As I said in the last chapter, Brittany will be finding out what Santana's biggest fear is. Santana's fear is also mine, and so this story is coming from real life experiences. It's sort of a sensitive subject for me but it's been so long that I feel a bit more comfortable talking about it now days so I decided to incorporate it in the story. Now, just to be clear. I do not need to drink every time this happens. That part is just for the story.

But of course it still scares the living shit out of me. So here we go, Chapter 9.

Brittany quietly walked into the house and saw that Santana was fighting a losing battle with her eyelids. She understood why she was so exhausted, they had a pretty long day. Her back was feeling a little better but she figured that she should take her medicine anyway. After rustling around in her back pack, Brittany found her bottle of medication and set it down on the counter. She grabbed a cup off of the dish rack and filled it with water from the sink.

"Babe? Is that you?" Brittany turned, checking to see if Santana had walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah it's me."

"Are you okay?" She turned back towards her cup of water and tried her best to open her bottle without making too much noise. They were home now but she still didn't want Santana to find out that she was taking her pills. Popping the cap off, she got two out and placed them in her hand.

Santana's hands appeared out of nowhere, grabbing her from behind. They made their way up her back, gently of course. Brittany tensed up a little, she had scared her.

"6?"

"Yeah.. But its not so bad. How'd you know?" Santana smiled.

"I've been around you pretty much everyday. I know you. And when you jumped on me I knew your back was going to bother you later." With a disappointed look, Brittany took her pills and placed the cup in the sink. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't want to ruin your night."

"Oh babe you didn't ruin my night, I promise. Just cause your back hurts little bit doesn't mean anything. Yeah, I want you to be alright but it won't ruin the night." She massaged Brittany's back a little as they stood there. She placed her head on Santana's shoulder and started to relax. "Come on. Let's go to my room. That way you can relax some more."

The girls walked into Santana's room. It wasn't as big as Brittany's but it was good enough for her. Santana had a small tv, and her walls were covered in old softball posters and team pictures from over the years. She took pride in everything she did, and every team she played for regardless of if they were good or not. And that was something that Brittany liked a lot about her. She was loyal. Before she laid down on the bed, Brittany took her shirt off and threw it on her bag.

"You want me to open the window? It's kinda hot tonight." Santana stood on her bed to open the window. "I'll just crack it, that way air can come in."

When she turned, she found that Brittany was already fast asleep. She laid down next to her carefully. "Goodnight, Britt Britt."

Britt Britt? What the hell? Santana shook her head in embarrassment. At least she wasn't awake to hear that. The feelings she had for this girl was out of this world. She propped herself up on her elbow and watched her sleep. All the muscles in her face and body were totally at peace. There was no sign of pain coming from her at all. Santana traced Brittany's back lightly from the top of her spine all the way down.

"I love you, Brittany." She didn't move an inch. "And I'll find the perfect time to tell you."

After their long night, Brittany didn't get up until about 10:30. She rolled off of the bed and went to freshen up. After she finished up, she walked back into the room to see that Santana was now sprawled out on top of the comforter. Her shirt was above her sports bra. She knew that Santana was hot so she climbed over her carefully and opened the window all the way.

Brittany didn't want to wake Santana up yet so she went into the living room and turned on the tv. After about three episodes of the Vampire Diaries she went back into the room and saw her girlfriend in pretty much the same position. She walked over to the bed and sat next to her.

"Babe?" She shook her a little bit. "San honey get up it's late. And you're sweating."

Santana sat up and wiped her face with her shirt. "Fuck what time is it?"

"Umm..." Brittany looked down at her phone. "It's like, 12:45. Almost 1."

"Come on. We meeting up with the team down at Hapuna. I forgot to tell you last night." She hopped off of the bed and opened her closet. "The waves supposed to be raging today."

"What?"

"Sorry. Big. The waves are gonna be big today." Brittany grabbed her shirt off of her bag and put it on. "Can you call Rachel for me? Ask her if she get my boogie board."

"Okay. I will. You need me to help you with anything?"

"Nah. I gettum, babe. I'm just gonna change and grab us some stuff to sit on at the beach."

