The TroubleTones are getting changed in the locker room when Brittany asks her the question for the fourth time. "Are you sure about this?"
Santana stops mid stretch to frown at her. "It's just dodge ball, Britt. And hey, Finnessa was the one who suggested it."
Brittany doesn't look convinced. "I know, I just..."
"What?"
Brittany sinks down onto the bench, holding her head in her hands. "It's gonna be a massacre."
Santana knows it is, that's what she's counting on. However Brittany has never shared her taste for violence. "Hey, look, they've got more people on their team than we do. Maybe there's some truth in that whole strength in numbers crap and it won't be a total bloodbath." She had hoped that would be some comfort to Brittany but instead she only seems to upset her more. In fact, she's fairly sure Brittany has even paled slightly. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned the word blood.
She glances over to where the rest of the team are at the far side of the room, crowded around Sugar's phone for some reason she doesn't even want to know. She keeps her voice low as she asks, "Do you not wanna do this? Because it's cool if you don't." She shrugs, tries to keep her face neutral, to not show how much this matters to her. They need Brittany out there, she needs Brittany out there. For one thing, it pretty much guarantees they're going to win. Her girl has mad skills at this game, well at pretty much any sport actually. And then there's the fact that she likes having Brittany at her side as much as she possibly can.
"I don't." Brittany must notice her face fall as she quickly grabs her hand and tugs her towards her until she's standing in front of her. "I don't, but for some reason this is important to my girlfriend, so I'm gonna go out there and kick some ass." When Brittany rests her hands on her hips, Santana's eyes dart over to the others, but nobody is paying any attention to them.
"Jesus, Britt, are you trying to win Girlfriend of the Year or something?" She pulls away from her before she can't fight the urge to kiss her any longer. "Because you know you totally won that title already? You don't need to keep being so freakin awesome all the time. I'm gonna get a complex." She sits down on the bench beside her, being careful to keep some distance between them.
"You don't already?"
"Hey." She playfully pushes at Brittany's shoulder. "But thanks. For doing this."
Brittany offers her a shy smile, and just nods. "Are you going to tell me why it matters so much though? Why you're going after Finn so hard?"
She sighs. It'll sound stupid if she tries to put it into words, but this is Brittany and she knows she isn't supposed to keep secrets from her. They're supposed to tell each other stuff like this, right? Isn't that what couples do? "Because everything is so fucking easy for him, you know? He gets everything handed to him, and doesn't have to do a single thing to earn it. He's the quarterback, yet sucks at football so much he couldn't even get a scholarship. He's the star of New Directions, despite the fact that he has the least talent of anyone there. He's supposed to be their leader yet when there's trouble he's nowhere to be seen. He did nothing to help Kurt last year. Yet everybody still treats him like he's a fucking hero, and I'm sick of it."
Brittany reaches for her hand, holding it in both of hers. "So Finn Hudson's a douche. We knew this already. Why is this suddenly a big deal now?"
"It just is." She rubs at her forehead. "The TroubleTones are better than them, and I want everyone to see that."
"Which they will because we're awesome."
She wishes she could believe Brittany, she really does, but that voice in the back of her head still keeps telling her otherwise. "Did you know Rachel slept with him? She told Kurt that he was upset so she slept with him. How fucked up is that? She lost her virginity to him, not because she wanted to, but to make him feel better. That's messed up." Brittany had been tracing circles across the back of her hand, but she stops now, and when Santana looks up at her, she finds her frowning at her, as if trying to work something out. She doesn't like when she's on the receiving end of that look. Brittany is always just supposed to get her, not to ever have to figure out what she's thinking or feeling. "What?"
"Why do you even care? It's none of our business what happens between Rachel and Finn. They're not even our friends."
"I know, I just..." She trails off, not knowing how to explain it when she doesn't even understand it herself. "He should treat her better, that's all."
For a moment she thinks Brittany is going to press the issue, but then instead she nods. "Okay. Well, we've got two chances to beat him, right? The Mash-off and dodge ball. And we're gonna win both, yeah?"
"Yeah, damn straight we are."
"Because?"
"Because we're awesome."
Brittany shakes her head. "Because you're awesome."
She swallows. "How long til game time?"
Brittany shrugs. "Why?"
"Just wondering if we have time to go find somewhere to make out before all the ass kicking." They both turn to look back at the rest of their group to find Sugar still has everyone's full attention. Immediately Brittany is on her feet and pulling her towards the door. "I'm sure they'll wait for us."
Santana's avoiding her. Brittany knows that much, she just doesn't know why this time. She usually knows why, after all Santana always has a reason for everything she does, even if it makes no sense to anybody else.
