Sorry for the long wait guys. But I think at least the length will make up for it. Thank you guys so much for you reviews/alerts and/or favorites. You really make my day. I mean 50 reviews? Hell when I first started I just hoped someone would read this.
And I'm sorry about eventual mistakes beforehand. But I was too tired to edit this chapter properly.
Disclaimer: Stuff that is Glee related, is sadly not mine.
Surprisingly the first month was over faster than both Brittany and Santana anticipated. Brittany continued her therapy session with Danny while Santana put all her energy into working at the office as well as figuring out how to fight against the upcoming plea from Kyle's lawyers.
Santana knew how important it was to win this case. She wasn't a fully fledged lawyer but she had been in law school before Brittany needed her help and with help from Quinn she was positive she could handle it.
Brittany made progress fast. When they talked she opened up more willingly, more intense and with every session she seemed to be able to manage to talk a bit longer. He knew that her fear of being touched had been getting better at least slightly. Of course he had not much reference given their relationship was not physical.
Danny was just glad that Brittany got better every day. Handling her feelings wasn't as hard as it was in the beginning. But he knew the real test would be if she started to go out again and live her life. For the time being she lived in a little safety bubble created by Danny and Santana. She didn't need to go out for groceries or any other stuff. That was provided by Danny and if she went out it was never alone. Danny was always by her side and they avoided crowded places.
He knew that she still got overwhelmed if the emotions were too strong. In the first week she threw a lamp through the living room and broke down crying after one of their intense sessions. She locked herself in her room and cried for at least an hour. She was getting better but still far more sensitive than other people.
Today was her one month therapy anniversary, well or more or less the anniversary of Danny's and Santana's talk about the time Brittany needed to see her again. And Danny had a special gift for her.
The blonde was currently lazily lying on the couch doing whatever when Danny came into the living room at about seven p.m.
"Britt? Do you have a moment?" Danny asked and immediately a blond head emerged from the couch. She was dressed in gray sweat-pants and a white tank top. Her hair left in a messy bun.
"Yeah sure. What's up?" She smiled at him. " Well I kind of have a surprise for you. You really made process in the past month and I think you deserve a little something. Well to keep your spirits up so to say." He threw her a little wink, which made her giggle and her eyes lit up instantly.
"You got me at surprise. I love surprises. So what is it? You know the surprise!" She sure was excited. Danny had to chuckle at her ingenuous response.
"If I told you what the surprise is, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore would it?" He looked at Brittany who frowned. "All I reveal is that you have to get into some decent clothes that are warm enough for outdoors. I mean it's quite warm this fall but still. We don't want you to catch a cold." Brittany tilted her head confused but obliged and made her way over to her room to change. While she was changing Danny typed a quick text: The duck is waddling.
Brittany stood in front of her closet. Decent clothes. But they should be warm. She decided to wear a pair of blue skinny jeans, a white top under her blue blouse and her favorite black coat. She put on a scarf for good measure and decided since it wasn't raining to wear her vans. That had to do.
When she came out of her room Danny was already dressed and waiting for her. He smiled. " Good choice. So come on we have places to be." Brittany followed him out of the door.
"Where are we going?" Danny smirked. "To my car." This made the blonde only frown again. But still she followed. As soon as he entered the car he shot a quick text Be there in ten. Duck on board.
After about ten minutes Brittany knew exactly where they were. It was a park. And not just any park. Their park. Santana's and her's. They had spend many hours there feeding the ducks or just enjoying each others company. As soon as they got out of the car Danny made a beeline to the park entrance and Brittany followed. It wasn't long after that she saw the familiar path that lead to the pond. Danny smiled at her. "This is as far as I go. I bet you know the rest of the way." And without further ado her made his way back to the car. So Brittany had no choice but to walk down the path and see what was in store for her. It was as beautiful as she remembered. The grass was painted in a strong green, the trees stood tall and strong with leaves painted in different colors gracing their crowns.
She reached the pond quickly and gasped when she got a good look at it. There was a blanked spread next to the pond with candles sitting close all over the placing illuminating the scene in a warm glow. There was a basket filled with what Brittany thought food and drinks and just a few meters away from her stood Santana. She wore black skinny jeans and her red coat. Her hair was down and fell in small waves around her shoulders. To Brittany she never looked prettier. The light from the candles making her glow. She had a guitar and when she looked eyes she began to play and sing.
