A Day at Seattle Grace
As the streets are filled with various people struggling to get their morning coffee and make it to work on time, the traffic inside of Seattle Grace appears to be just as busy. As April navigates her way through the pit area of the ER, she picks up her newest patient's file from the nurse at the front desk and makes her way towards a closed curtain.
As April pulls the curtain back, she observes two women having an animated conversation. The blonde-haired woman with fair skin, using a lot of hand gestures, is sitting in a chair next to the bed where a dark-haired woman with caramel-colored skin is sitting up in.
"Miss Lopez?" April says towards the Latina's direction in an apologetic tone, not meaning to interrupt their conversation. Once she gets both females' attention and a slight head nod from the woman sitting on top of the bed, April extends her hand to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Dr. Kepner."
"Hi... you can call me Santana," the Latina says while shaking the doctor's hand. "And this is Brittany, my best friend."
"Pleasure to meet you both," April says, addressing both women. "So Santana, what seems to be the problem?"
"I've just been having these pains in my chest lately, nothing major... just very irritating," Santana casually states.
Before April has a chance to inquire further, she gets cut off by Santana's blonde counterpart.
"Uh, negative ghostrider..." Brittany states firmly. "Santana's just trying to down play it cuz she thinks she's a badass."
"I am a badass!" Santana interjects.
Brittany gives her a pointed look before rolling her eyes and directing her attention back to the doctor. April watches the interaction between the two friends with an amused look on her face.
"Anyways... apparently "Ms. Badass" over here has been having these pains since last week, but failed to tell anyone about it," Brittany continues.
"Was there anything significant that happened last week that might account for the pain?" April asks, not directing her question to either woman.
"We got into a car accident last week. It was nothing serious, like air bags weren't deployed or anything... just minor damage," Brittany answers.
"Yeah, some dill hole rear-ended us," Santana speaks up. "I thought I was gonna pass out from when my seat belt locked down on me," she continues as she lightly rubs her left side, scrunching up her face in slight discomfort.
"Are you okay?" April asks the Latina.
"Yeah, I'm good... my rib is just being a little bitch right now," Santana replies nonchalantly. Seeing the confusion on April's face, she continues. "I have this protruding rib that appears occasionally. It's never been really painful, just a little irritating."
"That's not uncommon. It's mainly caused by the floating ribs," April states. "How long have you had this irritation?"
"It's been on and off for a few years now, but it's never bothered me this much until now," the Latina states.
"On a scale from 1-10, what level of discomfort would you say you've been experiencing from the chest pains," April asks.
"I don't know… maybe 5?"
"You're full of shit," Brittany cuts in. "Santana, would you please stop being so freaking stubborn!"
Santana lets out a heavy sigh before responding.
"Fine… it's been like a 7 or 8. The only reason why I'm here is because she dragged me here," Santana says, exasperated. "There, are you happy now Britt?"
Brittany doesn't respond. Instead, she crosses her arms and looks at the girl intensely before turning away from her best friend.
"Okay…" April says timidly, feeling a little uncomfortable being present during what seemed to be a private conversation. "There could be a number of reasons for the discomfort you're feeling in your chest. I'm gonna have you take some X-rays and order an EKG, just to be on the safe side. It'll take about an hour, but once the results come back, we should be able to pin point exactly what's going on."
"Okay, thanks doc," Santana says kindly.
April gives Santana a small smile before leaving the two best friends alone again.
"Brittany…" the Latina says softly, trying to get the girl's attention. Brittany ignores her. "Britt… look, I'm sorry okay? I should've said something sooner. I just didn't want you worrying about me," Santana states sincerely.
"We've been friends for what… 10 years now?" Brittany states, breaking her silence.
"Yeah, give or take…" Santana answers, trying to figure out where Brittany is going with this.
"Well then… you should know me better than that," Brittany says a little less harshly. "I'm always gonna worry about you, San."
"I wish you wouldn't worry so much," Santana says, taking Brittany's hand into hers. "Once these test results come back, they'll probably tell me I have mild indigestion or something and hand me some Pepcid AC."
"You're unbelievable," Brittany says through a giggle, shaking her head at her best friend's craziness.
"I'm gonna be fine, B… I promise you," Santana says, extending her pinkie out to the blonde. Brittany links her pinkie with Santana's and whispers out an 'okay'.
