Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and no one died from the Black Friday sale ;)
And yes, I just updated Magic as well. Happy reading!
Two days have passed since Brittany won that syndication contract and well, lost Santana.
It hasn't been easy on her, to say the least. She's just so heartbroken that even with such an achievement of locking the syndication contract, she feels the complete opposite about it. Because one, it was a team effort with Santana and two, acting like everything is normal after that was taxing as hell. She couldn't face Santana nor even bring herself to talk to the brunette. To the point that instead of hitching a ride back to Manhattan, she decided to opt for the train while she cried her eyes out all the way back and until she fell asleep that night.
Maybe.
She never thought that one word could her make feel absolutely devastated. It's hard enough to act strong or that everything's alright. But it's so much worse when the person that she always confides in, the one who holds her when she cries her heart out during these times while spoiling her with every comfort food available to man, the woman who in a snap, makes everything infinitely okay for Brittany is the same person who has hurt her badly. It only pisses her off all the more when she can't do anything about the fact that she's hopelessly and madly in love with Santana throughout all this.
No calls. No messages. No communication whatsoever from each other so far. As much as Brittany would want to talk or just hear Santana's voice, she doesn't want to subject herself to any more pain. Or plain torture herself. She doesn't even know if she would ever want to talk to the brunette again. Right now, she's trying to survive everyday with these problems in her romantic life. Fucking ironic that she gives the best love advice to everyone and she can't seem to apply it on herself.
It's times like these that she wishes more than ever that her father was still here. It's been a few years and not a day goes by without her missing him. One of those things that she misses the most about her dad is Rich Pierce giving the relationship expert herself advice about her love life or comforting her whenever she needs it. Of course, she'll get the occasional speech about the girl she's dating back in the days being bad news and all that but for all it's worth, it's always for the best. As she looks back on it now though, Richard was always very fond of Santana and even put her money on them ending up together. Well, dumb luck. Not gonna happen now, right?
So, here she is, downcast as hell as she's sitting in the radio booth alone, listening to her dad's recorded broadcasts for probably the five hundredth time.
"No, Dan. I don't believe in putting all your faith on one member of the team only. That's bullshit! That's why it's called a team. You need to put your faith into them as a whole and they will do the same for each other. It's not just camaraderie being built when you do that. You establish satisfaction, friendship, and respect as top priorities over winning a ring. Instead of placing all that pressure on one player's shoulder, I believe that you should put it upon them all. Less stress and pressure as they come together towards one goal and that is to win. End of story." Richard Pierce declares with confidence and bravado, something Brittany have always admired about her father.
"Brittany, what are you still doing here?" A voice calls out from the doorway. Brittany looks up from her gaze at the floor to see Will entering the room. "By the way, congratulations on the syndication contract!"
"Oh, hey, Will. Just listening to old recordings of my dad. Just the usual. And thanks." She utters with a tired tone.
"'Thanks'? Aren't you supposed to be celebrating with Santana or something?"
"Well, I don't need Santana to celebrate with. I can do it alone or with my other friends, I can always do it without her." Brittany counters with a bitter tone and Will could only look at the girl in a bit of confusion.
Upon getting a better look at the blonde, Will recognizes the sadness in Brittany's face as that not ordinarily seen of the blonde missing her dad but as something else. Ever since Brittany's father passed away, he had been a regular fixture in the girl's life, supporting Brittany in any way he can professionally and if needed, personally.
"Hey kid, is everything alright? Did you two have a fight or something?" Will asks innocently as he takes a seat across from Brittany.
"Yeah. All is well. Things just doesn't work out sometimes. We have that syndication and that's what's important, right?" She replies nonchalantly, turning up the volume of the recording playing in the background with an annoyed look but almost instantly, Will turns it back off.
"Is this really all about that syndication and nothing to do with how you feel for Santana?" He whispers, leaning a bit closer. Brittany looks up, a bit taken aback by the statement but she really shouldn't be shocked since Will has known her long before she had her first memory. She doesn't respond and just slowly nods while taking a deep breath. "What happened?"
