A/N: Not sure about this chapter since Santana and Brittany aren't really the focus (or even in it) … but it seemed like it was needed? It's also really long.

If you hate this chapter, I'm sorry.

The apartment Dave & Janine built for David was inspired by the work my father did for my mom after he retired. Years prior, he had built a bedroom in the basement. Once he retired, he built a dining room and kitchen in the basement to accommodate our growing family (their kitchen was tiny and there was no dining room upstairs). The joke is that he won't put a bathroom in down there because he doesn't want any of us thinking we can move back in. ;)

I know, I know … original copy is an oxymoron. However, in this case, it is the first copy made, then altered (so the original wasn't altered). I hope that makes sense.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Chapter 58

David's POV

David pulled into his parents' driveway as he ended the call with Brittany. He threw his phone into the passenger seat, scrubbed his hands over his face, dragged his fingers through his hair, pulling at it a little, and screamed in frustration.

"Damn her!"

He took several deep breaths to calm himself down before snatching the phone up from where it had fallen and listening to the voicemail Susan had left earlier in the day (after he ignored her incoming call). Sure enough, she was calling to demand that he drop everything to come bail her out of jail. Brittany had assured him that she and Santana were fine and there was no need for him to come to the University. He had a meeting Friday morning that he really couldn't miss. Had the girls needed him, he'd have rescheduled, but not for Susan; the meeting was too important and, if he was honest with himself, he just couldn't bring himself to care about Susan sitting in a jail cell. Possibly covered in vomit.

He took two more deep breaths then scrolled his contact list.

"Davey!" David rolled his eyes; his parents and Rob were the only people who called him Davey. "How's it goin'? Haven't talked to you since Thanksgiving!" His best friend Rob answered jovially.

"Hey, Rob." David sighed. "You got some time tonight or maybe tomorrow afternoon? It's time to pull the trigger."

"FINALLY! Damn, son, I've been telling you for years to get rid of that albatross. Yeah, I can meet you … around seven tonight? O'Malley's?"

David chuffed a laugh. "Yeah, sounds great, Rob. Thanks, see you then."

David sat there for a moment after they hung up, just breathing; he wanted to get his thoughts in order.

David Pierce was not a stupid man.

Susan had just dropped a huge gift in his lap.

He just had to do this right.

A knock at his window startled him, pulling him from his reverie. His mother was standing outside the passenger door. He grabbed his keys and made sure he had his phone before exiting the vehicle.

"Everything okay, Davey? I didn't mean to startle you."

David sighed. "Yeah. No. I don't know, mom." He shook his head. "I need to talk to you and dad."

"Well, then, let's go in." She smiled at him sympathetically. "Your father's already at the table."

She linked her arm through his and the two of them walked to the door and into the house.

Xoxoxoxo

Over dinner, he told his parents what Brittany had told him and about Susan's voicemail.

"Are the girls okay?" Janine wanted to know.

"Yeah, Brittany said Santana's migraine was already fading. It was just too much stress, I guess."

"What about you, David? How are you doing? What are you going to do? How can we help?" His father, ever practical, asked.

"I'm meeting with Rob in about an hour. I have an idea of how I want to handle this, I'm just not sure of the legal logistics. My main priority is to protect Brittany and, by extension, Santana." He paused. "I'm going to call a moving company tomorrow to come Monday and get the bedroom furniture and whatever boxes are left. I've been steadily packing up and moving Brittany's things into storage; ever since she made it clear that she's never going back to that house. Most of my stuff is either here or in the storage unit. If you two are available Sunday to walk through with me and make sure I didn't miss anything, I'd appreciate it. I don't want anything personal of mine or Brittany's left behind." He shook his head. "I want that house to look like Susan is the only one who's ever lived there. She can have the house and everything in it; the furniture, other than my and Brittany's bedroom furniture, the kitchen stuff … the material things that never meant much to me or Brittany. But I absolutely don't want to leave behind any photos or drawings or poems or cards or anything like that."

