"So," Quinn sips her water bottle as she and Brittany make their way into the locker room after practice. "You and Santana are still in for Winter Formal, right?" She asks with a quirked eyebrow and holds the door open for her friend.

Brittany nods and smiles in response.

Of course she and her girlfriend are going to be attending McKinley High School's Winter Formal. A chance to get dressed up and show the other off in a beautiful dress is what these dances pretty much stand for. It's as grown up as it gets when one is in high school. But, that thought process seems so childish since everything they had gone through.

She's been trying her hardest not to dwell on the 'what if' that swiftly flew through their otherwise perfect relationship, but there are many things that bring it back to the forefront. Sure, Brittany figures it's kind of dumb or exhausting to continuously go round and round about what could have happened simply because nothing actually happened. But, it could have very well happened.

"I'm thinking of going with Sam." Quinn interrupts Brittany's racing mind of repetitive thoughts.

"Oh, Sam asked you to formal?" Brittany asks with curiosity and begins to put things in her locker and take things out. Quinn's head tilts as she continues to do the same and purses her lips.

"Not exactly." She shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders. "But, that doesn't necessarily mean it's not an option." She explains with a tiny smirk and glances at Brittany out of the corner of her eye. "I can easily make it sound like something he himself came up with." Quinn chuckles and gains a small giggle out of Brittany as well. At least Brittany can rely on Quinn to lift her spirits, even if only momentarily and even if about something so silly and juvenile.

When she finally gets out of her own head, she realizes that Quinn has her arm hooked into hers and is leading them back into the gym where Santana is waiting on the bottom bench of the bleachers. She smiles when she sees her girlfriend and is greeted the same way. Once they reach Santana, Quinn retracts her arm and begins to frantically type out a text message into her phone.

"I just got a call from my mom." Santana grins from ear to ear as she places her hands on Brittany's shoulders and steps closer to her. "My dress finally came in." She rolls her eyes because she's ordered her damn dress a while ago. It would be her luck that she'd get her dress a few days before the dance only to have it not fit.

"The red one?" Brittany asks with a tilt of her head. Even before Santana nods, she knows it's the red one that they had both picked out. They were certain that she would look absolutely amazing in the dress.

"Yay." Quinn's little self cheering catches their attention and they pull apart to a comfortable distance suitable for all parties present. She smiles at her phone before she shoves it into her Cheerio duffle. "Plan worked. Sam all but begged me to be his date to the Winter Formal." She half bows and half salutes something weird and Brittany chuckles at her friend's antics.

"Wait," Santana interrupts with a confused expression and gains two confused sets of eyes. "I thought Sam was going with Mercedes?" She remembers some random bit of information about the two in question somewhere over the course of the past year. The technicalities of it all are beyond her though.

"Sam and Mercedes was so last year." Quinn arches an eyebrow and zips her duffle bag shut.

"Yeah, they broke up like, in the middle of the summer or something." Brittany recalls with uncertainty, but Quinn nods to assure its true.

"Besides, he asked me so…" She tilts her head and smiles her fake Cheerio smile that Santana remembered from before her 'crush on Quinn' days and tries her best not to roll her eyes in front of her face. "Anyway, I better go and make sure he gets a swatch of my dress so he gets me the right color corsage." She announces and waves her friends goodbye before turning on her heels to leave the couple behind.

"See ya." Brittany says to Quinn, but it's more to herself seeing as her friend has long since left them to their own devices. "Come on sweetheart." She does her best gangster impression and hooks her arm through Santana's, garnering a small chuckle out of her girlfriend in the process.

"So," Santana begins once they get in the car and Brittany figures she knows exactly what is going to be suggested based on her girlfriend's expression. "Wanna come over and I can show you how hot I'm gonna look at formal?" She winks for good measure, making Brittany giggle and instantly nod her head.

Just as her mother promised, her dress is laid out on the back of the living room couch as soon as she arrives home. Santana immediately drops her books and bag, eyes wide and a grin of victory spread across her face. She gives an 'ooh' and an 'ahh' as she lifts the dress up from the couch to give it a good once over before pulling it against the front of her body and spins around to show it to Brittany.

"Come on." Santana jumps forward and grabs Brittany by the hand and leads them up the stairs, nearly taking two steps at a time.

