''Do you know what triggered it?''
Santana freezes the second she hears the question and gulps looking down at her hands, she slowly nods her head turning to look at Brittany as she feels her grab her hand and sighs softly. ''Yeah I do.''
She turns back to Demi as Brittany smiles reassuringly running her thumb over the back of her hand and bites her lip. ''It started with my cheerleading coach telling us all we had to lose some weight to be the perfect team to win Nationals, she told us to skip a few meals and replace it with protein shakes.'' She starts softly, she looks down at her hands watching Brittany run small circles on the back of her hand and gulps as tears fill her eyes.
''At first I just skipped dinner and the snacks I normally ate and quit eating junk food and such, but she continued calling us fat so at the beginning of this year I started to forgo eating until I was really hungry.''
Brittany glances at her best friend smiling sadly as she sees the compassion clear in her eyes knowing she went through almost the exact same thing and leans forward also taking a hold of her hand, Santana smiles lovingly as she sees that and wipes away her tears. ''I lost 30 pounds in a matter of a few months but she was still not satisfied and still called me fat so I decided that I don't need food to function, that was four months ago.''
''Fuck.'' Demi breaths out wiping away her own tears, she turns to her best friend and frowns. ''Was that the woman you tried to attack?'' She rolls her eyes as she nods her head growling and sighs. ''Why the fuck did I hold you back?''
''I am glad you did.'' Santana tells her before Brittany can reply, she smiles sadly as she turns to her in confusion and sighs. ''Brittany is already in trouble, attacking Sue would bring her into more.''
''Yeah I don't think she would care.'' Demi murmurs glancing at her best friend, Santana hums squeezing Brittany's hand softly and sighs.
''I know but I would.'' Santana mumbles, she turns to Brittany and sighs. ''You already placed yourself on Sue's hate list by standing up to her, I don't want her to ruin your high school years like she ruins mine Britt-Britt.''
Demi's eyebrows raise in surprise as soon as she hears the nickname knowing her best friend normally hates it and smiles knowingly as she just looks at the Latina with a small smile shrugging her shoulders. ''Will you continue letting her coach you?'' Demi asks curiously.
Brittany reaches out slowly pulling the cover off of the tray with food knowing Santana needs it and pushes herself up biting back a groan as her ankle protests, she taps Santana's hip silently telling her to scoot over and sits down next to her. She kicks the chair towards Demi and nods her head to it. ''Hold up, first sit D.'' She turns to Santana and sighs softly. ''Your blood sugar is dropping San, please eat something.''
Demi slides the chair closer to the bed putting the ice pack the nurse brought in before back on her best friends foot and shoots Santana an encouraging smile. ''Britt is right, even if you only manage a few bites that will already lift your blood sugar.''
Santana sighs softly grabbing the yogurt on the and opens it, she takes the spoon Brittany holds out for her and leans against her side slowly taking a small bite. ''How did you manage to ignore the voices in your head Demi?'' She asks softly.
Demi smiles lovingly watching her best friend drop a few pieces of fruit and half of the jelly package into the yogurt so Santana takes in a bit more sugar and nods her head to Brittany. ''B did, she did exactly that what she does now.''
''Being around, making sure you eat and distracting you so it stays down?'' Santana asks as she feels Brittany's arm wrap around her shoulder, she cuddles into her as Demi nods her head and bites her lip. ''How long did it take for you to eat without feeling like you have to throw up?''
''Around three months but I had Britt and mama Pierce to lean back on, people often don't take an eating disorder seriously but that is damages the person who is battling against it is something they don't notice.'' Demi tells her, she leans forward bracing her elbows on her knees and sighs. ''I have good and bad days, whenever I have a bad day I write Britt or mama P so they can distract me and as soon as they manage to do just that I can eat without feeling like my insides are in a roller coaster.''
''I know that asking for help sounds weak but it isn't Santana, to battle these demons you will need people around you to fall back on because it is a lot harder if you go through it alone.''
''I don't think I am strong enough to fight it alone.'' Santana confesses softly shrugging her shoulders still tucked against Brittany's side, Demi nods her head and smiles sadly.
''Yeah I know but you have my best friend and she is sticking to you like instant glue.''
''That sounds so mean.'' Brittany mumbles rolling her eyes as Santana giggles, she kicks Demi with her uninjured foot and shoots her a grateful smile knowing talking about this subject still hurts her.
