It's Simple: Chapter 5 (finale)
33 years ago...
"Mami! I don't want to go to school!" The child practically screams, grabbing the hem of her mother's maroon sweater and letting her weight fall back onto the heels of her feet.
They've been going at this for almost the whole morning already and if Santana still refuses to relent, she'd be late for her very first day of kindergarten.
"Don't be stubborn!" Anne Lopez reprimands, dragging the whining toddler behind her with ease, through the living room.
When they reach the wooden ground of the front porch, the tip of her black shoes stubs against a loose plank and Santana falls on her hands and feet, sending her to a whole new level of crying.
Anne Lopez rushes to her daughter's side and cradles the toddler in her arms, pressing Santana's forehead onto her shoulder so she knows her mother has come for her.
The older woman begins to hum and Santana stops crying instantly, marvelled by the tune she has heard so many times.
"Why do you always sing that song?" Santana asks, moving her head away from her mother's shoulder to address the woman instead.
Anne Lopez smiles, "because it's Mami's and Papi's song."
Santana's face falls, because she doesn't understand why her mother would sing a song about her father and remind herself of the tragedy. She also remembers her father humming it to her as she falls asleep. And she misses him.
"What's it about?"
"The song?"
Santana nods her head vigorously, forgetting that she was just crying and whining about not wanting to go to school.
Anne Lopez shifts the toddler in her arms because they were beginning to ache - her daughter was growing up fine and dandy - and she settles on the ground with Santana in her lap. With a mother's hand, she brings the stray fringe hindering her daughter's sight to the back of her head and gently wipes her daughter's eyes dry.
"It's about love, honey."
"Love? What's that? It sounds complicating." The tiny girl scrunches her face up in confusion and swipes her mother's bangs to the side as well.
Anne Lopez laughs and shakes her head, "it's not complicating. It's simple."
Santana doesn't understand what her mother means, but she keeps quiet and begins to ponder about it.
Because she wants to.
This thing called love, she wants to understand it.
26 years ago, at the age of 12, Santana meets Brittany for the very first time.
"Hey, turn on your charm, Puckerman's here," Quinn nudges Santana with her elbow.
Santana follows Quinn's line of sight and looks up from the white stain on the collar of cheer leading costume.
She had expected to see the Mohawked quarterback wannabe she's been pining on for years, but her ear picks up on someone humming a familiar tune and she whips her head to the sound instead.
She catches a head of blonde hair, shiny like the sun, swishing away into the bathroom.
"Are you hungover? Puckerman just winked at you and you were staring into the air. If THAT'S the Lopez charm I don't think I can be your friend anymore."
Santana rolls her eyes and slaps Quinn on the arm, because she knows Quinn's just worried.
~•~ (warning: random remark. looks like a man doing a wave. I wanna do a wave like that too)
That very same day, Santana had to stay back in school for detention.
The classroom's empty and Santana sighs, because it's Friday, of course no one's in detention. She settles at the far end of the class room and takes out a random notebook to create the illusion that she's actually doing some work. Teachers like it when you're doing some kind of work.
She's drawing an ugly picture of a shoe when Mr Schuester greets the other student that's in for detention.
Santana smirks because she wasn't the only one.
"Brittany? You're late for detention."
The girl simply hums and begins to walk towards the end of the classroom. Santana hears the footsteps gaining on her and then the girl drags the seat next to hers and sits down.
She doesn't look up to survey the girl because she doesn't know a Brittany and she's really comfortable with her head on her arms.
Until her partner in detention writes something on a piece of paper, takes out an old music box from her bag, tucks it in and swiftly places it on the edge of Santana's table.
That's when she looks up and that's when her heart begins to palpitate because there's blondie. The humming blondie.
Brittany.
Brittany has wonderful blonde hair, a dazzling smile and beautiful eyes.
Brittany looks at Santana and rolls her eyes down to the music box, urging Santana to open it.
