I'm sorry it's late! I just haven't had a lot of time to write this week with revision and all so I'm sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the other's.
so I have a question for you all... New York or California... all will be revealed later on in the story! :)
enjoy and please review!
Chapter 31
"Brittany!" Santana screamed at the top of her lungs from the side walk as she stood in front of her old apartment with Dylan and Quinn holding her up on either side, her voice was shaky as she sobbed and cried. It turns out being punched in the face does terrible things to your hand eye coordination. "Brittany, please listen to me!" she'd been screaming for the past five minutes and was refusing to let anyone take her home even though she was swaying from side to side. "I'm so sorry for leaving you, it was the biggest mistake of my life and I will do anything to make it up to you. I love you more than anything and I want to be with you. Please just listen to me." she pleaded, her voice sounded weak and helpless but she didn't know what else to do.
"Would you shut up?!" A fat grumpy looking man called out of his window from across the street.
"Fuck off before I come over there and make you eat your balls, old man!" the Latina screamed back at him. He gave her a startled look before he climbed back into his window, slammed it shut and drew the curtains closed.
Santana was still dripping from the beer that Rachel had poured down her front but she didn't even care, she knew she probably looked like a mess but why bother trying to fix it when it wasn't important to her? She could feel the blood running down the side of her face and she reached up to touch it. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw how much there was of it. "Quinn." She gasped and lifted her hand to show the two blonde's.
"I have a key in my bag, Dylan can you carry her while I open the doors?" Quinn asked the man on Santana's left, he just nodded and before the Latina could protest she was being lifted into his arms. Everything was spinning and Santana assumed it was down to being punched in the face but she couldn't be sure. They made their way into the familiar stairwell and Santana couldn't hold back the sob that shuddered through her body from the memories she had. The dam holding back the tears collapsed once again for the third time that day and they didn't show any sign of stopping.
"Shush, everything's going to be okay, I promise." Dylan cooed into the woman's ear but she just shook her head.
"No it's not. I've just made her hurt even more. I shouldn't have come back. We should just go home. Please take me home." Santana wined into Dylan's chest. She felt her eyes getting droopy and before long she couldn't keep them open.
"Santana? S? Stay with me, don't go to sleep." Dylan shook Santana in his arms gently until her eyes flickered open but only slightly. "Stay awake, we'll get you cleaned up and then we'll take you back to the hotel." Santana nodded weakly but then began to mumble incoherently up until they reached the apartment door when she froze, everything went silent.
"I can't go in there… Britt hates me." She kicked her legs out so that they were pushing against the wall and away from the door.
"Santana, we need to get you cleaned up." Quinn said as she unlocked the door but before she could get in she was bombarded by a still furious Rachel and a pissed Kristen, Brittany must have been somewhere in the apartment trying to get away from all the commotion.
"Get out. She's not coming into my home." Rachel snapped. Santana just began to sob even harder into Dylan's chest.
"She's hurt, Rachel. I need to help her." Quinn snapped back just as harshly and it seemed that Rachel was startled by her tone because she stumbled back a couple of inches.
"That's not my problem." Rachel shrugged and tried to close the door on Dylan and Santana. Quinn slammed her hand into the door and stopped its movement's; she looked down at Rachel with anger burning in her eyes.
"It is your problem because you did this to her, now get out of my way before I completely lose it with you Rachel." Rachel's eyes widened in shock it looked like all hell was about to break loose.
"Excuse me? You can't talk to me like that." The diva stuttered out frantically.
"Move." Quinn pushed passed her girlfriend with her hand wrapped around Dylan's arm as she pulled them towards the kitchen. "Sit her on there." The blonde patted the area next to the sink and Dylan set Santana down gently.
"I can clean myself up at home you know… we should just go home, Dylan. Take me home before I start scream-" she didn't get a chance to finish when the man placed his hand over her mouth to shut her up. She scowled up at him in annoyance and did the only thing she could do to get him to remove his hand…
"You can keep licking my hand all you like; it's not going to make me pull away. Just to let you know I was watching porn today and this is my right hand." He smirked down at the Latina, her eye's widened and her face went pail as her tongue shot back into her mouth. "That's what I thought. Now just shut up so we can get you sorted." Santana nodded weakly. She clenched her fists around Dylan's arms and squeezed her eyes shut when Quinn placed a damp cloth against the cut on the side of her left eyebrow.
"Ow! Jesus, Quinn." Santana muffled into Dylan's hand.
"Sorry, sorry. Just keep still." Quinn placed a hand gently onto Santana's face as she mopped up the blood and held the cloth against the cut. The three of them were ignoring the two pairs of eyes of glaring at them from the kitchen doorway.
