Not really a TW for this one, I can't and don't want to be too detailed about sexual assault, so it will be more focused on the aftermath.
''No!''
Brittany shoots up into a sitting position as Santana's terror filled scream rips her out of the light doze she was in and immediately turns to look at her, she gulps thickly as she sees her covering her face with her pillow to muffle her sobs and scoots closer wrapping an arm around her waist. ''Love.'' She whispers softly.
She closes her eyes as Santana immediately rolls over her arms wrapping tightly around her waist as hot tears soak the shirt she slept in and lowers her head, her lips finding their spot in the top of her head as she whispers sweet nothings while gently running her hand up Santana's back. ''You are safe baby.''
She glances up as she hears the door open, tear filled blue orbs landing on her parents as they tiredly walk in her mom carrying a bottle of water and slowly reaches out to take it from her.
''It's mom.'' She whispers softly as she feels her girlfriend tense the second Susan sits down, she closes her eyes, blowing out a shaky breath as Santana turns around to hug Susan and locks eyes with her dad the heartbreak clear in her eyes.
Brad just shakes his head with a sad smile, knowing how much his daughter is struggling to keep it together for three weeks now and slides his eyes over to the appointment attached to the wall beside the door silently telling her that Santana is already making a tiny progress after agreeing to seek a therapist.
''Britt-Bear.'' Susan whispers softly as Santana slowly drifts off back to sleep, she locks eyes with her daughter and nods her head to the door. ''Go to your dad for a bit, I will stay here.''
Brittany just nods her head, sliding out of the bed after kissing her girlfriends shoulder and follows her dad out of the room softly closing the door behind her. She walks to the living room, walking straight into his arms as he holds them open and tightly wraps her arms around his waist.
''She will be okay baby girl.'' Brad whispers soothingly as the first heart wrenching sob leaves his daughters throat. ''Therapy will help her a lot.'' He promises.
''I hope so.'' Brittany just chokes out.
''I know it will.'' Brad whispers kissing the top of her head. ''But you need to talk too Britt-Bear, you can't bottle everything up.'' He continues softly. ''Your mom and I can both see that you are nearing your breaking point and you didn't really sleep either.''
''I want to tell you that I am fine.'' Brittany starts softly tears clear in her voice. ''But I can't.'' She whispers brokenly. ''I just want to take her pain, to see her sleep peacefully for once and to just be San.'' She chokes out.
''We sadly can't take the pain from her but you are doing exactly what she needs B.'' Brad mutters sadly. ''You are there for her, you holding her gives her strength and you telling her that you love her shows her that she can always rely on you.'' He mutters against her head. ''I won't promise you that she will be back to normal after her first appointment tomorrow, but you will slowly notice the progress too soon.''
''Do you think I need to search someone too?'' Brittany asks softly.
''I don't think you need a therapist.'' Brad tells her honestly. ''But you have to stop bottling your feelings up, let them go, I am here and your mom is too, come and talk to us please.''
''I will.'' Brittany promises softly, she wipes away her tears and kisses his cheek. ''Thank you papa.''
''You don't have to thank me baby girl.'' Brad mutters with a small smile. ''Want to go back to your girl?''
He leads her back down the hall as she nods her head, slowly opening the door and ushers her inside, shooting Santana a small smile as he notices her eyes on him.
Santana just gulps as she slowly sits up noticing that the sadness in her girlfriends eyes lessened a bit and holds her hand out for Brad to take, she slowly pulls him over as he immediately walks over to take her hand and leans up to kiss his cheek. ''Thank you.'' She whispers softly hoping he knows for what she is thanking him.
Brad just pulls back a bit noticing the surprise on his daughters face and shoots Santana a wink, he leans down to kiss her forehead, moving slowly so she can pull back if she wants and smiles as she just keeps still. ''Don't mention it honey.'' He whispers with a grin as he pulls back. ''Go back to sleep girls.''
