Brittany POV
"Miss Pierce, I… I just heard something. I don't know if it's true or not but it's being spread throughout the dorm and its… it's about you and it's not good." Rachel steps in and her voice quiets down, either because she doesn't want Santana to hear or because she doesn't want other people in the hallway hearing, it doesn't matter either way because when Rachel speaks again, Brittany crumbles as flash backs of high school come surging forward. "Miss Pierce, there is a rumor going around that…" Rachel clears her throat and looks incredibly uncomfortable, "… that you slept with the CEO of this company to get your job as instructor because that's how you graduated from high school, by sleeping with your teachers… All of them."
Brittany's breathing picks up quickly as her body breaks down. Her hand covers her face as she falls apart. Her body slumps backwards, luckily there's a wall there or she might have fallen back.
"What the fuck did you say to her?" Santana's voice is suddenly right next to her as she feels a hand gently stroke her arm. "Rachel fucking Berry, tell me right now what the fuck you just said!"
Rachel cautiously repeats the rumor and Brittany sobs into her hands as she hears it once again. Her legs give out as her body slides down the wall and onto the floor.
"Oh, God. Brittany," Santana says and she hugs the girl as best she can in the awkward position. "Rachel, I think you should go."
"But I…"
"Rachel, go. I need to talk to Britt… alone."
Rachel silently makes her way out and Brittany hears the click of the door, signaling the door has been shut. Brittany can't hold her strength any longer and crumbles into Santana's embrace, sobs wracking at her body.
"Shhhh… shhhh… It's okay, Britt. It's okay. Things will be okay. We will get this sorted out." Santana hold her tighter and rocks her gently and her chin lightly resting on the blonde head.
After a good long cry and a few hiccups, Brittany sniffs and says a few muffled words.
"What was that, Britt? I couldn't hear you."
Brittany clears her throat and detaches her mouth from Santana's chest but her head still buried there. "That never happened."
"And I believe you."
Brittany chokes on a cough and begins to hyperventilate.
"Shhh… deep breaths, Britt-Britt. Deep breaths." Santana breathes with her and when it finally slows down, Santana pulls her away by the shoulders so she can look at Brittany's face. "Hey," she says gently. Brittany's facing her but her eyes are still closed. "Hey…" she repeats. Finally, Brittany opens her eyes. They feel so dry and swollen. "I believe you." Brittany is looking at honest brown eyes and blinks a few times. "Really, I believe you didn't do any of that and I think its Breanne's fucked up way to get back at you for punishing her. She seems crazy enough to start some bullshit rumor like this just to cause unnecessary drama."
"She didn't make it up," Brittany says quietly.
"What do you mean?" Santana asks softly but has a hint of confusion in her voice.
"She didn't make it up. The rumor. It started in high school. I was never good at school. Like, I was actually failing most of my courses. I just couldn't focus you know? It was hard to concentrate on things that didn't interest me." Santana nods and waits for Brittany to continue. "My parents hired me tutors but many of them said I was too hard to teach." Brittany sighs, "My younger sister ended up sitting in on my tutor lessons and she found a way to teach me so I actually understood. I barely passed my courses and graduated with the minimum required GPA. But because I was a dancer and stuff and was kind of dumb and everyone knew I was failing up until the final exams, the fact that I passed was a miracle, and because it's high school, people will always make assumptions and the rumor was spread that I had slept with the teachers to pass. Male and female." Brittany sighs again and sniffs. "And people knew some tutors had given up on me since some of those tutors were in my grade and they… they hit on me and I declined, they told everyone I was too stupid to be taught and the only way I could pass would be to … you know… fuck the teachers… I was too embarrassed to tell people my baby sister tutored me and since I was out of school soon, I just let people say what they wanted and laughed it off as a joke. Most people didn't believe it, and my close friends tried to deny it, but you know high school… it's cool to hate on people you don't really know."
"Wow, Britt. That's pretty fucked, but you know what?"
Brittany shakes her head.