"You shouldn't have come back, Santana." Kristen spoke for the first time, her voice was harsh and laced with venom and it only caused anger to bubble up in the pit of Santana's stomach. "She was finally getting back to normal and now you've sent her right back to square one." She spat. Santana let her grip tighten on Dylan's arms. She knew that if she were to let go she wouldn't hesitate on throwing herself at the freakishly tall woman. "You left because of your heart and now you come back with the same risks of dropping dead at any second. Why would you do that to Brittany?" Santana's eyes slowly opened causing Rachel and Kristen to take a step back from the door. The Latina's eyes were almost black with fury as she stared daggers at the two women.
"S, calm down." Quinn whispered softly into her ear. Santana closed her eyes again but didn't release her grip on the man blocking her from throwing her whole body at Kristen and possibly Rachel if she were to get in the way.
"You're selfish, Santana." Kristen snapped from across the room, it was clear she was only trying to get a rise out of the Latina so it looked like she was the bad guy in all of this – well maybe she was, maybe she shouldn't have come back but she love Brittany more than anything and she wouldn't never purposely hurt the blonde.
"Tell them, tell them you got a new heart and that's why you're back." Quinn whispered loud enough for only Dylan to hear.
"Santana, you can't let them do this to you, just tell them." The man said just as desperately as Quinn had.
But Santana shook her head. "No, they'll think I'm lying just to get Brittany back and I don't want her to hear it from them. I'll tell her when I'm ready." The two blonde's next to her sighed but nodded their heads anyway. Quinn reached over into a fist aid kit and pulled out some butterfly stitches, Santana's mind flashed back to the night of the thunder storm when she had raced home to find Brittany curled up in her bed sheets.
The Latina's lips curled up into a smile at the memory. She had fixed Brittany's face up with the same kind of stitches and had placed ice packs on her ribs after she had had that fight with her dance teacher. She remembered their upside down kiss, how Brittany had clung to her t-shirt for dear life and then how they'd fallen asleep in each other's arms. She missed that so much, waking up in an empty bed when she'd hoped to find a sleeping blonde next to her.
She felt fresh tears streak down her face and she reached up to wipe them away, her eyes slowly flickered open and immediately met with ocean blue orbs that were bloodshot and blotchy, the woman had clearly been crying just as much as she had. Santana held her breath to stop what was probably a sob or a whimper from escaping her lips as Brittany took a step into the kitchen. The blonde walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, she kept her eyes glued to the floor as she went about her business until she came to a stop less than three feet away from the Latina. "I waited for you, Santana. I waited for 378 days for you to walk back in through that door and tell me how sorry you were and that you'd made a mistake." Brittany's eyes were glued to the cupboard behind Santana's head, her hand was pointing in the direction of the front door. "But you never did and I don't think I can forgive you for leaving me for so long." Brittany blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes and she took a mouthful of water to stop any embarrassing noises from escaping.
Santana had been looking down at her hands guiltily the whole time Brittany had been speaking but as soon as she stopped she met the blonde's gaze and poured as much love into her eyes as she could to show her that Brittany was the only one she wanted. She wanted to reach out and pull the blonde into her arms and never let go. She wanted to kiss her until she understood that why she left was to keep her safe. Santana wanted Brittany to understand.
"You can't look at me like that anymore." Brittany snapped.
Santana flinched at the harshness of her voice. "Like what?"
"Like you still love me." Brittany's voice turned soft but a slight quiver began to form as her emotions took over.
"I do still love you, Britt." Santana protested, she watched as the blonde's insides melted at the term of endearment. The Latina knew that she was the only one who ever called her that and no one would have used that name for Brittany in the past year.
"If you loved me, you would never have left me alone. You lost the right to look at me like that the day you decided to break my heart, Santana." The Latina felt her heart shatter into a million tiny pieces. It wasn't like the heart break she had been feeling over the last twelve months; this was much, much worse. She let out a heart wrenching sob and buried her face into her hands. Brittany turned away so that she didn't have to watch the woman she loved break right in front of her eyes. "Now will you please, get out of my home?" And with that, she stormed out of the kitchen and back to her room where the door slammed loudly behind her. Santana nodded sadly in resignation but before she jumped down off of the counter she pulled a bright pink envelope out of her bag and handed it over to Quinn.
"Give this to her." she whispered. Quinn nodded and quickly pulled Santana into a tight hug.
"Will I be able to see you before you leave?" the blonde asked, she wasn't sure whether or not Santana was going to be staying the full two weeks or just pack up and leave.
"I'm not sure but I'll call you tomorrow. Thank you, Quinn, for everything." The Latina reassured her and returned the hug before lacing her fingers with Dylan's and led him out of the apartment but not before bashing her shoulder harshly against Kristen's side. "Bye, Britt." She whispered softly barley loud enough for Dylan to hear her.
"What the fuck was that?" Rachel slammed her hands into Quinn's shoulder and pushed her up against the fridge door when she knew Santana and Dylan were gone.
