Chapter 35: Never Know
A/N: I realized I made a mistake as Blaine are already together in this story. Sometimes having two ongoing fics can be a little confusing. So just pretend when he talks to Brittany in the last chapter it's about some cheesy Klaine BS. Song is by Set It Off.
Sectionals were right on the horizon, and the Glee club was kicking into gear to get ready. Brittany had gotten her glasses and her mom had ordered some One Day contacts she could wear when she danced, and she had never been happier. The first time Santana saw the glasses, she couldn't help but to giggle- Brittany looked absolutely adorable. They did discover, however, that two pairs of glasses made kissing a bit more difficult. Still, they couldn't help but match and even Kurt found their outdated fashion adorable. That afternoon at Glee club, Mr.Schue shared the same sentiment. They needed to get ready, and first in the To-Do list was a setlist.
"Now, something the judges love about us is that there's always a real soul behind our songs. We seem to always say something with what we sing. Let's keep that in mind as we make our setlist." Mr.Schue reminded. Everyone broke off into pairs, discussing what might be good. Well, except Rachel, who kept running between Quinn and Mr.Schue, trying to control everything.
"Berry, sit your ass down." Santana finally said "Mr.Schue, you would tell us all if there was anything else to know?"
"Yes. Rachel, asking me about every song tells me you're not thinking hard enough." he sighed. And so they all got to work, promising to bring suggestions the next day. Santana and Brittany, for once, went home to the Pierce house picking Liv up from school on their way. Liv had started an after school program for science, so it worked out perfect for the girls to pick her up after Glee, giving Mrs.Pierce time to unwind, cook, or shop for groceries.
"Ma, we're home!" Brittany called out as Liv squeezed past her with Asher hot on her heels straight out the sliding glass door to the backyard.
"I see that." Mrs. Pierce says as Santana and Brittnay make their way into the kitchen. "Make sure Liv doesn't stay out there too long, she needs to do her homework.
"Don't worry, Asher won't want to stay out too long if I'm not there." Santana says.
"Of course. It's good to see you Santana, how's Diego and your aunt?" Whitney asks, chopping vegetables.
"They're doing really well. But Ali's really glad you were okay with me coming over for the night, she's working at the lab all night and Diego had already set an overnight date at Kelsey's." Santana says.
"You've stayed home alone before." Brittany says.
"Yeah, but she doesn't want me to be alone, just in case I get a bad nightmare." Santana says "It shouldn't be a problem, but she's protective."
"I can't say I blame her." Whitney admits "I know you're a thing girl, but your aunt really cares about you."
"I know. And I don't mind the protective tendencies. It's nice." Santana smiles.
"Well, go ahead and start your homework at the table, I'll call Liv inside and she'll join you." Mrs. Pierce says, focusing on making stew. The girls sit down, followed shortly by Liv, and all work quickly to finish their homework. Once they're done, they go up to Brittany's room to work on their suggestions.
"Britt?" Liv says timidly from the door, interrupting an intense conversation about song choices.
"What's up Liv?" Brittany says, not looking away from her Spotify.
"I um…" Liv's slow answer catches Santana's attention and she nudges Britt to look up.
"Oh." Brittany looks up to see Liv with one of her ties sloppily slung around her neck and a snapback falling over her eyes. "Didn't want to ask to borrow my clothes? When did you get a chance to raid my closet?" Brittany asks.
"Sorry. I just wanted to try them on and see how they felt…" Liv says sheepishly.
"I'm not upset. But I could've helped you out." Brittany says, re-tying the tie and tightening the snapback "See?"
"I like it better when it fits more." Liv says, looking at herself with her phone.
"I feel very out of the loop here." Santana admits. "You look great Liv, but why the sudden change in style?"
"You don't have to say anything you don't want to." Brittany reminds.
"No its okay. I trust Tana." Liv whispers "Tana, I think that, I mean I feel like probably… I'm gender fluid." Liv visibly shrinks.
"Oh...well congrats on finding yourself." Santana says "thanks for telling me."
