Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
Brittany awoke to the high pitched buzz of her alarm clock. 6:30, the numbers glowed. Eyes still closed she reached over smacking her nightstand trying desperately in her near conscious state to remember the location of her clock and the off button that would set her in quiet bliss. Quickly giving up she reached down feeling for the cord and ripped the plug out of the socket. She dropped her arm and let it dangle, allowing herself a moment to melt into her bed before having to begin the day.
"Santana," the name fumbled out of her dry mouth. "San," she repeated, rolling over to see the empty spot next to her. For a moment her heart dropped. She knew Santana had to leave but she had really hoped she would have stayed.
The bright red-orange sunrise just breaking the skyline seeped through the closed window shades illuminating the room to just barely warranting not needing a light. Brittany's sleep filled eyes fell across an envelope lying on her bed with her name neatly scrawled in the center. She grabbed the envelope with one hand and pushed herself up with the other. Leaning against the headboard she rubbed feverishly at her eyes trying to get rid of the "sand" residing in the corners. Once satisfied she was awake she slipped her finger into a small opening at the top and ripped it open. Out of it she pulled a short hand written letter. It read:
Brittany,
I'm sorry I had to leave last night, but to make it up to you I'd like you to meet me at BreadstiX at 6. Wear something nice.
Love,
Santana
P.S. I'm not going to be in school today, see if you can find a ride. Sorry.
A soft smile played across Brittany's face, almost whimsical as she let different scenarios of the night-to-be play through her mind. She perched the letter up using the lamp as a stand and leaned back again closing her eyes. She envisioned a romantic dinner at BreadstiX followed by a night of cuddling on the couch watching a movie or a night drive to a quaint town outside of Lima. She was simple in nature and just wanted the company and feeling of being loved that she got from Santana. She imagined her there with her; she could feel the weight of her arms wrapped around her and the heat of their skin pressed together. She relaxed against the invisible touch and drifted back into the world of dreamers.
Her limp form sat upon a wooden chair like a ragdoll thrown in the corner. The only precision in her placement began at her wrists, which had been secured to the chair's arms with a generous amount of duct tape, and ended at her ankles, which received the same treatment. The room she resided in bore no windows, not to a hallway or another room, or even to the outside world. Not a shred of light shone to hint weather it was day or night. The sole occupier sat forgotten in a world of complete darkness.
Santana slowly began to stir. Her eyelids felt like sandbags refusing to lighten so that she could open her eyes, and her neck ached from supporting her head that had dangled lifelessly for hours on her chest. She made an attempt to move her arms which she quickly found futile because, like her eyelids, even one finger felt as though it weighed a hundred pounds. She tried picking up her head but found only enough energy to sway it back and forth.
Her mind was bogged down from the drugs, and the memories of the night prior slowly began to filter their way into her conscious. She remembered falling asleep in Brittany's bed which made her heart instinctly skip. A few deep breaths brought the rest of the night flooding back. She could feel the pain across her chest where the seatbelt dug into her skin stopping her from crashing through the window when she brought the car to a sudden halt. It had no doubt begun to bruise; every breath she took told her that. She silently prayed that she had dreamt it all but found herself quite unconvincing.
She managed to pry her eyes open only to see nothing different from when they were closed. The typical fearless Santana felt a twinge of adrenaline soar through her chest. She wasn't afraid of the dark, she was just afraid of what she couldn't see in the dark.
A blast of cold air shook her senses back into place. Until that point she had not noticed the goose bumps that covered her bare arms or the fact that her toes were numb from coldness not the drugs that had coursed through her veins hours ago. She felt her jaw uncontrollably quiver. The temperature had to be close to freezing and the only clothing she sported was her cheerleading uniform.
She took a breath and let out a deep sigh. With all her might she lifted her head and let it fall back so she was staring at what she imagined would be the ceiling. Her head was throbbing like railroad spikes being hammered through her brain. She pulled her arms only to find them securely fastened to the chair.
Her stomach stated to churn. The muscles that had been working so hard to contain her stomach's contents turned on her and she fought desperately to get control. In mere moments the color drained from her face and she threw her body to the side of the chair and heaved last night's remnants all over the ground. She sat for a moment, breathless without an ounce of energy to spare. She spit at the ground trying to get the rancid, acidic taste out of her mouth. Her eyes started to burn and she could feel them filling with tears. Come on Santana, you can do this, stay strong, she told herself. She squeezed her eyes tight and felt a few stray tears slide down her face. Stifling a sob she opened her eyes to see a crack of light shining into the room.
"Just give me a call when she leaves and you're in position. Ok?" She heard the male voice in the doorway call down the hall. She cocked her head to the side trying to get a look into the hallway but to no avail.
The door flew forcefully open slamming against the wall. The sudden burst of light blinded Santana causing her to slam her eyes shut. She heard the door close. Cautiously she opened her eyes only to find herself once again engulfed by darkness. She took a couple of shaky breaths. A light flicked on shining directly in her face causing her to recoil into the chair and squint into the darkness beyond the light.