"Ow!" Quinn glared down at the diva standing in front of her. "What was that for?"
"You and Santana?" she screeched in that obnoxiously loud voice of hers. "Why in the name of Barbara Streisand are you talking to her? Why are you not mad at her? After everything that's happened, you're best friends again! I don't get it, so please feel free to explain."
Quinn rolled her eyes, pushed passed her girlfriend and walked out into the living room where Kristen was standing with her arms crossed. "You should leave." She pointed at the brunette. "You're lucky I didn't tell her about what happened in LA because I'm pretty sure she was about to kill you in there." Kristen smirked clearly not believing Quinn's threat. "Oh, I'm not joking." The blonde said seriously causing Kristen's smirk to slowly drop and her face to run pale. "Get out." She snapped.
The brunette was about to protest when a soft voice sounded from the hall way. "She's right, you should leave." Brittany whispered her eyes were still bloodshot and blotchy from crying. "And she's not joking about Santana; I would keep away from her if you know what's good for you." Brittany was glad that she finally had a reason to keep Kristen away from her.
"I'll see you at work." Kristen said as she picked up her things and walked out of the apartment.
That was when Quinn's blood ran cold and the hair on the back of her neck stood up on end. She was alone in an apartment with two very emotional women who looked about ready to bite her head off, no wait scratch that, they looked about ready to sever her whole body to pieces. She took two defensive steps backwards until she knocked into the coffee table and came to a halt. "Let… let me explain." She stuttered out frantically as she held up her hands in front of her in case of any attacks which she wouldn't put it passed the two furious of women inching closer and closer towards her.
"She was here yesterday wasn't she?" Brittany said as a light bulb went off in her head. "That's why there were two glasses and why you were acting so weird." Quinn opened and closed her mouth frantically as she tried to form words but nothing seemed to be coming out. "Just answer the question, Quinn!" the shorter blonde just nodded her head and did her best to look slightly guilty.
"I'm sorry! She just turned up at the door and… and… I didn't know what to do. I was surprised and we started talking and-"
"You didn't tell me?" Rachel's voice paused Quinn's explanation and the blonde removed her gaze from an angry Brittany towards her girlfriend who was standing behind the sofa with her eyes drowning in tears. "She came back and you didn't tell me?"
"Rach… I'm sorry she told me not to tell anyone anything." Quinn tried but the diva just shook her head.
"Did you know about what she was going to do tonight?" the brunette asked. Her voice was strained and Quinn could tell she was holding back a sob.
"Yeah, she did." Brittany said from behind the couple. "That's why you were all nervous tonight and that's why you took us to Vibez…" Brittany trailed off as everything began to click in her head.
"Wow, you're fucking Sherlock Holmes tonight." Quinn exclaimed sarcastically as she held her hands in the air.
"Get out." Rachel said firmly.
"What?" Quinn turned around slightly startled.
"Get out before I completely blow your head off, Quinn."
Quinn shook her head incredulously, "This is so stupid! You're acting like I've just cheated on you!" Quinn protested. "She's my best friend and I love her," she turned to look at Brittany. "You made a mistake tonight, Brittany. You know that? You have no idea how much she's been through and how hard it's been for her to come back here-"
"What about what I've been through, Quinn?" Brittany screamed angrily. "She left me!"
Quinn slammed the pink envelope down onto the coffee table and glared at Brittany. "Make things right with her before you lose her." she pushed passed the blonde and stopped in front of Rachel. The diva held up a hand to stop her from leaning into kiss her and just pointed towards the door. "Call me when you both grow up and stop being so pathetic." She snapped and stormed out of the door and into the pouring rain of New York City.
I may have just lost my girlfriend/fiancé and one of my best friends. Nice one, Fabrey, nice one.
"Shush, everything's going to be okay, I've got you, every thing's going to be okay." Dylan held Santana in his arms and rocked her back and forth as she sobbed loudly into his chest. Her hands were clenched tightly around his shirt while her whole body shook and her tears soaked through to his chest. Dylan was doing her best to calm the Latina in his arms but nothing seemed to be working as time passed the louder she cried and the heavier the tears fell.
"I need to go home; I need to get away from here."
The man's grip tightened around Santana's waist and he began to whisper softly into her ear. "No, come on. Just give them a few more days and they'll come around. Don't worry." She shook her head furiously causing tears to drip from her chin and jaw.
"No, they hate me. They're not going to talk to me again." she carried on sobbing and soon enough she began to mumble incoherently until her eyes began to droop and she fell asleep in Dylan's arms. That didn't stop the tears from dripping from her eyes though and the odd high pitched whimper or mutter. The blonde carefully lifted Santana up and laid her down in her bed where he pulled off her heals and wrapped her up in the bed sheets to keep her warm. Just as he was about to turn the lights off and leave to go to his own room there was a soft knock at the door. He flinched and turned back to look at the Latina to make sure she hadn't woken up, she stirred once then twice but her eyes remained closed. Dylan sighed in relief and opened the door to reveal a dishevelled looking blonde with short hair and a couple of inches shorter than himself.