Oh you crawled out of the sea,
Straight into my arms,
Straight into my arms,
Oh you crawled out of the sea,
Straight into my arms,
Straight into my arms.
Oh you crawled out of the seas,
Straight into my arms,
Straight into my arms.
When she strummed the last note she looked up at Brittany who had tears in her eyes. Santana put the guitar down and made her way over to the blonde.
"Hi." was all she managed to get out of her mouth when she stood in font of her girlfriend. She had so much more to say but she just couldn't get another word out. Instead she just looked at Brittany taking everything about her. Her jeans accenting her strong, lean legs. She wore her favorite coat and had her hair in a bun. She didn't wear any make up but she still looked stunning. Her eyes were still moist and on her lips she had a tender smile.
"Hey yourself. That was beautiful." Their eyes met and Santana wasn't sure if she was allowed to hug her. Brittany seemed to sense this and although she wasn't sure herself she gave in and shyly hugged the woman in front of her. Santana didn't hug her back. She wasn't sure if that wasn't crossing the line but when Brittany squeezed her sides she lightly put her hands on Brittany's back and hugged back. Santana felt the words slowly coming back to her feeling home in Brittany's familiar embrace.
" I'm so proud of you. You came back to me. I always knew you were strong. You crawled out. For you. For me." Brittany pulled away and looked at Santana. The brunette had tears in her eyes as well.
She didn't know what to say so she just smiled at Santana and looked over at the blanket. Santana caught the look.
"Oh yeah I kind of prepared a little picnic for us. I mean just when you're hungry." She looked a little bit nervous.
"Picnic sounds great." This made Santana smile and she made her way over to the blanket offering the blonde a cushion before sitting down.
What Brittany didn't know that Santana wasn't just nervous about the picnic. Earlier this week Danny had called her and made her a deal. She could have a date with Brittany but she had to agree to try to be a bit touchy with her to check out how she felt about that. He told her that she wanted to see how the blonde reacted when she was confronted with touching and thought she would feel best if it was Santana trying to do it.
So far Santana didn't dare to try to touch Brittany like she always would on a date. She was so happy to see her and only did what she was allowed to. Who could blame her? She was almost flipping out when she heard that she wouldn't have to wait another month before she got to see the blonde again. Sure since their talk Danny called her and gave her updates on Brittany's progress but that surely didn't compete against actually seeing her. She was glad that Brittany got better but she knew she would feel lonely and slightly on edge until she had the blonde in her arms and apartment again. Their apartment didn't feel like home without her.
While Santana took out the food an awkward silence filled the air. Normally both girls felt comfortable with each other. This was new but at the same time they knew that they had to work on their relationship when Brittany cam home and both were more than willing to do that.
"Well I brought Mac & Cheese, chocolate covered strawberries and Dr. Pepper." At the mention of Dr. Pepper Brittany's face lit up.
"Your are the best. Dr. Pepper sounds awesome." Santana shuffled a bit and go everything out on the blanket for her and Brittany to eat. Santana tried to shuffle a bit closer while they ate but the blonde shied away. "I hope it tastes good. You know my cooking isn't the best. But I thought even I couldn't ruin Mac & Cheese. At least I'm confident in the desert."
"Relax San. It tastes delicious and you know how Mac & Cheese is my favorite." Santana's eyes twinkled. "Yep I know Britt Britt. Only the best for my girl." With that she slowly let her hand wander to Brittany's and interlaced their fingers. The blonde looked up and Santana swore she could see a hint of discomfort but it soon vanished and Brittany relaxed at the touch and smiled at Santana. They ate the rest of their meals talking about everything and nothing. Just chattering away catching up, enjoying the company. They avoided the topic of therapy for now. They both wanted to enjoy this moment and just be together without being remembered of all the things going on in their lives.
After their meal Santana cleaned up the plates and the girls lay down on the blanket, bodies not touching but hands clasped between them. On a normal date Santana would have snuggled up to the blonde beside her or she would have pulled her to her so that she could lay her head on her shoulder. But tonight she wasn't sure of anything. In the back of her head she heard Danny's voice asking her to just like everything was fine but she just couldn't. She was to content with Brittany lying beside her. Watching her chest rise and fall slowly a smile gracing her soft pink lips.