This time though she only know it has something to do with Finn Hudson. She doesn't know exactly what Finn's done, but she knows he's done something. She knows there was an argument between him and Santana earlier today that has led to Santana not even taking her calls or replying to her texts. She'd thought she'd have heard people gossiping about whatever it is, but the school rumour mill appears to have completely shut down. She'd even tried collaring Jewfro, who'd just looked scared and insisted he didn't know anything. Yeah, something major has definitely happened. Something that seems to have changed everything. She just wishes she knew what it was.
She walks over to the fridge, and opens it, not even sure what it is she's looking for.
She's not aware that Rory is hovering in the doorway until he speaks. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She slams the fridge shut, and doesn't miss the fact that he jumps slightly.
He stays in the doorway, though the way his eyes keep darting back towards the basement steps tell her he really doesn't want to be here talking to her right now. "Is Santana alright?"
She frowns at him. He never asks about Santana, he always makes a point of staying out of her girlfriend's way in fact, and they've certainly never had a conversation about her before. "I don't know. She isn't talking to me. It's like she's shut me out and I don't even know why."
Rory shifts from one foot to the other, shoving his hands into his pockets. He looks guilty but she has no idea about what. She gets the feeling she's about to find out though. "Brittany, I didn't know, I swear to God. If I'd known I'd have never tried to get into your pot of gold like I did. It's no wonder she wanted to kill me. God, I'm such an idiot."
She leans against the kitchen counter, resting her weight on her palms. She can feel her chest tightening, already not liking what she thinks he's trying to say. "What did Finn say to her?" She doesn't really want to know, but she has to ask.
"What did she tell you?"
"Nothing. She's told me nothing. Like I said, she isn't talking to me."
"Look, just so you know she attacked him first. She kept calling him fat and I guess he snapped or something." He slowly enters the room, though he's careful to keep some distance and the kitchen table between them. "And well, he told her she should stop being so soft and just come out."
She stares at him. Maybe she misheard him. Most of the time she's lucky if she understand half of the words that come out of his mouth. She thinks she might have to take some Irish lessons if he's going to be living here much longer.
Rory swallows and takes a step away from her. "And I'm so thick, that I hadn't even realised that you two were together until he said that. Not even when she warned me to stay away from you. Do you reckon I should apologise to her? Or maybe you could explain to her that I didn't know?"
She doesn't answer him. She's not interested in him right now, doesn't care at all about how he's feeling. Instead she grabs her cellphone off the kitchen counter and dials Santana's number. It doesn't even ring just goes straight to voicemail. She tries Santana's home number, but once again there's no answer. She hangs up and throws the phone back down, panic setting in. It's happening again. Someone has mentioned that elephant in the room, and Santana is reacting by pushing her away, shutting her out, and well this time she isn't going to let that happen.
"Brittany, there's something else I think you should know."
"What?"
"He, Finn, he might have told her that you don't love her."
"He what?"
"He kind of told her that you don't love her."
If she'd wanted to murder Finn Hudson before, well now she definitely does. "Why would he do that?"
Rory doesn't look like he has an answer for her, or if he does, he seems too scared to tell her. Instead he shrugs, keeps his eyes fixed on the floor.
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Some part of her knows this isn't his fault, but she needs to yell at somebody right now. "I left her alone, Rory. I thought she needed some space, for me not to push her. Instead he's got her thinking that I don't give a crap about her, and I've let her believe that. You should have told me." She grabs her phone, and heads through into the hallway to get her jacket. Thankfully he doesn't follow her.
She starts out walking to Santana's, but after a couple of blocks, she picks up the pace, needing to get there as fast as she can. She's messed up here, misjudged the situation. Normally she knows when to give Santana space, when to back off and wait for her to open up to her. This time she's made the wrong decision. She just hopes she can put things right.
The house is dark when she gets there, which isn't unusual, Santana's parents aren't normally home until late. Santana's car is sitting in the driveway though which is something of a relief. She doesn't bother knocking, she can't even remember the last time she did that, instead she lets herself inside with her spare key. She closes the door behind her, then takes the stairs two at a time heading for Santana's room. She can hear music playing, music that she's fairly certain is Alanis Morrisette and that is never a good sign.
She stumbles through the door and grinds to a halt.
Santana is sitting on the floor, her back pressed against the bed, knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped tight around herself. She looks up startled at Brittany's entrance. "Britt, what..."
"I love you." It's all the words that Brittany can get out, before she has to double over, hands resting on her knees as she tries to get her breath back.
Santana's looking at her like she's crazy. "Did you like literally run over here to tell me that?"