"Quinn?" He arched an eyebrow at the woman in the doorway. "What are you doing here?"
Quinn rubbed at the back of her neck awkwardly as she began to blush. "I was looking for Santana…" she looked up to meet Dylan's eyes but her own were red and bloodshot and her mascara had run in little rivers down her face.
"She's asleep." He said softly. "I can leave her a message…"
Quinn just shook her head. "Rachel and Brittany kicked me out. I was hoping I could stay with S for a little while." The man hesitated for a few seconds but finally nodded and opened the door wide enough for Quinn to get into the room.
"I guess they didn't take it so well…?" He asked cautiously, he didn't want to set another woman of crying.
"No, shit kind of hit the fan." She chuckled coldly to herself. "I guess that's what happens when you keep secrets though."
"I know what you mean…" Dylan agreed sadly. His mind immediately flashed to his parents and how they had kept secrets from each other for almost a year. Look how that turned out. "I'm going to head back to my room; I'll be back in the morning to check on her."
"I'll keep an eye on her until then." She reassured him and climbed up onto the bed behind Santana.
"I wouldn't worry about that, she'll sleep for about an hour or so then wake up." Quinn cocked her head curiously. "She doesn't sleep very well anymore." He explained but he didn't give the blonde a chance to start speaking. "Good night, Quinn. It was nice to finally put a face to your name." he smiled genuinely down at the blonde before he turned off of the lights and left the room. Quinn rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes and groaned as she dropped backwards onto the pillow.
"How do you do it, S? How have you coped this long?" Quinn muttered to herself and pulled of her boots so that she could climb under the covers with her best friend. She turned to face Santana, the cut on her head had now formed a lump about the size of a golf ball and her eyelid had turned a bright red-purple colour. She reached out and traced along her eyebrow until she was met with the red sticky liquid that was starting to seep through the stitches. "Shit." Quinn jumped up quickly and ran off to the bathroom where she picked up a damp cloth and carried it back through to where Santana was sleeping. She sat down on the bed and cradled the Latina's head in her hand while the other cleaned up the blood and threw the stitches in the bin that was sitting next to the bed.
Santana began to stir softly before her eyes flickered open and her gaze met the blonde's. She let her surroundings sink in before she slowly sat up and let Quinn dab away at her cut. "You talk to yourself too much." She muttered with a slight smirk.
The corner of Quinn's mouth lifted into a smile and her head cocked to the side. "What's your proof?"
"Well you were just talking to yourself like five minutes ago…" she said sleepily. "And then the day I came back, just before you answered the door you were arguing with yourself." Santana's smirk grew at Quinn's shocked expression.
"Lies, it's all lies." The blonde exaggerated playfully. "I was talking to you just now."
"I was asleep." Santana deadpanned.
Quinn stuttered over her words for a moment. "Yeah… but… but… shut up, Lopez." She muttered with a wide smile. She held the cloth to Santana's head and they just stared at each other. They'd both really missed been able to act like this with each other.
"I've missed you, Quinn." Santana finally broke the silence. "So much, it didn't feel right not having my best friend by my side, especially when I was going through all that stuff with my mom and the surgery." She looked down at her hands in her lap. "Every time I closed my eyes I expected you, Britt and even Rachel to be standing next to me smiling and telling me everything was going to be okay. But you weren't-" Santana broke off on a sob and she dropped her head to the blonde's shoulder. "I tried… so many times… I tried to call you… one of you… but every time it rang I got nervous and hung up. I just wanted to hear someone's voice."
Quinn circled her arms around Santana's waist and let her own tears fall from her eyes. "You're here now."
"I'm going to make up for the last year, I promise." Santana said surely.
"You can't make up for a whole year in the space of two weeks…"
"I'll do the best I can."
"You could just stay here permanently." Quinn offered with a shrug. She didn't want to seem too clingy but she didn't want to lose her best friend again, not after all of the pain she felt the first time. Santana shook her head against Quinn's shoulder.
"I can't. Britt doesn't want me here. I have nowhere to stay. I have a job back in Cali; I have a home, my father's there." Santana explained sadly. Quinn just nodded sadly and averted her gaze away from Santana. She didn't want to let the Latina see all of the pain that she was sure had flooded into her eyes. Santana frowned and reached out to cup the blonde's cheek so that she could see her properly. "Quinn, I told you I'm not going anywhere yet. I have two weeks left can we just make the best of them?" Quinn sighed and did her best to crack a smile even if it was sad and full of pain, it was a smile nonetheless.
