Brittany's apartment - 30 seconds later
"What? Are you breaking up with me?" he asked anxious.
Brittany was about to start crying, she was feeling very bad about the whole situation. She just wanted to be honest with him, but she was so afraid of the consequences. The past weeks had been emotionally overwhelming and she wasn't sure about anything anymore. She had kept on repeating to herself that she was so in love with the guy, that seeing Santana wasn't meaning anything but every time she was telling that it seemed like another lie. She just wanted to tell the truth because she was feeling so guilty about all those lies but also because she really needed to speak about the situation. She wanted to be with him, to make things work, and being honest was the only way.
"No Matt, but there is something I need to tell you. I tried to hide it from you but I can't take it anymore, I just can't."
She sat on the couch next to him, he seemed very upset and worried at the same time.
"B, you know that you can tell me everything but you're really scaring me right now. So please if there is something that you have to say, go ahead. Please" his depressed tone wasn't helping her.
Brittany was paralyzed by the fear, she couldn't help but remember Santana's words.
It's better when it doesn't involve feelings.
"Damn, she was right" she thought knowing that she wasn't really meaning it.
She looked up at him, took his hands and said.
"I've been lying to you." As soon as she pronounced those words she glanced down scared. She couldn't go one with that.
"About what?" he insisted.
"When I was in high school I dated a person for a year. It was my first important relationship and this was my first love, then this person left for college and our relationship ended and I was left heart broken." She started.
Matt smiled and stopped her. "Oh god, Britt. You scared me to death. I don't care about your past relationships, you're so beautiful, when we started dating I took into account that you must have had so many boyfriends. Oh honey, I haven't ever asked about them because it upsets me to imagine you with another guy, but it's okay." He said and then he hugged her.
Brittany pulled back. "Wait, there's more." Matt's face darkened again.
"Ok, it's now or never" she thought
"This person was a girl, actually she was my best friend. And she also happens to be the latin young woman that is launching her album right now." She said all at once.
Matt was clearly astonished. He didn't say anything at all, he just stared at her for some seconds.
Brittany didn't want to rush any reaction but that wait was like a torture to her.
"Please say something."
He left her hands go. She felt so bad in that moment, he was looking at her with a disgusted expression. Then the only thing he could say was.
"Do you like girls?" his voice was so adversary.
Brittany wanted to start crying, she had never felt so uncomfortable and wrong in her entire life, she forced herself to be strong. No one had the right to treat her like that, she wasn't ashamed of her relationship with Santana, so who was he to make her feel that way?
"Matt, it's complicated. I only liked one girl, her." She replied trying to be as honest as possible.
"I see. So, what are you telling me right now? That you're a lesbian? That for the past three year I made love with a girl who was thinking of another girl? How could you do that to me?" he screamed standing up.
She had never seen him like that, she couldn't hold the pressure anymore. She started crying.
"What? No! " she tried to say but he wasn't stopping.
"You know why I cared so much about tonight? Because of this!" and he pulled out of his pocket a little black box, a ring box. Brittany had a heart attack.
She wanted to say something but she wasn't understanding anything.
Matt looked at her again with that disgusted look. He throw away the box.
"Tell me something, were you with her tonight?" he asked raging.
She looked down, ashamed.
"Yes."
"Oh great, thank you. I was about to propose to you and you were making lesbian things with your ex-girlfriend."
"Nothing happened, I swear. She needed me." Those words made him even angrier.
"She needed you?! Brittany I hope you're kidding me! That whore needed you?! "
Brittany stood up.
"Don't you dare calling her like that!" she screamed exhausted.
Matt froze, then he smiled with a disturbing sneer.
"So now, you're protecting her."
"Matt, she doesn't have anything to do with this situation. Please calm down."
Matt rushed to her, they where face to face. He was o mad.
"You lied to me for three years, you didn't tell me that you are working with you first high school love and you have the courage to tell me to calm down?"
"I never thought you could have betrayed me like that!" he shouted
Brittany was desperate. "I didn't cheat on you! I didn't tell you because I was afraid of your reaction, and I was right about that!"