Brittany nods. "You weren't answering your phone." She walks over to Santana, and sinks to the floor next to her. "And I wasn't sure if you knew that I love you and I wanted to make sure that you did know, because it's true. And I hope you never doubt that, Santana. No matter what other people might try and tell you."
Santana's expression doesn't change, but there's a flicker of doubt in her eyes. "Have you been talking to Finn?"
"No." She decides to play the game here, to let Santana choose to open up to her. "Why?"
"No reason." She shifts closer to Brittany, until she can rest her head on her shoulder.
Brittany slides an arm around her and waits. However she's never been the most patient of people, and when Santana's Ipod flicks from one angry girl rock song to another, she's had enough. "Where you going to tell me? About what happened with Finn?" She keeps her voice low, her tone light. She isn't angry, just hurt that Santana didn't come to her with this, that she's pushing her away again.
Santana tenses slightly. "It was nothing."
"Yeah? Is that why you've been avoiding me since it happened and are sitting in your room listening to depressing music?"
Santana pulls away from her, climbing to her feet. "Oh please, this is hardly depressing. It's not like I'm listening to Dashboard Confessional or something." She starts to pace the room. Brittany wonders if Santana gets as dizzy when she does that as she does watching her.
"You were avoiding me though."
Santana looks like she's about to deny it, but then she sighs. "I had to. I knew if I was around you after that then I'd have just fucking broken to pieces in your arms and I couldn't have that happen. Not at school. Not because of him."
Brittany slumps back against the bed. After everything they've been building together this year, it hurts to know that for Santana it's still all about her image, that she still won't let anyone see her vulnerable, hurting. That she'll still flat out panic over something Finn Hudson says. "You still should have told me. We're supposed to be a couple, and that means we face things like this together, doesn't it?" She's not exactly an expert in relationships, but she's fairly sure that's how it's supposed to work.
Santana looks unsure, and Brittany realises that Santana probably has even less of an idea how to be in a relationship than she does. At least she's dated Artie. Santana only has her own parents as an example, and she really hopes Santana doesn't start copying either of them any time soon.
She pulls herself to her feet and climbs onto the bed, patting the space next to her. "Come here." Once Santana is seated beside her, she turns to face her. "Maybe it's not such a big deal. Nobody at school's talking about it. Maybe nobody heard Finn. Or maybe they just don't care."
"Maybe." Santana doesn't look convinced. "Guess we'll find out tomorrow."
"It'll be okay. I promise. We'll figure this out." Brittany leans in and kisses her, softly and slowly. When she pulls away, Santana gives her a small nod and it's enough for now. "Now can we turn off the shouty rock music? Because I think it'd be really distracting trying to get off to this."
She doesn't need to ask Santana twice, she's on her feet and reaching for the Ipod before she even finishes speaking.
Mercedes sighs as she watches Sugar fall on her ass for what must be the fourteenth time. "Brittany, you're making it too complicated."
The rest of the TroubleTones are all scattered around the rehearsal room in various states of collapse, all long since given up any hope of being able to master the dance moves that Brittany is insisting they incorporate into their Adele Mashup. Only Sugar remains standing, as if for some strange reason she's determined not to disappoint Brittany by screwing this up. Well she had until that last fall. Now she's lying flat out on her back, panting slightly, staring blankly up at the ceiling.
Brittany folds her arms and frowns at her. "This isn't complicated."
"This says otherwise." She gestures around the room, at the state the group is in, and okay, so maybe she's a little annoyed that Brittany on the other hand doesn't appear to even be out of breath. "And I think you broke Sugar."
Brittany pokes at Sugar with her foot, trying to get her to move. The girl however only whimpers, then rolls over into a fetal position.
This really isn't good. They're on stage in just over an hour, and her group is currently comprised of a girl who seems to have gone into a catatonic state, three cheerios who look like they've been put through one of Coach Sylvester's practice regimes, and an agitated Brittany S Pierce. Oh and to top it off, Santana Lopez is AWOL.
"Listen, your choreography is awesome. We really don't need to add anything else this late in the game."
"No, we do. It's not enough. It needs to be better." Brittany pushes at Sugar once more. "You guys need to try harder. We'll keep practicing until you get it."
The Cheerios all seem to be looking at Mercedes, incredulous expressions on their faces. One of them, she still has no idea who's who out of the three, hurries over to her, almost stumbling into her as she does so. "Try calling Santana again."
There's murmurs of agreement from the others, and she sighs, reaching into her pocket for her cellphone. She has a feeling the call won't connect though. This is her fourth attempt, and she knows Brittany has tried at least twice that many times. She stares at the screen as the words Calling Satan flash for a few seconds, then she's taken through to voice mail.