Brittany walked back into the living room and called Rachel.

"Hey Britt is everything okay? How's your back?"

"Everything's fine. It's way better than last night. Thanks for that, by the way." Brittany walked outside onto Santana's porch. She had a gorgeous view of the ocean. It was amazing what she saw when she was with Santana. "San was wondering if you had her boogie board?"

"It's no problem foreal. Umm.. Yeah I got it over here. You guys coming beach yeah?"

"We are. She just woke up so we getting out things together and then leaving." Brittany could hear someone in the background.

"Quinn told me to tell you hello. And that you need to text her later." She laughed. "I'll see you guys down at the beach."

"Tell her I say hello and that I will right when we get off of the phone. Bye Rach."

Brittany hung up the phone and walked back inside. Santana was only in her bathing suit now. A all black one with a volcom sign on the right breast.

"We need to stop by your house huh?" She nodded. "Okay. And by the way I'm not letting you ride today. You don't have your brace do you."

"No I don't. I knew you weren't going to let me."

After swinging by Brittany's place, the girls finally made their way down to the beach. They weren't going to Kiholo but Santana assured her that it would be just a great. Maybe even better. There wasn't a ice pond but this beach was like one of the best on the island.

"If the waves are big, I don't really want you going in babe." Brittany turned to Santana and gave her a surprised look. "What? I know how dangerous it can be at Hapuna okay. I've gotten pounded there and with you and your back still being sore I don't want to risk it. Hapuna is the number one beach in the entire state for the most accidents and I don't want you being one of them."

"Fine. I'll just sit on the shore because I already know it's going to be hot as hell. It's a such a nice day today."

And Brittany wasn't wrong about that. The sun was out and there was a slight breeze. Just enough to make it bearable to sit out and tan. When they got to the beach they met up with the rest of the girls who were sitting under one of the pavilions and setting up to eat. Kalbi (Kal-bee) ribs, shoyu (show-you) chicken, rice, bbq'd hot dogs and macaroni salad.

"Finally! We been here for like hours already. We hungry." Kalei walked up to the girls and kissed them hi.

"No one told you guys no eat. You didn't have to wait." Santana placed the cooler on the ground and went around and told everyone hi. "But foreal how long were you guys here?"

"Nah not that long, maybe fifteen- twenty minutes at the most. Your boogie board is leaning up against the tree over there with mines one." Rachel pointed in the direction of the boards. "I told you was huge today. At least seven foot faces on the biggest in the set."

Brittany looked out to the water and saw massive sets of waves coming up onto the shore. Hapuna was nothing like Kiholo, it had regular colored sand and a whole bunch of people. A couple hotels sat right behind the beach so she figured that was why there were a lot of tourists out.

"Those waves are huge." Santana sat next to Brittany and handed her a plate of food. "I can see now why you told me not to go in."

"Yeah. If your back wasn't hurting I'd let you go. but I'd be with you, of course. 'If in doubt, don't go out'. "

Everyone talked and ate then headed for the water. When they reached the shoreline Santana turned to Brittany and kissed her. "Did you wanna go in now or later?"

"I'll wait for now. I kinda just want to see right over here and watch the waves." It was her first time seeing this type of swell. She would see it in pictures all the time. before she moved to Hawaii, the only things she would picture in her mind when someone brought it up was hula dances, waves and sunsets. But she knew that it was much more than that. "Please be careful when you're in the water, San."

"I'm always safe. I promise." Santana ran down into the shallow part of the water and put her fins on.

Brittany sat down in the sand next to Kalei. "How come you aren't going in?"

"Waves and stuff aren't really my thing. I'm not into it like Santana and Rachel are. Every winter they come down here and bodyboard. It don't matter if its raining or sunny as fuck they gonna go out if the waves are pumping like this."

"They ever get hurt?" She turned her head towards the water now, spotting Santana and Rachel paddling out towards where the waves were breaking. "I mean it looks pretty dangerous."

"It can be but if anyone can handle themselves out there, it would be the two. You don't have to worry about her, Sooner. Trust me."

