Brittany wished dance rehearsal didn't go so late and she wished she didn't have to run through the apartment like a bat out of hell trying to find the right outfit to wear and she kind of wished could just go and cuddle into her girlfriend's shoulder and taste test all her delicious food.
She slipped on the slick bathroom floor and banged her hip against the bathroom counter.
She hissed and rubbed her side before she knelt down to pick up the empty pill bottle that had rolled off the sink. She read the label then tossed it into the trash.
She pulled a towel from the rack and wrapped it tightly around her body. She stepped onto the cold kitchen tile and found Santana in the exact spot she had left her when she had run through the door a half hour ago.
Brittany noticed there were a couple of pots sitting idly on the stove and Santana was still hovering over the cutting board.
She didn't look like she was moving at all.
Brittany stepped closer.
"Santana?" She called.
She received no response and worry started to crawl into the pit of her stomach.
"I found an empty bottle of medicine in the bathroom." Brittany said. "Did you take it for something?"
Brittany watched Santana's motionless body for a while. She had expected Santana to turn around. She had expected her to nod or react or say anything at all but Santana just stood there frozen like a statue.
If Santana moved then she was okay. If she was okay then Brittany could breathe.
"Santana." Brittany eased.
She stepped closer towards Santana and that's when she realized Santana's entire body was shaking.
"Honey." Brittany said slowly and carefully. "Did something happen?"
She reached out and placed on a hand on Santana's shoulder. Santana hissed and pulled away like she had been burned.
Brittany didn't even have to wait for the answer. It was so obvious that something had happened.
Brittany's eyes raked over Santana body until she reached her face.
She wasn't sure what she was more distraught by, the tear tracks running down Santana's cheeks or the open gash on her lip.
Brittany cupped Santana's chin in her palm and turned Santana slowly so she could look at her,
The gash wasn't too deep but still Brittany felt anger surging through her. She wanted so badly to know who did this, to find them and do something terrible to them but she needed to take care of Santana first.
"You need to get ice on this." She grabbed Santana's wrist and pulled her towards the freezer. The cry of pain that escaped Santana's mouth stopped Brittany in her tracks.
She whipped back around to Santana. Her eyes were trailed on the floor.
"Where else are you hurt?" Brittany said. She smoothed her hand gently over Santana's bare arm she treated her like cracked glass, she was too afraid to touch places that could be broken.
Santana finally looked up and swallowed. "My shoulder." Santana said she grimaced when she gently nudged the shoulder up. "And my back kinda hurts a lot."
"Why don't we go sit down so I can see?" Brittany guided her towards the bedroom.
Santana resisted. She pointed towards the onion on the cutting board. "I haven't finished dinner."
Brittany smiled at her. "We can take care of it later."
She leaned in to peck her gently on the lips but diverted at the last minute and settled for her cheek.
"Come on." Brittany said. Santana didn't resist this time. She followed Brittany and gingerly sat down on the bed.
Brittany eased behind her and grabbed fistfuls of Santana's shirt. "Is it okay if I-"
Santana nodded immediately.
Brittany's gently guided the shirt upwards.
She just managed to catch the scream that caught in throat when she saw the dark purple skin on her back. She eased Santana's good arm out of the t-shirt before she pulled the shirt around the shoulder Santana had indicated before.
She found another dark bruise forming there too.
Brittany's hands ghosted over the largest bruise on the small of Santana's back. She traced the outline of the darkened skin with her fingers.
"It looks worse than it is." Santana lied.
"Is the pain medicine working?" Brittany asked.
"Not really." Santana answered.
Brittany hopped off the bed and grabbed her cell phone from her dance bag.
"I'm calling your father." She said when she looked up at Santana's questioning eyes. She was already pressing the number on her speed dial before Santana could voice her protest.
The conversation ended quickly and Brittany stared down at her phone for a couple of minutes before she got a call from a unrecognized number.
She answered the phone and was surprised to hear Santana's mother on the other end. She seemed to oddly be more in control then her husband was. She gave Brittany instructions on how to ice the bruises and warning signs to look for in case she needed to take Santana to the emergency room.
