Science of Fear, The Eighth Circle - Part One of Two

[smallfrost]

Title: Science of Fear, The Eighth Circle (8/15)
Pairing: Brittany/Santana, Brittany/OC
Rating: T (for now)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Glee or song related, just Dylan.
Spoilers: Through s02e11
Summary: Fear. It forces you to do things you regret. And that's just what happens to Santana, causing her to run away from the one person she loves the most. Can one stranger help her defeat those fears or will she just lose Brittany to her for good?


The weekend had come and gone and Dylan had yet to begin her investigation of Santana’s past with Brittany. Though she had somewhat been hoping the Latina would come to her place on Saturday night, she determined that she was actually glad she hadn’t shown up. It probably would have been extremely uncomfortable knowing what she already knew, not to mention the fact that her and Brittany hadn’t really been watching the movies. They had been much more focused on each other rather than the characters on the screen. The way Brittany was touching Dylan would probably have scarred Santana for life. Before they gave up on the movies all together and just wound up in bed, that is.

But memories of the weekend aside, Dylan was still uncomfortable with the knowledge that her girlfriend and Santana had a past together - a past that neither they nor anyone else were comfortable talking about.

She ran through the members of the Glee club in her mind and tried to determine who the safest bet to talk to was. It couldn’t be Quinn. No, her and Quinn had been spending more time together as of late and though she was pretty sure she was on Quinn’s good side, she didn’t want to risk bringing the entire investigation to light. She’s pretty sure Finn wouldn’t be able to help her, the boy was daft as a floorboard. Sam and Lauren, though present before she arrived, were still too new in the club to have any prior knowledge of Brittany and Santana’s relationship. She definitely could not talk to Artie, seeing that she practically stole his girlfriend. She supposed she could talk to Mike and Tina, but she got the impression that they didn’t know Santana very well. And Rachel, well she adored Rachel as a friend, but she was pretty sure that Santana hated her, and there was little chance that the diva knew much about her love life.

She finally settled for the two people she figured were the best and safest bets. Puck and Mercedes. Dylan and Puck had become rather good friends over the last couple months, with her going over to his place for epic Super Smash Bros. tournaments and such. They had talked briefly about who had dated who and the relationship drama last year. She knew he used to date Santana and probably understood her on a more intimate level than anyone else. Well, besides Brittany apparently.

Mercedes was Kurt’s best friend at McKinley. She had heard most of the initial ‘the Greatness of Kurt Hummel’ stories from the girl and was convinced that she may know what event Kurt had discussed with Blaine at the mall and with Brittany in the auditorium. So she decided her investigation would start there.

As she pondered this, walking down the hall towards Brittany’s locker, Dylan happened to spot the boy of her current musings. She smiled to herself and walked up behind him, clapping him hard on the shoulder.

“Puckerman!”

“Lesbro! What up?” Dylan chuckled at his nickname for her.

“You are the only person I would ever let get away with calling me that,” she said shaking her head.

“Yeah, cause you know I can take you.”

“Oh yeah? Don’t be so sure about that, Puck. I could take you any day.”

“Wanna bet?”

Dylan laughed, “I have a better idea, Smash off. Tonight at 8?”

Puck smiled his best charming smile, “You’re on, little dude.”

“Dude, I have breasts.”

“Your point?” Dylan punched him a little harder than normal as he laughed his response. He swatted away her arm defensively. “Okay, Okay, I give. Your place or mine?”

“I’ll host this time. My dad and I finished setting up the basement, so we can play down there.”

“Got it, sounds good,” Puck said as he tilted his head to look behind Dylan. Dylan turned around just in time before she was engulfed by a wave of blonde. She could hear Puck chuckling in the background, “See you then, your woman is beckoning.”

“Shove off, Puck,” Dylan directed behind her, disentangling herself from Brittany’s grasp. “Hey, babe. Happy this morning?”

Brittany nodded, “Ready for class?”

“Yep, you?” Another nod. “Then let’s go, shall we?” Dylan offered Brittany her arm and the blonde readily accepted, linking hers through it as they headed down the hall towards their next class.

The day progressed at a decent pace. Dylan didn’t have the chance to get Mercedes alone to discuss anything, but she wasn’t in too much a rush to deal with the situation. She found herself in a comfortable bubble. Brittany had become slightly more touchy ever since her rendezvous with Kurt in the auditorium, and Santana had gone back to completely avoiding them. It was almost as though she wasn’t in the picture at all. Dylan almost willed herself to forget all about the Latina and just enjoy the progression of her relationship with Brittany. But Santana remained in the back of her mind. Like a migraine tugging at the tendons at the back of your eyes, or like that itch that won’t go away even if you scratch it.