Brittany lay next to Santana and felt good but there seemed to be missing something. She really wanted to be nearer to the brunette but was afraid of how she would feel about this. Brittany didn't want to hurt the feelings of the girl beside her. She had been so good to her never pushing her and caring for her whenever she needed her. For gods sake she climbed on a sixth floor facade to get her to calm down.
She made up her mind. Slowly put surely she scooted closer to the Latina.
Santana noticed Brittany's scooting immediately but decided to just lay there and not move. Brittany stopped almost after every passed inch as if she waited to see if the brunette would jump her. Santana knew that she had to lay still giving the blonde the confidence and feeling of safety to move closer to her.
After some minutes Brittany was snuggled lightly into Santana's side. She inhaled her familiar scent. Home. She surprised herself when she drunk in Santana's warmth and scent just let her head rest in the crook of her neck. She felt her body tense just for a second before she let herself relax.
"How are you doing Britt?" the blonde tensed a bit. They had avoided that topic the whole time.
"I'm doing fine San. Therapy is going well. I mean look at where we are right know ยด. We are cuddling and I don't feel miserable and sick about it." Santana slowly nodded against Brittany's head. But then in two seconds she ruined the moment. Santana tried to slowly put her arm around Brittany and brushed her thigh. Immediately the blonde shot up and moved away from Santana.
"Britt I'm so sorry. Damn I just... I shouldn't have. I pushed the limit. It was so selfish." she looked really shocked at herself, "I'm really sorry."
"It's okay San. I mean I was the one to come onto you although I wasn't so sure about the whole thing. I'm sorry for hurting your feelings again. But you have to believe me it's not that I don't want to be close to you. I .. I kind of just can't. And now you probably feel like I don't want to and..." her rambling was stopped by Santana calling her out.
"BRITT!" that sure got her attention and she looked at the Latina. "Really calm down. I'm fine if you're fine. I mean I was just so glad to be near you again and all that I didn't consider your feelings. I'm just so proud to see all the progress you have made. And I bet when we see each other again you will be even better. And even if it isn't I'm there to cheer you on and remind you that you can do it. Really Britt you turn me into a total sap but believe me when I tell you that a lifetime
just holding your hand is better than a lifetime without you." The blonde had tears tickling down her face and smiled lovingly at her girlfriend in front of her. " And perhaps I'll even have another surprise for you. So no more tears."
"Another one? Come one San tell me already." Brittany pouted at her through the tears that were still falling.
"It's a surprise and I'm gonna make sure it stays one. So no need to ask. And really Britt you have to stop crying. Smile more. You are so beautiful when you smile."
The blonde blushed and wiped her eyes. " Danny told me the exact same thing today." Santana immediately looked serious. "He told you you look beautiful when you smile? " Brittany's eyes went wide. "No San not that. I mean the thing about surprises. Danny is like a brother." Santana immediately relaxed and smirked at Brittany.
"Well you are way too curious about stuff like that." Brittany mock glared at her, "I'm just excited. And really you are the one who gets all antsy every time someone talks about surprises. You are far more worse than I am." She was still sporting an adorable pout which made Santana break out in laughter. It felt so good to just banter with Brittany like that. It made Santana smile so wide that she didn't think it would be physically possible to get wider.
One look at Brittany made her resolve to get the "Kyle Case" done by next month only stronger. She would do anything to help Brittany stay happy and get back to normal. And winning this case was essential for the blonde. The more time she had to actually get better and digest everything that happened the more calm and settled she would be if it eventually came to a release for that bastard in the far future. And even if in thirty years it was too much she was not kidding when she told her girlfriend that she would kill him. The protectiveness Santana had felt over the blonde since the day they have met has never worn off.
"No one gets as excited as you do B." She glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost midnight.
"It's getting pretty late. Let's pack up then I'll give you a drive home. We don't want to worry Danny." Brittany looked as sad as Santana felt at the prospect of leaving each others side. Nonetheless she nodded and helped Santana clean up the dishes and the blanket. They slowly made their way out of the park. They walked close enough that their hands brushed against each other now and then. They sat in the Latina's car and drove the whole way in silence.