"Door open!" Mrs. Lopez yells from a random part of the house, which only prompts an eye roll and a huff from her daughter. Brittany laughs a bit to herself because even with Mrs. Lopez's demand that sounded more like a warning, Santana still closes and locks her bedroom door.

"You're gonna get in trouble." Brittany sing songs, but her girlfriend just brushes it off with a wave of her hand and begins to remove her clothes.

"Please," Santana mutters while she unzips the back of the dress to prepare it for her body to fit in. "That woman has run out of punishments to give to me. They're not even creative anymore." Playfully, Brittany rolls her eyes and lies down on her stomach on Santana's bed and watches as she changes out of her school clothes.

"Are you gonna wear those?" Brittany asks when she sees the way Santana fixes the legs of her boxer briefs that had ridden up when she ran up the stairs. Her girlfriend glances up to see that it's her underwear she is referring to and she shrugs her shoulders as she grabs her dress and sets it low enough for her to step in to.

"Probably those." Santana motions with a jerk of her head to the pair of underwear sitting neatly folded on top of a bunch of freshly washed clothes. They are one of several pairs she owns that help keep embarrassing moments hidden. Brittany tears her eyes from the shiny black material the under garment is made of and brings her gaze back to Santana, just in time to catch the look of discomfort at the thought.

"Well," Brittany starts again, shifting a little on the bed while Santana shimmies from side to side to pull her new dress up. "Let's see how tight this dress is." She suggests and moves to a sitting position at the edge of the bed when Santana turns around for her to zip up her dress.

Once it's all zipped up, Brittany pats Santana on the ass, prepared for a full on fashion show spin. Santana giggles and twirls around in her dress, making sure to give herself enough time to glance into the full length mirror on her bedroom door. Her eyes are bright and her smile is wide at the sight of herself in this wonderful red dress. When she turns around to gauge Brittany's reaction, she knows for sure that this is the perfect dress.

"What do you think?" She asks with faux uncertainty, because she already knows the answer.

"It's…" Brittany begins, but then stops to lightly clear her throat and scratch a non-existent itch on the top of her ear. She smiles and nods her head a few times before looking Santana in the eye. "You look beautiful."

Santana can't fight the cheesy, over excited and very flattered grin that takes over her face. She squeals but it's more of a giggle than anything and she steps forward, letting her hands rest at Brittany's shoulders and leans down to press their lips together.

"Help me out of this?" Santana asks between sweet kisses.

"Oh," Brittany groans through a grin. "Okay." She gives in begrudgingly. "Come here." She motions for her to come closer by placing her hands on either side of her girlfriend's hips and tugs her towards her.

There's a tiny bout of silence as Brittany pulls the zipper down and while Santana slips out of her dress. They smile at one another as Santana carefully folds her dress over the back of the chair at her desk. Before she knows it, Brittany is behind her and slaps her ass while she's still in just her boxer briefs giving her barely any padding.

"Ahh!" Santana yelps and jumps away from her girlfriend's playful antics. "Britt!" They giggle as Brittany chases her around the room, over the bed until she finally corners her by her closet.

Santana can tell that Brittany is about to pounce on her, and she is already to make her next move when there's a knock at the door. Her shoulders slump in disappointment, seeing as her mother has clearly just ruined yet another moment of fun in her life. Brittany stands up straight, eyes slightly wide, and she hops from the bed then to the other side of the room after reasoning that the bed might not be the best place to be when Mrs. Lopez walks in.

"Santana, you better open this door right now." Mrs. Lopez calls from the other side of the door, jiggling the knob as she speaks.

"I'm just trying on my dress. Chill out." Santana answers with an annoyed huff.

With the bedroom door open, the teenagers are brought face to face with a not very amused Mrs. Lopez. The woman has her arms crossed over her chest, her left hip cocked out to the side just a little bit and one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows are arched with the irritation that only comes with having a teenager for a child. Santana's mother looks to Brittany, and for a moment her icy, unenthused glare defrosts and she smiles kindly at the young girl leaning against her daughter's dresser. Soon enough though, her stare turns back to Santana herself and she clicks her tongue at the young girl.

"Brittany," Mrs. Lopez says sweetly and turns her attention back to the nice blonde girl in the room and motions for her to come towards the door. "I think it's time for some mother-daughter time." She places her hand on Santana's shoulder and squeezes it affectionately, but the gesture frightens Santana. "Mind if I steal her for a bit?" She moves her hand from her daughter's shoulder and pinches her cheeks, getting younger hands swatting her slightly aged ones away.

