I know I said last chapter that this would take place right after the last one but this will be about two days later.
Brittany had just walked back to me after talking on her phone for about ten minutes. The expression on her face told me whatever she was talking about had upset her.
She ran a hand through her hair and picked up her purse from the ground.
"I'm sorry to do this but I have to go, I'll call you later?" she looked so flustered.
"Is everything ok?" I asked her quietly.
"I don't know," she gave me a quick kiss before quickly exiting my room.
Man did that leave me worried and confused. We had been fine all day; in fact we had been having quite a good day. We went to an ice-cream place earlier in the day then came back to my house and watched a bunch of episodes of Chicago Fire.
As I walk into the family room I see my mom sitting on the couch reading a book.
"Honey, can I talk to you about something?" My mom looked up from her book at me.
"Sure," she motioned for me to sit down on the couch so I did.
"I think you should get a job or do some volunteer work," she said with a serious face.
I swallowed nervously, "Why?"
"I think it would be good for you, it could help you figure out what you want to do with your future."
"I don't know..." I said hesitantly.
"It'll be good; you can meet more people and have a little fun."
"Mom, I wouldn't even know where to start and I hardly think I need to know what career I'll have anytime soon."
"That's where you're wrong. College is coming up and if you know what program you want to be in then it would really help you find the right school."
"Aren't their advisors to help me out with this type of thing?"
"There are, but before you get one it's good to have an idea of what school you want so they can help you get in."
"How is an advisor supposed to help me get in? All they do is advise." I scoffed.
"They give you tips on what schools want to see, they also help you with your college essay."
"How do you know all of this?"
"Your dad talked to me about it," she said quietly.
"Oh…"
"You really need to call him," she looked at me with pleading eyes.
"I will," I said firmly.
"I mean it, why is it so hard for you?"
"I-I don't know…"
I really didn't. Every time I went to pick up the phone I just got so nervous and put my phone down. I felt like such an idiot, he's my own dad and I couldn't even have a conversation with him. I guess it's a little weird not seeing him every day.
"He needs to know what's going on in your life. I can tell how sad he is, hearing everything about you through me."
"God, make me feel bad much?" I rolled my eyes.
"Well that's not what I'm trying to do. I want you to know how important it is for you to keep in touch with him."
"I'll call him soon," I promised.
"That's all I'm asking for," she reached out and gave my hand a squeeze.
"Ok," I smiled and she got up to go back to her bedroom.
I needed Brittany to call me. I know it sounds clingy but the way she left really had me worried. Her mood from before the phone call and after the phone call couldn't have been more different.
6 hours later
It was now 10:00 at night. I knew I wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight considering I had fallen asleep waiting for Brittany's phone call, which still hadn't happened. I was about to send her a text when I heard knocking on my bedroom door.
"Come in," I said.
I couldn't have been more surprised when I opened my door and Quinn was standing there.
"Quinn! What are you doing here?" I yelled with excitement.
"Wellll I bought this thing called a plane ticket and here I am," she teased as she gave me a tight hug.
"Ha ha, seriously though, we just talked on the phone a couple days ago. I thought you said a plane ticket was too expensive?"
"Yeah turns out my dad had a lot of miles to use from his work that needed to be used by a certain day so my plane ticket was free," she wandered around my room looking at pictures.
"Well I'm glad you could make it out here," I said.
"So this is quite the mansion you have here, your mom gave me the whole tour since you were asleep…" she chuckled.
"You like the house? Which room did my mom put you in?"
"Um…yeah this house is crazy. Like better than the ones on MTV Cribs. She put me in one of the guest bedrooms down the hall from your room. Is that room even considered a 'guest' room? It's ginormous."
"We have a lot more guest rooms than we should because it's only my mom and I living here. It works to your advantage right?"
"I would say that it does," she smiled and climbed onto my bed sitting next to me.
"Don't you have school?" I asked curiously.
"We have two holidays and the other days I already did the homework ahead of time," she said.
"Of course you did," I teased.
"Shut up," she chuckled.
"I'm glad you're here," I said honestly.
Before Quinn could say anything there was a frantic knocking on the door leading to the backyard. I looked over at Quinn who looked surprised and confused as I jumped out of bed to answer it.