"Oh, what were you expecting? Me saying oh it's fine if you're a lesbian and you're working with your ex who happens to be another lesbian bitch!"
Brittany had enough about that.
"Stop it! I said don't you dare calling her like that, you don't know her. She's never judged me, she's always treated me with respect! She's way better than you right now. "
And Matt lost it, he suddenly slapped her in the face.
Both of them stopped, Brittany looked up at him with a scared expression trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Oh my god, Britt. I'm sorry" she said trying to hug her.
Brittany stepped back, the eyes full of tears, shaking. She turned and run out of the apartment.
The Waldorf hotel – 25 minutes later
Taking a long hot shower was the best way to end that day. Santana smiled for no reason while she was wearing her pajama. Four hours ago she was feeling desperate and hopeless and now she was happy and confident about her forthcoming future. The time spent with Brittany had been amazing and it really helped her to get distracted a little from all the stress. Brittany had been such a friend and she was starting being confident about her relationship. Even if Brittany had tried in any possible ways to ignore their past and to pretend that working with her wasn't such a big deal, she knew that that blonde girl was still caring about her.
She was about to get under the sheets when she heard someone knocking at her door. She snorted.
"It must be someone from the reception" she thought approaching annoyed to the door. She was so tired, the only thing she wanted was going to sleep.
She opened the door and she found herself confused from what she saw. Brittany was standing there, looking down. She seemed shocked, she was shaking and she wasn't looking at her.
Before Santana could say anything Brittany asked "Can I come in?"
Then she looked up at her, Santana's heart had a stroke.
Brittany had a terrible look, she must have cried since her makeup was smudged, but what really hit Santana was her whole expression, it was a mix of sadness, desperation and discouragement .
As soon as her eyes met Santana's ones she stated crying again.
"Oh my god, Britt. What happened? Come in!" she said hugging her and leading her into the room. She managed to make Brittany sit on her bed, then she started gently caressing her cheeks, her shoulders trying to calm her down.
Brittany was sobbing, she was holding Santana's hand so tight as she could gain some courage by that contact.
"I told him." She confessed out of the blue.
"What?" Santana asked, she figured she was speaking about Matt.
"About us, about the fact we used to date." She managed to say some way.
"Didn't he know that?" she replied astonished, how was it possible that the person that was living with Brittany had absolutely no clue of who she really was.
"No, I've never told him that we had a relationship. I don't know why, I guess I was just scared about his reaction." She said desperately, hiding her face in her hands.
"I guess I didn't go very well." She supposed.
Brittany let out something that seemed a nervous laugh.
"Well it depends how you see it. If you consider that in the same night I got a proposal and a slap." She said without thinking about the consequences that that fact could have on Santana.
It was like a ring bell for her. She froze.
"WHAT?! DID HE.." she almost screamed, then she realize she was talking to Brittany and she wasn't the responsible for that. she didn't want to upset her more that she already was so she took a deep breath and she said with a lower voice. "Did he slap you?"
Brittany turned her face to stare her right in the eyes, it was very hard for Santana do uphold that sad and heartbreaking look. Brittany just nodded without adding anything to the story.
"Son of a…" Santana stood up "Oh, I'm going to chick his white ass, I'll promise you, Britt, I will go all Lima Heights with him."
Brittany was still holding her hand, she pulled her back on the bed.
"San please don't. I'm fine, he didn't mean to hurt me." She said trying to make her forget about that story. Santana noticed that Brittany was really upset and worried about the whole situation, she just wanted to be supportive and not to create anymore problems. There was only one problem, she couldn't think straight in that moment, the fact that that bastard had put his hands on her Brittany was something she couldn't forget.
Since the first time she had met that girl she had felt the unreasonable instinct of protecting her, no matter what.
"Britt, I trust your judgment and I'll promise I won't do anything stupid. But you can't expect to tell me something like this and not to have a reaction from me. Do you remember how I used to treat the persons that were hurting you ? I am so furious right now, thanks God he's not here or I'll punch him right in the face."