A set was rolling in and Brittany watched as Santana set herself up to catch the next wave. She paddled forward and dropped in. The barrel formed and she lost sight of Santana. But a couple seconds later she re-appeared coming out from underneath.

They bodyboarded for about a hour, when finally they came walking back onto the shore. Brittany and Kalei were both asleep now, laying out on the sand trying to catch a tan. Rachel turned to Santana and smiled. They stood above the two girls and let their wet hair drip onto their faces. Kalei jumped up and tackled Rachel onto the ground, while Brittany opened her eyes and attempted to look up at Santana. It was bright so she had a little trouble adjusting to the brightness right away. Santana got down and kissed her.

"You doing alright, babe? You look a little burnt." She laughed. "You didn't put any sunscreen on did you."

"No I didn't. Greaaaat. I hate being burnt." She stood up and fixed her hair. "You're done already?"

"For now. I didn't want to leave you out of the water too long. Come on." She left her board with the other two girls and walked down to the shore. Brittany followed behind her, still a little hazy from her nap.

"I thought you didn't want me to go in?" Santana held out her hand and Brittany grabbed it without hesitation. "I'm scared."

"It'll be okay. I'll teach you how to handle out here." They stepped into the water and Brittany shivered. It was cold. "Just jump in. It'll be better." Santana dove under the water and swam a couple feet. She came up and flipped her hair backwards. "Come on, babe. I won't put you in any danger."

Brittany dove in and the cold water engulfed her entire body. It felt nice especially since she had just been laying in the sun for over thirty minutes. It was a little later in the afternoon now so the sun was starting to creep closer to the horizon.

"Alright. The easiest way I can put it is when you are swimming out and the wave is coming you dive under it. You can go as low as you want just as long you don't get caught by the bottom of the wave then it's going to take you with it." Brittany looked at her. "Once we get out past the sets we'll be alright and it'll be calm. But just to be on the safe side, 1-10?"

"4. You sure I'll be able to do this? Go under the wave?" Santana swam over to where Brittany was and held her hand in hers.

"I'll be right next to you the whole time. Alright. The set is about to come in. Ready?" She smiled and together they dove under the wave. Brittany watched as the wave rolled over them. They came up for a breath of air and went under again. When they got past the danger zone, Brittany realized that she couldn't touch the bottom. "You alright there babe?"

"Yeah I'm good. It's deep out here huh?" She looked back towards the beach and saw that they had gone out pretty far. "It's nice. Quiet."

"It is." Brittany knew that if she couldn't reach the bottom, neither could Santana. She wasn't as tall as Brittany was. "We can't stay out here too long though okay? I don't want us swimming back when it's dark because it'll make it that much harder for us to get past the sets."

They treaded water for about twenty minutes and then finally decided to swim back in. Brittany didn't have any doubts about getting past the waves and back onto shore. The rest of the girls were sitting under the pavilion now and drinking. Kama saw the girls walking up towards them and handed them both a beer. "Here's to the 2010 Homecoming Queen. We're all super stoked for you, San. No one deserved this more than you." Everyone held up their bottles and then took a sip.

Brittany sat down facing the horizon. The sun was about to set and she always enjoyed the beauty of watching it disappear behind the clouds. "Have you seen it before?" She turned as Santana placed a towel around her. "The green flash that happens right after the sun sets. Have you seen it?"

"I don't think so, thanks for the towel by the way." She wrapped it around her tighter and wiped the water that was dripping off the ties of her bathing suit top. "Have you seen it?"

"Once. My dad and I were driving down Waikoloa road and he told me to look up and it was great timing because right when I looked up at the horizon I saw it. It was only for a split second but I saw it. And I haven't seen it since then."

Brittany scooted closer to Santana and put her arm around her. "Maybe we'll see it tonight?" She held up her bottle. "To you, my wonderful girlfriend. I am so happy and proud that you won homecoming queen. Here's to fulfilling the rest of your goals this year." They tapped their bottles lightly against each other and took another sip.

As Brittany turned her head, the sun set behind the horizon and a green flash appeared. "I just.. I.."

