A/N: So, here is the companion piece I wrote to my story Twenty Minutes. If you want to read it, cool, I think you'll enjoy it. If you don't, that's fine, this one can stand on its own. It is slightly AU-ish, because I really like Samcedes so I tend to throw Sam back in (he's coming back anyway, so it works :]), but I like to think that this could maybe happen when Santana finally comes out. I own nothing. I only hope that you enjoy my story
At 10:05 on a Monday morning, Azimio calls Santana a mean, hurtful name that makes Brittany want to cry.
At 10:06 on a Monday morning, Brittany is startled when Sanny's fist and Azimio's nose produce a crunching sound.
At 10:07 on a Monday morning, Brittany drops her books and attacks another football player who has the nerve to threaten her girlfriend.
At 10:15 on a Monday morning, Brittany feels herself being pulled off of the bully by Mr. Schue, but doesn't stop struggling until Coach Sylvester lays a hand on her arm.
At 10:21 on a Monday morning, Brittany finds herself nursing a swollen lip as she and the rest of the glee members shoot threatening looks at the jocks on the other side of the room.
At 10:23 on a Monday morning, Brittany wraps an arm around Santana when Principal Figgins comes in looking scary and angry.
At 10:25 on a Monday morning, Brittany feels her heart crack a little bit, because the girl she loves is weeping.
("I just want my story to have a happy ending," Santana told Brittany one day when they were discussing fairy tales. Ever since, Brittany has tried so hard to make Santana have a happy story. Brittany's starting to think now, though, that maybe she hasn't tried hard enough)
Santana finally did it. She finally, finally came out to her family! Brittany is so proud of her girlfriend. But, she can't understand why she's so sad. Brittany's parents were glad that she told them when she came out as bisexual, and Kurt's dad is so loving and accepting of Kurt. Didn't San's parents act the same?
("Two weeks ago." Brittany feels Santana say this more than she actually hears her say it. It could be because one of her ears is still ringing from the punch delivered to her head, or it could be because the Latina is pressing her face against Brittany's arm to try and stop her tears. Either way, feeling Santana's answer to a soft-spoken Quinn's question rather than hearing it doesn't lessen the pain.)
Brittany's head is really starting to hurt. But that doesn't really matter right now. Because Kurt is bleeding from a cut on his arm (did one of the football players carry a knife like Puck?), and Mercedes has a bloody nose, and Tina's ankle looks so, so swollen, and Quinn's got matching black eyes, and even Rachel has a bruise blooming on her cheekbone. So, yeah, maybe Brittany's in pain right now, but she's also really, really proud that all of her girls were trying to protect Santana as fiercely as she was.
("Go rot in hell," Finn hisses at Azimio's band of bullies, and Brittany tries to throw a grateful look his way, except Santana is clinging harder so it's all Brittany can do to pull the other girl onto her lap so that she can rock her back and forth to try and make her feel better, just like in the movies.)
Brittany just wants Santana to stop crying. It's not scary, it's terrifying, but in a different way than the boys are right now. Because, yeah, Puck's got bloody knuckles and a scrape on his cheek, and Finn's hand might be broken, and Blaine's got a broken nose, and Mike's lip is twice its normal size, and Sam's left eye is swollen shut, but they all still look super badassprotectiveterrifying. But, Santana doesn't look scary-terrifying. She looks sad-terrifying, because Brittany doesn't know how to fix damage done by Sanny's parents.
("You're still you, no matter what your parents say," Mercedes says (because as much as she claims to be able to, Mercedes really can't whisper) to Santana when Brittany nudges her head up. Tina smoothes the hair away from Santana's face, and something inside of Brittany aches, because really, really wishes she could do that, but she can't because her hands are still trying to press themselves through Santana's back so that she can hold her heart.)
Brittany wishes that she didn't have to be super strong for Santana right now, because she really just wants to go cry. Because, seriously, what kind of people are Santana's parents if they hate their daughter for being a lesbian? Brittany thought that adults were supposed to be rational and fair and not like the high school kids that used to give Kurt and Blaine hell; she never knew that parents could yell at you to be different, or to be better, or to be human. It seems that Blaine knew, though, because he's suddenly holding hands with Santana, and Brittany may not be the brightest crayon in the shed, but she knows enough to see that he understands the pain the Cheerio captain is going through. Brittany wishes she could just run and throw up to get rid of this queasy, mean feeling in her stomach, because it's not just Santana's parents; apparently, it's Blaine's, too.
("You boys have all earned a two week suspension for instigating a fight against your fellow students while on school property. The faculty will be pressing no charges for any property that may have been damaged, but I cannot speak for the other students' parents," Principal Figgins voice sounds mean, like Coach Sylvester's, but he's not directing it at the side of the room they're sitting in, so Brittany doesn't really care. She sees the looks of shock and outrage on the football players' faces, though, and she wants to giggle at how absurd they look, and at the fact that finally they're being punished.)
Santana's finally stopped shuddering and shaking, and after Brittany has wiped the last of the mascara and tears off of her girlfriend's face, she breathes a sigh of relief. Because, now, Sanny seems like she'll be ok. And then Kurt is coming over and having one of his silent dolphin conversations with Santana, and suddenly Brittany can't breathe, like when Azimio punched her in the stomach, because Santana is smiling, really smiling, and Brittany thinks that it's the most beautiful, magical thing she's seen in a really, really long time.
("We are your family, Santana. We always will be," Kurt says, and then everyone else is saying it, too, around the blood and the bruises, and to Brittany, that makes it all the more true and real. So when it's her turn to whisper the same thing in her girlfriend's ear, she can't help but add, "We'll make our own happy ending, Santana." Judging by the kiss she gets, soft and magical and full of promises, Santana thinks that they will, too.)