A/N- I have become so inconsistent with this fic lol. I'm hoping to finish it as soon as possible. Not sure how many chapters I have left. By the way, this is a SHORT chapter. Only because we are approaching Christmas in my story and also, I've decided to add a few other things in my later chapters. Anyways, do keep them reviews coming and I hope you like this chapter! Xx

Chapter 17

"You need help, seriously, go see a therapist or something." Finn chided, taking a seat next to Santana, who hadn't stopped talking about Brittany from the moment they walked back into the apartment.

Santana raised her head a little and looked at her roommate with a scowl. "What are you talking about?" She exclaimed. "I mean, you were the one who dragged me to that stupid club tonight, if anything, this is your fault."

"Yeah well, forgive me for wanting to take your mind off a certain student." Finn mumbled, leaning his head back and sighing emphatically. "I just don't understand why you let her..."

Santana stopped him from speaking any further. "I was upset okay…" She scoffed and turned her head so she wasn't facing Finn. "The last person I wanted to see was her tonight and I just…" She paused, taking a deep breath. "I needed her so badly Finn and she…she left me hanging. I never thought she could hurt me this much."

Finn leaned forward and hugged Santana from behind. Even though she had her back towards him, he could almost feel her tears and the conflict she was going through. Teacher-Student relationship was never going to be easy, but he didn't think it would be this challenging.

"You wanna know what I think?" He asked after a few minutes of complete silence. Santana whimpered a small 'yes', wiping the tears away from her face. She rotated her body, so she could look Finn in the eye.

"Forget her. Tell her tomorrow that what she did with you tonight was absolutely wrong and that you are not some sort of game to her." Santana frowned at her friend's words. That wasn't quite exactly what she wanted to hear. "I want you to grow a pair and maybe think about dating someone of your own age."

Santana deepened her frown, which was now turning into a scowl. "Cuz forgetting her is something that I haven't tried already, right Finn?" She sat up from the couch, pacing her steps towards the kitchen. "I know she loves me okay, she just doesn't know what to do about her mum."

"And how long is the 'mum excuse' going to last Santana?" Finn stated with a stern voice, which took Santana aback slightly. "One minute she's hurting you, the next you're saying that she loves you. It isn't healthy, none of this is."

"You don't know anyth-"

"I don't care Santana. I'm sick of hearing the same things all the time. Instead of moping around, why don't you fix this mess of yours?"

Santana slammed the glass she was drinking from onto the counter and really let her emotions fly out. "How can I when every time I get within an inch of her, I just want to kiss her senseless and have her holding me, like the way I know she can?"

Finn exhaled and looked disapprovingly at his best friend. "You're weak; the Santana Lopez from 10 years ago wouldn't have been such a coward, especially when it came to love."

Santana moved dangerously towards Finn and invaded his personal space. "You fucking take that back, I ain't no coward."

"Either you find a way to make this work, or you finish things with her, for good." Finn ignored the way Santana glared at him and headed in the direction of his bedroom. Maybe he was a tad harsh with her, but quite frankly, he didn't care. Couldn't Santana see that she was letting Brittany have the upper-hand? He needed her to know that not everything could be done on Brittany's terms. Sometimes a little truth was needed, and that's exactly what he hoped he had accomplished tonight.

…X…

"I have the worst hangover ever." Brittany complained as she sat with her friends in Miss Lopez's classroom. The blonde knew that this wasn't her class anymore but it was only 8.50am so surely there was no harm in chilling for a bit.

"How did we even get home last night, I don't remember anything." Rachel had her head down on her desk. Quinn was beside her, lovingly stroking her girlfriend's back. She could only smile as Rachel mumbled on and on about how she was never going to 'party' again.

"Only the most perfect designated driver made sure that you all got home last night." Tina claimed happily. If it wasn't for her, god only knows what would've happened. Mercedes waved her comment away and looked at Brittany.

"Girl, what are you even doing here? You don't belong here anymore." The African diva joked, to which the others all giggled.

"Well as long as I get back before Sue sees me, I should be okay. Seriously, she tells my mum everything. Like, this morning, when my mum dropped me off, Sue…"

Brittany trailed off, her line of sight falling on to Santana, who had just walked in. She swallowed nervously and noticed how all eyes were now on her. Rachel and even more so Quinn looked at Brittany and sympathised with their friend. Brittany hadn't told them about what happened last night but the girlfriends had some sort of inkling.

