Hello everyone ! Here's my very first fanfic, which will be a multi-chapters fiction. I hope you like it ! I already have parts of the 2nd chapter written, please tell me if I should continue this.
I borrowed the title from one of Taylor Swift's new album RED, "Come Back… Be Here".
Just a few indications : I am french myself, so I will probably make a lot of mistakes in writing in english. Please accept my apologies, I try my best anyway. Besides, I don't have a beta, so be nice to me ! (If anyone is interested, let me know!)
Also Brittany's thoughts are underlined to make things clearer. Obviously, she's thinking in french, but I figured that it wouldn't be a good idea to write them in french as well. Just trying to spare you guys ;)
I'm opened to any suggestions, looking forward to them even !
Now enjoy the very first chapter of this fiction :)
I don't own the characters or anything.
She heard the woman's voice call out the last passengers for her flight. It was her turn to embark the plane, taking her back to a place she wasn't sure she'd ever see again. She wasn't exactly going to the same town, but New York wasn't too far from Lima, compared to her hometown in France. And besides, it was her first time back in the US after spending a year there as an exchange student, 5 years ago.
She found herself in a very similar position as she was in just a few years back. She remembered everything all too well : how anxious and impatient she was, wondering what would come out of the year to come. She knew that it would be everything to her. But she didn't expect that year to change her all life.
She made her way towards the stewardess, and then finally got on the plane. She was going to back, really going back. It was almost unexpected for her, although no-one in her close circle of relatives and friends had been really surprised when she shared the news. She was flying back but wasn't the same person that she was when she first went. Back then, she was 17 years old, had only graduated from high school in France, and didn't know anything from life. She had been so eager to discover everything in Lima, Ohio, to experience the american way of life.
But she hadn't expected the months she spent there to have such a huge impact on her life. To this day, she knew that it had changed her for the better. It had taught her everything she knew about generosity, kindness, friendship, love, and also pain and sacrifices.
'No pain no gain right?' she thought.
She buckled her seat beat, and patiently looked outside the window, letting her mind drift off to one of her first memory of that time, as the plane started moving.
Seating on the couch of the living room, Brittany tried to concentrate on what was going on, but had a hard time understanding anything at all. After a while, she got tired of it, and decided to let herself zone out. Back in France, she had always been very good in english. But here, it was a whole different story. She had to be fully focused if she wanted to understand anything at all.
She was going to spend a year in Lima. The thought alone was overwhelming. She had been in town for a few days, and was only getting used to living with 'strangers'. Her host family was very nice to her, always very patient when trying to speak to her. It had not been long since she first met them, but she had had an instant feeling that they were gonna get along well.
She kinda missed France already, but was also super excited about what was to come. She had been waiting for this for a long time. Ever since going on a school trip to London, back when she was not even 14 years old, she knew that if she was ever given the opportunity, she would spend some time abroad and learn english.
So when her dad talked to her about the exchange student program he knew about a few month ago, while she was still in her senior year of high school, she didn't hesitate long.
Now here she was, in Lima, living the dream. She had taken a plane, all alone, from Paris, said goodbye to all of her family, to her boyfriend, to her friends, to her cat, to her life. Well, to the life she had been living until this point. But she knew that everything would still be there a year from then. Or at least she hoped so.
"Brittany ?" she heard her host father's voice. Brad was a tall and cowboy looking man, but had kindness in his eyes.
It was really weird how everybody said her name here. She knew it was an american name, but wasn't used to the american pronunciation yet.
"Yes ! Sorry" Brittany felt bad for being caught dreaming while Brad was trying to talk to her.
"Don't worry Dear. I was just saying that Rachel will be home soon !" It was so pleasant for Brittany to see how he was talking the time to speak slowly, always making sure that she understood most of it. She wasn't an expert yet, but it wasn't hard to notice that he was usually not talking this way. She was also pretty sure that he didn't normally articulate every word like that.
'It would be weird' The thought almost made her giggle.
"Oh oui ! Super !" Brad laughed at the very frenchy answer. Brittany knew that the word 'super' was both used in french and in english, so she shamelessly took advantage.
"She is very excited to meet you. She was bummed not the be at the airport with us and…" Brad interrupted is sentence all of a sudden, before starting again. "Oh, I hear a car, that must be her and Karen, oh my God this is going to be so much fun, you too are gonna get along so well I can already tell!"
