Chapter 12: Take a Chance
Monday morning and Santana couldn't help the groan that echoed through her room as she sat up. She heard her shower running and knew Brittany was already wide awake. She pulled herself out of bed, but felt dizzy as soon as she stood up. She sat back down, and feeling a scratch in her throat drank some water. She heard the shower shut off, and moments later, a towel clad Brittany emerged from the steamy bathroom.
"What're you doing still in bed, lazy cakes?" Brittany asked, searching for clothes in her drawer of Santana's dresser.
"I" Santana's voice crackled "Don't feel so good." she managed. Brittany looked over her shoulder and noticed that Santana's skin was sickly pale. She pressed a kiss to her forehead and pulled away quickly.
"You're really warm. There's no way we can go to school today." Brittany said, picking up her phone to call them both out. Her impression of her parents had gotten impressive. Santana grabbed her wrist.
"No" she groaned "You go, support Quinn. Remember?" Santana fell back on the bed with a heavy sigh.
"I need to be here for you." Brittany argued "You're really sick."
"I'll text you if I feel worse. This is Quinn's chance. Please be there for her?" Santana eyed the conflicted look on the blonde's face, and reached up, gently running her thumb along a furrowed brow.
"Okay. I'm running you a bath before I go though." Brittany insisted. Santana nodded and watched the girl hurry around. She must have dozed off, because before she knew it, a fully clothed Brittany lifted her out of bed. She nuzzled into the pale neck, and listened to the steady breathing.
"Britt?" she whispered, as the girl sat her down, stripping off her sweaty clothes. She hadn't noticed she'd been sweating.
"Hmm?" Brittany looked up at tired eyes.
"Record Q." she requested. Brittany nodded, removing the last articles of clothing and setting the Latina in the bubble filled bath.
"You stay awake in there okay? And get out after 20 minutes. There's soup ready to warm up in the microwave and glass of orange juice on the nightstand." Brittany kneeled beside the tub, gently washing out the raven locks before putting them up in a bun.
"I promise. You're amazing. Now go to school. I know you skipped the first period to take care of me." Santana nodded toward the clock and Brittany smiled sheepishly.
"Okay. Text me when you get out of the bath. And when you finish your orange juice. And your soup." Brittany pressed a final kiss to her girlfriend's temple before walking out the door and heading to school.
When Brittany got to school, her first stop was the office. She was directed by the secretary into Principal Figgins' office.
"Ms.Pierce, do you wish to explain your tardiness?" he leaned forward on the desk.
"Yes sir. Santana is sick, she has the flu. I was taking care of her." Brittany bit her lip nervously, she didn't want detention.
"Shouldn't her parents do that?" he massaged his temples.
"All due respect, sir, but I think we are both aware that the Lopez's are rarely home. Satana is fifteen, just recently. And they think it's suitable to leave for week-long conferences." Brittany had been growing frustrated with the Lopez's. Her parents were struggling to make ends meet again, and Santana was an extra mouth to feed that they really couldn't afford. Since Santana's recovery, the Lopez's had gone back to their normal routine of traveling.
"I understand Ms.Pierce, but you missing school is detrimental. Especially with Mrs.Lopez gone, meaning your extra support is gone." he stood up.
"That said, your grades haven't dropped in many years, even as you and Ms.Lopez have gained independence. I will make sure this absence is taken care of for both of you. Please make sure Ms.Lopez gets well soon. And Ms.Pierce?" the principal called her as she got up to leave.
"Yes sir?" she asked.
"Go visit the nurse and get a flu shot." he smiled and Brittany nodded. She managed to catch the nurse in enough time to make it to her second class early.
In glee that afternoon, Brittany settled sadly in her seat in the back row, the chair beside her empty.
"Where's Lopez?" Jesse asked, noticing the pouting blonde and empty chair.
"She has the flu." Brittany slumped in her chair. She hated school with Santana. She couldn't do any of the reading that day.
"And you're not sick?" Jesse arched an eyebrow.
"No, I don't get sick as easily as Sanny." she shrugged.
"Well" he booped Brittany's nose "I hope she feels better soon. I like her. She's a firecracker." he passed Quinn on his way to the front of the room. The shorter blonde quickly occupied the seat on Brittany's other side, no one would dare sit in Santana's chair.
"B, how are you doing?" Quinn asked and Brittany shrugged. "C'mon. Talk to Quinnie." she pushed and Brittany sniffled hugging Quinn.
"School's hard without her. I can't read anything. I'm too worried about her to focus." Brittany admits.
"She'll be better in a flash. Don't you worry Britt. So, are you excited for this week?" Quinn asked.
"I'm so excited to hear you sing." Brittany smiled.
"Good. I think this is a great opportunity for everyone."
