hear yourself ask. It's stupid. You can talk to her when you're at home and she's here.
"Of course. Of course we can. Have you eaten? I was going to have lunch... I could order from that Japanese place I was telling you about."
She reaches back and pulls her laptop out of her bag. I watch her order on-line on the floor next to me.
"How was the drive? Pretty boring, yeah?"
"You see the exit for Needmore Road on I-75?"
"Food's on its way," she says closing her laptop on sitting it on her desk. "Hi."
"Hi." You're going to have to come up with more than one word answers soon.
"So," Santana begins and you hold your breath, "what do you think?" she asks gesturing to the room.
"Oh. It's... she likes pink, then?" Santana smiles even as she groans.
"She loves pink. Loves. It's like rooming with a Barbie aisle. You don't know why you're here, huh?"
"Well, I'm glad you did. You should call your mom, though. You want to before or after lunch?"
"Yeah, probably a good idea. I'm gonna use the bathroom real quick. Have you seen it? She has pink stuff all over there, too. Still, infinitely better than having to share with the whole floor or something."
Mom is weirdly calm about the whole thing. She says she'll write me a note for tomorrow, but I have to be at school tomorrow. The rest of the call she talks about gas and washer fluid and tire pressure. By the time Santana comes out of the bathroom she's saying goodbye.
"Yeah. She, like, wasn't surprised. At all."
"She knows you," Santana shrugs. "She knows us." Your breath catches again at the word 'us'. Santana seems so sure there is still an 'us'.
"There will always be an us, BrittBritt. Mileage can't change that."
"Why unofficially break up with you?" Santana finishes your question gently. You nod, unable to meet her eyes. The hurt is just so much. Your eyes burn with holding back tears. "You remember when I finally admitted what I felt Junior year?" Santana asks sitting daintily on your lap, "and how much every little thing hurt me right through getting outed?"
You nod again, not really understanding where this is going. Santana isn't given to comparing people's pains. She's putting her hands on your shoulders, though, and you hear her out, because if anyone, anything, can make you feel better, it will be her.
"You remember how you felt all my hurt as if it were yours?"
You do. You do remember. You wanted to burn down the school, and bomb pizza places, and punch Finn in his blubbery gut because it hurt Santana so, so bad. Watching Santana hurt is the worst thing in the entire world...
You look up into Santana's sweet, sad eyes for the first time today. Watching, knowing how much you hurt on top of missing you is killing her. Something had to give.
"If it means that I have to let you go for a little while, if that's what it takes for us to make it for the long haul, then I'll find a way to be strong enough to do that, Brittany. I thought you understood that, sweetheart; I'm in this for the long haul. Marriage, jobs, health insurance, babies, all of it. If we have to be apart to be together, then I will see it through."
"I love you, BrittBritt. I want you for keeps. I know this is a super rough patch, and it sucks, but I have no doubt we're going to get through it. We're too awesome not to--"
"I'm scared," you whine, only realizing the tears are falling when she wipes them away with her confident thumbs.
"Yeah, me too, a little. You're, like, super hot, and every time anyone looks at you I'm one step closer to aggravated assault charges, but I trust you, too. So, no high pressure, long distance drama. We do our everyday crap everyday; do what we need to do to get through it all. Once we've seriously kicked its ass, we ride off into the sunset together. I promise, Brittany; pinkie swear," she says linking your pinkies and squeezing firmly.
"I love you so much," you hiccup out pathetically. She kisses your tears away.
"I'm going to kiss you, Britt. It'll be, like, a magic kiss; to make you brave. 'Cause unicorns are skittish by nature, right? So, whenever you get down, and scared about us, you call or text or whatever and I'll come give you a magic kiss, OK? We'll try to work them around school unless there's an emergency. You think you could come give me a magical unicorn kiss sometimes, too? If I get scared?"
"Cool," Santana whispers just before her lips meet yours and everything gets more OK. She won't let go of your pinkie so you can only wrap one arm around her but it doesn't make it any less perfect. At least, until you hear someone crying that isn't you and isn't Santana.
"Really, Ann? The one time she's here in person you lose your shit?" Santana asks holding you tight and trying not to laugh.
"Shut up! Your food's here, but I didn't want to interrupt. You're just so damn cute together, is all."
"She cries at everything," Santana tells you, giving you a little mouse kiss before standing and grabbing some cash to tip the delivery person. "Be right back," she tells you, and then tells Ann, "Try not to embarrass me, huh?" on her way out.
"I'm Ann, by the way. All the pink crap is mine," she says with a big smile. "It's awesome that you're here, she misses you like crazy. Don't tell her I said that. I have lab at three so I'll be out of your hair, but I'll get back while she's at practice; I can show you around some or just hang out or whatever til she gets back."
"Awesome. I have to drive back tonight," you sigh.
"Oh, bummer. Well, we'll plan better for the next time you come up."
"Down," you smile, "the next time I come down."
"Santana says it's a boring drive."
"I guess. I don't like going through Cincinnati," you admit.
"Nobody likes driving through Cincinnati," Santana announces as she returns holding a huge brown paper bag full of Japanese food. "I'm pretty sure it's a law."
"Shut up; go Bengals!" Ann declares.
"Guess who's from Cincinnati," Santana dead pans. "You should see her put away Skyline Chili. Truly disturbing."
"I'm sure I will," you tell Santana, her kiss having made you brave. She smiles, beams at you.
"Long haul," she says sitting on the floor rug and pulling the food out of the bag.
"Long haul," you agree as you move to join her.
"You guys are so cute! You're my new OTP! I'm gonna ship you so hard--wait a sec, I have to update my tumblr!" Ann squeals as Santana rolls her eyes.
"Long haul," she repeats, tossing a pink pillow back on Ann's bed and giving Brittany another mouse kiss.