She disconnects and looks up to find she's now surrounded by all three Cheerios, and that makes her nervous. There's a quiet desperation in their eyes and something tells her she's about to have a mutiny on her hands if she doesn't do something.
"You have to stop her."
"She'll kill us all."
"You're supposed to be the leader."
She holds her hands up to stop them. "Enough. I'll talk to her."
She pushes past them and slowly approaches Brittany, who is now pacing around Sugar as if trying to work out how to get her back on her feet.
"Hey, Brittany." She keeps her tone soft, sweet, but Brittany glares at her as if she's an irritation she doesn't want right now, and she swallows and takes a step backwards. She glances over her shoulder to find the others urging her on. "Listen, the rest of the group? Well they're not as talented as we are, so maybe you could, I dunno, go a little easier on them?"
"I can't go easier on them. They need to get this down. So that we can beat them." There's a quiet anger to Brittany, an intensity that she's never seen from her before. She gets the feeling this isn't about the performance, that despite her absence, Santana plays some part in all this. Or maybe because of her absence. Brittany's shoulder slump slightly, only slightly, but it's noticeable. "And we have to beat them. We have to beat them."
She wonders if Santana has somehow infected Brittany with her vendetta against Glee Club. "Come on, it's just a bit of friendly competition."
Brittany's face is her usual blank expression, but her eyes, her eyes show nothing but rage. "There's nothing friendly about it, Mercedes. He made sure of that. He's the one that made this whole thing personal."
Mercedes has heard the rumblings, she knows that something went down between Santana and Finn the other day. The whole school is talking about it. Well except they're not. They're just kind of talking about how no-one's talking about it. It's like there's an embargo on this particular piece of gossip. Even Jacob Ben-Israel won't dare speak it's name. She had thought it was people's fear of Santana that had caused that, but standing here now, she gets the feeling that it's all Brittany's doing. That everyone is terrified of facing her wrath if they are heard even discussing what went down in that corridor. So nobody even wants to know what happened. Except now she's worried she's about to find out.
She's aware of the others quickly backing away, retreating to the far corners of the room and she suddenly feels like she's stumbled upon a grenade that's about to explode and she's about to become collateral damage. Sugar stays where she is, but she does place her hands over her ears.
She's saved though by the door being thrown open, and they all jump as it bounces back off the wall. Santana's standing in the doorway, eyes red, body shaking. There's only one word to describe her. Terrified. She doesn't say anything, instead just locks eyes with Brittany for a few long, awkward seconds, then she turns and leaves.
Mercedes has to scramble to get out of Brittany's way as she charges after her. Once again everyone is looking to her, even Sugar has sat up now.
"That can't be good."
"I didn't even know it was possible for Santana Lopez to get scared."
"That's us screwed if they're not performing."
"Does that mean I get to take over Santana's part?"
Mercedes rubs at her forehead. "Shut it, you guys. We don't know what's going on, and Sugar, no way in hell am I letting you even attempt to sing Adele."
Sugar folds her arms and scowls at her. "You just want the whole song to yourself."
"Actually I don't." She's a little surprised by how much she means that. "The TroubleTones are a team. Unlike a certain other Glee club, we will not ruin this by fighting over solos. We perform as a group, or we don't perform." She'd actually made a deal with Santana. They would split the vocals evenly between the two of them. No solos. In reality, combining their talents always would give them the best chance of winning anyway. Of course she'd also had to agree that Brittany could sing whatever and whenever she wanted as well, but she'd kinda expected that.
"But what about..."
"But Santana..."
"They didn't look like..."
"I can totally sing Adele."
She raises her hand to silence them again. Now she's definitely getting a headache. "Stay here. I'll go see how they are."
They all look at her like she's crazy if she goes out there, which okay, yeah, maybe she is, but she had wanted to be in charge of this group, so it's time for her to step up.
She doesn't have to go far to find them. They've only gone further down the corridor. Santana is pacing back and forth, a stream of Spanish words falling from her mouth.
Brittany seems to be trying to get close enough to pull her into her arms, but Santana won't let her, instead keeps twisting out of her grasp, trying to keep some distance between them.
"Santana, slow down...I can't...I don't..." Finally Brittany manages to get a grip, both hands on Santana's arms to hold her still. "You need to explain. What video tape?"
Mercedes suddenly feels like she's intruding, that she has no right to be here, so she ducks inside an empty classroom. All she can make out now are hushed whispers. She waits until all she hears is silence, then risks poking her head back out into the corridor to find them wrapped together, clinging to each other like their lives depend on it. When that turns into kissing, a desperate, obvious need for each other, then she has to quickly go back inside. She waits another five minutes, surely they'd have had to come up for air by now.
