Authors Note: Yo Bro's and Brotette's! How's it going? :)
Here's another chapter! Thank you for your responses and inputs! I have taken into account what you have said and I shall incorportae them in the future chapters. I feel like I need to just develop things between Brittany and Santana first before I can start unwrapping Santana's story. Sorry if the story progress is too slow, I'm just trying to find a good place insert them. But I promise you that next chapter will be more focused on Santana's past and back story of her parents. Although, it will mean less Brittana for a bit.
So, I shall try to find a way to have a healthy doze of romance ;) as well as informative, plot moving scenes.
Thank you for being patient with me! This chapter is not very long but I hope you like :)
Again, comments, suggestions and blah blah blahhhhhh are welcome :L
Let me know what you think about Santana-Haymitch relationship as well guys!
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING, NOT GLEE OR HUNGER GAMES
"I- I'm sorry... I didn't mean to intrude" Brittany apologized; she stood by the door holding tightly on the doorknob feeling like she would faint from embarrassment if she let go. Her eyes altered between Santana and Haymitch who were looking at her expectantly.
"I- erm... just wanted to see you-" Santana's eyebrows cocked up surprised from the blondes confession and felt a blush coming, but she decided to pretend unaffected by the way her chest seemed to have grown a pair of wings which fluttered.
"no- I was told to-" The Latina supported a playful smile which only grew upon watching the flustered girl as she realized that Brittany was desperately trying to device an excuse on the spot. Brittany saw the perceptive glint in Haymitch's eyes and the way the man rested his back and carried himself in a mocking nonchalant manner. Haymitch tightened his lips repressing a laugh threatening to erupt as he watched Santana and Brittany.
"You know what?" Brittany huffed "I'm just going to leave..." she moved her head like a bobbing dog as she backtracked out of the door and firmly closed it with a definite thump. Brittany turned her back on the door and slumped herself on it and released a long gust of breath. The red-faced girl brought her hands through her blonde locks and ruffled them all over the place in humiliation as her headed scolded her for making a fool of herself. The tall girl walked away from the clinic with her muddled hair, her back slumped and her face in a grimaced of disgust with herself. However as she left, she couldn't help but feel completely featherweight from seeing Santana awake and well. The blonde skipped down the corridor in relief.
"Well... Don't look so disappointed there Romeo." Haymitch commented as Santana's face fell a bit when the blubbering mess of a blonde left.
"Shut up Haymitch." Santana sighed. "So what exactly happened, why do I feel like someone had sliced me in half to stir my insides and sewn me back together." The brunette asked as her face contorted in soreness as she sat herself up on the bed.
"Well guessed, but from what I was told you got- as well as the zombie arm, which by the way looks gloriously nauseating - a septic shock. This fucked up your organs quite severely." Haymitch explained in a faux uncaring attitude as he pretended it didn't affect him.
"So, yours truly-" He gestured himself. "Had to go to the Capitol to get you blood and a new kidney." The tanned girls eyes widened in mortification.
"Yes, that's right. You're running on some random person's kidney. Don't worry though, I asked Doc to keep your old one in a bottle as a souvenir" Haymitch reassured Santana.
"Well shit."
"Santana! How crude!" exclaimed Haymitch as he pretended to be to take offence from Santana's language. "Actually it looks more like a bean that grew on a radioactive site..."
Santana's face scowled in repulsion
"But yes, that's the summary of it. If you want a more detailed account, you should ask little miss sunshine. After all, she's the one according to Leroy who played nurse."
An image of Brittany in a promiscuous nurse outfit popped into Santana's head which she immediately drowned to proceed on catching up with Haymitch. Besides, she has plenty of time for that later.
"Right... Where did you get the kidney from then? Also I'm surprised you didn't get arrested considering you're kinda in the Capitol's top wanted list for refusing to be a mentor..."