This time, Santana bothers to. She picks the music box up, pries open the lid and picks the piece of paper up.
"I'm bored. Let's play truth or dare."
A frown grows on Santana's face and she looks back up to Brittany questioningly.
"Mr Schuester," she mouths and jerks her head to the teacher in front.
Brittany simply nods and smirks.
"Are you game?" the girl mouths back, teasing Santana with her blue eyes.
Who's she? She's Santana Lopez.
"Game."
They spend the next three hours -Three hours, because the teacher had to delay their release for not behaving themselves, twice- passing the music box back and forth.
But who cares? Brittany's the most fun she's had in a long time.
At 16, Santana break's Brittany's heart for the first time...
"I can't believe you just dared me into watching beauty and the best with you, AGAIN," Santana laments, shifting to lay on Brittany's lap.
"What? It's a beautiful show! And you're Pocahontas, so isn't Belle your cousin or something."
Santana opens her eyes to see that Brittany's smirking and watching her favourite Disney show. It's then that she realises that Brittany wasn't just kidding.
Her heart swells in a way a heart shouldn't for a best friend and she asks, softly, "so you think that I'm a Disney princess?"
Brittany spares Santana a brief look before looking back to the television, eyebrows furrowing and it's a tell tale sign that she's feeling guilty. But Santana doesn't notice anything.
"You are one," Brittany replies, shrugging her shoulders like it's a well known fact.
At that moment, the Santana that has always been a master at concealing her feelings for Brittany, she bursts. Her chest feels tight and with Brittany stroking through her hair and telling her that she's a princess, it feels like she isn't able to hide anymore. That if she wants to continue being normal -relatively- around Brittany, she'll need to release some of the tension.
So she reaches for the remote control, points to the relative direction of the television and presses the pause button.
The movie pauses and it catches Brittany's attention. The girl tears her attention away from the television to look down at Santana.
Santana has a look on her face that's new; a look that Brittany doesn't identify and that rarely happens. Brittany knows every expression Santana has and not knowing this makes her feel a little afraid. Maybe Santana noticed that something's wrong, she should tell Santana now, before something bad happens. Before she's too late.
Unfortunately, she realises, she is.
"San, I've got to tell you something.."
Santana shakes her head and holds Brittany's eyes.
"It's my turn in truth or dare."
Brittany snaps her mouth shut and nods her head in silent compliance.
"And I dare you to kiss me."
It shocks Brittany and she has to ask for Santana to repeat her dare to truly believe Santana's dare.
"You, you want me to ki-kiss you? Like on the cheek?"
Santana rolls her eyes, "no. Not on the cheek, I don't have to use my one dare to ask for that."
Brittany's hands begin to get clammy and she feels she should tell Santana what she wanted to say before Santana initiated the dare, but then Santana's giving her a challenging look and throwing out a,
"Are you game?"
And she just can't refuse. Also she's always really really REALLY wanted to kiss Santana, so this was kind of a dream come true.
Brittany begins to lean in, studying every contour and dip on Santana face. She searches and searches for a flaw that'll make her heart stop beating so insanely for the girl, but she comes up short.
Who was she kidding? Princesses are flawless.
She closes her eyes and their lips meet in a shaky touch.
~•~
Santana didn't know how she could begin to describe the way Brittany's lips felt on hers. She'd probably start listing all the good in the world, but she knew all of that wouldn't even add up to a THIRD of what she was feeling.
Brittany's lips were soft and DAMN, her best friend really knows how to kiss.
She feels Brittany begin to pull away, so she hurriedly raises her arm and places her palm on the back of Brittany's neck to keep the girl there.
Brittany smiles and she feels the stretch on her lips, making her smile too.
Santana opens her mouth and slips her tongue into Brittany's partially open mouth, hearing the girl gasp at her audacity while she gasps at how marvellous Brittany's tongue feels.