'Ok, that was way too many words at once'. Brittany thought. She guessed that Brad was getting excited to see his daughter.
From what she understood, Rachel, who was Brad and Karen's daughter, and was today, well right now, coming home after summer camp. When Brittany found out that they would go to the same high school, she felt relieved. At least she would know somebody there, and she would show her around. Maybe she would even introduce her to her friends, making everything much simpler.
She heard the front door open, and Brad flew out of the living room in the direction of the noises.
It was so strange to be in this family's house, watching them interact. It reminded her of bad reality tv in some weird way. She didn't want to intrude, but she also didn't want to appear rude and anything. In addition, she absolutely didn't want any of them to think that she didn't care. So she stood up and followed him nervously.
As she made her way through the house, she saw Karen standing in the lobby, smiling at her husband and daughter hugging. The woman saw Brittany coming their way and hugged her also.
'I guess they are huggers!'. It wasn't a problem for the french girl. She had always been very friendly, smiling and warm person. What was strange was hugging someone to say 'Hello' to them. Like actually putting your arms around someone, even if you've only known them for a short while.
'Of course, any american would find it much weirder to kiss someone's cheeks instead'. She shrugged the thought away and focused on the young girl approaching her.
Brittany had seen pictures of the family before even coming to Ohio, so she wasn't surprised by the girl appearance. What did however surprise her was the huge smile on the girl's face, as well and the excitement that came with it. She wondered whether the brunette was this happy to be back home because she got to see her parents, or if it was because of meeting her. Or maybe she was just being of usual self. 'That could be interesting!'
Rachel hugged her not so briefly, and then started talking, going on and on for at least 5 full minutes. Brittany really tried to understand anything at all. But the words were just coming out of the mouth so quickly, it was like one single huge word, like Rachel didn't even need to breath between sentences. She managed to get a few words out of it, but it didn't make any sense to her. She wrinkled her forehead in concentration, doing her best to keep up with her new american sister.
"Rachel, you're going to have to make an effort here, Brittany has only been here for a few days, she is not fluent just yet!" Karen laughed.
'Thank God!'
"Your mother is right Rach', try and speak slowly and clearly. Also use easy and simple words. Brittany is pretty impressive with her english you will see, but she still needs people to be patient."
"Oh right I'm sorry Brittany!" Rachel continued much more slowly. "It is so nice to finally meet you! I was so disappointed when I found out that I would not be here for your arrival! am so excited to have you here! This is so awesome, we will be like sisters! School starts tomorrow, I will introduce you to all of my glee friends! Oh my God you have to join the Glee club! Can you sing? I am sure you can sing, and probably dance! This is amazing, you will love it! And everybody will want to meet you, you will be The French Girl, and I will be your sister! How great is that? I can not wait!"
Rachel was speaking overly slowly, but that was ok to Brittany. At least she was almost sure she understood everything. 'Still, slow rambling is pretty funny'.
"It's very nice to meet you too" Brittany answered smiling. "And yes, I like to dance. A lot. Thank you for … everything you said." It was so frustrating for the blonde to not be able to sa what she really wanted to say. But at least she knew what was the conversation was about.
"I knew it! Well, I am going to unpack my things, and then I will join you guys in the living room for dinner!" And just like that, Rachel flew out of the room and went upstairs with her luggage.
Brittany had taken a habit of helping Karen cooking, it was a nice moment to share with her host mom. They talked food obviously, but not only. Karen was interested in everything Brittany would tell her, about her family, about France, about dance, even about her cat. Mostly she talked about her 12 year old sister Emilie, whom she missed very much.
Although she knew Emilie would understand when growing why Brittany decided to go, she felt bad for leaving her. That's why she tried to Skype with her often, and also because she herself longed for her younger sister.
Dinner was ready when Rachel came downstairs, and the family enjoyed the food together. Brittany was both surprised and relieved to realize how at ease she felt sitting at the Berry's table, being a part of their life. Something felt right.
'I'm going to fit just right here!' were brittany's last thoughts as she later drifted off to sleep that night. After dinner, she and Rachel went upstairs to talk for a while and then she went to her bedroom to rest.
She liked Rachel already. Reading people was easy for her, and she found that it was still the case in another country. Her american sister, as she liked to call her in her mind, seemed like a very friendly girl, very talkative, like very very. She had told her all about the Glee club and her friends, who were apparently all members of the so-called club.