The day came to an end and she said farewell to Brittany as she headed towards the locker room to change. Now that it was March, the softball team was practicing outside regularly, the balmy weather creating a cool and relaxing environment to escape for a while. A good workout would do her well, help clear her mind a little.

“Dylan! Phone!” Dylan heard her father calling at the top of the basement steps.

She took the stairs two at a time and snatched her cell phone out of his hands when she finally reached the top. She unlocked it and hit answer.

“Puck, what’s up? You’re outside? Okay, cool, I’ll be right there,” She spoke into the device before ending the call and turning to her father.

“Who was that?” he asked curiously.

“Noah, dad, you remember,” Dylan told him, “Mohawk.”

“Oh, yes, right, I remember.”

“Yeah, we’re just gonna chill downstairs for a bit, that okay?”

“Yeah, sure, I have to work on grades upstairs.”

“Thanks, dad,” Dylan said over her shoulder as she made her way to the front door.

She opened the door to find Puck standing on the other side, hands thrust deep in his jean pockets. “Yo, bout time,” he laughed, “Still pretty cold out here, ya know?”

Dylan laughed and stepped aside to let the boy in. “Sorry, my dad was interrogating me.”

“It’s cool,” Puck said as he followed Dylan down into the basement, his eyes darting between the living room and kitchen.

He plopped down on the futon and propped his feet up while Dylan gathered up the controllers and turned the TV on.

“Heads up,” Dylan shouted as she tossed Puck one of the controllers. He caught it gracefully with a smirk and watched her as she plopped down next to him.

“I don’t know why you think challenging me to this will prove anything, you’re still going to lose,” he said, tossing her a raised eyebrow.

“Pfft, please, Puck,” Dylan laughed, “are you forgetting? I won last time.”

“Sure, last time, but not the time before that… Or before that... Or before that,” he joked as the title screen appeared and they selected the Brawl mode.

“Fine, but you’re going down this time.”

“Don’t think so, lesbro.”

“Please, Sheik’s final smash beat’s Fox’s any day,” Dylan smirked as she selected Sheik and Puck selected Fox.

“I have a mutha fucking tank.”

“Still going down.”

“Wanna bet?”

“You’re on,” she said as the countdown on the screen began.

For the next five minutes the pair sat in intense concentration, exchanging swear words every once in a while. Dylan was sitting on the edge of the futon, tongue sticking out between her lips. Whenever Dylan got in a good hit, Puck would reach over and try and shove her off the edge of the futon.

“Puck, you’re a fucker.”

“Sure am.”

Dylan chuckled but she couldn’t put any more effort into being amused. Her mind began drifting towards her original reason for asking Puck over in the first place. She lost concentration and was too slow to block Puck’s next attack.

“Oh! Take that, final smash!” Dylan feigned a fake smile to keep the mohawked boy amused as she watched him pummel her off the screen.
Five seconds later, her character reappeared at the top of the screen and the battle began again. They sat in silence for a few riveting moments as Dylan’s character picked up the fan and proceeded to trap Puck’s Fox in a never ending onslaught of attacks.

“So, you and Brittany? How’s that going?” Puck asked with a waggle of his eyebrow.

Dylan’s finger slipped and the fan-battering stopped long enough to allow Fox to get away, “Um, shit, yeah it’s great.”

“You know, if you and her ever…”

“Fuck off, Puck!” Dylan cut him off as Fox picked up the hammer and chased Sheik around the screen. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the road she was about to turn down. “So, you and Santana still dating?”

Puck laughed as a smash ball appeared on screen and the pair battled for it. “Nah, dating’s not my thing. We just sleep… Er, slept together... a lot.”

“Congratulations,” Dylan states sarcastically, smashing buttons relentlessly, attempting to hide her curiosity about Puck’s sudden change to past tense.

“Not really Santana’s thing either. Well, at least it used to not be.”

Dylan chanced a glance at the boy sitting next to her. “How do you mean?”

Puck shrugged, “She seems different now,” he pause for a moment, concentrating on the screen in front of him.

Dylan was barely paying attention to what was taking place on the TV anymore. Her lapse in focus allowed Puck to catch her off guard, sending her bouncing off in the distance and ending the round.