"Oh." Brittany giggles out in awkward relief. "I should," She looks over at the clock on the nightstand as though she's checking the time even if she could care less. "I should probably get home anyway. I just came over to see Santana's dress." She grins and shrugs her shoulders as she passes between the Lopez girls. "Call me later." She waves and is soon gone down the staircase.

"Why are you being weird?" Santana asks after she hears the front door shut and steps back further from her mother.

"I just thought it would be nice to have some bonding time." By Mrs. Lopez's inflection, Santana can tell that her mother is using 'bonding time' as a ploy to discuss things Santana doesn't want to. She steps further into her daughter's bedroom and takes a seat at the foot of her bed as the young girl pulls out sweat pants and a t-shirt from her dresser. "You know," She clears her throat and sets her hands comfortably on her thighs as Santana pulls her sweats and shirt on. "I've been thinking this whole idea of you two going to the Fabray's cabin after the dance." Santana's ears perk up at the tone her mother uses, seeing as it kind of sounds like it's going to go in the direction of 'and I decided you're not going'.

"Oh?" Santana replies as she shuts her dresser drawer and glances over her shoulder in her mother's general direction. With ease, she flits over to her vanity, takes a seat and reaches out for her eyebrow pencil.

"Well," Mrs. Lopez sighs, but Santana doesn't flinch as she colors in her eyebrows. "Isn't that going to be uncomfortable?" She says straightforwardly as though it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Santana's brow scrunches in the middle and her upper lip curls up in confusion. She turns her head and gives her mother a perplexed look.

"She's Brittany's friend." Santana tells her, because it's common knowledge. She shakes her head at her mother's inability to put simple facts together and turns her attention back to her own reflection so she can continue to beautify herself, even if only for her dinner at home. "We're friends too." She adds quietly as an afterthought.

Santana pays no mind to the sound that spills from her mother's lips. Fact of the matter is, yes, Quinn and she are friends. Or at least she likes to hope so. They told one another that they wanted to be friends and she knows that she has been trying her hardest to be a good friend to Quinn and vice versa.

"Don't be so naive Santana." She hears the frustration in her mother's voice but, she doesn't want to give in.

"I'm dating Brittany, mom." Santana reminds her. "Quinn and I have been over for a while." She places her eyebrow pencil down and rummages through her makeup box in search of her lip gloss. "We're fine." She shrugs her shoulders once more before leaning towards the mirror and slides the lip gloss over her lips, sending a quick glance at the reflection of her mother still sitting at the edge of her bed. "Is bonding time over yet?"

"Listen sweetie," Mrs. Lopez pushes herself up from the bed while letting out a long breath and steps up behind Santana, setting her hands gently on her arms. "I know you and Brittany have sex." Santana's eyes widen and dart up to the reflection of her mother's face. She nearly drops the applicator to her lips gloss onto the table top of her vanity.

"Mom!" She yells in embarrassment, wishing for just a moment she no longer had the ability to hear.

"Honey, it's no secret." Mrs. Lopez chuckles and steps back from her, pulling her hands away as she does so. "It's not like you two have ever been discreet or very quiet." She comments, making Santana want to crawl under a rock and vomit repeatedly at the idea of her parents hearing any kind of sexual noises out of her and or Brittany. "I don't condone teenage sexual relations under my roof, but I also know that you are going to do it anyway."

By now, Santana's head is in her hands with the heels of her palms digging into her eyes. She can't believe this is actually happening right now. It's kind of ironic that she's getting a sex talk, whatever kind it may be, at a time when she is not even having sex. There are too many things to think and feel about her mother having advice on her sexual relationship, current or past and apparently future as it may be.

"I just want to give you some perspective." Her mother tells her.

"And apparently a guarantee at being therapy for a good part of my life." She mutters, but it's loud enough for her mother to hear and she receives a little slap on the back of her head.