An hour later, April receives the results back from Santana's tests. As she views them, she feels the presence of someone behind her.
"Hey, April…" Jackson states. "Are those the scans from the feisty Latina downstairs?"
"Yeah… so far, everything looks pretty normal," April responds.
"Well that'll be good news for her girlfriend…" Jackson says. "She looked pretty pissed with how casual the other girl was when trying to downplay her level of discomfort."
"Oh, they're not together… just best friends," April replies. "Why'd you think they were together?"
"I was just observing their interactions and it seemed to me like they were a couple," Jackson explains. "I don't know… I just felt a lot of love between them, masked underneath the slight irritation," he jokes.
April chuckles along with Jackson. It's been a while since the two of them shared a laugh together. Things had become somewhat awkward between them after the whole baby scare and subsequent break-up. They used to be best friends, but now it just feels like they're mere acquaintances that just happen to work at the same hospital. She missed being with Jackson, but more importantly… she missed her friend.
"Oh, wait… what is that?" Jackson says, breaking April away from her thoughts. As she looks up, she sees Jackson pointing to a spot on Santana's X-ray.
"Shit… that's not good," April states. "I need to get Christina in here."
Jackson offers to page Christina while April tries to sort through the information in front of her. Once Christina arrives, April fills her in on the results of the tests she ran and also the information she had received from Santana earlier. After seeing the scans and taking everything into account, Christina and April make their way downstairs to consult with Santana on their findings.
As Brittany and Santana are waiting for the results of her tests in a more private room, they fall into a light conversation about their plans for the weekend. Once Santana looks up, she sees April approaching her with another doctor in tow. The Latina knows that this can't be good news and quickly tries to think of something to say to Brittany because she knows her bestie will freak out. As she contemplates her options, she realizes that it's too late cuz Brittany has now spotted the two doctors approaching their location.
"Sorry to keep you guys waiting," April apologizes. "Santana, this is Dr. Yang."
Santana scrunches her eyebrows up as she plays through all of the possible reasons why she is being introduced to a second doctor. A look of worry is apparent on Brittany's face.
"Miss Lopez, Dr. Kepner asked me to assist since I'm a Cardiologist," Christina states.
"Okay… I don't really understand," Santana says, slightly puzzled. "I mean, I know what a Cardiologist is… I just don't know why I need another doctor."
"Yeah, what's going on?" Brittany asks, feeling very concerned.
"Well… when we went over your X-ray, we observed a slight fracture on your 4th rib on the left side," April explains. "Obviously with injuries to the ribs, the only thing that will heal them is time. However, we also discovered something else…"
"We found a small hole in your heart," Christina picks up. "It's about the size of a pin needle…"
"How does that even happen?" Santana inquires.
"From what you told Dr. Kepner about the accident, it's most likely that the sudden force applied against your protruding rib from the seat belt locking caused that rib to collide with the others," Christina states. "The force from that caused a fracture on your 4th rib, which ultimately poked a tiny hole in your heart, thus causing the chest pains."
"Okay, so what does that all mean exactly?" Brittany asks worriedly. "I mean, she's not gonna die… is she?"
"Right now, the hole isn't fatal. At most, you're probably continue to feel some mild discomfort unless you have surgery to repair it," Christina answers.
"Is that something that I would absolutely have to do now or can it wait?" Santana asks.
"Can it wait?! What do you mean can it wait?" Brittany interjects, befuddled by her friend's somewhat nonchalance.
"Britt, please calm down… I'm just trying to get all of the information before I make a decision," the Latina states, trying to ease the blonde's mind.
Brittany opens up her mouth to say something else, but then closes it to give the doctors a chance to finish explaining.
"It's hard to say… "Christina starts again. "You could go months, even years without ever really being affected by this. However, the longer you wait to have the surgery to repair it, the more at risk you'll be at possibly tearing it and causing a bigger hole."
The look on Santana's face is one of total disbelief. How could a small accident cause such a huge health problem? As she mulls over her options, she doesn't dare to look over at her best friend for fear of how she's taking the news. However, through her peripherals, she can see that the blond has her head buried deep into the palms of her hands.
