AN: Wow, such a big response to the last chapter! Thank you for the continued support! Enjoy :)

Chapter 14: Baby Come Back

One soft footstep was followed by the heavy clunk of another step as Brittany paced around the kitchen with her phone pressed tightly to her ear.

Hey, this is Santana. Sorry that I can't come to the phone right now, unless it's Berry or Lady Hummel, then I'm not sorry. Leave a message after the beep, unless it's something stupid, then I don't want to hear it. *Beep*

Brittany sighed in disappointment and hung up the phone. She glared down at the phone in her hand and tried not to cry. But no matter how hard she tried, Brittany wasn't able to keep her tears at bay. They streamed down her cheeks and went down to her trembling chin, following the path that the other ones had made. The picture that was currently on her home screen wasn't helping her stop the tears either. It was a picture of her and Santana snuggled up together on the Latina's couch and Santana had her lips pressed securely to the blonde's cheek. That picture was only 6 days old. It was crazy how fast things had changed.

Brittany glared at the phone and at how happy she was in the picture. She hated seeing herself so happy then while she was so devastated now. She couldn't look at the picture any longer. The tears were starting to come out harder the longer she looked at her phone.

Loud sobs were now escaping from Brittany but she didn't have the energy to stop them anymore. They had been almost nonstop for 6 days now. Emotions swirled around in her head and it was all too much as she slowly slid down the counters until she landed on the kitchen floor, where she continued to cry.

She fucked everything thing up and she knew that. Santana's pained expression was all she could see now when she closed her eyes and that sucked. Seeing the pain she caused Santana was bad enough the first time but now she saw it over, and over, and over again.

Of course Brittany hadn't meant all of those terrible things she said to Santana. She wasn't still in love with Quinn and Santana sure as hell wasn't her rebound. Sure, they had met on the same day that Quinn dumped Brittany but it didn't change the way she felt about Santana. The Latina was never a rebound for her. But Santana just kept accusing her of all these mean things and Brittany finally snapped. She didn't mean those words and she regretted them the second they were out of her mouth but it was already too late. Santana's hurt expression was heartbreaking and before Brittany had time to fix things, Santana was already taking off down the street. Brittany ran after her for about 2 blocks until she rolled her ankle and wasn't even able to stand let alone continue running after the Latina.

Brittany looked down at her right ankle, which was now in a boot and sighed. If only that damn rock hadn't been in the way maybe Brittany wouldn't have sprained her ankle and she would have been able to reach Santana. But nope. That rock was there and it ruined Brittany's chance of going after the Latina. And now Santana had been missing for 6 whole days. All because Brittany was so fucking stupid…well and that rock of course.

"Fuck you!" Brittany yelled through tears to her booted ankle but really she was just screaming at herself. "This is all your fault you worthless piece of shit! You ruined everything!"

After another half hour of crying and cursing herself, Brittany was able to regain some composure and lifted herself off the kitchen floor so she could hobble to bed. Brittany didn't even realize that it was only noon. Even if she did notice she was too emotionally exhausted to care.

Brittany hobbled down the hall to the bedroom that was so familiar to her and she plopped down face first into the soft, billowing comforter. The comforting scent of Santana immediately surrounded her because, well, it was Santana's bed after all.

The night after Santana ran away, and after Brittany got back from the ER, the blonde went immediately to Santana's house in hopes that she would find the Latina there. But there was no such luck. Brittany let herself in with the key that Santana had given her weeks prior and waited for Santana to finally come home. Minutes turned to hours and hours turned to days but there was still no sign of the Latina. Brittany kept staying there in hopes that when Santana finally returned, if she returned, they would be able to talk and hopefully fix their shattered relationship. Well that was the plan at least but Brittany was starting to wonder if she would ever see the Latina again.

Brittany fell into a restless sleep, tangled in Santana's many blankets and thankfully had no nightmares. Being with some part of Santana, even if it was just being in her apartment, made Brittany feel better, but it wasn't perfect. She still felt extremely empty, as if the biggest part of her was missing, which it was.

After only a few hours of tossing and turning in bed, Brittany was woken up by the sound of movement out in the living room. She sat up and listened carefully to see if there actually was any sound or if it was just her hopeful imagination. She strained her ears and heard sounds again, this time accompanied by the sound of a closing door. Someone was in the apartment besides Brittany.

"Santana," Brittany whispered to herself as she perked up and jumped out of the bed. She was halfway to the door before she was tripped up and fell hard to the floor, tangled in a mass of blankets. "Oomph," she huffed out as she tried to kick off the blankets that were wrapped around her boot.

