School's back in session. Winter break was fairly uneventful other than the concert that Stress Management played. It was pretty fun and Brittany and Santana didn't mind all of the mistletoe hanging around either. Santana was a little worried about all of the PDA and thought that her parents might find out through word of mouth, but she likes Brittany too much to care. Santana wants to tell her parents, but she also doesn't want to be disowned; which is a very real possibility.

School is nice though. Santana's parents have accepted that Brittany is one of Santana's new 'best friends'. It was part of the truth, just not the whole truth because Santana believed that they can't handle the truth. Santana liked that she didn't really have to pretend to be someone else at school and that with the school work that they received; Santana could spend some more time with Brittany.

However, school started with an odd call to the principal's office. Both Santana and Brittany were called into the office like before, and, like before, neither knew why they were there. Mr. Figgins and Mrs. Eckhart were occupying the office when Brittany and Santana made their appearance.

"Please, ladies, sit," Mr. Figgins pointed to the two seats opposite of his desk. Mr. Figgins sat down at his desk while Mrs. Eckhart remained standing. "So, do you ladies know why you are here today?"

Mr. Figgins always acts like the students can read his mind. "No, sir," Santana responded.

"You're here today to discuss the significant improvement in Miss Pierce's grades," Mr. Figgins started.

Santana's first thought was that maybe Brittany would receive some kind of award or that the principal would congratulate her. Brittany thought along the same lines. The two shared a brief smile.

Mr. Figgins continued, "The rapid improvement in Miss Pierce's grades is unprecedented. It's very unreal…"

Now, the couple was confused.

"Brittany has never received a letter grade higher than a D in history and all of the sudden she's receiving an A in my class," Mrs. Eckhart, their history teacher explained.

"So, if there is something that you two would like to confess to concerning this, please speak up now," Mr. Figgins said looking from Brittany to Santana and back.

"Wait," Santana shook her head in disbelief, "Are you accusing us of cheating?"

Brittany's expression dropped when she realized what this meeting was actually about. She thought that for once she would be congratulated for her grades, but now all her hopes were crushed.

"Well, these changes didn't really start until you, Miss Lopez, started tutoring her…and dating her," Mrs. Eckhart added with a glare.

Homophobic bitch! Santana's thoughts screamed as she tried to hold her tongue, "I'm honestly appalled by this accusation! A student who's been having a hard time in school finally understands the material and your first thought is that she must be cheating! You both should be proud as educators that Brittany is doing so well! Brittany's success is because of hard work and perseverance and not as a result of cheating!" Santana was fuming. She was basically yelling at the principal.

"Santana, it's okay," Brittany placed a hand on Santana's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. Santana took in a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm herself down.

Brittany chimed in on the conversation, "First of all, I'm not cheating, I would never cheat. The reason why I had such bad grades is because I honestly didn't understand the material. If I would have cheated I would have gotten better grades in 9th and 10th grade. Anyway, Santana has been teaching me everything in a way that I actually understand it. Santana actually believes that I have a learning disability called Dynomita…"

"Dysnomia," Santana corrected.

"Yeah, that, and it's where a person has a hard time recalling a word or a name from memory. We've been working on things that help me to recall things better. We associate things with colors, pictures, and songs. I've even been keeping a journal to help me remember specific things that happened during the day so that I can remember by reading what I wrote. It has been helping me a lot," Brittany explained.

"I don't buy it. Brittany has had too much of a dramatic improvement in her grades for this to be the case," Mrs. Eckhart said.

Santana was about to rip her head off, "That's just because no one has ever cared enough to notice! Plus, tests in your class count for 75% of our grades and the tests are essays. How do you explain cheating on that?!"

"Miss Lopez, I will not accept such tone. If you continue to talk to me in such a manner, I'll be forced to give you a detention!" Mrs. Eckhart threatened.

"Well excuse me for being upset that my girlfriend was really happy about getting such good grades after all of her hard work only to be put down by you! Plus, I think that the only real reason this concern was brought up is because we're a lesbian couple and if that's the case, I wouldn't mind getting the ACLU involved!" Santana continued to practically shout.

