Chapter 17:
"Santana." Came the deep and raspy voice of my father. I immediately knew something was wrong because he was breathing heavily.
"What's wrong?" I asked and there was a brief silence.
"Your mami's been shot."
I blinked a couple of times, trying to clear my blurry vision but nothing changed.
"What?" I asked, my brain not able to really process what I just heard, and grabbed my glasses from the coffee table and put them on. I looked around as if the answers to the million of questions that were forming in my head would be in my living room.
"She's been shot." He said again and I bit my lip to keep my composure and not break down in front of Brittany, who was still sitting on the couch and looking at me with worry visible all over her face.
"Wh-where is she? I-is she…" I stuttered and trailed off. I swallowed thickly.
" We're at home." He started and my eyes widened. I interrupted him before he could say anything else.
"What? Why? Why are you at home? Why aren't you at the hospital? My mami has a bullet inside of her! Why aren't you at the hospital?" I fired my questions and Brittany's eyes widened. But I ignored her and started pacing around the living room. "Oh my god! She's not…" I choked, not able to finish not even my thought. Brittany stood up and came to grab my shoulders, effectively causing me to stop pacing.
"She's fine, Santana. We couldn't go to the hospital, they would call the police." He said nervously and I sighed relieved. But then I huffed at him.
"How is she fine? You said she's been shot!" I said exasperated and leaned my forehead on Brittany's shoulder. She put her arms around me and started rubbing my back comfortingly, making me feel secure in her arms and weirdly relaxed, if you consider the situation that we were in.
"Shirley took care of her." He mumbled. Shirley was their neighbor in Lima and she was a nurse. I figured it would be easier to explain how the bullet got there to Shirley, who was my mother's friend, than explain it to the police. But how did the bullet got there?
"Who did that?" I asked him and looked up at Brittany who was still holding me. She was biting her bottom lip, the worry was still on her face. I mouthed at her that my mother was ok and she nodded at me relieved as she let me free, kissing my forehead. She went to grab her phone and started shuffling on it, walking towards the kitchen. I frowned questioningly but ignored it when my father started speaking again.
"That guy came to our house." Antonio mumbled and I started pacing around the living room again. Now that Brittany wasn't holding me and wasn't even in the same room as me, I felt my irritation coming back.
"What guy?" I asked him and there was a brief silence before he answered.
"That guy that gave me the money. He wanted money and I said I have it and I'd give it to him but he didn't believe me. And then I told him to not hurt her but he shot her on her thigh. He shot her instead of me." He ranted shakily. He was probably feeling guilty about it and he should.
"Do you realize what you've done?" I asked him angrily and started walking towards the kitchen to find Brittany, afraid I might wake up Alice who was still sleeping on the couch. I didn't wait for him to answer though. "This is your fucking fault!" I exclaimed while pacing around the kitchen. Brittany was leaning on the counter with her arms crossed. It looked like she had been talking on the phone. "Do you realize that you're destroying your family? They shot your wife!" I told him pointedly, the anger still evident in my voice. Brittany shook her head at me. She probably wanted to tell me that this wasn't necessary. And she was probably right. It was obvious that Antonio was shocked by what happened. "I want to talk to her." I said then more calmly and went to stand in front of Brittany.
"Santana." He sighed but I didn't want to talk to him anymore. I didn't think I would be able to forgive him easily this time.
"Just put her on the phone." I told him again firmly and he sighed again. There was some shuffling before I heard her voice.
"Mija, I'm fine." Maribel said softly and my eyes were immediately filled with tears when I heard her voice.
"Oh thank God." I breathed relieved and fell back in Brittany's arms who hugged me tightly. "Does it hurt?" I asked then, my words muffled from Brittany's shoulder.
"Not at the moment. Shirley gave me painkillers." She said slowly, it sounded like she was fighting to keep her eyes open.
"Are you sure you're ok?" I asked her and bit my bottom lip.
"Yes, Santanita. I'm just really sleepy because of the drugs." She answered and I nodded pulling back from Brittany's embrace.
"Ok, then. I'll let you go to sleep and I'll see you tomorrow." I told her but before she could protest I said 'bye' and ended the call. I looked up at Brittany and she arched an eyebrow at me.
"You're not going to Lima." She said and crossed her arms in front of her chest. I snorted at her.
"Of course I am." I said frowning and turned to leave the kitchen. But Brittany grabbed my arm and turned me around to face her again.
"No, you're not. It's fucking dangerous." She said with finality and shook her head.
"They just shot my mom, Brittany. I'm not leaving them alone anymore." I said frowning. "This is my fault, I shouldn't have left them alone in the first place." I mumbled and broke my arm free from Brittany's grasp and turned to go to my bedroom. Brittany followed me.
