So Chapter 10. I never thought I would really get here so thanks to all you people who read this story and/or reviewed. I hope you enjoy the update!
Disclaimer: You know the drill Glee = not mine.
The moment Brittany woke up she felt different. Not in the way that her condition had improved. It was just a new found strength of purpose. Since she woke up she never really felt this ready to start fighting for herself. The hard work was left on either Santana or Quinn. But this time Brittany wanted to try and make things better by and for herself.
And her first step would be talking to Danny. Although she only knew him for a day she felt like he could be trusted and she thought it might be easier for her to confide in him. As he didn't know what happened he won't try to push the matter.
With her mind set she climbed out of Santana's embrace and headed into the kitchen for breakfast to strengthen herself for what was to come.
Three hours and an unreal amount of bacon and scrambled eggs later Brittany sat in a cab with Santana on her way to Santana's meeting with Professor Simmons.
"How long do you think it will take with you and Professor Simmons," Brittany asked an unprepared Santana.
"I guess about one and a half to two hours why?" Santana was still a little perplex for the sudden name given to her "Professor".
Brittany shrugged, "I was thinking of asking Danny to take me to the park. Just you know get a little bit of fresh air."
"That's a great idea Britt. Just take your cell with you so I can reach you and well you can reach anyone if something happens." She smiled softly at Brittany, who expected Santana to put up a fight of her gong around with a man she only met the day before but she had no time think more about it because they arrived the the Professors' house and got out of the cab.
Brittany saw Danny already standing in front of the building's entrance. He was wearing blue jeans and a black shirt. His hair unruly and dark as before and his green eyes seemed to sparkle.
"Hey Brittany. Hi Santana." He greeted both of them.
"Hey Danny. So Britt I'm going to talk to D...Professor Simmons now. You and Danny go have fun and if something happens call me." She gave Brittany a smile and disappeared in the building.
Brittany turned to Danny, "I was wondering if you would like to go to the park. Strolling around a bit?"
"Sounds great to me Brittany. There is a small park just around the corner and if I remember correctly there is a small pond there too." Danny said excitedly. He grabbed Brittany's hand and led the way.
They walked in silence to the park. Brittany took a look around and just as promised encircled by trees and soft green grass was a small pond. The blonde knew what she came her to do and she had to take a big breath. She hated that now she could feel all of her anxiety creeping up to her. She knew she wasn't ready to relive even parts of what happened. What made her want to talk about it none the less was the fact that she knew she would never be really ready to talk. It was something she just had to do. No one is ever ready to face this kind of pain. What makes them overcome it is to be brave and take a step into the right direction after realizing there is no magical getting better and that for them to get better they have to start to open up and try to process the things they try to hide from.
Santana and Dr. Mo just sat adjacent each other saying nothing. She thought he would start on what Dr. Carver filled him on but he didn't see the need to fill her in at all. The Latina decided to take matters into her won two hands.
"So what did Dr. Carver said about meeting Brittany the other day?"
"To be really honest he didn't say much just that she was an interesting case. He said that he thinks that he can get her to open up if she shows an initiative and talks about the problem. In my experience people tend to need a little "push in the right direction" to realize that they indeed need help or see that sadly time can not heal all wounds. Especially those that are present in your mind."
Santana wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand this doctor told her a moment ago that there is hope for Brittany but on the other hand Santana had no clue how to give her blonde this push.
"That sounds awesome Dr. Mo. Just not sure I know how to provide this push you mentioned." Dr. Mo eyed the Latina curiously.
"Miss Lopez I think I gave you the wrong impression. Although her immediate environment is an important factor in Miss Pierce recovery this "push" I'm talking about has nothing to do with you talking her into talking. It's about a push she has to give herself. You see there is this saying "the first step to recovery is to acknowledge there is a problem to begin with.". In Miss Pierce case this may sound trivial as Miss Pierce is well aware that her feelings are under a certain mind induced lock down. The real problem she has to deal with is that she must realize she has to fight for herself. This whole time Miss Lopez you cared for Miss Pierce, has she made any attempt to really get in depth with her problem?," it was a rhetorical question but Dr. Mo made a little pause just to look at the Latina, whose face looked a little bit surprised, "She wasn't fighting her condition she remained stoic and uncertain. She didn't do anything against it. She let you and her friend, if I remember correctly her name is Quinn?" Santana just nodded, asking Dr. Mo with her eyes to continue. "Well you and Quinn to fight but this is not what recovery is about. She has to want to fight. She has to want to get better only then can she truly master her inner demons."
Santana was speechless. Dr. Mo was once again right. She herself hadn't realized that this whole time Santana always fought for Brittany but she had never actively encouraged Brittany to fight for herself. Sure she had told her that she needed her but she didn't tell her how she thought that Brittany was the most amazing person she knew. Someone who didn't deserve what happened to her. That she was perfect in every way and that she had to fight for herself because the world (and most of all she) couldn't lose the light that was Brittany S. Pierce.