"That's it Miss Lopez! You'll be receiving a detention from me for the next week!" Mrs. Eckhart followed through on her threat.

"I don't think that will be necessary Mrs. Eckhart," Mr. Figgins jumped in. "Miss Lopez has a point about Miss Pierce. However, your behavior was unacceptable, please apologize to Mrs. Eckhart and you will not receive detention."

Santana didn't want to apologize to the homophobic bitch, but she decided that it was probably in her best interest to do so. "I'm sorry Mrs. Eckhart," Santana spat the words. The apology left a nasty, acidy taste in her mouth.

"Now, I can't just drop these accusations of cheating. However, I will schedule an appointment with our school psychologist. If she determines that Miss Pierce has a learning disability, then we will forget about this whole thing," Mr. Figgins suggested.

Brittany really didn't want to go to a psychologist and Santana knew it. Brittany looked at Santana with worried eyes and Santana looked back with encouraging ones. "Okay, I'll do it," Brittany said never looking away from Santana's encouraging stare.

"I'll set up an appointment for tomorrow," Mr. Figgins replied as he wrote down some information.

The couple then stood up and silently left Mr. Figgins's office. Santana took a second to look over her shoulder at Mrs. Eckhart who looked exasperated. A small smile pulled at the corner of her mouth before she turned back around to leave.

Once they were safely in the hall, Brittany began to cry. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"I-I don't want to go to a psychologist, you know how I feel about that," Brittany replied as she wrapped her arms around Santana.

"I promise, it's not going to be anything like when you had that dream about being on an alien space ship," Santana replied with a smile as she ran her hand up and down Brittany's back reassuringly.

"Are you sure? I mean, aliens aside, I hate going to doctors," Brittany never let go of Santana.

"I promise. And don't worry, this kind of doctor isn't going to give you a shot and isn't even allowed to have anything sharp to touch you with," Santana continued.

"This doesn't really seem like a doctor then. I mean even my dentist has scary sharp things," Brittany explained.

"Yeah, well psychologists are at the very bottom of the doctor food chain. They only really ask you questions and stuff. It's no big deal."

"Can you go with me?" Brittany wondered as she held Santana a little closer.

"I don't think so, baby. But if you want, I can wait outside for you," Santana suggested.

"I'd like that," Brittany replied.

"Sounds like a plan."

Santana paced frantically outside the school psychologist's office. This meeting was taking place during eighth hour so Santana had nothing but Brittany to focus on. Santana didn't like that Brittany had to meet with the school psychologist. Santana knows that Brittany really doesn't like going to doctors, even the really harmless kind. This psychologist chick better be nice to her or I swear to God I'll…

Brittany stepped out of the psychologist's office before Santana could finish her thought. "Brittany, how did it go?" Santana wondered as she placed a hand on her girlfriend's arm.

"Good, Ms. Jacobson is really nice. She gave me this," Brittany handed the piece of paper to Santana. "She said that you might be right about the Dynamite and referred me to Dr. Schaeffer."

"Dysnomia," Santana corrected before asking, "So she's going to tell Mr. Figgins that you're innocent, right?"

"Yeah, she said that you've been doing all the right things to help me learn. Ms. Jacobson said that you must be one hell of a girlfriend," Brittany added.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Brittany replied before kissing Santana. After pulling away from Santana, Brittany said, "I'm going to have to talk to my parents about this tonight, so I'm not going to be able to come to band practice."

"That's alright, baby, I understand," Santana sympathized with her girlfriend. "Do you need me there with you?"

"No, you should go to band practice. It's not a big deal."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Brittany assured Santana as she laced their fingers together and led Santana up to the library for tutoring.

It's been a week since Brittany's meeting with the school psychologist. Brittany's parents were so upset with themselves for never noticing that Brittany had a problem. They were trying to make it up to her, but Brittany didn't really need them to make anything up to her. Brittany was just worried about having to go to another doctor.