Brittany fidgets with her fingernails and avoids eye contact with Will. "W-we just fell out."
Will sighs and nods at that, not knowing how to react and deciding against pushing it. He's never really quite seen Brittany like this before so it must be really something that impacted her so much that it had to take the usual quirkiness you see from the girl seemingly thrown out the door. Instead of going on about something only the blonde's dad could deliver, he smiles to himself and talk about one thing he knows will cheer Brittany up even just a little. He stands up and searches for a few records that are safely hidden in a cabinet then takes one of his favorites out of the bunch to play for Brittany.
Upon putting the record on playback, Richard Pierce's voice echoes throughout the booth but instead of the usual perfect takes that he always had, this one is filled with failed takes. Takes laden with mistakes and few of them filled with curses and profanities of the man repeatedly saying wrong words or phrases. A few of them of Rich Pierce being frustrated at the script given to him or the people at the booth outside distracting him. Either way, it's quite amusing for Brittany to listen since she's never really heard her dad like this.
Will and Brittany laugh at the few takes, particularly the ones where her father had his tongue frustratingly twisted at introducing himself. It was short lived though. Upon getting through the first minute, she finally gets enough of it and stops the playback.
"What are you getting at, Will?" She almost snaps back but the man just grins at her.
"I just thought you should hear this."
"What? My dad fumbling around and making mistakes?"
Will chuckles and goes on to sit in front of her again. "Yes. Particularly that it took him a few takes to get things right. That even the best radio host in the country for the last decade was human." He pauses while Brittany seems to think about the whole thing.
"You know, your dad has always been regarded as the best during his time." Will trails off. "Athletes, coaches, name it, they were all very fond of him. Everyone respected him. He was a great man but not even he was perfect. He had flaws and so do you. So does Jamie. So does Santana. Specifically Santana." He pauses again. "But maybe if you look past those flaws, you would see that she's great and perfect in her own way too. That maybe you'd be a great couple but only if you look past the façade, the wall that she may put on sometimes to protect herself from getting hurt like every other human being, and the flaws she has. That she's amazing on her own too. That Santana is only human too." He ends with a smile.
Brittany feels like she's just been hit with a ton of bricks. Will may not be her father but only someone who's known her for as long as he did could say something like that. And if she's going to be honest, Will is right. Maybe she just needed to hear that little speech to help her get herself back on track. To get Santana back. However, before Brittany could reply and completely absorb his words, her phone rings on the table in front of her. She glances to see that it's Puck calling, making her a bit nervous since Quinn's due anytime now.
"Go pick that up, kid. Just remember what I said." He says with a grin before saying goodbye and leaving Brittany alone in the booth once again to contemplate for a second or two. She picks up the phone soon after.
"Hey, Puck. Is everything okay? Is Quinn okay? You need me to look after Beth?" She asks worriedly while packing up and hastily returning everything she used in the booth.
"Yeah, everything's good! She's meeting up with Santana to buy something, actually. And Beth is at my mom's for the week, so don't worry about it."
Santana. Hearing her name produces feelings inside her that she can't seem to describe.
"Oh, cool. What's up?" She utters, desperately trying to veer away from the topic with a seemingly clueless Puck.
"I'm almost done babyproofing the whole apartment but I need help with the tables. I wouldn't dare ask Santana about this since she sucks ass with these kinds of things. You think you can give me a hand? I do have chocolate cake here to bribe you with, if that helps." Puck chuckles on the other line.
Brittany laughs. "Sure, no problem. That better be the best chocolate cake I've had in my life, Puck." She responds cheerfully then gathers her stuff, locking the booth door behind her. "I'm on my way."
Brittany.