"Well, it's hardly a challenge walking through the Capitol when they haven't exactly explained why I should be arrested. Besides, with my heart breaking performance pleading for my freedom to live in peace nearly a decade ago I've pretty much won the hearts of the citizens. Thus, my early retirement as you know." Haymitch bragged.
It wasn't anything new; Santana knows that Haymitch retired from being a mentor. Except he didn't, he was just training one future tribute instead of cramming information in two kids who will be disposed eventually.
"What I did hear is there are still rumours that I have taken something from the Capitol..." the stubble bearded man explained. "But how exactly can they arrest me when they don't know who or what I have taken, when they weren't aware of its existence in the first place... No offence." He continued.
Santana shrugged dismissively.
"Well don't they worry about that. She'll return soon."
"Santana-"
"No Haymitch. You are not talking me out of this again." The Latina expressed firmly.
"What is the point? If Maribel was here she wouldn't agree to this-"
"Well that's just it, isn't it?! She's not here." Santana hissed venomously at her guardian.
Haymitch kept his mouth and shut and watched Santana push her temper down. He just doesn't understand why the 17 year old is so desperate to throw her life away. Simply to make a point that he's certain she doesn't know what either.
"We're proceeding with training." The brunette announced.
Haymitch laughed off Santana's sudden insist on resuming to her training and diverted her attention by bringing up her heroic display in the market. "Actually, I was wondering where you got the coins to bail Princess Brittany and her brother out. What happened to 'I don't need your money, Papa Lopez'?"
"I didn't use the old man's money to cater my needs." Santana retorted defensively. "It was weighing me down and was collecting dust. So I thought, 'why not give it to someone who needs it?'" she continued unperturbed.
Santana shook her head as she tried to get back on her train of thought "Stop changing the topic Haymitch. I'm going back to training."
"You just got sliced open; the only training you'll be doing is learning how to sit still." Haymitch deadpanned.
"Haymitch-" Santana protested, her voice was harsh and strained as she tried to get Haymitch's attention.
"No."
"But Haymitch-" She tried again.
"Forget it." He rose from his seat, the stool screeched against the hardwood floor and Haymitch headed for the door while Santana threw the blanket haphazardly and swung her legs off the bed to block the door to prevent Haymitch from leaving. Her sudden actions caused her stitch to open up. The incision bled through the white gown she was dressed in. Santana felt her skin stretch but ignored the excruciating pull as she stumbled through the room pulling the various tubes in the process.
"YOU PROMISED!" Santana's eyes welled in frustration.
"I promised to take care of you." The tall man enunciated, his back still facing Santana.
"THEY TOOK MY PARENTS AWAY FROM ME. YET YOU EXPECT ME TO DO NOTHING? TO BE OK ABOUT IT?" The Latina screamed. Haymitch remained still refusing to look at Santana. The brunette's chest heaved and her head was light from the sudden stress. She slumped herself back down on the bed to regain her breath.
"Lower your voice, Santana. I don't want to hear anymore of this bullshit."
"Do you remember what happened Haymitch? Do you? Cause I do. I live it every day." The little girl asked, her voice barely a whisper.
The previously stoic man turned his head to an angle towards the child as she recollected her past. Her eyes were staring blankly towards the white walls unblinking.
"It was a Friday, Mami and I hadn't seen Papi for nearly a month because he was dispatched at District 7 to help control the uprising. People were protesting and demanding for rations. There was a massive forest fire which wiped out more than half of their forest. Or something like that... He had to stay there with Mr Puckerman, my friend Noah's dad." Santana moistened her dried lips and continued.
"But finally, he was scheduled to go home that day. Do you remember? You and him made plans. You called Mami up in the morning to let her know you were on your way to ours because Papi sent for you to come, to catch up." The tanned girl turned her head towards Haymitch as she spoke.
