Brittany folded her arms atop the windowsill and gazed across the backyard. The sky was chlorine water blue dotted with lazily drifting clouds that helped obscure the summer sunlight. Two birds flitted from the telephone wire to the Pierces' oak tree and disappeared among the branches, although she could still hear their song even with the window closed. Brittany shut her eyes and leaned her forehead against the cool glass. Her breath left a circle of fog in which she idly doodled two intertwined hearts with the tip of her index finger. She was just adding the finishing touch - an arrow passing through both and emerging on the other side - when her bedroom door clicked open quietly.

"Hey." Santana closed the door behind her and crossed the room to wrap her arms around Brittany's shoulders.

"Hi," Brittany greeted in return. The left side of her face scrunched as Santana's lips pressed against her cheek. "How was the afternoon with your family?"

"Good," Santana answered. "I took Matyas up to McKinley to give him a personal tour. He won't say so, but I can tell he's getting nervous about this fall. We had to catch that janitor guy, Mr. Kidney, and ask if it'd be all right if he let us inside while the custodians were cleaning."

Santana released her hold on Brittany and sat on the floor with her back leaning against the wall.

"Ty won't know his schedule for sure until closer to the start date, but I figure he doesn't want to be seen with his sister basically holding his hand on the night they let incoming freshmen take a walk through the halls. Now he can strut around like he owns the place, in true Lopez fashion, and already know the layout like he's been going there for years."

Brittany eased her body onto the carpet and then turned over so she could rest the back of her head on Santana's thighs.

"Did you stop by the choir room?" she asked.

"Yeah, for nostalgia," Santana confirmed. "Ty's not a lover of the limelight; I don't think he'll be filling my spot on the risers. That little detour was more of a kick for me than for him. He did show some interest in track, though, so maybe he'll be following in my footsteps in some ways after all."

Santana pretended to shine her fingernails by rubbing them against the sleeve of her shirt. Brittany giggled and reached up for that hand, which she brought down to rest on her abdomen while she held it between both palms.

"What happened at lunch?" Brittany prompted. "You said Abuelita might be joining you. How did that go?"

"It was awesome," Santana enthused. "She was so glad I was back for a visit that she ordered the waitress to make sure our basket of breadsticks never contained less than five. 'Keep them coming,' she said. 'This is my nieta's first time back home since Christmas and I'm sure college has worked up her appetite.' Mom and Dad mostly asked about money and supplies, wanting to know what I'd need before we go back in a couple of months. I tried to tell them I'd handle it, but Mamá sneaked an envelope of cash into my purse when I wasn't watching."

Brittany lifted Santana's hand to her lips and kissed the back of the third finger.

"I'm so happy you guys had a nice day," she said earnestly.

"We really did." Santana smiled. "So, how much time do we have before Quinn's supposed to meet us here?"

Brittany sat up to consult her alarm clock.

"About half an hour."

Santana waggled her eyebrows and nuzzled Brittany's neck. Brittany leaned into the touch and caressed Santana's arm. As she felt the first few lingering kisses along the scoop neck of her blouse, Brittany struggled to voice the suggestion that would follow.

"We should go to the treehouse."

Santana withdrew, her expression puzzled, and then her lips turned upward in a playful half-smile.

"Outdoors," she remarked. "We haven't done that in a while."

Brittany gave a short, awkward-sounding laugh. "I didn't mean for that, although we should totally pick this up later right where it left off. I just want to climb up there again with you, like old times."

Santana's eyes flicked toward the bed, clearly loath to leave behind the chance for an afternoon tryst, but then she smiled and gave her girlfriend an easy-going shrug.

"To be continued." She rose to her feet and helped Brittany do the same. "Lead the way, beautiful."

They left the bedroom, descended the stairs, and passed through the house to reach the kitchen. Brittany slid aside the glass door and strode across the lawn with Santana right behind her. When they reached the base of the tree, Brittany gestured for Santana to climb first and she let her get about halfway up the trunk before she started to follow.

The inside of the treehouse was warm but not stuffy. Santana stretched her legs out and crossed them at the ankle while she looked around at the familiar writing on its walls. Brittany sat on the opposite side and took a moment to simply watch her, unable to hide an affectionate grin as she did so.

