Title: I'm Still Here
Series: And Then There Were Four
Author: Jamiexh
Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Brittany decides that it's time to tell the Glee Club and their parents about their relationship.
Thanks again to Marinka for all the help.
Preceded by: Open Your Heart
"I want a moment to be real,
Wanna touch things I don't feel,
Wanna hold on and feel I belong."
-September 2010-
School started up again, and Brittany, Santana, Quinn, and Rachel all went about the day like nothing ever changed. They didn't interact with each other any more than they did before. Santana and Brittany would hold pinkies in the hallways, like always, and eat lunch together. Quinn hung out with Kurt and Mercedes, and Rachel was on her own. And to Brittany, this didn't seem right, and one day after school when the four of them were doing homework at Rachel's she spoke up about it.
"I want us to hang out together," Brittany says to her girlfriends. This causes all three to lift their heads from whatever books they were in and look at her.
"We are hanging out together, B," Santana tells her.
"Not here, at school. I want people to know about us. I don't want to ignore Rachel and listen as other people make fun of her. Or watch the other Cheerios torture Q about going from head Cheerio to now newbie Cheerio again. I want to stop that and if we all hang out together we can."
"Ducky," Quinn, says using her pet name for Brittany, "if we hang out together, you and S will get the abuse that Rachel and I get. I know you're trying to help, but it's just going to make things harder."
"Why can't do we just tell everybody," Brittany asks.
"Brit-Brit, that wouldn't be a good idea," Rachel explains. "See when my dads came out in high school they suffered a lot of abuse. They suffered from numerous wedgies, swirlies, and probably several other forms of high school torture that I just don't know about. We'd be putting ourselves out there for things far worse than the slushie facials that we get now."
"Why can't we just tell Glee, then," Brittany says.
"Because, the Glee kids have big mouths," Santana scuffs.
"I think the rest of them could keep this a secret," Rachel adds. "It would be nice to let Finn know that I'm taken again."
"He flirted with you again," Quinn asks, clearly upset. Finn was like bi-polar when it came to dating Rachel. He wanted her when he couldn't have her and when he had her he didn't want her. It pisses her off big time, because no one messes with Quinn's girl.
"Yeah, for once he doesn't get the hint that I'm not into him anymore."
"You just got to keep telling him off, Rach," Santana says. "Because I don't think telling the Glee kids is such a good idea. It's going to hurt us all in ways we can't even see."
"Santana," Quinn soothes. "It might not be that bad if we tell them."
"No," Santana states firmly. "I'm not compromising on this. Sorry." With that, Santana goes back to her homework, effectively ending the conversation. Brittany pouts, but goes to her work as well. Rachel and Quinn share a glance, and with a sigh Rachel returns to her homework. Just as Quinn is about to do the same, she smirks as idea fills her head.
…
"Finn," Quinn calls in the hallway. The tall brunette boy turns around to face her and smiles.
"Oh, hey, Quinn," he says back.
"Look, I need you to do me a favor," she asks hesitantly.
"What do you need?"
"I need you to kiss Rachel in Glee and make sure that everyone's there when you do."
"Wait," he asks. "Why?"
"Just do it. It should be worth your while."
…
Rachel was the first one in the choir room as usual. She sat down and got herself ready as everybody filed in after. When Quinn got into the room, Santana and Brittany were in the back corner next to other as usual. She sat in the chair between Mercedes and Brittany and got ready to watch the fireworks go off.
When Finn enters the room, he makes a bee line straight for the seat next to Rachel.
"Hey Rachel," Finn says to her. "You look really pretty today."
"Well, thank you, Finn," Rachel answers. "You look pretty…" Rachel is cut off when Finn smashes his lips on hers. She tries to pull back, but his strong hands around her waist keep her in place. Suddenly, Rachel hears an almost inhuman growl and Finn immediately backs up, turning his head to see an angry Santana. Rachel didn't have time to react before Santana pulls Rachel into a possessive kiss. When Santana releases her, Brittany pulls her into an embrace and Quinn strokes her hair. Somewhere in the middle of the kiss they all must have raced towards her.
"They're mine," Santana yells at Finn. "You hear that, mine. Touch any one of them and you will find yourself missing a vital piece of your anatomy. Understood?" Finn just nods and Santana turns to embrace her girls.
When Mr. Schuester enters the room and sees the three Cheerios embracing Rachel and the rest of the glee kids staring at them with their mouths open. He clears his throat before asking, "What happened?"
Brittany skips over to Mr. Shue and says, "Santana just told everyone we're together."
"Brittany," Santana starts to scold, but after seeing that big smile on her face, Santana's heart melts and just adds to the room, "Look, just don't tell anybody alright."
"So, wait," Puck starts. "So, you're all like together. Like you all have sex together and stuff." Santana and Quinn just glare at him. "Hey, it's hot is all I'm saying."
