Taking a shower in the middle of the day was quite the luxury. For once, Brittany couldn't be bothered with anything that had to be done or should be done around the house, all her motivation was now put in her pride and focused on making herself presentable as a human being.
Because once the phone had stopped ringing, it had turned into knocks on the door.

"Look, I know you're in there. You can't just comment on a picture on social media and disappear again. I'm not leaving until you come out here and talk to me."
Quinn, the stalker, or the private investigator. "I have three eager little ones with me who are absolutely dying to see you. Britt, please."

Brittany sighed and did her best, to look her best. Hair tied in a messy bun, sweatpants and no makeup. It was honestly the best she could do, considering given what she had to work with.
Gently she touched her swollen eye and hissed immediately at the bare contact. It was red, almost a plum like color and it pulsated, it hurt to even blink. Brittany knew that no concealer would be able to hide the fact that she was miserable. "Just a minute." It wasn't that she didn't want to see her friend, she was more than happy that her childhood friend was now standing outside her house, banging on her door, begging to be let in, because it meant that she cared. She loved them all to pieces. It was more about her appearance, her guilt, the real meaning of why she had stayed away for so long, why she had pushed everyone further and further away.

The knocks grew louder and more impatient. "Hold on!"
She looked at her watch, it read 10:54am, Collin would be home and expecting lunch to be ready and served at 11:45 sharp, there wasn't much time.

Brittany tiptoed down the stairs, she got about halfway before her eyes started to water and she sprinted to the door. She knew that on the other side of that door, stood the people who cared the most about her, the people who would be there through thick and thin, the people who had stood by her since the beginning.

Quinn Fabray had had a baby at 16, Quinn Fabray had given up said baby for adoption to a Shelby Corcoran, who just happened to be Rachel Berry's birth mother. It had all been a huge mess, it was hard, but Quinn had bounced back. She was surrounded by friends, even though she didn't always appreciate the tightly knit support system, they all knew that it had meant something, which is why they never gave up on her.

"Brittany, please open the door. I have one who needs to pee, one whose blood sugar is so low she says she will simply perish if she doesn't get something to eat this very second and a third who needs a nap, like yesterday." Brittany unlocked the door, the girls run straight past her, one into the kitchen, one to the bathroom and one disappeared into the guest bedroom and slammed the door behind her. "Nice to see you too." she gestured for Quinn to come inside. "Wow, Britt, you look..." Quinn sat her briefcase down by the door and hugged her friend. "Rough?" Brittany asked. It was the truth. "I was going to say beautiful. It's so good to see your face. I've missed you."

"Brittany, can I have this?" Zoey asked, holding a strawberry kiwi yoplait. "You can, if you get over here and give me a hug first." Zoey smiled and shyly walked over to the blonde. "Hi, auntie B. I missed you." Brittany kissed her on the forehead. "Look how tall you are, oh my goodness. I missed you too kiddo. Two more small beings are missing." She could hear the faucet in the bathroom shut off. "Taylor?" the bathroom door creaked when it opened. "Taylor, come here."

The children had grown so much in the two years Brittany hadn't seen them, their appearance had changed, they looked like little women, small versions of Quinn.
Taylor had been very attached to Brittany when she was younger, now she was 6 going on 7 and brittany was afraid she wouldn't recognize her. Which was silly, she herself had many memories from when she was younger. She remembered learning how to read at the age of 4 and she was riding a bike at 5.
Quinn could see the panic form in her eyes, she took Brittany's hand in hers. "It's okay." they knelt down beside each other as Taylor slowly walked up to them. Brittany was now crying. Taylor touched Brittany's face, she stroked her palm against her cheek. "Does it hurt?" Brittany shook her head as she scooped Taylor up in her arms. "Not anymore." They snuggled up on the couch and Brittany momentarily forgets about the time.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked. "Hm? Yeah. It just feels so good with some human contact. I haven't seen a single caring soul in months." Brittany dried her tears. "It pains me so much, to see you like this. You can't stay here. Just come with me?" Brittany looked at her watch. '
Shit!'
11:30.
"You have to go." Quinn looked at her in disbelief. "Wait, what? No. I'm not leaving you here."
She followed her out into the kitchen. "You don't understand. Collin will be home in 15 minutes. He can't know you were here, Quinn please, you need to leave."

Quinn couldn't believe that her friend had let herself sink so low. "Here, let me help you." she took the knife from Brittany and started to cut up the vegetables on the cutting board, they all formed a beautiful color pattern. Brittany took out the wok and placed it on the burner, she heated it up while she shredded the chicken. "He's going to kill me, you know." she said as she mixed all of the ingredients together. "He won't hurt you if I'm here. If he touches you, if he so much as looks at you funny, I'm going to call the police." at this Brittany nodded.

Quinn went to gather the troops and had her girls set the table and tidy up the house a bit. When Brittany heard a car pull up outside, she froze. "He's here." Quinn wished she could rid her friend of all of the pain she felt on the inside, all of the visible fear in her eyes. She took her hand in both of hers. "You're okay, it's going to be okay. I'm here. I won't let him hurt you. You're safe."