As soon as Brittany got to the end of the road, she realised how selfish she was being. Santana had finally opened up to her after all this time about everything, and she had completely shut her down. For Santana to have finally been honest with her about Ben was a huge step and she was being stupid and immature. She wasn't acting like herself. She had run away because she was scared that he was now after her, that he still wanted her dead. But now she was scared for a different reason. Whether Santana would forgive her for what she had just done.
Without even realising it, Brittany had turned the car around and was once again parked in front of Santana's house. The front door was still wide open, but Santana was nowhere to be seen.
Brittany walked through the seemingly empty house looking from room to room. Her bedroom, the kitchen, the lounge room, the guest room, the dining room...
"Santana?" she called, but got no response. Just as she thought Santana was intentionally trying to hide from her, she found her in the bathroom, curled up on the floor. Brittany rushed to her side. Santana's frail body was heaving up and down with violent sobbing.
"San, I'm so sorry. I am such an idiot." Santana didn't look up, just wiped tears out of her eyes. "Sani, I don't know what got over me. I guess I was angry, at what he did to you, not what you said. Not at what you did... And I was scared, he is still out there San. I'm sorry, I acted like a child instead of acting like a good girlfriend. I'm so-SO sorry San. I genuinely feel like the biggest idiot, I totally messed things up. I'm sorry." There was a pause as Brittany tried to think of what to say next. She tried to think of something that would make her actions okay.. But she knew nothing would ever make her actions okay. That was the problem.
"San, it broke my heart to hear what he did to you. Knowing someone took advantage of how strong you are and turned it into a game... You are so brave San. I'm so proud of you. I know how hard it was for you to tell me what happened, and I didn't give you a chance. You mean the absolute world to me. I love you so much. And I know none of this is an excuse for what I did and that it doesn't make up for me running away, but I will apologise to you every day for a year if I have to.." Brittany trailed off, furrowing her eyebrows.
Santana slowly got up and sat cross-legged in front of Brittany.
"I'm sorry" she said glumly.
"No, don't be sorry. You shouldn't be sorry. You did the right thing, you did what any normal person would have done. I'm sorry for what I did when I found out. I was being selfish and immature and the thought of him touching you and doing all those things made me so sad. So sad and angry and it made me want to find him and make him pay for what he did." Brittany reached over and wiped the falling tears off Santana's face with the end of her sleeve. Santana shrugged.
"I was mad at myself for doing it, I can't expect you to not be... But... I couldn't watch my daughter get killed by that monster. I just couldn't. My only hope was that he wouldn't be able to find you. I hoped maybe you had moved far away and he couldn't catch you. Luckily the police were right on his trail and he wasn't even able to find you, and instead of killing you, he's on the run. They will catch him Brit, I know they will. If they found him before, they will find him again. They are smarter than he is." Brittany shook her head.
"I didn't have a right to be angry. You went through so much and you stayed strong for so long... I'm sorry... I really am." There was another long pause.
"You named your daughter Susan?" Brittany asked suddenly. Santana smiled at the mention of her daughter's name and nodded her head.
"Yes, she reminded me of you so I used your middle name. Besides, then it felt like I always had a piece of you with me." Brittany pulled Santana into a warm hug.
"I'm sorry I was such an arse San. I am staying here tonight" she said as she pulled away from the Latina. "I'm going to take you out for dinner. How does breadstix sound?" Santana smiled, she always loved that place. "I'm going to help you through this San, we will do it together." Brittany stood up and then helped Santana up on her feet, then started running the bath, adding lots of bubbles.
"Let's get you cleaned up a bit" Brittany said with a small smile. She helped Santana get unchanged, but nothing could have prepared the blonde for what lay under the Latina's clothes. Her once perfect body was now scared and twisted. Brittany traced a large white scar with her fingers which ran from Santana's side to just under her bellybutton. There was a lump on the Latina's side where one of her ribs had obviously broken and then not mended properly. Santana winced as she watched Brittany examining her. These marks would always be constant reminders of what had happened to her.
"They're so ugly" Santana said frowning as Brittany brushed her fingers over another scar. Brittany looked into Santana's sad, brown eyes.
"You're beautiful San. You will always be beautiful" she said honestly and leaned down to gently kiss Santana on the lips, then helped her into the warm, soapy water.

After Santana's bath she got changed into clean clothes and makeup. She looked like Santana again, she looked healthy. She was wearing black, skinny jeans with her brown ankle boots, a white flowing top and a navy cardigan. Her hair was still damp and hung loose down the length of her back. Brittany couldn't help but smile as soon as her girlfriend entered the room.
"Well?" Santana asked smiling. "Do I look better now?" Brittany nodded, biting her bottom lip. She put her arms around the Latina's neck and kissed her. A kiss which was intended to only be a peck, but ended up lingering into something more.
"We have to go, our reservation is for 7" Brittany reluctantly pulled away from the Latina's embrace.
"Unless..." Santana started, kissing Brittany again on the lips. "You wanted to..." -another kiss- "order takeaway and..." -kiss- "Stay in..." Santana smirked, wrapping her arms back around Brittany's waist. Brittany smiled and picked up her phone.
"Pizza?" Santana nodded and watched her girlfriend make the call, her arms still wrapped around her.