She makes it into the corridor in time to see Santana say something to Brittany, then slip away, disappearing outside through the double doors. Brittany watches her go, then sinks down again the wall. She looks up as Mercedes walks over to her. "She said she needed some fresh air."
She's as terrified as Santana had been, Mercedes can see it in her eyes. "Didn't know you spoke Spanish."
"I don't." Brittany shakes herself, tries to stand up. "I should..." She gestures towards the doors.
Mercedes places a hand on her shoulder to stop her from getting up. "I'll go. You look like you need a minute."
Brittany doesn't argue with her.. She needs space to pull herself together, deal with the shock, they both know that. If she breaks now, then there won't be anything to stop Santana from breaking, and well Mercedes isn't about to let that happen.
She heads outside and finds Santana sitting on the steps, a lit cigarette in her hand. She doesn't even look up when she sits down beside her.
Mercedes doesn't ask for the details, she doesn't need to know. "What do you need?"
"Finn Hudson's head on a plate." The words lack Santana's usual bite, like she doesn't even have the energy for it.
"I think your girl is already on that."
It's a guess, a wild guess that this is what all this is about, and she knows she's right when Santana tenses. Mercedes waits for the backlash, but instead Santana takes a long drag, and then slowly breathes out the smoke. "How long have you known?"
She has to think about it, and finds she can't even give a definitive answer to that question, can't pinpoint an exact moment.
Santana must realise she isn't getting an answer, as she lets out a hollow laugh. "Guess I was kinda shit at hiding it, huh? Even fucking Finn Hudson figured it out."
"Do you want to talk about it?" She knows what the answer will be, but feels obligated to ask anyway.
"No."
They sit in silence, both staring ahead. She's not sure how long they do so, but Santana is on her second cigarette by the time Brittany joins them. She sits down on the step behind Santana, legs either side of her, and she slides her arms around her waist, rests her head on her shoulder. "Hey."
"Hey."
Brittany frowns and stares at the cigarette until Santana sighs and stubs it out, rather more violently than is necessary.
She glances at her watch. If they're going ahead with their performance, then they really need to be getting ready. She looks over to them. "So what we gonna do now?"
It surprises her that Santana's the one that answers. "We're gonna go in there and we are going to fucking own this Adele mashup." She climbs to her feet, and heads back inside without waiting to check they're following her.
Mercedes grabs Brittany's arm as she goes to follow her. "You sure she's up to this?"
The fear is still there in Brittany's eyes as they dart from her to the building. "No."
Mercedes doesn't know what she's supposed to say to that. She can only follow Brittany back towards the auditorium.
Nobody moves after Santana hits Finn. To Brittany it feels like everyone and everything is frozen except for her and Santana. She's off the stage and at her girl's side while everyone else still seems to be processing what happened. Her arms instinctively wrap around her, pulling her flush against her. Santana manages to twist as she does so, burying her head into her chest.
She knows Santana's starting to break, splintering into a thousand glass shards right before her eyes and she can't let that happen here, not in front of them. Santana would never forgive her.
She starts moving them towards the exit, Santana doesn't even react, just lets her lead her away from everyone else. Apparently it isn't going to be that easy though.
"Santana." Mr Schue has followed them up the steps and she's sure if she turns around some of the others probably aren't far behind. "I'm sorry but I can't allow violence against another student. You'll have to come with me to see Principle Figgins."
Santana's only reaction to the sound of his voice is to press herself closer to Brittany. She isn't actually crying, but her entire body has started to shake, and Brittany knows she has to get her out of here now.
"No."
Mr Schue looks a little surprised when she speaks. "Brittany.."
"No. I'm taking her home."
"She hit Finn, and I'm sorry but I can't let that go."
"I don't care. I don't care that she hit Finn. He deserved it." Her arms tighten around Santana, speaking more to her than Mr Schue. "After everything he's done, all you want to do is punish her? Well no, you don't get to do that tonight. I won't let you."
He looks like he's going to argue, but then Ms Corcoron appears. "Will, let them go, okay?"
He sighs but he does move away.
Brittany briefly looks up at her. "Thanks."
Ms Corcoron shakes her head. "Don't thank me, I'm only giving her a reprieve. Santana, you'll still have to meet with Principle Figgins tomorrow morning. No matter your reasons for doing it, you still slapped Finn, and as Mr Schuester said there has to be consequences for that."
She waits for a moment to see if anyone else has anything to say, but they don't, so she just walks Santana out of there.
She's so focused on getting Santana out of the school, that it's only when they make it to the parking lot, are at Santana's car, then she realises that their things are still in the auditorium. Their bags, their jackets, Santana's car keys.