Santana was just as speechless as she was. "That it was. The green flash." Her hand caressed Brittanys cheek as she leaned in to kiss her. Their lips touched and it just felt so good. Like that was where they were meant to be at that time. Nothing else felt more right than that. Rachel quickly snapped a picture before they parted and showed the rest of the girls. Santana moved back a little and smiled. "We should start heading back, I don't want your back getting too cold and it starts to hurt."

She stood up first then helped Brittany on her feet. They told everyone bye and then walked back up towards the parking lot.

"I hope you had a good time, today. I know I spent most of the time in the water." Brittany grabbed onto Santana's waist as they continued walking through the lot to get to her truck.

"I did. Me and Kalei talked a lot while you guys were in the water. She told me about the time you got cut from the reef? Like a year ago." Santana looked over towards her.

"Yeah, that was pretty bad. It was a couple days before we were playing in the post-season tournament. I got caught under a wave and when I was trying to make my way up back towards the surface I sliced my foot open on the reef. We were at this spot like right before Kiholo and to get to that place from the car was like a ten minute walk so Rachel had to help me the entire way. And it wasn't like the thing was paved sidewalk, was like loose gravel. So what should've taken us only like ten minutes ended up being like one hour."

Santana unlocked the truck and Brittany climbed in while she threw the cooler in the truck bed. It was dark now and everyone was leaving the beach. Once they reached Brittany's house Santana went inside and laid down on her bed.

"Tired?" Santana shut her eyes and took a deep breath in. Brittany knew that she was in no condition to drive home so they decided that they'd be staying there tonight. "I'm gonna shower okay?"

She walked into the bathroom and shut the door. The sun had definitely done a number on her- the entire front side of her body was red. As Brittany started to undress, she heard a rumbling sound. The windows started to vibrate and everything that was sitting on the shelves were starting to fall off. The house started to shake and that's when she realized- it was a earthquake. It continued for another fifteen seconds and finally subsided. She picked up everything that fell and placed them back in their original spots. She quickly threw her shirt back on and opened the door to go back into her room.

"San?" But she wasn't there. "Babe?"

Her phone was still sitting on the bed, next to hers. Almost instantly, it started ringing. Rachel Berry.

"Hello?"

"Brittany listen to me carefully. You need to be very patient with Santana okay." Her voice was a bit panicky, with a hint of uncertainty.

"What? What's going on?" Rachel was shuffling around in her room or something, like she was looking for something. "Is it because of the earthquake? I swear she was sleeping in my room and now she's gone."

"I know. You'll find her outside on the road, maybe across the street in the grass. Go outside and calm her down. Just don't keep asking her if she's alright. Actually, don't ask her at all. It's weird I know but just trust me okay. Call me if you need help or anything."

"Wait, Rachel I don't understand." She started to become nervous, Rachel sounded genuinely worried.

"Santana has been afraid of earthquakes for a long time. When you talk to her, she's gonna sound all shaky and shit and you're gonna have to be real patient with her. I know it's cold up there and stuff but after one that was big like that she won't want to go back into the house." Brittany was running down the stairs now, it was dark and she didn't want to lose her in the darkness. "Grab a jacket for you and her and a beer or something if you have any left from the beach. That usually helps. Call me if you need me alright. I gotta go and check on my grandma them down the street."

"Alright. Bye Rach."

Brittany found the front door wide open, and Santana pacing back and forth near her truck. "San? Baby it's okay."

"No no. It.. I don't. I'm sorry, Britt. I'm sorry." She started to cry. Brittany walked over to her and Santana basically fell into her arms. Her crying had quickly turned into sobbing and she didn't know what else to do other than hold her close. After about a minute, Santana calmed down and stepped back to wipe her face. The look in her eyes was nothing Brittany had ever seen from her before. She was scared.

"Hey it's going to be okay. I'm with you." Santana was taking deep breaths in, in attempt to calm herself down. "You want a beer?" She jumped onto the back of the truck and opened up the cooler. Sweet. Four more beers. I hope that's enough, she thought to herself. She opened two bottles and sat on the tailgate of the truck. Santana slowly got up and sat next to Brittany. She shotgunned the entire beer and grabbed the other open one from Brittany's hand. They sat in silence for about ten minutes. She was trying to be patient but the silence was killing her and all she wanted to know was how her girlfriend was feeling.