For the past couple of days, all's that been on Santana's mind, day in and day out, is Brittany. It's been killing her just by thinking how much she hurt the blonde. As if someone had just struck her in the head multiple times, stabbed her in the chest repeatedly, and ran her over with a truck and put it in reverse just for good measure. Actually, saying all those aren't even enough. The pain is just indescribable and almost too much to bear even for her.
Maybe.
Never mind the feelings of guilt that's been killing her. She's fully aware that the moment she said the word she had just probably made the biggest mistake in her life. She can't fathom why she felt the fucking need to say it. It's like word vomit and reflex all rolled up into one. All because she doesn't want to be the loser or for lack of a better way to put it, her walls just came up and she wants the other to feel the pain and hurt it caused her. Fucking stupid reasons.
"Hello? Earth to Santana?" Quinn voices out as she snaps a finger in front of her friend to catch her attention.
Seeing that Quinn's doctor told her that she's about to pop anytime within this week, she's been alternately on lockdown by Puck, Brittany, and Santana while tending to all her wants and needs like the happiest spoiled child right now. So, when the pregnant blonde craved for pineapples and the lucky person she chose to accompany her to the grocery store is Santana, with a bit of side mission of finding out why she and Brittany are avoiding each other like the plague, the brunette can't say no even if she just wants to spend all day sleeping in bed.
"Huh?" Santana gives her a look with her mind somewhere far away.
"I said, this grocery store has nice pineapples. Don't you think?"
"Hmm… I guess so." The brunette replies and absentmindedly checks the apples in front of her.
Quinn sighs at how her friend is acting right now, so not Santana without the witty retorts or insults. "Alright. Spill it." She utters and only receives a curious glance from Santana.
"You and Brittany have been deliberately avoiding each other these past few days and don't give me the excuse that you just can't happen to catch each other at the same time because that's complete and utter bullshit. You weren't even there at her celebratory dinner. Now, Satan, cut to the chase and tell me what the fuck is happening with you two?" She finishes rambling and is a bit shocked when Santana doesn't do her usual comeback or fight against her. This time, it's a look of defeat as her friend stares down at the floor.
"I-It's complicated, Quinn."
"Is it, San? Maybe you're just overthinking it."
"I don't know. It's all too much. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Who the fuck knows?"
The blonde shakes her head. It's looking to be a bit hard but she might as well dive in head first with the little leeway Santana is providing to get to her. Quinn anchors her arms with that of Santana's then slowly leads her to the baking section aisle.
"Alright. This is going to be one of those real talk things, okay? How about you walk me through everything? From the top."
Santana sighs. As much as she doesn't want to speak up or anything, she really can't find any reason why she shouldn't tell Quinn. Besides, Lucy might pop out a baby right here, right now if she were to upset her friend. Who knows, maybe it could lift some of the burden on her shoulders too.
"W-Well, Brittany and I slept together."
Quinn's eyes immediately widen as she gives Santana a look with utmost surprise. "You had sex?!" She exclaims loud enough that a mother and child glance their way for a second then scurry away the next.
"How about we keep it to ourselves?" Santana scoffs with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry, got a little carried away." Quinn fake grins and directs her attention by searching for yeast in the baking aisle. "But you slept together?! Like naked lady loving, orgasmic pleasure driving kisses all over and fing-"
"I don't think I need to describe what 'sex' is to you. You're fucking pregnant with baby number two, Q." Santana cuts her off with a sarcastic chuckle.
Quinn rolls her eyes. "Wait, are we talking about a one-time thing here or a lot more than that?" She whispers without looking at her friend.
"Define 'a lot more than that', Q."
The blonde does a quick glance at the brunette, trying to figure it out for herself. "Did it happen just once then no more or was it an all-night thing with the promise of more afterwards?"
"W-Well…" Santana trails off as she tries to weigh in on it. "The latter, I guess?"
"Y-You mean?..."
"U-Uh… I think it's a little TMI if I go on further." Santana grits through her teeth in all its awkwardness.