"You are so strong. So damn strong and we will get through this. If this is Breanne's doing, she will pay for it. I promise. You're not stupid, they're the ones that are stupid for not seeing how amazing you really are. Come on," Santana pulls her up, "Let's get you into bed. You're exhausted … Umm… are you hungry? We still have the pizza in the microwave."
Brittany shakes her head.
"Okay, let's get you washed up for bed."
Once Brittany is in bed and Santana is about to leave, Brittany stops her. "Can you stay?"
Santana looks at her curiously.
"I can pull out the couch for you but… I don't know, you just make me feel…" Brittany blushes at a loss of words.
"No, you don't have to do that. You're tired. I can see it in your eyes. I can do it." Santana leans over and brushes some of her blonde hair back. "Just get some rest, I'll stay here."
Brittany really wants to ask for Santana to get into bed with her, but that's just pushing it too far. She already feels guilty for having the girl sleep on the couch, but she physically needed Santana to be in close proximity to her or she will break down again.
\
The next morning, Brittany wakes up on her own accord. She reaches for her phone, assuming she woke up before it went off. Her eyes feel heavy and swollen and her throat feels dry. She manages to open one eye and checks the time. Both eyes shoot open as she jumps out of bed. It's 10:45AM – she overslept. "Santana!" she cries as she runs to the living room to wake her up but the girl is gone and the blanket on the couch is folded neatly and placed on the arm rest.
Her alarm is automatically set Monday through Saturday, so it's impossible that it didn't go off unless…
Brittany runs back to her bedroom and opens the clock app and taps on the alarm icon. Someone turned it off. She quickly gets changed and fixes her hair, running towards the studio. The hallway is eerily empty and quiet. Probably because everyone is in the class she's supposed to be teaching.
"Brittany!" The male voice stops her.
"Dan!" She turns around, "I'm sorry, but I need to get to the studio, like, now."
Dan shakes his head and rounds his desk. "If you go in now, I think you'd just be interrupting the class." He looks at her carefully, "How are you feeling?"
"I … wha… how did… what? I'm fine."
"Mmm… I don't think so," he says, now completely blocking her way through the main doors. "I think, Miss Pierce, that your assistant can take care of your class for one day and you should go take care of yourself. Take an extra day off."
"No, I can't. I… I'm supposed to clear stuff up with group. Breanne doesn't read the lesson plan so I don't know if she's able to… I need to prepare them for the performance. Dan, can you please move?" Brittany is getting anxious and irritated, but Dan just shakes his head.
"Sorry, no can do." He grips Brittany by the shoulders and turns her around. "Breanne said she'll handle everything. Go on now. Grab something to eat, relax a little. Watch some TV if you must. You can teach tomorrow's class.
"But –"
"Go!" Dan gives her a light shove forward and she begins walking back to her room; looking back at Dan with his arms across his chest, not budging from his spot in front of the doors.
Brittany goes back into her room and immediately texts Santana.
To Santana: I know it was you who turned off my alarm. Why did you do it? How could you do this to me? Not only is the rumor going to spread, but now I'm definitely going to lose my job because I was a no-show to my own class. Now Dan is being mean to me too. Santana, I thought we were friends. I trusted you.
She sends the message and throws her phone onto the couch and runs herself a shower. This is the best place for her to think. She wants to figure out what to do with Breanne and the rumor but all that's coursing through her mind is why Santana would do this to her. She really thought they had something special. She was falling for her. Maybe she believed the rumors were true and didn't want to be with a slut like her, or worse. She believed her last night and realized what an idiot Brittany believed she was and decided she didn't want to be friends with someone so stupid. Brittany rests her head against the tiles and let the water rain over her until it starts to get cold. She dries herself off and changes into the shorts and t-shirt she was planning on wearing to the second portion of the class. Dan told her not to go back until tomorrow, but she'll be damned if she misses another class. She goes into the kitchen to find some food, but the only thing she finds is that she's not hungry.