"If you did want to do the surgery today, it would take an hour of prep time, about 2 hours for the actual surgery, and then about an hour in recovery," April states. "Dr. Yang would be performing the surgery and I'd be assisting. We're gonna leave you two to discuss it. Just let us know what you decide."
As Christina and April leave the room, the atmosphere remains silent. The two friends remain like this for a few minutes with only the sound of the clock echoing throughout the room.
"I can't believe this is happening," Brittany says barely above a whisper, finally lowering her hands from her face.
Again, Santana grabs her hand and gives it a firm squeeze, trying her best to comfort her concerned friend.
"It's just a short surgery B… I'll be good as new by the end of the day," Santana states reassuringly.
Brittany looks up and deep into Santana's eyes for the first time since arriving at the hospital.
"So… you're gonna have the surgery?" the blonde asks hopefully.
"Yeah… I'm gonna have the surgery," Santana simply responds.
After informing the doctors on her decision, April and Christina have a more in-depth conversation with her so that she knows what to expect. Brittany momentarily steps out of the room to grab a snack while she's waiting. Once she re-enters the room, she's surprised to see Santana out of bed and putting her jeans back on while still wearing her hospital gown.
"Santana, what are you doing?" Brittany questions as she puts her bag of chips and bottle of water down on the table.
"I-I can't do this Britt," the Latina replies, zipping up her pants.
"What are you talking about?" the blonde asks, walking towards the girl. "What are you doing?"
"I just can't B… I gotta get outta here," Santana responds, looking around the room trying to find her shirt.
"What just happened? 30 minutes ago you were fine doing the surgery, and now… you're just gonna leave?" Brittany states loudly. "Santana, this isn't just some scrape or bruise on your knee… this is your life we're talking about!"
"I know!" Santana yells back. "My life… my heart…" her voice breaking on the last word.
Brittany takes a moment to take in the terrified expression on her best friend's face before wrapping her arms around her in a tight embrace. As she feels Santana's body begin to tremble, she grips her even tighter to let her know that she's not going anywhere.
"My heart is the only good thing about me…" Santana whimpers out. "I can't let them mess with the one thing that makes me… ME."
"Although you have an amazing heart, there are so many other wonderful things that make you the person you are today," Brittany coos into her ear. "I know you're scared San, but you need to do this."
"But why?" Santana questions with her head buried in the crook of Brittany's neck. "When it's my time to go, it's not like anyone's gonna miss me…"
Upon hearing those words, Brittany loosens her grip around the Latina and takes a step back so that she can look her friend in the eye.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Brittany says harshly.
Her tone must've surprised the Latina, based on the look upon her face. It was a very rare occasion that the blonde ever used foul language or was angry, for that matter. Looking back at her now, Santana can see that Brittany is clearly experiencing both at the moment.
"How can you stand there and say some shit like that to me?!" Brittany states rhetorically. "I mean, do I not matter to you? Seriously, could you not be so fucking selfish for one minute and realize that this is not just about you?!"
"Britt, I…" Santana starts to say, but gets quickly cut off by the frustrated blonde.
"No! This is bullshit, Santana…" Brittany continues. "If you don't know by now just how important you are to me, then you're a fucking moron!"
Santana starts to open her mouth again, but then closes it, not really knowing how to respond to this side of Brittany that she's never seen before. She knows that the blonde is upset with her for not caring more about herself, but she can't take seeing Brittany like this for too much longer. The way that her body is shaking and her eyes are watering up kills Santana.
"You might not give a shit about what happens to you, but I do…" Brittany states honestly, her voice lower than before. "If you don't wanna do the surgery for you, then don't… do it for me!"
Santana's eyes lock onto Brittany's as she lets her words set it. She waits for her blonde counterpart to continue her thought, feeling as if she had more to say.
"Do it because I need you, Santana…" Brittany picks back up where she left off. "I need you to be around. You are the m-most important p-p-person in my life…" she struggles to get out, tears visibly falling from her eyes now. "Santana, I…"
Brittany doesn't finish her thought. Instead, she takes a step forward and grasps Santana's face into her hands before crashing their lips together. A loud gasp emits from the Latina's mouth from the sudden contact. It only takes a split second for Santana to process what is actually happening before she closes her eyes and reciprocates the blonde's actions. Santana wraps her arms around Brittany's waist, bringing the taller girl closer to her as she revels in the feeling of sharing this experience with her after all of these years.