"All right, Miss Cryptic," Santana teased. "Now that we're here, you've gotta spill the beans. Why the sudden relocation?"

Brittany's lips pressed together and her eyes roamed around the enclosed space. She tried to pull off a noncommittal shrug but Santana wasn't buying it.

"Oh, c'mon, it was worth postponing sex so it must be important." Santana nudged Brittany's thigh with the toe of her shoe.

Brittany rubbed her palms against her cut-offs and then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"All right, I'll tell you but, um, first I need to get something."

As Santana watched in obvious confusion, Brittany reached out the treehouse's entrance and looped her arm upward. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as her fingers sought purchase around something stored atop the structure's roof. When she lowered her arm once more, Brittany was holding a little teal bag. Santana did not need to read the silver letters printed on the side to know its source.

Brittany sat back once more and held the bag on her lap.

"Okay, so, almost seven years ago, you and I were right here in this treehouse. I was where you are and you were sitting on the side where I am. That day, you gave me the silver bracelet I still wear and you made me a promise. You said that you would be around if I needed you and that I'd never go through any more bad times alone."

Brittany reached into the bag and withdrew something small that she concealed with both hands wrapped tightly around it.

"So, today, I want to renew those words but with interest."

Brittany brushed the bag aside with the two hands still hiding her purchase and then rose to a half-standing position, careful to avoid bumping her head against the ceiling. Santana mouthed wordlessly until she realized that Brittany was dropping down on one knee. She remained slightly slack-jawed although her eyes instantly smarted with tears.

"Britt..."

"Today, I am giving you my solemn vow that I will always be around, in the moments when you need me and on the occasions when you can handle the situation by yourself. I am swearing to you that, not only will you not have to be alone during the bad times, but you'll have me to share all of your good times, and all the little everyday minutes in between." Brittany paused to look down at her hands and then back up at Santana. "I didn't understand it all just yet but I loved you that day seven years ago and I love you a thousand times more now. It's not just that we're happier together but it's like we're the truest version of ourselves. You and I know each other completely. We see all of each other, inside and out, even the small things that maybe the other one has overlooked or hasn't realized yet about themselves. I want to spend the rest of my life exactly this way. I want us to keep growing together, supporting each other, and taking on the world."

Several tears slid down Santana's cheeks as her eyes lowered from Brittany's face to the still-invisible surprise. Brittany unfurled her fingers and held one palm up to reveal the black ring box she'd been clutching so tightly.

"Now, I know you and I talked about this before and you said how you wanted to plan something elaborate and romantic for when you proposed one day," Brittany recalled. "I totally can't wait to see what you do and I don't want to steal your thunder, but there was just so much I wanted to tell you and this seemed like a good way to give myself a chance to say it. I thought this could be like a mini milestone on the way to the big one."

Brittany popped the lid of the box open and proffered a platinum band adorned with words written in curling script.

"Santana Maria Lopez," Brittany said in a shaky but excited voice. "Will you be promised to me?"

"Yes," Santana answered immediately. "Oh God, yes, of course I will!"

She leaned around Brittany's extended arm and caught her girlfriend in a tight embrace. When she pulled away, Santana tenderly traced the sides of Brittany's face.

"I love you so much."

Brittany was about to say the same when Santana pulled her close and kissed her. They both fell backward against the boards beneath them and Brittany crossed her arms behind Santana's neck. It was only when the box tapped against her shoulder that Santana remembered to surface for air.

"Let me see my ring," she urged, already beaming.

Brittany passed the jewelry to her and Santana nestled against the other woman's side while she admired the selection. Her forefinger and thumb plucked out the circle of metal and held it up to the light. Santana turned it slowly and read the same three words inscribed thrice over into the surface.

"And I love you, I love you, I love you like never before," Brittany sang softly, calling to mind another declaration of feelings that now seemed so long ago.

Santana put the ring on her finger and stared at it while she shook her head in slight amazement.

"It's perfect."

They kissed again, even longer this time, gradually transitioning from a chaste and closed-mouth contact to easing their tongues into each other's mouths and tangling fingers in one another's hair. Brittany had just straddled Santana's hips when a voice called out to them from the yard.

"Guys? Hello? Are you two out here?"