If Santana was Pocahontas, Brittany was definitely John Smith
~•~
The kiss was slow and full and it lasted for who knows how long before they finally pull apart. Even then, it was because their jaws were getting so sore and they could hardly feel their lips.
"Wow," Santana breathes, thinking about how this was officially the best dare ever.
The air was cozy and blissful and it was nothing like she'd thought kissing a girl would be. She didn't feel like she'd just betrayed her humanity like she thought.
Santana was so filled with Brittany joy, that she didn't even notice when the atmosphere begins to change and Brittany begins to worry her bottom lip in-between her teeth.
"San, I slept with Mike," she blurts.
Santana doesn't say anything, she doesn't even move, she just lays down there, staring at Brittany. The anticipation's practically killing Brittany and she begins to gnaw on her nails.
They hear the clock ticking away and when the clock begins to chime signalling that it's already 12 am in the morning, Santana slides off Brittany's lap, gathers her clothes and bags and starts for the door.
Brittany's crying at this point. Because Santana's not saying anything and she's leaving. She usually kisses Brittany on the cheek, or ruffles her hair or gives her a hug before she leaves, but right now, she's just... Leaving.
It gives Brittany the sense that Santana isn't just leaving her house for the day. But she asks anyways, hopeful.
"San? You're coming back tomorrow right?"
"No."
"I promise I won't make you watch Beauty and the Beast."
"No."
"I'll give you my dare?"
Santana already had the door knob in her hand when Brittany jumps over the back of the sofa and run over to the door.
"No."
"Don't. S'ana! Don't! I promise I won't do it again! I'll give you my dare! I'll give you my dare!" She brawls, so much tears were falling out of her eyes and making her sight blurry. She can hardly see anything, anything except Santana's head that's hung low and unforgiving.
"It's just ALL a game for you isn't it. A never ending game. Our WHOLE relationship is just a damn game to you." Santana finally says and looks at Brittany.
The stony expression breaks Brittany's heart but she doesn't know what to say. She remains quiet, lips quivering, cheek wet with tears.
Santana looks away, eyebrows furrowed and lips pressed into a line.
She's no longer looking at Brittany when she speaks again,
"I'll take your dare and I dare you, to not talk to me, to not touch me, don't even FUCKING LOOK at me."
Brittany shakes her head vigorously from left to right, "no, no. No San."
"You know how a game of truth and dare ends Brittany? It ends when one person can't do the dare the other person dishes."
"Then we won't play anymore! We won't play the game anymore," Brittany pleads.
Santana laughs menacingly and moves her face closer to Brittany's intimidatingly. For the first time since they became best friends, she feels the grappling fear everyone else in school does when they come face to face with the Fiery Head Cheerleader.
"Then we don't have a reason to be friends anymore do we?"
"For how long?" Brittany asks, beginning to release the press her back has on the door.
"For ten years."
Brittany's heart falls but there's no changing Santana's mind when it's made up.
So when Santana turns the doorknob, and steps out the door without even sparing Brittany a look, Brittany doesn't give chase.
~.~
She walks and she walks and she walks, mind riddled with the kiss she's had with Brittany earlier and before she knows it, she's at the park that she and Brittany frequents.
It's there that she drops her stuff and feels her organs begin to behave like it should have when Brittany confessed about sleeping with Mike to her.
It's there that she feels everything break within her and she feels she no longer has a reason to be happy.
It's there that she realises that she just might understand what 'love' means and that she'd lost it.
And it's there that she falls to her knees and cries and cries and cries until the sun finally comes up and she trudges home.
Brittany keeps up the dare and the best friends end school as if they didn't even know each other.
Santana's words stays in Brittany's mind and haunts her everyday, "don't talk, don't touch, don't look. Ten years."
It's ten years later, when Brittany becomes a veterinarian and Santana becomes a lawyer that they finally meet again.
The letter comes to Santana and it's a dark red and white envelope. Santana knows what it was even before she opened it and read its contents. There's only one place that sends out red and white cards: McKinley High.