"Okay, what did you have in mind?" the blonde asked.
Victoria's Secret… Santana wasn't ashamed to admit that this was by far her favourite shop in the world. And hell did she miss it. Living in California had its positives – the weather being one of them – but living with men and not having one female friend there kind of added to the negatives. Sure she could ask Dylan for fashion advice but what happened when it came to her underwear? She just couldn't bring herself to ask him about that kind of stuff, even the thought of it made blush creep up her face. This was why she had a best friend like Quinn.
"What about these? Sexy right? You like this sort of stuff... don't you?" The blonde was holding up a black and red thong with a matching lacy bra as she eyed them closely. When she spoke, Santana could hear the caution in her in her voice. The truth was Quinn hadn't seen Santana in such a long time that she wasn't sure whether or not she was still into the same sort of things as she sued to be.
Santana sighed and began to pick at the edge of her jacket sleeve before she shrugged and looked back up at her best friend. "They're nice…" She muttered still not making eye contact with the blonde.
Quinn arched her eyebrow in confusion. "But…?"
Santana finally looked up. "What's the point in wearing something sexy when no one is going to see them?" She pulled the underwear out of Quinn's hands, hung them up and walked over to a pair of underwear that looked like they had been specially made for an old woman. "This is the kind of stuff I should be wearing. Hey, while I'm at it I could join a nunnery and wear a steel cage around my hips." She said sarcastically.
Quill rolled her eyes so hard that Santana was ready to dive and catch them if they fell out of her head. "Don't be so morbid, Santana. If you're going to think like that you're never going to get Brittany back." The Latina just shook her head exasperatedly and walked off towards a t-shirt that had caught her eye. "If you bought something like that it would boost up your confidence again."
Santana turned round to face the blonde. "What makes you think I'm not confident?" Quinn just shrugged and carried on walking causing the Latina to chase after her. "Q, what do you mean I'm not confident?" Santana reached out and grabbed Quinn's shoulder to turn and face her.
"Usually you would have been all over them underwear, Santana. In fact you would have been picking out an even sexier pair but you never." Santana blushed and ducked her head in defeat. "This isn't like you, Santana. You've changed."
Santana frowned and ducked her head as she thought about Quinn's words. She knew she had changed and she knew that some of that change wasn't good but she also knew that out of everything that had happened, she had definitely grown stronger and learned from all of her mistakes, big and small. "A lot of stuff has happened this year." She muttered.
Quinn scoffed, "Understatement, I mean look at everything that's happened with you. You've been to hell and back."
Santana let the corner of her mouth slowly curl up into a smile as she nodded in agreement. "It's gave me something to learn from, all those mistakes, leaving Britt, you, Rach and everyone else. Not giving my mom another chance to talk to me before she died." Quinn nodded in understanding.
"You're not the only one, B's definitely learned from hers." Quinn's eyes widened as she realised she'd slipped up; Santana tilted her head to the side in confusion over the blondes words.
"What mistakes has Britt made…?" the Latina asked cautiously, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. What if it was something serious and Brittany had gotten hurt or maybe she'd hurt someone else? Santana watched as Quinn seemed to have an internal battle with herself. "Q?" she urged the blonde to speak.
"It's not like she told me not to tell anyone, and they haven't exactly been keeping it a secret…" Quinn muttered to herself but it was still loud enough for Santana to hear. The Latina tried to hide the smirk that had formed on her face as she remembered the conversation they had had the night before. Doesn't talk to herself, my ass. "Okay, please don't freak out…" Quinn started with a completely serious face, her hands were held out in front of her like she was defending herself from an attack that the Latina might cause. This made the nerves in Santana stomach intensify. "I don't think that B would want me to tell you this but I suppose you sort of have a right to know."
She paused to let her words sink in to Santana's head. "Quinn, you're scaring me…"
Quinn sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "You know that she was in LA around Christmas right?" Santana nodded but chose not to tell the blonde that she'd been there and had watched Brittany dance. "Okay, so she had some sort of panic attack when they were leaving the stage and ran out of the building." Santana didn't even have to think about what caused her to have a panic attack, she was pretty sure it was all down to her… but Brittany hadn't even seen her, had she? "B said that she went to a bar across the road from their hotel room and drank until she couldn't see straight. Kristen came and picked her up and took her back but something happened…" she trailed off when she saw the colour drain from Santana's face as she began to think ahead to what had happened. "S?" The Latina shook her head and gestured for the blonde to carry on. "Are you sure?" Santana just nodded. "Um… Kristen kissed her and one thing led to another and-"
Santana didn't give the blonde the chance to finish speaking. "They slept together." She spat coldly. Quinn took a step backwards away from Santana. Never in all the time she had known her best friend had she ever seen her this furious. Quinn could physically feel the anger generating off her body.
