Chapter 4

Brittany's POV

I woke up before anyone else in my house to leave for Chicago. I grabbed my bag and my phone, quickly getting into the car to bring it back.

The entire drive, butterflies fluttered in my stomach, dreading seeing Reid again. I didn't know if he would hurt me. He never had while we were dating, but things were different now, and I was scared. That was the main reason why I'd told Santana (besides the fact that I needed a ride back to Lima).

Throughout the entire drive, I listened to music, but my heart wasn't into it. All I could think about was how anxious I was to return to Chicago and see Reid again.

Arriving at the apartment building, I let out a deep breath while sitting in the car.

"You can do this," I told myself. "You'll barely see him. Just drop the key off, and then leave."

I stepped out of the car and headed into the apartment building where I rang the buzzer for Reid's apartment, and the apartment I'd lived in for quite some time.

"Who is this?"

The moment I heard his voice, I felt my chest tighten.

"It's Brittany," I replied, my voice shaking. "I have your car and the key."

He didn't reply, but I heard the buzz that allowed me to go inside and make my way up to the apartment.

"Hello, Brittany," Reid said when I got to the apartment.

"Hi." I handed him the key.

"Is that all you came to do?" he asked.

"Yes. Now, goodbye Reid." I turned to leave.

He tried saying something to me, but I ignored him, taking the stairs down to the main level of the apartment building before exiting. When I was finally outside again, I could breathe easier, allowing the cold air to soak into my lungs.

From my old apartment, I walked to a coffee shop to wait for Santana. She'd texted me during one of my many pit-stops to use the bathroom on my drive, saying that she would get to the shop around 10 o'clock, which it almost was.

I ordered a hot chocolate and drank it while I waited.

"Hey."

I immediately smiled hearing Santana's voice in a place where I'd always been without her. Turning around, I saw that she was smiling too.

"Do you want to go right away?" she asked.

I shrugged. "If you're interested, maybe we could go to the aquarium?"

"Sure!" Santana paused, looking down for a second before returning her gaze to me. "If you're interested... maybe it could be a date?"

"I would maybe be interested," I teased.

"Let's go, then?"

"Let's go."

Santana drove the two of us to the aquarium, with a lot of extra help from both myself and my phone, and by the time we were parked, it was almost lunch.

"I'm starving," I complained, half as a joke and half because I was actually really hungry.

"Should we get some lunch before we start walking around?" Santana asked.

"Yes, please!"

We paid for our tickets, then went and got some lunch. We didn't act like it was a date, but there were a lot of people around, so I really couldn't blame her.

After eating, we started walking through the aquarium, starting with a massive tank filled with a variety of sea creatures. I could have watched them swim forever, but I knew there was a lot more to see, so we moved on.

We'd been walking for around half an hour, when I felt Santana's hand brush against mine.

Glancing up at her face, I saw no sign that she touched my hand on purpose, so I decided that I would need to take the lead. I reached my hand out slightly to touch her fingers before slowly starting to hold her hand.

She pulled away, looking at me almost sadly before we continued on to the next exhibit.

"Why don't you want to hold my hand?" I asked after she'd denied my hand a few times.

"There are people here!" she exclaimed in a whisper-tone. "Trust me, I want to hold your hand, but I'm... I'm scared."

"I understand, Santana, but right now, there is nothing to be afraid of. We are in Chicago. Most likely, the only person you will ever see again in this entire building is me. You're safe; I've got you. Just, please, hold my hand?"

"Okay," Santana said, and despite how much her voice shook, she reached out and grabbed my hand, interlacing her fingers with mine.

I smiled at her. "I'm so proud of you. Now, let's go see some belugas!"

The entire time we were at the aquarium, I was still shocked that Santana had asked me out on a date. For a second, I'd though she couldn't have possibly meant a real date. But, in context, she definitely did. I saw how much her hands were shaking, but she didn't back out. A part of me still doubted her, not wanting to repeat the things we went through in high school, but when she held my hand as we watched the fish, I decided I could start to trust her.

"You never told me where you went to school," I stated while we were standing in an area that was almost empty. "My mom said you're in Columbus, but I wanted to ask you."

"I am in Columbus," she replied. "And speaking of Columbus, I'm going back soon."

"Oh." I couldn't hide my frown. "I guess I knew that was going to happen. I'll miss you when you're gone."

"I'll miss you too," Santana squeezed my hand for a moment. "But, we'll get to text and call each other, which will be better than not talking at all, right?"

I nodded, knowing she was trying to reassure both of us.

"Besides, I'm sure we can visit each other sometimes," she said. "But, let's not talk about that right now."

"Okay," I replied, taking her to the next exhibit.

Despite knowing that Santana would have to return to school eventually, it didn't stop me from feeling sad when she packed her things into her car to leave on February 8th. And even though I planned to visit her for Valentine's Day, I knew I would miss her so much while we were apart.

I limited my goodbye to a hug (although I longed to kiss her before she left), since her parents were just inside her house, and I still wasn't completely sure how out she was to the other people in her life. I knew there had to be a reason why we hadn't kissed yet, but I had decided I would wait for Santana to make the first move.

After she left, I knew I had to tell my family about my pregnancy, since I no longer had anyone around me who knew, and the secret would be impossible to keep without someone to talk to.

"I have something to tell you," I told my family while we were eating supper that evening. "I'm pregnant."

At first, everybody looked shocked.

"How do you feel about it?" my mom asked.

"Everything," I replied. "I'm scared, excited, unsure..."

"Well, that makes sense. I just want you to know that no matter what we will support you as much as you need," she continued.

"Thank you."

Once I went back to my bedroom, my sister came into my bedroom.

"Britt?" she asked, sitting down on my bed. "Is that why Reid isn't here?"

"Yeah, it is," I replied. "He didn't want to have a baby, but now I realize that he was never the one. I have my family, I'm friends with Santana again, so I'm good. And I am actually excited for this baby."

"That's good." She looked at me closely with question in her eyes. "Are you and Santana dating?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"Well, I know you liked her in high school; I'm not dumb, you know."

"Yes, we did like each other in high school, but right now we're just friends."

"Okay," she said, her voice making it clear she didn't really believe me.

"Fine, we did go on a date, but we aren't calling each other anything besides friends." I gave in.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. "You know, I haven't seen Santana since you were in high school. You should bring her over sometime soon."

"I would, but she's back in Columbus for school."

"Oh, well, we should go visit her then. I'm sure you're planning to do something like that anyway."

"I'm going for Valentine's Day, but you are not coming with. Maybe another time."

"Okay, thank you!" She smiled. "And, by the way, I'm so glad you're back. I missed you."

"I missed you, too."