"You are one of my safe people. I'd never be afraid to tell you something." Liv admits.
"Well if you need someone to take you shopping, other than Britt of course, I'd love to." Santana says "Hey Liv, you want to listen to this song? We're thinking of performing it at sectionals."
"Sure! Hopefully I get to come see you perform this time." Liv says excitedly. Santana smiles as she presses play. Liv sways a little as she listens, and when the song is done takes a minute before giving her seal of approval.
"Girls! Dinner!" Whitney calls up the stairs. Before Santana can question, Liv is rushing down the stairs. Santana looks at Brittany in confusion.
"She told you before our parents. I'm just as shocked." Brittany says, picking up the discarded hat and tie from the stairs. Santana and Brittany take their seats at the table, listening as Liv expresses her excitement about being included in the choice of song. Whitney and Daniel look at Santana thankfully, knowing how much Liv looks up to her and Brittnay both.
"Do you think you'll teach me the dance if Mr.Schue lets you perform it?" Liv asks Brittany eagerly.
"I'll do my best Livvy." Brittany says "Ma, the stew is amazing by the way."
"Yeah, it's a change from all the takeout we eat at Casa Lopez." Santana grins "Unless I cook of course."
"I can lend you the recipe if you like." Whitney offers, and Santana stiffens for a moment. No one had given her a recipe since the last time she cooked with her Abuela, that cursed Christmas Eve.
"Uh...sure." Santana manages after a moment "That'd be...that'd be great." Whitney nods, her eyes scanning Santana, but leaving the subject. When dinner is finished, Santana offers to help with the dishes. Liv drags Brittany off to watch a new episode of one of their favorite shows, so she and Whitney are left to do the dishes.
"Thanks for dinner Mrs.P" Santana says as she drys a plate.
"Santana dear, I don't mean to be intrusive, but you seemed rather taken aback by me offering my recipe." Whitney says.
"Oh, I really appreciate it I just-" Santana starts.
"You don't have to explain, dear, I just worry about you." Whitney shrugs.
"Well, it's just that the only person who ever has given me a recipe or taught me to cook is my Abuela." Santana admits quietly "It's just nice to have that experience again. Ali doesn't cook, so I really lost that."
"Well, you should've said something sooner. You're welcome in my kitchen anytime." Whitney bumps hips with the girl as they finish cleaning up.
That night, Santana can wipe the smile from her face as she climbs into bed with Brittany, the door wide open, Asher lying at the foot of the bed.
"What's got you all smiley?" Brittnay asks as she sets her glasses on her nightstand.
"Your mom offered to cook with me." Santana says "You have no idea how much I've missed cooking."
"Well, I'm sure mom's glad to have the help. I'm not the greatest chef." Brittany smiles shyly.
"What about Liv?" Santana asks.
"Just not interested." Brittany shrugs.
"So, when do you think she'll tell your parents?" Santana worries.
"When she figures out what it even means. If she is going to use different pronouns, a different name. San, I'm worried about her. She seems like she's bottling it up, and I haven't seen a friend of hers over in ages." Brittany shakes her head.
"That's cause I don't have any friends." Liv says from the doorway.
"I'm sure that's not true." Brittany says.
"I know its not. I'm your friend." Santana says.
"Only cause of B." Liv argues.
"Come here." Santana says, and Liv approaches slowly "I may love Brittnay, but I'm your friend too." she pats the bed and Liv sits between them.
"We are worried about you though." Brittany says.
"I'm fine." Liv insists.
"We aren't saying you're not. But you know, I think your parents would help you a whole lot with this if they knew." Santana offers.
"I'm not ready." Liv crosses her arms.
"Well, then let me help." Brittany says.
"With what? I'm scared Brittnay. What if people make fun of me. What if they say something?"Liv bites her lip.
"I'll teach them a lesson." Santana says "Trust me, all the scary is worth the reward."
"I guess so." Liv looks up at them "Then I guess, first, my pronouns are they/them. At least, for now, I think I like those."