Santana let her head hit the floor with a thunk and groaned.

"Fabray, your timing is so bad it borders on legendary!"

"Am I interrupting?" Quinn called from where she now stood at the base of the tree.

"Not anymore," Santana snarked. "Stay there. We're coming down."

Brittany and Santana returned to the ground to find Quinn atop the tire swing, swooshing back and forth as her hair was lifted by the breeze. Her body blurred past them and Santana finally caught sight of their friend's noticeably altered locks.

"Crap on a cracker!" Santana exclaimed. "You've gone natural!"

"It's had a little help," Quinn confessed. "Part of this is dye to keep the color even throughout until my hair has grown enough."

"Embracing your roots, huh?" Santana joked. "Literally."

"You could say that," Quinn agreed. "I felt like I was ready for another change. I think I've reinvented myself enough times to tide me over for a while so I took a different approach. It's the hair length from high school and the hair color from middle school, a combination that commemorates both stages that brought me to where I am."

Santana whistled.

"Damn, you give a lot more thought to your makeovers these days. I seem to recall a Quinn Fabray who hacked her hair off just because I suggested it and dyed it pink so she could play badass for a summer."

Quinn laughed and hopped off the tire swing.

"I haven't forgotten," she acknowledged. "Not that you'd let me."

She hugged Brittany and Santana in turn. Then Quinn's eyes went to Santana's left hand.

"So? Let me see it."

Santana hid her palm behind her back.

"See what?"

"Don't even try to look innocent. You wouldn't know how," Quinn teased. "Besides, I could hear in Brittany's voice when she called me this morning that something was going to happen."

Quinn held her hand out expectantly. Santana rolled her eyes in poorly feigned annoyance and put her own hand palm-to-palm with her friend's. The ring glittered as the sun shone down upon it and Santana had to suck on the insides of her cheeks not to start grinning goofily.

"That's gorgeous," Quinn praised. "It's exactly the right promise ring for you two."

Brittany's face was tinged pink with pleasure that their best friend had given her approval. Santana caught sight of the way her girlfriend was trying very hard not to bounce up and down with excitement and it finally brought out the smile that she'd been working to hide.

"She totally got me," Santana admitted. "I didn't even have a hint until I saw the bag."

Brittany clapped her hands and beamed.

"Just you wait," Santana chuckled. "Once we're out of college, it's my turn."

"She's already recruited me to be hiding somewhere taking pictures," Quinn said.

Brittany's smile softened as her eyes moved from Quinn to Santana.

"I look forward to it."

Santana held Brittany's gaze for a moment but then she cleared her throat.

"Well, enough about the epic top secret proposal," she declared with a wave of her hand. "One of us has almost gotten away with not getting romantically razzed at all and don't think you can skirt around it indefinitely, Quinn."

"Oh, joy, here it comes." Quinn walked across the grass to perch on the large hammock strung between the oak tree and the shed. She crossed her legs and folded her hands atop her thigh. "Fire when ready."

Santana was openly grinning by now and she fished into her back pocket for a small notebook, which she opened and leafed through as she read aloud.

"Has living in a Hobbit-hole caused you to walk with a permanent hunch in your shoulders? Do you worry that Bert's affinity for pigeons will lead to one or both of you eventually suffering from a respiratory disease? Are you concerned that, if your dwarf does achieve success and fame, her newly-obtained wealth may cause her to exhibit signs of dragon sickness? And, lastly, does Super Grover take the cape off during sex or have you learned to work around it?"

Santana snapped the notebook closed and returned it to the pocket of her denim shorts.

"You're finished now?" Quinn confirmed.

"That's all for the present moment."

"All right, then the serious update is that Rachel is doing great. She wrapped up her first year at NYADA almost two weeks ago and it's still her favorite topic for conversation. Rachel's been telling anyone who can't run fast enough all about her lessons, the professors, and how much she's learning. She's just so happy to have finally made it there. Her dads are so proud that they can't get enough of the stories, even though they already heard at least half of them at Christmastime." Quinn smiled softly to herself. "I never get sick of hearing it all either because I'm proud of her, too."

Santana pretended to retch but Brittany gave Quinn a supportive smile.