She managed to kick off the offending blankets, push herself up off the floor, and run, as best as she could, to the living room.

"Santana! Baby, I'm so sorry. Let's please talk about this," Brittany rattled off as she turned the corner into the living room. "I didn't mean any of….Rachel?" Brittany stopped talking when she noticed that it wasn't Santana who had come through the front door.

"Brittany," Rachel replied in a shocked tone. She was bent over, digging through one of the many bags she had placed on the couch in front of her. Brittany glanced down at the numerous bags on the couch and quirked an eyebrow in Rachel's direction.

"What are you doing here?" Brittany questioned. Rachel paused her rummaging and looked up at the blonde.

"I live here," Rachel said slowly as she stood up straight.

"Oh, right," Brittany mumbled, shifting her eyes back to the bags. "What's with all the bags?"

"I have a lot of things that I need to move so I have a lot of bags," Rachel replied, crossing her arms defensively. Brittany was taken aback by Rachel's tone and defensive stance. She had never heard the short brunette talk like that. It looked like she was trying to protect herself from something.

"Why are you moving things?" Brittany asked. She was confused as to why Rachel was being such a bitch and why she was moving things.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rachel asked quietly. But the blonde was still lost on what was going on. "I'm moving out because I'm not exactly welcome here anymore. I didn't expect anyone to be here so I just stopped by to grab more of my things." Rachel turned back to her bags and stared to look through them again. "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked over her shoulder.

"I'm waiting for Santana to get home," Brittany replied sadly.

"You should have told her about Quinn you know. And you should have been honest right from the beginning." Rachel shrugged her shoulders like it was a no brainer that Brittany should have been honest. "It was kind of harsh to use her as a rebound if you ask me."

Brittany stood rooted in her spot, stunned at what Rachel had just said to her. Was Rachel, of all people, calling her out on how she treated Santana?

"Are you kidding me Rachel?" Brittany almost yelled, startling the brunette. "I didn't use Santana as a rebound. You of all people should know that." Brittany took three big steps so she was now nose to nose with Rachel. "And are you really going to call me out on how I treated Santana? Because if I remember correctly, you are no saint either. Who is the one currently sleeping with Santana's ex? And not just any ex, but the ex that ruined her. So really? You're going to say that I hurt Santana? I know I did, but maybe you should look in the fucking mirror." Brittany spit through her teeth at the short brunette before her.

"It's different. You're her girlfriend. She trusted you," Rachel said defensively, holding her ground. If Brittany wasn't so mad she might have been a little impressed with her but Brittany noticed a scared hint to her voice.

"And you're her best friend. She should be able to trust you the most." Brittany replied quickly. "How could you do that to her?"

Brittany noticed something shift in the brunette when Rachel dropped her defensive stance and lowered her head. For the first time, Rachel looked guilty for what she did.

"Brittany," Rachel sighed out. "Imagine if you were in my position…"

"I would never do something like that to my best friend," Brittany answered immediately, not even letting Rachel finish her statement.

"Alright let me rephrase it. What if it was Santana?" Rachel asked looking back up at the blonde.

"What do you mean?" Brittany asked skeptically.

"What if you were really good friends someone and their ex was Santana? Would you stay away from the love of your life just for your friend? Or you would you get a little blinded by love?" Rachel answered. "What would you do?"

"I-I uhhh, that's different." Brittany stuttered out. But she honestly didn't know what she would have done in that situation. If Santana was her best friends ex? Santana was the love of her life so how would she stay away from her then? Would Brittany risk a lifelong friendship to be with Santana? It scared Brittany a little to think about that because she knew that she would have done it in a heartbeat. Santana was the love of her life and if Rachel felt the same way about Quinn then she understood why this happened.

"What would you do?" Rachel asked again.

"I would give up everything and every friend I've ever had to be with her," Brittany answered quietly. "She is the love of my life. My soul mate."

"See the challenging part about this?" Rachel asked as she moved some of her bags and plopped down on the couch with her head in her hands. "I tried so hard to ignore my feelings towards Quinn for Santana's sake but it was just so hard. I feel horrid that I did that but Quinn just makes….ugh she just makes everything feel right, you know?" she asked Brittany.

Brittany nodded solemnly as she went to join Rachel on the couch. She really did understand where the brunette was coming from. If the tables had been turned, Brittany knew that she would be doing the exact same thing.