"Well, we can promise to do our best to respect those, right Britt?" Santana says and Brittany nods.
"Cool. By the way, that song, what was it called?" Liv asked.
"Never Know by Set It Off. Why?" Brittany asked.
"It felt...right." Liv said as they crawled past Asher at the foot of the bed, scratching his head as they went.
"No wonder it got the seal of approval." Santana said.
"My little sibling is a genius." Brittany said, kissing Santana on the forehead as they fell asleep.
The next day in Glee Club, everyone was presenting songs, but Mr.Schue was so far unimpressed.
"As much as I love your performance dedicated to Mercedes, Sam, that's not exactly what we're looking for." he said. Sam shrugged, going back to sit next to Mercedes who seemed far more impressed the Mr.Schue.
"Alright, my shining stars, Santana and Brittany you're up." he said "Please have something good."
"Last night, Brittany's little sibling had a really great conversation with us. This song is Liv approved." Santana said before they began.
Do you what you're told
Don't think about it
Life is dangerous outside these walls
So tell me how
We're supposed to make it
When they make our dreams appear so small
Mr.Schue looked impressed so far, so Santana really leaned into the song as they continued.
Cause you never know
Yeah you never know
If you never take a shot and lose control
Let's risk it all
Brittany hit the final chord and slowly but surely everyone clapped, led by Mr.Schue.
"Now that's what I'm looking for!" Mr.Schue said "thank you Santana and Brittany. Now let's see if the rest of you can get your act together."
Eventually, the club worked together to get two more songs to complete their setlist. Finn thought taking a rock route would be good, and so It's My Life by Bon Jovi made the setlist. With two fast paced songs, one slower was needed. And so, Rachel got the solo she wanted through Skyscraper by Demi Lovato. The songs really stuck to the theme of not letting anyone hold you back from taking control of your life. Mr.Schue was ecstatic.
The next few weeks found the girls slammed with Glee rehearsals, but also found Santana spending more time at the Pierces. Ali was on to something at the lab, and she felt better if Santana had a home cooked meal than staying home with Diego to eat takeout.
"Santana dear, did you want to help cook?" Whitney asked, seeing Santana put her books away while Brittnay and Liv kept going.
"Sure! What are we making?" she said as Mrs.Pierce handed her an apron.
"Oh we're making Liv's favorite- macaroni and cheese casserole." she said.
"What exactly goes into a macaroni and cheese casserole?" the Latina asked.
"Pretty much what you'd expect, plus chicken and asparagus." the older woman said.
"And that's really their favorite?" Santana asked.
"Not theirs, just Liv's." Mrs.Pierce said "You should know Brittany's favorite is your chicken enchiladas."
"Right, sorry. But Liv really likes asparagus in macaroni and cheese?" the singer looked at the vegetable-not usually a favorite among nine year-olds.
"She adores it." Whitney answered, chopping the veggie up. Santana bit her tongue and looked over to the table where she saw Brittany squeeze Liv's hand supportively. Her younger sibling still hadn't approached their parents, and it was starting to take its toll, especially on days they preferred being called Oli or Oliver versus Liv or Olivia.
"Alright Santana, pay close attention, that way you can make it when you need to trick your future kids into eating vegetables." Mrs.Pierce said, and Santana turned back to help finish dinner. Once the casserole was in the oven, she noticed Brittany and Liv outside with Asher.
"Hey." Santana said, Asher immediately greeting her, making sure nothing was wrong.
"Hey, you interrupted a very intense game of fetch." Brittany plopped down on the porch steps, Liv joining her.
"I noticed you still haven't told your mom." Santana said, looking at the younger Pierce.
"I'm scared." Liv admitted.
"Your mom won't mind." Santana said "You should tell her before she finds out about it accidentally from someone else." Santana advised.
"Like one of you two?" Liv was exasperated. "Whatever." They stomped inside.
"It's getting bad." Brittany sighed "They're really scared about everything."
"I can understand why. I don't want to scare her by telling her my story though. Mayne it would help if we can find someone online like her, someone her age." Santana sighed.