She said she was on her way before she ended the call.
Brittany started gathering supplies of frozen peas and ice stuffed into plastic bags. She tried not to panic about the state of the apartment. She glanced over at Lord Tubbington and kindly asked him not to bite anyone today before she went back to her room where she found Santana back in the bedroom lying face down on the bed.
"How are you feeling?" Brittany asked. She leaned down to brush the hair out of Santana's face.
"Better." She said with a forced smile.
"Mhmm." Brittany said. She ran her fingers gently over the discolored skin.
"Your dad said to ice it." Brittany said. She placed the ice gently over Santana's bruises.
Brittany mimicked Santana's position on the bed and she just watched her brows furrow from the foreign cold against her sore skin.
She wasn't sure how long they had been laying there but Brittany watched as Santana's eyes fluttered closed from the soothing effect the ice finally seemed to be bringing her.
Brittany pulled the ice pack away from Santana's lip.
"What happened?" Brittany asked.
Brittany almost regretted the question by the way Santana's eyes shot open.
"Melanie." Santana said. Her eyes pulled away from Brittany's.
"They were taking her to Love Can Win." The tears started to brim in the corner of her eyes. "They were going to take her but she didn't want to go." Santana choked out a breath."I tried to stop them Britt. I did. I tried." A small sob choked in the back of Santana's throat.
Brittany placed her hand on Santana's arm.
"I know you did." Brittany assured her. "I know you would."
She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to Santana's forehead.
"Brittany?" A voice called from the hallway. "Santana?"
The voice was in the bedroom before Brittany could react. "I'm sorry." Brittany saw the flash of a body as Mrs. Lopez whipped around and away from the door. "I didn't know how bad- I knocked- I didn't mean to intrude."
Brittany jumped to her feet. "You're fine, Mrs. Lopez."
Brittany really wished she had thought to put on some clothes.
"Mom?" Santana said. Her voice was hoarse from crying. Santana tried to ease herself up from the bed.
Brittany jumped forward and placed on hand on Santana's shoulder. "Lie down." She commanded.
She was surprised at how quickly Santana listened.
"My husband told me to bring some things, Brittany." Mrs. Lopez called from the door. She had an uncomfortable little smile on her face. Brittany took it as some sort of good sign.
Brittany leaned in and placed a just because kiss to Santana's cheek. Then she threw on a t-shirt and sweatpants before she joined Mrs. Lopez in the kitchen.
Mrs. Lopez directed Brittany back to the bedroom with a supply of newly purchased ice packs and pain medicine. Brittany tried not the cringe when she saw Mrs. Lopez start to reach into her pile of dirty dishes.
"I was going to clean those." Brittany muttered before she rounded the corner. She isn't sure if Mrs. Lopez heard her or just chose to ignore her.
She didn't dwell on it for too long, not when she remembered that Santana was lying on her bed covered in cuts and bruises.
After she gave Santana the pain medication and she adjusted the ice packs to Mrs. Lopez's specifications. Brittany laid down next to Santana and entangled their fingers.
She felt Santana's breathe even out and hers soon followed.
The next time Santana grumbled herself awake the early morning sun was shining through Brittany's blinds and Santana didn't think she was feeling all that bad. But then she tried to get out of bed.
Moving really wasn't all that fun anyway.
She curled up next to Brittany and drifted back off to sleep. They kept up a pattern of curling up next to one another and talking or drifting off back to sleep for the rest of the day. Sometimes Santana's stomach had to remind her about food and Brittany would giggle at the embarrassing gurgling sounds she would make.
The first time it happened Brittany came back from the kitchen with the most confused look on her face. She was holding piles of containers filled to the brim with all of Santana's favorite foods.
She explained each food to Brittany and Brittany slowly seemed a little less scared once she knew the foods inside the dishes with the confusing names weren't all that scary.
She bounced off to the kitchen and came back with a heaping bowl of her mother's homemade asopao. They shared their meal, not even bothering to use two utensils.