"What're you doing?! It could be a murderer!" she said desperately.
As I opened the door I was welcomed by a crying Brittany who hugged me so tight I could barely breathe.
"Britt…" I tried to get her attention but she kept her grip on me. It wasn't until Quinn cleared her throat the she pulled away to look in my room.
I felt bad, Brittany was crying and upset and Quinn was lounging on my bed wondering what the hell was going on.
"Quinn, can you give us a minute?" I asked softly.
"Y-Yeah, I'll um…I just head to my room." She quickly got off my bed and went to her room.
Brittany looked…devastated. I grabbed her hand softly and led her to my bed where she sat down and looked at the floor. I walked back to my closet and pulled out some comfortable clothes to change in. She was still wearing the clothes she had left my house in.
I set the clothes next to her on my bed and she got the hint standing up and undressing. I couldn't keep my eyes away from her face, continuing to try to figure out what had happened.
Once she had put the clothes on she crawled up my bed and got under the covers, I did the same. I was never good at comforting people but with Brittany it just felt natural. She immediately wrapped her arms around my middle and I covered her hands with mine.
"What happened?" I asked gently.
"My mom is in the hospital," she whimpered.
My heart dropped. While I was here happy that Quinn had showed up, Brittany was in the hospital with her mom and I felt like awful. I've never had that feeling, that dread that your family member could die at any moment.
"Is she ok?" I turned my face and lightly kissed the top of her head.
"For now she is, she's been battling cancer for five years now." Her voice was very hoarse.
"God Britt, I'm so sorry." I squeezed her tight.
"It's ok, the phone call from earlier was from my brother saying she had fainted and that they'd taken her to the hospital. They said she was fine after doing some tests but it just brought up a lot of bad memories."
"I'm happy that she's ok and I'm glad you came here tonight." I moved my hand to cup her cheek so she would look at me then pressed my lips lightly against hers.
"Thank you," she pressed her lips against mine once more before pulling away.
"I'll always be here for you," I promised.
"You sure you want to make that promise? I think I'm going to need you a lot." I chuckled sadly.
"Hey," I tilted her head so she'd look at me. "I promise," I said as I placed a kiss to her forehead.
"Wait, was that Quinn earlier? Quinn from Ohio?" She looked up at me.
"Yeah, it was." I smiled.
"I'm sorry for crashing your sleepover."
"No, don't be sorry. I want you to always to come to me when you need me." I tugged at her hand and intertwined our fingers.
"I must have looked like a crazy person"
"Trust me; Quinn has been way worse multiple times before. She'll understand."
"I was just...excited to meet her and that wasn't the best first impression."
"Don't worry about it, you'll properly meet her tomorrow and it'll be fine."
"Ok, so did you know she was coming? You didn't mention anything."
"No she just showed up about 30 minutes ago," I said.
"Wow, that's a nice surprise."
"Yeah, I think I'm going to tell her about us tomorrow," I said nonchalantly.
"Really?" she looked up at me.
"Is that ok?" I stroked her hand with my thumb.
"That's more than ok," she unlinked our hands and put one around my neck pulling me towards her for a sweet kiss.
"We should get some sleep," I said.
"I can head home if you want," she moved to get up but I held onto her tight.
"I don't want you to leave but you can if your family needs you"
"No, they'll be fine."
"I'm going to say goodnight to Quinn then I'll be back," I crawled out of bed.
"Ok"
"Brittany and I are going to bed; I'll see you in the morning." Quinn was lying on her bed messing around with her phone.
"This early?" She looked up at me.
"I know. Brittany is having a rough night." Quinn laughed.
"Does she always show up at your house late and hysterical? I mean seriously, what the hell?"
"Show a little respect, you don't even know her." I spat.
Quinn's eyes widened.
"How is it not weird to you? You haven't even known her very long."
"Quinn! Her mom was in the hospital today, so why don't you sleep on that." I said irritably as I turned to walk out of her room.
"Wait!" Quinn popped up. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't judge her before I know her."
"You're right; you can make it up to me tomorrow when I introduce you."
"Ok, goodnight." She said quietly.