She's a little reluctant and contemplative at first but gets on the aeroplane to Lima anyways.
It surprised her, the amount of people who actually took the time to attend the gathering ceremony and here she thought it would be empty save the geeks and singles who screwed up their lives.
In no time, after entering the surprisingly big ball room, she was swarmed by ex-classmates.
And boy was it a breath of fresh air.
"SANTANA LOPEZ!" Quinn's the one to shriek the loudest and practically jumped into her arms.
"Woah, woah, pipe the fuck down Alvin (the singing chipmunk)," Santana mocks but returns the hug all the same.
Quinn moves away and holds Santana at arms length, grinning widely.
Santana sighs, because it was so nostalgic and Quinn's smile looked just the same; stunning and genuine.
"I see you haven't aged a day Fabray? Still pretending to abstain from sex?"
Quinn rolls her eyes and smacks Santana at the shoulder, "No. I have lots of sex, just that I do it with my SPOUSE," she emphasises.
"NO WAY HOSEH FABRAY. You're fucking married?! How come I don't remember attending it?"
Quinn sucks her lips in and smiles.
"Oh my gosh, is it because it's Puckerman and he really doesn't have money to pay for a real wedding so you guys just went up and registered?"
"NO!" Quinn scolds and then blushes as she lowers her voice, "SHE didn't want a grand wedding okay?"
Santana opens her mouth so wide Quinn had to grimace.
"Ew, can you close your mouth, you haven't swallowed your... Food. What IS tha-"
"WHO IS IT!" The Latina grabs Quinn's arms and begins to shake.
Quinn could only guffaw, "Rachel! Rachel berry!"
Santana fakes a faint so well that Quinn had to genuinely carry her over to a seat nearby.
~•~
It's 30 minutes into the party and Santana's partially drunk, the reason for her reluctance to attend the party now at the far end of her mind.
She'd learnt that Quinn was a doctor and Rachel Berry was now a semi-famous singer. Puck's pool cleaning business has really bloomed and Sam now plays basketball professionally, OH! And he's engaged to Mercedes and she's 'SO INVITED' to the wedding. Tina and Mike are now Tina, Mike and their son, Martin. Artie now has funky hair and robot legs that Sugar paid for. Kurt's studying to be a pharmacist while Blaine's studying to be a doctor. Finn's got a girl all the way from France and now works as a gym coach.
Well, that's basically it. Everyone has got their happy ending.
Then pair by pair, they leave to the middle of the room where the make shift dance floor is located and in her inebriated daze, she feels herself being pulled up as well.
It turns out to be Puck and he's smirking as he guides her out to the dance floor, wiggling his waist and eyebrows.
They song's slow and the whole room's on their feet at the dance floor, slow dancing and catching up.
"So I heard you used to like me?" Puck says, his voice is soft and mellow, nothing about it makes Santana feel like she's being hit on. It's weird. She doesn't ever recall having a conversation with Puck and not having his eyes down her shirt.
Seems like Puck's grown up too.
Santana relaxes into his embrace and tightens her arms around his neck.
She closes her eyes and rests her chin on his broad shoulder.
"I did. You looked ridiculously hot with that FASHIONABLE Mohawk."
Puck pinched her back and she jumps.
His laughter is a low rumble. It sounded old.
"It was a teenager thing. I wanted to be cool."
"Oh you were cool alright. Especially with that Mohaw-"
"Stop it lesbro," he snarls in her ear.
She laughs.
They quiet the banter and continue to twirl and twirl before the whole room shifts and people are simultaneously changing partners.
It kind of frustrates Santana because she was beginning to get comfortable in the arms of Puck but she feels it's actually kind of ingenious. Now everyone gets a chance to catch up with everybody.
Her next partner's Sam. He isn't someone she'd have much to say to, but his hold is way more comfortable than Puck's and she doesn't really mind, as long as her partner isn't Mike.
"How are you Santana Lopez?"