As the girls slowly pull away from the kiss, Brittany rests her forehead against Santana's.
"Wow…" Santana breathes out, "you've been holding out on me, Pierce."
A toothy grin graces Brittany's face while she shakes her head at the Latina's words.
"You don't know how many times I've dreamt about doing that…" Santana states earnestly.
Brittany detaches her forehead from Santana's and looks the shorter girl in the eyes. As she sees nothing but truth in the Latina's statement, she leans in to capture her best friend's lips again. However, before she can make contact, her moments are ceased by the sudden appearance of another person in the room.
"Santana?" an older female voice states from the doorway, causing the Latina to whip her head at the sound of her name.
"W-what are you doing here?" Santana questions the intruder.
"We heard that our daughter was having surgery…" another voice states behind the woman.
"I stopped being your daughter a long time ago," Santana says defensively, taking a step in front of Brittany.
It's true… as Santana stands face-to-face with the parents that abandoned her years ago, she can't help but feel her anger building up.
Santana was only 17 when her parents kicked her out of their house and disowned her. She was so heartbroken by her parent's reaction when she came out to them. All she was trying to do is be honest with them because that's who they raised her to be. Unfortunately, she learned the hard way that there are some things that people would rather just stay ignorant to. After Santana packed up the necessary things she needed, she walked out of the place she had called home for years and never spoke to her parents again. That was 8 years ago.
For the longest time, Santana always felt that she was different from all of the other girls her age. She had zero interest in boys and figured that's why she didn't have very many friends… that is, until she met Brittany. Brittany was so easy to get along with and accepted Santana for who she was. The blonde was a Godsend after she had been kicked out of her parent's house. Once she broke the news to her best friend, Brittany's family immediately took her in and gave her a new place to call home.
Since then, the two had been nearly inseparable. Santana always liked Brittany and had developed a deep affection for the girl over the course of their friendship. Although she had always had feelings for the blonde, Santana promised herself that she would never act on it, for fear that she would ruin her friendship with this amazing girl.
But what happened only minutes ago… Brittany kissed her. Santana didn't initiate it, nor did she try to fight it either. So, what exactly does that mean for them?
"Why are you here?" Santana asks again.
"We wanted to make sure you were okay," Mr. Lopez states.
"Why do you suddenly care now… you certainly didn't back then," Santana retorts.
"Hija…" Mr. Lopez says.
"Don't call me that! You have no right to call me that," the Latina says, venom dripping off of her words. "I haven't heard from you in 8 years and now suddenly because I'm in the hospital, you think everything's gonna be cool between us?"
"I know you're still upset with us, but you have to look at it from our perspective," Mrs. Lopez chimes in. "The way you choose to live your life—"
"Are you serious right now?" Santana asks incredulously. "Being gay isn't a fucking choice!"
"You will not use that language or take that tone with your Mother, Santana…" Mr. Lopez says.
"Mother… my mother?" the Latina repeats condescendingly. "I was just a kid when my MOTHER and FATHER tossed me out like yesterday's garbage!"
Seeing Santana get so emotional and worked up, Brittany internally cursed herself for contacting them. She thought that this situation would help bridge the gap and bring the broken Lopez family back together again. Although Santana always tries to act like she's unaffected by the total abandonment of her parents, Brittany knew better. Seeing how fragile and small the girl looks now, she knew that she had to fix it.
"You guys need to leave," Brittany states calmly, but with a stern tone of voice.
"Excuse me?" Mrs. Lopez says. "We're her family, so maybe you should leave."
"Family… what kind of family kicks out their own child for simply being honest with them?" Brittany says rhetorically. "I've been the one by her side every day, supporting her and looking out for her when she felt all alone."
"Oh, I see what's going on here…" Mrs. Lopez retorts. "You two are some kind of thing, aren't you? You've been living in sin together!"
"You are so fucking full of yourself, ya know that?" Brittany states, fuming. "No, Santana and I are not a 'thing', but if we were… I'd be honored and proud to call her my girlfriend."
As Santana hears the statement that Brittany just made, her heart swoons. Brittany has never been a fan of confrontation, but hearing the blonde stand up to Santana's parents made the girl feel all kinds of butterflies in her stomach.