"You're a genius!" Brittany said "It's not the exact same situation but you know about Jazz Jennings right?"
"Uh…" Santana searched her brain "Sorry I'm coming up blank here Britt."
"Seriously? Here look" Brittany pulled up Jazz's story and showed Santana.
"You know, that might do it Britt." the Latina admitted "Why don't you show Liv after dinner?"
"Sure. I hope it helps." The blonde mused.
"There's always music. I'll see what I can find." the raven-haired girl assured her.
Santana surprisingly really enjoyed the casserole, and definitely made sure to add it to her list of recipes. She'd really enjoyed cooking with Whitney and this meal was really simple. After helping with dishes, the girls all headed upstairs to get ready for bed.
"Hey Liv" Brittany knocked on her siblings door "You want to come watch something with San and I?"
"Yeah. Just let me brush my teeth first." the younger blonde said.
"Okay, we'll be waiting." Brittany let Liv pass her to go into the hallway bathroom and made her way back to Santana.
"Liv coming?" Santana asked, and Brittany nodded. Santana hooked up her laptop to Brittany's TV and let the girl pick the videos she wanted to share.
"Alright, I'm here. What are we watching?" Liv asked, hopping up on the bed, sitting in the middle. Brittany joined her on the other side.
"I thought you might find some inspiration from this. I don't want to force you into anything, and you don't need to do anything you don't want to. But I want you to know you're not alone." Brittany said.
"Okay…" Liv was suspicious, but didn't leave so Brittany pressed play. After a few videos she paused and looked to her younger siblings.
"So, do you feel better now?" Brittany asked carefully.
"A little. But I wish it was someone just like me. I just feel like everyone is one way or the other. I'm in between, I'm both. I'm everything." Liv sighed and rubbed her temples.
"Well, I thought you might say that." Santana said "so I did a little research. Are you willing to watch just one more thing for me?"
"I guess so." Liv shifts, starting to become annoyed.
"So this isn't exactly the same, but this kid likes to dress up like a princess even though he's a boy." Santana says, pulling up a read aloud of My Shadow Is Pink. His dad wrote this book for him." Santana says. Liv listens quietly, and Santana watches her closely for any reaction.
"That's a little better. But he's still not like me." Liv crosses her arms.
"I know, but he might just not know the words yet. You didn't know the words right?" Santana asked, and Liv nodded.
"Well, there's another thing too. The same author is writing a new book called My Shadow is Purple. Maybe you'll like that one?" Santana asks.
"Yeah. And maybe there's already a purple book for me?" Liv asks.
"We can go to the bookstore this weekend if your parents are okay with it." Santana says, and Liv smiles brightly. Of course the Pierces would be okay with that. She asks them immediately, and the answer is no surprise.
"Well, I think that went pretty well." Santana says.
"She seemed happier." Brittany squeezes Santana's hand "I just don't want her to hurt like we have."
"We'll never let that happen." Santana assures.
Friday was Sectionals, and came on faster than anyone could anticipate, but the Glee club was more than ready. Dances had been perfected, notes had been harmonized, and Rachel was bouncing off the walls with excitement about her solo. Dalton was hosting Regionals, so they all sat in a classroom waiting for their turn. The area for performing at Dalton wasn't very large and didn't allow for much of an audience so the other clubs were asked to wait. Blaine, as a former Dalton student, was able to watch his friends on the Warblers perform.
"How were they?" Rachel asked nervously.
"As good as ever. Their songs didn't have much substance though. We definitely have that advantage." Blaine sat beside Kurt.
"But they were really talented?" Rachel quizzed.
"We knew that going in Rach." Quinn gently rubbed Rachel's back "You're better. Right Blaine?" Quinn warned him to say anything other than yes.
"Yeah. Sebastian has nothing on you." Blaine assured. It was just a moment later when they were told to come to the stage.
"New Directions on 3!" Mr.Schue said and after a shout they made their way to the stage.
First on stage was Brittany and Santana's duet for Never Know.