"Mm-mm," she shakes her head; the side of her face scratching against his, "less talking, more dancing."
Sam laughs and hugs her tighter.
By the time the song stops and the next starts, she's already half asleep and falls mindlessly into the arms of her next partner.
This person's shoulder's more slender and small. This person's a woman. Santana shrugs it off and continues to rest her forehead on her partner's shoulders with a sigh.
Even in her inebriated state, she registers the faint smell of oranges and she remembers the familiar arms wrapped around her.
She stills. The person stills. And they're the only pair not moving in the mass of dancing.
Santana feels she should pull away and run far far away like she did 10 years ago but part of her didn't want to. Most, of her didn't want to.
"Ten years is a long long time, San."
She hears. The voice is deeper, softer, more mature but definitely Brittany's.
It's been so long. It's been 10 years but her heart's still a slave to the presence of this tall, blonde beauty
"Yes," she whispers, voice cracking and eyes beginning to water, "yes it is."
"Shhh," Brittany hushes, running her fingers through Santana's hair like she used to do.
Santana pulls away after awhile, just to take a look at the blonde. And she does, she takes one long, selfish, satisfying look at the blonde. Taking in the woman's blonde hair that was pulled back into a loose ponytail, taking in the woman's cobalt eyes that were still bluer than any sky she's ever seen, taking in the increased amount of freckles splayed across her face and taking in the woman's pink lips that were spread in a cute and perhaps, unsure lopsided smile.
Brittany, the mesmerising, wonderful, beautiful, perfect girl. The girl in her dreams was now Brittany, the mesmerising, wonderful, beautiful, perfect girl.
The woman of her dreams.
She doesn't even realise that there were tears streaming down her cheeks and pooling at her chin until Brittany's hands shift up her back and comes to caress her cheeks; gently wiping beneath her eyes so her make up doesn't smudge.
Brittany nudges Santana's head with her hands and leans their forehead together. The blonde closes her eyes with a sigh, but Santana doesn't. She continues to study every new wrinkle and every new freckle on Brittany's face, feeling more and more guilty at every new stress mark she finds.
She touches the wrinkle in between Brittany's eyes and then gently grazing across the lids of Brittany's eyes.
She couldn't even begin to imagine how much the blue eyes she loved so much had been desecrated by tears that were undoubtedly caused by her short moment of jealousy. She bets Brittany hadn't even known what she had done to deserve 10 years of silence.
Santana feels horrible. She feels THE WORST and she begins to build those wall again. The walls that had taken but a second's worth of Brittany's pleading blue eyes and soft humming to completely break.
However. Just like always. Brittany shocks her.
As if actually feeling those walls being constructed, Brittany tightens her hold on Santana and begins to sing.
To which, Santana's heart melts and she quiets down. The construction of the walls can wait.
'Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose'
Brittany's voice is shaky and it isn't as controlled as Santana's but it moved Santana just the same.
Santana closes her eyes.
'When you kiss me heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose'
Santana wants to tell Brittany that she had moved to New York and was now a lawyer,
'When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom'
She wants to tell Brittany that she doesn't have anyone in her life because she sat by her phone every night, willing herself to dial the number she'd never forget,
'And when you speak
Angels sing from above
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs'
She wants to apologise and ask Brittany to come live with her in New York.
'Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose'
Instead, of saying all of that and baring her heart to the woman, she scrunches her eyes up, furrows her brows and begins to shake her head.
She's a selfish bitch and Brittany doesn't deserve this.
She doesn't deserve Brittany. Not even a shred of her empathy. She isn't worthy enough.
"I should go.." She whispers, pulling away, "I don't de-"
"No. It's not your turn to call the shots Santana," Brittany's voice is firm and her gaze is firmer. Brittany's frustrated.
"I didn't talk to you, touch you nor did I even LOOK at you for ten years and ten years later, it's not your turn to dare anymore. This time. It's MY turn to dare and if someone needs to leave, It's MY turn to leave."