Demi snickers pushing her foot away before she can kick her again and shoots Santana a wink. ''Santana knows what I mean and judging the way the two of you are sitting more is happening.''
''Demi!'' Brittany exclaims blushing as Santana sputters her yogurt out, she pats her back as she starts coughing and quickly shakes her head. ''Nothing is going on D.''
''Wha?'' Demi exclaims shocked. ''Could have fooled me.'' She adds as she sees both girls blushing.
''Shut up D.'' Brittany mumbles running her hand down her blushing face. ''Damn I thought mom was the one who would always embarrass me, but you are just as bad.''
Demi snickers in amusement smiling as Santana looks at her with wide eyes and turns to her to her best friend. ''You are like my si..'' She shakes her head cutting herself off and shrugs. ''No, you are my sister B it's my job to embarrass you.''
Santana smiles in amusement as Brittany grumbles and groans softly as she pulls away from her excusing herself to go to the toilet, she watches her limp into the bathroom after slapping the back of Demi's head and turns to look at the blue haired girl. ''Is she always like that around you?''
''She is still holding back, normally she is a lot crazier.'' Demi answers chuckling, she leans forward patting her hand and smiles lovingly. ''Your reaction to my comment told me that you are hoping it to happen am I right?''
Santana bites her lip putting her empty yogurt cup down and shrugs. ''I don't know, kinda?'' She runs a hand through her hair grabbing the sandwich laying on the tray and takes a small bite. ''It won't happen though, I am too fucked up for anything to happen Demi.''
''Okay stop.'' Demi exclaims standing up, she walks to the bed sitting down on the spot her best friend vacated moments before and locks eyes with the younger girl. ''You are not fucked up Santana, you are fighting a battle caused by your damn cheerleading coach because after everything I heard she loves to destroy self-esteems.''
Santana shrugs her shoulders and smiles sadly. ''I am too damaged to start a relationship tho, I already feel like a burden.''
''You aren't and if Brittany hears you say that, she will give you a one hour lecture telling you why you aren't been there heard that.'' Demi tells her smiling slightly as Santana chuckles. ''I gotta say that I never saw my best friend this happy or full of rage, did she tell you all about her life?''
Santana bites her lip looking up at Demi and shrugs. ''She told me about her attempted suicide and the reason why, she also told me about you but she is walking around like nothing happened.''
Demi nods her head and sighs sadly. ''She told you about only one attempt?'' She asks softly, she shakes her head as Santana nods and exhales softly. ''She might open up more tonight as soon as the both of you are alone, I am sure she will stay here with you until your are allowed to leave.''
''What do you mean?'' Santana asks softly, Demi runs a hand through her hair and sighs.
''That is a story Britt has to tell herself and I am sure she will, let's just say that her life sucked gradually and that she went through four years of therapy starting at the age of eleven until she managed to be the person she is now.'' She slides off of the bed as she hears the bathroom door unlock and sits back down in her chair. ''She saved my life more than once that added a year to her therapy, but now she build a huge ass wall around her heart blocking everyone out but you managed to slip past it that shows me just how much she cares for you.''
Santana turns her head as she hears the bathroom door open the second she finishes her sandwich and smiles as Brittany limps back to her, she lifts her blanket immediately cuddling back into her as soon as she settled down and looks up at her. ''How is your foot?''
''Hurts a bit but the ice is helping.'' Brittany glances at the tray smiling slightly as she sees that Santana ate everything and grabs it placing it on the ground next to the bed, Demi looks at them and sighs softly.
''The both of you look tired as hell, I will go to the hotel so the two of you can sleep it's quite late.''
''Hotel? No way honey, you are coming home with me.''
Santana's head snaps up as she hears Susan's voice and smiles as she walks into the room her mami right behind her, Maribel smiles slightly as she sees both girls laying in the bed glancing at the empty tray beside the bed and walks over to her daughter kissing her head. ''How are you feeling mija?''
''A bit better mami.''
Maribel nods her head looking at both girls and chuckles. ''Hospital policy says only one person in bed, but I will tell the nurses to ignore it for once.'' She leans over her daughter kissing Brittany's cheek and sighs tiredly. ''How is your foot Brittany?''
''Alright the icing helps.''
''Yeah try again, one to ten honey?'' Susan asks her daughter as she kisses her cheek.
Brittany rolls her eyes and sighs. ''Six ma.''
Demi chuckles softly as she sees Susan do the quick count knowing her best friend can handle a lot of pain and sighs. ''Eight for us mama P.''
