Thank you for your response! And for those of you wondering what happened with Heather and why she's in the hospital: All we know is that it all started as a suicide attempt, a fan shot her, and she hit her head. More details will be revealed throughout the story and the actual scene will play out soon enough. Enjoy;)
"Sorry I'm late!" A belated Naya said as she entered the set. "Some fans saw me and asked for some autographs."
"It's ok." Ryan said. "As long as you're here now. You're just in time. We're going to have a meeting now."
"What about?" Naya asked.
"You'll know in a few minutes. Go inside the choir room and I'll be there in a few."
"Okaaayyy…" Naya sang off key and walked towards the choir room. Once she went in, she saw the whole cast there, but just the cast and main producers, not the extras or the people backstage. Everybody was there, but the only person she could see was Heather, who was clearly awaiting her arrival since she was the first person who spotted her and motioned her to sit next to her. And of course, with a huge grin on her face, Naya did.
"Hey." Heather said as soon as Naya sat down.
"Hi." Naya said with her smile growing bigger. "What's this about?"
"Ryan said he wanted to talk to us about a few things before we started filming the next episode. So, here we are."
"Let's just hope we're not in trouble." Naya joked.
"Let's just hope we didn't get caught making trouble happen." Heather joked back, making Naya giggle.
And then Ryan came in. "Ok guys, can I have your attention?" Everyone stopped talking and faced Ryan. "Ok, good, first thing is first: thank you all for coming! I'm going to address a few tips, suggestions, and problems in a few minutes. Nothing major, so no need to worry. Ok, first: Lea, I'm going to need you to stop drink so much coffee here. We're running out of beans way too fast. So can you buy out before coming here?"
"Ugh, fine. I'll try." Lea said in between smiles, making Dianna and a few others giggle.
"Chord, I'm going to need you to start coming here earlier since you always arrive a minute before we start shooting, so get here earlier." Ryan addressed Chord.
"Will do." Chord said.
Ryan kept saying a few other things, but Naya zoned out rather quickly. She was too busy re-thinking Taylor's words in her head and how sadly true they were. She had to tell Heather how she felt. She had to stop pretending she's straight and hiding who she really was. She had to make a few changes if she had any chance of winning. She had-
Then, out of nowhere, she felt Heather's hand in her thigh. Her touch burned her skin slightly. She didn't know how much she missed that touch until she had it against her skin again. Something about it felt so right. Something about it felt so soothing. There was really nothing better. And then Heather leaned in and started whispering something to Naya's ear. She was wrong. Her hot breath against her ear and cheek was the best thing ever. She felt herself pooling in her panties, that is until Heather brought her back to reality.
"Nay?" Heather whispered.
"I'm sorry, what?" Naya whispered back.
"How long is this meeting going to take? I'm bored."
"Maybe 20 more minutes, I don't know."
Heather grunted in frustration, making Naya laugh a little. "Aren't you a big girl? Shouldn't you be patient or something?"
"I am a big girl. Patience and bigness have nothing to do with one another." Heather joked, making Naya laugh a little again and look at her. Heather's eyes were as bright and blue as they always were with her, making Naya get lost in them like she always did. Naya was so in love with her and even if sometimes she wondered why, moments like these made her remember. She was in love with her because she was perfect. The thing about Taylor is that he knew Naya and Heather. He knew their weaknesses and he would use them against them just so moments like this didn't happen. But they were like magnets, Naya and Heather, no matter how long they tried to stay away from one another, it would never work. Because they craved one another in the most sickening, and beautiful way they had ever experienced. Not only did they both crave the other's presence, but they craved their looks. The smell of their hair. Their touch. Their unspoken love. It was a connection that words could never describe; it was a connection no one could ever break. Not even Taylor. Sure, Naya still didn't know what to do, but moments like these made her forget she had to do something, because in moments like these she was reminded how she had a huge part of Heather. And how Heather had a huge part of her.
"Where's Taylor?" Naya whispered, looking up and down slowly from Heather's eyes and her lips.
"Outside." She answered doing the same. "Cast only."
"Good to know." Naya said settling on her eyes and trying hard not to touch her simply because she didn't want the cast to notice. She knew she had to start being more open about her love for Heather, but not that day. She didn't know how Heather was going to react anyways. So things were better off that way.
"Earth to Brittana!" Ryan yelled out, snapping Heather and Naya back to reality.
Naya cleared her throat and started talking. "Yeah?"
"Thank you for paying so much attention." Ryan said sarcastically. "Anyways, Heather, I need you to stop bringing Taylor to work."
Naya's eyes nearly popped out of her head, out of pure happiness and surprise.
"What? Why?" A frustrated Heather said, bringing Naya's high down.
"I've had some complaints about Taylor distracting you, Naya, and Kevin, so he can't come here anymore."
Naya looked down to Lea and Dianna, who quickly looked somewhere else, avoiding Naya's eyes. Naya smiled back to herself, knowing she could have not asked for better friends. And did Ryan say Kevin?
"But he's leaving this weekend!" Heather protested. "I don't have time to hang out with him."
"Not my problem." Ryan ended the discussion. Naya looked at Heather who looked genuinely disappointed, which broke Naya's heart a little more, reminding her how close yet far away she had her. "And Naya?"
"Yeah?" Naya asked Ryan.