Unknown to Santana yesterday in her arms Brittany came to a realization and was now sitting in a park near a pond making a decision.
"Six months ago I was working in a dance studio. I really liked it. Dancing was my passion and everything was going great." Brittany started and Danny just looked at her encouragingly.
"Well I was helping some friend of mine out with choreographing a number. His crew had some difficulties getting the number down. The lesson that day was supposed to be the last..." Brittany's voice began to crack. Danny looked at her softly, placing a comforting hand on hers "But something happened, didn't it Brittany?" It was a statement not a question really. Danny hadn't asked Santana anything about what she knew. He wanted to hear what Brittany said before getting any other information on this case.
Brittany tried to ready her for what was going to come down of her mouth next. She took some long breaths as if they were going to be her last.
"There was this guy in the group who wouldn't stop hitting on me and always touched me inappropriate so my friend, his name is Mike, fired him. He was furious. He said we would all regret this decision and that he would get back at every single one of us. We were a little shocked that he had this outburst He seemed to fume and it was scary but none thought he would really stick to what he said. We were just so wrong," before she could process it Danny had put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug. Brittany only then realized that she had started crying.
"He came into the studio that day and started screaming at us. He cursed us and I have never in my life seen someone so angry. When one of the male dancers tried to get him to calm down he pulled out a gun and shot him. Just shot him. I will never forget how he looked at us scared, bleeding to death and we couldn't help him. He wouldn't let us. We had to watch him bleed to death. He didn't look angry anymore, just mad. He seemed to enjoy it. He shot another guy in the leg stating that he would enjoy seeing him suffer longer than the other guy. He was mocking us, asking why no one would help the poor guy while pointing the gun to anyone that dared to even blink too fast. There was so much blood..." With that Brittany broke down. She started to sob. Danny was holding her now securely not letting her slip to the ground. He was a professional and knew when a talk was over and the patient needed a break. He was glad that Brittany felt like sharing this with him. Although he knew that this couldn't be all the blonde saw that day. In her eyes there was this glimmer of pure terror and he thought he could see guilt in there too. He knew they made a good start. As her saw the woman so undone in his arms he couldn't help but feel with her. He started swaying a bit rocking back and forth in an attempt to calm his blonde companion.
Santana was getting impatient it has been a little bit over two hours since Dr. Carver and Brittany went to the park. She wanted to call but Dr. Mo advised against it, saying they could be talking about important things and she shouldn't interrupt. He had to remind her twice that Brittany was in fact with a professional psychologist and not just a guy she met by chance. This didn't change the fact that Santana was getting impatient and started pacing. After about five minutes of pacing Santana heard the door open and sprinted towards it. When she saw Brittany her heart clenched. The blonde's eyes were red and puffy from crying. Santana immediately hugged Brittany tight.
"Britt are you okay? What happened? Did Danny do something I swear I'll go all Lima Heights on his sorry ass." Brittany shook her head slightly.
"It's okay San. Nothing happened I just felt overwhelmed and cried a bit. It's alright." Santana looked at Dr. Carver who gave her a knowing look and a small smile. Santana understood and let the topic rest. For now.
" I just really want to go home right now San." Brittany whispered into Santana's ear.
Santana didn't waste any time, said her goodbyes to Dr. Carver and hailed a cab.
When they entered their apartment Brittany didn't speak just took Santana's hand and led her into their bedroom. She lay down in bed pulled Santana with her and curled up into the Latina's warm body. It was only about 09.30 pm.. Though all that Brittany cared for was to sleep. Her body was exhausted from all the crying and remembering. She had never spoken to anyone about this. True Santana knew that the guy came in and she also knew the outcome but everything in between was yet for her to tell the raven haired girl beside her.
She felt guilty for talking to Danny and not to Santana. She was her best friend, her girlfriend. Normally she should come to her with her problems and talk to her but in this special case it was just so much easier to talk to Danny.
Soon after Brittany was in a deep slumber and Santana, who waited for this to happen since the blonde lay down, slipped out of the bed and went to the phone. Instead of calling Dr. Mo she dialed Dr. Carver's number.
She heard the phone being picked up and immediately started speaking.
"So what did she say? Did she talk to you? What happened at that damn park?" spoke really fast and sounded more on the edge than she wanted to.
She heard a deep chuckle on the other line.
"Hello to you too Santana. I can assure you Brittany and I are making progress she opened up a little bit today. I must say it surprised me a little bit. I thought it would take more time for her to come to talk to me." Danny's voice sounded relaxed.
"But what did she say exactly come on. Geez it's like pulling teeth trying to get you to talk."
