Chapter 19: In His Image

As you walk into the church building, there's already a few people standing in the lobby, talking and laughing. You wanted to come a little early to get a good seat. Mercedes had texted you about a week ago to let you know that she was going to perform a few of her songs for the congregation and that pretty much sealed the deal for you. There's no way you'd pass up the opportunity to hear how well her music translates to the stage. Plus, Jake will be on keys so really, the decision to come was basically to support your friends.

Thankfully you've somehow convinced both Rachel and Kurt to join you for extra comfort. Granted, you had to agree to go with them to some lame movie premiere starring some old broadway star but there's also no way you could have done this alone and honestly, a free movie and an excuse to get dolled up is an easy price to pay.

"Welcome to In His Image!" One of the members greets you at the door.

Rachel turns to him excitedly, as if she already knows what she's to do in this situation and responds, "Blessed be the fruit."

"May the Lord open." Kurt joins her and you can't help but sigh deeply, pinching the bridge of your nose at their actions and poor choice of words. You should've never told them to watch that damn show.

Shaking your head, you quickly push them both aside and smile politely to the poor volunteer before taking a pamphlet from him and pulling your friends away, further into the church.

"I swear to god, I can't take you idiots anywhere."

"Just point us towards Brittany already so we can start working our magic." Rachel clasps her hands together eagerly.

"First of all, Berry," You shush her, lowering your voice in hopes that she'll do the same, "We're not here for Brittany. We're here for Mercedes and Jake... and I guess also... God."

"Yeah, yeah." Kurt dismisses you and looks around the room, "We just gotta spot a tall blonde bombshell, right?"

"Please tell me that description is verbatim." Brittany appears beside you and your eyes widen. You mouth a quiet 'behave' to the traitors in front of you but they both wave you off.

Looking at Brittany, you can't help but smile. You've texted back and forth only a handful more times and in all honesty, it was very tame. Just casual, friendly updates.

"So, you're Brittany." Rachel sizes her up and if you weren't so nervous at the moment, you'd probably laugh at the sight. Thinking back, this really is the first time your friends are seeing Brittany. They know about her of course, but even during the time you were dating you kept it private out of respect for Brittany's wishes.

Brittany is unfazed though and turns to you, smiling from ear to ear, "You actually came."

You attempt to say words but you suddenly feel completely awkward. Nothing comes out except a few mumbles and a half smile.

Thankfully Kurt clears his throat and your brain kicks back into gear.

"Oh, right! I brought friends. Brittany, Rachel." You motion to the small woman, her eyes still narrowed at Brittany. You nudge her lightly before turning your attention to Kurt, "And this is Ofblaine."

"Kurt." He quickly corrects, glaring at you, "My name is Kurt."

Brittany laughs and looks at you again, almost as if she's seeing you for the first time and she approves. "I finally have a face to the names."

That of course catches Rachel's attention, "Wait, do you not know who I am?"

Brittany doesn't flinch and just stares at her, "My bad, I thought you understood Santana's introduction earlier. My name is Brittany. You are Rachel."

You stifle a laugh and Rachel's mouth drops open, "Berry. As in Rachel Berry." She emphasizes her name but when Brittany doesn't react, she huffs and turns to Kurt, "Is she serious? Does she really not know who I am?"

As Kurt tries to calm her down, Brittany looks at you and leans in, "She must be the loud, obnoxious one?"

"Actually, they're both loud and obnoxious." You smile at her, "Kurt just communicates it through his wardrobe."

"We can hear you, you know."

"Santana, if we're only going to be ridiculed here, we might as well just leave."

"Chill out, Berry. We're just playing with you." You roll your eyes but the second you know Brittany's not looking your eyes quickly turn to pleading. You need them there with you. You can't do this without them.

Brittany is quick to apologize too, which only mildly tames the smaller woman, "I was only kidding. Of course I know who you are! I'm a big fan. Honest. Your New Year's Eve performance three years ago is easily one of my top three favorite moments."

"That's… oddly specific." Rachel says confused, "I don't even think I remember that performance."

You find it odd at first too but then the memory of Brittany's bedroom rushes to the forefront and your eyes widen. You look to Brittany only to find her already looking at you.

"I'll never forget it." She says softly and your heart jumps. She turns back to Rachel again, "Please, stay. We're happy to have you." She holds out her hand and Rachel shakes it tentatively.

As the three of them talk, you take the time to catch your breath and observe your surroundings. Surprisingly, it looks almost… bare. The stage is nearly empty, except for a few mics and stands. You note a single keyboard next to everything, and from what you can make out at this distance, it looks to be yours. Or, you guess, the one you gave to Brittany.

"Britt, did something happen here?" You ask her cautiously, not wanting to sound rude.