There's a knock on the door.
Brittany assumes the worst. It's probably Breanne coming to laugh in her face, or someone is going to make a rude remark, or worse, her boss telling her to leave because she's fired.
She opens the door and Santana is standing there with her phone in her hand. She's met with soft eyes as they stare at each other. Brittany is confused, but it doesn't mean she's not mad. Santana tries to step in, and as much as Brittany doesn't want to let her, she does. She just wants an explanation.
Santana places her phone down, the text she sent half an hour ago face up on the screen. Santana takes a deep breath, "Do you trust me?"
Brittany narrows her eyes, "I did, but, why did you –"
"Do you still trust me?"
She wants to say no but her head nods for her.
"Okay, good." Santana takes a hesitant step closer and Brittany wants to take a step back, but her body won't let her. Damn her body for having a mind of its own. Santana wraps her arms around her, holding her tight and Brittany can't help but gently hug her back. "Then trust me when I tell you to skip out on class this afternoon."
"What?!" Brittany says too loud for the current situation and pulls away. "I can't, Santana. I have to –"
"But you trust me." Santana's eyes are hard but sincere.
"But… I mean… God, Santana. What is going on?"
"Look, Brittany. You're a good teacher. An amazing teacher! The whole group needs you. You have no idea how many people you've helped. But please, just trust me when I tell you to stay here for today. Come back tomorrow morning completely refreshed, and I promise you," She takes Brittany's pinky in hers, "I promise you, you will know exactly what is going on by tomorrow at 10AM."
They look at each other intently. The sincerity in the brown eyes are enough to make Brittany melt. She doesn't trust a lot of people, but she trusts Santana. She has no reason not to, and the connection between them feels so strong, so she nods cautiously. Santana smiles and hugs her again. Santana goes to the door with their pinky's still attached. She smiles once more at the taller girl then exits the room, leaving one very confused, very worried blonde.
Santana POV
Santana enters the studio early. After having a short but very detailed conversation with Dan, he gives her the keys to open up. She really hopes Dan can keep his word and Brittany out of the studio. She doesn't need the girl to see or hear what's going on because most likely she will put a stop to it, and Santana can't have that. As guilty as she feels for turning Brittany's alarm off as soon as she fell asleep, she believes this is for the greater good and Brittany will understand the next day, she has to. Her heart is pounding as people begin coming in. She's nervous as people look around for Brittany. Asking each other where she is or if anyone has seen her. Rachel comes up to her and asks how Brittany is, Santana just shakes her head and clenches her jaw. "She needs to rest." Is all Santana says. Rachel can see it in her eyes that she doesn't want to talk anymore, so she just purses her lips and finds a space on the dance floor.
As soon as Breanne walks in, 5 minutes late with her usual posse behind her, Santana's not nervous anymore. In fact, she's furious. She knows who spread the rumors because she overheard some people talking and most of them mention either Breanne's name or one of her minions'. Breanne looks around, obviously for Brittany.
"Where's your teacher?"
"Busy banging her boss, no less," Krystal, one of Breanne's bitches comments quietly and the rest giggle. Very few of the others in class do the same, however.
Hearing those words, Santana steps forward. She's had enough.
"Well, if I were in Brittany's shoes I'd want to see how everyone would fair without me as well. So, what do you say, Miss Assistant Instructor? Please fill the shoes of the person you so eagerly want to tear down." Santana takes a step back and motions for Breanne to take the lead.
Breanne rolls her eyes and scoffs before taking her spot in front of the class. She begins the stretching and warm up but she doesn't set a good rhythm. Something is off and as Santana looks around the room, the others aren't enjoying it as much as they usually do either. Going into the choreography, Breanne forgets bits and pieces and the rest of the group need to remind her. A few people in the back begin acting out and the more Breanne tries to stop them, they just continue doing their own thing. Frustrated, Breanne kicks them out. It doesn't seem to faze them as they leave the studio. By the time the class ends, everybody is frustrated, confused, and the routine is messier than it was yesterday. People begin asking Breanne questions but she's unable to answer them as easily as Brittany. Eventually, she gets fed up. "Stop it! Everybody! Most of your questions are irrelevant or stupid. Save them for this afternoon and Brittany can answer them. Stupid questions are for stupid people." Breanne is about to leave but Santana stops her.
