AN: I have been listening to Adele's new album on repeat, and felt a deep connection with When We Were Young, so I put my thoughts down. Not sure how long this story will be. The more people want to read it, the more I write. Definitely going to concentrate on Dream, but I was overwhelmed with inspiration, so I had to put this out there!

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or Adele. (How cool would that be!) The song this fic is based off of is from Adele's new album 25 (Go get it!)

Brittany Pierce throws her briefcase on the passenger seat of her silver 2002 Toyota Camry, and essentially has to ring out her long blonde hair. Of course the second she leaves the office, it begins to torrentially downpour. Just her luck. When she finally reaches the safe haven of her trusty vehicle, she takes a deep breath.

Just another day in paradise as a human resources representative at a small, yet some-what profitable pharmaceutical company in Dayton, Ohio. Brittany moved to Dayton after graduating from Ohio State. She intended on majoring in dance, but eventually lost her passion for the art, and ended up majoring in communications. The HR position was supposed to be temporary, but four years later she didn't see many opportunities for mobility. In fact, she didn't see many opportunities for anything.

She followed her then boyfriend, Sam, to Ohio State but the relationship, just like everything else in her life, fizzled out. Brittany and Sam remained good friends, but it took her two years of relationship to realize that is all they were good friends. Since being in Dayton, her romantic life had been sporadic and disappointing. The blonde went on a few dates here and there, and sometimes she thought she really liked the person, but there always seemed to be a reason to not further the relationship. Well, there was always the same reason.

Brittany turned her car on and readied herself for the 45 minute drive back to her apartment. Without traffic it should only be about 15 minutes, but she always seemed to time her departure from work right when everyone else did. The blonde turns the radio on and immediately her heart jumps to her throat

"We are back in studio with on the rise star Santana Lopez" the DJ's voice echoes through the car. "Santana joins us while doing a small mini tour up and down the California coast promoting her new album The Lima Diaries. Now Santana, this is your second album correct?"

"Yeah, that's right" a familiar raspy voice fills the blondes car and Brittany's breathing starts getting erratic. She hasn't heard that voice in almost 2 and half years now. "My first album wasn't my energy or my sound, I unfortunately got mixed up with a label that was more concerned with their imagine, than the image I wanted to put out as an artist. Luckily, I have some great friends in great places, and they helped me produce this new album. I wish this could be my first album, but I learned a lot from my first experience."

"Well, we sure are glad that you were able to put this out there, because wow this album is incredible. It hit stores and iTunes last week and sales are doing great! If you haven't gotten this album already, GO GET IT NOW."

The Latina gives the DJ a compulsory chuckle "My team and I are really pleased with how the album is being received. Even if I didn't sell a ton of albums, the point is my music is out there and if it reaches even one grateful listener, then I have done my job as an artist."

Brittany can't seem to gather her bearings. She just sits in her car, as the parking lot around her slowly empties. She knew Santana had moved from New York to LA, only because of Mercedes Facebook, but she had no idea that she had an album out, let alone two. Brittany had trained herself to become impervious when it came to news about the Latina. It was too painful. Even though it was Brittany's pushing that made Santana chase her dream, it was so hard to no longer be a part of that dream.

"So, The Lima Diairies, what inspired the music on this record?" Brittany clues back into the radio interview.

"Well, I grew up in a hick town in Ohio - Lima. And though the town was small, my experiences were large. High school was an absolute circus, I went from being Queen Bee and head cheerleader to being slushied in the hallways by football players. I won four national championships in cheerleading and one with my glee club. I was forced out of the closet by a commercial. I had my heart broken, put back together and then broken again. Lima holds a lot of memories for me, it was where I first found my inspiration as an artist. It made sense to me to write about my life."

Tears prick in the blonde's eyes as she hears her ex-girlfriend's words about their childhood. Their shared childhood. A collective memory of togetherness. At the works broken again, an image of Santana dressed in an all black outfit, watching you walk away from her in the auditorium floods your mind.

"This might sound bad, but the world is fortunate you had those experiences. Now time is short, but you are going to play us one of your upcoming singles off the album, right?"

"Yes, this one is called When We Were Young. Though it didn't last, I consider myself lucky to have found an epic love when I was in high school. A love that still, for lack of a better word, haunts me everyday. Though I probably will never get that love back, this song symbolizes how much that love has shaped who I am as a person, and how grateful I am for having had that kind of love."

"Without further adieu, here is Santana Lopez live in studio, with When We Were Young"

Brittany officially can't breathe. Santana wrote a song about them, a song that was going to be played on national radio. A song that might be performed in auditoriums and on stages across the country. A song about the love the two girls shared. Before Brittany has time to control her emotions, the Latina's voice rips into her,

Everyone loves the things you do

From the way you talk to the way you move

Everybody here is watching you

Cause you feel like home

You're like a dream come true

But if by chance you're here alone

Can I have moment before I go?

Cause I've been by myself all night long

Hoping you're someone I used to know

You look like a movie

You sound like a song

My god this reminds me

Of when we were young

Memories cascade into Brittany's mind, of times that Santana and she spent together. At the park, in the choir room, in bed. Whispered promises and dreams of growing old together. She remembers vividly when Santana told her that her laugh sounded just like a song. And that when Santana watched Brittany dance, she felt like she was watching an old time movie

Let me photograph you in this light

In case it is the last time

That we might be exactly like we were

Before we realized

We were sad of getting old

It made us feel restless

It was just like a movie

It was just like a song

I was so scared to face my fears

Cause nobody told me that you'd be here

And I swear you moved overseas

That's what you told me, when you left me

One of the final conversations the blonde and the Latina ever had was during Brittany's senior year at Ohio State. Santana called Brittany after a night of drinking and she had trouble controlling the emotions bubbling to her core. She told Brittany that when she stayed in Ohio and didn't follow up on moving to New York City with Santana, that if felt like Brittany moved across the globe. That she was so heart broken that the distance was exacerbated in her mind.

The tears flow freely in Brittany's car. She can hear the pain in the Latina's voice, but more importantly she can feel the truth and the memories. The times they would lay in her bed and be afraid to talk about the future because getting old scared them, and there was no telling if they would end up together. The truth behind the fact that the blonde did leave the firey brunette. Left her to fend for herself in a new city and find her own path while the blonde stayed in safe Lima.

The song still plays in the background, but Brittany barely has the capacity to continue listening to it.

It's hard to admit that

Everything just takes me back

To when you were there

To when you were there

And a part of me keeps holding on

Just in case it hasn't gone

I guess I still care

Do you still care?

Brittany gasps. Of course she still cares, she has always cared. Not a single day goes by that Brittany does not think of the "epic love" she left behind in the hallowed halls of McKinley. Of the epic love that she let walk into the abyss of New York City. The epic love that scared her too much to chase. The epic love that still thinks about her enough to write her beautiful songs about what they once shared. Santana was her epic love and Brittany isn't sure you get many second chances at keeping your epic love.

I'm so mad I'm getting old

It makes me reckless

It was just like a movie

It was just like a song

When we were young

Santana's voice fades out and Brittany reaches a shaky hand to shut off her radio. Their love was like movie, like a song. But who is to say that their story is over?