"Even if you were there you wouldn't be able to do anything. You're not bulletproof, San. And that's why Matt's going instead of you." She told me as I took off my glasses and started wearing my contact lenses.
"And Matt is bulletproof?" I asked frowning.
"No, but he's four times your size and he has a gun." She said pointedly. I arched my eyebrows in surprise.
"Well, I don't know the guy." I said still not looking at Brittany.
"Well, do you trust me?" She asked me and I turned to look at her. She was leaning against the doorframe and looking at me biting her bottom lip, like she wasn't sure of the answer.
"Yes." I said pointedly.
"I trust Matt with my life, San." She told me. I frowned questioningly at her but she ignored me. "And we're going to introduce him to you and then he'll go to Lima." She said and I sighed. I stood up and went to stand right in front of her.
"I'm scared, Britt." I whispered at her. "I don't want anything happening to them."
"Oh honey, I know." She said back softly, effectively causing butterflies to erupt inside my stomach. Both at the term of endearment and at her sweet and soft tone. She said it like she actually cared about my parents as much as I did. Like she knew how I felt. "And when you'll meet Matt you'll understand. He's gonna do a great job at protecting them, I promise." She said and I nodded slowly. "Come on." She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of my bedroom. "We'll take Ali to Anna, I've already called her. And then we're going to find Matt." She told me over her shoulder and I nodded biting my bottom lip. I still wanted to go to Lima myself but I agreed to meet this guy just because Brittany asked me to. I took a mental note to ask her later why she trusted him with her life.
…
We made our way to Anna's apartment. I had asked Brittany if she wanted to go to her apartment first to grab change clothes for Alice but she had said that she had clothes at her sister's too.
We spent the rest of the ride in silence. I couldn't help but feel guilty too about what happened to my mother. I wondered if we still had to pay those people too and what was going to happen once my parents were in New York. But I trusted Brittany and if she believed that this Matt guy could help then I would give him the chance. I just hoped that this scared my father enough to make him get help and get over his addiction problem.
We arrived at Anna's and I gave the taxi driver some money before getting out. Brittany followed me with a sleeping Alice in her arms. That kid was such a heavy sleeper, I was pretty sure if a bomb was to explode next to her ear, she still wouldn't wake up. I held the door open for Brittany and she smiled gratefully at me. I didn't think there would ever be a time when I wouldn't be able to appreciate how beautiful she was when she was smiling. Especially when her smile was directed at me. I followed her up to her sister's apartment and she knocked on the door. We waited until a tall dark-skinned, dark-haired guy that only wore boxers, opened the door.
"Brittany." He said in surprise and gulped nervously. He glanced at me then back at Brittany who hoisted her daughter further up on her body and arched an eyebrow.
"You're answering the door like that, Jake?" She asked and he winced, hiding behind the door. Jake. Was this Anna's boyfriend?
"I'm sorry, I didn't know it'd be you." He said quietly and Brittany snorted.
"If you want me to like you," she started and he bit his lip nervously, "I won't." She said with finality. Jake sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Where's Anna?" She asked then but before Jake could answer Anna appeared beside him. She looked at Jake wearing almost nothing and then at Brittany's irritated face. She rolled her eyes.
"Go get dressed." She told him quietly and he nodded before leaving. "Hi." She smiled at me and I smiled back.
"Will my daughter be scarred for life if I leave her here?" Brittany asked and Anna rolled her eyes again.
"We didn't have sex- " Anna started to say but Brittany put her hand in front of her sister's mouth.
"Do not say that word again." She said and scrunched her face in disgust. "Just no." She shook her head and Anna snorted. "The last thing I need is hearing my baby sister talking about that." She mumbled.
"I'm not a baby." Anna protested pulling her head back from Brittany's hand and Brittany huffed.
"You are to me." She said back. "I'm putting her on the couch. I hope your boyfriend doesn't go near her or I'll cut him and feed him to the tigers at the zoo." She mumbled and Anna frowned.
"Britt, you promised you'll try to like him." She whined and Brittany rolled her eyes.
"Not when he greets me like that." She said and passed by her sister, leaving Anna and me alone. She sighed and turned to me.
"How are you?" She asked me.
"I'm good." I shrugged. "You?" I asked her back and she shrugged too. She looked behind her shoulder biting her bottom lip and then back at me.
"Are you two together now?" She asked me, catching me off guard. My eyes widened and I started rubbing my arm up and down nervously.
"I don't know." I told her and she nodded in understanding, smiling weakly at me.
"Did she tell you about our parents?" She asked me and I frowned.