"Get out," Santana states in the calmest voice possible.
"What?" Mrs. Lopez states, looking at her husband for clarification on what their daughter just said.
"I don't want you guys here, so please leave," the Latina says politely.
"We're not going anywhere until we know what's wrong with you," Mr. Lopez says.
Santana was trying her hardest to remain calm and cordial, but apparently her parents weren't taking the hint. Oh well… time for Plan B.
"GET OUT!" Santana screams, startling them. "Get out… get out… get—"
Suddenly Santana's body collapses before she gets to finish yelling at her parents. Luckily for her, Brittany was right by her side and was able to catch the shorter girl before she hit the ground.
"Santana!" Brittany yells, shaking the girl and trying to get her attention. As Santana's body starts to shake, Brittany begins to freak out. "Somebody get some help!"
As Santana's parents just stand there in complete shock, April appears behind them, ready to take Santana up for her surgery.
"Oh my God, what happened?" April exclaims while squatting down next to Santana's body.
"I don't know... she was yelling at her parents and then she just collapsed," Brittany responds.
"What's going on?" Christina asks as she appears in the room after hearing the commotion.
"She's seizing… quick, let's get her on her side and then onto the bed," April responds. "We need to get her to OR 2 now!"
As a few nurses file into the room, they lift Santana's body onto the gurney and begin rolling her towards the elevators.
"Santana… please be okay," Brittany pleads. "I love you…"
"Brittany, she's in good hands… Christina's the best!" April says trying to reassure the blonde. "We gotta go now though, so just sit tight… we'll come update you as soon as we can."
As Brittany watches Santana disappear from sight, tears begin to fall from her face. She regrets not telling the girl sooner of her inner most feelings for her. As she turns around and spots the Latina's parents just standing there, she wipes the tears away before addressing them.
"Calling you was a mistake… instead of helping Santana, I unintentionally caused her pain," Brittany begins. "Santana means everything in the world to me. I won't make that mistake again. You need to leave now… before I have you escorted out by security," she states firmly.
"You used to be such a sweet girl… I guess my daughter corrupted you," Mrs. Lopez stated.
"And you used to not be a bitch… I guess people change," Brittany retorts. "I'm not gonna ask you again to leave…"
Mrs. Lopez thinks about saying something back to the blonde, but decides against it. Deep down, she knows that Brittany's right. Mr. and Mrs. Lopez made a rash decision long ago and knew that they had lost their daughter because of it. Instead of fighting with Brittany and making the situation worse, Santana's parents finally decide to listen for once and bow out.
As Brittany watches their fleeting bodies, all she can do now is wait. Waiting truly is the worst part.
After 2 hours had passed, Brittany still anxiously waits, biting her fingernails to try and keep her mind occupied. It doesn't help much cuz all she can do is think about all of the things she wished she had said to Santana before today. Given the chance, Brittany vowed to make sure that she didn't miss out on another opportunity.
Just as she gets up from her chair to pace back and forth, she is greeted by another doctor.
"Hi… you're Brittany right?" Jackson asks tentatively. Once he receives a slow nod from the blonde, he continues. "I'm Dr. Avery. I just wanted to give you an update on your friend."
"Please tell me she's okay," Brittany states cautiously.
"She's going to be fine," Jackson says, putting the girl out of her misery. "The surgery went well. She's in recovery now."
"Oh God, thank you so much!" Brittany says while engulfing Jackson in a hug. Although the sudden arms around his neck surprised him, he was quick to reciprocate and give Brittany a pat on the back. "I'm sorry, I'm just so overwhelmed and needed to hug someone…"
"It's okay, I know it's been a rough day for you," Jackson states kindly. "If you'd like, I can take you to her now."
"I would love that!" Brittany says excitedly.
As Jackson leads the way, Brittany follows behind, her heart ready to burst with joy. Once they arrived outside of Santana's room, Brittany sees April checking the girl's chart. As she exit's the Latina's room, she is met with a hug from Brittany.
"Thank you so much, Dr. Kepner!" Brittany exclaims.
"Sorry, I should've warned you… she's a hugger," Jackson says jokingly.
"That's quite alright. Everyone could use a good hug every once in a while," April responds.