"Yeah, it is." Brittany nodded. Admitelly, she wanted to sing, but everyone thought she was just a dancer.
"You wanna sing too huh?" Quinn noticed.
"I really do. Will you help me? I want to surprise Santana by singing, and she'll be better Friday." Brittany explained.
"Sure. I bet we can get you singing in the group number." Quinn patted the girls back. During the rest of Glee, Jesse called people up to perform. They were reaching the end of the list when she heard her name.
"What?" she glanced up "I don't have anything prepared." Brittany looked to Quinn who winked at her. She groaned, dragging her feet to the front.
"The floor is yours." Jesse said.
"Uh, well the only song I have memorized is Slave 4 U by Britney Spears. Is that okay?" she twirled her hair.
"Yup, go ahead Brittany." Mr.Schue chuckled.
Brittany shrugged- she thought her song choice wasn't appropriate for school. She looked at the band and she shook off her nerves. She stumbled on some of the words, and tried to avoid contact with anyone, instead staring at the wall of the classroom. Despite that, she received a loud round of applause. When she finally made eye contact with the rest of the room, she saw Rachel sending her a thumbs up and Quinn pointing to her phone. Apparently she'd been recorded.
"That was really good Brittany. I want you to join Quinn, Kitty and Tina in an all female group number. The boy group number will feature Artie, Puck, Dave, Matt and Kurt. It's up to you to choose the song, but if you need suggestions come to me. I'd like to know by the start of Glee tomorrow. If you haven't chosen yet, or haven't agreed, you will be given a song of my choice.
Brittany met up with the other 3 girls, twitching to get home to Santana. They were discussing girl bands. Brittany heard lots of groups tossed around along with solo female artists when she piped up.
"What about Little Mix?" she asked curiously. It was four girls in the band and there was 4 of them.
"Where have you been hiding that genius Britt?!" Tina exclaimed.
"Santana says if you look closer you'll find it in everything." Brittany answered confidently.
"Well what about a song?" Quinn and Kitty asked simultaneously, before looking at each other.
"Well what about Black Magic?" Tina offered "It's one of their most popular songs."
"Well, I'll give it a listen. Are any of you good at matching voice types?" Kitty asked.
"I can ask Rach to help." Quinn glanced over at the girl who was fuming at Mr.Schue for sidelining her talents. "One sec." Quinn rushed over to Rachel, calming the girl down. Rachel smiled brightly and skipped happily over to the group.
"My talents have been requested?" Rachel addressed the other girls.
"Yeah Rach. Do you think you could match us up to a Little Mix song for our vocal range?" Brittany sweetly requested.
"Of course. I heard you all sing solo today so I should be able to work with that. I'll text you with your band member as soon as I have it figured out." Rachel smiled happily before rushing over to her backpack to try and match them on her laptop.
"Alright, well as much as I'd love to stick around, I really need to get home to Santana." Brittany explained. The other girls nodded, promising to text her if they figured anything else out. On her way out, she passed by the boys who were aimlessly arguing. She stuck her head in.
"Hey guys, I know this'll probably into some ridiculous competition but I want to help you. Did you consider One Direction?" she threw the option out and the boys all gawked.
"I'll take that as a no. Kurt?" she looked at the boy who arched an eyebrow.
"Yes Brittany?" he asked.
"You've got it from here right?" she whispered.
"Yes, I'll just scroll through their music and play little clips to pretend I'm not a huge fan. Take care of your beautiful girlfriend dear." Kurt pat the girls pack as she left the classroom. She hopped in her mom's car and was surprised to see Santana asleep across the backseat.
"She called me. She needed a mom Brittany. You should've called me this morning." Susan whispered, sending a worried glance to the girl asleep in the backseat.
"She didn't want me to Ma. I'm sorry. Is she okay?" Brittany asked.
"Just a flu. She can stay in the basement on the air mattress until she's better." Susan pulled out of the parking lot.
"No Ma, it's too cold down there. I'll stay down there, she can stay in my room." Brittany insisted.
"That very sweet darling. I think she'll like that a lot. I called Maria but she said her and Antonio cannot come home early. They're sending some money as thanks." Susan parked, running a hand through her hair.
"Ma, is there anyway I can help with our money problems?" Brittany asked.
"Don't you worry about that." Susan waved her off.
"Please Ma." Brittany insisted.
"You're dance teacher said if you volunteered as an instructor at the classes before and after yours he'd continue your training for free. But I don't want to distract from your school work." Susan offered.
"What if I only did one of the classes?" Brittany asked. She could dedicate that much time.
"He'll cut the price in half." Susan concluded.