"Night," I walked out and shut her door.
Somehow I thought Quinn would be different. That she would actually like Brittany. Sure it wasn't the most ideal way to first see Brittany but she could've been more understanding. I know it's been hard for her being in bum fuck Ohio without me but taking it out on Brittany isn't fair.
The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. I look over at the clock but there is a piece of paper covering the time.
Went home to check on my mom
I'll call you later
-Brittany
Damn. I had wanted to introduce them this morning, I guess that wasn't happening. I got out of bed to make breakfast when I saw my mom pouring herself a glass of orange juice.
"Quinn went to get breakfast, she should be back soon."
"Do you know where she went?"
"Somewhere within walking distance so not too far"
As soon as she finished her sentence we heard the front door open. Quinn was walking towards us with a bag of food.
"Something smells good," I said.
"I got some breakfast bagels," she put the bag on the counter and started taking out the wrapped bagels.
"Thanks," I took one of the bagels.
"So I met this guy who works at the bagel place and he said there was a big beach party tonight," My eyes went to my mom who was looking at Quinn curiously.
"I'm guessing you want to go?" I directed towards Quinn.
"Obviously! The guy's name is Akoni, how hot is that?"
"What time is it at?"
"It starts at nine, you want to go right? Because I sorta already told him we'd come."
"Thanks, no pressure or anything."
"It'll be fun, I promise."
When we got to the party it was in full swing. There were people and alcohol everywhere. I'm surprised this party hasn't been shut down by the loud music and all the open containers. This was definitely a bigger party than I thought it would be. There were probably sixty people standing around drinking and more dancing around the bonfire.
We had been at the beach for two hours now. Quinn and I were pretty tipsy at this point. We had about five shots each. I was actually glad that Quinn had met these people in town because they seemed pretty cool.
"Is your mom going to wonder where we are?" Quinn looked over at me dazed.
"We're fine, she knows you're not here long so she doesn't really care," I took a sip of my drink.
"Cool, so…where's Brittany tonight?" My face fell at her question.
"She still hasn't called me," I said quietly.
"Christ, you look like someone kicked your puppy. She probably just got high and fell asleep," She snickered.
"Quinn!" I said furiously. How could she say something like that? The reason she hasn't answered my calls is probably because of her mom.
"What the hell happened to you?" Quinn narrowed her eyes at me.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It's like you're fucking brainwashed or something, you can't even take a joke nowadays!" She stood up and started to walk away but I got up quickly to follow her.
"Hey!" I grabbed her arm to turn her around. "You don't get to say shit like that and walk away from me." This is definitely not the time to have a conversation like this. Quinn can get...angry when she's drunk, sometimes she can make a scene.
"I don't know what else to do!"
"I don't even know what you're talking about!" I yelled back.
"Santana, open your eyes and realize you're not the same person I knew a few months ago." She voice lowered.
"I'm not brainwashed," I chuckled. "I guess I have changed a little bit…"
"A little bit? What happened to queen bitch? Seriously, you haven't insulted anyone since I got here. You're even nicer to your mom." She trailed off.
"Are you saying it's a bad thing? Being nice to my mom and not picking people apart for my own entertainment is a bad thing?"
"Shit, no. I'm just saying something is different."
"I like it here, you know? For once I'm actually happy."
"It's Brittany," Quinn said flatly.
My eyes shot up to hers.
"What?" I questioned.
"I'm not as dumb as Puck or…your mom," she said.
"Ok…" How the hell had she figured that out already? She saw Brittany and I interact for about thirty seconds.
"I actually figured it out a while ago, the way you talked about her it was pretty obvious. The pictures of you two on Facebook was another tell. You also avoided pronouns in our phone calls and text messages. I waited, I waited for you to be ready to tell me all about your new girlfriend but it never came. Now, here we are…"
Jesus christ, how could I have thought I could keep this from her? Was I so distracted by my new 'relationship' with Brittany to not realize any of this?
"I'm sorry…" it's all I could think of saying right now.
"That's it?" she raised her eyebrow.
"I was going to tell you today but I didn't know how. Listen, can we talk about this when we're sober? I have a lot to say and I don't want to mess it up."