With that, Brittany pulls back voluntarily and with a swirl of blonde hair, walks out of the ballroom with a resounding boom.
It's quiet save a relentless buzzing in her ear and the crazy thumping of her heart. And if she isn't mistaken, she can hear everything she had just lost coming back to mock her.
She feels lifeless and unconsciously falls to her knees.
Every time she isn't without Brittany, she falls to her knees. Helpless.
Quinn's the first to realise and then Mercedes and they rush to carry her to the table.
Everyone's here. Everyone's at the table and everyone's looking at her like she has made a huge mistake. Like she pressed a wrong button and an atomic bomb was now flying straight for Lima.
Somehow, it did feel like she did make a huge mistake.
She covers her face with her hands and she begins to cry.
It's nothing new she hasn't done. She has been crying silently into her hands for the last ten years, she'll just keep doing it.
Except, does she WANT to keep doing it?
"Do you want to keep doing this? Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" Quinn vocalises her thoughts.
"Shut up," she croaks, shaking her head in her hands. Her make up's probably completely smeared and she probably looks like a freaking ghost, but she doesn't really bother.
She just lost Brittany, again.
"I'm not going to shut up! You let her go once, experienced the WORST ten years of your life and you're doing this again?!"
Then Puck speaks up, "it's like people used to speak down on slavery so people will stop subjecting to it but you're that one person who VOLUNTARILY subjects herself to it."
"If you're trying to be hipster, this isn't the way to do it," Artie says and everyone turns to glare at him.
But all this advice was culminating in Santana's head and she feels the sense forming in her head. Senses she should have had TEN fucking years ago.
She raises her face from her palms to look at her friends, all of whom were looking at her with faces contorted with worry and some, even anger.
It's Kurt, that finally gets the ball rolling, "so do you love her Santana? Do you really want to lose the person you love AGAIN?"
No. She doesn't.
"No," she declares, sitting up straight and hands curling into a tight fist.
"No?" Sam leans forward, "no what?"
"I love Brittany," she says, realising she's declared it for the very first time.
"I love Brittany," she echoes again.
"So what are you going to do?" Quinn probes, dipping a napkin into a cup of water and reaching over to wipe the black that was smeared all over her face.
Santana keeps quiet, but she smiles, because she knows EXACTLY what she's about to do. She's about to unleash the greatest dare of all time.
~•~
She's been driving and driving for a long time and it's 4 am when she finally spots a head of blonde hair at a cafe nearby.
Santana parks her car at the car park opposite and reaches to the back to retrieve an old music box she had gone all the way to Brittany's house to find.
Her legs are weak, hands shaking and heart frenzied as she starts towards the cafe. The few other heads of people she sees in the shop simply adding fuel to the fire within her.
But if this is was she has to do to even get one last chance with Brittany, she'd do it.
She'd do ANYTHING.
When she opens the wooden door to the cafe, it jingles and everyone looks towards the door. Everyone BUT Brittany. The woman continues to stare at her bottle of beer, twirling it around with creased brow and a mascara filled face.
It breaks Santana's heart that she'd caused that. Brittany to cry.
The unusually large clock in the cafe clicks every step she takes towards the blonde and when she finally reaches the booth that Brittany's at, it chimes.
12 am.
At 12 am, ten years ago, she'd destroyed their relationship, at 12 am today, it's her job to salvage it.
"Brittany," she says and the woman jerks up straight.
She can see that Brittany's eyes are hopeful but the blonde tries to hide it by looking away.
"What are you doing here Santana?
"It's my turn to dare."
She can almost hear Brittany roll her eyes and she knows she deserves it. She deserves the million eye rolls after that as well.
"It isn't your turn to dare," Brittany deadpans, beginning to twirl the glass bottle again.
"It is. You used up your turn when you left."
Brittany looks up at Santana, her jaws clenched so hard that the bones were protruding at her jaw line.