"Mami said... 'Tana Uncle Mitch is coming for a visit!' " "I was so excited to see Uncle Mitch; he always dropped by when he can. I always thought he was a hero trying to help the boys and girls win the Games... Of course I didn't actually fully understood what his role was back then... I'd get excited when the parade was on... Not because of the pretty dresses and the pretty people... but because he would always be in the big screen smiling and laughing. There were times when he had to cancel his visits but he always made it for my birthday." Santana delayed as she recollected her memories and organized them in her head. "Oh that's right; you and Papi were in a rush to come home because it was my birthday that week..." she took a pause.
"That day went by as like any other days. I went to school, came home, played on the fields with Noah and Mami would beckon me home in the afternoon... Except, just before we went to bed there was a knock on our door. We weren't expecting Uncle Mitch or Papi to come until Saturday, my birthday. Mami was so surprised, I remember being excited too. Her voice floated in the air as she laughed infectiously."
The Latina brought her legs up on the bed and folded them cautiously, careful not to press on her opened cut. "Mami was so pretty. She had a wavy hair like mine except they were brown ' When people said your eyes are the window to your soul...' I believed them and I knew my mum's soul was the kindest, because her eyes held me warmer than the summer light and twinkled brighter than any stars. She's the only person who I knew wore their heart and soul on their sleeve. Yet she somehow kept it white and clean despite fate making her crawl and grovel on dirt and grime which threatened not only to stain her, but dunk her in mud." Santana spat in spite the noxious doze of resentment.
She was mute for a while. Her eyes were fierce, her teeth rigid from the tension of her jaw. The vacant wall in front of her was now a haze of red as anger blindfolded her eyes. She took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her lungs as she tried to ease the stress on her shoulders. Then she continued.
"She and I... we, would be playing on the fields. She had the loveliest voice too." Santana closed her eyes and a small smile graced upon her lips as she remembered the times when her mother would sing her a lullaby.
"She took me in for a hug, the last one I ever got from her." The Latina's eyes remained closed, but her face changed into a frown, her eyebrows puckered and her eyes clenched tight as she tried her fullest to feel her mother's embrace once more. She wrapped her arms around herself, sat in a foetal position and squeezed tight trying to mimic the maternal warmth she felt in Maribel's arms. But she only felt hollow.
"She said 'Oh! This must be your Uncle! Always the one with the entrance' After the hug-" Haymitch visibly flinched at the way Santana's voice trembled as her lips quivered. She took in a shaky breath, composing herself to power through her story.
"Santana-"
"She asked me to go to my room and get change in my PJ's while she lets you in. I followed her orders."
"Santana stop it-"
The Latina shook her head defiantly as she proceeded with her narrative, she gritted her teeth and her cheeks flushed red as she tried to steady her emotions to will the tears away.
"But it wasn't you on the other side of the door was it, Mitch?" She looked at Haymitch, questioningly, desperately asking "Why? Why weren't you the other person on the other side? Where were you? What took you so long?" even though she knew the answer.
It just wasn't him.
The man's heart sunk as he saw the young woman before her regress back into the eight year-old child who lost her parents and saw it with her very own eyes. The very same girl he found covered in ashes in the dilapidated burning house which looked like a disintegrating shack as the fire consumed its pillars and devoured its roof. The very same kid who laid between the bodies of the souls long gone. Santana, who refused to let go her parents' corpse despite the excruciating pain from the large patches of third degree burns ranging from her back to her legs.
She ducked her head when a sorrow fell from her eyes, begging her to let the tornado of emotions out to cause havoc. But Santana refused, she let herself drown inside. Her memories and emotions crashed and pulled on her soul and guilt to the point that they were mere remnants of a rotting heart. But Santana doesn't mind. It always somehow finds a way to glue itself back together but not without the cracks, only to be shattered and trampled by the same memories; over and over again until she's numb. She imagines this is what is must be like in purgatory; restless and damned, always craving for hell just to feel again.