Quinn's mouth drops as she gives her friend a shocked look with her hands on both sides of her waist. "Hold the fuck up! This is major fucking news and I only knew about this now?! I'm hurt, Satan. My two best friends finally slept together and I didn't even have an inkling. I'm crying inside, S."
"I thought you weren't interested about my sex life." Santana can't help but smirk at that as she finally hands Quinn the few packets of yeast she's been searching for and places it on their cart.
"Oh, please. I'm still not but when it involves the godmother of the child inside me that doesn't seem to want to leave my body just yet then I'm very much invested to know what the hell happened to lead you girls into not talking to each other. So, tell me everything."
"Does it even matter? It's not as if she'll talk to me any way. And it's not like I'd want to see her anytime soon."
"I call bullshit." Quinn counters with a bored look as she goes on to search for some flour.
"Even if I did, I don't know how I could patch things up with her, Q."
"But why? What did she do? What did you do? How did it all go wrong?"
Santana takes a deep breath as she follows Quinn from behind. "Gosh, Q. You ask more questions than my conscience if I had one."
"Just answer the damn question or I'll shower you with this pack of flour in my hand."
"Alright, alright!" Santana holds up both hands in defense and Quinn smiles to herself at the ceasefire. "It was going well, perfect actually. Then Dani showed up, cornered me, and kissed me out of the blue. And in a rather unfortunate case, Brittany saw it."
"What?! Who the fucking hell is this Dani? Oh my god, it feels like something you'll see in Univision. Poor Brittany, what did she say?"
"Dani was Britt's rival for the syndication. And well, I think we all know how that turned out. Britt and I are not talking, obviously."
"But you must have talked a little about it after, right?" Quinn asks her with a quick glance while putting a box of chocolate chips on their cart.
"We did."
"And?"
"It was okay." Santana shrugs, a bit hesitant to go this route because she knows deep in her heart what would become of her when Quinn knows what she said exactly. Particularly the word that broke Brittany completely.
True enough, Quinn picks up on her uneasiness. "How about you tell me what happened instead of us exchanging less than five word sentences?"
"Nothing happened!" Santana scoffs as she takes a deep breath. It takes her a few seconds to recover and when she looks back at Quinn, she sees her staring back as if she's waiting for her to continue. "We talked and Britt said she was hurt that she saw Dani and I make out when it was really just the bitch ambushing me. I told her that I had nothing to do with it and what she saw wasn't entirely that way. We fought a little about it, her trust issues with me, and my issues with her." She whispers in a defeated tone.
"What exactly are your issues with her?"
Santana shakes her head and just waves a hand in disregard. "I don't want to talk about it anymore, Q. Let's just drop it."
Quinn nods and glances beside her to see Santana looking so downtrodden. It's kind of new to her since she's never really seen the brunette like this before, up close and personal.
"Fine. But just answer one last question for me."
"Will you drop it after?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Okay, shoot." Santana utters nonchalantly as she fake reads something at the back of a peanut butter jar.
"This is by intuition but, did you say something to upset her so bad that she had to take the train home instead of hitching with you back here?" Quinn asks innocently with a quick glance at Santana then back to searching for puff pastry.
Meanwhile, Santana freezes at the question. Quinn knows the both them too well and it's just one of those questions that she's been dreading to hear. Plus, knowing her pregnant friend, she's never gonna let this go so might as well face the music.
"I might have."
Quinn squints her eyes at Santana, her whole attention on the girl after finding the pre made puff pastry that's in her hands now. "Go on."
Santana grits through her teeth, thinking of the nicest way to put it and place the words in her mind. "W-Well, I asked her if that night we spent together was just sex for her-" She trails off before getting cut off by Quinn who's very much eager to know what's next.
"And what did she say?"
"She said that it wasn't. That it's so much more than that for her and she has feelings for me."
Quinn holds up a hand to digest that statement for a moment. "If she said that then what's the problem?"
Santana immediately avoids eye contact with Quinn and busies herself with a box of pre-made cookies, desperate for their conversation not to veer there.
