A/N: "What the World Needs Now" chapter. Part 2.
Brief time jump from October 14 to October 19 (brief scene with Santana talking to Maribel) then jumps to November 4. I estimate (given that her friend "Wes Brody" was 7 when Britt was 15) Courtney is around 8 years younger than Brittany. So when the ad came out she'd have been around 9 and, in this fic, she's about 12.
Here's my breakdown of how the timeline worked out (in my head):
Brittany got tested for ALS on October 18, results are received on November 5
Brittany goes to see Alma – November 9
Fondue for Two – November 10
Hallway scene – Queso Por Dos – November 11
Alfie – November 13
What the World Needs now performance: November 18
Schue's Friendsgiving – November 21 (Friday)
Thanksgiving 2014 – November 27 (this was the actual date of Thanksgiving 2014)
Trigger warnings: homophobic and racial slurs
xoxoxoxoxo
Chapter 15 – Lima, OH (October 19, November 4 – 5)
(October 19)
Maribel POV
She watched from the window as her daughter sat in her car in the driveway, apparently uncertain as to whether she wanted to come in or not. Maribel sighed, realizing that Raphael's car was in the driveway. She hit her speed dial to connect to Santana.
"Hello?"
"He's not here, mija, he's out of town until next week. Stop sitting in your car and come in."
"Okay, thanks, mami."
Maribel watched as Santana got out of the car, and walked slowly up the driveway. She met her at the door and pulled her into a tight hug.
"What's wrong, mi corazon?"
Santana broke down crying in her mother's arms; Maribel was alarmed, Santana doesn't show strong emotion unless it's anger.
She pulled Santana into the house and into the living room, hugging her tightly.
It took about twenty minutes to calm her girl down; she kept running her hands up and down Santana's back and cooing softly in her ear.
When Santana sat back, her face was a study in abject misery. Maribel handed her a box of tissues from the end table.
"I'm going to go get you some water. Unless you'd like something else?"
"Water is fine, mami, thank you." Santana's voice was hoarse from crying but she seemed to be pulling herself together.
Maribel went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water for Santana and one for herself as well.
When she got back to the living room, Santana had collected herself and smiled wanly at her mother.
"Sorry for that."
"Mija, you don't have to apologize for that. Do you want to talk about it?"
Santana sniffled, opened her water, and took a long drink before nodding.
"Yesterday, I took Brittany to a geneticist. Turns out her biological father is Stephen Hawking and she's worried she could develop ALS. There's like a ten percent chance she will. I've been trying to be positive and strong for her … but, mami, I'm scared. What if … " her lower lip trembled and she fought back the tears. "I don't want to think about living without her, mami. I just … I have all these plans for the future and they all start with her. She's my person. She's my everything." A few errant tears slipped free.
Maribel was stunned trying to process everything.
"Oh, mija," her voice was soft and sympathetic. "I don't know what to say. I am sorry you and Brittany are going through this. But," she continued, "you said there's a ten percent chance she could develop it; that means there's a ninety percent chance she won't. So hold onto that thought. What did the doctor do and say?"
"He took a cheek swab and some blood samples. He said it's gonna be about three weeks to get the results." She sighs softly. "Brittany tried to cancel the wedding on me. I'm worried if she finds out she's definitely got the mutated gene she'll leave me. Mami, I ..."
Maribel hugged her again. "I know, mija, I know. Whatever happens, I'm here for you both. I will help however I can. I love you both, mija."
"Thank you, mami."
They talked for a bit longer then Santana left to go pick up Brittany from the dance studio.
Maribel sat for a long while after Santana left before finally going to her office and starting up her computer to do her own research. She was suddenly very angry at Raphael because she could not rely on his support for this.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
(November 4)
Brittany knocked on the door frame of Courtney's room.
"Court? Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Courtney looked up from her homework and nodded. "Yeah. Sure."
Brittany sat on the bed and motioned for Courtney to join her. Once she did, Brittany took her hand and looked at her.
"Court … when I told you Santana and I were getting married, you seemed pretty happy about it."
"I am! I love Santana!"
Brittany nodded. "Okay … I was just wondering … I know Santana is pretty well known because of that stupid ad … are you having any trouble at school because of me and Santana?"