Even if it was very sweet from Santana to be so concern for her Brittany was incapable of feeling anything in that moment.
"I know, but it's my fault Santana. I lied to him and I kept this big secret, he has all the right to be mad at me." She replied with a weak voice.
Santana wanted to reply that that kid had absolutely no rights to slap her, but she didn't want to win any battle with her.
"Oh Britt"
They look at each other, then Santana hugged her without over thinking, the next moment she realized she wasn't ready for that.
It was their first real physical contact after five years. Brittany hold her tight and hid her face in Santana's shoulder.
"I'm here Britt, you can stay here if you want." Then she let her go, they were extremely close, their foreheads were still touching. They stare again, looking into each other eyes, deeply into the souls.
All of sudden Santana felt the urge to kiss her but she desisted before even started getting closer.
"San, it's not the right time to try anything stupid!" she reproached herself.
Brittany replied with the sweetest voice ever. "Thank you, I didn't know where to go."
Santana got her a glass of water and then Brittany started talking the whole story. They spoke for over an hour about that. Santana was pleased about the fact that Brittany had tried to defend her with her boyfriend. She understood of course the reason that made Matt so upset, but she couldn't excuse him at all the manners that he had used.
They were lying on the bed, sometimes touching each other, a caress, a touch, a hug. Santana was only thinking about making Brittany feel better but she was enjoying that time with her. She was so sweet, defenseless and minute by minute she was realizing how much she still cared about that dancer.
"It's me…I always put myself in these situation. " Brittany said ironically.
"Well at least you can win the world record of the weirdest proposal ever." Santana teased.
Brittany looked at her in a bad way. Santana thought that maybe it wasn't fear to mock her about that. she smiled embarrassed.
"Too soon?" she asked.
"You jerk." Brittany said laughing.
The laughed at each other. Santana was feeling in heaven, but as all the good things it wasn't going to last much.
They heard someone knocking at the door.
"Oh come on, who's it now?" she said upset.
Brittany rose and said with an ashamed tone.
"It's Matt. I texted him where I was" Brittany confessed.
Santana looked at her, disappointed.
"What? We have to talk and you know that."
"I'm not letting go home with him. If anything happens to you I would never forgive myself."
"San, don't argue. I'm going to be fine, I'm not your responsibility anymore." She said.
Those words broke Santana's heart.
"Ok, do what you want."
"Thank you. Can you tell me I'm on my way. I just need a minute."
Santana approached to the door, her heart was beating so fast.
When a latin girl opened the door he could not believe himself. That girl was Brittany past lover? She was the gorgeous girl he had ever seen, even more beautiful than Brittany if it was even possible. He felt immediately threatened by her presence and also by the way she was staring him.
Matt was nice, nothing special she thought. She didn't say anything she just stood there, looking him in a bad way and studying her opponent.
"I'm Matt." He said.
"I know." She replied without introducing herself.
"Brittany is coming" she added.
"Oh, ok. I'll wait at the elevator" he said probably because he wanted to get out of that awkward situation.
Santana stopped him grabbing his arm.
"Wait. I just want you to listen for 10 seconds. "
Matt was about to say something but Santana didn't let him talk.
"Aha." She said shaking her head and letting him understand that he had to be quiet.
"I just want to tell you that you'd better behave in the perfect way with her. Am I clear?"
He nodded, he was about to turn bu she didn't let him go.
"Last thing, you know that stupid cliché on latin people that says that they are always in touch with some mob people?"
She stepped forward bringing her mouth very close to his ear. She whispered.
"Well, in my case it's true."
It wasn't.
"Bye." He said going away.
When Brittany left she closed the door. She went to bed and turned off the light. She was feeling so tired but she couldn't sleep. She was thinking about Brittany's last word.
I'm not your responsibility anymore
She wasn't hers anymore, she was feeling very bad about it. She wanted that to change, but she had no clue how do to that. maybe Brittany had really turned her page forever, maybe she really wanted that Matt guy and maybe she didn't have a spot in her heart any more.
Maybe it was time to start thinking about her future not her past.