Once April is released from Brittany's grip, she has a moment with Jackson, thanking him for his help. The interaction between the two doesn't go unnoticed by the blonde. She senses that there's something between the two of them, or at least there was something, but not anymore. She noticed a small interaction between them earlier and felt the slight awkwardness emitting from both of them.
Brittany has always been pretty good at reading people and wonders what could've gone wrong between the two doctors. Although she doesn't know either of them personally, she senses that they are both good, kind-hearted people based on her time spent with them. As Jackson gives April's arm a little squeeze and then flashes a quick smile towards me, he walks away.
"Like Dr. Avery probably already told you, Santana's gonna be fine. The seizure was caused by an elevated heart rate, which caused a slight tear to the hole already in her heart," April explains. "It's a good thing you guys came in today cuz who knows what would've happened," she continues. "She's still out from the anesthesia, but she should be waking up pretty soon."
When April receives no response from the blonde, she turns her head to find Brittany's eyes fixated on a sleeping Santana.
"For 10 years, I've known this girl… and I've been in love with her every single day," Brittany says to no one in particular. "I can't believe it took almost losing her for me to finally come to my senses. I can't waste any more time without her knowing…"
"Not everyone gets a second chance," April says defeated as she rests her hand on Brittany's shoulder. "Go get your girl, Brittany!"
Brittany gives April an appreciative smile as she walks towards the door to see her best friend. Before she makes it fully into the room, she looks back at April.
"Just so you know… I think there's still a chance for you," Brittany says.
As April's face scrunches in confusion, Brittany nods her head in the direction of the nurse's station. As April follows her line of sight, she sees Jackson speaking to one of the nurses. As April turns her attention back towards the blonde, she notices Brittany already in the seat next to the bed, Santana's hand tightly nestled in hers. A smile crosses her face as she thinks about Brittany's words and possible implications.
Back in Santana's room, Brittany waits patiently for her love to wake up. As she grazes her thumb over Santana's knuckles and softly strokes her hair, Brittany figures that there's no time like the present. Although Santana is still asleep, Brittany doesn't want to waste another minute not telling the Latina how she truly feels about her.
"I'm such an idiot…" the blonde starts off. "Over the years, I've had endless amounts of opportunities to tell you how much you mean to me, yet… I always chickened out. Your friendship means more to me than anything in this world," she continues. "The thought of possibly losing you if you didn't feel the same way was more than enough to scare me out of telling you. But almost losing you today… scared me even more."
As Brittany buries her face into Santana's side, she tightly grips the Latina's hand with both of hers.
"I wanna be with you, Santana… I want to make you as happy as you've made me since the day I met you," Brittany states honestly, tears threatening to fall again. "I want to show you how important you are and love you the way that you deserve to be loved," she says, feeling her voice starting to crack. "I'm so sorry that I was so stupid to not say something earlier…"
As Brittany is about to continue her rant, she feels a slight twitch in Santana's arm.
"Don't talk about yourself like that," Santana says groggily.
Brittany's eyes instantly shoot open at the raspy sound of the Latina's voice.
"San…" Brittany says cautiously before seeing the shorter girl nod her head.
Before Santana has a chance to reply, Brittany seizes the moment and crashes her lips into juicy plump ones. As a moan escapes Santana's throat, Brittany pulls away slightly to look the girl in the eyes.
"I love you, Santana!" Brittany rushes out. "Even if you don't feel the same, I just had to tell you. I couldn't—"
Brittany's rant is silenced by Santana's mouth meeting with hers. As she lifts her hand to grip Brittany's face, the blonde allows herself to get lost in this moment of pure ecstasy.
"I love you, Brittany… I've always been in love with you," Santana breathes out as their lips detach from one another. A big, goofy grin plasters itself onto Brittany's face as she lets the words she's been dying to hear for so long flow through her ears and into her brain.
"Why did it take us 10 years to get here?" Brittany asks inquisitively.
"Fear can be a very powerful thing," Santana responds while lacing their fingers together. "I'm not afraid anymore though."
"Me neither," Brittany replies. "I'm sorry about the whole thing with your parents…"
"Don't worry about it… I kinda figured you had something to do with it," the Latina states knowingly. "I don't wanna talk about them right now, or ever… I wanna talk about us."
"And what about us?" Brittany asks cheekily.
