Chapter 17 – Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon

A/N: Another (mostly) filler chapter.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Santana lightly ran her fingers up and down Brittany's arm to wake her; they were about half an hour outside of Paris.

It took about ten minutes but Brittany finally woke up and removed her mask and earplugs.

"San?"

"We're almost to Paris, baby. How'd you sleep?"

"Good. The mask and earplugs really helped. Thank you."

Santana smiled. "I'm glad they helped. You're welcome."

They gathered their things and, forty-five minutes later, they had pulled into the Paris station, retrieved their checked bags, and caught a taxi to their hotel.

It was close to six p.m. when they finally arrived at their hotel; Brittany had her eyes closed and her head on Santana's shoulder the entire way there. Once at the hotel, Santana checked them in and led Brittany to their room. The upgrade Santana had made gave them a small suite.

"Santana? I thought we were getting just a single room?"

Santana bit her lip. "I, um, upgraded us when I changed the reservation. I wanted to surprise you …"

"San … we don't need a suite."

"No, I know, that's not the surprise. I got the suite because of where it is in the hotel." Santana took Brittany's hand and led her to a pair of French doors that let out onto a balcony.

Brittany gasped at the sight from the balcony; the Eiffel Tower was in full view.

"I thought, once you were feeling better, you'd enjoy taking pictures from here at different times of the day."

Brittany looked at her softly. "Thank you, Santana," she whispered and hugged Santana tightly, "this was a beautiful surprise."

Santana smiled and sighed; she had been worried Britt would be upset at the cost of the upgrade but Brittany's reaction had been totally worth it.

"Hey, I know we showered before we left Brussels but do you want another one?"

Brittany shook her head. "No. I just wanna sleep."

"Okay, Britt. Why don't you go ahead and lie down and in a little while I'll order room service and you can take some more Tylenol."

"Lie with me, please?"

"Of course."

They quickly changed into tank tops and shorts and slid into the queen sized bed. Santana opened her arms and Brittany curled into them; her head on Santana's shoulder and an arm around Santana's waist.

Santana softly combed through Brittany's long blonde hair with one hand and skated her fingers gently along the arm that was around her waist. It wasn't long before Brittany's breathing got deeper and evened out. Santana lied there, awake, for a bit longer before giving in to her need for sleep as well.

Xoxoxoxoxo

It was just getting dark out when Santana woke up. She checked her phone and saw that it was just after eight. Carefully, so as to not wake Brittany, she slipped from the bed and headed to the small sitting area. The suite wasn't all that big; the only thing that made it a suite, actually, was the fact that the bedroom and sitting room were two separate areas. There was no kitchenette; it was basically just two rooms but it was the only room available with a balcony that had a view of the Eiffel Tower.

Santana checked the room service menu and ordered a light meal for the two of them, taking care to order things that wouldn't upset Brittany's stomach until they were sure her system was completely cleared of the ketamine.

Fifteen minutes later she went back into the bedroom and gently roused Brittany from slumber.

"Hey, sweetheart, I ordered some food; it'll be here in a few minutes. You need to eat so you can take some more Tylenol and then you can go back to sleep or we can watch a movie and cuddle or whatever you want.

Brittany yawned and stretched, blinking at Santana with sleepy blue eyes.

"M'kay." She got out of bed and joined Santana in the sitting room.

Dinner consisted of scrambled eggs, toast, fresh fruit, and apple juice. Once they had eaten, Santana pushed the service cart into the hallway and rejoined Brittany on the couch.

"How are you feeling?"

"A lot better, actually. I'm still a little tired and still have a slight headache; it kinda feels more like jet lag, you know?"

Santana nodded and handed her a bottle of water and two Tylenol.

"Here. Hopefully when you wake up tomorrow you'll be back to one hundred percent. I thought we'd just take it easy tomorrow; lie by the pool, maybe a short walk around the immediate area to scout cafes and stuff. Nothing too taxing; just enough to get an idea of how you're doing and what you're up for."