The blonde raises an eyebrow at Santana while tapping the puff pastry on her palm. "What exactly did you say?" Quinn whispers, almost in a motherly tone but definitely sounding like one of those villains in a horror movie. It's Quinn's you-better-confess-now-bitch tone.
Oh, boy.
Santana doesn't really know how she can escape this at all so she just closes one eye and braces herself for the incoming onslaught.
"'M-Maybe'." Santana murmurs with a pained expression.
To say the least, the next few seconds were just that, painful.
"What. The. Fuck. Satan!" Quinn angrily exclaims while bashing Santana on the arm repeatedly with the pre made puff pastry in her hands.
"Ow! What the hell, Q?! That fucking hurts!" Santana sneers as she massages her arm and takes a step back to create space between them or rather, save herself from more pain.
"It hurts? Well, that's clearly not enough for the pain you caused Brittany! 'Maybe'?! What the fuck were you thinking?! Oh my god, Santana. You make me want to give birth in the middle of a grocery store!"
"I don't know, okay?! It just came over me like reflex! Can you calm the fuck down? I won't be able to drag you to my car and into the hospital alone if you go to labor now."
"Mommy, mommy! Look, a pregnant woman!" A small boy exclaims behind them like he's seen something magical. Unfortunately, he caught both women at a bad time.
"No, of course she's not! What do you think, kid? Maybe she's just full with a tummy that's ten times bigger than your head! Why don't we kick it and see if she's really pregnant huh?" Santana snaps back at the little boy who instantly runs away and cries to his mother.
"Why would you do that, S? He's just a little kid!"
"He's fine." Santana rolls her eyes and glances behind her to see the mother comforting the boy then leaving after.
"Fine. But you're still not off the hook with the Brittany thing." Quinn holds both hands up in defense and surrenders the puff pastry in her hands to their grocery cart. "Seriously, you are such a bitch for saying that. No wonder she's been acting like someone died lately. You are so unfair. How dare you say that?"
"I think you're the one being unfair on siding with her on this. You're supposed to be Switzerland, Q."
"I am on nobody's side, okay? If it were the other way around, I would have had the same reaction. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't have said that after she told you she had feelings for you. Maybe you should have just stabbed her in the heart and buried her and her feelings six feet under. That would have been probably better."
Santana breathes deeply and shakes her head as she follows Quinn to the checkout counter. "There's nothing I can do about now, can I? It's over. Just let it be."
"There is. It's called talking."
"But she doesn't want to talk to me. I can't force her to do something she doesn't want to." Santana trails off. "Maybe it's for the best if she and I just steer clear of each other.
"That's bullshit. If she has feelings for you like she said then there's nothing she'd want more but to hear your voice and see your face. Believe me, S."
"Maybe, okay? But I don't know how. I'm not good at this. I've never been in this situation before."
Quinn remarks and stops in her tracks as they put their stuff on the counter for the cashier to ring their items. "Answer this. Do you have feelings for her?"
Santana could only stare at Quinn for a few seconds. She's never really admitted it to anyone but herself. But it is the truth and there's nothing she could do about it.
"Yes, I do. A lot." She answers, plain and simple. Quinn doesn't say anything anymore and just nods at that while they proceed to finish at the cashier in silence.
"Come on now, honey. Let's go back to my place, plan our strategy, and bake something to make you feel better."
"So, what exactly do you plan on doing?" Quinn voices out as they walk back the remaining few steps to the apartment.
"What do you mean?" Santana asks innocently as she struggles a bit with the grocery bags in her arms.
"Surely you'd want to talk things out soon with Britt, don't you?"
Santana sighs and tries to shake it off. "Soon but not right now. Can you please not pressure me?"
"I'm not pressuring you. I'm just asking. Don't need to be so defensive." Quinn replies with a shrug as they reach their door and opens it with the keys in her hand.