"S, calm down." Quinn reached out to place her hand on the Latina's shoulder but before she could touch her, Santana snapped her arm out of reach and spun around on her heals as she raced towards the exit and out onto the busy streets of New York. "Santana, wait! You're going to do something stupid." She called after the woman who was now storming in the direction of the dance studio.
"Hey, Brittany? Can you help me with this?" Kristen called from behind the front reception desk of the studio. Her arms were stacked full of bills and other paper work, the pile was so high that it was hiding her head. "Brittany!" she screamed at the top of her lungs when the blonde didn't respond to her the first time around.
"I'm right here!" Brittany snapped angrily. "What do you want?" she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for the brunette to reply.
"Can you get some of these." She wiggled her arms slightly to gesture to the files in her arms. Brittany sighed in annoyance but reached out to take some off of the top. But just as they were slipping off and into her own arms, the glass doors at the entrance swung open and slammed against the walls. Brittany jumped at the noise and stumbled back which caused the files in Kristen's arms to topple and fall the floor, they slid and scattered everywhere. "Brittany!" Kristen screeched but the blonde ignored her. She was too focused on the Latina who was storming towards them in an angry fit of rage.
"You. Fucking. Piece. Of. Shit." Santana snarled, her fists were clenched harshly by her sides but when Brittany looked up to her face her eyes seemed to be glassed over like she had been crying or was about to. Brittany stumbled back, her foot slid on one of the files and her whole body flew into the air but before she could hit the ground Kristen had her arms wrapped around her waist. Brittany scowled up at the woman and was about to push her away when Santana beat her to it. The Latina grabbed Kristen by her shoulder and pulled her away from Brittany.
"What the fuck, Santana? You're crazy." Kristen shouted as she got all up in the tiny girls face but Santana didn't back down. She squared her shoulders, stood up as tall as she could on her tip toes, leaned forward and lowered her voice to show that she wasn't scared by the freakishly tall woman.
"You…" she jabbed her finger hard into Kristen's chest. "You let Brittany get drunk, you let her get so drunk that she didn't know what her own name was and then you took advantage of her." Kristen's hard exterior began to vanish as Santana got louder and angrier. She hadn't believed Brittany and Quinn when they'd told her that Santana wouldn't think twice about killing her, but as she looked down at the Latina as she screamed furiously into her face she began to realise that they were right.
"Santana…" Kristen stuttered out as she held her hands up in defence. She looked over at Brittany for help but the blonde was frozen where she stood, her eyes were wide as she watched the two women interact. Brittany had no idea how Santana had found out about her sleeping with Kristen but her question was answered when Quinn came running in the door with a flushed face.
"S, you need to calm down. This isn't good for you." Quinn was about to pull Santana away when Kristen brought her hands up and pushed the Latina hard in her chest. Santana grunted as she stumbled back and slipped on some of the files. Quinn caught her just in time before she collapsed to the floor but Santana quickly regained balance and lunged for the brunette, her fist smashed into the side of Kristen's face with a bone chilling crunch.
"Santana!" Brittany and Quinn squealed at the same time.
"How could you do that to her?" Santana screamed her whole body was shuddering as the boiling anger coursed through her veins. Kristen was hunched over covering her nose which was now bleeding through her hands. "She was drunk and you took advantage of my girlfriend." She snarled without realising the slip up. "You practically raped her!" Santana's voice finally broke and her tears began to fall freely down her cheeks.
"She didn't stop me." Kristen protested with a grunt.
"She couldn't! She was drunk!" Santana screamed and tried to take another swing for the woman's face but this time a pale hand stopped her. It was clutched firmly around her own, Santana shivered at the contact and the familiar feeling of electricity and sparks whirled around her body. Santana's hands were still shaking but the anger began to die down, she let her eyes follow up the pale arm until she was at Brittany's shoulder and then dragged her teary eyes up to the perfect blue orbs she would never get tired of looking into. "You slept with her." She stated sadly and finally broke eye contact.
The blonde felt her heart breaking in her chest at the sound of Santana's pained voice. "I'm sorry… I… I…" Brittany didn't know what to say as her own voice cracked and her eyes glazed over.
The Latina had nothing to say. She knew it wasn't Brittany's fault but she couldn't help but feel the smallest bit of anger towards the woman she loved. She still felt like she'd been cheated on. Santana held up her hand and took a few steps back from the blonde. She pointed at the brunette whose bottom half of her face was now covered with bright red blood. "If I ever see you so much as look at her I will kill you. Don't think I'm joking 'coz I'm not. You're sick." Santana began to mumble something in Spanish under her breath. "I knew there was something wrong, ever since the first day I met you I've wanted to strangle you." Santana snapped.