Santana nods her head turning around to face her girlfriend as she hears them walk out of the room and gently tugs on her leg. ''Lay down Britt-Britt.'' She breaths out as she sees her already in a half sitting and half laying position like the last three weeks.
She scoots closer as she lays flat on her back and bites her lip as she turns her head to look at her with barely hidden surprise. ''Can I hold you?'' She just asks softly.
''You never have to ask San.'' Brittany replies just as softly as she turns on her left side knowing exactly how her girlfriend wants to lay, she scoots further down as she feels Santana scoot even closer and closes her eyes as she feels her left arm snake around her waist and her right arm slide between the pillow and her neck.
Santana nuzzles her nose against Brittany's shoulders as she intertwines her own hands, placing them in the middle of Brittany's chest and closes her eyes as she feels her swallow thickly knowing she is fighting the emotions.
She closes her own eyes, feeling the soft, steady bump of Brittany's heartbeat under her hands, along with the cold metal of their promise ring on her wrist and sighs softly. ''Te amo Britt-Britt.'' She husks out saying those three words for the first time in three weeks.
Brittany just closes her eyes, her heartbeat quickening as she hears the soft love confession and opens her mouth to reply, freezing as soft lips suddenly grace her shoulder.
''I love you too.'' She chokes out voice filled with emotions.
Santana just smiles sadly, tightening her hold around her as she feels the soft tremble going through her body and licks her lips. ''I'm sorry.'' She whispers. ''Sorry for blocking you out and not voicing how much I appreciate you being right by my side the whole time.''
''Never apologize for things you have no control of San.'' Brittany just replies softly. ''I am not mad at all, I am just insanely grateful right now to hear you talk more and to feel your arms around me.''
They both just sigh softly, silently agreeing that they talked enough for now and cuddle closer not noticing Susan and Brad observe them through the small crack of the door. Susan turns to her husband as they tiptoe away the second both girls drifted off and bites her lip. ''They will be okay.''
''They will be more than okay.'' Brad agrees as they slide back into bed. ''They are strong and will fight through this together.''
''Britt is close to breaking though.'' Susan whispers in concern as she cuddles into his side.
''She is.'' Brad agrees again knowing he can't deny it. ''But our girl needs to learn to talk and not bottle things up, she can't talk to many people about this because only the both of us, Ames and Q know but I think she just needs to see that spark return back into Santana's eyes for the worry to drop.''
He kisses her head as she just hums tiredly and pulls her close. ''Let's go back to sleep baby.'' He leans his cheek on her head as she just breaths out a soft good night and closes his eyes hoping that the first therapy session will have some more success.
Four hours later.
''How are you feeling now Santana?'' Emma Pillsbury asks her client after Santana went a bit into details during their two hour long talk.
''Beat.'' Santana replies honestly as she wipes away her tears with the tissue Emma held out for her. ''But also a bit more at ease.'' She adds.
''You made a big step towards recovery Santana.'' Emma compliments. ''You started talking without me having to pry, that doesn't happen often but I am glad you feel a bit more at ease right now.''
''I just want to get out of this deep dark hole.'' Santana mutters sadly. ''I have three sometimes five amazing people around me who show nothing but love and support, my girlfriends parents voluntarily paused their own lives in the small town they live to be here for me and my girlfriend didn't leave my side at all ever since she walked into the room in the hospital.''
''The blonde in the waiting room?'' Emma asks trying to cheer her up a bit before she ends the session.
Santana nods her head and cracks a smile. ''Yeah that's my girlfriend.''
''How long are you together?''
''Almost six years.'' Santana answers with a small smile. ''We both met in high school and moved to Jersey together after receiving a scholarship offer from our dream college.''
''She didn't leave your side at all?'' Emma asks softly knowing both woman are known soccer players, Santana shakes her head and bites her lip.
''Not one day, she called our coach a few days after it happened and requested unpaid leave for an unknown length of time.'' She mutters as she wipes her nose. ''I just managed to convince her yesterday morning to slowly go back to training after seeing how restless she is, she needs soccer to clear her head and I still have her twin sister, my best friend and her parents near me so I won't be alone.''