She's going to have to go back for them, and as much as she doesn't want to leave Santana alone right now, she can't very well drag her back inside. She would have risked walking home, risked them catching pneumonia if Santana hadn't already been trembling like she is. She pulls back, her hands on Santana's arms and quickly kisses her forehead. "Wait here. I'll be right back."
Santana instantly grabs her arm to stop her, both of her hands wrapping around it, panic and fear in her eyes. "No, don't."
"I have to, unless Puck ever taught you how to hotwire a car? How else are we going to get home without the keys, babe?" They don't even have their cellphones so she can't even call her dad to come get them. "I promise I'll be right back, okay?"
Santana doesn't release her arm though, if anything her grip just tightens and she shakes her head. "Don't leave me, Britt, please. I need you."
"And you've got me, I'm not going anywhere." She pulls her into her arms again, but that only reminds her of how cold Santana feels. "Except back inside to get our stuff so I can take you home and take care of you, okay?"
This time Santana does let her go, moving back to lean against the car, her arms wrapped around herself.
Brittany turns, planning on literally running the whole way there and back, anything so she's back to Santana as quick as possible. She doesn't even make it one step though as she spots Mercedes and Sugar walking towards them, carrying their rucksacks.
"Thought you might need these." Mercedes hands her the items and she takes them, giving her what she hopes is a grateful look. She tries to give Santana her Cheerios jacket to put on, but her girl doesn't react, she stays where she is, She drops the backpacks, and moves over to Santana, nudging her to get her to move. "Come on, I don't want you freezing to death on me."
Santana pushes off the car, and allows her to put the jacket on her. She doesn't miss the fact that she won't even look at the other two TroubleTones though. Brittany zips the jacket up, then once again presses a soft kiss to her temple.
Santana shoves her hands in her pockets, clearly glad of the warmth, then slinks back away from the group, until once more she's against the car.
Brittany grabs Santana's backpack and starts digging through it looking for the car keys.
Mercedes and Sugar are exchanging worried glances, and she doesn't know why until she notices that her hands are shaking. Actually not just her hands, but her whole body. She finally finds what she's looking for and wraps her fingers around them, trying desperately to stop trembling.
Santana's watching her now too, and Brittany knows that she's torn, wanting to comfort her but not being physically able to, too drained, too shattered to do anything but keep breathing right now. She doesn't want her to feel like that, she wants to be the strong one for once, wants to be the one to be there for Santana, doesn't want her worrying about her on top of everything that's happened.
Mercedes seems to finally make a decision and steps towards her. "Brittany, I don't think you should be driving."
"I could give you two a ride home," Sugar offers. "And Mercedes can drive Santana's car."
Brittany didn't even know that Mercedes could drive. "Santana doesn't let anyone else drive her car."
Sugar frowns at her. "You were going to drive it."
"Well yeah, but I don't count." Her eyes dart from the girls to Santana, wanting some guidance, but she's just gone back to studying the floor.
"Look, the last thing your girl needs right now is you wrapping her car around a tree or something." Mercedes has a point. "We just want to help."
Brittany isn't sure where she appears from but Quinn is suddenly standing with them. "What's going on?" She's been in what they call ScaryQuinn mode for a while now, and the way she's glaring at Mercedes tells her that's still very much true.
It's Sugar that answers her. "We're trying to make sure Brittany doesn't kill her and Santana in a fiery crash."
Well that image doesn't help her to stop shaking, if anything it makes it worse.
Quinn just rolls her eyes and turns to Brittany. "Keys." She holds her hand out and Brittany gives them to her. The conditioning to do as Quinn Fabray tells her is still too ingrained in her to even consider not doing as she's asked.
Quinn unlocks the car, and nods towards the backdoors. "Lopez, get in. I don't have all night." Like her, Santana can't fight it, after all those years spent as Quinn's number two it's too easy to just follow orders, let Quinn take control. "Come on, B. Lets get her home."
"No, my place. We're taking her to my place."
Quinn just nods, and she knows she understands. Brittany scrambles after Santana sliding into the backseat, slamming the door shut behind them.
Santana is sitting as far away from her as she can, pressed against the far door, staring out the window. Brittany stays where she is, suddenly not sure how she's supposed to act now that they have an audience. All she can do is take her cues from Santana, and judging by the distance she's put between them, holding her and kissing her like she's never going to let go is out of the question.
Quinn speaks briefly with Mercedes, and then is climbing into the driver's seat. She doesn't say anything, just starts the engine and pulls out of the parking lot.
They haven't gone three blocks before she notices that Santana is rubbing furiously at her eyes, trying to stop the tears that are starting to fall, biting down on her bottom lip to stop the sobs from escaping. Quinn's watching in the rear view mirror, and when their gazes meet, Quinn's eyes narrow, and Brittany knows what she's asking. What the hell are you doing? Why aren't you doing anything? Help her.
