~Present day~

"Brittany, have you seen my keys?" Collin was running through the house in search of his car keys. "Where did you have them last? If you put everything back in the right place, you wouldn't have this problem in the mornings. There would be no rush." He gave her the evil eye, he didn't even have to say anything to make her feel small, all he had to do was look at her firmly to put her in her place.

Brittany walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge and poured herself a glass of apple juice. She opened the kitchen drawer and felt around for the spare key. "This is the last one, lose it and you'll have to take the bus to school." she felt strong this morning, like nothing could touch her. Collin snatched the key right out oh her hand, grabbed her by the neck and pushed her up against the refrigerator. "Say one more word, I dare you. One more word. I will end you."
Brittany was tall, yet Collin had her in a grip where her toes were barely touching the ground. "You disgust me." he says and spits in her face. And that was it. That was how their morning started. It was 7:45, Brittany could already tell that it was going to be a long day.

After some name calling, a slap and a punch to the face, Collin left for work and Brittany was alone, with just her thoughts as company. With no job and no car, she was stuck at the house. The laptop was on the couch, maybe she could send her mother an email, just a quick update, where she would lie. First she would ask her about life, about her father and which country they were off to next. Then she would mention her husband, his work, the house and lastly she would promise her mom, that everything was okay. The lies she tells herself has become her reality. All these years of both physical and emotional abuse, is all she knows. She never sees her friends, hell, she doesn't even know if she has any friends anymore.

Brittany opened the trashcan to empty it. On the top, was the invitation to the reunion. She put it in her back pocket, before going out with the trash.
Collin had told her that she was not allowed attend the reunion, all she had said was 'okay' because what else could she have said, that would not have ended in an argument?
She took a seat on the couch, pulled the blanket over herself, got comfortable and opened the laptop. On the invitation there had been a link to a closed Facebook group. She had been off social media for quite some time now, mainly because she was not allowed on, but also because of Santana bombarding her with messages.

Brittany signed into her account, friend requests, messages, notification, they had all gone unanswered, unnoticed. She typed in the name of the group and asked permission to join, a minute or so later, her request was accepted. 'Mike Chang accepted your request to join McKinley – Class of 2012'
Mike Chang, not a very good singer, however an incredible dancer, and an even more incredible friend.

Message from Mike Chang: Brittany! Hi! I'm glad to see you've found your way to this group, that must mean you received the invitation? It's been awhile since anyone heard from you, you just disappeared. A lot of people are worried, I hope all is well and that you're taking care of yourself. Will we be seeing you at the reunion on Friday? It would put a smile on a lot of peoples' faces, as well as yours. Please get back to me as soon as you can. - Seen Wednesday 8:30am

She didn't know what to write, she had read the message and ultimately needed to reply.
Friday was two days from now. If only she could convince her husband to let her go. She looked at her profile, she still went by her maiden name. Brittany scrolled through her friends list, she was still friends with most of the people from high school.
There was Quinn, posting pictures of her gorgeous girls Riley, Zoey and Taylor. They had gotten so big. She liked a few of her pictures and commented: "They're so precious, I love my munchkins!" Rachel Berry was in New York.
Mike and Tina had traveled the world, at least twice. They had built schools in rural areas of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and set up dance camps for street kids. Puck was apparently in jail, no surprise there, she thought.

Message from Brittany S. Pierce: Hi Mike, thank you for your message. Yes I received the invitation, it made me smile as I was immediately taken back to McKinley High and I hope that I will be able to attend, I don't know for sure yet. I'm doing okay. I see you've kept yourself busy. Please give Tina my love, I'll stay in touch.

She hit send and signed out from Facebook, she didn't want to linger and possibly have more messages pop up. Brittany then went on to open her email, which was full on junk.

"Dear mom, I know it's been awhile since we talked, how are you?
How's dad?
Thank you for the postcard, Nepal looks amazing! Where are you off to next? Collin has been working a lot lately, I think it's good for him, plus he enjoys it.
We have had the house repainted since you were last here, it used to be that light blue color I liked, but Collin absolutely hated it, so now it's green. He likes it much better than the blue and I guess it grows on you, it looks nice.
Me, I'm okay. I'm keeping myself busy. I miss you mom, keep in touch and I promise I will write you more often. Hug dad for me. Love your daughter, Brittany."

She closed the laptop and sighed loudly, pulled the blanket over her head and groaned. She groaned in frustration. How did she end up here, when did her life start to spiral out of control? And the most important question, why was she still with him?

Brittany's phone rang.
It was Quinn.
Too afraid to answer, she screened the call and went to take a shower.
When she walked past the mirror, she saw herself, she saw her worn out face, her bruised body, her dry, dull and lifeless hair. There was no question about it, her life was a complete and utter mess.