Chapter 13.

The duo made their way back to the room that Brittany had previously been in with her mom. They walked in silence, both thinking to themselves about what may happen. "San?" Brittany said cautiously.

"Mmm?"

"When I first came to see her, the Doctor warned me…and without the warming I wouldn't have been able to handle how different she is. So I'm gonna say the same to you, Ok?"

Brittany waited for Santana's response, practically being able to see the cogs in her head working. Brittany knew that Santana was usually the one who protected people, the tough one. So she could tell that having Brittany look after her, in a way, was probably making her emotions conflict.

Santana gave one firm nod.

"The doctors…they had to remove a lot of skin because of the burns, so pretty much all of her face is scars. A lot worse than mine. She looks different to what she did and you might not recognize her, but she's still the same person. Oh and she can hear and understand you, after a while you learn what she's feeling by her eye movements." Brittany kept her eyes locked on Santana, searching for any sign of hesitation.

After seeing non she gently grabbed Santana's hand and rubbed her thumb over what she could reach, hoping to soothe the brunette.

Brittany opened the door and slowly guided Santana in, wanting to allow her time to adjust. "Hey Mom! Look who I found!" She stated to her mother, trying to not let tension fill the room.

She let go of Santana's room and left Santana near the door, letting the Latina choose if she stays or goes; leaving her in control.

She came to her mother's bedside and took hold of her hand, bringing it up to her lips and placing a gentle kiss on it. She had a quick look at Santana and smiled to herself when she saw her slowly approaching the brunette.

"It's Santana!" She told her mother. "You remember Santana, right?" Brittany watched her mother's eyes and immediately could see the excitement in them. "Yeah you do."

She took a second to observe Santana, taking note of the scared look on her face. "She's excited to see you." Brittany told her, not liking how her voice echoed through the large room.

Santana looked Brittany in the eye, "How'd you know?" She said with a sniff, trying to keep the tears that are currently forming in her eyes from dropping.

"I told you; her eyes. They're looking around the room for your voice." Santana didn't answer Brittany, instead choosing to walk over to the other side of the bed and delicately run her fingers over her bandaged hand.

"H—Hey." She hiccupped. Santana let the tears fall out of her eyes when she saw Mrs Pierce's welling up to. "No, no don't cry." She told her. Brittany silently grabbed a clock off the side table and passed it over to Santana, knowing that the girl she loved needed to handle this on her own.

"…You can hug her y'know." Brittany suggested, "Just be gentle and careful with the wires." Santana nodded and slowly leant in, placing her head in the older woman's neck.

Brittany's heart broke when she saw the sobs go through Santana's body, her shoulders and back going up and down as her body tries to get air in her body.

Brittany just sat back and let it happen. Letting the two have their moment.

-xXx-

An hour later, the nurse had come into with the medication, meaning Brittany's mother was now asleep for the night. However the two girls decided that they would stay in the room and talk things over, deciding they may as-well get everything out in the open now.

They were sat in the dark by the window, only the small corner light by the bedside lit up the room. "I'm proud of you, San." Brittany stated with a small smile.

Santana let out a low chuckle, "Why?"

"Because you were so good about everything today, from me telling you what happened to when you saw my mom again. Just, thank you." Santana nodded and put her hand over Brittany's arm that was resting on the nearest arm rest.

"Do you mind if I ask some questions?" Santana said in one breath, not wanting to offend the blonde.

Brittany nodded with a smile, "Of course."

Santana took in a breath before looking at Brittany. "You said you had scars…more than the ones on your face. Can I see?"

The blonde hesitated with her answer. She's only shown Quinn, Rachel, and Dr Burke her scars. Every time she came for a check up she wouldn't allow any nurses, just her and Dr Burke.

"…Ok." She replied after a while.

Standing up she slowly lifted up her shirt so it was just underneath her breasts. She pointed to the angry red scar than ran from under her left breast right across her stomach, ran over her hip and disappeared under her pants, "They had to cut me open to operate on my lung, things went wrong though, I can't remember what they said, but that's what this one was from."

She then turned to the side and let Santana see the burns covering her left side, "The car got hot really quickly, and they think this is from the door."

She let the bottom of her shirt drop down in its place and then pulled the side of her collar down, exposing the white lines that covered the left side of her collarbone. "They said that the glass on the window next to me must have smashed with the heat."

Brittany glanced at Santana every time she showed her a new scar, trying to see her reaction but not seeing any type of emotion on Santana's face.

She then rolled up her jeans to expose her right calf which had burns on the muscle, "This one sorta hurts the most, any time that's I'm doing something like running or dancing, it pulls the skin." She then sat down again and used her finger to draw a line on her left thigh; I have a few on here too. Small ones. From the glass again, I think."

Santana was silent, not moving, not showing any reaction, nothing.

Brittany hummed at the silence before turning to Santana, "San, please say something." She begged. "Do you not like me anymore? I know the scars are icky looking, but I don'—" Santana interrupted Brittany by placing her hand over her mouth.

"Why would you think I didn't like you?" She questioned.

Brittany tried to talk but Santana still had her mouth covered, meaning it just came out as muffle's. "Let me say what I need to, first." Santana asked the girl.

"Brittany…I love you. I have for years. When we lost contact, it literally broke my heart. Just because you have some scars…it doesn't change the way I feel. Know why? Because they're part of you. And you're perfect."

So weird place to leave it, but it seemed right. Especially considering now, the whole next chapter will be Brittana fluff. It'll be posted sometime after Boxing Day.

Merry Snixxxmas!

Review and let me know what you think or any suggestions.