Brittany had her first session with Dr. Schaeffer later today and she was terrified because he works in a hospital. Santana tried to calm her down, but nothing was working. Santana tried joking with Brittany, holding her, telling her stories, and telling her why she loved her, but nothing seemed to calm her down. Brittany had explained that Ms. Jacobson didn't seem so scary because she worked at the school, but she didn't want to go to someone outside of school. It was all just too scary for her.

Santana, of course, went with Brittany and the rest of the Pierce family to the doctor's office. Brittany was visibly shaking. "It's going to be okay. I promise. This doctor is just like Ms. Jacobson," Santana attempted to reassure Brittany.

Brittany didn't reply, she just continued to be freaked out. Santana didn't fully understand why Brittany was so shaken by doctors, but she did understand that she hated seeing Brittany so vulnerable. Santana placed a kiss to Brittany's forehead, "I'll be right here if you need me."

Brittany simply nodded and walked into the office. After a while, Brittany and Dr. Schaeffer left his office to get scans of Brittany's head. They then disappeared back into Dr. Schaeffer's office.

After what seemed like days, Brittany walked back out of the office. She didn't look as shaken as she did when she entered the office earlier and Santana was grateful. "Can you guys come inside?" Brittany wondered.

The Pierces and Santana got up and walked into the doctor's office. Dr. Schaeffer was an older man with a grin a mile wide. "Hello everyone, please take a seat," Dr. Schaeffer instructed. Everyone did as they were told. Santana sat on the couch next to Brittany and immediately placed her hand in Brittany's. Brittany laced her fingers with Santana and gently squeezed her hand; a silent 'thank you'. This transaction didn't go unnoticed by the doctor.

"You must be Santana," Dr. Schaeffer nodded towards Santana.

"Yes, sir," Santana replied.

Dr. Schaeffer smiled and continued, "Well, I have confirmed your diagnosis. I do believe that Brittany has Dysnomia. I'm stunned that you discovered her condition when it has flown under the radar for all of these years. You must really care for Brittany."

"I do," Santana replied as her face turned a slight red from blushing.

"Well, the exercises that you two have been doing in your tutoring sessions are quite similar to treatments that I would recommend for Brittany. Usually for patients with this learning disorder I would recommend: speech therapy, semantic feature analysis, and circumlocution exercises. However, it seems as though you two are already doing these things in ways that work for Brittany. As evident by her grades, her condition has been improving. Therefore, I would recommend that you don't change anything. Continue doing exactly what you have been doing. However, I would like to add medication to Brittany's treatment. Brittany doesn't have any head trauma or any deterioration in her brain. Thus, the medication and the learning methods that Santana has already laid a foundation for are all that I can really prescribe," Dr. Schaeffer explained with a grin.

"So, all she'll have to do is take the medication and continue learning the way that Santana is teaching her?" Mr. Pierce asked for clarification.

"Exactly," Dr. Schaeffer replied. "I would like to check up on Brittany every month to follow her progress and to take routine scans to insure that there is nothing wrong in the old noggin."

"What kind of medication will she have to take?" Mrs. Pierce wondered.

"I'll be prescribing a small dosage of Aricept. She'll take it once a day. I recommend taking it with a full glass of water and some food; however, it's not required," Dr. Schaeffer continued to babble about the drug, its effects, and what it will do to help Brittany. Brittany tuned out, not really understanding or caring to understand all of his doctor babble. She figured that Santana would explain it to her later.

"I don't have to take any special classes, right?" Brittany squeezed Santana's hand a little worried. Santana looked at Brittany and placed a hand lovingly on Brittany's arm.

Dr. Schaeffer smiled at the gesture, "No, but I will be giving you permission to take special standardized tests and a note for your teachers to give you more time on tests if needed. This is because patients with Dysnomia usually have a hard time completing tests on time due to the fact that they have a difficult time recalling information as quickly and easily as most people."

"Okay," Brittany sighed with relief and Santana sighed with her.

"Also, familial support is very important with people with this particular learning disability. It seems as though you have plenty of support from your girlfriend and parents," Dr. Schaeffer smiled.

"Yeah, they're pretty great," Brittany smiled at Santana. "I'm just glad that my life doesn't have to change because of my…conditioner…condition."