Haymitch did a 180 degree turn and kneeled in front of the little girl who looked up to him so much. He swallowed to loosen his enclosed throat and hurriedly wiped the tears upon her cheeks. But there was too much, so much that he stopped trying and just sat beside Santana and let the little girl cry into his shoulder as he stroked her hair soothingly, while countless of apologies poured out from his lips. Haymitch's heart grieving in time with Santana's agonizing being.
After the unprecedented break down, the pair just sat idly on the bed. The brunette, exhausted from the onslaught of emotions rested her head tiredly on her guardians shoulder, and feared moving as she felt the uncomfortable dull pain from her newly opened stitch. Haymitch was unmoving with his cheek resting on top of brunette's head. He pondered about ways of how he could stop the girl beside her from wasting her life. He remembered all of his failed attempts which only led to further heartbreaks, only hardening the determined young Latina's resolve. All of his cards are on the table. He's running out of ideas. But just when he was about to give in, to let the shell of a girl he used to know seal a deal with death. There was a timid knock on the door. He felt a small whisper of hope, coaxing him to not give up on the child beside him. It reassured him that an equally unsuspecting soul will save Santana from perdition.
Haymitch, with his beard white and pale, the wrinkles of experience aging his weary face brought his eyes towards the door waiting for the polite visitor to enter the room. The heavy chestnut door opened, in an unveiling manner as though it held the answer to Haymitch's prayers. A blonde haired girl peered over the door. Her eyes were a shade of reluctant blue and unsure azure but sparkled a promising cerulean and greatly comforting and strong like the ocean. Her eyes spoke in great depths which brought hope into Haymitch's defeated spirit, her soul making a definite promise to Haymitch as her whole being recognized her purpose, but kept it from her unbeknownst consciousness.
It's not that he was passing on his responsibility. It's just, Haymitch had come to accept that the problem is not that he couldn't come up with an idea how to help Santana, but it's the fact that maybe; he's not fitting to do this part of the job.
It was an epiphany for Haymitch, an epiphany he hopes Brittany will come to realize soon.
"Sorry Haymitch, I just came to bring in Santana's supper. I'll just leave it-"
"Don't be silly Princess Brittany-" Haymitch teased, while Santana and Brittany's eyes widened comically as they realized where the reference was from.
"I'll ask doc to come and check up on your stitches." He said to Santana.
He returned his attention to the taller girl stood by the door. "I was just about leave our young dark knight in her solitude" Santana moved hear head off Haymitch's shoulder as the man shifted and stood off the bed, languid walking towards the door. He basked in the amusing sight of the flustered and bashful teenagers, as both squirmed and desperately tried to find something interesting to look at apart from one another.
"I bid you ladies, good evening" Haymitch teased, as he tipped his imaginary hat in courtesy. The two girls let out a breath as the joker made his exit, relieved that he was done with his mischief.
"Before I go though" Haymitch announced, abruptly stopping by Brittany. The girls could hear the screeched of the metaphorical rubber wheels. With his shoulders parallel to the blonde, Haymitch mocked Brittany in an exaggerated whisper. "I like you much better when Santana's awake; you're much kinder to me."
Satisfied with himself, the cheerful man laughed as he walked down the hallway; leaving the two girls gnawing at their cheeks in embarrassment.
Unsure of how to disarm the growing awkwardness between her and her... friend... Brittany turned her attention back the tray of food which she wedged between her right hand and hip. She repositioned it between her two hands and was about to place it on Santana's bed, when she saw the Latina pull off electrodes and tubes off her body; and hobble with the IV drip for the same armchair the blonde spent nights on watching over the brunette.
"Sorry, the bed was getting really uncomfortable. I'm also positive that I have moulded my butt on the mattress... "Santana apologized to Brittany.
"n-no problem... I'll just put the tray on the side table here..." Brittany stumbled upon her words as she heard Santana make an offhand comment about her rear. Memories of her and Santana flirting... Well Santana flirting with her- Brittany just stood in the basement with her mouth agape drooling a waterfall- made their way back into her head, making her wonder if Santana remembers any of it...