"Tomorrow night airs the Sexy episode, which means that lesbian Santana will come out to the real world. If you get lots of hate on twitter, I need you to tell me so we can deal with the Santana storyline. I don't want to make a storyline they may not like especially since it's such a sensitive subject. But if anything happens you tell me, ok?"
"Yeah, I will." Naya answered with a fake smile, something that didn't go unnoticed for Heather. She knew this was a big deal for Naya, especially because she knew how Naya felt for her and how she was afraid to tell. And she knew that the fan's opinions were going to be important for Naya, so she understood Naya's fake smile better than anybody.
"But I doubt anything will happen, so no need to worry." Ryan concluded. "Anyways, guys, good meeting, but it is time for you to go back to work. So, chop-chop!"
The cast got up and all went their separate ways, but Heather and Naya stayed together. Naya was quiet next to Heather, partly because of Heather's reaction once they told her that Taylor couldn't come to the set anymore and partly because of her fear of the fan's reaction towards the next day's episode. She knew she had no need to worry because they had such a huge gay fan base, but she was still scared. Scared of what the reviewers and the fans might say.
"Hey." Heather took her arm to bring her to a stop and for Naya to face her. "Don't worry about it. No one is going to hate on you because Santana loves Brittany. And even if some people do hate on you, the majority won't. So no need to worry."
"What about the critics? There are tons of homophobic critics out there." Naya stated.
"Screw them. What's the worst thing they can say? You did an amazing job on that scene and the world deserves to see it. It was filled with emotions and only haters might hate because of it. And they wouldn't hate on you because you're too beautiful, they'd hate on Ryan for having a lesbian character. And besides, Santana is not a real life character. It's not like YOU'RE the one who's coming out." Heather said, trying to relax Naya's nerves, but ended up doing quite the opposite.
"Who said anything about ME? I'm talking about SANTANA. This has NOTHING to do with me." Naya said quickly.
"But you play Santana, so I thought you were going to get frustrated if they started criticizing Santana for being gay especially after what happened between us."
Naya gave her a cold, shocked stare. "I'm not gay." She said as soon as she realized what Heather said.
"Ok, you're not; I wasn't implying that you are." Heather said trying to calm her down again.
"Yeah, you were." Naya said, already backing up out of any progress she had made in the last few hours.
"Naya, please…" Heather pleaded. "Let's not fight. Just know that you have nothing to worry about, ok?" She said as she took Naya's hands in her own and tried to give her the best smile she could manage, making Naya smile too.
"Ok, I'll try not to worry." She said, squeezing Heather's hands and letting her guards down.
Heather smiled and gave her a hug after making a happy squeal. "That's my girl." She said.
Naya hugged Heather back as tightly as she could, not planning on letting go any time soon, but then Heather's phone beeped, making Heather grunt and separate. And naturally, Naya quickly missed contact.
"It's Taylor." Heather said with an eye roll. "He's wondering where I am."
"Well…" Naya said with a sad smile. "Better go see him before he makes a restriction order for you against me so you never hang out with me again."
Heather smiled a little. "He's just insecure, that's all. You know he likes you in his own way."
"No he doesn't." Naya said laughing a little.
"You're right, he kind of doesn't. But he does worry about you! He's always asking about you and what we do and stuff."
"Trust me, I don't think he worries about ME, he worries about me being a bad influence on you."
"He still does, in a way." Heather said. "Well, I better go, see you in a few." She started walking away, until Naya stopped her.
"Hey, Hemo?" Naya asked.
"Yeah?"
"Why are you with him?" She asked, with a sudden bravery she didn't know she had.
"Taylor?" Heather asked walking back to Naya.
"Yeah, I mean, why are you with him? You are so much better than him. And you deserve better. And he's never around. And he's so possessive and annoying… And he's…" Naya rambled until Heather cut her off.
"Nay, you're point." Heather said smiling at Naya's cute, frustrated ramble.
"My point is that I honestly don't understand why you're with him."
"I don't know." Heather said as she started thinking about the question. "I guess it's because he knows how to treat me. He knows how to make me laugh whenever I need to. I guess it's because I've known him for so long and he has always somehow always been there. And I guess it's because my parents love him so why not?"
Naya looked right through Heather and her words, noticing how her words somehow seemed hallow and doubtful. And that was when Naya knew the truth. "Do you love him?"
"If I love him?" Heather asked surprised at Naya's straightforwardness.
"Yeah, do you love Taylor? And I don't mean in the friend kind of way, I mean in the true love kind. Do you love him?"
Heather stayed quiet, looking straight into Naya's eyes. Truth was that she didn't know how she felt about anything and anyone anymore. She knew how Naya felt about her, but she couldn't handle Naya's denial, her mood swings, and how she sometimes felt like she was just Naya's lesbian phase. And she actually felt Taylor's love for her and how he actually cared, but his presence never gave her butterflies in her stomach like Naya's always did. She didn't know how she actually felt because none of them actually made her feel safe. "I-" And then Taylor in the distance, called for Heather.
"Babe!" He said. "Come over here, someone brought free doughnuts!"
Heather looked back and then gave Naya a 'we'll finish this later look'. "I better go." She said.
"Ok, well, don't get too fat." Naya said trying to make the mood more bearable.
"Wasn't planning on it." Heather said with a smile. "See you later." And then Heather walked away.