A/N: This came out way longer than I anticipated.
Chapter 3: Brittany Susan Pierce
Mike is sitting at home in his boxers playing Arkham Asylum on his XBOX when his phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Mike, hey. It's Mark. I was just wondering if you knew where Brittany was."
"Um, no Mr. Pierce. I haven't seen her since yesterday, what's going on?"
"The fucking cat got hit by a goddamn car. Again." He says, as he lets out a long sigh. "Sorry for cursing, but I just hate the goddamn thing so much."
Mike stifles a giggle and asks, "How's the car?" because Lord Tubbington is a little shit who has a history of running away, eating stuff he's not supposed to, breaking into other people's homes, and falling asleep in the middle of the road. He's been hit by three different cars, all of which have needed to be repaired.
"The car is fine, thank god. But the cat's not looking too hot." Mr. Pierce's tone gets serious all of a sudden. "I was just wondering if you could find her, and maybe tell her for me. I think it would be better coming from you."
"Yeah. No problem." They hang up and Mike immediately gets dressed. Find Brittany. This shouldn't be a problem. Lima isn't that big, and it's Brittany.
The girl he has been neighbors with for 15 years, the girl whom he had his first kiss with, the girl who held him while he cried when he broke his ankle in dance class when he was twelve and didn't make fun of him.
He shoots a quick text to Tina letting her know what's going on, then he checks at McKinley first even though it's 9 o'clock on a Saturday. Then he goes to the pet store, the park, the dance studio they volunteer at on the weekends, the lake behind Blaine's house, Quinn's house only to get the door slammed in his face by her father, and then he remembers hearing something about Stoner Brett throwing a party.
Mike walks back home and asks his dad for the keys to the car. On the drive there he tries to formulate what exactly it is he's going to say to her when he finds her.
He pulls up in front of the house and parks haphazardly on the front lawn. His palms are sweaty as he makes his way into the house. The pungent stench of marijuana and alcohol hits him like a ton of bricks.
His dad is going to kill him for stinking up his car.
He spots a flash of blonde hair and immediately makes his way over to it. Mike puts a hand on the shoulder and is met with bright Hazel Green eyes as opposed to the Crystal Blue ones he's looking for.
"CHANG!"
Quinn is obviously drunk because she's just engulfed Mike in a huge, bone crushing bear hug. He assumes this because in the 8 years they've known each other, they never even shook hands.
"Is Brittany here?" He asks, in hopes that she's lucid enough to remember the last time she saw her.
"Um yeahhh. She's.. She's." Her nose crinkles in thought as she tries her hardest to remember. "Oh! In the kitchen with Santana getting more drinkszz!" She says as she pumps her fist in victory for remembering that thought.
Mike makes his way over to the kitchen bumping into people left and right along the way. He finally spots her next to the island along with Puck and Santana.
"Brittany! I've been looking all over for you, where's your phone?"
"MIKEYYY! I thought you said you weren't coming?" She slurs and drunkenly stumbles over to him, placing a wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek.
"Hey Britt. Listen something's happened and I need to take you home."
"Oh no. Is Lord Tubbington dead?" She asks, as her eyes fill with tears.
"Well, uh. Not really. He was hit by a car. Again."
"That happens alllllllll the time, Mikey. It's not that serious." She says perking up again.
"Look, I don't know how bad it is, but your dad says he's not okay this time." Her face crumbles and she begins to cry.
Mike gives her a hug and lifts her up easily. Her arms are wrapped around his neck as he carries her out of the party.
"Can you take Quinn and Santana home? We were supposed to have a sleepover, but I don't really feel like it now."
"Um, yeah. Sure." He turns around to let them know but they're already trailing behind him.
The four of them pile into his dad's Mercedes and before they even move he makes triple sure they all have their seatbelts on and that they have barf bags at the ready. Y'know, just as a safety precaution.