Brittany was sad that their date had to end but it had shown her important things in her life. For one she realized that she had made a lot of progress. She was still broken but she realized that she can be healed and that she is on the right path. And second Santana just reassured her into her feelings. She had been nothing but supportive the whole time. But still Brittany was afraid that in finding herself she would lose Santana. The brunette had shown her that she cared and loved her enough to wait even longer. This has been the best day in months and realized her that she could never give up because she had so much to lose. It felt good to get this motivation because although it was irrational the thoughts of kyle getting out of jail scared her endless. It was still four years away but it was there in the back of her mind. Like a knife ready to stab whenever she wasn't careful enough.
Sure it wouldn't be great in thirty years but it would give her more time to deal, prepare and sleep in peace at night. She was thrown out of her thoughts by the stopping of the car in front of Danny's apartment complex.
The complex was huge. It had twelve floors and a fancy balustrade which must be the one Santana climbed to get to her. The bricks were gray but they might have been blue once. The paint must have faded. To Brittany it looked beautiful. It had character and although the first layer of paint fainted and seemed to be the one more beautiful there was always a layer beneath that which could surprise people and be just as beautiful if no more so.
She felt a sense of belonging in this building.
Santana jumped out of the car to open the door for Brittany. The blonde squealed surprised by the sudden action. Well it was more her spacing out than Santana moving too fast but she was still startled by it.
"Sorry Britt I thought you saw me going around the car. I just wanted to you know be a "gentleman" and like open the door for you. I didn't mean to scare you." The blonde's heart was beating wildly.
"Don't ever scare me like that. I think I just had a mild heart attack." She laughed and climbed out of the car. Santana just behind her walking her up to the door. Brittany had to chuckle when she thought Santana kind of looked like a faithful watch dog. Right behind her head perking up at every noise that felt out of place.
When they reached the door Brittany turned around to look at Santana. "Thank you for today San. I had a lot of fun. It was really good to see you. And I can't wait for our next date next month! Take care of yourself." Santana just nodded. And just as the blonde turned around to open the door she felt a strong, warm hand carefully wrap itself around her wrist. Again she turned and looked at the Latina holding her in place. She looked into dark brown eyes.
"I love you." the words were whispered and Brittany blushed slightly. "I love you too." that made Santana's lips curl up into a bright, warm smile. She retracted her hand from Brittany's hand and watched her enter the building before climbing into her car to drive home.
In the elevator Brittany felt butterflies racing inside her stomach. It felt so good to her Santana say these three words to her. She knew they had only been together for three weeks before the incident but they have known each other so much longer. Since she was a little girl she had decided she wanted to marry the small fierce Latina who kicked anyone that dared to make fun of her.
Santana arrived at home and immediately kicked her shoes off and plopped down on the couch. She felt really light for the first time in months. Brittany looked so much better and in one month they could meet again. If things came along nicely perhaps she would even have a shot at getting Brittany back at the apartment. She felt really good so when her phone rang she sounded more jolly than she wanted to when she answered.
"What's up Q?" Quinn on the other end of the line laughed at the sing song voice of her best friend.
"So let me guess your date with Britt went well?" Santana's grin against stretched all over her face.
"Yeah it did. And I'm really in the mood for some company. I mean this past month without you here went fine but I really miss spending quality time with my best friend. So how about I come over and we pop in some "The Walking Dead" ?"
"I'm all in. It's been some time since I got my dose of some nice zombie killing." Santana laughed. She knew Quinn wasn't really that into the series but willing to watch it with the brunette.
"Okay Q. I'll be over in thirty."
"Perfect bitch. Don't forget to bring some wine and chips." With that the blonde hung up leaving Santana's carefully chosen insult unspoken.
Thirty minutes later Santana was standing in front of Quinn's door in one hand a bottle of wine in the other a big chips bag. She was dressed in some gray sweat pants, a white tank top and her favorite leather jacket. Her hair in a messy ponytail. She knocked on the door and a few seconds later Quinn stood in front of her. She wore a similar gray pair of sweats and a hoddie.
She stood there blocking the door.
"Do you have the wine and chips?" Santana smirked and waved the goods in front of her friends face. With a smile Quinn stepped back into the apartment giving Santana a chance to get in.