"You would like that, wouldn't you?" she says loud enough for everyone to hear. Most people quiet down and all eyes are now trained on Santana. "You're here riding on Brittany's coattail, doing nothing useful or productive. No one listens to you because you don't know what the hell you're talking about."
"What do you mean I don't know what I'm talking about?" Breanne seethes and turns to face her. "I was the North American Dance Champ –"
"Almost!" Santana cuts her off. "You were almost the North American Dance Champion. ALMOST," which means you weren't. And sure, I'll give you credit, you're probably a good dancer, but you're a shitty assistant and an even shittier human being!" Santana looks around the room, "Who has heard the rumor going around about Miss Pierce?"
Everybody raises their hands. Some more nervous than others.
"Alright, now how many people know who's spreading the rumor?"
People hesitantly look around, but most eyes land on Breanne or some of her girls.
"So, you have two choices," she holds up two fingers while looking at Breanne. "One, you can resign right now and make up some lame-ass excuse to cover your pathetic sorry ass –"
"You can't make me –"
"TWO!" Santana says louder "I WILL get a petition signed by everyone in this place and get you removed and have it on your permanent record. Everyone who doesn't sign, well, let's just say you wouldn't want to be stuck here with me for the next few weeks if you refuse sign and defend the one person who has spent countless hours and even weekends trying her best to make this place enjoyable, memorable, and the best learning experience you have ever had. Its tough work for all of us, but it's clearly visible how amazing we all look as a team now, and you cannot deny the fact that there is no way in hell any of us could do this without Brittany. Even if the rumors were true, and I know for a fact they are not, how does it affect your learning?"
Breanne cuts in, "You need to stop –"
" – and you need to shut up!" Santana holds her hand up to her. "We were either all misfits or trouble makers at one time. Some of us couldn't walk a straight line before this. Some of us just wanted intensive training," she glances over to Rachel and she gets a nod and a smile in return. "But look at us now. Only a few weeks in and look at us!" There are nods and looks of determination all around. She turns back to Breanne, "So, which option do you choose?"
Breanne hesitates, scanning the room. All eyes are on her. Her own eyes go hard again as she looks at Santana. "You can't make me do shit!" she spits out and turns, making her way to the doors with Krystal following her. They stop at the door waiting for the rest of her gang to follow, but they don't. Half of them are looking at her with angry eyes the other half avoiding her gaze. "Fine!" She exits the door.
Santana sighs in relief and when she looks up she sees everyone else looking at her as if they are waiting for further instructions. "Umm, thanks for your support everybody. I think… we should give Brittany some times to rest today."
"Are you going to write up the petition?" Ash, one of Breanne's former follower asks shyly.
"I – um, don't you think Breanne will resign after all that?" Santana asks and Ash along with the other girls shake their head.
"No, I don't think so. She's very stubborn and even if she does resign, it won't hurt to have a backup."
Santana nods in understanding, "I'll write one up this afternoon –"
She gets cut off by Rachel, "and we can all meet up here tonight at 5 to sign the petition."
Santana looks at Rachel, thankful she has her full support. She looks back at the rest of the group and everyone nods as well.
"Well then, I guess, we can all take the rest of the day to think about how shitty we have all been towards Brittany, and maybe appreciate her more."
She gets more nods and a few murmurs of yeah.
As soon as she gets back to her room, Rachel takes out her laptop and begins typing out the petition, seemingly excited about getting Breanne fired. As soon as it's finished, they ask Dan to print it out and he's more than happy to. Dan has always liked Brittany she's always sweet and kind and he can see how much effort she puts into this camp and at the same time he's a little intimidated by Santana, so he was not going to say no to her, but it's not like he would have anyway.