She reaches out, pulling Santana into her lap. She fights her, of course she does, her eyes flitting over to Quinn in panic. Brittany whispers against her ear. "Relax, it's just Quinn. It's just Quinn."
It must be enough for now as Santana stops struggling and sinks into her, burying her face into the crook of her neck as Brittany rubs circles across her back.
They finally make it to Brittany's house and Quinn follows them inside. Her mom meets them at the bottom of the stairs, immediately full of questions. She backs off though when Quinn just shakes her head at her, though she does give Brittany a look that clearly means they will have to talk about this.
She leads Santana to her room, and sits her down on the edge of the bed. She then busies herself trying to find more comfortable clothes for them to change into.
Quinn is hovering in the doorway, as if she has something to say. Eventually she walks over to Santana and kneels before her, resting one hand on her thigh, and cupping her face with the other. When Quinn then goes on to rest their foreheads together, Brittany can't help the surge of jealousy that runs through her body, but she manages to contain it, just continues going through her wardrobe, pretending not to be able to hear their whispers.
"You're going to be fine, S. You know that, right?"
"I know. I have Brittany."
Quinn just nods, presses a quick kiss to the top of Santana's head and then stands. She walks over to Brittany and surprises her by hugging her tightly. "Call me if you need anything."
She hugs her back, tells her thanks, and then Quinn is gone, leaving them alone.
"I'm sorry, Britt."
She doesn't like it when Santana apologises, it never leads anywhere good. She doesn't even really dare ask, but finds she can't stop herself. "For what?"
"For everything." Santana shrugs, rubbing at her eyes once more.
"Honey, you didn't cause any of this."
"Didn't I? God, if I wasn't so stupid and hadn't gone after Finn like that. If I'd just let it go when you asked me to."
Now she's the one kneeling in front of Santana, taking both of her hands in her own. "Don't. Don't you dare defend him. Don't you ever start thinking this is your fault, or that you deserved this, that you were asking for it, because it's not true. This happened because Finn is a douchebag. He's the only one to blame here. I only wish I'd been the one to hit him, then you wouldn't be in trouble."
"I think that's the least of my worries."
They're interrupted by a knock on the door. Brittany doesn't move, just looks back over her shoulder, but she's acutely aware of how Santana has frozen
Her mom is in the doorway, a worried expression on her face. "Girls, do you want to tell me what's going on?"
She looks back to Santana who shakes her head, a silent plea for her not to say anything. "We're fine, Mom. Everything's fine."
For a moment she doesn't think her mom will let it go, but then she just nods. "Okay, but we'll be downstairs when you're ready to talk."
As soon as she's gone, Santana stands and starts pacing her room. "Listen, this campaign doesn't mention you, so if you want we can keep you out of this." Santana nods, and Brittany knows she's mostly talking to herself here, trying to work out a plan. "That way your parents don't need to find out. We can pretend Finn is right. That I'm just a dyke with an unrequited crush on her best friend, that you're not..."
"No!" She didn't mean to shout the word, but it at least gets Santana's attention, and she stops mid step, her eyes wide, questioning. "No. We're not doing that. Don't even suggest that kind of thing. Don't ever suggest that kind of thing. Do you really think I would ever agree to that?"
"No, course not." She hates that Santana looks unsure of her answer, as if she still doesn't quite believe that Brittany isn't going anywhere. "I just..." Santana sighs and she drops back down to the bed. "I wish I could protect you from all this shit."
"Santana, I don't want protecting. I don't need protecting. And it totally sucks that it happened this way, it does, but if it means that I finally get to tell people that you're mine, tell everyone how much I love you, then do you really think I'm gonna miss the chance to do that?" She closes the distance between them and once again pulls Santana into her arms. "I love you, and I've told you, we're in this together."
Santana collapses against her chest, her body shaking now as she can no longer keep from crying. "I wasn't ready. I wanted to be. For you. But I wasn't ready, Britt. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, it's okay."
She doesn't know how long she stays there holding Santana, but she does so until the sobs have stopped. When they have she pulls back so she can see Santana's face. "I think we should tell my mom and dad."
There's panic in Santana's eyes and she starts shaking her head. "No, you can't."
"Honey, they're worried about us, and it isn't fair to keep them wondering what's going on."
"I can't do it. I can't face them right now."
"Then okay." Brittany won't push this, won't try and force Santana to do anything she doesn't want to right now, but she has to do this, for herself, if not for Santana. She picks up the T-shirt and sweatpants she'd dug out and presses them into Santana's hands. "Here. Get changed. I'll go talk to them." She turns to leave the room, but stops in the doorway. "You're not going to be gone when I come back, are you? Promise me you'll still be here."