"Oh yeah." She frowns slightly, "I didn't get a chance to tell you yet. There was a break-in a few days ago. They took almost all of our equipment."

"That's horrible." Kurt gasps, "Who the hell would steal from a church?"

"We've been trying to recover with what we have but it's really brought some of us down." Brittany looks at you, "I had to bring your keyboard with me this morning just so that we'd at least have some type of live music today."

"Is there anything we can do?" Rachel asks, genuinely concerned and wanting to help.

"We're planning a fundraiser to help us cover the cost of new equipment. It'll be like a normal church service but with a lot more music and singing. We're postponing debuting Mercedes songs until then. Sorry you won't get to hear it today. But maybe I could send you the details once it's finalized?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll definitely be there." You nod and Brittany smiles at you. It's a sad smile, but you can understand why.

Rachel and Kurt turn to take in their surroundings as well. With it being so bare, they start going off on what they would do to the space if they were to remodel it completely. You don't have the heart to tell them a fundraiser probably won't raise enough for a full-blown renovation but you let them entertain themselves for a little longer.

You turn back to Brittany and she too is looking around, worry etched across her features.

"Are you okay?"

"Last time this happened it took a whole year to get back to where we were. This time, who knows?"

"But, are you okay?" You ask her again and she shrugs lightly.

"I'm a little shook up. This place means so much to me. But it isn't the first time this has happened and it won't be the last. Not many people take kindly to a church of our nature."

"Britt…"

She sighs, "It just sucks, you know? We work so hard to stay positive for the ones that are still struggling and then something like this has to happen."

You watch as she shrinks in front of you, acting as if she's failed her church or something. You can't stand the thought of her kicking herself when she's down. You resist the urge to reach out and hold her hand.

"It means a lot that you're here." This time when she smiles at you, it reaches her eyes. "Actually, before we start service, there's someone I want you to meet."

You nod, turning to tell Rachel and Kurt to stay put but find them already missing. Rolling your eyes, because of course they wandered off somewhere, you follow Brittany through the church.

When you reach the back offices, she opens one of the doors revealing an older man, maybe in his late forties, writing down notes at a desk.

"Sorry to interrupt, Pastor Sheldon." Brittany explains her sudden intrusion, "I just wanted to introduce you to someone special."

Someone special. Her words make your heart take flight but you push down the feeling quickly.

"Of course, Brittany!" He smiles widely at the two of you, "Who do we have here?"

"Santana Lopez, Sir." You say, reaching out your hand and he seems slightly taken aback.

He looks at Brittany for confirmation and she nods. His eyes widen and instead of shaking your hand, he pulls you in for a hug.

You awkwardly pat his back as you look at Brittany with confusion. She doesn't offer you much but a wink and when you pull away, Sheldon's expression has changed to one of gratitude.

"Wow, I can't believe you're here. You may not have realized it yet, but you've helped change lives around here."

You don't know what that means, so you're not really sure how to react to it.

"Your song, Santana." Brittany explains, filling in the blanks for you, "He's talking about Take Your Place."

Oh.

"It really connects with people." He moves further into the room and Brittany follows, offering you a seat. "So, what brings you here?"

"Oh, um…" You stumble on your words, suddenly feeling like you're in an interview, "C-church?"

He looks at you sideways and smiles knowingly, "Church?"

"Um well," You stutter, "I guess… I'm here for… Brittany?"

"Oh?" Brittany turns to you, bearing the same smile as Sheldon.

"And Mercedes and Jake." You curse internally and add quickly, "A-and of course God."

You sound like an idiot. Why do you always do this to yourself?

"Relax, Santana, we're not here to judge." He laughs. "I guess what I meant was, what brings you here more on a deeper level."

Oh. You shrug, "My therapist says I have to stop being so calculating and take more risks in life."

"And coming to church is taking a risk?"

"Well considering this is the first time I've talked to a legit pastor since, I don't know, Brittany's dad over two years ago, yeah kinda."

Your words leave your mouth before you can stop it and you're absolutely horrified. You haven't talked about this with anyone except your therapist and you damn sure never planned on talking about it here, with Brittany right next to you.

"Sorry," You apologize to both of them. You glance at Brittany, concern already written all over her features.

"No, I'm sorry. That wasn't meant to be an ambush question." He looks at Brittany and then back at you, "But if you ever want to talk, you know where I am. Whenever you're ready, of course."

"Thanks," You tell him honestly, "It was nice meeting you. Jake speaks very highly of you."

He smiles at that, "Same goes for you, Santana."

After the service, you decide to stick around and after thanking Rachel and Kurt for their support you send them on their way. You bide time near the front, sitting at one of the chairs, as you wait for a particular blonde. You have an idea you want to float but as excited as you are about it, you need more details first.