''You have a big support group, that is good.'' Emma states with a small smile, she reaches into the drawer of the table and takes out a small notepad. ''This session is over Santana but I want to give you some homework before I let you go.''
''Homework?'' Santana asks in confusion, Emma nods her head holding the notepad out for her and smiles kindly.
''You told me that nightmares wake the both of you up every night, I want you to write all of them down but change the ending.'' She clasps her hands in her lap and smiles reasuringly. ''This is a treatment I started up for people with night terrors, if you change the ending yourself, your nightmares might lessen and will allow you a peaceful sleep without taking medication.''
''And that helps?'' Santana asks as she slides the notepad into her purse.
''I really hopes that it helps you too.'' Emma replies. ''I would like to see you back on Friday, is that possible?''
Santana nods her head and smiles slightly. ''Yeah that will be no problem.''
''Perfect, bring your notepad with you please, that will allow me to have some more insight on your dreams and feelings.''
''I will.'' Santana promises as she stands up, she reaches out to shake Emma's hand and smiles slightly. ''Thank you so much Ms Pillsbury.''
''Oh you don't have to thank me Santana.'' Emma replies as she stands up to shake her hand. ''Just do me a favor and stay out of your room during the day, go take a walk or something but don't lock yourself away okay?''
''I will try.'' Santana promises.
She walks out of the room after shouldering her purse, stepping aside as Emma calls in her other patient and walks into the waiting room biting her lip as Brittany immediately stands up. She just walks over to her, allowing herself to fall forward into her strong embrace and nuzzles her face in her chest as she feels her strong arms immediately wrap around her midsection.
''How are you feeling?'' Brittany asks softly as she kisses the top of her head.
''A bit more at ease.'' Santana replies just as softly as she tilts her head up to kiss the underside of her jaw. ''Can we walk home instead of hailing a cab?''
She smiles as Brittany just nods her head, intertwining their hands as she pulls out of the hug and walks out of the waiting room nodding her head to the receptionist as they walk past her desk.
She cuddles into her girlfriends side as they walk out of the building, letting go of her hand to wrap her arm around her waist and nuzzles the side of her face against her side as she feels her arm wrap around her shoulders.
She tilts her head, biting her lip as she notices that Emma's office is near their training field and slowly looks up at her girlfriend. ''Britt-Britt?''
''You want to visit the team?'' Brittany just asks knowingly.
Santana nods her head and smiles sheepishly. ''I know you are itching to go there too.''
''You really want to?'' Brittany asks knowing everyone wants to know what happened.
''Yeah I just don't want to tell them yet, I know we have to tell coach though.'' Santana whispers softly. ''Maybe you can train with them a bit while I talk to them?''
''I don't..''
''B you need a bit of sprinting around to clear your head.'' Santana whispers effectively cutting her off. ''Please train a bit with them, I think they are itching to have one of the captains back.''
''Alright.'' Brittany whispers as they near the stadium. ''But please give me a sign the second you want to go.''
''I will, come on let's head inside so you can grab some old cleats.'' Santana promises as she leads her into the building, she reaches into the back pocket of Brittany's jeans to take out her car keys, knowing she also has the key of their lockers attached to it and unlocks Brittany's locker.
Brittany takes out her shoes, quickly slipping them on deciding that she can play in her sweats for now and holds her other shoes out for Santana. ''We will leave straight from the field, can you hold on to these?''
Santana nods her head as she intertwines their hands with her free hand and leads her out of the locker room smiling slightly as the cheers and yells from their team reaches her ears, she walks out just following the noise and walks up to their coach. ''Coach?''
''Brittana!'' Coach Katherine Johnson exclaims in surprise as she sees both of her captains standing behind her, Santana chuckles softly as she rushes over to hug them with a big smile and pulls back hearing the team call out to them.
''Can we talk?'' She asks softly.