"I get it," Brittany said as she placed a comforting hand on Rachel's shoulder. All of her anger from earlier had dissipated and now all she felt towards Rachel was empathy. She didn't specifically know what Rachel was going through, but she did know what it was like to love someone so much that she would do anything to be with them.

"I feel like shit," Rachel sniffled out. She had started crying and Brittany didn't like seeing her cry. "I'm such a horrible person Brittany. You should hate me like Santana does."

"I don't hate you Rachel," Brittany said in a comforting tone. "I might have been a little upset, sure. But now I understand. Quinn is the love of your life and you can't stop love."

"I just wish I could fix this," Rachel finished miserably.

"You can. Give her time. Santana is a stubborn person, we both know that," Brittany chuckled a little. "But she needs you in her life and you need her. Everything will work out with you two." Brittany leaned over and pulled Rachel into a hug. She really couldn't be mad at Rachel anymore now that she understood her side of the story.

"Thank you Brittany," Rachel sighed into the hug. "The same applies to you."

Brittany pulled back from the hug and gave Rachel a questioning look.

"I mean that you can fix this," Rachel said with a small smile. "Santana is madly in love with you and she won't lose you this easily. Sure, she got upset and ran off for a bit but when she comes around everything will work out."

"You think so?" Brittany asked quietly.

"I know so," Rachel smiled back. "Now what is your plan?"

"Uhhh this is my plan," Brittany replied. "I was just going to wait for her to come home and then hopefully we can talk."

"Brittany, I don't think she is going to be coming home any time soon," Rachel said softly. "She's not even in the state anymore."

"What?" Brittany gasped out. "Where is she? Is she okay? Is she safe?"

"She's fine, well physically at least," Rachel replied. "She is at her other house in LA right now. The house she lives in while she films Joy."

"How do you know that? She hasn't been answering any of my calls," Brittany said dejectedly. Maybe she was answering Rachel's calls and just not Brittany's.

"She won't answer my calls either." Rachel answered sadly. "But I know she is in LA because of her alarm system that we had set up. It works so whenever she is living in New York, if anything happens in the LA house, like a door opens or the lights are on, she and I both receive a text message alerting us of a possible problem. 6 days ago I got a text saying that there were lights on and doors were opening but not to worry because the alarm system had been disarmed. Santana and I are the only ones who know the disarming code and I'm still here so…" Rachel trailed off.

"So she just ran off to LA?" Brittany asked. Rachel nodded her head solemnly. "Why didn't you go after her?"

"Brittany," Rachel sighed out. "Do you really think she would like to have me show up in LA while she was trying to run away?"

Brittany thought about it for a moment and decided that Rachel was right. Santana would be furious to find one of the people she was avoiding at her door step. But that was 6 days ago after all. Maybe Santana had calmed down a bit and wouldn't mind a bit of company.

"That's true. Well, I guess I'd better get going then," the blonde said as she got up off the couch and made her way to the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Rachel got up and followed Brittany to the door."

"I'm going to LA," Brittany replied nonchalantly. "Santana is there and I need to fix this so I need to be there too. I understand why you didn't go after her but I would feel too guilty if I just stayed here when I know that she is hurting by herself in LA."

"You're just going? Right now?" Rachel asked skeptically. Brittany just nodded her head firmly. The blonde had already made up her mind. "Well at least let me pay for the plane ticket."

"Rachel, you don't have to."

"No, I insist. This is partly my fault as well so I'm going to pay for your ticket." Rachel replied stubbornly.

"Thank you Rachel." Brittany smiled and pulled the smaller brunette into a hug. "This means a lot to me."

"I'll text you the address when you get there," Rachel said lightly into Brittany's ear before letting her go. "Go get your woman!" she laughed out.

"I will," the blonde smiled as she opened the door.

"Britt, wait." Rachel suddenly called out. Brittany paused in the door and looked back at Rachel with a quirked eyebrow. "Are…are you and me…are we okay?" Rachel asked hesitantly.

"Rach, I already said that I don't hate you because of what you did to Santana. I understand why you did it." Brittany said reassuringly.

"No. I meant do you hate me because of what I did to you?" Rachel asked softly. Brittany looked confused for a second before recognition washed over her.

"You're wondering if I hate you because Quinn left me for you?" Brittany asked. Rachel just sadly nodded. "No, I don't hate you. Was I mad at first when Quinn ended things with me? Of course. I was devastated. But when she broke up with me it led me to my soul mate and now I am happier than I have ever been. Quinn and I were never meant to last forever and I see that now. If she makes you happy, and you make her happy, then I am happy for you. You deserve each other." Brittany finished with a smile.