Quinn's apartment was pretty big. She had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large kitchen and nice living room. One of the bedrooms was the master bedroom for Quinn, the second one was her office and the third one was for guests. Her living room was painted in a faint, light green matching her red couch. The couch stood almost in the middle of the room facing a huge flat screen that hung on the wall. To the left of the screen was a huge shelf full with DvD's. Santana made a beeline for the shelf grabbing her Season 1 of "The Walking Dead". She had stored them at Quinn's because Brittany hated it when she watched the show. So she kind of only watched it when she was at Quinn's.
"Oh I really missed you baby." Santana cooed to the DVD in her hand. Quinn had to smile at Santana's antics.
"So now that you two lovebirds are reunited tell me all about your date. I want details." At the mention of her girlfriend this goofy smile spread again across Santana's face.
"It was awesome Quinn. At first it was a bit tensed and awkward but we got past that fast enough. And she looked so much better. You should have seen her," the Latina gushed "she was smiling and just seemed so alive. I even got to hug her for a greeting and she held my hand. When we lay down on the blanket she even snuggled up to me. I mean before I couldn't even touch her arm without her freaking out." Santana was now full on beaming and Quinn couldn't help but smile at this particular piece of information.
"That sounds great San. I mean I haven't really been in contact since her therapy started. Did you talk about therapy at all?" Suddenly Santana found her pants far more interesting than anything else. "I didn't really ask about anything in particular. She just told me she made progress and I left it at that. I mean I could see that she was getting better and I just wanted to enjoy my time with her. I mean I get updates from Danny all the time. And I only got to meet her really to gauge her reactions to anything physical and report back to him."
"I know you told me last week when you called me all excited that you would get to go on a date with B. So what are you going to tell Danny exactly?"
Santana shifted a uncomfortably.
"I just told you that we hugged and she snuggled up to me and well that only worked really as long as I stayed more or less still. I mean when she hugged me she gave me kind of a sign when it was okay to hug back but when she snuggled up and I tried to pull her closer she kind of bolted away." Quinn moved closer to Santana with concerned eyes and placed a caring hand on her shoulder.
"You okay? I mean you did say she looked much better."
"Yeah I'm fine I mean I'm angry but not at her for flinching away but more at myself for being so inconsiderate. I really have to learn to control myself. I don't want to scare her away you know? I just got her back." Quinn slowly put her arms around Santana and hugged her tightly.
"I know S. Trust me you won't lose her. And know come on there is a bottle of wine with our name's on it, a bag of chips just waiting to get devoured and I really wants to get my zombie on." Santana laughed hard at Quinn's poor attempt to copy her high school ghetto slang. She took her by the hand and both sat down on the couch. Ready for a nice evening with their best friend.
Meanwhile Danny and Brittany were sitting in the living room of his apartment, a bowl of popcorn between them watching "The little Mermaid". Danny noticed that Brittany was in a extremely good mood and had to give the credit to that probably to Santana. He knew Brittany had more than earned this little date. Since his talk with Santana and her little break down she had been really pushing herself to get better in every session.
But it wasn't only all good will. Danny really needed this information from Santana. He knew how Brittany was developing mentally but physically was just a whole other story. He concluded that the person who could most likely check how sensitive Brittany was about touching without freaking her out was Santana.
He himself could only see the progress in little things. For example four weeks ago when they both reached for the sugar Brittany would flinch away and today they sat next to each other with popcorn between them and every once in a while they both put their hand in the bowl at the same time but Brittany didn't even react to that and continued to watch the movie.
Halfway though the movie Brittany shuffled and when Danny looked up he saw her looking at him.
" Danny I .. I just wanted to thank you for today. For letting me see Santana. It really means a lot to me." He smiled at her, she smiled at him and just like that both focused back on the film the smile still gracing their faces.
Brittany went into her room after the movie because she was tired. Hell it was three in the morning. He took this opportunity to call Santana. He knew it was late or rather early but he really wanted to know what Santana could find out.
The phone rang many times until a raspy voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey Santana this is Danny. I'm sorry I'm calling so late. I just wanted to check with you about your date with Brittany today." her heard shuffling on the other end of the line.