"She told me that your mom is German." I shrugged and it was her turn to frown.
"I'm sure she'll tell you soon. She definitely trusts you." She said and I nodded at her. I knew this, and Brittany promised she would tell me after everything with my father will be over. "It's just great seeing her going on and on about you, you know? I don't really remember her being so happy before." She said, almost sadly. But then her eyes widened. "And you didn't hear that from me!" She exclaimed and I chuckled at her, ignoring my fast heartbeats at what Anna just told me about Brittany.
"Don't worry, it'll be between us." I told her and she smiled at me just in time for Brittany to come back. She looked between us for a few seconds but she finally settled her gaze on her sister.
"Call me if she wakes up crying." She said.
"Yeah, I know." She said and Brittany nodded. "So, are you two going on a date and you're leaving me with the kid?" She asked smirking. She probably found it very amusing watching her sister blushing.
"No, we're not." Brittany said frowning, but her blush was obvious. "We're going at Matt's." She said pointedly and Anna arched her eyebrows.
"Oh you're getting another tattoo?" She asked and Brittany shook her head. I frowned, Matt was a tattooist? "Are you?" Anna asked me then and I shook my head too. Anna arched an eyebrow at Brittany.
"We'll tell you another time." Brittany shrugged and turned to me. "Ready?" She asked me and I nodded. I figured once I met this Matt guy my mind would be put in rest about my parents being safe and I could focus on getting my father help. Although he wasn't my favorite person at that moment, he was still my father and I still loved him.
…
We were walking through the dark streets of New York side by side. Brittany was being weird. She was fidgety and she was looking uncomfortable. After a few minutes of silence she took a deep breath and turned to me.
"What did my sister tell you?" She asked me and I frowned.
"Nothing." I shrugged.
"Santana." She sighed and rubbed her hands on her face. I grabbed her arm to stop her and she turned to face me.
"She didn't tell me anything." I said and she bit her lip looking away from me. "Britt." I sighed. "She just said that you'd tell me about your parents soon. But I already knew that so…" I shrugged and trailed off. She swallowed thickly and nodded at me.
"I just wanted to tell you on my own cause you've learnt everything else because of the trial. It's nothing bad." She said but then she winced. "I mean it is but yeah, anyway." She shrugged. I was confused but I nodded anyway. I understood what she wanted to say. I did learn a lot of things about her because of the trial and it only made sense that she wanted to keep something to herself. She was a closed person and the fact that she wanted to and was going to tell me about her parents made me smile softly at her.
"You can tell me whatever and whenever you want, Britt. You know I'll be here anyway." I said softly and she nodded at me, biting her bottom lip.
"Yeah, I know." She whispered and then she cleared her throat. "Let's go." She said and turned to continue towards where we were going. After walking for a few more minutes I started recognizing those streets. We were really close to Brittany's apartment. Then she turned to a dark alley.
"So are you and Matt like friends?" I asked her and she turned to look at me.
"Uh, it's complicated." She said and I frowned at her. She sighed and stopped outside a tattoo parlor. I couldn't really see her in this dark alley. "He always cared about me being physically ok." She shrugged but I was still frowning at her. "I'll explain later." She said and turned to open the door revealing a room full of drawings all over the walls. We got inside and I noticed a tattooed dark-skinned woman sitting at a desk and drawing. But when she heard us she looked up with a bored look. When she saw it was Brittany she smiled and stood up. But then she looked at me and narrowed her eyes. "Hi." Brittany said.
"Hello, gorgeous." She said and let a smirk to take over her face. Brittany rolled her eyes as I frowned.
"Jenna, Matt's sister." She said and pointed at her and then pointed at me. "Santana." Jenna nodded at me and I nodded back, still not sure if she hated me or not.
"You're her girlfriend?" She asked me and I frowned, wondering why everyone kept asking if Brittany and I were together. "Cause let me tell you, I had my hands all over that fucking hot chick's body." She said and gestured towards Brittany. I internally groaned. How did I manage to keep meeting Brittany's exes?
"Did you two…" I asked trailing off and Brittany's eyes widened.
"No!" She exclaimed and Jenna chuckled.
"No." Jenna shook her head. "She wanted me cause you know, I had to touch her somewhere to create those tattoos. I was between those gloriously long legs, and my hands were on her thighs and on her back and her chest." She shook her head chuckling and I did my best to ignore those imaginary images of me being at those positions. "But I said no, I'm straight." She shrugged. I was staring at her, not sure if she was serious and what she wanted to achieve with putting those images inside my head.
"Jenna, I never wanted you." Brittany said, sounding bored. "And what exactly are you doing?" She asked and Jenna frowned.