"Well… I'm assuming that all of these declarations of love makes you my girlfriend now," Santana says, brushing a loose piece of hair behind the blonde's ear.
"I'd be okay with that," Brittany replies sincerely as she passionately kisses Santana again. But before things can get too heated between the two, Brittany pulls away suddenly.
"What's wrong?" Santana questions, missing the feel of her girlfriend's lips on her own.
"Well, you just had heart surgery," Brittany starts off. "The doc said that you're supposed to take it easy for a little while and not do anything that will suddenly increase your heart rate."
"Well then, you better get like a paper bag or something to put over your head cuz just looking at you makes my heart beat a million miles per second," Santana says honestly, making Brittany shake her head in disbelief.
"I love you so much," Brittany responds, placing a delicate kiss to Santana's lips.
"That's it… NURSE!" Santana tries her best to yell out. "Could someone bring me a paper bag?"
Brittany gently slaps Santana's arm as she giggles, amused at her girlfriend's craziness.
"You are too much," the blonde replies. "What am I gonna do with you?"
"I can think of a few things…" Santana shoots back, wiggling her eyebrows, "once I'm all better, of course."
"I very much look forward to that!" Brittany states as she kisses Santana's temple and stares into her eyes.
It took 10 years to finally get here, but neither Brittany nor Santana had any intention of ever turning back.
Later on that night…
As April enters the elevator and waits for the doors to close, she reflects on the day's events. She was very thankful that everything with her patient Santana worked out and that it seemed like she got her happy ending. Ready to head home and decompress, she's brought out of her thoughts when an arm comes flying through the center of the doors, successfully stopping the door from closing. As the owner of the arm walks into the elevator, April realizes that it belongs to Jackson.
"Hey…" Jackson says.
"Hey…" April replies back.
"I'm glad everything turned out well today," Jackson states.
"Yeah, me too…" April responds. "Oh, by the way… you were totally right about Santana and Brittany."
Jackson takes a second to think back on what April is referring to.
"Remind me again what I said," Jackson inquires.
"You said that you thought they were a couple," April reminds her colleague. "They may have come here today as best friends, but they left as a couple."
"How do you know?" Jackson questions.
"Cuz I totally caught them making out," April giggles out. Jackson shares a small smile with his former girlfriend/best friend.
The rest of the elevator ride to the bottom floor is spent in complete silence, neither of the two knowing what to say to each other. As the bell dings, Jackson takes a step back, allowing April to exit ahead of him.
"So, uh… I was gonna grab a drink at Joe's if you're interested," Jackson casually states.
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm just gonna head home," April responds.
"Oh, okay…" Jackson replies, sounding slightly disappointed. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yeah, okay… goodnight Jackson," April states.
"Night April," Jackson replies as he makes his way towards the parking deck.
As April watches her former best friend walking in the opposite direction of her, she thinks back to her earlier conversation with Brittany. There's still a chance for you replays in her head over and over again. As she glances up again to see Jackson getting further away, she makes a decision that she should've a long time ago.
"Jackson, wait!" April shouts as she lightly jogs to catch up to the man.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Jackson asks, puzzled as to what the girl was about to tell him.
"Actually, no…" April begins. "I can't keep going on like this…"
"What do you mean?" Jackson inquires, still befuddled.
"I miss my best friend," April states earnestly. "What happened to us?"
Jackson starts to open his mouth, but then stops himself. There are so many thoughts and emotions running through his head right now, thoughts that he didn't think that he would have to deal with at this current moment. There are so many things that he wanted to say to April, but decided against once they broke up. She never knew how heartbroken he truly was after they decided to end their romantic relationship. She never knew that their relationship wasn't just about the amazing sex they had and that he actually cared about her, more than any girl he had ever been with. But that time had passed and Jackson decided to close that chapter on what could've been if April had given them a fair chance.
So now as April stands in front of Jackson, asking him what happened between them, he is conflicted. Sensing his inner turmoil, April takes the opportunity to ask a question that's been haunting her since their break-up.
"Do you… do you ever think about me?" April asks timidly.
Jackson takes a deep breath before looking up and meeting April's eyes.
"Every day," he says lowly. "You wanna know what happened between us?" Jackson pauses until he gets a nod from the girl. "I wanted to marry you. I thought we were gonna start a new life together, but once you found out you weren't pregnant… your plans changed."
