She bought plane tickets using the credit card her dad gave her. This is definitely an emergency. She glares at anyone who attempts to approach her in the airport. She wonders if it's wearing off though because one lady actually has the nerve to smile at her.
She tries calling Brittany for the millionth time but she only gets her voice mail:
Hi! This is Brittany. Well. Kind of. I mean, it's my phone. But this is my voice. What, Santana? Oh. Santana says I'm supposed to tell you to leave a message.
BEEP!
"Brittany! Come on! Answer your fricking phone already! Don't you know everyone is really worried about you? It's been over two days, Brittany. Please, please call me back! I need to know you're okay. If you don't call me soon I'm going to go all Lima Heights on everybody and we all know that's not pretty. Please, Britt-Britt."
Soon, her flight is called and Santana boards the plane. She ends up sitting next to some older woman who apparently loves talking.
"I can't wait to get home and see my grand-kids! They're so sweet! Where are you going, dearie?"
If there's one thing Santana Lopez can't stand, it's being called dearie. No one dares to call her that at home because she would kick their ass. She needs to keep up her tough-girl reputation somehow.
"Nowhere."
"Oh... are you sad? You look a little sad, dearie. Are you going to go visit your parents? Divorces these days are so sad. Well... let's see if I have any peppermint in my purse to help cheer this girl up."
An evil, smug grin crosses Santana's face as devises a way to shut this woman up. Usually, she tries to be nice to the elderly but this lady is beyond nosy and Santana is not in the mood for pleasant conversation with a stranger she's never going to talk to again. She starts to cough really loudly.
The woman looks up alarmed. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah... Sorry. I'm just getting over some pneumonia. The doctors say I have a really bad case of it." She coughs again so hard that her face turns slightly red.
The woman's eyes become alarmed and she inches as far away on her seat from Santana as she can. For the rest of the flight, she covers her mouth with her scarf and ignores Santana.
Santana feels slightly guilty for being so mean because the lady reminds her of her Abuela but she can't help it: she's practically ready to punch someone who even gives her the wrong look after the way her parents treated her. She's still angry about it. Why can't they accept her for who she is? Will she ever be free enough to live her life happily or will she have to choose between her happiness and the acceptance and love of her family? Will they ever love her for who she is?
Somehow, she doesn't think they ever will.
She switches flights once in Baltimore and arrives in Ohio in the early evening. Kurt is coming to the airport and picking her up. She called him briefly while she was in Baltimore to let him know she was coming. She didn't tell him about the fight with her parents. She's not sure he would understand... his family was so accepting when he came out.
After she finds her luggage, she attempts to locate Kurt. He told her he would be waiting near the front doors of the airport. She spots him standing alone wearing purple skinny jeans, a tight leather vest and a beret. She wonders if Blaine has been sharing clothes with him again because he looks like a fashion disaster cross between Kurt and Blaine.
"SANTANA!" Kurt almost squeals like a girl, but she doesn't care. He envelopes her in a hug and Santana enjoys the scent of something that can only be Kurt: mint, woodsy, and fresh. A scent as innocent as Kurt himself.
"Hi Kurt. Nice outfit." She smirks.
He only rolls his eyes. "I've missed you too, Santana."
As they walk to the car (with Santana carrying the only item she brought with her: her purse), Kurt asks her, "Why the sudden decision? I thought you weren't going to come look for her."
"I... I knew you were right so I came."
As soon as they're in the car, Kurt glances sideways at her but doesn't start the car. "Okay, spill. What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She tries to glare but her glaring muscles are largely used up for the day and she's getting a headache from doing so all afternoon.
"Santana. You and I both know you're an awful liar. Now, what happened? Are your parents mad you came?"
"They didn't want me to. I.. I told them, Kurt."
"What?" Then his eyes light up with a mixture of pride and sorrow. "They didn't take it well?"
A tear rolls down her cheek despite her best effort to remain strong in front of this boy who knows her just a little too well for her comfort. "They hate me. They'll never accept me."
Kurt wraps his arms around her and lets her cry for awhile. "They don't hate you, Santana. They just have to get used to the idea, that's all."
She pulls back. "You don't get it, Kurt. You didn't see their faces. The disgust was so strong. They looked like they wished I wasn't their daughter anymore! What if they never accept me? Where will I live? What if I can never be myself because they refuse to love me? What if I end up alone, Kurt?"
"Shhh.. It's going to be okay, Santana. Maybe my dad could talk to your parents-"
"That won't work! I knew you wouldn't understand. Your parents are so understanding about you being gay but mine act like I have a disease. I feel like I'm suddenly worthless... an outcast."
Kurt's eyes harden at her words. "Why the hell would you think I wouldn't understand? Don't you know I deal with this every day? Didn't you see how at the airport everyone was giving me bad looks because I'm obviously gay? Don't you know I hate this- I'm not accepted anywhere, Santana. At least you can appear to fit in."
She just shakes her head and Kurt starts to drive. They drive all the way to Lima in silence. Neither knows what to say to each other. How do they comfort one another when the truth is so brutal?
This society hates who they are.
Brittany stares at her ceiling as she listens to music on her i-pod. This room isn't nearly as nice as her room at home but it works. She misses the stars on her ceiling, though, because Santana helped her put them up. Nothing in this place reminds her of Santana. Everything at home did. She can't stop thinking of Santana. Wondering where she is... Brittany's been searching every day all along this street but she's going to have to go home soon... Why did Santana lie to her? She obviously gave her the wrong address...
Brittany isn't anywhere.
She's not at home, obviously. She's not at McKinley. She's not at Santana's old house (but the couple who now live there didn't like it when Santana barged in and pounded into her old room, now occupied by a twelve year old, and searched everywhere). She's not anywhere.
Santana checks their old haunts: the coffee shop, the park, the dance studio, the gym, cheerios practice areas, the locker rooms. She even checks the grocery store, just in case Brittany got hungry or something. But she's gone.
Images flit through Santana's head of Brittany being kidnapped and willingly going along with her captors because they told her they have a unicorn. She's so innocent. What if she's lost and she doesn't know how to find her way home? What if she's been drugged by someone and is stuck in some brothel somewhere?
What if she's dead?
She checks Brittany's room for any evidence of where she went, but nothing comes up. She doesn't know what to do. She ends up falling asleep on Brittany's bed, on Brittany's pillow, smelling her scent and pretending that everything is okay. She sees Brittany's face in her dreams and whispers, "Where are you?", but the apparition only dances away.
Then... her phone rings, waking her up.
"Santana?"
She bolts upright at the sound of Brittany's voice.
"BRITTANY! Where are you?"
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