From what she could tell, the "club" was a place where people could sing and dance and be themselves, whatever that meant. Brittany wondered how could a person not be 'herself'. She never asked herself that kind of questions. She always stayed true to her feelings, not even considering doing otherwise.
Her mind took her back to the brunette next to her, who kept on talking and clapping her hands and jumping up and down in excitement. She guessed that her personality probably didn't please everyone, with her being always crazy cheery and loud, but she didn't care. Rachel and her would soon be friends, and that was enough for her to go to sleep with a smile.
"Girls, you need to get to sleep! Tomorrow is a big day for both of you, first day of you senior year!" Brittany had heard Brad's voice call out from downstairs, interrupting Rachel's talk.
Lying in her bed that night, the blonde felt both anxious and excited. She wondered what the next day would be like, and hoped she would make friends fast in this high school.
'I had no idea I was about to meet the most important person in my life' were Brittany's last thoughts as a voice interrupted them.
"Excuse me Miss, are you american ?" Brittany looked to her right, where the voice was coming from. She hadn't even cared to looke at who was seating next to her on the plane until now, so occupied with her daydream. Her eyes met with brown ones, looking at her with interest.
Being in Paris, but flying to New york, she figured it was one chance out of two for her to be american in his mind.
"Hm no actually, I am not." Brittany answered easily. She thought back to the first time she flew to the US, and smiled at the memory. Back then, she probably wouldn't even have understood the man's question.
"Oh sorry! Well then I guess you're french right?"
'There you go Sherlock!' Brittany laughed as she thought about the answer she knew her favorite person in the all world would have given the man.
"Yes I am."
"Well, your english seems pretty good for a french woman!" Brittany wondered what the man wanted from her. She was usually very good with people, and always nice and polite to everyone, but she really wished he would just leave her to her thoughts. She was at a crossroads in her life, and needed to figure things out. But most of all, she needed a plan. She had to make things right with the one-person in the world that she was doing all of this for.
"Thank you" she replied simply, trying to keep her voice soft but not too encouraging.
"And what brings you to New york?" The man kept smiling at her while his eyes focused on every part of her face. It became obvious to Brittany that he was checking her out.
"I got a job there, so I'm moving."
"Waouu, that's awesome! We'll be neighbors!" He winked at her. Brittany was used to having men hit on her. She was a very attractive 24 year old woman. She usually didn't care, not taking the time to notice who those men were. However it never bugged her much. This man though was trying too hard, and it really wasn't the time.
Brittany just gave him the tiniest smile possible and went back to looking outside, hoping he would take the hint. Gladly he did.
She closed her eyes hoping sleep would take over. The man's brown eyes reminded her of other similar but much more beautiful eyes. She didn't really know anymore how to refer to the girl behind those eyes.
'Santana' Brittany thought of the girl's name, accepting the sharp pain she felt in her heart.
She had been everything to Brittany for such a long time, a friend, a confident, a girlfriend, a lover. It was incredibly cliché and sad to call her her ex-girlfriend now, but she figured there was nothing else to say when facing the facts. They hadn't been in each other's lives in so long, hadn't talked in longer than the blonde had ever thought possible. To this day, she didn't how she got through all those years.
'How did I end up losing the love of my life?' Brittany wondered sadly, washing tear off her face. That reality hit her once again, as it did everyday, and she hardly contained the other tears that were gathering in her eyes. She had done what she thought was right at the time, but had learned the hard way that the sacrifices you make for the ones you love often end up being the biggest regrets of your life.
It had gone on too long. She had been working her ass off in school for years to make this possible. Of course, at the beginning, she thought everything would go smoother. She thought that Santana and her would make it through the years in spite of the distance between them. She thought they would be the exception, that they were the ones that would make long-distance relationship work. But France wasn't exactly one hour away, and as strong and in love as they were, it hadn't been enough.
'Love isn't always enough'. Brittany had heard that a million times when things came crashing down. She had never believed it before, but with Santana, she had been forced to admit that it had been true.
They had broken up. Well, Brittany had broken up with Santana. And today she was on a plane to New York, on her way to the city they said they were both going to live in together, and build a nice life for themselves. She had had a great job offer, the dream job offer actually, and decided to drop everything back home, with only one thing in mind.
She was going to fight for her love, like she had forgotten to do 4 years ago. She was going to prove to everyone that in their case, Love would always be enough.
She was going to get Santana back.
'I'll do whatever it takes"