"Come on, Santana. Let's get you back…" Quinn wrapped her arms around Santana and slowly began to lead the woman towards the doors when suddenly, Santana's knees gave way and she dropped to the floor.
"San!" Brittany's voice sounded through the silent studio as she rushed to the woman's side. Santana felt her lips slowly curl up into a smile at the sound of her name rolling off of Brittany's tongue but it soon disappeared when she realised that the room was spinning and a familiar wave of nausea formed in the pit of her stomach. She clutched at Quinn's arm that was still wrapped securely around her.
"I don't feel too good." She slurred before her eyes drooped and she passed out.
"Shit." Quinn wrapped both of her arms around Santana and looked up to Brittany with pleading eyes. "Help me." the taller blonde nodded furiously but she couldn't keep her hands steady when she started to panic. Santana began to unconsciously mumble incoherently. The taller blonde's hands shook violently as she helped Quinn left Santana off the ground and carried her past Kristen who was now leaning against the front desk with a handful of tissues pressed to her nose.
"Is she okay?" she asked bitterly.
Brittany just shot her a warning glare and carried on towards the staff break room at the back of the building. When they were finally out of earshot she turned to Quinn. "What happened?" she asked worriedly.
"I don't know, she took her meds this morning so this shouldn't have happened." She paused knowing that Santana wanted to tell Brittany about her heart transplant herself so she chose not to elaborate any further. "Can you reach into her pocket and call Dylan for me? He should know what to do…" Brittany did as she was told and let Quinn lay the Latina down on one of the sofas in the room. "Come on, S. Wake up…" she lifted the brunette's ankles up into the air like Marco had taught them over a year ago and propped them up onto a few pillows. Santana's eyes began to flicker but not quite open and her hands were twitching by her sides.
"He's on his way, is she okay?" Brittany asked from behind Quinn, the sound of her voice caused Santana to snap her eyes open.
"Britt…?" the Latina groaned out in a confused voice. She lifted her hand up to her forehead and rubbed to try and rid the grogginess from her head. "What happened?" she reached out to Brittany but the blonde just stared down at the hand before stumbling backwards like it was on fire or something. She couldn't hold Santana's hand, it would hurt too much. As much as she loved Santana she couldn't risk been hurt again, her liver had just forgiven her for poisoning it for so long…
Quinn let out a sigh of relief and let her shoulders relax as she propped herself up on the side of the sofa. "You passed out…" Santana's eyes widened in panic, "That's never happened before since…" she pointed at Santana's chest but kept her voice low so that the blonde behind them didn't catch on to what they were talking about. The Latina shook her head 'no'. Quinn felt the panic rise within her again but before she could say anything there was a knock at the door and Kristen poked her head in through the gap.
Santana shot the woman daggers from where she was laying but the brunette didn't seemed fazed. Bitch, I won't hesitate on coming over there and punching you again… maybe I could give you a black eye to match that broken nose of yours… "I don't think you should be in here right now." Brittany's voice pulled Santana from her thoughts when she walked over to the door to push the taller woman out. But she stopped when Kristen leaned down to whisper something in her ear that Santana couldn't quite make out. "I'll be right back." The blonde called to Santana and Quinn before she hurried out of the room and into Kristen's empty office. A wave of jealously flushed over Santana.
"What do you want, Kristen?" she snapped and crossed her arms tightly across her chest and began to tap her foot impatiently. When she didn't say anything the blonde let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't have time for this." Brittany was about to turn and head back to where Santana was when Kristen grabbed her shoulder to turn her back to face her but she still wasn't saying anything. "You know what? I'm sick of this. I don't like you, I don't want to be with you and I just want you to stay away from me. Every time I think of you I can't help but cringe because that night was the biggest mistake of my life." She bit harshly.
"Brittany-" Kristen started but she wasn't given a chance to finish.
"No. let me finish. I am in love with Santana and I don't want to be with anyone else but her. I've tried to keep away from you but you just keep worming your way right back in and I can't take it anymore." Brittany had to take a deep breath to keep herself calm and to keep her voice quiet so that Quinn and Santana wouldn't hear what she was saying. "I quit." She finished with a satisfied nod of her head.
A smug smile formed on Kristen's face and Brittany had the urge to smack it off. "If you had just let me explain." She said and mirrored the blonde's position. "I was about to tell you that the studio has been offered the opportunity to open a dance school in LA… after the performance a lot of people seemed interested." She explained but Brittany just arched her eyebrow in confusion. She didn't see why this was so important that she had to drag her away from Santana. "We need someone to go over there and manage the new studio…" Brittany's eyes widened in realisation. "I was going to take the job and leave you in charge here. Do you still want to quit?" she finished with an amused smile.
"Marco said that you just need to drink lots of fluids, rest and take another pill." Dylan said as he hung up the phone and crouched down in front of the Latina. "He said that you're new heart probably isn't used to so much in one go, you need to take it easy."