Susan hums thanking her softly and turns to her colleague as she sees the confusion written on her and Santana's faces. ''Brittany can handle a lot of pain and her pain level is different then ours, when she says six it's two levels higher for us.''
''Why?'' Maribel asks curiously, Susan shrugs her shoulders and smiles tiredly. ''Will you join me and Demi for a coffee? Our daughters are friends so I would love to get to know you better too.''
Santana smiles as her mother glances down at her and leans up out of Brittany's arms to kiss her cheek. ''I will be fine here mami, you need your sleep and you will sleep better in your bed.''
''I will stay here with her Maribel.'' Brittany adds smiling reassuringly, she turns to her mother and bites her lip. ''Is that okay ma?''
Susan nods her head and sighs. ''Yeah I will call the principal tomorrow, you need to rest your ankle and I will go back to school with you to talk to him because I won't let Sylvester off easily after the threats she uttered.''
''Yeah I agree with Susan, I will go to school and talk with the principal too mija.'' Maribel tells her daughter, Santana nods her head swallowing thickly as she feels her stomach churn and digs her nails in her hand to ground herself.
Susan leans back down kissing her daughters head and sighs softly. ''Try to sleep honey, we will be back tomorrow morning alright?''
Brittany nods her head hugging Demi as she walks over to her and kisses her cheek. ''Thank you for coming D, love you.''
''Anytime babe, love you too.''
Santana hugs her mother wishing her a good night and leans back against Brittany, she watches the three of them walk out of the room after she wished them all a good night and gulps.
''Hey San?'' Brittany asks softly noticing the discomfort she is in, she looks down at her as she hums and smiles slightly. ''A witch has cast a spell on you turning you into an inanimate, non-electronic object for a year. To be changed back into human form before the year is up, you need to be able to get at least a hundred people to touch you. What inanimate object would you be?''
Santana tilts her head to look up at her and chuckles. ''Damn that is a hell of a random question Britt-Britt, why the hell is that on your mind?''
Brittany raises an eyebrow and shrugs. ''I am full of surprises, just answer it San.''
Santana chuckles taking the bottle of water Brittany hands her and watches her unscrew the cap of her own bottle taking a sip. ''Well at first I wanted to say a dick but that would mean that I had to whore around or spend a few days a week standing by a glory hole.'' She snickers as Brittany almost spits out her water and pats her back as she starts coughing and laughing the same time. ''But nah that would take too long, so I would say a dollar.''
Brittany leans back covering her mouth as she laughs and shakes her head. ''You just had to add the dick option huh?''
Santana smiles in amusement as she leans back catching her breath and shrugs. ''Like you wouldn't think of that too.''
''Never.'' Brittany states unconvincingly, Santana turns to look at her and snickers.
''Want to try again and sound a bit more convincing?''
''Shut up.'' Brittany murmurs chuckling, Santana laughs leaning back against her side and smiles.
''Thank you.'' She smiles as she turns to her in confusion and shrugs. ''I know you asked that question to distract me and it helped.'' She takes a sip of her water as Brittany just smiles slightly and sighs. ''You might want to think of a new one in a few.''
''Why?'' Brittany asks curiously.
''What will happen now?'' Santana asks softly, she mentions her hand around the hospital room and sighs. ''I can't stay here for monitoring the rest of my life.''
Brittany sighs softly reclining back against the pillows behind her and runs a hand through her hair. ''Looks like mom got distracted a bit too much to explain all of it to you sorry about that.'' She pauses smiling slightly as Santana just shakes her head and exhales slowly. ''Well next thing that will happen is a few appointments with a psychologist and dietitian, they will help you set up a plan that won't stress you out and will cause you to fall back and they will also advice you to find someone you trust to monitor that you eat without throwing up.''
''So someone who babysits me?'' Santana asks groaning, Brittany shakes her head and sighs.
''Please don't call it babysitting, it's more like hanging out with your mom or one of your friends depends on who you ask. Demi chose me so we made a game out of it.''
''A game?'' Santana asks curiously turning to look at her, Brittany nods her head and smiles slightly.
''Yeah we just hang out and either played question games or watched movie, whenever one particularly word dropped she had to eat a bit.''
''And that helped?''
Brittany nods her head and smiles slightly. ''Yeah it surprisingly did and she ate without complaining because we set up the rules beforehand, she still uses that method now it's just a bit more complicated with me being here and D still living in Dallas.''