"Fine, tomorrow we talk." She gave me a small smile.
"Thank you. Now let's get back to this party." I turned around and led us back to the crowd.
"Quinn! Brittany's calling me!" Finally, it only took like eight hours.
"Answer it, idiot." She teased.
"Britt?" I said.
"Santana, hey." She sounded tired.
"Where've you been?" I asked calmly.
"I've been at the hospital since this morning," she said.
Well that sobered me up.
"Is your mom ok?" I questioned.
"No it's not my mom, it's actually me. I was admitted earlier."
My heart dropped. Brittany was in the hospital?
"What? Are you ok? What happened?" I asked quickly.
"Can you pick me up? I can explain when you get here."
"Shit. Brittany I can't, Quinn and I are at this beach party and we've been drinking." I closed my eyes tight.
"Oh…ok than, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She sounded disappointed.
"Wait! I'll, I'll take a cab and you can come back to my house." I suggested.
"No, it's ok. Have fun at your party." She said flatly.
"Britt—"The line went dead. "What the hell?" I looked down at my phone.
"Santana! Come dance with me!" I heard Quinn yell.
I couldn't even think right now. Brittany actually sounded mad at me. I felt my eyes start to water at the thought of what just happened. No. I would not cry over this. I pulled out my phone and called Brittany back.
"Pick up, pick up." After the sixth ring I gave up.
"Damn it!" I shoved my phone back into my pocket.
"What happened?" Quinn looked at me curiously.
"Nothing," I said dismissively. "Let's take shots." She chuckled as she grabbed my hand leading me towards the crowd.
What only a few minutes ago was a fun energetic party was now loud and cringe worthy. After we took our shots I walked down to the water by myself. Bending over I roll up my jeans just far enough to be able to put my feet in the water.
"You seem sad, what's up?" Quinn came up behind me with two drinks in her hands.
I sighed.
"Brittany is mad at me," I curled my toes in the sand.
"Why? I thought you were fine last night."
"We were. I don't really want to talk about this right now."
"Ok, how about we loosen you up a little." She lifted the cup up for me.
"Fuck it," I took the cup and chugged the entire thing.
"Whoa, slow down tiger." She laughed.
"I need this. Now, let's have some fun." I grasped her arm and walked towards the crowd of people.
Quinn was off mingling with some guy names Grant. He seemed nice enough; I kept an eye on them just to make sure he didn't make any unwanted advances.
"Hey," I heard behind me.
A girl came up beside me.
I turned to see a girl with long brown hair. In my tipsy state I was able to admire her green eyes. She was cute; I'd never seen her before. The look in her eyes and the cup in her hand told me she had been drinking tonight. There was something about this night that wasn't allowing me to become drunk. Sure I was tipsy but nothing was putting me over the edge.
"Hi," I said quietly.
"I know Grant; I wouldn't worry about your friend. He wouldn't hurt a fly." She'd obviously noticed I was keeping an eye on them.
"Quinn isn't from around here. Just making sure she doesn't get played." The girl took a step closer to me.
"Does that mean you are from around here?" she took a sip of her drink.
"I moved here from Ohio"
"Ohio? Wow, that's quite the difference."
"Yeah," I said.
"I didn't catch your name," she gave me a smile.
"That's because I didn't give it to you," I smiled back.
She chuckled.
"Ok, fair enough. I'm Summer."
"Santana"
"What?" she raised her eyebrow.
"My name," I laughed.
"Oh, right. Sorry." she blushed. "I've seen you around school."
"You have? I thought you asked if I was from around here…" I definitely hadn't seen her around school.
"I've lived here all my life; I know who's new and who isn't. I mean I would have approached you but you're always walking around with Brittany."
Brittany. My Brittany. The same Brittany that hung up on me and won't return my calls.
"Well, she's my friend. That's what friends do right?"
"I guess so"
"Why is everyone so afraid of her?" I questioned.
"Afraid? What does that mean?"
"I don't know. Ever since I started hanging out with Brittany, people were different around me. I know I'm the new girl but the first week of school people were always talking to me and now there's nothing."
"Brittany's a cool girl but she has her close knit of friends and doesn't let people in easily," she explained.