"That's 'cause YOU were about to leave and I didn't want to be the one to be left behind AGAIN."
A lone tear escapes Brittany's eye and Santana fights back the tears threatening to spill out from hers. She reaches out, hovering over the woman's face at first and when Brittany doesn't move her head away, she closes the gap and wipes the tear away.
No more tears. She'll never let Brittany cry ever again.
Santana gathers up her courage and gets down on one knee.
Brittany's eyes widen and she looks around the cafe before looking back.
Santana wants to look around as well, but she knew she didn't have much courage and she needed to cling to the little courage she had.
She holds up the music box.
"I know I'm a total whack job and I'm selfish. I know I broke your heart for ten consecutive years and then tonight, I broke it again. But right now, I want to make it up to you, by presenting this one last dare to you," she pauses for effect, getting bolder and bolder as Brittany's sniffing begins to lessen.
"I dare you to love me."
Brittany's jaw drops and she heaves a breath of air.
"Are you game?"
There's no movement from Brittany for a bit, then the woman begins to move, eyes twinkling and mouth stretching into a smile. She slides of her seat, puts her hand on the box and gets down on one knee, mirroring Santana's stance.
"Then I'll present you with MY dare," she says.
"I dare you to marry me. Are YOU game?"
There isn't even a shred of doubt in her mind when she says, "Game."
~•~
Remember when Santana didn't understand what 'love' was? Well now she does and it really is simple.
To her love is simply one word, one name and one person.
Brittany.
They got married -it was a grand wedding- and had a daughter that they named Hannah. They thought life would be flawless and they'd grow old together, but then 5 years into their blissful life, Santana begins to get chronic headaches.
They doctors weren't too sure at first, but Santana begun to become very forgetful and then suddenly forgets about her day completely. It was then that they quickly confirmed that it was brain cancer.
The family of three cried for a long long time and every day when Santana comes back home early from work, she would catch Brittany crying on their bed, screaming, "Why?"
It's then, that she goes to make a ring for them. She makes a new set of rings with a promise she has for Brittany.
On their 7th year anniversary after a round of mind blowing sex -Brittany's as flexible as a rubber band- Santana pulls their yellow blanket over their heads and grab the rings from their nightstand.
She takes a long look at Brittany face like she always does and tries her best to ingrain it into her mind, just to make this promise more real than it already is.
"Give me your hand Britt," she orders.
"Why?" Then her eyes widen and the blue hues are just so majestical under the yellow, "you want to go again? You animal!"
Santana blushes and giggles because she DOES, but she wants to give Brittany her promise first. So her wife would stop crying. She promised that she wouldn't ever let Brittany cry again.
"No. Okay fine, Later. First, I wanna give you this," she says and brings out the one ring that isn't worn.
Brittany's smile widens as Santana slides it onto her fourth finger.
"What's this?" She asks, squinting to read the inscription, but Santana covers her hand and brings it to her lips instead. The Latina has the promise memorised by heart.
"It's my promise. To you."
Santana watches as Brittany eyes begin to water.
It's a promise, and Brittany knows it's more than just physical.
They both cried that night and this time, it was Santana who held Brittany to her chest as she sang.
'Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose'
Present day.
Santana remembers it all, she remembers that Brittany's her wife and she remembers that Dolphin was a nickname given to her daughter by her friends when she was younger and couldn't pronounce her name correctly, so she introduced her self as 'Daughter Of Lopez Pierce' instead.
She remembers that the cafe that they were at earlier was the cafe she had proposed to Brittany at.
She remembers that the house was personally designed by her, furnitures hand picked by her.
She remembers where the promise ring is and that's around her neck.
And she remembers the promise she made for Brittany.
She remembers everything but she slides in between her daughter and the wall and ran right out of her house, only stalling for a moment when Brittany runs out to the front porch and shouts, obviously crying, "I'D CROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND THE RIVERS!"