Brittany took the meds and nodded. "That sounds good to me. Right now, can we just snuggle on the couch and watch a movie?"

"Of course we can, Britt."

Santana went and grabbed an extra blanket from the closet and they got comfortable under it while they chose a movie. They decided on "Despicable Me" and settled in; Brittany was lying comfortably wrapped in Santana's arms as Santana lied behind her on the couch.

Neither of them was awake by the time the movie ended.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Santana woke with a stiff neck. The television was on and showing a menu of movies. She stretched, trying to work the kink out of her neck, and felt Brittany stir.

"Timesit?" Brittany's voice was sleep soft and slurred.

"Not sure but I think we should move to the bedroom anyway."

Brittany nodded and moved to sit up, letting Santana sit up as well. She stood up and offered Santana her hand then led them both to the bedroom.

The bedside clock read 2:18am.

Santana grunted. "We definitely have plenty more sleep time to get in." She headed into the bathroom, washed her face, brushed her teeth and came back out. Brittany was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Britt?"

Brittany looked at her. "Oh. Sorry, spaced out. I was waiting for you to finish so I could go to the bathroom and wash my face and brush my teeth, too."

Santana smiled. "You could have come in."

"I was going to but … I sat down and spaced out. Besides, we need to keep some of the mystery in our relationship; I think peeing in front of you is more of a second year of marriage thing." Brittany grinned.

Santana laughed as Brittany walked past her into the bathroom. She was glad Brittany seemed to be feeling better.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Santana startled awake. She looked around trying to determine what had woken her and discovered the other side of the bed was empty. It was still warm so Britt hadn't gotten up that long ago. She heard a sound and frowned to herself as she got out of bed and moved toward the bathroom. The sound grew louder as she moved closer to the bathroom and resolved into the sounds of someone trying to stifle sobbing.

Santana opened the door to a heartbreaking sight; Brittany was sitting on the floor, her back against the tub, arms wrapped around her knees, and shaking with sobs.

"Oh, Britt," Santana whispered as she sunk to the floor next to the beautiful blonde and wrapped strong arms around her. "Why didn't you wake me, honey?"

Brittany released her knees and turned into Santana's embrace, clinging to her as the sobs wracked her body. It was several long minutes until Brittany's sobs slowed and she was able to talk.

"Didn't want to bother you, didn't want you to worry," she sniffled.

"Britt … I'm always going to worry about you. If you get a hangnail, I'm going to worry. Hey, look at me," Santana cupped Brittany's cheek and thumbed away an errant tear. "You're not alone, okay? I'm here for you; you hurt, I hurt. And Britt, if you want, we can cancel the rest of our trip and go back home to get you some counseling if you need it. Okay? Whatever you need. If you want, we can find someone here or in Lesbos or the UK or Lima or New York or Cambridge; wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do."

Brittany looked at Santana and Santana could see the love … and the fear … in her eyes.

Brittany shook her head. "It was just a nightmare. I'm sure I'll be fine, San. I don't wanna ruin our trip."

"Hey, listen, nothing will be ruined. Your health; physical and mental, are more important than touring Europe. Europe will always be here; I wanna make sure you're going to be here to enjoy it with me, okay?"

Brittany smiled a watery smile at her. "Thank you, San. I think … I think I just want to go back to bed and not make that kind of decision in the middle of the night after a nightmare."

Santana nodded and stood up, offering Brittany her hand. "Fair enough. But I want you to promise me that, from now on, if you have a nightmare or you just wake up scared and need to be held or whatever it is, you'll wake me up. You don't have to do this alone, baby, I love you. You are never, ever, a bother. Okay?"

Brittany took the hand and stood up then offered Santana her pinky. "Promise."

Santana linked their pinkies and smiled. "Good. Let's go back to bed." Santana led them back to the bedroom and pulled Brittany tight to her.

"Try and sleep. We don't have anything we have to do so we can sleep in. Rest, my love."

Brittany nodded into Santana's shoulder. Before long, both girls were sound asleep.