Yeah tell me something I don't know. I couldn't be here, not now. I needed to sleep this off and think about everything that happened tonight.
"Summer, it was nice talking to you but I should really get home."
"So soon?" she pouted.
"Sorry, I'll see you around school." I walked towards Quinn who was obviously flirting with Grant.
"Quinn, time to go."
"Already? The fun just started." Grant was standing next to her observing us.
"Now." I said sternly.
"Ok, ok. Jeez, what's your problem?" I pulled her away from Grant and walked in the direction of my house.
"I just want to go to bed, long night."
"Your girlfriend will forgive you for whatever you did," Quinn said.
"She's not my girlfriend, we're just…dating right now. And I didn't do anything wrong." I said softly.
"Yeah ok, keep telling yourself that." She laughed.
"It is what it is," Quinn might not believe me but that's the true. We hadn't established girlfriend status yet.
"You'll tell me right?" she asked.
"Tell you what?"
"Things about you and Brittany. Like boy talk except…girl." She smirked.
"You want to know about the dirty details of our relationship? Damn Quinn, you're kinky." I poked her ribs.
"You used to tell me things about Puck and I want you to know that you can tell me things about Brittany. I don't discriminate because she's a girl is basically what I meant." She blushed.
"I know what you meant," I teased.
It only took about ten minutes to get to my house. Quinn and I snuck into my back bedroom door so my mom wouldn't hear us. I told her we would be late and that she shouldn't wait up.
"What do you want to do tomorrow?" I asked Quinn.
"Sleep off the hangover I'm going to have," she countered.
"I'll see you in the morning," Quinn nodded and left my room.
I took off all my clothes and got into bed hoping Brittany would call me back tomorrow.
I woke up by my mom barging into my room.
"Honey, a very banged up Brittany is here to see you." This was odd; she usually came in from my back bedroom door.
The lump in my throat grew at my mother's admission. She had told me she was in the hospital but she hadn't told me what happened. Did I even want to see her? She hung up for no reason on me last night.
"Santana?" my mom pulled me out of my thoughts
"Tell her to come in here," I said cautiously.
A few seconds later I heard footsteps then I saw her. For as beautiful as Brittany is, she looked…well she looked like shit. She had two black eyes, stitches across her forehead, and a huge cast on her left leg. She hobbled into my room on crutches.
"Can I sit?" she motioned towards the spot next to me on my bed.
"Sure," I watched her struggle onto my bed. I felt horrible, here I was upset with her and she is in terrible shape looking regretful.
"I'm sorry about last night," she leaned in and placed a light kiss to my neck.
I pulled away quickly.
"Don't," her injured face gave me the saddest look.
"I shouldn't have hung up on you like that. I was mad that while I was in the hospital, you were partying with Quinn and other random people. It wasn't fair, I know. You didn't even know I was hurt when you went to that party."
"How could you just tell me you were in the hospital, hang up on me, then not return my call? Do you know how worried I was? That hurt, Brittany." I scooted further away from her.
"I know," she said as she quickly took both my hands. "I've had a lot going on and I wasn't thinking clearly." I think it might be impossible to stay mad at Brittany.
"What happened?" I freed my hand and lightly touched the area around her stitches.
"I was riding on my longboard and while I was crossing the street I got hit by a car."
"Brittany!" my eyes widened.
"What?" she looked at me confused.
"You have to be more careful," I let my thumb stroke her hand.
"Does this mean you forgive me for being an ass?"
"For now I guess"
"Thank you," she leaned up and gave me a sweet kiss on my lips.
"So, how long are you in this thing?" my hand ran over the hard cast on her leg.
"This cast will be on for five weeks then if all goes well I can wear a walking cast after that. This is exactly what my parents don't need right now. How am I supposed to work or volunteer with this fucking thing on my leg?" she raised her voice.
"Hey," I cupped her cheek. "It'll be ok, I'll help you. I can take you to school and everywhere else you need to go." I promised.
"You don't have to do that," she said.
"I want to," I said sincerely.
"Ok"
I know this chapter took me forever, feel free to complain :D. I promise the next chapter wont take so long!