"Hey."

You look up from your phone and see Quinn standing in front of you.

"Oh no, what did you mess up this time?"

"Shut up," She rolls her eyes, "I just came to check on you. You've been sitting here by yourself for ten minutes now."

"So you thought to come over and have a little girl chat?" You joke.

"I can leave if you prefer?" She grins playfully, already starting to turn away.

"Wait." You stop her, looking around slowly and nodding your head at their bare bones excuse of a stage, "Actually, you're the person I wanted to talk to. What's the damage look like?"

She quirks an eyebrow, not sure where you're going with this line of questioning, but responds anyways, "We took a pretty big hit. They nearly cleaned us out this time. Pretty much our entire sound and music ministry is out of commission right now. Thank God they didn't get to the safe in the back. But it's still too early to say how much we'd have to raise to get even the most basic things back."

"Rough estimate? If you had to put a dollar amount?"

"Santana…"

"I'm just curious."

"It's a lot. With all of the instruments and the sound equipment gone… it'll be more than ten thousand dollars, hands down." She answers, watching as you mull over her words.

"And this fundraiser or whatever… is it anonymous?"

"Santana, that's a lot of money… You shouldn't feel obligated to give-"

"Is it anonymous?" You persist.

She sighs, shrugging slightly, "I guess if the donor requests, sure."

Before you can ask more, you see Brittany, Mercedes, and Jake all making their way to the front doors.

"I'll be in touch." You turn to leave quickly but stop yourself to look back at Quinn, "Keep this between us, okay?"

Over the next few weeks, you work out a plan with the studio. At first they didn't seem too keen on donating but then you maybe sort of used Rachel's influence to help persuade them in the right direction.

Quinn was surprised once you explained the idea to her, and it wasn't long before she was helping out with all the necessary paperwork. The studio would receive a pretty good write off and at the same time, they'd have a reason to upgrade to newer equipment.

Meaning In His Image won't get new instruments and equipment, but everything is still in very good shape and studio quality at the very least.

It was a good plan. All that's left to do is have it delivered anonymously.

The day Pastor Sheldon comes into the studio to sign off on the last bit of paperwork, you make sure to avoid the front offices. Quinn knowing is all that's necessary. There's no need to get others involved.

But of course, the moment you finish a session, you walk out and see Sheldon sitting outside in the hallway.

"Santana." He smiles, standing to greet you. "Do you have a minute?"

You smile politely, internally cursing Quinn.

"I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing."

"I'm well," you answer nonchalantly, "Just working."

He takes in your words, and nods slowly. You stand there waiting for him to say more but when he doesn't you roll your eyes in defeat.

"I'm assuming Quinn told you then?"

He chuckles, "She did. But don't worry I won't say a word."

"I'd appreciate that."

"Although, technically all the paperwork lists the donor as this company. Why ask to keep that private?"

You shrug, "Just a precaution. I work here and if people put two and two together, it's pretty obvious."

"But Quinn works here, too." He rebuts easily.

"She wouldn't take the credit, though. And I rather not ask her to lie. It's just easier to have it be anonymous."

"Can I ask why? Why go through all this trouble for a small church like ours when you've only come to one service? Plus, after that conversation we had in my office, I was sure I offended you in some way."

You shake your head, "You didn't."

"So why then?"

You sigh. What happened to the good old days when people happily accepted gifts without question.

He continues, "Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful, Santana. I just want to understand where your head's at."

"Look, after seeing how down everyone was, I just wanted to help. And music is really important to me. It's how I found my way back." You look down, suddenly nervous, "A church needs music and I just didn't want this donation to look like I was trying to win brownie points or whatever."

"Brownie points with Brittany?" He asks and you snap your eyes back up. He shrugs, "I hear things."

"We have… history." You explain, "Sure, a part of me is doing this because of her. But also because of Mercedes, and Jake. Hell, even Quinn on some level."

"But you don't want the credit."

You shake your head, "I also really believe in your church, Pastor. You're doing a lot of good in this world. You've created a place that I could've really benefited from when I was coming to terms with everything growing up. I couldn't bear the thought of you guys not being able to continue doing what you're doing."

His features soften at your words, seemingly accepting your answer. "It's good to know what they say about you is true. You do have a heart of gold."

That makes you laugh, "Oh, I don't know about that."

"I'm serious, Santana." He says sincerely, "I'll let you go now, but I hope I'll see you at the fundraiser?"

"Definitely."

Leaving you with his card, he tells you that you're always welcome at church, even if that means hiding in the shadows in the back row. You laugh at that because after just two interactions, he's pretty much already figured you out.