After thanking him and Rachel for helping, Santana decides to go see how Brittany is doing.
\
Santana brings Brittany a ham and swiss sandwich and a Caesar salad for lunch. She knocks a couple of times on the door before a tired looking Brittany wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt sporting a messy bun opens the door.
"May I come in?" She asks and holds up the food in her hands.
Brittany steps aside and lets her walk through before closing the door quietly.
"What have you been up to?" she asks the blonde as they both settle at the eating table as she begins to take the food out of the bag.
"Absolutely nothing," Brittany replies. "I was thinking of gathering some paperwork and checking to see that I have everything ready for tomorrow's class, but who knows if I'll have a job tomorrow considering everything that is happening. If this gets to my boss, I'll definitely be fired. The man has a wife and kids for goodness sake.
"I don't think you will be fired, Brittany."
"How are you so sure?" Brittany asks as she pushes a crouton around.
"Because I am."
Brittany sighs, "Very convincing."
The girls hang out for a while, Santana forcing Brittany to eat the salad and half the sandwich. They watch TV in comfortable silence until ten to five and Santana stands to leave. Brittany notices and asks where she's going.
"I – um, I have to call my mom. I told her I would call her at 5."
"You can call her here, can't you?"
"I have to um – facetime with her because – uh – she misses my face and doing that here is just awkward."
"Okay, so, I guess I'll see you tomorrow in class?" Brittany asks and Santana can see dejection in her face, but she knows if she spends any more time with the girl she might spill the secret about everything that has been happening before the petition gets signed and sent, so she just nods.
"Yup! Bright and early! I'll be ready for a full day of learning!" she says enthusiastically.
Brittany smiles and shakes her head, "See you tomorrow, San."
"Have a good evening, Britt," She says as she makes her way down the hallway with Brittany trailing her. They lock eyes for a few long seconds before Santana leans in for a quick hug that she wishes could last forever before going back to her room, getting the petition from her bed and going to the studio.
To her amazement, everybody shows up. Well, everybody except Breanne and Krystal. Even the rest of Breanne's posse shows up to sign the petition. When asked about it, they admitted that they followed in the wrong footsteps. They should have been taking Brittany's lead instead of Breanne's and they apologized to everybody for being disruptive and said they actually enjoyed Brittany's teaching and just followed Breanne because they thought she was tough and cool. After a few intimidating words from Santana, they all signed the petition stating that they all agree that Breanne Moss is not fit to teach this boot-camp as her actions are disrespectful, inappropriate, and disruptive. It also states that they all believe that their head instructor, Brittany Pierce, can handle the class on her own without an assistant as this is what she has been doing this whole time, anyway. It mentions her acting immature while spreading rumors about other members of the group especially Brittany and they all believe that Breanne should be relieved from her position as assistant dance-coach as soon as possible.
She thanks everyone for coming and signing but as she exits the studio doors, a body comes up from beside her and before she knows it she hears a loud slap and feels a sharp pain to the side of the face. She's knocked over a couple steps before standing and looking at Breanne straight in the eyes; the anger pouring out of the other girl. A group forms behind Santana as Rachel tries to lunge for Breanne but is held back by the freakishly tall man. Santana has a stare down with Breanne but then a smile graces her face.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter if you resign or not now. I'm going to send this to headquarters and see what they have to say about it." Santana says as confidently as she can while taking a deep breath and trying her best not to attack her with everybody watching. As soon as Santana takes a step forward, Breanne tries to grab the petition from her hands but two or three people stop her; pulling Breanne away and holding her down as Santana makes her way to the front desk where Dan has the fax machine ready and the number to the boot-camp headquarters inputted. She hands the signed paper to Dan and as she hears the machine whirl, she hopes to God she did the right thing.
Thanks for your reviews and comments, they really help keep me motivated. Thank you for continuing to love Brittana the way I do.
Will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, life has suddenly become insanely busy.