Santana nods her head covering her mouth as she yawns and sighs softly as she feels her stomach acting up again. ''How long do you think it will take for me being normal again?''
''You are normal Santana, battling an eating disorder doesn't make you anything less it just shows how strong you are because you are fighting against it.'' Brittany tells her almost immediately, she turns on her side so she can face her leaving her injured foot hanging off of the bed and grabs her hand squeezing it softly. ''I can't exactly tell you how long it will take for you to eat without the urge to throw up because everyone handles things differently, but you have a group standing behind you who will support you the whole time and if you ever feel like it's getting too much your doctors will change the plan so it will ease your worries.''
Santana slowly nods her head gazing into her bright blue eyes seeing nothing but honesty and bites her lip. ''Alright I am getting tired, one last question?''
Brittany hums turning on her back and lifts her arm smiling as Santana cuddles into her side yawning, she pulls the blanket over them and chuckles softly. ''Alright what is the weirdest thing you ever did in a hotel room?''
Santana freezes thinking about the answer and starts laughing loudly as one thing suddenly enters her mind. ''Oh you don't want to know.''
Brittany smiles in amusement at her reaction and raises an eyebrow. ''Now I am curious, spill.''
Santana blushes burying her face in Brittany's shoulder and snickers. ''No, let's go to sleep.''
Brittany shakes her head turning on her side once again smirking as Santana groans and reaches out tilting her head up. ''Nah I sense a hilarious story coming up, spill San.''
Santana chuckles running a hand down her face also laying down on her side and shakes her head. ''Puck, Q and I shared a room in Cincinnati during a school trip and Puck thought it was funny to play truth or dare.''
''Uh-oh.'' Brittany murmurs smiling in amusement as she sees tears gather in Santana's eyes caused by the laughter she is trying to hold back, Santana hums wiping away the tears dripping down her cheeks and laughs.
''Well we landed on Puck and he chose dare, so before Q and I could discuss it I blurted it out before she even had the chance to tell me what she had in mind.''
''What was it?''
''I dared him to strip down to his underwear and knock on the door next to ours telling them he received a call that they needed a gigolo.''
''Oh damn.'' Brittany murmurs laughing softly, Santana breaths out a laugh and holds up her hand.
''Oh it gets better.'' She takes a deep breath and shakes her head blurting out a laugh. ''He did what I dared him to after cursing me out the whole time and walked out of the room not knowing that Quinn was recording everything, he knocked on the door and the only thing we saw him suddenly turning as white as a ghost while still playing out the dare.''
She shakes her head burying her face in the pillow as she laughs and covers her eyes with her hand. ''Unknown to the three of us, we had our room right next door to our teachers and he opened the door wearing nothing but underwear himself and a hooker laying on the bed behind him.''
Brittany burst out laughing and shakes her head. ''Alright shit like that will really only happen to Noah.''
Santana joins into her laughter holding her stomach and nods her head. ''You had to see his face it was so fucking priceless, after he told us we decided to quit playing because the fun was just out of it after imagining whatever was happening beside our room and practically ran out and decided to crash in Puck's truck.''
Brittany shakes her head in amusement and chuckles. ''That definitely tops everything I heard before, Quinn recorded it right?'' She smirks as Santana nods her head still laughing and hums. ''Remind me to ask her, I definitely want to see that.''
Santana nods her head slowly calming down and giggles. ''I will.''
Brittany glances at the clock sighing softly as she sees the time and slowly sits up. ''It's time to catch some sleep San, our moms will probably come in around seven in the morning which is in three hours.''
''Where are you going?'' Santana asks in confusion, Brittany nods her head to the chair and smiles slightly.
''I will sleep in the chair, sleeping together in this small bed will be uncomfortable for you.''
Santana immediately shakes her head pulling her back down and smiles slightly as she turns to her in confusion. ''Yeah and the chair will be a hell of a lot more uncomfortable for you, we can share the bed Britt-Britt.'' She slowly pushes her on her back pulling her closer and lays her head down on her shoulder wrapping her arm around her waist. ''I wasn't comfortable at all the whole time we talked and I kinda like to cuddle with you.''
''I like to cuddle with you too.'' Brittany murmurs softly as she lays back down moving into a more comfortable position, she wraps her arm around Santana's shoulder and sighs softly. ''Good night San.''
''Good night Britt-Britt.'' Santana murmurs softly, she tilts her head up kissing her cheek and sighs softly. ''Thank you.''