"Brittany told me about the dance studio and how she worked there. About the guy who seemed to try and kind of molest her and how he got fired because of it. Well and then about the day he came into the studio after promising to get back at them and killing someone in cold blood right in front of her eyes. Making them watch them bleed to death. Daring them to help only to get shot themselves" Santana was shocked. Although she knew some details of what must have happened, she also knew the guy. Brittany had told Santana about him and she was almost out of the door wanting to kill him for touching her girl when Brittany told her about it. It was on Brittany's insistence that she didn't go and kick him in the balls with enough force he could never reproduce.
"Did she say anything else?" Santana's voice had lost it's edge. Danny noticed this immediately.
"No she broke down before I could try to get here to talk more. Though I think this was a great start and I hope she will come to me again to talk."
"Yeah me too. Me too. Thank you so much for taking care of Britt. You are really good to her." Danny had to smile at this. "Well Santana it is my job. And I'm really glad when I can help. If you have any problems with Brittany call me anytime." Santana was grateful for his concern.
"I will and thank you again. I guess I'll see you around." With that she hung up.
The minute she hung up, her phone rang and Quinn was on the other line.
"Today was the second meeting so spill the beans what happened" Santana sighed and gave Quinn all the details she just heard from Dr. Carver moments ago. Quinn stayed silent a minute. She seemed to contemplate the information she juts got.
"Well that still leaves out a whole lot of middle. I want to know everything."
"It's not just you Q, but we have to give Britt the time she needs. She is making progress and Dr. Carver seems to do her good. We have to stay patient." At that Quinn chuckled.
"If anyone would have told me two years ago that Santana Lopez would tell me that I had to remain patient I would have slushied them right in the face."
"Yeah well that's me being my awesome self. But you have to excuse me I really wants to get my sleep on. This day was tiring enough as it is."
"Okay you using you ghetto phrases means theres not gonna come one intelligent word out of your mouth anymore so I'd rather hang up anyways." Quinn quipped and just as Santana was going full into bitch mode Quinn hung up.
She would get her for that.
Brittany woke up sometime around 5 in the morning. She was lying in bed with Santana spooning her. She thought back to her talk with Danny and what he said to her.
"Sometimes the worst things happen to the best people. But always remember not what happens to them but how they live after that and handle it is what defines them."
She knew she didn't want to be another lost soul to tragedy. She also knew she didn't want to be a coward. She wanted to be herself again.
When she closed her eyes her mind came back to the studio.
The dancer who was just shot lost much blood and looked paler by the second. But they couldn't care for long as Kyle, that was the shooter's name, started to think of another sick game.
"So I'm up for a round truth or dare." He locked eyes with Brittany.
"So Brittany which one do you take truth or dare?" Brittany looked at him with wide eyes. She had a lump in her throat and didn't know how to speak. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Kyle seemed to have anticipated this outcome. He strolled over to her. "It's okay just play the game with me and I won't hurt anyone else." At hearing this Brittany somehow regained her composure enough to actually talk. She took a few calming breaths. "Truth." It was all she could whisper out.
Kyle smiled like a maniac. "So Brittany do you love me?" Brittany didn't know what to say. Should she tell the truth like the game demanded or should she tell him what she thought he wanted to hear. She didn't want to upset Kyle further so she slowly nodded her head.
He locked eyes with her and smiled widely at her. But then out of nowhere he pointed his gun at the dancer closest to her. A girl names Sarah she was only sixteen and shot her in the head.
"Are you fucking kidding me," he screamed at her, "you got me fucking fired because you thought I was being "inappropriate" you little slut." Brittany was too shocked to say anything. Sarah's blood was slowly making it's way towards her. A reminder that it flowed because of her.
After his outburst Kyle smiled at her again, "Well now it's your turn to ask me which one I choose."
Brittany just shook her head she couldn't do this. This was too much. Sarah's blood had started reaching her feet. It was warm and made her feel sick. "I can't. You will just shoot someone again."
"Well you are right about that. I came here to shoot people. But I'll tell you a secret I'll do it again and again and again until you play the game and answer like I want you to." With that he shot another dancer and Brittany couldn't handle it anymore she felt so sick. She vomited. Tears running down her eyes.
"You think you can just blow me off? I know you don't want me but beware of one thing. You are mine!"
A force knocked into Brittany's face waking her out of her memory. Santana had somehow managed to land a good punch into her face while sleeping.
It was like it had been since they were six years old. Santana someway or another always rescued her. Either by punching the big bully on the playground for pulling her hair or by getting her out of her haunting memories.
She was there. Always.
A/N: Hope you aren't disappointed with how much I revealed about the dance studio incident. There is still a bit more to it but now you know that he didn't just go in kill people and went away.
If you have time leave a review :)