"Thank you," Rachel smiled at Brittany. She was relieved that the blonde didn't hate her. Rachel really did care about Brittany and Santana so the fact that she had already salvaged one relationship made her feel better. If Brittany could forgive her, then maybe one day so could Santana.

"Alright amigo, I need to go fix this mess," Brittany laughed out and headed towards the door.

"Good luck," Rachel smiled back.

Three hours later Brittany was seated in a first class window seat, Rachel had insisted, and was headed towards the City of Angles. She really hadn't thought out how she was going to fix things with Santana but thankfully she had a five hour long flight ahead of her to think of something.

Brittany leaned her seat back and let her mind wander off as the plane started its way, slowly, to the runway. In less than 7 hours Brittany would finally be with Santana again.

Xxxxxxxxx

Santana flipped aimlessly through the channels on her massive TV as she sprawled out on the sofa in front of it. Empty take out and pizza boxes littered the floor around her while empty vodka and tequila bottles were thrown all over the coffee table. The Latina reached out her hand blindly and felt around on the table for her newest bottle of vodka. Her hand wrapped around the neck of a bottle and she brought it up to her lips for a quick swig. The quick swig turned into a long chug but before Santana was really satisfied, the bottle ran out. Frustrated, she threw the bottle across the room and heard it come in contact with the wall. Thankfully she didn't hear it break. She did not want to clean that up right now…or ever.

It had been 6 days since Santana arrived in LA and to be honest she didn't remember most of her time there. Either she was drinking herself blind or she was bawling her eyes out. There really was no in between. After running away from Brittany, Santana hopped in a cab and rushed home to grab a few choice necessities and change out of her gown before she went straight to the airport. She miraculously managed to avoid the paparazzi and boarded the redeye flight to LA.

Once she arrived at her LA home, the Latina went straight to her liquor cabinet and drained almost all of it before she blacked out for the evening. On the second day she woke up on the kitchen floor with a massive headache and decided that food would help but there was no food in her house. She called up her favorite take out place and order just about everything on the menu. After her feast, Santana realized that she was starting to sober up and that was unacceptable. She hurriedly got dressed and made her way to the liquor store where she bought almost their entire stock of vodka and tequila. The days started to blend together and the empty alcohol bottles, as well as food containers, started to stack up.

Santana flipped through more channels and flipped past the food network which of course made her crave another pizza.

"Whhere is da damnnn phone," Santana slurred out as she drunkenly looked around for her phone. She found it under a massive stack of tissues that held many of the tears she had shed over the course of the week. She pushed the speed dial for her favorite pizza place and ordered another large pizza with everything on it. "And makes it snn-snappy," she yelled into the phone before she hung up and threw it back onto the floor.

Santana turned her attention back to the TV and frowned at it. On the screen there was a beautiful blonde girl playing a high school student in some horrible show on ABC. But Santana wasn't frowning because the show was horrible but because the blonde on the TV reminded her of a different blonde. Her blonde.

Tears started to leak out of Santana's eyes when she started to remember why she was in LA in the first place. She did not want to deal with the emotions anymore. She couldn't deal with the emotions anymore. The Latina sat up, waited for the room to stop spinning, and reached out for more vodka or tequila or anything that would help her forget her pain. She managed to find a half empty bottle of tequila and gulped down the rest of it quickly. The familiar sting of alcohol in her throat helped her pain fade away. It wasn't perfect but it was better than being sober.

Santana drunkenly flopped back onto the couch and was about to fall asleep when she heard the doorbell ring.

"Bout damn time my pizzzzzas showeded up," she slurred as she got up and wobbled her way to the door. The drunken Latina flung the door open without even checking the peep hole. "Uhhh where is mah pizza?" she asked when she didn't immediately have a pizza in her hands.

"Santana?" she heard someone gasp out. The voice was strangely familiar to the Latina so she squinted her eyes in hopes that she would be able to recognize who was at her door. Her eyes went wide, well as wide as they would go while she was so intoxicated, when she noticed who the voice belonged to.

"Britty?" Santana questioned as she swayed in her spot. The mix of the vodka and tequila in her system were starting really affect her. "Bwitt-Bwitt you at my house," she slurred out.

Santana felt the room start to spin around her. Or maybe it was her who was spinning. All the Latina really registered was that she was starting to slump towards the floor and the last thing she remembered before blacking out was an angle screaming her name.

AN: Sorry about the wait. I know I suck. I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner! Thanks for reading :)

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R.I.P Cory.