"Okay, now that that's taken care of," Mr. Shue starts. "Can we all start the warm ups?" Brittany, Santana, Rachel, and Quinn all take seats next to each other and Quinn swears she hears Finn mutter 'mailman' every time he looks back at them.
…
"See, they were all cool with it," Brittany says on the car ride to Rachel's house.
"I feel set up," Santana gripes, staring a hole into the driver's seat in front of her.
"Not my fault," Quinn denies, "that Finn kissed Rachel."
"No one touches my girls," Santana growls.
"So should we tell our parents next," Brittany asks.
"We can tell my dads," Rachel pipes in. "They won't care."
"Yes, but the rest of our parents might have a problem with it," Quinn says.
"Please," Brittany begs. Santana groans, Quinn sighs, and Rachel smiles as they all know that they are going to give in.
"Might as well start with Rachel's since we're here anyway and they'll be the most cool about it," Santana says as she pulls into the driveway.
…
"Dad, Daddy," Rachel calls when they enter the house.
"In the living room, pumpkin," one of Rachel's dads calls back.
"Perfect," she tells her girlfriends. "They're relaxing. They should take the news well." Rachel leads them all into the living room, "Dad, Daddy, I want to introduce you to some people. They've been here a lot, but you are always either out or still at work when they come over. Guys, this is my dad, Elias, and my daddy, Jackson. Dad, Daddy, this is Quinn, Brittany, and Santana, my girlfriends."
"I'm sorry," Elias says. "Girlfriends?"
"Wait," Jackson adds, "Aren't these the girls who tortured you for the last two years?"
Rachel let out a breath. The other three girls huddled closer together as if banding together could change how horrible they were in the past. "Yes, Dad," Rachel explains, "I'm dating all three of them now. And yes, Daddy, they all did used to pick on me, but it is different now."
"Mr. and Mr. Berry," Quinn begins to speak. "I know we were horrible to your daughter for a long time and I am truly sorry for that. But, I think that you should know that I've liked your daughter for a long time now and even though I had lousy way of expressing it for the longest time, I care deeply about her. I'm not asking you to forgive our actions, but please don't deny us the opportunity to love your daughter like we should have all this time."
Before anyone else could speak, Brittany pulled Rachel into a tight hug. "My Ray Bear," she announces to the room. Quinn joins the hug, murmuring, "Princess." Santana is the last to enter the embrace, with a whispered, "Baby Girl."
"So this is love," Jackson asks the girls.
"I think it could be, Daddy," Rachel answers as the group hugs breaks apart.
"Who are we, to stand in the way of love, Jackson," Elias answers.
"You know what you all are in for, right," Jackson begins to warn them. "Being a same-sex couple isn't easy in itself. Being in a quad, that's a whole other mess of ugly. Have the rest of you come out, yet?"
"Brittany wants to," Santana explains. "But, I kind of want to play it by ear, Mr. Berry."
"Don't call me Mr. Berry," Elias states. "If you are going to date our daughter, call him, Jackson and me, Elias. Mr. Berry can get too confusing around here anyway. Secondly, though my own coming out was rough to say the least, it's much better to honest with the ones you love than to wonder what would happen. Come out when you're ready, and it ends badly, there will always be a place for you guys here."
"You need to know," Jackson starts, "that my little girl comes first. But, if you are going to be there for her, we can be there for you. Our home is yours if you need it. But, when you're all here the doors stay open."
'Daddy," Rachel gasps.
"Doors open. Not a request. I love you, but we know how teenagers can get."
"That's fair," Santana admits. "Thank you."
…
The next morning, Quinn is driving Brittany and Rachel to Santana's house. Somehow Brittany, with a little help from Rachel has convinced them this weekend is the right time to come out to all their parents. Quinn and Santana argued that it was too soon, but the success with Rachel's dads fuelled Brittany desire more. And really, how could someone say no to Brittany?
So that morning they were planning on coming out to Santana's family and Quinn's that night. Tomorrow they would be having a Sunday morning brunch with Brittany's family and coming out then. Quinn had a gut feeling that at least one these would not go well.
Santana met them at the door and directed them all to the kitchen where her mother was cooking and her father was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table.
"Mami, Papi, you remember my friends, Brittany and Quinn, and this is my friend, Rachel," Santana introduces, clearly nervous.
"Mija," Mami Lopez starts, "Qué es malo?"
Santana exhales, and motions for her girlfriends to sit. "Mami, Papi. I have something to tell you. Es muy importante." Santana is really nervous now and is falling back on her old habit of speaking in Spanish when she gets nervous. Santana takes a deep breath and just lets it out. "Brittany y Quinn y Rachel son mis novias."
Brittany, barely understanding English sometimes had no clue what they were saying in Spanish. Quinn could understand a word here and there, but it was Rachel who was really proficient in it. So, she understood every word as the hysteria commenced.