He sits quietly for a second before continuing, almost talking more to himself than Dylan. “We haven’t even been together since I got out of Juvie.”
Dylan blinked. Puck had told her about the time he ended up in the slammer for two weeks. That was in October. It was almost April now. Had Santana really not slept with Puck since then? She made it seem as though she had a healthy, sexual relationship with the boy. “You serious?” she asked after a few moments.

Puck nods his head and he reaches forward to grab the bag of Doritos that was on the coffee table in front of them. Dylan was lost in her thoughts. Santana had been lying about sleeping with Puck. For nearly five months. Dylan had only known her for the last three. She thought back to the first time she had ever set eyes on the feisty Latina. She could tell right away that the girl had favored same-sex tendencies, but she had been so quick to deny it that Dylan figured she just hadn’t realized it yet.

With this new information swimming through her head, Dylan began to piece together the Santana that existed before they ever met. There had to be a reason why she would suddenly stop sleeping with Puck. If dating isn’t your thing, then a stable fuck-buddy seems like a pretty good deal, so why would she give that up? She had to have known about her sexuality before Dylan confronted her in the auditorium. She had to. She wasn’t comfortable being with Puck anymore.

But Dylan needed more. Puck had provided her with even more mystery to the puzzle of Santana Lopez. So she probed further, asking a question she had a sneaking feeling she already knew the answer to. “Why do you think she hasn’t been with you?” she asked, barely realizing Puck had abandoned the Doritos and started another round of fighting.

His answer was so quick, it actually sounded rehearsed. It caught Dylan off guard, “ Probably fantasizing about Brittany.”

“Wait, what?” Dylan nearly dropped her controller, but didn’t even make an effort to adjust and keep playing. She sat, open mouthed, staring at Puck.

“Totally has the hots for her…. so, you and Brittany, you looking for a third party?” Puck asked, ignoring the shocked expression on Dylan’s face and waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Puck,” Dylan gasped, both at his suggestion about Santana and his suggestion about her and Brittany. “What the fuck, ew. Jesus, no. I mean, I love you, but no. You’re like my brother, dude.”

Puck just shrugs and turns his attention back towards the video game. “Damn, this always happens to me. Totally not fair.”

“Always? Propositioned many lesbians, have you?”

Puck laughs fully before answering. “I wish. I always tried to get Santana to get Brittany to join us. But she would always get defensive and then pissed off and would just leave.”

“I thought you’ve slept with Britt,” Dylan states, trying not to cringe at the thought. She hadn’t realized what she was getting into when she had asked Brittany to explain the notches on her bedpost.

“Well, yeah. But the two of them together… Mmm.”

“Puck! That’s my fucking girlfriend… and why did you ask Santana about Brittany?” Dylan managed to squeeze out the question.

Puck gave her a sideways glance before turning his attention back towards the screen just as Fox grabbed Sheik and threw her off the stage, ending the match. “Guess you lose again, lil’ lesbro.”

He was avoiding the question. Dylan wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t have a legitimate reason for asking Santana to get Brittany to join them, or whether it was because he knew too much about their actual relationship. “Puck…”

He gave her another quick sideways glance before standing up rather quickly. “They’re… they’re close that’s all. Fun to tease… listen, I should get home. Thanks for the battle. Still the boss though,” he said, mockingly flexing his muscles.

Dylan was disappointed. They’re close? They were close? Dylan already knew that. “Yeah, sure, no problem. See you tomorrow?”

Puck didn’t answer but nodded lightly as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his letterman jacket and made his way up the basement stairs. Dylan fell back against the futon and stared up at the ceiling.

Puck had given her a glimpse at the new Santana Lopez, but left the Latina’s relationship with her blonde a complete mystery. And these questions seemed heavier than the ones she had coming into the situation in the first place. She needed to go to another source and try to unravel the one remaining relationship that everyone in Glee seems to avoid talking about.

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The week progressed at a blinding speed and she hadn’t been able to catch Mercedes alone through any of it. Glee practices were lasting extra long in the auditorium and softball practices were now being held outdoors afterschool. By the time Thursday rolled around, Dylan was exhausted. She groaned as she thought about the day ahead of her. She had an English paper due and a scrimmage that afternoon after Glee.

To top it all off, she hadn’t spent any quality time with her girlfriend except at Glee and in class. Brittany had her own tight schedule to juggle. The Cheerios were already in full gear for Nationals and she had a motocross tournament coming up she was training now that the weather had broken. So after the bell rang for lunch, Dylan practically ran to Brittany’s locker, knowing they would at least have the whole period together.