For the ones who doubted, thanks for nothing
Gonna show you that we're made of something
No you can't escape the fight we're bringing
Cause when you knock us down we're coming for you
Then was the group number of It's My Life.
And it's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said, "I did it my way"
I just want to live while I'm alive
'Cause it's my life
And finally, Rachel's solo. Her nerves were clear, but as soon as she started singing they disappeared.
You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
They left the stage to tremendous applause. They awaited the results in a room between the other two teams. Every team sounded sure they were going to win. They were collected about 10 minutes later and every team made their way to the stage.
"And the winner of the Western Ohio Sectionals is… from Lima Ohio THE NEW DIRECTIONS."
"We did it!" Rachel cheered, and everyone congratulated each other on their performance. It was Blaine, however, who noticed the disappointment on the Warblers' faces. He excused himself momentarily.
Santana watched him carefully.
"That was a tough call Sebastian." Blaine said approaching the group.
"Of course you'd say that. You won." Sebastian sneered "What did you have that we didn't? We're clearly more talented than your group of mismatched losers."
"Well for one, we'd never call you losers despite the fact that we beat you." Blaine said calmly "And second, we have purpose. Our music means something."
"Oh please." Sebastian rolls his eyes "That's not part of the competition."
"Maybe not in your eyes. But who's holding the trophy?" Blaine crosses his arms.
"Whatever, traitor!" Sebastian said, leading the Warblers away.
"What was that about?" Santana asked as Blaine rejoined them.
"Just Sebastian's ego." Blaine shrugs. "Don't worry about it. Let's go celebrate!"
Outside, Liv and the Pierces were there to greet them.
"Hey Liv!" Brittany said, picking her sister up in a hug.
"Hey! You did great!" Liv said "the song was so good."
"Thanks Liv." Brittany says, setting her down.
"You both really were fantastic." Mrs. Pierce says "We'll take Liv home, enjoy celebrating with your friends."
"Thanks. We'll see you later?" Santana asks.
"Yes, of course." Mr.Pierce says.
The girls head off with the rest of the Glee club to a pizza celebration.
Later that night, they get back to the Pierce's, and something feels off. No one is downstairs, so they head up stairs. Liv is sitting on Brittany's bed.
"What are you doing in here Liv?" Brittany asks "Where are mom and dad?"
"They went to the store." Liv says.
"Why?" Brittany asks.
"I don't know." Liv lies.
"Liv." Santana says "Did something happen?"
"What do you care?" Liv says.
"Did I do something?" Santana asks.
"No...no." Liv sighs "I'm just gonna go to bed."
"Liv wait." Brittany says.
"For what?" Liv leaves.
"What do you think happened?" Santana asks.
"No idea. We'll ask my parents when they get home." Brittany says.
It's a few minutes before they hear the Pierce's pull into the driveway.
"Hey girls, good to see you're home." Daniel says.
"What's going on with Liv?" Brittany asks.
"We got into an argument about her skipping a grade." Whitney sighs "She doesn't want to anymore. She was so excited."
"Did she have a reason?" Santana asked.
"She said if she can't make friends now, how should she in a new grade?" Daniel quotes.
"I thought she had plenty of friends. I don't know what changed." Whitney shrugs.
"Right. Well, maybe we can convince her with that trip to the bookstore?" Santana bargains.
"I suppose so." Mr.Pierce says.
So, the next day the girls take Liv to the store. They go through the books, and Liv finds a few she really likes.
"You think I should tell Mom and Dad don't you?" Liv says as she puts another book in the basket.
"Liv, I think you should do whatever is best for you." Brittany says.
"And do you think that's best?" Liv asks.
"San?" Brittany asks.
"I'm happier since I came out." Santana says.
"But you don't see your parents anymore." Liv says.
"My parents aren't good people like yours." Santana says.
"I think I'm ready" Liv says.
"We'll be there every step of the way."
Yeah you never know
If you never take a shot and lose control
a/n: The book I talk about is by Scott Stuart