Courtney shook her head. "No. When it first happened, when the ad first showed up, one of the guys in my class said something about Santana. I told him to shut up and he asked me if I was a dyke too," Brittany flinched, "I told him it was none of his business and he needed to just shut up. He didn't and he went to shove me so I kicked him in the nads." Courtney shrugged. "Then I told everyone that had gathered around that I knew Santana and she was awesome and if anyone had a problem with my sister's girlfriend to keep it to themselves; I had no problem cutting a bitch." Courtney smiled.
Brittany shook her head. "Santana has had way too much influence on you."
Courtney shrugged. "I got into it when I was, like, seven or eight because someone was giving me a hard time about my slanted eyes. You were in the shower one day when I got home. Santana saw my ripped shirt and scraped up knees, hands, and split lip. She asked what happened and I told her so she cleaned me up then taught me a few things. That's why I asked mom and dad to sign me up for Tae-Kwon-Do, so I could learn to defend myself. Santana told me that violence wasn't the only answer but sometimes you had to stand up for yourself or people weaker or smaller than you."
Brittany nodded. "Okay, I just wanted to check. I'm sorry I didn't know you were having trouble back then."
Courtney smiled. "Britt, you were dealing with Santana being outed. Santana helped me and, I think, it probably helped her, too. Gave her something else to think about, you know? The following week I kicked Derrick in the nads and everyone kind of is scared of me … I have my friends and stuff and they know I'm not really a fighter but," she shrugs again, "reputation is everything, right? I have a reputation as not taking shit so … I guess people figure it's not worth starting with me."
Brittany just shakes her head and makes a mental note to talk to Santana.
"Okay, everything else okay? Homework and stuff? Got a boyfriend? Girlfriend?"
Courtney laughed and shoved her sister. "Homework is fine, no boyfriend, no girlfriend."
"Just checking. So, I have a question. This is not a demand, you can say no and I won't be hurt or upset or anything, okay?"
Courtney scrunched her nose in confusion.
"I wanted to ask if you'd like to be my maid of honor or a bridesmaid?"
She watched as Courtney's eyes widened in horror and her breathing picked up. "Like, wear a dress and stand up in front of everyone?"
Brittany nodded and gently stroked her thumb over Courtney's knuckles to soothe her. "It's okay to say no. I know you may not be comfortable doing it but I didn't want you to think I didn't want you to do it."
Courtney's breathing slowed again and she nodded, the tension leaving her. "No, Britty, I really don't want to. Not because I don't love you," she quickly added.
Brittany smiled. "I know. Oh, if you want to ask Jessica to come, that's fine. I don't think there'll be a lot of kids there … not that you're a kid-kid, just …"
Courtney laughed. "I get it Britt. I'll ask her."
Brittany stood up and kissed the top of Courtney's head. "I'll let you get back to your homework. If you need anything, just let me know, okay? Even if you just need to talk or something."
Courtney nodded and moved back to her desk, immediately getting engrossed in her assignment. Brittany smiled and slipped out, gently closing the door behind her.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
Brittany went downstairs and took the right at the bottom of the stairs to go into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. She had just opened the fridge when her phone rang. Looking at the number, she froze for a moment; it was the geneticist's office. She finally managed to answer on the fourth ring.
"Hello?"
"Hello, I'm calling for Brittany S. Pierce."
"This is she."
"Miss Pierce, this is Dr. Abrigo's office. Your test results have come in and the doctor would like you to come in tomorrow to discuss the results."
"Um, yeah, that's fine, okay … um, what time?"
"I have a ten a.m. appointment available."
"Okay, that's fine. We'll be there. Thank you."
"We'll see you then, Miss Pierce. Have a good day."
Once the call disconnected Brittany's legs started to give out and she collapsed into a chair, staring blankly into space.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
Santana got out of the shower and got dressed. She knew Britt had gone to talk to Courtney so she had waited for the blonde in their room.
After half an hour, she got concerned and went up to Courtney's room.
She knocked on the door and waited for Courtney to give her permission to enter.
Poking her head in she saw that Brittany wasn't there. "Hey, Court, did you talk to your sister?"
"Um, yeah, she left about," she looked at the clock on her computer, "twenty minutes ago."
"Thanks, Court," Santana frowned and shut the door, wondering where her girl had gone.
She walked downstairs and called for her but didn't get any answer. She wasn't in the living room so Santana headed for the kitchen.
She found Brittany sitting at the kitchen table staring into space.
"Britt, honey, what's going on?"
Brittany just looked at her blankly.
Santana pulled a chair up next to the blonde and caressed her cheek. "Baby, where are you? What happened?" Santana took hold of her hand and kept lightly stroking her cheek.