“Brittany!” Dylan called as she came up behind the blonde who was jamming books into her locker.

Brittany jumped a little in surprise and turned around to give Dylan a huge grin. “Hey, you,” she said, while attempting to keep her books from tumbling out of her locker.

“Here, let me get those,” Dylan said as she reached around and managed to wedge the offending books inside and close the door.

“Thank you,” Brittany said, leaning in and kissing Dylan lightly on the cheek.

“No, problem.” She turned and engulfed the taller girl in a strong hug, “Ugh, I miss you.”

“I’m right here, D.”

“I know, but, just so much stuff going on lately. Haven’t gotten to spend enough time with you,” Dylan pouted, looking up at the blonde in front of her. “But at least we have lunch together!”

Dylan watched as Brittany sucked on her bottom lip, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“Britt?”

“I’m sorry, D. Coach wants me and Quinn and Santana to work in some new moves with her,” Brittany said, head turned down.

“Oh, um after school or something?”

“No, she wants us to learn them for practice so we have to meet during lunch today.”

Dylan’s shoulders slouched. She probably should have expected something like this to come up. But what had to be done had to be done, and she wasn’t going to let Brittany feel bad about it. “It’s okay, baby. You go do what you have to. I’ll see you later, in class! We’ll have time together soon.”

Brittany’s frown changed slowly into a smile as she glanced up at Dylan. “Really?”

Dylan reached down and grasped both of the blonde’s hands in her own. “Mhmm, just try and have fun, okay?” she leaned up and kissed Brittany softly on the lips.

She could feel the blonde’s smile as they pressed their lips together. “You’re the best, D,” she said as she began to turn down the hall towards the gymnasium instead of the cafeteria. “I’ll be thinking of you.”

“Ditto,” Dylan replied giving Brittany’s hand one last squeeze before turning in the opposite direction.

She made her way in to the cafeteria, eyes focused on the tiles beneath her feet. She stopped when she entered the large bustling room and looked up to survey the space in front of her. She didn’t really feel that hungry but decided to at least try and eat something. She needed energy for the game this afternoon.

When exiting the lunch line she caught a glimpse of Mercedes, Rachel and Tina sitting at a table off in the corner. Looking at Mercedes, she remembered that she still hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to the diva and decided maybe now was a good time. She didn’t have to worry about Brittany getting suspicious of her actions. Even though she wasn’t sure how much Rachel and Tina could provide, she was certain they wouldn’t really care enough, nor were close enough to either Brittany or Santana for it to be a problem. So she shrugged her shoulders and headed off in their directions.

“Hey guys, mind if I join?” She asked, coming up to the table.

Rachel looked up excitedly. “Of course, Dylan. We’d love you to!”

“Thanks,” she said as she plopped unceremoniously into the plastic chair between Rachel and Tina. Mercedes sitting across from her.

“Where’s your girl?” Mercedes asked, curious as to why Dylan was alone.
“Oh, she has an extra practice session with Coach Sylvester or something,” Dylan stated, poking at her food with her fork.

“That woman is crazy when it gets near to competition time,” Tina said, shaking her head. “I mean, if Mr. Schue treated us like that, I don’t know if I would stay in Glee.”

“Tina! How could you say such a thing?” Rachel said, gawking at the Asian girl. “I for one think Mr. Schue isn’t pushing us hard enough. Regionals is a week from Saturday.”

“Speak for yourself there, Rach,” Dylan cut in. “I have a scrimmage this afternoon. I can barely stand as it is, let alone sing more.”

Rachel adjusted her already perfect posture and looked down at her food. “Yes, I’m sorry. I know there are a lot of others in Glee who have other obligations as well. I’m just nervous for Regionals, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I wonder what’s going to go down this year.” Mercedes added in, giggling to herself.

“Come again?” Dylan asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Mercedes. Please, don’t jinx us,” Tina begged.

“I have to agree with Tina on this one, Mercedes. The last thing we need is more drama in this club. Considering the fact that Finn and I are still not back together, I think we have enough drama for now.”

“You guys, I am totally lost. What’s going on?” Dylan asked, raising her fork in a questioning manner.

Mercedes smiled evilly and crossed her arms on the table top, leaning towards Dylan. “This club is totally cursed.”

“Mercedes! Do not frighten the poor girl,” Rachel warned before turning to face Dylan, “This club is not cursed. We just have… bad luck.”