"I suppose you want to know what I'm feeling..." Was she a freaking mind reader or something? "It's a long story, and I don't want to bore with something so unimportant."

"Unimportant? San you just ran straight out of my house after an earthquake and pretty much broke down. I'd say that's pretty high on the importance list." Santana looked to her and started to cry again. "I'm sorry babe.. I didn't mean to make you cry."

"It's just really hard for me to talk about this okay.. I thought I had a handle on this but it's been a while since I've.. Felt an earthquake. I guess I don't got the hold that I thought I did..." She ran her hand through her hair and slapped it back down on her thigh. "But it's only fair to you that I tell you. Being that we're together and all that.."

Brittany wanted to know. Of course she did but she didn't want Santana to feel like she was forcing it out of her. That was the last thing she wanted to happen. "You don't have to okay? When you're good and ready then you can tell me. I want you to feel safe with me."

"It's not that I don't feel safe with you okay.. Because I do. It only makes sense to tell you now, I mean it just happened and I feel a slight buzz so now is a good time." Santana slid the cooler closer to them and got the last two beers out. "I'm sorry I snatched your beer from you like that, I didn't mean to seem rude or anything."

With a smile, Brittany kissed Santana on the cheek. "It wasn't rude. I promise."

Santana handed Brittany the last beer. "Well, it was my freshman year. Me, Kalei and Kama were planning on going to a off-season football game at the school. My mom had other plans though, she wanted me to be home because my aunt was coming into town and they were planning this huge family luncheon. I never like go but mom made me compromise with her. I'd be able to go to the game after I ate. Which was fine cause all that mattered was getting to see a little of the game."

She took a sip of her beer and started to wipe the condensation off of the outside of the bottle. It was like she was starting to hesitate, having second thoughts about telling the story. Brittany rubbed her back, reassuring her that it was okay to continue.

"I still remember the exact date, you know. October 15, 2006. That morning, like early morning maybe like 6:45 ish, my mom tried to wake me up to get me to start helping her with tidying up the house. I just laid back down like I always do and that's when the house started shaking. I been through earthquakes before, so it wasn't like it was the first time. But this one was different. It didn't stop. The more long it was, the bigger it got. I jumped out my bed and ran straight for the living room. You know where that beam thing is that has the old wreath hanging from it." Brittany nodded in understanding, and Santana continued the story. "Well since I was small my mom them always told me that if there was ever a huge earthquake that would be the safest place to stand. Under the beam. So I ran for it, and grabbed onto the wall that connected to the beam. My mom came running out of the bathroom, screaming. My dad wasn't home, he was in Oahu visiting his friend who had just come back from Afghanistan. Everything went everywhere. Plates and shit was flying out of the cabinets in the kitchen, the wine bottles came crashing down. The fridge opened and everything flew out. Pictures were falling off the walls. What I thought was my mom screaming, was actually me."

Santana shook her head, and took another sip. Her bottle was almost empty now, and she was starting to shake.

"Do you want to go in the house?" She shook her head furiously. "Okay I'll take that as a no. Here." Brittany put the jacket she brought outside on her shoulders.

"I thought we were good, you know like that it was over. But I was wrong. The shaking started again, and I started crying. I thought I was gonna die, Britt. I honestly thought that I was gonna die right there and then. Once it stopped, I ran outside. I refused to go back inside the house. My aunt was about ten minutes from our place when it happened so when she got to us she told us that she wanted to document everything. She works for KGMB 9, you know the news channel. So of course she wanted to get film to use for the newscast. I realized that I had forgotten my phone in the house so I worked up enough courage to go back in and grab it. Everything was trashed. There wasn't an inch of kitchen floor that wasn't covered in broken glass or food. The boxes that were in my closet had fallen out and was all over the place."

"And.. That's why you're afraid of earthquakes?" Santana looked at her then immediately looked down. Brittany was doing her best to be patient, she knew that this was really difficult for Santana to talk about. She could hear it in her voice.