Janine nodded. "Of course we'll help, David."

"You're sure you don't mind me staying here for awhile?"

Dave shook his head. "David, we built that apartment for you. It's just sitting there unused. So, it's fine." He waved his hand, dismissing the idea. "There's no point in buying another house or renting a place when you're not sure where you're going to be in two years."

"Thanks."

They finished dinner and David cleaned up while his parents had coffee and the three of them continued to talk. At six-thirty, he left to go meet Rob.

Xoxoxoxoxo

David got to O'Malley's a little before seven; he ordered a pitcher of Labbatt Ice with two frosted glasses and went to sit in a corner booth to wait for Rob.

He didn't have to wait long; David saw him and waved him over.

Rob Donovan was a big man with dark, unruly hair that always looked like it needed to be cut, brown eyes, and an olive complexion. He stood six foot five and was two hundred and forty pounds of muscle. He'd played college football at UB and never expected to make a career in the NFL. Surprisingly, he was drafted in the fourth round by the Cleveland Browns. After three seasons there, he was traded to Carolina, who let him go in free agency two years later; he then ended up with the Buffalo Bills. Rob had originally been from Long Island but, after spending five years in Buffalo as a member of the Bills, he fell in love with the town and its people. So, when he decided to retire, he retired to Buffalo, finished his law degree, and was now one of the most sought after divorce attorneys in the city. Rob was part of a large firm and one of the lawyers in Rob's firm handled all of David's business dealings.

"Davey!" Rob called out. David shook his head and laughed.

When he got to the table, David stood up and they shook hands then did that half hug/clap on the back thing that men seemed prone to doing. Rob slid into the other side of the booth, setting his briefcase on the seat beside him.

David poured Rob a beer and they chatted over inconsequential matters for a few moments.

"Okay, not that I don't love your company, but I know you didn't call me here to chit-chat. What's going on? Thought you had two more years before you wanted to leave?"

David sighed and shook his head, running his fingers through his hair.

"Okay, bear with me because it starts about a year ago. It actually starts with that picture Brittany took."

"The girl? The Latina with 'the smile that put shame to the sun'? That girl?"

David smiled and nodded. "One and the same. First week of classes, she found the girl and they've been together ever since."

Rob gaped at him. "Okay, you've definitely got my attention."

David took a drink and started telling Rob about everything that had happened; Brittany meeting Santana, the shooting, Susan not telling him about Santana, Susan's lies, the thefts. It took an hour and a second pitcher of beer before he finally got to the final straws of yesterday and today.

Rob drained his beer and sat back in the booth. "Damn." He shook his head. "She really has lost her mind. She seriously did that to her own daughter? I mean, the Nick thing was bad enough but to …" he shook his head again. "Damn. That's fucked up."

David nodded. "Yeah. So. I know what I want to do and how I want to do it. I need you to make it legal."

Rob nodded. "Talk to me." He pulled a yellow legal pad and a pen out of his briefcase.

David outlined what he wanted while Rob jotted down notes.

"These terms are pretty generous, probably more generous than I would normally recommend." He said, nodding. "I mean, I get it but I can also see her balking at the provisions. I'll get it written up. You gonna go bail her out?" Rob quirked a brow at him.

David shook his head. "Not until those papers are in my hand ready to be signed. She doesn't want to sign them," he shrugged, "she can find someone else to bail her out."

"That's cold." Rob grinned. "Not saying I don't approve or anything." He let out a hearty laugh. "Good for you."

They sat and talked for another hour, splitting some appetizers and switching to water, so as to sober up before driving home.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Saturday and Sunday went by quickly. David had packed up almost everything prior to that weekend so there really wasn't much to do except sweep through the house making sure nothing had been left behind.