Then, from a short distance away, they all heard bells.

"What was that?" Santana scanned the yard for the origin of the sound.

"Oh, it's the wind chimes," Brittany concluded. "My dad finally got them fixed."

"I thought that one piece was missing," Santana said.

"It was but the freakiest thing happened," Brittany explained. "My dad was mowing the lawn the morning before we came home from Chicago. Mom was outside with him but the mower was so loud that neither of them heard anything shatter. Then Katy came out and told them the window of my mom's sewing room was broken. So Mom goes inside and upstairs to check it out, and that chime left a hole in one of the panes. The lawnmower sent it flying. We just got super lucky that was all it hit."

"That's scary," Quinn remarked sympathetically.

"Totally," Brittany agreed with a nod. "So Dad refastened all four on extra tightly so they won't ever fall again or get lost. Mom changed where we keep them now, so that's why we can hear them from here. She's got them hanging from the lattice arch because that side of the house gets less wind so they'll be shielded but can still make music."

"Well, I'm glad the chimes are catching air because we're sure as hell not. It is hot as balls out here," Santana complained. "It looks like the hammock is in the shade. Here, budge over, Quinn. Make room for me and Britt."

"Can this thing even hold three?" Quinn asked dubiously.

"Oh yeah," Brittany confidently assured. "Mom, Dad, Katy, and I get on here all the time."

"Okay, I mean it is your ha-" Quinn started to say.

Her words were cut off when she had to quickly clutch the cloth beneath her. Santana had already started climbing onto the hammock and it was swaying rather violently. Both girls shrieked and clamped the nearest edge between their fingers as they struggled to regain balance.

"If my skirt gets a rip in it before we even go out for dinner, I am blaming you," Quinn declared from beneath Santana's leg which had ended up resting on her head in the frantic scramble to keep themselves from falling to the ground.

"You mean that's what you're wearing?" Santana mocked.

"Bitch." Quinn twisted her arm around to slap her friend's backside.

Brittany tried to hold the hammock steady as the two began to scuffle. She was laughing so hard that she could barely choke out, "Stop the violence!"

"Get on here, babe!" Santana called over their friend's snarls. "We'll be good if you're with us."

"Yeah, go ahead, Brittany," Quinn seconded. "It couldn't get any more hazardous than it already is. Be our referee."

"That would be nothing new," Brittany chuckled.

She waited while Santana and Quinn disentangled themselves and then clambered up between them. The hammock swayed again with the addition of a third body. Quinn held the cloth with her left hand and threw her right arm across Brittany's middle. Santana held an edge with her right hand and threw her left arm across her girlfriend's chest. Brittany looked down at Santana's fingers and lifted her eyebrows.

"Sorry," Santana apologized with a snort. "Just... protecting your assets."

"Hi, friends, I'm still here," Quinn piped up from Brittany's other side.

"Man, it is two for two with you today," Santana groused and removed her palm from Brittany's breast.

"At least we're all settled," Brittany offered optimistically.

Then Quinn's phone rang. All three groaned. Quinn fished into her skirt pocket and pulled out her cell.

"Hello? Yeah, we're still on for tonight. The three of us will meet you there." Quinn turned her head away from her friends but it did not hide the redness in her cheeks and neck.

"Hi, Rachel!" Santana greeted louder than was necessary.

Quinn made a shooing gesture with her hand. Santana stuck out her tongue and splayed her fingers, prepared to make a gesture of her own, but Brittany intervened. Santana pouted but took these few minutes they were supposed to be quiet and checked her own phone.

"Sam and Puck confirmed for Assassin's Creed day tomorrow," she whispered.

"Good," Brittany whispered back to her. "You can tell me how much ass you kicked when I get back from seeing a movie with Mike and Tina. Then we'll drive over to catch up with Mercedes about that Troubletones gig at the end of this month."

Santana nodded. She sat up slightly and tried to catch Quinn's eye.

"Are you seriously still whispering sappy shit to each other?" she complained. "You'll see her in like two hours, Gonzo! Chill. If you guys don't wrap this up, I'm making out with Britt again to pass the time."

"I've gotta go," Quinn said in an undertone. "I'll see you at five. Bye. I love you, too."

She returned the phone to her pocket.