"So, Where we headed?" Mike asks. He looks in his rearview mirror to see Santana and Quinn staring into each other's eyes with something akin to arousal in them. He doesn't comment on it.
"My house. We're going to my house." Santana says, licking her lips and looking Quinn up and down.
Mike nods his head in silent confirmation as he pushes the button to start the engine.
Brittany is asleep in the front seat when they pull up to Santana's house.
"Santana." Mike says as he looks in the rearview mirror, but he notices that the two of them are.. Otherwise engaged. Great. Now he's going to have to get the back of his dad's car detailed.
It takes them fifteen minutes to realize that they're parked in front of Santana's house. Mike has headphones in (He put them in after he heard one of them say, "If only daddy could see those piano hands now.") And he's watching Breaking Bad on his phone as he rubs his fingers through Brittany's hair.
Santana mumbles a thanks and threatens to go all Lima Heights on him if he tells anybody as Quinn hides her face in the crook of Santana's neck, obviously embarrassed.
Mike leaves Brittany in the car as he jogs up the driveway of Brittany's house, then knocking on the door.
"Mr. Pierce. Please tell me you have some good news."
"Hey, Mike. It's complicated." He peers around the younger man's shoulders. "Where is she?"
"She was crying so hard she fell asleep. That and she's a little drunk."
Mike looks at Brittany's father and they share a sympathetic glance.
"I was gonna take her up to the tree house." Mike says.
"Yeah. I think she'd like that."
Mike carries Brittany up the ladder on the side of the tree, and up to the tree house she begged her father to build for her when she was nine.
"Where's Lord Tubbington?" Brittany murmurs as she opens her eyes to look at Mike.
"In the house, I'll go get him."
"Mike, this is LeRoy Berry, Lord Tubbington's vet." Mark says, leaning over the cat.
"Nice to meet you sir. Wait, Berry?" He asks, confused because the man in front of him looks nothing like Rachel. Lima's a small town, how many Berry's could there possibly be?
"Yes. I am Rachel's father. She's adopted." He replied.
Mike nods in response as he walks over to Lord Tubbington who is breathing raggedly and wheezing every other breath.
"What's wrong with him?" He asks.
"He's got a broken hind leg and fractured the other, a broken rib, bruised a lung, and some internal bleeding. I've managed to fix most of it, but it's up to fate now." LeRoy replies, in a longwinded matter-of-fact tone and Mike sees exactly where Rachel gets it from.
Mike lets out a sigh as he walks into their kitchen, grabbing a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, a six pack of Dr. Pepper, two bags of chips, and a box of Twizzlers. He shoves all the items in a bag as he looks over at Lord Tubbington again. He goes back to grab the m&m's.
Mike dumps the bag full of goodies unceremoniously on the floor of the tree house. Brittany looks up at him and smiles gratefully as she goes to retrieve the plastic utensils she keeps in the shelf of a chest they keep in the corner.
As she does that he gently removes Lord Tubbington from the baby sling he used to carry him up there and places a blanket on the floor and then places him on it carefully.
Brittany crawls over to him and places her head on his chest.
"He looks so broken." She says, sniffling.
"He is. But Mr. Berry says he'll be okay. He's just gonna have a bit of trouble walking and breathing for little while."
Brittany opens the tub of ice cream and hands Mike a spoon. The two of them dig into the junk food Mike brought and she sits there rubbing behind Lord Tubbington's ears. The two of them talk about anything and everything. He just wants her to stop looking so sad.
It's around four o'clock in the morning now and Brittany is half asleep, but still managing to rub circles behind the cat's ears. "Why do you keep getting yourself into these situations?" She mumbles to the cat.
"You're sure he's gonna be okay?" She asks. Her eyes bloodshot, and brimming with tears.
"I promise." He says, even though he knows it might not be true. Hell if the cat dies he'd drive all around Ohio looking for a Lord Tubbington replica. Brittany is the happiest person he knows, and it's sort of killing him inside to see her so upset.