"See, you have problems locating words, but you take your time, think about the word, and put two and two together and eventually come to the right word. You're already making a significant amount of progress," Dr. Schaeffer explained.

"Thank you, doctor," Mr. Pierce said as he got up and shook Dr. Schaeffer's hand. Dr. Schaeffer gave Mr. Pierce the prescription for Brittany.

"Santana, can I speak to you for a moment alone?" Dr. Schaeffer wondered.

Brittany looked at Santana worried. "I'll be fine," Santana assured Brittany even though Santana didn't have a clue as to why Dr. Schaeffer wanted to talk to her.

"I'll be outside," Brittany said as she left the room with her parents.

"So, what's up doc?" Santana wondered as she plopped back down on the couch.

"You're Maria Lopez's daughter, right?"

Santana's blood ran cold. Her mom is the head of cardiothoracic surgery at the hospital that she's sitting in, but she didn't think that Dr. Schaeffer would ask her about it. "Yes, sir," was all Santana could muster as a reply.

"Does she know?" he wondered.

"Know what?" Santana was pretty sure what he meant, but she wanted him to say it.

"Does she know about you and Brittany?" he clarified.

"No," Santana kept her answers short.

"You should tell your parents. I can tell that it's eating at you. It's not healthy to keep something this big from the ones you love. Plus, I think your mother would understand."

"You clearly don't know my mom. She would disown me if she ever found out," Santana sighed at the truth to her words.

"What you have with Miss Pierce is special. I can see it in the way you two interact, in the way you two look at each other, in the way that you two both know what the other is saying without any words… It's special."

"Thanks Dr. S, but I don't think that I can. I love Brittany more than anything and I want to tell the world about us, but I can't lose my family. I don't know what I would do if they reacted badly," Santana looked to the ground.

"You'll never know unless you try."

"I have a pretty good idea," Santana's reply was filled with sorrow.

"You shouldn't have to hide who you are."

"I shouldn't but I do. I have to. I really don't want to talk about this with you," Santana stood up to leave.

"Just take my suggestion into consideration. I mean, what's the alternative? What if they find out from someone else, or something they see? They're reaction could be much worse than if you just tell them," Dr. Schaeffer said with a look in his eyes that read 'I'm only trying to help'.

"Thanks doc, I'll think about it. Thanks for helping Brittany," Santana said as she left his office.

Brittany was waiting outside the office with her parents when Santana emerged. Brittany jumped up and ran over to Santana. What could the doctor possibly want to talk to Santana about? Brittany wondered.

Brittany then read Santana's slightly sad, slightly confused expression and wondered, "What's wrong?"

She reads me like an open book, Santana thought. "Dr. Schaeffer knows my mom. He said that I should come out to my family, but I'm not sure."

"I think you should," Brittany suggested with a shrug and a kind smile.

"Then I will," Santana said without having to think about her response. "I'm going to wait until after my mom's birthday a few weeks from now, but I'll tell them."

"I'm really proud of you," Brittany said as she hugged Santana close to her.

"Thanks," Santana tried to not look like she was freaking out. What would she say to her parents? What would she do if they reacted badly? What if they disown her? What if they're okay with everything?

Brittany noticed Santana's façade, "It's okay to be scared."

Santana couldn't help the tears that flowed freely from her face, "What if they hate me?"

"No one could ever hate you," Brittany wiped a few of the tears from Santana's face. Santana didn't want to continue to voice every last concern to her girlfriend because she didn't want Brittany to know just how scared she was.

"I love you," Santana whispered to Brittany.

"I love you too," Brittany replied.

Mr. and Mrs. Pierce watched the exchange but decided not to comment. They knew that they shouldn't butt in on the situation. "Let's go get this prescription filled," Mr. Pierce suggested. Everyone agreed and left for the pharmacy to take care of Brittany.

Author's Note:

I know, it's a short chapter, but I feel like it moves the story in the direction I want it to. Thank you to all who have reviewed, I appreciate the time that you take to comment on my work.

The song for this chapter is "Welcome To The Breakdown" by I Fight Dragons. If you haven't heard of them go to their website, download some free music, and have your ears explode from their awesomeness!