It was the best meal Santana had eaten in a long time. She had forgotten how good her mom's home cooking really was.
After they finished Brittany brought the dishes back out to the kitchen and grumbling about the state of her kitchen and how Santana's mother probably thinks she's a slob now.
Apparently her mother had cleaned too.
Brittany remarked that she didn't even know her refrigerator could get that shiny. Apparently Lord Tubbington had been glaring at his reflection in it for the past hour.
Santana's dad stopped by the next morning, groggy with worry and lack of sleep from a long double shift at the hospital.
He ran his hand over Santana's bruises and seemed to find the most painful places to prod and poke before he declared her healthy. He gave her a prescription of rest and relaxation. And Santana was more than happy to oblige.
Brittany called in sick to dance rehearsal and just stayed in bed.
Brittany mom came over to visit for a couple of hours one day. She brought in some containers of her own and after she left Brittany heated up a plate that she had to explain this time.
"I think our moms sneak into my house in the middle of the night to restock my fridge." Brittany grumbled once when Santana finally managed to sneak a peek at the contents of the fridge.
Even after a few days of nothing but leftovers it still looked filled to the brim.
Santana had never felt so loved in her life.
It wasn't until the next morning when Santana woke up for the first time without the knot in the back that she started to feel guilty. She had completely forgotten about Melanie and Love Can Win and the reason she was like this in the first place.
She was rising from the bed when she felt a still sleep heavy Brittany reaching out for her.
"Where are you going?" Brittany muttered into the pillow.
"I'm going to talk to Brian." Santana muttered. She leaned down, ignoring the smarting in her sore back, as she kissed Brittany lightly on the forehead. "You should go to dance." Santana said.
Brittany did that stretchy yawn thing she does when she's just waking up. "But I'm sick." She added a fake cough just for the theatrics. "And so are you." Brittany added.
Santana pulled her arm out of Brittany's reach before she could pull her back into bed. Santana was pretty sure Brittany didn't have to do very much convincing to get Santana to curl back up next to her.
"I have to go." Santana said. She slid the jeans over her legs and buttoned them. "He can help Melanie."
Brittany woke up instantly. "Do you think he could?" Brittany asked.
Santana swallowed. "He has to." She said.
Santana followed the signs and arrows that led her to Brian's office. She didn't even know he had an office. She never really thought about what he did all day but she never really guessed that it was in an office somewhere. She fully expected him to be sitting on a stool and strumming on his guitar maybe learning a new song for Youth Group. Instead she found him sitting at his desk, hunched over a pile of papers.
Santana watched him for a moment, still completely confused.
Brian looked up and gave Santana a warm smile.
"How are you doing Sant-?" Brian said. He pushed the papers away from him and rose to his feet.
"Did you hear about Melanie?" Santana said before Brian could finish his greeting.
Brian's face fell. "How do you-"
She felt his eyes glance down at the healing gash on her lip. She felt him cataloguing a list of questions in his head. She was happy when he decided to stick to the topic.
"I did hear about Melanie." Brian said.
Santana felt hope bubble up in her stomach. If Brian already knew then that means he must already have a plan to get her out.
"There's nothing I can do about it." Brian added.
Santana felt her entire body deflate.
"What?" Santana said.
"I can't do anything." Brian repeated. "She's a minor, her father wanted her there. They wouldn't even let me speak to her if I tried."
Santana felt her mouth hanging open in shock. "You can't just leave her there."
Brian looked down at the tile. "I wish I didn't have to Santana." Brian said sadly. "But she's a minor."
"There has to be way." Santana said. She felt her fists balling at her side. "We can sneak her out, we could break into her window like Brittany did-"
"If you go up there and take her away-" Brian started. "It's kidnapping and you'll get arrested." Santana was starting to wonder if Brian was convincing her or himself that it was a bad idea.
"Not if she wanted to come. Not if she was willing." Santana said.
Brian let out a sign. "She – is – a-minor." Brian repeated the words slowly.
