CHAPTER 6
Brittany smiles as she recalls the memory of the first time she asked Santana out on a date. Ever since freshman year of high school, she and Santana had never seen each other eye to eye given that they had different circles of friends. Santana had been part of the student council and was elected Senior Class President while Brittany had been a cheerleader since day one and eventually became Head Cheerleader with Quinn as her second-in-command. Once she and Santana started dating at the beginning of senior year though, everything changed for both of them. They became McKinley High's power couple and went from being constantly annoyed with each other to being literally inseparable.
"Britt…" Quinn nudges Brittany out of her trip down memory lane and looks up at Quinn, Olivia, and Rachel, who now sport intrigued looks on their faces. She thinks she must've started smiling like an idiot once Rachel asked about Santana.
"Oh...um" she straightens her back and continues "Right… Santana." She grabs her glass of water and drinks from it before speaking again. "She and I were high school sweethearts." She makes eye contact with Olivia and smiles shyly at her which Olivia returns.
Quinn chuckles beside her, "They were all over each other when they started dating in senior year which shocked the entire school because they never really liked each other since we were freshmen." Olivia leans forward, placing an elbow on the table and rests her chin on her hand while Brittany giggles.
"Yeah. Then we went to college in Chicago. I went to Northwestern for Dance with a Minor in Physics while she went to University of Chicago for Political Science" she glanced over at Olivia and Rachel with a proud smile.
"We got married in Massachusetts shortly after college but ultimately decided to settle in Chicago. She worked as a market research analyst at a firm" she says proudly but then lowers her gaze and her lips tremble once she says her next words, "and I used to be a Jazz Teaching Artist at The Joffrey Academy of Dance."
"Impressive" Rachel glances at Olivia who just shrugs and observes Brittany's sudden change in demeanor.
"Thanks." Brittany smiles timidly at Rachel and relaxes back at her seat, "Santana was a resolute and incredibly talented person" she says as her blue orbs meet Olivia's brown ones again and the brunette could only interpret the look Brittany is giving her as pure adoration as she talks about Santana. "She always knew what she wanted and didn't stop at nothing to get it."
Olivia wishes she could return the look that Brittany was giving her, but she couldn't. She now believes that physically, she is Santana. However, she is also Olivia and Olivia doesn't have feelings for this woman and all she could do is give the blonde a sad smile.
"She sounds like a great person." Olivia remarks.
Brittany nods and says "The greatest." Quinn also nods her head in agreement.
"So, what happened… when she…" Olivia gulps and makes eye contact with Quinn and then Brittany, "when I disappeared?"
Brittany was aware that the conversation about Santana would eventually reach this point. At the moment, she feels as if she's being brought back to that night. She feels as if the air is being sucked out of her lungs and her gut churns as she recalls details from that night 5 years ago.
Santana's absence. Her car. The amount of blood in the living room. Santana's dad.
Santana's dad.
How will she start re-telling everything she saw that night? Brittany's hands are shaking and she fights hard to push back the tears threatening to roll down her face. Quinn notices her best friend's anxiety and places a hand on the other blonde's shoulder, rubbing her thumb side to side in an attempt to calm Brittany down.
Brittany takes a deep breath and closes her eyes "We were in Lima that day because it was your abuela's birthday the next day and you planned to surprise her since we haven't been able to go home for her birthday in the last couple of years" she sits up straight on her chair, trying to put on a brave facade so the three other women on the table doesn't notice her turmoil as she recounts the night her wife disappeared.
Quinn knows better though. She knows how difficult this is for Brittany. Her best friend lost a lot that night; her wife, her father-in-law, a part of herself. Quinn shifted her hand from Brittany's shoulder to her lower back, silently letting the blonde know that she's there for emotional support. Brittany turns her head and smiles weakly at Quinn and the hazel-eyed blonde offers her a small, encouraging nod. Brittany then turns her attention back to Olivia and Rachel and clears her throat to speak.
"After dinner with Sant- your dad, we went back to my parents' house for the night but you only dropped me off because you said you forgot to get something from your old room. I never understood why it was so important that you couldn't wait to get it the next day" the blonde couldn't help but sound resentful at that last part. "An hour later, I got a call from Puck, a friend of ours who's a detective at the Lima PD." Tears started rolling down Brittany's cheeks and the two brunettes looked at her with concern.
"Someone shot your dad at a point blank range and when I got there, I only saw your car but there was no sign of you" she paused to take the tissues Quinn was offering her and wipes her face before glancing around the café to check if people were looking at her but luckily, the other customers were too busy minding their own business.
At this point, Olivia can't help the tears rolling down her cheeks as well and it's not because she remembers any of this. It's quite the opposite. She doesn't remember it and her confusion is slowly turning into anger. First, she learns that she's a wife and a mother and now she learns that her father was murdered the night she disappeared. This is becoming too much for her. She feels Rachel tentatively snake her arm around her torso to comfort her so she decides to lean in towards her sister for support. She clears her throat so she could ask Brittany the question that immediately occupied her mind not too long ago.
"Did I… did I do it?" she asks nervously, her eyes downcast.
Brittany and Quinn's eyes widen at her question and Brittany immediately shakes her head. "No" she says reassuringly "She… you would never do something like that. You loved your dad so much and he was all you had aside from your abuela and your uncle. Whoever did it had it all planned. The police suspected robbery since his wallet was nowhere to be found."