Brittany blinked a couple of times and looked at Santana. "Um, the geneticist's office called," her voice was small and shaky, "I have an appointment at ten o'clock tomorrow morning."
Santana took in the information and gave a tug on Brittany's hand, pulling the girl into her lap and holding her tightly.
"Okay. So tomorrow we'll have the answers and we'll figure out where to go from there. It's going to be okay, Britt. We're going to get through this like we get through everything … together." She whispered against Brittany's temple. "I love you. No matter what he says tomorrow, no matter what happens. I will always love you. Always."
Brittany nodded and sighed, finally leaning into Santana's embrace.
It was going to be a long day.
Xoxoxoxoxo
Brittany didn't sleep much that night. She was scared and nervous. The uncertainty was making her stomach hurt. She tried to get out of bed so she wouldn't disturb Santana but Santana wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
"I've got you. It's going to be okay. One way or another, everything will be okay. I love you, Britt. Hold onto that, okay?" Santana's voice was soft and slightly slurred.
Brittany sighed and curled into Santana's embrace. As usual, the Latina comforted her and made her feel safe.
In the morning, she got up and showered and was ready at eight.
"Did you eat anything?" Santana asked as she came out of the bedroom at eight-thirty.
"Can't."
"Okay."
"We need to leave soon, right?"
"Yeah. We might as well leave now. Make sure we don't get stuck in traffic or whatever."
Brittany just nodded. She felt numb. Just completely numb; the anxiety had been replaced by a cold numbness.
Santana took her hand and led her out to the car.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
Santana held Brittany's hand; on the way to the car, in the car, on the way into the doctor's office, in the waiting room, and, now, in the doctor's office, waiting for the doctor to come in. She wouldn't let go; she wanted to make sure Brittany knew, KNEW, that Santana was there and wasn't going anywhere.
Brittany was eerily calm.
Doctor Abrigo finally came in; it was probably only five minutes but it felt like years. He was a short man with a fringe of graying hair circling a bald dome. He wasn't heavy, but he wasn't thin.
"Sorry for the wait, how are you both?"
They both just nodded at him. He smiled in understanding.
He sat behind his desk and turned to his computer; he typed a few things in and looked back at them through thick, black framed glasses.
"Miss Pierce?"
Brittany looked up at the doctor from where she was watching her fingers playing with a few stray threads on her worn in jeans.
"The results are negative. The tests show no anomalies or mutations. The gene for ALS is not present."
Santana almost collapsed with relief. She wrapped her arms around the blonde, who hadn't reacted yet. She turned to Santana.
"I'm okay?" she asked quietly, tears in her eyes.
Santana nodded and pulled Britt in close, kissing her temple.
"You're okay, baby. Everything is okay," she whispered against Brittany's temple.
Brittany finally turned into Santana's embrace and Santana felt the tears on her shoulder. Santana looked over at the doctor and mouthed 'thank you'. Dr. Abrigo nodded with a kindly smile.
A moment later, Brittany lifted her head and looked at the doctor.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. I'm glad I could deliver good news." He smiled at the blonde. "Do you have any questions?"
Brittany looks at Santana.
"I don't think I do, Britt." The Latina said, shaking her head.
Brittany looks back at the doctor. "Is there anything in the results I should be concerned about?"
The doctor shakes his head. "Everything appears to be normal. Genetically speaking. I see nothing here to be concerned about."
Brittany nods. "Thank you. I think I'm good." She and Santana stood up and shook the doctor's hand, thanking him again.
When they got out to the car, Brittany threw her arms around Santana and swung her around.
"I'm okay! I'm gonna be okay! I can still dance and marry you and have kids and live forever!"
Santana laughed as Brittany swung her around. "Britt! I'm getting dizzy!"
Brittany set her down and kissed her hard; Santana immediately reciprocated.
When they pulled apart Santana smiled. "I love you. I'm glad you're okay but, um, Britt? We're still not vampires, we're not going to live forever," she chuckled.
Brittany grinned. "But I get to live with you forever. We get our forever together."
Santana pecked her lips. "Yes, we do. Come on, let's get something to eat, you have to be hungry, you didn't eat this morning."
"Starving. Neither did you."
"So, let's get something to eat."
"Thank you, Santana, for … everything. For going with me, for standing by me, for not letting me go."
"Always."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
A/N: I'm sure no one is surprised that Brittany's test came back negative. I don't do tragedy or angst. I'm all about happy endings.