"That doesn't make her sexuality any less valid!" Santana said. "You can't just sit here on your Jesus loving ass and let her rot in there. What if something happens to her there?"
"Santana-"
"No." Santana interjected. "Don't try to calm me down and tell me what the laws once again say I can or cannot do! You can't let that tiny little girl sit in a room and convince herself that she's something that she isn't. She's going to think she doesn't have anyone. She's going to think no one cares about her."
He stared at her until she felt like she couldn't bare it anymore.
"Is that how you felt?" Brian said.
Santana felt her shoulders soften without her consent. She took a second to recover before she spoke.
"This isn't about me." She said too softly for it to sound as final she wanted it to be.
"I bet you thought some of the same things that Melanie has been saying these past few weeks." Brian continued.
Santana prayed for him to stop.
"And Melanie is going to have to be strong." Brian said. "She'll find strength in God and she'll find strength in the people around her. All we can do is pray." Brian placed a pacifying hand on her shoulder. "If we do anything more, if we do anything against the law then it just gives them more leverage. And we can't give them anything to use against us."
Brittany wished her hands would stop shaking. She had already had a close call with a bottle of wine. And now she was shaking so much that she would be lucky if she didn't spill her glass of wine all over her pants.
Dr. Lopez had taken a not so pleased Santana out back to help him with the grill. And now Brittany was stuck looking into the eyes of Santana's mother and she just wanted something to fill the void of this giant ball of awkward silence.
She just needed something to talk about.
Anything.
Any topic.
"We met in Vegas." Brittany said to her wine glass.
She looked up at Mrs. Lopez confused expression.
"Santana and I." Brittany said. "We met in Las Vegas." Brittany explained.
She wasn't sure if this was the best topic of conversation. Things would get weird if she asked what they did or how they actually met but Mrs. Lopez looked mildly interested and Brittany was going to use it.
"What were you doing in Las Vegas?" Mrs. Lopez asked.
This was so easy. What was she so worried about?
"Oh I'm a dancer." Brittany said.
Mrs. Lopez's eyebrows shot up. "Oh." She said. She looked down at her wine glass.
There was a silence before Mrs. Lopez looked up again.
"Does Santana dance?" Mrs. Lopez asked like it was the most important question in the world at the moment.
"We were actually dancing when we met." Brittany said with a proud smile.
She managed to leave out the fact that they both were very much intoxicated and it wasn't the most innocent kind of dancing.
But Brittany was worried she had let that thought slip just by the look on Mrs. Lopez's face.
Mrs. Lopez cleared her throat. "So do you only dance in Vegas?"
Brittany frowned. Why would someone only dance in one place? It wasn't like dancing was hard to do in the Lima clubs. She danced at Scandals all the time.
"No." Brittany said.
She was afraid she had said something wrong again because the scowl on Mrs. Lopez's face was so intimidating.
"So you dance here in Ohio?" Mrs. Lopez said. She took a healthy swig of her wine before she looked up at Brittany.
"I dance everywhere." Brittany said. "I love dancing."
Mrs. Lopez frowned. "Does Santana dance everywhere too?"
"Not as much as I do?" Brittany said. She wasn't sure way she spoke the answer like a question. She was just so confused.
She didn't understand what was so wrong about dancing.
Santana and Dr. Lopez came in through the back door. Brittany was pretty sure Santana's mom let out a sigh of relief.
Santana knew she shouldn't have left her mother alone with Brittany. Something must have happened.
Santana could tell by the way her father was asking random, useless questions to fill the void of silence, that he knew something was up too.
They were halfway through their meal when her mother finally spoke without looking up from her plate.
"How long have you been an exotic dancer?" Her mother said.
Santana had never been more confused in her life.
Brittany's head whipped around. Santana could see realization dawn on her face.
"Mom." Santana let out a light laugh. "I'm not a stripper."
"You're not." Her mother asked in a sheepish voice. "But Brittany said she was-" She looked over to Brittany who was shaking her head. "-and that you were-" Santana shook her head when her mother's eyes landed back on her.