"Alright dude, enough with the light show already," she demanded.
"That's the problem with you Santana," a voice cooed from her left sending shivers up her spine. "You're so demanding. It's your way or nothing at all. You don't listen to reason and you don't bend to help other people, it's just always about you and you being right." She could hear the voice moving around her to her other side where her dinner puddled.
"I see you already can't handle being in here, that's a shame because this is going to be your home for awhile."
He finally took a step into the light. Standing not more than a foot from her was a boy just short of 6 feet. His blonde hair ruffled in a mess on the top of his head and his face full of scruff. His eyes colored a brilliant blue, but tinted with ice, glared menacingly at her. He had a jaw of stone and his chiseled body was visible under his tight t-shirt. The air around him screamed danger and if Santana wasn't stuck in that chair she would have been sure to be on the opposite side of the room of him, but to hell if she'd let him know that.
"You're like twelve," she said trying to stifle a fake laugh only to have it come out as more of a snort. He placed his hands on the backboard of the chair, bent down and leaned in so his face was almost touching hers.
"You better learn quickly, I'm the one in control. You're snide remarks won't get you very far. In fact, they'll probably hurt you more than help," he took a breath and made a disgusted face. He pulled out a rag from his back pocket, grabbed her face with the opposing hand and began wiping at the sides of her mouth. "Next time you puke, try not to do it on yourself, it's embarrassing." She pulled her head away trying to hide the fact that at the point she really did feel embarrassed.
"Santana, Santana, Santana, I bet you don't even know why you're here do you?" he asked standing back up and throwing the rag in a corner. She glared at him with a look of hatred. "I was really hoping you weren't going to take that as a rhetorical question. I'm truly interested into seeing what's going on in that wittle head of yours," he said as if talking to a child. He gave her a half smile and a wink and turned around fiddling with what had been hiding behind him. A TV showing a completely blue screen flickered to life. He walked around the TV and leaned on the back of it looking at Santana in silence.
"Alright!" He yelled seemingly exasperated. "You can't figure it out on your own? I guess I'll have to tell you." He slammed a fist on the top of the TV. Santana was shocked by his sudden change of tone, he was truly proving to be psychotic.
"Do you not understand the problems with the way you choose to live your life? It is unnatural and against all rules of human nature to have a relationship between two people of the same sex. God began with Adam and Eve for a reason Santana! What you're doing is disgusting and completely wrong. And to flaunt it to everyone in school and to everyone in town is just completely selfish and ignorant. I know I can't change you, not that I would, I don't like you much. I don't have any plans to even try but you have no right dragging someone else into the disgraceful and dishonorable lifestyle you call your own. It's not only that but how many guys have you led on and then laughed about knowing fully that they'd never have a chance. You toy with people, you destroy lives. And Brittany, poor Brittany…"
"Are you fucking kidding me right now!" screamed Santana thrashing against her restraints. "Where do you get off saying what's right and wrong. Brittany has nothing to do with me and you right now so leave her the hell out of it. You're such a fucking coward, you have to tie me down to say this to me." He stormed over to her and with immense force smacked her across the face. Her head snapped to the side and the sound of flesh on flesh echoed through room. She sat breathless and shocked, her face throbbing.
"I'm in control, remember that?" he growled. "It's too late to fix you but I'm going to make you feel the pain that you brought to your family and to everyone around you. Sweet, innocent Brittany, well she had no choice, you manipulated her, she didn't know any better. I can save her. I can save her from you and I can save her from the pain and humiliation you're already causing her. I'm going to make you watch every second of it. The girl you say you 'love'…" he said using air quotes, "…is going to forget you ever existed."
He turned back to the TV and switched the channel. Now the screen was split in two. On the left side all she saw was static and on the right was a video being taken from a car parked across the street from Brittany's house looking at her front door.
"You see these here?" he asked pulling out a pair of glasses. He put them on his face and tapped the rim, the static on the TV turned to picture. Santana could see herself on the screen, she hadn't realized how disheveled and beaten she looked . "These have a little camera built into them so that you'll be able to see everything that I do today, I mean at least everything I want you to see. And over here," he said tapping to the right side of the screen. "My buddy has the same thing. This way while I'm out ruining your life you can at least watch me do it. I want you to witness every moment of your life falling into the void of non-existence. Feel the pain, every little bit of it," he said accenting every word.
"Looks like Britt Britt is running late for school," he taunted watching Santana cringe at the use of her nickname for Brittany. "Time for me to get going. Try to have a great day Santana," he said with a smirk. He turned the light off leaving Santana with nothing but the glow from the television and made his exit.
She sat there staring into the blackness completely overwhelmed by everything that was happening. It had to be a dream, there was no way possible that anything that had just happened could have happened. She couldn't comprehend what was going on, couldn't feel emotion, she just sat in her chair paralyzed, unable to think, unable to move.