"Look, knowing Brit, she'd still be pretty much an emotional wreck right now. So, she'll need a bit of space. If I talk to her now, we won't be able to fix anything because of all the drama. She'd be uptight. She can be a drama queen every once in a while and I'm just a bitch. We both know that. Besides, I'm not the only one at fault here. She started all this!" Santana exclaims with a bitter tone as they enter the apartment.
"What did you say?"
A familiar soft voice scoffs from the living room and Santana swears that her heart almost combusts with fear at the realization of being heard and the fact that the subject of such an unflattering statement is only a few feet away. Upon turning around to face the voice, she almost jumps when she sees Brittany looking so furious.
"U-Uh-" Santana stutters bigtime. In a bid to save herself some time, she settles the grocery bags on the coffee table then looks behind her to see Quinn looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"I'm a drama queen and it's my fault? And we're getting our friends to side with us now? Really, Santana?" Brittany sneers with eyebrows scrunched in anger as she walks towards Santana.
"Britt, San…" Quinn speaks out in a small voice to try and break off the scene in front of her.
"I-I didn't mean it like tha-"
"Really?! Then what the hell do you mean by that? Because from the way I heard it there's no other way to interpret it."
"Hey, Britt! I found extra tape and cotton for the sides of that ta-" Puck exclaims happily but stops grinning immediately upon seeing the three women in the living room, immersed in a slight tension. "U-Uh… Is everything alr-" He treads lightly but only gets cut off by Brittany and Santana who couldn't care less nor give a fuck about his sudden presence.
Santana breathes deeply because once again she's going to shine bright like a diamond on Brittany if she won't be able to keep her patience in check. "Can you calm down? We can talk about this."
Brittany gives her a look with a raised eyebrow then crosses her arms. "'Talk'?" She huffs with a smirk. "Is that something you learned today? Because you never really knew how to do that."
"Can you fucking stop it, Britt?! Why are you making a big deal out this?"
"Because apparently, the only person you don't want to talk with is me."
"Oh, please. Like you reached out to me or something." Santana sneers while returning the blonde's glare.
"What? You seriously think I should have been the one reaching out to you after what you said?!"
"Don't put this all on me, Britt! Besides, I wasn't ready, okay?! Why is everyone pressuring me to do things I don't fucking want to?"
"Who's pressuring you, Santana? No one's forcing you to do anything!"
"Guys…" Quinn voices out once again but to no avail.
"You're one to talk!" Santana counters while crossing her arms. "Just because you heard me say something as small as calling you a drama queen or putting all the blame on you, you're flipping out on me like this? And interpreting stuff the way you see and hear them? Oh come on, it's like you've gotten it down to an expert level by now."
"Do not make this about me, San. You're the one who started this!"
"Please. You're overreacting! You always are!"
Brittany sighs deeply and shakes her head in disbelief. "More than a decade of friendship and this is what it has come to?"
"You should have just trusted me instead of making assumptions, Britt!"
"Well, you shouldn't have decided to fuck your best friend in the first place then tell her that she's just another notch on your fucking bedpost!" Brittany retorts and receives a gasp on the other end of a clueless Puck.
"I never said that!"
"Oh, please. You may have said it in another way but the meaning is all the same."
"I didn't mean it like th-"
"Can you stop fucking arguing?! My water just fucking broke, you fucking bitches! You can continue this fucking argument in the fucking car but get me to the fucking hospital before I fucking give birth here in my living room!" Quinn cuts Santana off as she angrily exclaims and this time, successfully catches all of their attention.
Puck, Santana, and Brittany stare at each for a moment, trying to digest those words or gather what just happened. Did they just hear that Quinn's water just broke her wa-
"Move!" Quinn shouts and this time everyone scrambles in a hurry to do their respective jobs that they all rehearsed repeatedly.
With the way Brittany and Santana are glaring at each other right now from across the room, the car ride to the hospital is bound to be fucking interesting.
May or may not update this Thursday. If I don't get to, then by default, it would be on Sunday again.