Santana Lopez was stunned into silence as soon as her eyes left the piece of paper she held in her hands. In less than thirty minutes the bell would ring for the last time for the seniors of McKinley High, and Santana had no idea what to do about the letter she had just read. Shocked, surprised and confused, Santana needed to sit down and make sense of this. Who is Brittany S. Pierce? She tried to remember as she sat on the bench at the bottom of the podium she would walk down moments later, but when no recognition of the person with that name came by her, she realized that her yearbook was the only hope of finding this Brittany S. Pierce person.

As she turned the pages, she started to drift from her main purpose as she saw memories of the year that went by, recalling winning nationals with the Cheerios, and all the parties she had attended, when she finally came by a picture of Brittany S. Pierce. Those bright blue eyes and shiny blonde hair made Santana do a double take, not understanding how she possibly could have missed that beautiful girl for four whole years. Santana continued reading, getting to Brittany's facts. Her favorite subject was music and English, which brought a smile to Santana's face having already known those two would likely be her favourite subjects from the letter. Underneath Brittany's picture, along with her favourite subject, was her goal in life that read simply enough: to be noticed.

Slumping back into the seat, Santana sighed in frustration as she looked at the time on her watch one last time. It was time to prepare for the last speech she would ever make at McKinley; the seniors of 2012 graduation speech. Santana didn't have time to think about some lovesick girl clearly obsessed with her, but even just thinking that gave her a sick feeling to her stomach. She had received numerous love letters throughout the years, not only the once she just realized must have been from Brittany, but this one was the first to make her feel tingly, and make her stomach clench.

Going over her speech one last time, Santana was finally happy with the outcome of it. It looked heartfelt enough from where she was standing, filled with platitudes of course. That's what she needed to display for the graduates of McKinley - a heartfelt goodbye and thanks for nothing speech. As long as she made it believable enough, nobody cared anyway. But as she found herself in deep thought about the next half hour, Santana needed to read Brittany's letter one more time. There was something about her words that just drew Santana in.

Without realising it, Mr Figgins had called Santana up to the stage to make her speech. For the past 10 minutes everyone had gathered into the auditorium without Santana even noticing. She was too captivated by the letter before her, and with a loud clear of the principals throat she finally came back to earth - realising she must be blushing like a fool right about now.

Standing up on that podium, she got out her notes along with Brittany's letter and placed them on the stand in front of her. Looking down at her notes and quickly glancing at the letter beneath her notes, Santana raised her eyes to meet her fellow peers sitting on the seats in the auditorium, waiting for her to finally say something. But as she stood there silent, the only thing on Santana's mind was where was Brittany?As she desperately tried searching for the blonde girl the students all wondered what was going on, shifting in their seats trying to see what she was searching for.

Sitting towards the back, sloppily in her seat and next to her best friend, Brittany was unfazed by the silence, putting it down to her lack of thinking properly anyway. There was already too much on Brittany's mind for her to care what was going on before her. Finally Tina nudged Brittany back out of her daze.

"Your girlfriend seems to be at a loss for words."

Shaking off her best friends not so subtle ways, Brittany simply shrugged at Tina and looked back around at the assembly, everyone waiting in anticipation for what Santana was about to say - if anything at all. It seemed Brittany wasn't the only person waiting. Everyone was waiting.

Santana looked towards the back of the hall and saw Brittany's face. Her face wasn't like everyone else's, all looking at Santana. Instead, Brittany was looking around the room seemingly lost in her own thoughts. But for some reason it filled Santana with whatever it was she needed to proceed and she finally began her speech. A speech she had not spent a day and a half writing and re-writing, but a speech that came from her heart. The words seemed to naturally flow out, recalling the way Brittany had written about her own words, naturally flowing every time she thought of her.

She paused, smiling at the thought, then continued with her speech.

As soon as she was finished, she was given a standing ovation with some students and teachers shedding a few tears. The way her words seemed to have touched everyone and made them feel something, she realised she had Brittany to thank for that. For if it wasn't for Brittany, Santana probably would have never understood the meaning that something so simple as words can be powerful enough to move you.

Finally, senior year was over and as everyone gathered around and embraced each other, wishing each other success in their lives, there was only one thing left to do. She didn't care about the meaningless words that her fellow peers were pouring out. She only cared about one thing and right now Santana needed to thank Brittany for her words. It seemed odd in a way that Santana was ignoring everyone else for some girl she never really knew or ever got to know, but that letter struck something deep within her. She had walked through high school feeling superior to everyone else, being the most popular girl in school but up until the moment she read Brittany's letter she had also felt completely and utterly alone. The meaningless hook ups, the fake friendships, was it really worth it in the end?

Finding herself for the second time that day searching the room with her eyes for Brittany, Santana finally gave up. Why would Brittany stick around, anyway? None of these people knew her, because they were all like Santana; too in love with themselves to give a damn about anything or anyone else. Running out of the auditorium, Santana searched the grounds for Brittany. There was nothing, there was no one. Simple enough, Brittany was gone forever.

Clearing out her locker for the last time, Santana was finally done. As she walked out of McKinley High, she turned around one last time and remembered all the good times she had there. She sighed and thought about her full ride scholarship to Harvard and pre-med. Finally she was going to get to live her dream, far away from the Lima losers. Walking to her overpriced Mustang and placing her things inside her car, Santana felt a strange tingling sensation at the back of her neck. She slowly turned around and was met with Brittany just standing there. She looked helpless, as if she was lost. Perhaps she was. Yet, Santana also just stood there.

In a bold move, Brittany knew she couldn't just give Santana the letter to her heart and not know if she gave herself the chance to read it or threw it away - like she threw the rest away. So instead, she decided that giving Santana the letter wasn't enough, Brittany needed to know. But as she stood in front of Santana, capturing the girls beauty and feeling those familiar feelings at every second of this encounter, no words seemed to want to come out.

Instead, Santana walked closer to Brittany in her usual lingering way. Not once did she break eye contact with Brittany, instead she captured the girls eyes and remained locked with them. It was all new territory for Santana, having only noticed the other girl for the first time hours before. As their eyes locked she was completely captivated by the intensity in those bright blue eyes. All she wanted to do was say a simple thank you to Brittany, for her words, but a simple thank you seemed as if it was nothing compared to what was truly deserved.

Brittany felt her heart beat increasingly fast, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as Santana inched forward - step by step. 'What is the small lanky brunette doing? Did she read the letter and is now about to slap me? Or is she coming over here to ask who I am?' All Brittany could do was wait for the outcome while her mind riddled with possibilities of various outcomes. She had craved the day that Santana would speak directly to her, and it seemed as if today was going to be that day.

Unaware of what she was about to do, Santana inhaled the scent of the girl that was now directly in front of her, close in proximity. Exhaling the scent of strawberries and vanilla, Santana brought her finger up to Brittany's lips, tracing the length of the girls lips. Feeling how soft they were to touch, Santana gave a shaky breath while Brittany closed her eyes, trying to contain the feelings vibrating through her body. Boldly, Santana leaned in and placed her own lips against Brittany's - sharing a passionate moment with another girl. Both girls felt different emotions, but shared one similar feeling - how good it felt.

Santana broke away from the tender kiss and smiled at Brittany, leaning in to her ear. She could see the girl shaking and wanted to comfort her so desperately. Instead, Santana whispered

"I noticed you."

The End

Authors note: Hey guys, thank you so much for the amazing responses - I really didn't think it would be that popular! Thinking about doing some kind of sequel but I'm not sure. Maybe! :)