"Partially. It's what happened in the following hours that really got me. There were choke aftershock quakes, and it wasn't like they was small. The big earthquake was a 6.7, with the one that followed it being a 6.1. So the aftershocks ranged from like 4.0-4.9. The biggest earthquake I ever felt up to that point was a 4.2 so going from that and jumping all the way up to a six something was definitely huge. I didn't sleep in my room for like, months after that. I was afraid that if I did and another earthquake hit, then I'd be too far from the front door and the house would come falling on me and I'd die."

Brittany never had anyone tell her a story that made her feel like she was in it. She wasn't sure if it was because she felt so connected to Santana or anything but she definitely felt for her. She may not have been there during the earthquake, but she could feel her emotions. It rocked her so much that she felt like she was going to cry.

"So now, whenever there's an earthquake no matter where I am I run for the door. Thunder and wind scare me just the same. The vibrations from thunder or the sound of wind hitting the house reminds me of the beginning of a earthquake. I get super paranoid and I've tried to control it but I just can't.." It was dark out and Brittany couldn't tell if she was crying or not. "It's been almost four years and I still don't have this shit under control.."

"Hey you don't have to control it. As long as it doesn't control you." Brittany hopped off of the tailgate and stood in front of Santana in between her legs. She placed her hands on her thighs and squeezed lightly. "I don't want you to feel like this and I know that's a stupid thing to say, because you can't help it."

"I've been trying, I really have." Santana jumped off of the tailgate now, and shut it. She placed the bottles inside and grabbed Brittany by the hand. "I hope that this doesn't make me seem like a wuss. The only other person that knows about of this is Rachel. Other people think it's a stupid thing to be afraid of. But it's not like I can just shut this shit off."

"It doesn't make you a wuss, San. It makes you a human being." The ground started to shake a bit, and Santana's grip tightened. "No no. You're alright, babe. I got you." Brittany pulled her close to her and the shaking stopped. "I'm here. You'll be okay."

They held each other for a minute. Brittany loosened her grip a little to kiss Santana. "Let's go inside."

"Are you sure? We don't have to. Not until you're ready."

"As long as I'm with you, I know I'll be okay." They walked into the house together. Brittany made sure the house was locked up and they both headed up stairs to her room.

Santana laid down again but this time she fell asleep almost instantly. A combination of exhaustion and beer took a toll on her. Brittany walked over to her dresser and got her back brace out and a change of clothes. She figured she'd wear it for the rest of the weekend and by Monday it should be good as new. Taking her medication wasn't an option, since she was drinking less than 10 minutes before that. She quickly changed and got ready for bed. Santana's phone started ringing and Brittany got it before it had a chance to wake her up.

"Hello?"

"Oh hey Britt. How's San holding up? I was just calling to check up on her." Brittany looked over to the bed. Her girlfriend was fast asleep. She had a slight snore going.

"She's fine. We just got back into the house actually, and she's already sleeping."

"Sounds about right. We was just talking about this too. I was telling her that she should tell you but she didn't want to bring it up because she felt like it wasn't that big of a deal. That she had it under control. But I know her too well. Thank you for being with her tonight. If there was anyone else that I'd want her to be with it would be you. You're a perfect match for her, Britt. I'm glad you two found each other."

Brittany felt honored. Her girlfriends best friend approved of their relationship and that's like finding the golden ticket to enter willy wonka's chocolate factory. Well, that's how she felt about it anyway.

"Thanks, Rach. That means a lot. I'm gonna head to bed though, I'm pretty wiped out too. Goodnight, see ya on Monday."

"Alright. Take care of her, Britt. And your back too. Goodnight."

Brittany placed their phones on the nightstand and turned off the light. She switched the tv on and put it on a timer. Looking over at Santana, she smiled. There was so many things that she had yet to learn about her girlfriend. Like a book waiting to be read. All she wanted to do, was tell this amazing girl that she loved her. She loved her more than she has ever loved anyone in her entire life. The feeling that Santana gave her was definitely one of a kind and Brittany was going to do everything she could to make them last. She leaned closer to Santana, and kissed her.

"I'm falling in love with you," She whispered.

Not sure what words I used but I know choke showed up in there, and that just means a lot. Like plenty.