"Wow, you really cut it close," Santana drawled. "A few more seconds and my shorts were getting thrown over to the picnic table."

"Don't pull that crap at the restaurant tonight, okay?" Quinn requested with a roll of her eyes. "I just want a nice double date with the woman I love and my two best friends. Think you can contain yourself?"

"All right," Santana consented with heavy sigh. "But you'll owe me."

"Put it on my tab," Quinn replied sarcastically.

Brittany interrupted their playful banter by holding Quinn's hand on one side and Santana's on the other.

"You know what I was just thinking?" she asked them both softly.

They heard the change in her voice and turned onto their sides to look at her more directly.

"What is it, Britt-Britt?" Santana prompted.

"How cool is it that this dinner tonight is something we can be casual about now?" Brittany asked them. "Think about it. When we met each other, Santana and I had only slept together once and we were feeling really weird about the whole thing. Quinn couldn't command a hallway yet and was trying to get Finn's attention. We were all really scared and confused and it felt like we'd always be that way. Now it's like, 'Oh, we're just going to have a girls only double date with two bisexuals, a pansexual, and a lesbian in the middle of Lima, Ohio.' Santana's going to be wearing a ring I just gave her. Rachel's gonna have that locket on that Quinn gave her for her eighteenth birthday. That's kinda huge."

Brittany shrugged a little, suddenly self-conscious.

"I don't know; it was a little bit surreal just now. Things are so different from the way they used to be."

Santana wrapped an arm around her girlfriend. Quinn wrapped her arm around Brittany too, with her skin touching Santana's.

"But it's different in the best way imaginable," Santana finished the thought. "This town tried to kick our asses but we're the ones who came out on top."

"We proved that what Santana is always saying is true," Quinn reflected.

"'You can't break up the Unholy Trinity,'" Brittany quoted.

Santana kissed Brittany's cheek. Quinn rested her head on her friend's shoulder.

"I've gotta be honest...," Santana prefaced.

"Aren't you always? Brutally so?" Quinn interrupted.

"Hey, pipe down, I'm trying to be genuine here," Santana commanded. "I wouldn't be who I am right now without both of you. Not just because Brittany is the love of my life and not just because Quinn and I make each other want to be better. You both shaped the kind of adult I'm becoming and I know you're going to keep doing that as I get older. It feels good that at least that much is certain while the rest of our futures are up in the air."

"The fact that I even have a future is at least partly thanks to you two," Quinn added. "You and Frannie. Joining the Cheerios was supposed to secure my popularity and help me become somebody else. Instead it helped me meet the two people who loved me even when the rest of the school didn't and they got me to love who I already was."

Their eyes roved over the canopy of leaves above while they avoided meeting one another's gazes and tried in vain not to let the tears seep out of the corners of their eyelids.

"Damn it, Britt," Santana mumbled. "You made things all sentimental and now I'll have to redo my mascara before we leave."

"Save some for me," Quinn requested shakily while she rubbed at her eyelids with the heel of her free hand.

"Sorry, guys," Brittany apologized and gently touched their shoulders with the backs of her hands. "I guess I just wanted to say that, even though I still don't know why we had to go through some of the things we did, and I still don't know why some people treated us the way they did, now that we're on the other side of it together it doesn't feel so bad. If I had to go through all of that, I'm glad it was with you."

Quinn nudged her head affectionately against her friend's neck. "Same here, Brittany."

"Me too, baby," Santana seconded.

The girls lapsed into silence and their eyes briefly fluttered closed as a cool summer breeze finally reached the place where they lay.

"How much time until dinner?" Santana asked.

Brittany consulted the watch on her wrist.

"About an hour and a half."

"Group power nap?" Quinn suggested.

The other two nodded in unison. Brittany set the alarm on her phone and then wrapped her arms around Quinn and Santana. They all shut their eyes and, one by one, fell into contented and restful silence. The wind gently rocked their hammock to and fro as their limbs grew heavy and their breathing slowed. Lord Tubbington stepped out of the garden and wandered over to sleep on the grass beneath them. Lulled by the comfort of their location and their company, the three girls slept. The four chimes under the lattice arch touched together to make their music, finally able to play a beautiful tune all their own now that they had been reunited.