"It's okay. I'm just at Quinn's and must have fallen asleep while watching TV." Some more shuffling and the voice of the Santana was back. Clearer and louder this time.
"Okay well let's get down to business. I haven't been exactly the "groping geezer" you wanted me to be. But I still got you some intel." Danny chuckled at the choice of words. Never had he told her to be a exactly a "groping geezer" but leave it to Santana to take words out of context and make them sound rather awkward."Just tell me what you got Santana. This is important."
"Well you know she hugged me and after she kind of gave me permission I could hug her back. She held my hand and I could hold it back. At some point she snuggled up to me. But it seemed to me like she was checking after every inch she made if it was still safe to go on. As if would jump her or something. Well I held still and then she ended with her head on my shoulder and I think she relaxed after being a bit stiff at first but when I tried to move my arm around her she got up faster than you can say "badass". After that I juts couldn't start another grope attack. I obviously crossed the line already."
"That's alright Santana," Danny reassured her, "that's enough for me to work with. Just remember we are getting there. Okay so that's just really I all I wanted to know. I'll get the rest from Brittany. So you better get back to sleep. I don't want to be the cause of lack of beauty sleep or something like that." Just as he was about to hang up he heard Santana's voice again. "Wait. Ahm you know do you think she will be ready to come back home next month?" Danny sighed. "Honestly? I can't promise you that. I know I said you had to wait for two months but with her touching anxiety I'm not really sure. I bet she would be able to live with you again but she might still be appalled to intimate touches so you had to really control yourself around her. But even if that is too early for her I promise you can start seeing each other again." Santana nodded and face palmed herself afterward. She was on the phone.
"Thank you Danny. Do your best for her."
"Always."
The last two weeks were probably the most exhausting of Santana's life. She had her job at Quinn's to pay for the apartment and her living expenses. But she had to take on a second job as her main one wasn't enough anymore to pay her and Brittany's bills. Danny didn't charge her anything for Brittany living with him and although she got an discount his services had to be paid. So she got herself a job as a waitress in a small diner on the outskirts to avoid to meet anyone she knew or for that matter knew her. If Quinn would know about that she would like raise her salary or just lend her money but the young Latina had her pride and since she was Brittany's girlfriend she felt like she had to be able to provide for both of them. She wanted to do this on her own.
That lead to her working everyday at Quinn's as a secretary, every second day the week she worked at the diner and after work she would breed over the "Kyle Case" either with or without Quinn. She had researched most of the plea Kyle's lawyers had to get him out of jail. And since Santana did her homework it was rather pathetic. She figured all she needed was a good therapist that could examine Kyle and see through his lies to get him into jail. But she also knew that they could want to hear a witness talk about Kyle. She knew that someone must have already testified against Kyle but she bet it was one of the dancers she didn't know the name of. And she would bet her ass that if they got the chance they would want to hear Brittany at court. And she knew that wasn't an option. That's why she worked her butt of to make her appeal water proof. But she could never be sure about it. She needed a plan B.
Her plan B came in form of Mike Chang. She had called him to arrange a meeting. She wanted to see if he was willing to testify against Kyle if it came down to it.
They agreed to meet at a cafe near Mike's new studio. After their phone call she was curious how he had been. The shooting must have left some sort of impact on him too. She was impressed to hear that he was dancing again and seemed to be where he left off. Brittany was still struggling to get to her day to day life. Santana strolled through the apartment. She had two hours to kill before she was to meet Mike so she decided to take a jog to clear her head. She jogged for about an hour before she had enough and decided to take a long shower. It felt good to feel her body so alive after the jog. Since she started her second job she only felt tired but jogging like this made her feel rather alive as she felt muscles ripple under her skin.
After her shower she got dressed in simple black jeans and a red blouse, took her jacket and drove to the cafe. She had seen Mike once before when she brought Brittany lunch to the studio. He was tall with short black hair, a muscular body and brown attentive eyes with a spark in them she knew all to well from Brittany showing his passion for his profession.
She entered the cafe and the first thing she noticed was the smell of strong black coffee. She already liked this place. Tables were orderly placed across the room. There were four rows with three sets of tables and chairs each.
In the middle of the shop was the counter with the baristas behind it. The cafe was pretty full. Considering that it was lunch time she shouldn't be so surprised. She spotted Mike in the far right corner of the cafe.