"Just listen, okay?" Santana closes her eyes as she rolls them and spins around in her chair to give her mom her undivided attention. "A high school dance," Mrs. Lopez starts, and takes a thoughtful breath as she sits back down on the edge of the bed. "It's like foreplay." She chuckles when her daughter's eyes grow wide. "Everybody knows that after formals and proms and what have you, teenagers go to a motel, or a hotel, or the backseat of a car, or someone's parents' cabin." She quirks an eyebrow, emphasizing the cabin bit because it is apparent she is getting to a some sort of point here. "All I'm saying is, don't make the poor girl feel uncomfortable on her own turf." Mrs. Lopez gets up once again from the bed and walks over to Santana where she leans down and presses a quick kiss to her forehead.

Santana watches her mother walk out of her room, closing the door behind her, and lets this sudden 'perspective' the woman has bestowed upon her. So many things are now running through her head. She hadn't even thought about Quinn and their past relationship in so long. She hasn't even considered that her current relationship with Brittany would at all affect Quinn anymore. It has been so long since everything had gone down, she figured it was over and done with, pain long forgotten.

But, only to add on the list of 'what the fuck is this real life', she's now once again bombarded that the possibility of she and Brittany making Quinn 'uncomfortable' is a negative. The 'no sex' is still in place, so there's really no need to worry about making Quinn uncomfortably in the Fabray cabin after formal. Sometimes though, Santana wonders if her girlfriend and mother have these private, should be intimate conversations between partners, with one another and then ambush her.

Just the other night when Santana was dropping Brittany off after a movie date, they started making out in the car and things started to get a little heated. As they were kissing, all Santana kept thinking was about the suggestion Brittany had made another time things started getting a little hot. Actually, she's thought about it even when they weren't in the steamy confines of her car. The idea of touching herself in front of her girlfriend is totally sexy. They've done it before and it was always awesome. They enjoy watching one another get off by their own hand.

But each time she tried to move her hands to undo her pants and get going, it seemed as though her body wasn't listening to her. She wanted to. She wants to. She can't help and wonder if it will be a huge step in the right direction for them. If she were to jerk off while just making out of course it would feel amazing but, maybe Brittany will feel more at ease with everything. Then, maybe, just maybe soon her hand will be replaced with Brittany's.

Before she could coax her body into finally listening to her, Brittany had pulled away and breathlessly told her they should probably slow down. She did her best not to huff and pout and groan in disapproval, because it was her own fault to let her hormones get the best of her. So instead, she smiled and nodded in agreement. Then, before she could clear the air with a witty comment about something else, Brittany brought up the cabin trip coming up.

She'd said that maybe it's a good thing that they are doing this whole 'no sex' thing, as if it were a fantastic plan they had both come up with, because it would just be weird having sex with half of the cheerleaders and football players in the same house. For someone who didn't care much of what anyone thought of her, Brittany did feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of their classmates hearing their sex noises.

So, now, with this little and very unnerving conversation she'd just had with her mother, Santana wonders if Brittany too believes that things would be weird for Quinn. A part of her thinks that this whole idea is just something her mother thought up on her own and that she is the only one. But, rethinking that random conversation over with Brittany about the cabin, she can't fight the feeling that Quinn might not be as okay with all of this as she may claim to be. Or maybe it's not so much being 'okay'. Maybe it's something altogether something different.

Santana spins around a few times in her vanity chair and leans back to stare up at the ceiling. Perhaps, there are reasons that run a little deeper as to why things might be strange for her and Brittany to have sex near Quinn or even in a home owned by the Fabray's. There was one point in time where it was Santana and Quinn having all the sex. As she stares up at her white ceiling, she wonders how it would be if she were in Quinn's position.

Sure, it would be a little awkward to be around Quinn and someone else who she was having sex with. But, only because there would always be that memory of Quinn's naked body being under her naked body or hers under Quinn's. Except for the last two or three times she had sex with Quinn, all the other times it had meant something to her. They had meant a lot of things and the idea of Quinn having meaningful sex with someone else that Santana knew, well, maybe that would be kind of awkward.

She lets out a long sigh and rubs her eyes with the tips of her fingers. Thinking hurts, especially when it has to do with these things people called 'feelings'.

"You're quiet." Brittany comments during a commercial break. After her Cheerio practice she and Santana decided to go to Brittany's and watch some television. They figured it'd be a good idea to relax since the Winter Formal is tomorrow and all.

"Oh?" Santana hums out as she tears her eyes from the flying baby on the screen. She smiles when finds Brittany smiling at her, nodding cutely.