Brittany slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a moment before a feeling of complete urgency shot through her body. She sprang up in bed and looked over at Lord Tubbington who was curled up on her desk chair.
"Lord Tubbington what time is it?" she asked frantically. She grabbed her alarm clock and looked at it for an answer forgetting she had unplugged it. "Crap!" she exclaimed stumbling across her room, grabbing her phone from the dresser. She impatiently waited for it to turn on, tapping her toes against the carpet and biting her bottom lip. 8:42 it read, school started at 8.
Beep. New text message.
Hey Britt, just wondering where you and Santana are. Her phone's turned off but I figured you'd be together. Listen, you guys do what you want but make sure you're here for Cheerios practice or Coach will have you heads. Of course Quinn was only interested on them being there for cheerleading practice.
Beep. Another text message.
Brittany, hey, don't mean to bother you but I'm just making sure you remembered you said you would back me up today in glee club. I mean I can totally do the number tomorrow or something so don't think I'm pressuring you into coming to school. Stay home! You should, yeah, definitely, you need a break, you should stay home today, I'll just do my song later in the week. Hey, sorry I bothered you. Artie made her laugh, he was such a sweet guy. She opened a text back.
Artie! I didn't forget I just overslept, I'll be there so don't worry. Love. Britt
"Tubbington, why didn't you wake me up! Now I'm late for school and don't even have time to shower," the cat just looked at her with a monotone look on his face. She grabbed a clean uniform from her dresser and hobbled down the hallway to the bathroom trying to put on her socks. She pulled out her phone, dialing Santana's number. The phone went to voicemail after the second ring.
"Santana, I just woke up, I'm late for school. I know you said I needed to find a ride but I really need you right now, please call me back as soon as you get this," she said with desperation in her voice. At that time in the morning everyone was already at school and her parents were at work. She had no other option than to call Santana, that is except to walk, which would make her that much later than she already was.
She spent ten minutes getting ready, three of which were spent gazing at the shower wishing she could just hop in and spend half the morning enjoying the warm water. She sprinted down the stairs, slipping her shoes and jacket on. Santana had still not called back and as much as Brittany wanted to wait to see if she would, she just as much wanted to get to school. So she grabbed her backpack and cheerleading bag and bolted out the door. She started her walk at a brisk pace but after five minutes had significantly slowed down. The weight of two bags made it difficult to move fast.
Brittany reached into her pocket and pulled out her iPod. She jammed the ear buds into her ears and cranked the volume as loud as it could go. She approached a crosswalk and stopped just short of the street waiting for the streetlight to change. A car whizzed by speeding through a puddle that Brittany hadn't even seen. The previously calm water leapt from its reservoir soaking Brittany from head to toe. She stood perfectly still in utter disbelief with eyes closed, just letting the water drip down her face. Just past 9 o'clock and the day was already kicking her ass.
She stepped back further on the sidewalk and set her bags down. Opening up her cheerleading bag she threw her iPod in and searched for something to dry off with.
"Hey, you look a little wet." No duh, she thought. A dark blue Honda Civic had pulled up and parked on the side of the road next to her. Apparently the owner of the vehicle felt it necessary to drive around and point out the blatantly obvious. "Here, let me help you."
The boy stepped out of his car and threw open the back passenger door and begun digging for something in his back seat. Moments later he was holding a towel in the air above his head with a look of victory on his face. He rounded the car and walked over to where she stood.
"There you go, that's better," he claimed, gazing into her eyes as he wiped away the water from her face.
"Thank you," she replied, reaching up to take control of the towel. She took grip of the fabric but he did not let go. Instead he reached up with his other hand and placed in on hers.
"That other guy was just a jerk," he said still holding eye contact. "He doesn't know how someone as beautiful as you should be treated."
Brittany's heart fluttered. She loved Santana and nothing was going to change that but it didn't hurt her self-esteem when someone else flirted with her. And this boy was absolutely gorgeous. She could feel his brilliant blue eyes pierce through her soul although they hid behind glasses. His blonde hair was ruffled in a mess at the top and scruff covered his face. He had a jaw of stone but to her it seemed soft. And his hand, the one that lay on top of hers felt strong but gentle. He made her feel comfortable.
"Forgive me for staring, I just can't take my eyes off of yours," Brittany blushed. He gave a small chuckle and looked away at the ground. "I see you're late for school as well, can I at least give you a ride, maybe make up for how the rest of the day seems to be going?" he asked looking back at her.
"That would actually be amazing," she replied letting out a deep sigh. He let go of the towel and picked up Brittany's bags putting them in the back seat of the car. He opened her door for and just before she got in he reached out his hand.
"I'm Adam by the way."
"I'm Brittany," she accepted his hand and got into his car. He gently closed her door and rounded back around the car, a coy smile on his
Author's Note: I'm sorry it took so long to update. Thank you BrittanaFan and HemoHasMyHeart for your kind words, thank you, really.