The awkwardness created by Haymitch still lingered in the room and the pair was glad when Leroy came in to check on Santana. After a few minutes of check up and sewing the stitch back together, not without telling off from Leroy.
The doctor was on his way back to the kitchen after fixing Santana up, "Will you be eating there Santana? Would you like me to bring another shorter stool you can use as a table?" Leroy inquired before leaving.
"Yea I'm good here and no thank you, I'll be alright." Santana reassured Leroy with smile.
"Alright, well. Brittany I guess you'll have to sit on the bed while Santana's on your spot." Leroy mused.
Santana's ears perked up upon the information. "Brittany's spot?" she asked Leroy. She wondered whether the previously passive-aggressive girl who could not stand her, watched over her as she was recovering. She remembered bits and pieces and Brittany was in most of her memories during her delirium. Meanwhile, as Santana observed Brittany with a curious look; Brittany was having problems standing straight and seeing straight (no pun intended).
"Hmm...? Oh yea, Brittany here spent most of her time glued on that armchair while you were here. She would actually sneak in here at night and read to you-" The curly haired man confirmed Santana's hypothesis but stopped halfway when he realized that he just said something Brittany probably didn't want Santana to know. Leroy looked back and forth between Santana and Brittany, he saw how Brittany hid her face in her hands and the way Santana's face lit up in understanding.
"Ah... well... I think I've said probably more than I should have... I'm just going to take my leave now..." The flushed man, embarrassed with himself as well; ineptly did a small wave to Santana and made for the door but not without mumbling an apology to Brittany.
For a few minutes, Santana was just looking at her hands. Smiling to herself as she found out, not only did her casualty affect Brittany's behavior- meaning she cared, but she also guarded her protectively. Brittany actually "sneaked in" to her room. Yea I mean sure, if it was anyone else Santana would have been freaked out that someone was watching her sleep; but it was Brittany. The brunette was simultaneously warmed by the blonde's concern and felt the urge to tease Brittany about it. She had two options on how to respond: She could embarrass the blonde further by poking fun at Brittany or she could voice her gratification. However, before Santana could make a decision, the visibly sheepish girl was retreating back out the room.
Brittany walked backwards as she made an escape, deciding she have had enough of humiliation for one day. "I'm just... I'm just gonna go..." Brittany whispered miserably, convinced that Santana was probably freaked out by her stalker-like behavior. She really didn't want the brunette to confront her about it either.
She might actually die from embarrassment.
On the other hand, Santana was alarmed; she didn't want Brittany to leave and felt bad by the way Brittany couldn't even look at her in the eyes. She wanted to badly see the girls gorgeous blue eyes shine. So, a plea left her lips for the blonde to stay. "Please don't leave..."
It was soft and sincere which encouraged Brittany to look up to Santana. The other girl was looking at her, and Santana's tender lips smiled affectionately at her. Her eyes were inviting, swirling like hot chocolate and was beaming in delight.
This made Brittany smile in response and let go of all her anxiety about Santana thinking she was a freak. She replied with an "Ok" and took a seat on the bed.
"I- I don't think I can finish all of this." Santana chuckled as she finally noticed how much food there was on her tray. There was a generous serving of beef casserole which was kept warm by the silver lid, partnered with large freshly made French bread. On the side was a strawberry tart dusted with sugar icing. It was so colourful and appetizing as it bombarded Santana's senses.
"Sorry, I just thought you might be a little hungry. It's great though, Hiram's cooking is really good-"
"Don't apologize Britt-"Santana was surprised at how the nickname easily rolled off her tongue. She likes it. "Just- do you want to share with me?" the tanned girl offered, to which Brittany's stomach grumbled in response.
Santana laughed "I'll take that as a yes." Brittany joined in, laughing at herself. She cautiously lifted the small table and placed it in front of Santana. She sat on the floor opposite the brunette and both of them shared a meal and chatted effortlessly throughout the evening.
It was a good night.