Santana dropped her bag onto her desk chair and swivelled around to face her class of students. "Good morning girls, I…" Her eyes connected with blue ones and suddenly all words were lost. They stared at each other, not giving a damn about how it looked in a room full of people. The tension was increasing and Santana found that she was the first to snap. "I'd like you to leave; this isn't your class anymore."

Brittany not only heard the harshness in her voice, but she felt it. She felt her heart shredding away at how cold and bitter Santana had just spoken to her. Fair enough, after her actions last night and leaving her teacher hanging in the car, she supposed that she deserved it. But damn, it fucking hurt. Now she was starting to realise how Santana must've been feeling over the last few weeks.

Brittany didn't move though. She stayed rooted, almost as if someone had glued her to the seat. She could sense the whispers coming from behind her were from girls who just loved a bit of gossip. Heart beating rapidly, pulse rate dangerously hovering above the normal rate, Brittany was sure she was going to faint.

"Brittany. You need to leave, it's not a question. I don't want to have to get Sue over here." Santana commented, her voice wavering towards the end. She wouldn't ever do that to Brittany, she just wanted to threaten her, so that she'd leave.

Rachel motioned with her head discreetly for Brittany to just leave, but the blonde wasn't having any of it. Tina, who was sat beside her, nudged her but to no avail. Santana had a feeling Brittany would make things difficult for her, since when did she ever do things the easy way?

"Can we have a word outside, now?" Santana's heels clapped away, exiting the room. Brittany nervously picked her bag up and followed her teacher out. The hallways were empty, not another student in sight. Thank god for that, Santana thought.

"Are you going to tell me why you're acting like a child this morning?" The teacher questioned sternly, arms crossed defiantly. Brittany grimaced at Santana's choice of words and fiddled with the strap of her bag.

"I…I'm sorry." She whispered, not able to look up. Santana counted to three in her mind, there was no way she was going to forgive her so easily. Finn was right, she needed to toughen up. Enough was enough.

"Sorry for what Brittany?" Santana scolded. "Sorry for your childish antics or sorry that you used me last night?" Brittany looked up now, nodding her head sideways. "Used you?" She asked, baffled.

"Yes, you used me! It was your birthday and since you couldn't cop it off with some other chick, you thought you'd come running back to me." Santana tried to keep her voice low, but anger was burning within her. She had to release everything that was swamping her mind.

Brittany felt her cheeks washed over by the tears. How could Santana ever accuse her of such a thing? And now, it was her turn to release some of that pent up anger. "Oh and you are so innocent, right? How about last week when I saw you with that student in your classroom after lesson had already finished?"

Santana chuckled. "Ah yes, Jessie. Nice girl. She isn't so bad." She knew that was a lie, she hadn't gone anywhere near that particular student. But she wanted to rile Brittany up and hurt her just the way she had been hurting. "I honestly don't see why you care since you only wanted me because your friends got a piece of me."

Brittany physically trembled. With her lips parted and her eyes brimming with countless tears, she croaked, "Despite what you think, I never used you last night. This thing between us, it's just…"

"It's worthless, that's what it is. Things were fine before your mum and Sue found out. I don't know about you, but since then, everything has just gone downhill." Santana finished for her, staring glumly and feeling herself torn at Brittany's tears.

"Right…" Brittany sniffed, wiping the last of her drops away. "It's worthless, if that's what you think." She gripped her bag tight around her shoulder and as she spoke one last time, she couldn't bring herself to look at her ex-lover. "I want you to know that I…"

Brittany was half a second away from saying 'I Love You' but decided against saying it. Santana noticed the changed of expression, and something tugged inside of her. She needed to know what Brittany was going to say originally.

"I'd like my bracelet back, please give it to Rachel or Quinn whenever you can." Santana was now the one to feel the soaring tears but she wasn't about to let them be visible, she didn't want Brittany so see how broken she had made her. So with all the energy she could muster up, she nodded and swiftly turned to make her way back into the classroom.

Before walking away and heading off to her class, Brittany stared at Santana from outside the room window and whispered, "I love you."