Her mother let out a relieved breath. "Oh thank God." She laid back against her seat. Santana watched her eyes dance between her and Brittany. "I can handle lesb-" Her mother cleared her throat. "Lesbians but I don't think I could handle stripping."
"Oh I'm not a lesbian." Brittany chimed in.
She shied away from the three pairs of eyes that shot to her.
"I mean-" She stumbled under the sudden attention. "I'm like half a lesbian."
Santana gulped.
"I like both." Brittany added into the silence.
Santana's eyes immediately shot to her mother. She knew just by the blank expression on her mother's face that this confession wasn't a good thing.
There was the longest period of silence Santana had ever been forced to sit through.
"So you like boys and girls?" Her mother asked.
She was asking questions. That had to be a good sign. Right?
Brittany nodded.
"So why don't you just date a boy?" Her mother asked.
Santana tensed in her seat.
Her mother looked up and back peddled a bit. "I just mean-" she thought for a second. "-if you, can control it, why don't you just love a boy instead?"
Santana looked over to see Brittany staring at her hands in her lap.
"Why doesn't Lady love someone other than the Tramp?" Brittany muttered.
Her mother frowned but she didn't seem to hear what Brittany said. Santana jumped when her mother's eyes shot to her.
"Do you like boys too?" Her mother asked.
Santana shook her head.
"How do you know?" Her mother said. She sounded disappointed. "I mean have you even tried. You two could still be friends but you'd both have normal lives and families."
Santana sighed. She felt like everything had just fallen apart. She had been so close to getting her mother on board with it and it just fell to pieces so quickly.
"It doesn't work like that mom." Santana frowned.
"How do you know you haven't even tried?!" Her mother was starting to get frantic.
She knew this was a bad sign.
Santana's father cleared his throat. "Maybe we should call it a night." He said as he stood up.
He started clearing plates from the table without another word.
"I think you and Brittany ought to get going." He whispered to her.
Santana nodded and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks dad."
"She'll come around." He whispered sadly. "She has to."
Brittany tried not to speak the entire car ride. Santana had rarely gotten in one of these moods around her but she knew the best course of action was just to give Santana time. So Brittany turned the radio to Santana's favorite station and hoped the music would settle her down.
She was worried when Santana still didn't speak when they got into the apartment and still worried when they both changed into their sleep clothes without speaking a word to each other.
"Why did you have to say that?" Santana muttered.
Brittany looked over at her but Santana wasn't even making eye contact right now.
"Say what?" Brittany asked.
"That you like guys." Santana asked.
Brittany frowned. "Because it's true."
"So why don't you then?" Santana asked.
Brittany sighed. "Why don't I what, Santana?"
"Why don't you just date a guy so you don't have to deal with people thinking that you're gay?" Santana said.
Brittany's back went rigid. "I'm half Scottish but I wouldn't really be embarrassed if someone thought I was all the way Scottish."
Santana quirked an eyebrow. "That is not even close to the same thing."
Brittany took a breath to steady herself. "I know you've had a long week Santana with Melanie and your parents maybe this isn-"
"She was getting so much better." Santana said. "It was going to happen slowly but I saw it happening but now she's going to hope that one day when I just find the right guy-She was so close to being okay with it and then you had to just tell her that and make it even more confusing for her."
"It's who I am Santana." Brittany said. "I'm sorry your mom's confused about it but-"
"Well maybe you shouldn't be so open about it." She said with a huff.
Brittany felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. She looked down at the ground.
"I can't do this." Brittany looked up into Santana's wide eyes.
"I'm totally fine with being there for you to come to terms with who you are. But I can't be with someone who tells me to hide who I am." Brittany added.
Brittany so badly wanted to take it back. She saw the tears threatening in Santana's eyes and she just wanted to pull it all back and tell her everything is fine but she knew she couldn't. She knew she shouldn't. She loved who she was. She loved who she had become and she would never let anyone take that from her. Especially not someone she loved.
Santana turned and left the room without saying another word. Brittany laid on her bed and waited for the front door to slam before she allowed herself to cry.