"What," Mami Lopez asks her daughter.
"You're dating three girls," her father adds.
"We're all dating each other," Santana tries to explain. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Not that big of a deal," her father scolds. "What about your future? And having a family, don't you want that?"
"I can still have those things, Papi," Santana says as she starts to cry.
Rachel has definitely heard enough. She doesn't know how much Quinn and Brittany understood what was said, but their faces showed that they knew it was bad. Rachel stands up to get the Spanish family's attention before saying, "La amo."
And with two words, the Lopez family stared at the little singer. "I love her. I love them," Rachel says again hoping to bring the conversation back to English.
"I love her, too. All of them," Quinn adds.
"I've always loved Santana," Brittany pipes in with a smile. "Now I love Rachel and Quinn too."
"Do you love them, Mija," Mami Lopez asks her daughter.
With tears in her eyes, Santana answers with conviction, "I do."
Defeated, Papi Lopez goes back to his paper, and Mami Lopez turns to ask the girls if they want anything for breakfast. They knew better than to argue with their daughter when she finds something she really wants.
…
If coming out to Santana's family was rough, coming out to Quinn's mother was a train wreck. After countless antagonistic statements like "How could you do this to me," and "After I just let you back into my home," Quinn once again found herself packing her things and moving to a new home. Luckily, the Berrys were true to their offer and Quinn moved into the guest bedroom. The four girls slept together in Quinn's new room, but kept the door open per their request.
…
Mid Sunday morning, Santana picks up Quinn and Rachel for their last explanation. After coming out three times already with three very different outcomes and none of them really knowing Brittany's parents, they were all understandable nervous.
Brittany greets them at the door with a big hug and introduces them all to her father, Lucas, and step-mother, Stephanie. They all sit down at the dining room table, but just before Brittany could say anything her father stops her.
"Brittany," he starts, "I know you said that you had something important to tell us, but I must insist that you wait until your mother gets here to do it."
Santana swears that she's never seen Brittany's face drop like and if it was possible the pale girl grew even paler. "Mom's coming," Brittany manages to say.
"Yes, well, you said that you had an important life announcement and I thought your mother should hear it too." Right as he said that the doorbell rang. "That must be her now." Both Lucas and Stephanie went to greet Brittany's mother at the door.
"Brit-Brit," Rachel whispers, "are you okay."
"This is not good," Brittany mumbles out.
"Well, look on the bright side, her reaction could not be worse than my mom's," Quinn adds.
"We don't actually know her mom," Santana states, "so we don't actually know that."
"You do know her," Brittany says, "that's the problem."
"Brittany," a familiar voice calls out, "come and give your mother a …" Brittany's mom stops dead in her tracks as she sees Quinn, Santana, and Rachel sitting in the dining with her daughter.
"No freaking way," Santana exclaims. Rachel is speechless.
"Coach Sylvester," Quinn questions.
Sure enough, Brittany walks over to Sue hesitantly and hugs her with a "Hi Mom."
"Lucas what's going on here," Sue demands of him.
"Our Brittany has something important to tell us and I thought you should know," he explains. "Brittany maybe you should tell us what you wanted to tell us now."
As Brittany sits back by Santana and Rachel, she's never been more uncertain of what to do. Rachel grabs her hand, and she can hear Santana whisper, "It's okay, Baby. We're right here."
"Mom, Dad, Stephanie," Brittany starts, "I'm dating Santana, Quinn, and Rachel. We're together. All of us."
"That's it," Stephanie says, "And we thought it was going to be something bad."
"Yeah, Brittany," her father adds. "I don't know why you were so nervous about telling us that."
"Lucas, Stephanie," Sue spits out, "You're okay with our daughter dating three girls?"
"You knew that I've always been a free spirit, Sue. Brittany's no different, and you shouldn't be angry at her for that."
"I'm not," Sue states.
"What," Santana spits out. Rachel's jaw drops and Quinn is blinking quickly trying to understand what's going on.
"Brittany is free to date whomever she wishes," Sue explains. "She's always known that. Why one Sue Sylvester once had an affair with two women why she served in the Special Forces. That's why we call it 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' I'm more upset that Lucas outed my relationship with Brittany. We try to keep our school lives and home lives separate."
"It's my fault, Mom," Brittany says. "I mixed them together."
"Brittany," Sue says in a softer voice than any of the two other Cheerios has ever heard from her, "none of this is your fault. We're just going to have to change some of the rules and add to the old rulebook." She turns to the other three girls, "S, Q, Berry, let me make myself clear, you hurt my daughter and I will hunt you down and really understand the meaning of pain, is that understood?" The three girls just nod. "Also, if you breathe a word of my relationship to Brittany, your little glee club will be a mere memory, got it? Good. Now pass the pancakes, I want to eat before the food gets cold."