"Why? Just in case they want to throw me out their house?"
"You know them better than that, Santana." She's a little disappointed that Santana would even think that's a possibility.
"Sorry." Santana drops her gaze to the floor. "I'm not gonna run. Not this time. I promise."
Satisfied, Brittany takes a deep breath then slowly makes her way downstairs. She finds her parents in the kitchen. Her mom is sitting at the table, her dad standing leaning against the counter. Both of them are cradling cups of coffee and they both look worried. Now that she's down here, she finds she has no idea what to even say to them. When her mom looks up at her, she can't seem to do anything except burst into tears.
Her mom's on her feet and quickly ushering her into a chair. Her dad pours her some coffee and slides it onto the table in front of her.
Her mom sits down beside her. "Brittany, what is it? What's happened? Whatever it is, you can tell us. We won't be mad, and you won't be in trouble, but you need to tell us."
"It's the pizza guy."
"What pizza guy?" Her mom looks at her dad, but he only shrugs.
Brittany wipes at her eyes, but she can't seem to stop crying now that she's started. Her mom pulls her into a hug, and she just buries her head into her chest.
Her mom asks her again, "Honey, what pizza guy?"
She knows she needs to explain, that's the whole reason she came down here, but she can't even get the words out.
"Reggie the Sauce Salazar." Brittany spins around at the sound of Santana's voice to find she's standing in the doorway, arms wrapped tightly around herself and looking like she's ready to bolt at any second. "He...there's this..." Her eyes had been fixed on the floor but she looks up now, meeting Brittany's gaze, and Brittany offers her a small nod. She takes a deep breath then continues, "He's made a campaign ad. A campaign ad that tells everyone that I'm...that I'm a..." She sighs, and for a moment Brittany thinks she's going to run, or pass out, but then she looks up. "That I'm gay. I'm gay." The second the words are out her mouth, something seems to break inside Santana and she starts to cry and Brittany wonders if that's actually the first time Santana's even said those words out loud.
She starts to pull out of her mom's arms to go to Santana, but her mom doesn't let her. Instead her dad crosses over to Santana and places an arm around her shoulder, leading her over to join them.
Her mom keeps one arm around her and slides the other around Santana, pulling her in to join their hug. "Oh, girls."
Her dad slams a fist down on the kitchen counter, making them all jump. "Son of a bitch. What's he thinking going after a kid like that?" She doesn't think she's ever heard her dad swear before now.
Her mom warns, "Jeff."
"This is that Sylvester woman's fault, isn't it? I've seen her negative ads against Burt Hummel. And what, this is payback? Well he isn't going to get away with it. There must be something we can do to stop this ad from airing."
"Jeff, not now." Her mom stands and makes Santana take her seat. "Getting angry won't help anyone right now."
Brittany reaches for Santana's hands, taking both of them in her own. "Mom, Dad, there's something else." She waits for some sign from Santana before she continues, and when her girl nods slightly, she looks over at her parents. "I'm in love with Santana. We're together."
Her parents just stare at her, then her mom shakes her head. "Honey, not that I want to be anticlimactic here, but we kinda knew that already."
Her dad places a hand over his face and pinches the bridge of his nose. "For one thing, you two aren't as quiet as you seem to think you are."
Santana looks horrified and tries to pull her hands free from Brittany's grasp, but Brittany keeps hold.
Her mom sighs. "Jeff, that really isn't helping."
"What? They're not. I'm still traumatized by the whole thing, so why shouldn't they share my pain?"
Santana lets out another sob and her mom glares at him. "Because can't you see the poor girl's upset enough without you trying to make jokes about it?"
"She knows I'm only teasing. Right, Santana?"
Brittany scowls at him. "No, Dad, she doesn't."
Santana tries to stand. "I should go."
Brittany tries to sit her back down, and her mom places a hand on her shoulder to stop her, but it's her dad that speaks. "Santana, you're in no state to go anywhere. You're staying here tonight and tomorrow we're going to work out what we're going to do about all this. As a family. Because like it or not, you are part of this family."
Her mom nods. "Brittany, why don't you take your girlfriend upstairs. You two need to get some rest and we'll talk more in the morning."
Brittany pulls Santana to her feet and leads her upstairs. Once they're back inside her room, Brittany closes the door behind them and leans against it. Santana hovers in the centre of the room, and Brittany suddenly has no idea what to do. "San, tell me what you need, just tell me what you need."
"I just need you, Britt, I just need you."
She has Santana in her arms in seconds and carries them over to the bed. Being there for Santana, well that's something that she knows exactly how to do.