It was now or never. Mike was her best chance to get a potential witness and get Brittany out of harms way. She mad her way over to his both and as soon as he saw her he stood up to greet her. He looked just like she remembered him as he greeted her with a friendly smile.
"Hi Mike. Thanks for meeting me." She held out her hand to shake his.
"Not a problem. How's Britt?" he sat down back at the booth and motioned for her to do the same.
"I haven't heard from her at all since you know the shooting and stuff."
"She is getting there. She had a really hard time coping but she is on the right way." She chose to stay vague about all Brittany went and was still going through if possible. It wasn't really her story to tell others.
"I'm glad to her that. Please tell her if she wants to I would love to you know get together and talk." Santana smiles.
"I bet she wants to but for now she s a bit busy so don't expect a call too soon. She still has a lot on her plate." She was getting a bit nervous.
"how have you been since then? I mean you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He watched her intently for a minute before speaking.
"It wasn't no isn't easy. Dealing with something like that. Has Brittany told you everything that happened? " Santana nodded.
"Well she told me everything she remembers until she passed out." Mike looked out of the window.
How had she missed it? Mike had been struggling too. And if she looked more carefully she could see small bags under his eyes and more lines in his face. He looked older. The most striking were his eyes. The ones attentive brown ones were guarded and suspicious looking.
"I have been working in a studio for four months now. And well I just opened my own last week again. At first I have really struggled just entering a studio you know. I sometimes still get panic attacks but I can deal with them now. The nightmares are worse. But they have been decreasing and are now only showing when I'm really stressed out." He seemed a defeated. The brunette started to feel bad to ask him but she knew she had to.
"I'm sorry to hear that you still have these problems but I'm really glad to see that you are fighting. Actually why I wanted to talk to you today has got something to do with Kyle. His lawyers are trying to get him into an asylum so that they can get him out after possibly only four years." Mike looked at her clearly shocked.
"I have been working on an appeal to fight against this try. And I'm pretty sure I can win this. But if it comes down to it they could want to talk to one of the victims as a witness. Otherwise they might really get through with claiming him insane. Practically letting him off the hook avoiding the punishment he deserves." Mike was still looking at the window and had been getting pale with every word she said. What would she give to be able to look inside this head of his at the moment. He looked tired. Too tired to battle his demons. She knew this look well. She had seen it on Brittany many times.
"Why me?" was all he croaked out.
"You are the one I know best from all the dancers and Britt always told me you were a really good and loyal guy so you are the only one I would actually trust not to mess this up." This time he looked up at her puzzled.
"What about Brittany? Wouldn't she be the best one to be witness?"
Santana gulped audibly. She wanted to avoid to go too much into the blondes state but she knew she couldn't help it anymore. Mike wanted answers and for what she asked of him he deserved them.
She knew he still struggled with this but she also knew that Brittany was far more fragile and appeared to be better but she was still in the little safety bubble Danny and her created for her.
"Listen Mike. I know you don't owe me anything. I know you risked your life to protect Brittany and I can't even say how grateful I am to you that you tried to save her. But after the shooting Britt was trapped in something people call catatonic immobility for six months. She just recently found her way back and if she is exposed to all of this now I'm afraid she might crumble again and I really don't know if she would be able to find her way back again. And it scares the shit out of me." By now Santana had tears in her eyes. She wallowed and willed them away but Mike could still see them.
"I didn't know it was that bad I'm really sorry Santana. But I have to think about this a bit. I'm not saying know just give me a couple of days to think." She nodded rashly. She knew she couldn't ask mike for more than really thinking about it.
"Thank you Mike. I was right to trust Britt#s judgment about you. You really are a good guy."
They stayed for a little bit longer and talked a bit until Mike had to leave for one of his dance classes. They said their goodbye's and Santana made her way home.
She felt hopeful. She had a potential witness to spare Brittany the embarrassment and dread of telling a bunch of people all this son of a bitch did to her and the others.
Life wasn't easy but she found that with each passing day it seemed to slowly get better again.
A/N: So another chapter. It would make my day if you lovely people reviewed and gave me some feedback. It doesn't matter if it is positive or negative. Cause I'm here to share my stories/ passion for writing and become a better writer ;)