“Yeah, at every competition,” Mercedes laughs.

“But I thought you guys won at Sectionals?”

“Yes, well, we tied,” Tina said.

“But you still advanced. I mean I know you didn’t win Regionals last year, but you did win Sectionals. So, does that really count as a trend in bad luck?” Dylan asked.

“It’s not bad luck,” Mercedes explained, shaking her head and giving Rachel an evil glare. “She just likes to call it that cause it’s been her fault every time.”

“Not true!” Rachel cut in, trying to explain.

“Totally was, Rachel,” Tina agreed.

“No, no, Tina. Don’t forget, you started stuff with Mike cause you thought he was cheating on you with Brittany at Sectionals,” Rachel defended.

Dylan perked up at the sound of her girlfriend’s name, “Woah, hold up. Pause. Rewind. You guys are going to have to explain this. Like, piece by piece.” Dylan stated, looking at each of the girls in turn.

Mercedes laughed again and leaned in further towards Dylan. “Before every competition, mad drama goes down within the club,” she explained. Dylan nodded. “At Sectionals this year, Rachel was mad at Finn because she found out he lost his V-card to Santana a year ago and lied to her about it the whole time.”

Dylan looked over at Rachel, raising an eyebrow in question. She nodded, now slumped down in her chair. Dylan turned towards Mercedes to continue, “Okay… but what does that have to do with Brittany?”

“Brittany and Mike performed a dance number for Santana’s solo,” it was Tina who started explaining this time. “They were spending a lot of time together, so I thought they were like, cheating on Artie and me with each other.”

“Oh… were they?” Dylan asked.

Mercedes answered, “No, Tina was just jealous. Not even sure of who actually,” she added, laughing.

“Shut up, Mercedes,” Tina said, also slouching back in her seat.

Mercedes just giggled and continued her story. “Yeah, but things got all sorts of crazy in the green room. People nearly got decapitated.”

Dylan laughed, “And you still managed to win.” She received nods from all three of the girls. “But what about the other competitions then? Couldn’t have been as bad?”

Mercedes shook her head almost violently, telling Dylan she was obviously wrong. “Oh god, they were worse. At Regionals, Rachel had been dating this kid Jesse who was the male lead for Vocal Adrenaline. But then he transferred here to McKinley, seduced Rachel, and then broke her heart and transferred back right before the competition.”

“What? You can do that?” Dylan was surprised.

Mercedes nodded and continued. “Yeah, he had family that lived in our school district or something. Brittany thought he was Mr. Schue’s son. Anyway, they tp-ed the choir room and then egged Rachel in the parking lot.”

“Ouch, I’m sorry Rach,” Dylan said apologetically towards the short brunette. She just nodded quietly, very un-Rachel like.

“And then Quinn had her baby,” Tina added.

“Mhmm, right after we finished our performance, so we had to all rush to the hospital,” Mercedes explained.

“Wow,” Dylan said, they weren’t kidding.

“And, oh my god, Sectionals was the worst! Quinn had told Finn that he was the father of her baby when it was really Puck and we all knew except for Rachel. We were all trying to prevent her from finding out cause she had this huge crush on Finn and wanted him to break up with Quinn, Brittany let it slip that her and Santana were sleeping together,” Dylan’s head jerked at that comment, eyes flashing with a mix between confusion and shock. Mercedes continued without noting the change in Dylan’s demeanor, “Rachel convinced Quinn that she needed to get Jewish tests done on the baby and figured out that Puck was the father and told Finn. Finn freaked out and beat up Puck and left Glee,” Mercedes was talking so fast, Dylan barely had time to process what she had said. But it didn’t matter, she had stopped listening after the mention of Brittany.

“Wha.. WHAT?” Dylan nearly shouted.

“And when we got to Sectionals, the other teams stole our numbers because Brittany gave Miss Sylvester our set list so we didn’t have anything to perform. But then Finn came back and we won,” Mercedes ended with a shrug, still completely oblivious to the look of horror on Dylan’s face.

“Dylan?” It was Rachel who noticed.

“Wh... what did you say about Brittany?” Dylan asked through clenched teeth, eyes glued to Mercedes.

“Hm? Oh, she told the entire club that her and Santana were sleeping together,” she said nonchalantly, now poking at her food. When Dylan didn’t answer, Mercedes raised her head and was met with a shocked expression.

Dylan felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Rachel, but she didn’t make an effort to turn and address her.