David was in Brittany's room; it was bare, except for the bedroom set. There weren't any posters, clothes, or personal belongings left. The dresser, wardrobe, desk, head and foot boards, and the frame would be taken by the movers tomorrow. The mattress and box spring were being left behind. His glance fell on the arts and crafts cupboard he'd built for her fourteen years prior and he found himself second guessing if he'd fully cleaned that out. He opened the door and the cupboard appeared empty; he'd started to close the door when something caught his eye. Reaching in, he pulled out an old drawing and had to laugh; it was the glittery unicorn picture that had caused the cupboard to be built in the first place.

David was suddenly grabbed by a terrible idea. A wonderful, terrible, petty, vindictive idea that wouldn't let go of him. He was grinning as he walked down the stairs and into the living room.

His father and mother were sitting on the couch; Janine had found a box of things in the attic that David had missed and Dave had a box of stuff he'd found in the dark room. They would make one sweep on Monday before the movers arrived, then another, final, sweep after the movers left.

"Whatcha got there, David?"

"Remember the glitter unicorn that got Brittany in so much trouble?"

Dave and Janine both nodded; he turned the picture around causing the elder Pierces to break into laughter.

"So, I had an idea. It's petty and vindictive and I want to be better than that; I want to rise above it all but …"

"But?" Dave prompted.

David shook his head and sighed. "If it were just me, I'd probably walk away without another thought. But I found this picture; it was the only thing left in Brittany's room and, maybe it's corny but, it feels like a sign." He shrugged. "For twenty years, I've kept mostly silent and been the 'better' person. I don't really care enough to hurt her but I kind of do want to annoy her and maybe cause her a major inconvenience."

Janine grinned at him. "What did you have in mind?"

David outlined his plan; Dave and Janine laughed heartily and offered to help on Monday after the movers left.

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

The three of them were standing in the living room after they'd swept the house one last time for any remaining items. The house was clear; nothing remained of David or Brittany. David pulled thirty-one pages out of his messenger bag; he handed ten to Dave, ten to Janine, and kept eleven for himself. He then handed them three glue sticks each. Next came four jars of glitter; holographic, ultra fine glitter. He'd gone to the craft store and bought silver, red, blue, and purple then dumped them into a large bowl (in Susan's kitchen, of course) and mixed them up. He then redistributed them into the original jars with their shaker tops and handed one each to David and Janine.

The idea was simple; he'd taken Brittany's drawing to a Fed-Ex/Kinko's and made a single color copy. At the top of that first copy, he wrote (in rainbow markers, of course):

Unicorns shed glitter; that's where glitter comes from.

In the bottom right-hand corner he drew a 'P' in blue marker and added an extra bubble in red, creating a 'B'.

He made thirty color copies of the new drawing and they were going to put these drawings, coated in glitter, throughout the house. Just to make it a little more fun, they weren't going to be careful when they shook the glitter onto the picture.

David started in the living, on the coffee table; he smeared the unicorn with glue, then wantonly shook glitter all over it. The glitter landed on the picture, the coffee table, and the rug. A second picture was put on the mantle and glitter found its way onto the mantle and the hearth.

After all the pictures had been glittered and distributed throughout the house, David took pictures; he figured Brittany would enjoy seeing them. He took the remaining glitter and sprinkled it (lightly so as not to be overly obvious) down the front hallway and branching toward the kitchen, living room, and stairs (taking more pictures as he went); the idea being that Susan would walk through it and track glitter throughout the house. He taped the original (altered) copy to the front door and sprinkled glitter along the threshold. He laughed at himself; he hadn't wanted to leave anything of Brittany behind but had ended up making sure to remind Susan of Brittany's existence.

He and his parents shook themselves off on the front stoop and driveway, laughing at the amount of glitter they had accumulated on themselves. Thankfully, David had foreseen this scenario and they'd all worn old clothes that would be immediately thrown out upon arrival back at the house. He had forgotten they were going to get into his car afterwards and hadn't planned for that. He was pretty sure that when he went to trade his car in there would be a significant markdown due to the glitter in the car.

He still couldn't stop the grin that formed on his face. Totally worth it.