"I don't understand…" April states, slightly confused. "I appreciated the fact that you were gonna marry me so that our child wouldn't be born out of wedlock, but you were the one that ended things."
"You still don't get it," Jackson states, shaking his head. "I ended things because…"
Jackson doesn't finish his sentence. He doesn't want to admit what he's kept hidden for so long. He doesn't want to be back at that place where he's completely vulnerable and gets rejected by this girl he's completely crazy about.
"Jackson, please… just tell me," April pleads.
"I ended it because it was clear that you didn't feel the same way as me," Jackson finally says.
"And how was that?" April questions.
"I was in love with you April…" Jackson admits. "I didn't offer to marry you just cuz we thought you were pregnant… I offered because I would've asked you eventually. The pregnancy scare just sped up the process a little."
April just stands there, completely dumbfounded by this new information. She always knew that Jackson cared about her, but she could've never imagined that he was actually in love with her. Jackson was the type of guy that could have any girl he wanted so April just figured that while they were together, he was just passing the time until someone better came along. To her, Jackson would always hold a special place in her heart, being that not only was he her best friend, but he was also her first. Outside of that, she didn't think that their time together meant as much to him as it did to her.
When the cloud of the pregnancy scare was lifted, she thought by telling Jackson that they didn't have to get married, she was releasing him from any obligation he might feel to stay with her. But hearing the words that Jackson just spoke, April realizes that she couldn't have been more wrong.
"You were in love with me?" April says aloud, still not really believing the admission.
"Yeah…" Jackson responds back barely above a whisper.
"Why… why didn't you tell me?" April inquires.
"I was hurt… after everything that happened, it just felt kinda pointless," Jackson states honestly. "And now that you know the truth and I've made a fool out of myself, I'm gonna go to Joe's and get hammered."
As Jackson turns around to continue his trek to his car, April grabs his arm to halt his movements.
"Do you still love me?" April asks hopefully.
"It doesn't really matter now, does it?" Jackson states rhetorically.
"Yes… it matters to me," April replies. "Do you still love me?"
Jackson contemplates lying to the girl so that he can finally end this conversation, but what the hell… he's already let his guard down.
"Yes…" Jackson simply states, not meeting her eyes.
"Jackson, I…" April fumbles her words as she processes this latest piece of information. "I…"
Throwing caution to the wind, April roughly grabs Jackson's face and pulls him into her. The moment their lips connect, April relishes in the familiar feeling that she's been missing for the past few months. It takes a moment for Jackson to realize what's going on before he reacts. Although he's missed being with April, the fear of being rejected again plagued through his mind.
"What are you doing?" Jackson questions as he places his hands on April's shoulders, gently pushing her back to create some distance between them.
"I love you, Jackson… I know I should've told you a while ago, but I honestly didn't think you felt the same," April confesses.
Jackson is taken aback by the girl's bluntness, still not believing her words.
"Don't say that if you don't mean it," Jackson warns.
"I mean it… with all my heart," April replies. "Give me a chance to prove it to you."
Staring into April's eyes, Jackson searches for any hint of doubt. Luckily for him though, all he sees is the sincerity behind her watery eyes. On a whim, Jackson takes a chance and softly attaches his lips to April's. As she reciprocates, the two get lost in their own little world, completely forgetting about their surroundings.
"Okay…" is all Jackson says before he feels April smiling into their kiss.
After a few minutes of reuniting their lips with each other, the two finally break apart for air.
"C'mon… let's go to Joe's," April says, linking her hand with Jackson's. "The first round is on me."
"I knew I missed having you around for a reason," Jackson jokes. April playfully rolls her eyes at her boyfriend before dragging him towards the parking deck, hand-in-hand.
I guess it still remains true when you spend a day at Seattle Grace… nobody knows where they might end up.
Author's Note:
Hey guys! This is an idea for a one-shot that I've had for a while now. In light of the tragic news that has rocked the Glee community, I felt that this was an opportunity to deliver this message through these characters. Life is short. We're most definitely not promised tomorrow so please don't delay telling the people you care about just how much they mean to you. (PS – I'm in the process of working on the next chapter of Recipe for Disaster. Thanks again for all of your support!)
Much love,
-Kris
Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything!
*RIP Cory*