AN: Sequel to Believe Me, you should read that first for this story to make sense.
Seeing Ghost
Glee was a broken shell of what it used to be. Since Santana's death the club had fallen apart as everyone grieved in their own way. It was in the news, Teen Commits Suicide in Classroom'. Everywhere Will looked, he saw Santana's smiling face; in the newspaper and the TV: he couldn't get away. He spent his entire weekend secluded in his apartment, not going anywhere. He could not read the newspaper since he saw her face on the front page, his TV had long since been destroyed when he tossed it against the wall, and he ignored the phone calls and visits he received from Emma trying to see if he was alright. He wasn't alright: one of his students, no, one of his kids was dead and it was his fault that she was gone. Will was assaulted with memories of Santana: when she was singing, laughing with the rest of the glee kids, after a performance, and finally her face when she came to them for help and they didn't believe her. He fell to the floor in his trashed living room and cried.
Life goes on, but how does one move on from this? How does one continue to go on when he could've saved a life? All he had to do was believe her, give a few kind words and maybe Santana would still be alive. Will shakily stood and stumbled to his bedroom, not even trying to stop the thoughts swirling in his head. He deserved worse than the never ending questions and the guilt that plagued him.
The Monday that followed her death was a blur and the halls were oddly subdued as the news spread throughout the school. He could hear the whispers, feel the looks, but he ignored them. He was numb to everything; not even Emma could brighten up his day. Even Sue, wearing a black tracksuit, was shocked and somber at the news of Santana's death. More than once he had seen Brittany retreat to her office and stay there for long periods of time. Walking past, he heard the unmistakable sounds of Brittany sobbing and it only broke his heart more.
Will doesn't remember most of his classes and it isn't until he finds himself staring off into space in an empty classroom that he realizes that it's his lunch break. He isn't hungry but he heads to the teacher's lounge because he knows Emma will worry if he doesn't show. Walking down the halls he happens upon Brittany. She's sitting on the ground crying while staring at her phone and from his position he could hear a recording of Santana's laugh. It wasn't very long and at the end he can hear Santana's voice tell Brittany that she loved her. His vision went blurry and it took him a moment to realize that he was crying.
Brittany, sweet Brittany, she didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to know the pain of losing her best friend. She was still a child: she shouldn't have to know the pain that came with losing a loved one. Will couldn't stand her tears anymore and went over to comfort her. To his shock, she knocked away his hand and glared at him.
"Leave me alone."
He didn't even think she was capable of glaring. It also struck him how much she really looked like her mother.
"Brittany I'm-"
"No!" She yelled, getting off the floor and stepping away from him.
"All Santana wanted was for you to help her! She wanted you to help and you were too busy being stupid and you didn't believe her! She needed you Mr. Shue, she needed all of you! You killed her! It's all your fault and I hate you!" Her face was red from her rant and she was breathing heavily, but it was her glare and her words that rooted him to the spot.
Brittany hated him. Brittany didn't hate anyone. Will didn't even think she was capable of hate, but she hated him and she blamed him for Santana's death. As far as she was concerned he might as well have as pulled the trigger himself. Before Will could say anything else, Brittany ran. Will watched her go and slowly turned and headed back to his classroom; he wasn't going to eat today.
They met in the auditorium for glee after school. Will wondered if it could even be called glee anymore; there wasn't much to be gleeful about. Will expected Brittany to not be present, but he was curious as to where Matt was.
"Hey, where's Matt?"
Seeing that no one was going to answer, Rachel stood up, "Matt transferred, Mr. Shue."
His eyes widened, but thinking about it, he really couldn't blame the boy. Even he didn't want to be here.
"He said that he couldn't deal with being here, walking the halls and constantly reminding himself that Santana was gone and that he could've done something to save her." Mike said to the quiet room; it was the most Will had heard him say the entire school year.
"Mr. Shue?" Will looked up to see Quinn looking around nervously, "Where's Brittany?"
Will sighed and he noticed the anxious looks on everyone's faces. Some even looked fearful that Brittany had followed in Santana's footsteps.
"She's not coming. Brittany blames us for Santana's death."
Will is even more saddened by the fact that they accept it. They accepted the blame because they blamed themselves. He couldn't even bring himself to tell them not to, that it's not their fault. How could he tell them that when he blamed himself too?
It was decided by all of them that this would be the last of glee. It just wasn't the same anymore; too many painful memories. Rachel told everyone how, in her own little way, she tried to help Brittany through her grief by bringing her water like her father would. What shocked the club was that Brittany tossed the water across the hall and told Rachel to 'leave her the fuck alone'. Brittany hardly ever cursed; if he hadn't seen her anger first hand then he would've been hard pressed to believe Rachel. But that was the problem that started this whole mess: his lack of believing his students. It seems that even after all this he still hadn't learned his lesson; it was a little disconcerting.
Puck didn't even need to be told by Will that Brittany had blamed them all. She apparently told him to his face after he had tried to confide in her that he blamed himself. He told everyone how she agreed with him in the coldest voice he had ever heard from the girl. Tina, Artie informed everyone since she hadn't spoken a word since she saw Santana's body, couldn't go near the choir room without having a panic attack. Will briefly marveled at how people reacted differently to the same thing: they all grieved in their own way. The most jarring confession had to have come from Mike. He told them that it was really his fault she was dead, that the blame didn't belong to them. He ignored their protests and kept talking. He believed Santana, when she had told everyone about her dad. He had seen the signs and bruises long before that Friday, but he never had the courage to confront her about it. He let his shyness get in the way of asking the questions that needed to be asked, telling people that would've asked those questions and gotten her the help she needed. He even let it get in the way of going against everyone and standing up for the one person that nobody would stand up for. To Mike, his silence was even worse than disbelief: his silence had killed her.