Olivia frowns at that statement "So the killer was never caught?"
Brittany lowers and shakes her head "The case has gone cold. The police never found the murder weapon and there were no other fingerprints aside from both of our fingerprints at the back of his shirt, most likely from when we both hugged him goodbye before we left the house" she explains and Olivia simply nods.
"But I was there." It was more of a statement than a question.
Quinn looks at Olivia and takes over the conversation for Brittany who's now leaning on her side, mimicking Olivia's position beside Rachel. "You were, but look, everything about that night remains a mystery and we won't know what happened unless you regain your memories. Only then can we start putting the pieces together." She looks at Brittany and then back at the two brunettes, "For now, let's just take a step back and calm down. It's been an emotional afternoon" she smiles weakly and the two brunettes nod their heads in agreement.
"So, what's next?" Olivia asks quietly and Brittany looks at her cautiously.
"Um…" Brittany pauses, unsure if she should even ask the question but she knows that what she's going to ask from Olivia will be just for everybody's peace of mind. She sits up on her chair again and continues, "Um… just for our peace of mind.. If it's okay with you.." she looks away from Olivia's questioning gaze for a moment and then averts her eyes again to meet Olivia's "I'd like to ask if I can get a strand of your hair for DNA testing? Just to cover all our bases here" she turns to Quinn who nods at her suggestion. "We can send it to Puck for testing and cross-matching with your dad's DNA which should be in the system at the Lima PD."
She makes eye contact with each of the three women who only gave her an incredulous look. "What? I've watched enough crime shows to know how this works. Sue me." The three women chuckle lightly at her response.
"Okay. For everybody's peace of mind." Olivia says once the laughter subsides and Brittany gives her a soft smile.
"Thank you. We can just meet again after we get the DNA results back and then we can talk about…" Brittany pauses. What are we going to talk about? She thinks to herself. She knows they can't go back to being a married couple because technically, Olivia isn't her wife. What she needs to know though is if Olivia would be willing to meet Maddison or if Olivia would even want to be part of their life. Maybe she doesn't want to be a mother considering where her career is at the moment. Maybe she would want to divorce her. As long as Olivia doesn't remember, all these options are easily on the table. "Then we can talk about what you want to do moving forward" she says smiling sadly at the Latina.
"Okay. Thank you." Olivia smiles back at her "I just really need to process all of this." Brittany nods in agreement.
"Are you sure you didn't fake your own death?" Rachel asks out of nowhere, narrowing her eyes at her sister and Olivia turns her head and narrows her eyes at Rachel in return. Rachel raises her hands and shoulders into a slight shrug "What? I'm just covering the bases here."
Quinn shakes her head at Rachel's antics and chimes in before Olivia or Brittany could even respond. "Santana was… is a good person. An occasional bitch, but a good person" she starts and smiles at Olivia "I know she'd never intentionally leave her wife and daughter like that. Plus, she loves Brittany." She looks away from Olivia and turns to meet Brittany's eyes, "So much… it's sickening" she adds with a playful grimace before chuckling.
Brittany rolls her eyes at her best friend before shifting on her seat to face Olivia.
"So… I think this is where we should end for today? Quinn's right, it's been emotional and you need to process everything we just dumped on you."
"Yeah." Olivia replies, not meeting Brittany's gaze.
"Alright. I'll just need a few strands of your hair so I can send it immediately to Lima PD." She suggests and Olivia nods before taking a few strands of her dark brown locks and placing it on a table napkin and giving it to Brittany.
The blonde takes the napkin with strands of dark brown hair and securely places it inside her purse, "Thanks. I'll let you know when the results are back."
Olivia nods and opens her purse, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper from the inside. She scribbles her phone number on the paper before handing it to Brittany. "Here, you can just text or call me there," she says and Brittany nods.
"Well, I guess, we're done here," Brittany states as she stands up from her seat and the three women follow suit. "Thanks again for meeting us," she smiles genuinely at the two brunettes now standing again in front of her.
"Yeah. Um…" Olivia pauses, not exactly sure what to say next. "I'll see you later" she smiles hesitantly at the blondes and takes a couple of dollars from her purse to pay for their coffee but Brittany immediately refuses and insists that she's got it. The brunettes reluctantly nod their heads in agreement and they all shake each others' hands but before they can turn to leave the café, Brittany speaks up again.
"Hey… Olivia?" she calls out and Olivia turns her back to face Brittany and makes eye contact with her. "I, uh… I just want to let you know that I'm not pressuring you into anything. I'm just really happy to know that you're alive." She swallows the lump that is once again forming in her throat and gives Olivia a melancholic smile, "Whatever you decide to do after this, I'll understand."
Olivia only gives her a slight nod before turning on her heels again and walks with Rachel towards the front door of the café.
Once the brunettes leave the café, Brittany slumps her shoulders and turns to Quinn. Quinn sees her despondent best friend let out the tears she's been holding in so she pulls her in for a hug, "Shhh" she says while running her hand up and down Brittany's back. "We'll get her back." Brittany wraps her arm around Quinn's waist and buries her head on her head as she cries silently. Quinn notices the other customers look at the two of them curiously but she only gives them a weak smile as she continues to rub her best friend's back.
She pulls back from their embrace after a few minutes and holds Brittany on either side of her face "Look at me. We'll get her back. Don't lose hope, okay?" she says, eyeing her best friend worriedly.
Brittany sniffles and nods. "Okay."