“Mercedes,” Rachel said. Dylan glanced towards Rachel and saw her give the other diva a hard glare. Her eyes snapped back to the girl across from her whose eyes had widened in realization and then flicked to Tina.

Dylan was confused. She had never seen Rachel so secretive. There was a silent understanding passing between the three girls around her. They had all known about Brittany and Santana. They had all known and had not told Dylan prior to this. But why?

“Oh… you didn’t…” Know, Dylan finished Mercedes’ question in her head.

Dylan shook her head. Mercedes and the other girls had just confirmed her own suspicions.

“Brittany didn’t tell you?” Tina asked.

Dylan just shook her head again, “No, she didn’t. But why didn’t you guys tell me? I mean, earlier.” There was a hint of anger in Dylan’s voice, but it was overtaken by the pain evident in her tone.

Rachel looked between Mercedes and Tina before turning and addressing Dylan directly. “We didn’t think it was our place to tell you. I guess we assumed Brittany would. I mean, you know about her and everyone else, right? It’s not like she’s in the least bit shy about her sexual escapades.”

Dylan nodded this time. Brittany hadn’t hesitated to explain every notch on her bed and not one of them was Santana. The notches were her conquests. And while Dylan herself was not represented by a carving on the piece of wood, neither was Santana. Dylan felt a sharp pain stab through her chest and her breath caught in her throat.

Mercedes must have noticed because she immediately sat up and looked panicked. “Um, uh… I’m sure she didn’t tell you because it wasn’t a big deal. I mean, we’re not even sure if they really were sleeping together.”

Dylan attempted to breathe normally and looked up at Mercedes. “What do you mean?”

“Well it was just something Brittany said, we were unsure what she actually meant by it,” Tina explained. Dylan raised an eyebrow, willing her to continue. “She um, she said that ‘if sex were dating, Santana and I would be dating’,” Tina offered.

“Yeah, we were talking about how Puck cheated on Santana and got Quinn pregnant. Santana implied that just because her and Puck were sleeping together didn’t mean they were dating. And then Brittany said that,” Mercedes explained. “It caught us all off guard. Didn’t really make any sense but they never corrected themselves and it was never brought up again. So, I mean, we could be wrong.”

No. They weren’t wrong. All the pieces were coming together and Dylan knew Brittany had meant what she said literally. She and Santana had been sleeping together. More than a year ago.

Memories and information bombarded Dylan’s mind as she fought to make sense of it all. From day one, Dylan had known Brittany liked girls. And from day one, Santana had denied it, claiming she knew Brittany better than anyone else. Well, she definitely did know the blonde better than anyone else. And now Dylan knew exactly how deep of a relationship the two girls had shared. Santana had lied to Dylan’s face; not only about Brittany, but about herself as well. Santana knew Brittany liked girls. Santana knew that she had slept with Brittany. Yet she denied their sexualities.

She searched though her mind remembering everything having to do with the two cheerleaders since she met them. Brittany had told Dylan that she had made out with a few other girls before, little hook ups when the other girls were feeling curious. But she never admitted to anything more. She remembered how uncomfortable Santana had been around her and Brittany in the time they had been together. And even from before they had gotten together, Santana was always harsh about the way Dylan interacted with the blonde.

Dylan remembered the slip-up Brittany had made in her room when her mom almost walked in on them. She had started to say something about her and Santana before stopping abruptly and playing it off as something else. Dylan now knew that they hadn’t been making cupcakes at all. The picture Brittany had been staring at that day floated through her mind. Two cheerleaders. One blonde. One brunette. Holding each other in a tight embrace.

“Dylan?” Rachel asked, staring at the girl who hadn’t made any effort to acknowledge what Mercedes had said.

Dylan didn’t hear the brunette address her. Her mind had traveled back to that cold day in January when Santana had come to visit her after practice. Her eyes widened remembering what had happened. Santana had kissed her. Dylan jumped up, knocking over her chair in her haste.

“Dylan?” it was Mercedes this time.

Dylan looked down at Mercedes, “Uh, sorry. I just remembered. I have to uh, help my dad in the dark room. Develop film, and stuff. Thanks for the, um, informative conversation.” Dylan stood in front of the girls for a second before picking up her tray and making her way over to the cafeteria exit.

Dylan ran over the thoughts storming through her mind. Santana kissed Dylan. Santana yelled at Brittany when she confronted her about the kiss. Santana knew about her sexuality before she met Dylan. Santana slept with Brittany. Santana kissed Dylan, and it was time to understand why.
Part Two of Two