"I'm testing her." She whispered referring to me but I heard her.
"What kind of test is that?" Brittany asked and frowned back at her.
"About your old job." Jenna said still whispering and Brittany rolled her eyes. So Jenna and Matt knew about Brittany being a prostitute. I started to slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together. Brittany put her arm around my waist and tugged me closer to her. The warmth radiating from her body caused me to relax and lean against her.
"She passed that test. And you did a shitty job at testing her anyway." She said and I let a small smile take over my face because she finally accepted that I didn't have a problem with her old job and that I wasn't even ashamed. Brittany looked around before turning back to Jenna. "Where's your brother?" She asked and Jenna huffed.
"Well, you're welcome." She mumbled and turned to leave, probably to go find Matt. When she was out the room Brittany turned to me, her hand falling from around my waist.
"I'm sorry. Please, don't take her seriously, she was bullshitting you." She said and bit her lip.
"It's ok." I shrugged. It really was ok. I got to kiss that face now so I wouldn't really mind it if they were ex-girlfriends. It still didn't mean that I liked meeting them.
Just then the back door opened and a bald, dark-skinned guy that was probably six and a half feet tall stepped in. He wasn't wearing a shirt so I could see his eight pack abs and the tattoos that covered his entire torso and ending up his neck. He was heavily built and I understood what Brittany meant. He was four times my size. He wasn't fat, he was just that muscular.
"Britt." He called in a rough and hoarse voice. He looked so serious and kind of scary. Brittany nodded at him and then he turned to look at me. "Santana, right?" He asked me and I nodded. I figured Brittany called him too before and told him what happened. "Don't worry, nobody will come near them any time soon." He told me and I swallowed thickly at his seriousness.
"How do you know that?" I asked him. I didn't want to be rude, I was just genuinely scared. But he didn't seem to mind my question.
"Those who hurt people who are incapable of defending themselves are cowards. And now that I'm gonna be there they're gonna be afraid to come near them." He said. His attitude wasn't cocky which made me to actually believe him. "And you won't have to pay them. And they're not gonna follow them to New York. And even if they do, I'm still gonna be here." He said looking at Brittany. I frowned as Brittany slid her hand on my lower back. Matt turned towards the desk and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. "The address." He told me and handed me the pen and paper. "I'm leaving in half an hour." He added glancing at the clock on the wall. I turned to Brittany and bit my bottom lip but she just nodded at me reassuringly. I guess this is it, I thought and wrote the address of the house in Lima on the paper.
…
"So…" Brittany trailed off after we left the tattoo parlor. I turned my head and arched an eyebrow at her while we were walking down the street.
"So what?" I asked her and she groaned. She took a big step and stopped in front of me, causing us to collide. I momentarily lost my balance but she grabbed my waist and helped me straighten up again. "Britt, what are you doing?" I asked her frowning, straightening my tank top as well.
"I want you to sleep with me tonight." She said and gestured towards the street that her apartment building was on. My heart jumped at her words but I knew she didn't mean it like that.
"Why? I'm not gonna run off to Lima." I said still frowning and she shrugged.
"I know, it's still difficult for you though and I don't want you to be alone." She said and bit her pierced bottom lip, looking at me through her eyelashes. I sighed and my heart fluttered at her caring so much about me. So I nodded at her and figured that spending the night with Brittany would definitely take my mind off of Lima and my father's addiction.
We walked the few minutes until we reached Brittany's apartment in silence. She immediately guided me to her bedroom and gave me pajama shorts and a t-shirt, saying she would be right back before leaving. I shrugged and changed before sitting on her bed and leaning against the headboard. I crossed my legs at my ankles and looked around at Brittany's bedroom. The walls were a dark blue and the dresser and bedside tables were black. There was also a desk which was full of papers and books, like the coffee table in the living room.
"How are you feeling?" Brittany asked me. I turned to find her walking towards the bed in boxers and a tank top, causing me to lick my lips seeing all this creamy soft skin that was on display. I'm feeling turned on, I thought but I shook my head to clear it.
"I'm ok." I shrugged while she sat on the bed on her knees and shuffled closer to me, sitting on her haunches opposite me, beside my legs.
"Matt's plane took off ten minutes ago." She told me and I nodded. She sighed and put her hand on my leg, causing me to tense but when she started rubbing my calf up and down comfortingly I relaxed again. "I know you want to be there, I would want to too. Actually I would say 'fuck it' and go find them. But that would be stupid and you're smart." She said and I smiled softly at her. She uncrossed my legs and started massaging my calf with both of her hands, making my mouth to go dry because of her touch. "Besides, it's not your fault you're so tiny." She said teasingly and I rolled my eyes at her.