"You're thinking." She points out. Santana chuckles and shakes her head. Of course she was thinking. She's always thinking. But, currently she's thinking about how these advertiser commercial people managed to make a baby fly over a pyramid of toilet paper. "Are you nervous about the dance?" Brittany asks curiously.

"What?" Santana jerks her head back in confusion. "Pshh, hell no." She waves that idea away and shuffles closer to her girlfriend, throwing her arm around her shoulder as she does so. "I'm going with the most beautiful girl in the school and I cannot wait to dance with you all night long." She snuggles her nose into the crook of Brittany's neck and kisses the spot below her ear.

"Well, I'm nervous." Brittany admits and lowers her body down into the couch as Santana's lips continue to press soft pecks to her skin.

"Why?" Santana giggles against her cheek.

"Because, we're going to Quinn's cabin after." She explains with uncertainty.

Santana's lips quit moving and her eyes focus on the tip of her nose. She pulls back, takes a long breath and lets it out slowly to gather her thoughts. This was a topic she was sure was taken care of, almost an understanding really. She scans Brittany's face, which is still towards the television that has returned to its regularly scheduled program.

"Is it haunted or something?" Santana asks in a jokingly frightened tone. She hopes if she can shed some humor into this conversation that maybe she can steer clear from another odd and semi uncomfortable experience. Brittany rolls her eyes and turns to face Santana.

"It's senior year." Brittany starts. "It's our Winter Formal." She adds, as though these two facts make it all the more clear. "I feel like," She tilts her head from side to side, like she's fixing her words in her mind to make sentences that will make sense. "Like it's a night for us to… not have sex but at least do other things." She sucks in air quickly and puffs it out into her cheeks, waiting for some kind of reaction out of her girlfriend.

"But…" Santana drawls out after a few, but long and silent seconds.

"But," Brittany adds in the same fashion and glances down at Santana's hands that sit between their bodies. "It would figure that, I just…" She stutters and stumbles over her words and thoughts alike.

"Britt," Santana sighs. "You've gotta stop worrying about this." She assures her, trying to get as close as possible by shuffling her body on the couch. "It's not even a 'this'. We've discussed it so many times and there's really no point in talking about it any longer." She reasons with a wave of her hand.

Brittany stares at her for a long while, until she finally nods and lets out a sigh. It's true that talking around in circles about how they're 'taking it slow' or whatever they are doing is not exactly going to speed anything along. Plus, after much consideration, Santana figures all of this 'celibacy' is sort of a blessing in disguise. Well, only for this trip to the Fabray's cabin of course.

After sitting there just looking at one another, they eventually turn their attention back towards the television. Santana glances out of the corner of her eye to see that Brittany has successfully been sucked in to whatever the hell it is they had on. She, on the other hand, is chewing on the inside of her bottom lip while curiously raising an eyebrow. With a fake cough that she masks as a way to clear her throat, Santana shifts in her spot on the couch so she is half facing Brittany.

"What, uh," She starts, a small smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. "What other things did you have in mind?" Brittany blushes at the soft but clearly aroused tone Santana uses during her line of questioning. Surely she had to guess that her girlfriend's mind would linger a little longer on that part of the discussion. Hers sure had.

"Use your imagination." Brittany replies in the same light, but sexy voice and winks. Santana crinkles her nose and nervously looks down to the space that is barely between their bodies.

"Oh," She leans in closer to Brittany until her lips are just ghosting her cheek and ear lobe. "I always do."

When Santana gets home that night, her mind won't stop going every which way. She grins like an idiot as she lies there in bed, staring up at the ceiling while imagining all of the things Brittany may have thought about doing with and too her. Not for a lack of trying, Santana was unable to coax her girlfriend from revealing her little day dreams and fantasies. But she's sure that in due time, Brittany will be more than willing to fill her in with the puzzle pieces of her sexual desires.

In a way, it's kind of exciting. Even though it's been confusing at times, this whole complete halt in their sexual relationship, it's also kind of refreshing. Like a new start of something that might be even more, adventurous or something.

It makes her feel a lot better knowing that, even when she's not around, Brittany is thinking of ways to make things work in this aspect of their relationship. Where, right now anyhow, things might seem as if they've hit a rough patch, she is going around the roadblocks and trying to find new ways to do old things. And Santana sure can't wait for it. All of it.