Santana nodded in understanding and took a sip of water and swallowed one of the pills she had in her bag. "Thank you." She said to the two blondes in front of her.
"You need to tell her, S."
"I know, I just don't think it's the right time yet, Q. She's not ready to hear that." Santana mumbled sadly as she ducked her head away from the eyes of her two best friends. "She's had a lot to come to terms with lately and I don't want to add to everything."
"You'll have to tell her sooner or later." Quinn explained.
"Tell her what?" everyone's head snapped up in surprise to be met by the dark chocolate eyes of one Rachel Berry.
"Rachel, what are you doing here?" Quinn stuttered out.
"Kristen called me and said I had to come down here fast." She walked over to where everyone was sitting. "What happened? And tell her what?" she repeated.
The second question deliberately went unanswered. "I punched Kristen." Santana deadpanned. "And then I collapsed." A flash of what looked to be concern formed of Rachel's face before it turned into one of anger or annoyance.
"You're just causing trouble, Santana." She snapped. Santana couldn't stop her eyes from rolling as she looked down at her hands. "You should just hurry up and go home already." Rachel didn't even bother to hide the pain she was feeling from her voice. She didn't care if Santana and everyone else in this room knew how much she was hurting.
"I'll be out of your way in a week and a bit, don't worry." Santana muttered as she began to roll her wrists in her lap. "Rachel…?" she asked, her voice sounded so soft that it didn't actually sound like Santana.
"What?"
"I really am sorry for hurting you, all of you. I was only trying to keep you all safe…" Quinn and Dylan laced their fingers with the Latina as she spoke. "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble by coming back here." Rachel's shoulders dropped and her eyes softened as she looked into the Latina's honest eyes.
"Whatever, if you hurt her any more than you already have I won't hesitate in kicking your ass." And Santana knew that Rachel was telling the truth. She nodded in understanding before the diva turned to Quinn with loving eyes. "I owe you an apology but can we talk back home?"
Santana felt the blonde tense next to her. "Home?" she asked bitterly.
"Yes, home. You, Brittany and me. Our home." Her voice was pleading and full of love. "Please come home, just so we can talk." The Latina wouldn't have been surprised if the diva got down on her hands and knees and begged Quinn to come home.
"Fine," the blonde sighed and Santana released her hand. "I'll call you tonight. We should meet up sometime later this week." Quinn whispered to the Latina who nodded and let the blonde stand. Rachel extended her hand for Quinn to take, she stared at it for a moment like it was some sort of foreign object but she finally took it. Santana felt bad for doing this to the couple. They were talking about getting married for crying out loud and now they could barely hold hands. She knew she had to make it right somehow, there were a lot of things she had to make right…
Santana leaned her whole body against Dylan who was sitting next to her; she could feel his eyes on her head. "Don't start with the lectures please. I just want to go back and sleep." Santana warned.
"I wasn't going to lecture you…" he paused and Santana knew he had something else to say. "You look like you've been in a battle or something." He chuckled causing Santana to bob up and down against his chest.
"Shut up." She giggled and slapped his thigh playfully. Just as she was about to say something, the door opened and in walked the definition of pure beauty. "Britt…" she said because it was the only word in her head that would form in her mouth without it coming out slurred and muffled.
Brittany just stood staring at the woman on the sofa, she had been hoping that Quinn was still here so that it wouldn't have been so awkward but now it was just Santana and Dylan... Her voice was caught somewhere in her throat and every time her mouth opened nothing came out. You look like a fucking goldfish. Say something!
She looks so perfect.
"You look perfect." She muttered out. Oh my god. What is wrong with you?! The room filled with a heavy silence that was almost deafening and quickly turned awkward. Brittany's eyes were wide as she looked everywhere in the room but at the woman she was madly in love with and her male companion – who she was yet to be acquainted with...
A furious blush burned up Santana's neck and onto her face. She smiled involuntary and ducked her head to hide it as best as she could but it was too late, Brittany had already seen it and was now freaking out inside of her head.
"I didn't mean to say that… I mean I did… but not out loud… just in my head… ugh." She groaned and buried her face into her hands. Santana wanted to jump off of the sofa and kiss the blonde to death because oh my god was she being so adorable. But apparently the universes had it in for her because there was a knock on the door and who Santana assumed was a student came in to inform Brittany that her class was here. "I better go. I hope you're okay." Santana nodded in reassurance, Brittany returned a soft smile before reluctantly following the boy out and left Dylan and her alone again.
"Well… that was awkward." Dylan mumbled sarcastically.
"Ugh… just take me home already." Santana's heart was racing from being in the same room as Brittany she knew it would probably have burst through her rib cage if it had just been the two of them.
At least they were making progress….