''I will take over training.'' Brittany mutters as she locks eyes with their coach, she turns to the girls as they rush over and holds up her hand slowly shaking her head. ''Come on let's do some rounds!''
''What happened Cap?'' Mewis asks softly as all the girls quickly catch up to the sprinting blonde.
''Nothing good.'' Brittany just breaths out feeling her muscles protest at the quick sprint without warming up first, she slows down a bit and looks over her shoulder at the girls as they all jog near. ''San will tell it as soon as she is ready, coach will find out now though.''
''No.'' Flores one of the defenders whispers shocked, immediately catching on to the cryptic explanation after going through the same pain during college.
Brittany closes her eyes as fifteen soft shocked gasps follow right after and shakes her head. ''Please don't mention it until she is ready to open up herself, she just had her first therapy session so give her time alright?''
She nods her head as they all hum and gulps thickly. ''Let's do some kicks towards the goal, Betos you take one goal and Harris you take the other.''
Coach Johnson turns to the Latina in her arms as she watches her first captain on the field, kicking the ball with a huge amount of force towards the goal before one of the goalkeepers reaches it and bites her lip as she notices the anger and pain she put into that kick knowing she needs to let loose a bit. ''How are the both of you holding up?'' She asks softly still in shock after hearing what her second captain had to go through the past three weeks.
''This is the first time I left our apartment.'' Santana whispers as she wipes away her tears. ''Hell the first time I left our bed.'' She looks up as she hears a loud crash, biting her lip as she sees the ball that hit the crossbar flying back towards the middle line and gulps thickly as she sees the look on her girlfriends face and the girls just watching her with sad smiles. ''Britt has some pent up emotions she has to lose, that is why I convinced her to join the girls today.''
She turns to look at their coach and sniffles. ''She needs this to keep sane, I will try to convince her to start out again so you think you can cancel one of the unpaid leaves?'' She asks softly. ''I am definitely not ready to come back yet, but I have my future in laws and best friend around.''
''She needs this, I hate seeing her suffer so much and not talking to anyone while forcing me to talk.'' She adds sadly.
''I can cancel it the second she walks out onto the field.'' Coach Johnson reassures. ''Just tell her to send me a text if you successfully convinced her, I would love to have the both of you back, but I definitely understand why you took a leave.''
She turns her head to lock eyes with Santana and squeezes her leg softly. ''Take all the time you need Lopez, I already talked to the manager and none of your positions are in danger.''
''I will.'' Santana promises. ''Do you mind me kicking once or twice?''
''Go for it.'' Coach Johnson just mutters with a grin, knowing the Latina needs it just as much.
Santana stands up and jogs out onto the field. ''B!''
Brittany just looks over her shoulder, cracking a grin as she sees Santana sprinting towards her and back heel passes the ball after signing Harris to clear the goal. She turns back to the goal as she sees Santana kick it with force and shakes her head as it crashes against the crossbar, the same loud crash she created, echoing around them once again.
''Cap L!'' Mewis calls out the same time Tucker, one of the other forwards calls out.
''Cap P!''
They both pass the ball towards both captains in a beautiful arch and grin as they just adjust their position, to kick the ball with a beautifully timed volley.
Coach Johnson shakes her head as both balls fly into the goal at the same time and chuckles. ''Well that was scarily in sync.'' She tells her two captains. ''Next match is against Orlando Pride, any advice for the girls?''
''Don't allow them to push you back into our half.'' Santana immediately tells their girls after they jogged over to hug her.
''Rush forward the second you see a gap in their defend.'' Brittany adds. ''Orlando's defends weakness are high passes so.'' She turns to Mewis and winks. ''Show them what you got Mewis.''
''I will Cap.'' Mewis promises.
''We will be going.'' Santana tells the girls. ''But you might find us in the stands next Sunday.''
''Oh we would love that.'' Coach answers for all of them. ''Enjoy your evening girls, see you soon.''
Both girls just smile and hug their team as they walk over. ''See ya soon girls.''