"Then that's what I'll do." Brittany got out of the car before opening the back door and carrying Santana inside bridal style. The girl didn't stir as Brittany tucked her in. She kissed a warm forehead. "I love you San. Get better soon."
"I love you too." Santana rasped before going back to sleep. Brittany headed back downstairs armed with her books and homework and sat at the kitchen counter while her mom made stew for dinner. It was shaping up to be a chilly November in Lima, and Susan was determined to keep all her children, blood or otherwise, warm and fed.
"What are you working on?" Susan asked Brittany, seeing a perplexed look on her daughter's face.
"We just started a unit on cells in biology. We're supposed to label and color all the parts of a plant cell." Brittany mumbled.
"Is there a model in your book?" Susan asked and Brittany flipped through the pages. The model exactly matched her worksheet.
"Thanks Ma." she said, coloring the cell before carefully labeling the parts. She had her mom check her spelling on all the words before she moved on to her English homework. She'd been able to get an audiobook for their reading this time so she read along with that while filling out the worksheet that went along with the assigned reading. She did one page in her math workbook and no homework for any of her other classes that day. She checked her phone and saw a message from Rachel. She's been assigned Jesy . Quinn was given Jade, Kitty was given Leigh-Anne and Tina was given Perrie. Brittany thought Rachel did a pretty good job on those choices and pulled up the song to listen to.
"Britt, dinner is ready. Go get your sister and Santana." Susan asked and Brittany nodded, bopping her head along to the song. She got her sister, Ashley who was six first. Her sister happily jumped up from where she was coloring and went down the stairs. Brittany entered her room quietly but saw that Santana was awake reading their assigned reading.
"Hey" the Latina whispered.
"Hey" Brittany rested her hand against Santana's head. It was already feeling cooler. "Ma made stew, do you want to come downstairs and eat?"
"Yeah" Santana nodded. Brittany helped her up, making sure the girl was stable. Santana seemed to be a lot stronger than she'd been that morning and even that afternoon.
"How long were you awake?" Brittany asked as they walked down the stairs, narrowly missing the tripping hazard that was Lord Tubbington.
"Only fifteen minutes. I wanted to put a dent in my school work." Santana rasped.
"Sorry. I forgot you're not supposed to talk." Brittany frowned and Santana nodded with a sad smile. They took their seats at the table and finished dinner quickly. Brittany sat with Santana while she finished her homework, before telling her she better get well by Friday because the glee performances will be so cool. Santana fell asleep early,knocked out with NyQuil. Brittany worked on the song quietly in the basement before going to bed herself.
Friday rolled around quickly and Santana was finally feeling better. She'd returned to school the previous day, but she'd been too exhausted to stay for Glee afterwards. Brittany was pleased when Santana was feeling perfectly well in their last class of the day, because that meant she would get to see their performance. The girls had been hard at work all week to make a well rounded performance. Brittany felt bad for the boys, they'd all gotten a lot of flack for the performance, especially Karofsky, Puck and Matt since they were on the football team. It meant that they weren't very committed to the performance. Despite that, Kurt had put together costumes for them and they were at least prepared vocally. On the other hand, the girls were choreographed and doing their own take on the video. Brittany had managed to convince Sue to let her borrow a Cheerios outfit. Kitty, Quinn and herself were going to slowly learn to join Tina in the Glee club. It was perfect. During the last chorus, the girls descended from the stage, dancing with their S.Os, Brittany with Santana, Tina with Mike, Quinn with Finn and Kitty with Jake.
After them, the boys performed a great rendition of Night Changes. It worked well since they didn't have to do much choreography. Matt took Zayn's part, Kurt took Louis, Artie took Harry, Karofsky took Liam and Puck took Niall. They definitely had a harder time matching up vocals than the girls did, but they managed pretty well. While the performances weren't officially supposed to be a competition, Mr.Schue declared the girls the winners.
"You were so good!" Santana swung Brittany's hand with hers as they walked to the parking lot.
"Thanks. I really liked singing. I think we should try out for a duet." Brittany said.
"I don't know Britt…" Santana shrugged "That's a lot of eyes on us as two girls. This is Lima, not San Francisco."
"But think about the courage it might give people like Kurt and Karofsky. I mean, Jesse doesn't have a boyfriend to sing with. So who are they supposed to look at?" Brittany insisted.
"I guess so. We can talk to Jesse okay? But I think you and I can stay away from the limelight until we start preparing for the Christmas showcase." Santana agreed.
"Okay!" Brittany happily planted a kiss on Santana's cheek. Santana knew she was taking a chance that she'd never speak to her abuela again. Eventually her grandmother had come around so long as no one mentioned Santana's "sinful" ways. Her grandmother would be certain to attend the Christmas showcase with her parents. The question was, did Santana want to take that chance?