It took a couple of days for Santana to work up the courage to speak to Brian. She found him sitting at his desk hunched over a laptop this time. She gently knocked on the open door. Brian looked up quickly and gestured for Santana to come inside.
"If I take my eyes away from this." Brian said as he hunched back over the laptop again. "It's going to take me another three hours to figure it out."
Santana nodded even though Brian wasn't even looking at her. She paced around the office as she waited for him to finish.
She read the various inspirational posters around the room and the photos of Brian with groups of what had to be past Youth Groups. Her eyes fell on a pile of pamphlets sitting next to a picture frame.
She picked up the first pamphlet that grabbed her attention. On the front cover was a drawing of a man praying off the side of a bed. The title of the pamphlet was written in big bold letters at the top:
You've Been on Your Knees All Night but God Still Made You Gay
She had to read it three times just to make it sure it really said that. She flipped open the pamphlet half expecting the articles to be a joke but they seemed legit, at least the first paragraph seemed to be serious.
She heard Brian laugh from across the room. Santana looked up to see him watching her intently.
"The lady who makes those pamphlets is a guidance counselor over at McKinley High School." He said. "Have you met her?"
Santana shook her head. "I went to private school." She said.
Brian gave her a knowing smile. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Well, she's really a fascinating woman. Sometimes I'm not sure if the innuendos are intentional or accidental." Brian shrugged. "But they get people reading." He gestured to the open pamphlet in her hands. "As you can see."
Santana settled the pamphlet back down on the table.
"So what can I help you with?" Brian said. He eased his laptop shut. "Are you here about Brittany?"
Santana's eyes widened. "You know?"
Brian smiled warmly. "I talked to Brittany last night." He said. "Take a seat." He gestured
Santana frowned but she sat down in the seat across from Brian's desk.
"Tell me what the fight was about." He eased back into his seat and folded his hands in his lap.
"Don't you already know what it was about?" Santana said.
Brian just smiled and Santana took that as her cue to talk.
"Brit told my parents that she was-" Santana cleared her throat.
"Bisexual?" Brian helped.
Santana nodded. "You know?"
"Brittany is very open about who she is." Brian said.
Santana looked down at her feet.
"You didn't know." Brian said.
Santana looked up to see Brian watching her intently.
"Are you worried about Brittany being more interested in a guy than she is in you?" Brian asked.
Santana shrugged. "It would be easier."
"Do you think you'd be more interested in a guy that dating Brittany?" Brian asked.
Santana scoffed. "I don't exactly work that way."
Brian smiled.
"What about another girl?" He said.
Santana shrugged. "The only one I can really think about is Brittany right now."
Santana didn't understand why Brian's smile grew so big.
"Why is that?" Brian asked.
"Because I love her." Santana said.
"I have an inkling Brittany might say something similar." Brian said.
The shrill ringing of Brian's phone cut through the room. Brian sighed.
"I'm sorry." He leaned down to pick up the handset.
"This is Brian." He said into the phone.
Santana watched as he waited for the return from the other line. She saw the expression in his face fall. She felt like she was intruding in on a serious conversation, she turned her head away. She looked down at the ground.
"I'll be right there." He said before he hung up the phone.
Santana watched the way his chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath. He looked over at Santana and tried to force a smile on his face.
"You need to go talk to Brittany." He said. He grabbed his jacket from the hook behind his door and threw it over his shoulders.
Santana took that as a hint to follow him out.
"Life's too short." He said without looking up at her.
He led Santana out of the office and raced to his car without saying goodbye. Santana watched his car race out of the parking lot before she even opened her driver's side door.
She drove straight to Arlene's Grocery and spent the next two hours in the florist section.
So these flowers weren't technically in season but roses were too extreme and spring flowers seemed more- Brittany. But she had gone back and forth so often that the florist gave up on helping her.
But now here she was standing in front of Brittany door with these obnoxiously bright flowers in her hand and she just wanted to go through what she was going to say one more time and then she could just-
The door pulled open and there she was face-to-face with a red-eyed Brittany. Brittany was still too distracted to even notice Santana standing in front of her. She held her phone to her ear and was muttering something while she pulled her door shut and froze when she saw the figure standing on her doorstep. She muttered something into the phone and pulled it away from her ear.