Santana knows it's her queue to shout back, but she doesn't. She remembers the promise. She remembers it by heart and that's why she couldn't say it back.
Santana starts into a run again until she reaches the park and trips over a twig.
She doesn't even pick herself up, she doesn't have the energy to do so.
They say talking takes up a lot of energy and the last of her energy was used to do just that.
"I'd cross the mountains and the rivers, my love, just to come back to you."
It's the same brown building, it's the same boring 'ding' and it's the same clocking of her shoes on the ground but nothing's the same.
"Hey Santana!" Kurt shouts enthusiastically and she wonders how long he's been feigning it.
"Hey Tinkerbel. Don't worry, Doctor McGel isn't here. I checked. Anyways, you've been crushing on him for forever, why don't you get married already."
Kurt's shocked and he looks at her while incredulous eyes, " we ARE marr- YOU REMEMBER?!"
Kurt looks like he wants to hold her hands while jumping for joy in a circle, but she doesn't want to, so she flashes him a sad smile and stalks away to the seat at the back.
This time she makes sure not to fall asleep and watches the clock vigilantly, hoping the doctor will be ready for her before Brittany comes in for her daily routine.
It's 3 pm and it's dangerously close to the time when the blonde would bound in with her large cat.
Kurt's been giving her suspicious looks that she duly avoids.
Then, the doctor sticks his head out and calls her name and she jumps up from her seat, practically sprinting into the man's office.
The moment she sits down she asks, "what can you do to help me to remember? If not could you move me to another hospital? Somewhere far far away?"
Doctor... Harris, she reads, looks at her with sad eyes and asks, "why? I could do that, but I would need a valid reason."
So Santana tells him her reasons.
Because she wants her wife to stop working extra hours just to keep the family afloat.
Because she wants her daughter to go to college.
Because she wants her wife to own a dance studio like she has always wanted to.
Because she wants a better life for her family and having brain cancer's stealing half of their savings away.
Dr. Harris nods but asks again, "why?"
She reads in between the lines and she understands that he's asking why she would risk ruining her life.
Santana laughs bitterly, because she remembers Brittany using her words on her and touches the ring made into a necklace around her neck.
"It's simple," she looks up to Doctor Harris and holds his gaze, "it's love."
There! Like it promised, I finished it with 5 chapters. Like the fingers on your hand.
Now, i know some people might not like this ending, so i wrote another one, just scroll down.
But if you like it, then don't scroll down (:
The door to the room bursts open and both Santana and Doctor Harris jumps in shock.
Santana whips around to see Brittany, eyes red, cheeks flushed and lips quivering.
"I heard all of that," she whispers, "I heard all of that and I think it's bullshit."
"No it's not bullshi-"
"Yes! Yes it is! You can't use that reasoning like that!"
Doctor Harris knows he should stop the argument but he simply leans back onto his chair and remains silent.
Santana on the other hand, was determined to get out of this argument and away from here.
"Why not? How do you use it then? It's my words."
Brittany gains on Santana, stopping only when she's nose to nose with her wife. The blonde lifts her hand and lays it over Santana's chest, feeling the beating of the woman's heart.
It's fast. Really really fast and that's how she knows she still has her wife's heart.
"What's your definition of love? If it's so simple, tell me how you would define your love?" Brittany challenges, blue eyes darting from one brown one to the other.
Santana knows what the definition of her love is, she remembers discovering it's definition years ago at the gathering and she knows it hasn't changed; it would never change.
The very definition of her love, was standing right in front of her.
"You."
She hears Brittany gulp and feels the cool hand atop her heart shift to where her necklace is.
"Then don't betray love. Don't betray your catch phrase. Don't betray me."
Santana's rendered speechless just by the look of Brittany's inimitable blue hues.
"Game?" Brittany's voice trembles as she asks, tears falling out of her eyes.
Santana follows her heart this time and puts her hand over Brittany's.
"Game."
Hope i didn't bore you!
Have a nice day (:
Bye!