"I could take you, you know." I defended myself and she arched an eyebrow at me. She grabbed the back of my knees with both her hands and tugged me down the bed so I was lying on the mattress and she settled between my bent legs, causing my arousal to multiply tenfold.
"You think you can take me?" She husked against my lips and I shivered from the feeling of her breath hitting my face and her chest against mine. Only then I realized what I said and my mouth went dry.
"I meant down." I said shakily and watched as her gaze drifted towards my lips and stayed there.
"So you can't take me?" She asked me whispering. A whimper tried to get out from deep within my throat when I imagined 'taking' Brittany. I was sure watching Brittany having an orgasm would be the sexiest thing in the world. And just by thinking that it would be me causing her such pleasure, caused me to give up on trying keeping in that whimper and I let it out. I leaned forward and kissed her hard on the lips.
She let out a low moan and I immediately sucked her pierced bottom lip, enjoying the noises she was making. Maybe enjoying them a little too much. I slid my hands through her blonde hair and darted my tongue across her bottom lip, asking for entrance which she gave me without a second thought. When our tongues made contact I moaned too at the sensation of my tongue inside her warm and wet mouth. Her hands started going up and down my sides while my hands settled on her shoulder blades. Whenever she touched my sideboobs, my bent knees would tremble and squeeze her hips, as if I was trying to keep her where she was. I could say with certainty that I had never felt so aroused just by kissing someone. But Brittany wasn't just 'someone'. She was Brittany.
After a minute or two of kissing hotly, Brittany pulled back and started kissing my neck and and collarbone. I was breathing heavily and I wondered how we managed to go from talking about Lima to making out.
"I can't control myself around you." She voiced my thoughts against my neck and I hummed my agreement, not able to really form any words when Brittany's tongue was on my body. My hands were going up and down her back while she was kissing and sucking my neck and licking and nibbling on my pulse point. I could feel the start of several bruises but I didn't have the power to stop her. But thankfully she stopped by herself after a few minutes and pulled back to look down at me, with hooded blue eyes full of arousal and pink swollen lips. "Your skin tastes so good, I wonder what you really taste like." She whispered and I thought I would pass out. The image of Brittany tasting me sent a new wave of arousal through me.
"Fuck, Britt." I whimpered and she gave me one last peck on the lips before pulling away from me and lying on the bed beside me, turning on her side. I turned on my side too to face her. After a few seconds of silence our breathing went back to normal and I remembered what I wanted to ask Brittany. "Why do you trust Matt so much?" I asked her and she took a deep breath, staring intently in my eyes.
"I was working on the streets, San." She said quietly like that should explain everything. I looked at her expectantly and she sighed. "Matt and I were in the same class since the first grade. We weren't best friends but back then I really liked having friends so I was always talking to him. Then when I was fourteen I had to…uh, you know, become a prostitute. And he found me one day on the street. He didn't ask how or why, he just asked if it was really necessary to do that job. When I said yes he promised to protect me. We even moved to New York together." She said and swallowed thickly. "He has been protecting me since then." She finished. I took a few seconds to process what she told me. If Matt knew about Brittany being a prostitute then his sister knew it from him too.
"Did you ever need his protection while doing that job?" I asked her and her eyes filled with tears.
"Yes." She whispered effectively causing my face to fall as well. "I would most probably be dead if it wasn't for Matt."
"No." I whispered back. I didn't want to imagine anyone hurting her. But she just smiled sadly at me.
"I'm fine now." She said shuffling closer and resting her head on the same pillow as me. I frowned at her.
"Are you though?" I asked her and she shrugged.
"I actually thought that I was depressed at some point." She started looking away from me. "Like I thought I lost myself." She said and looked at me again. "But I said I'm fine now." She whispered while putting her arm around my waist and kissing me softly. Her touch caused me to forget the images of those people who wanted to hurt this angel in front of me. My heartbeats increased at her admission and I felt happiness settle into me for causing her feeling happy and like herself again. After a few seconds she pulled back. "Turn around." She told me while tugging on my side. I turned on my other side and she shuffled closer behind me, her hand going on my stomach while our legs tangled together. The heat radiating from her body caused me to relax in her embrace and sigh. Brittany kissed the back of my neck, mumbling 'goodnight'. I said it back, shuffling back closer to her body and she tightened her arm around me. It wasn't long until I heard Brittany's steady breathing, which caused me to close my eyes and enjoy feeling the safest I had ever felt. With the thought that if Matt could protect Brittany then he could protect my parents as well, I let sleep take over me.
A.N.: Tell me your thoughts.