"Hi." Santana said.
And Brittany just stared at her. Her expression was completely bare and stoic. Santana could see the wetness on her cheeks and she lost all her words. She had practiced the stupid fucking speech all day at the florist and ten times in her car and she just completely forgot it.
Brittany looked just as much at a loss for words as she was. She shifted on her feet. She looked at the flowers in Santana's hand and her expression fell.
"You bought flowers." Brittany said sadly.
Santana raised an eyebrow and looked at her. She couldn't place Brittany's expression. She had never seen her like this before.
"I wanted to tell you I was sorry." Santana said. "I practiced this speech but I-"
Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana's neck and pulled her into a tight embrace. "It doesn't matter anymore."
"Brittany we can't just brush this under the rug we need-" Santana started.
Brittany crashed her lips against Santana's to silence her.
"We can." She said after she pulled back. "It's not what's important right now." Brittany's voice cracked out of her sentence.
Santana pulled back to get a better look at Brittany.
"What's going on?" Santana asked.
"I need to tell you something." Brittany said.
Brittany isn't sure what does it.
Maybe it's the way Santana's face starts to fall. Maybe it's the way the flowers fall slack in her hand. Or maybe it's the fact that she's finally saying the words aloud.
But it all starts to feel so real.
Even though she's pretty much repeating the words that Brian had just used on the phone Brittany didn't feel like she's really starting to process them until they're leaving her lips.
Melanie was scared.
For some reason Brittany felt like it was an important thing to emphasize but she isn't sure what it's supposed to help.
Brittany can't find the right words. She knows she has to say it. She knows that Santana doesn't want to believe it. Santana doesn't want to assume something that she's praying didn't happen but Brittany can't find delicate enough words.
Then she realizes it's because there isn't any.
There's nothing delicate about what Melanie did to herself. There's no delicate way to tell Santana that Melanie stole her life from the world.
The flowers fall to the ground. Brittany feels like the bright yellows and blues and purples are mocking her. They are so out of place against the gloomy snow and the gray skies that have come over Lima, Ohio.
Brittany thinks for a second that God picked perfect weather for right.
Then she wishes he worried about other, more important things today.
Then she reminds herself not to think like that.
"No." Santana finally managed to croak out.
Brittany reached for her. They knew this would hit Santana hard. This was why Brian had called Brittany first, this was why she was headed over to Santana's to deliver the news.
Santana's heart was a lot more fragile than people thought.
Santana pushes Brittany away. She turned on her heels and walked away.
"Santana." Brittany called.
She followed Santana along the pathway. She stops to watch Santana yank her car door but it didn't budge. She emptied the contents of her purse and lifted her keys out of the pile.
Brittany could hear the keys rattling against Santana's shaky hands. She was in no condition to drive.
"Santana!" Brittany called to her.
Santana didn't react at all to her voice. She tried to match her key to the lock on her door but her hand was shaking too much.
Brittany grabbed her arm and tugged. "Santana!" She called frantically.
That seemed to get her attention. She locked onto Santana's brown eyes and saw the life slowly flow back into them.
"No." Santana said. Her voice cracked at the end of it and Brittany knew it was coming.
The keys dropped from Santana's hand.
Santana let Brittany turn her body and pull her into her embrace.
"Fuck Love Can Win." Santana spoke into Brittany's shoulder. "Fuck them, Brittany. Fuck them."
She could hear the tears in Santana's voice. She ran her hand over Santana's hair.
"I know." Brittany cooed. She pulled Santana in tighter in an attempt to curb her shivering body. "I know honey."
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Author's Note: Special Thanks to my Beta postapocalypticcerialgirl and its her birthday tomorrow so go wish her happy birthday :)
Also thanks to all of you, all your reviews, follows, favorites, messages etc continue to inspire me. You guys are amazing. I write for each and every one of you.
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