Science of Fear, Whatever Happened to Fairytale Endings? - Part One of Two
Title: Science of Fear, Whatever Happened to Fairytale Endings? (7/15)
Pairing: Brittany/Santana, Brittany/OC
Rating: T (for now)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Glee or song related, just Dylan.
Spoilers: Through s02e11
Summary: Fear. It forces you to do things you regret. And that's just what happens to Santana, causing her to run away from the one person she loves the most. Can one stranger help her defeat those fears or will she just lose Brittany to her for good?
It had been a long weekend. Well, not physically. Unlike the Cheerios, the rest of the school had to come in on Monday, but Dylan’s weekend had been long for another reason. On Saturday morning she had gone with Brittany to meet up with the other Cheerios at school. She had hugged her and given her a long kiss goodbye, for this would be the longest they would be apart since they started dating. Dylan kept telling herself she was overreacting. It was just three days. But it was three days of Brittany, without her, and with Santana.
Dylan still hadn’t figured out what the Latina’s deal was with her girlfriend. There was some past there she didn’t know about and it made her nervous. And after Santana had sung that song the week before in Glee, Dylan didn’t trust her. She saw the looks the Latina was throwing at Brittany, and not one of them was friendly.
So on Tuesday morning, Dylan waited for Brittany outside at the foot of the steps leading into the main building. They had talked on the phone and texted minimally, seeing that Brittany was there to compete and not to socialize. She started feeling better when she saw the familiar bob of blonde hair on the other side of the quad. A few seconds later and Dylan found herself engulfed in a hug followed by an urgent, strong kiss.
Finally breaking the kiss, Brittany dropped her head to Dylan’s shoulder and loosely wrapped her arms around the shorter girl.
Dylan sighed, “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, D.” Brittany lifted her head to place a light kiss on the other girl’s lips before returning her head to Dylan’s shoulder.
“So…”
“Hmm?” a muffled response came from the blonde.
“How’d the competition go?” Dylan had been asking the blonde since Sunday but hadn’t received a response yet. She watched as Brittany lifted her head and gnawed on her bottom lip, eyes searching nervously.
“Baby? Oh no, I’m sorry,” Dylan assumed the girl’s silence was due to not wanting to give her bad news.
“We WON!” Brittany practically shouted before pulling Dylan into a bone crushing hug.
“Wha… what?” Dylan stammered out.
“We won, silly,” Brittany said, releasing the smaller girl.
“But, you… the look...” Dylan explained.
“I was kidding,” Brittany giggled, “You’re cute when you worry.”
“Oh, you, you are so evil,” Dylan said, slapping Brittany playfully on her arm. “Come here.” Brittany allowed Dylan to wrap her arms around her neck and pull her down into another kiss. “I’m proud of you, I knew you could do it.”
“Well duh, so did I.”
Dylan smiled at her girlfriend. “Okay, a celebration is in order. This weekend, my house, anything you want, go.”
“Really?” Brittany said excitedly.
“Mhmm, whatever you want, I’ll make sure it happens.”
“Oh, oh… umm…” Brittany gazed off in thought for a few minutes as Dylan waited patiently for her girlfriend’s response. “Oh! I know!”
“Yeah?”
“Anything I want right?”
“Anything.”
“Can we have a Disney marathon?”
Dylan laughed, throwing her head back. “Yes! Of course, that sounds like a great idea. Just me. You. Cookies. And Disney.”
“Well… you said anything right?”
Dylan’s smile faltered a little, unsure of what the blonde was getting at. “Yeah…”
Brittany bit her bottom lip, staring intently into Dylan’s eyes. “I uh, I want Santana to come, too.”
“What? Why?” Dylan couldn’t help herself.
Brittany released her arms from around Dylan and started walking up the stairs, a nervous look on her face. Dylan followed.
“Britt? Babe?”
“It’s just, she’s my best friend, and she’s… I don’t know, I miss her.”
“Miss her?” Dylan hoped she hadn’t been smothering her girlfriend. She reached out and gently pulled Brittany to a stop, now halfway up the stairs. “What’s up, Britt?”
“Well, she’s just been avoiding me, and it… it makes me sad,” Brittany said, her gaze focused on the ground at the bottom of the stairs as opposed to Dylan’s questioning eyes.
“Why?”
“I… I’m not even sure,” Brittany pouted. “I don’t think she approved of me dating Artie, she just, stopped talking to me.”
Dylan held her breath, Brittany’s answer seemed strange, almost more of an excuse than an actual reason. “Does she approve of me?”
Brittany’s eyes snapped up and met Dylan’s. She had pulled her lip back into her mouth and was biting it nervously again, eyes searching. Dylan couldn’t read her eyes and she stood there uncomfortable knowing she had no way of figuring out what Brittany was thinking about.
Finally the blonde answered, slow and deliberate, “she hasn’t talked to me…”
Dylan’s face falls, she feels bad now, because it’s obvious Santana hadn’t talked to Brittany since the start of their relationship. She reaches out and takes one of her girlfriend’s hands, giving it a light squeeze. Brittany turns her gaze away again.
“And after that song, I thought…. I thought she would talk to me this weekend…” Dylan watched her intently. “But we didn’t even share a room…” A breath Dylan had been holding in was released. “We always share a room…”
Dylan was beyond curious now. In her short time of knowing the two cheerleaders she knew they weren’t acting like the best friends everyone claimed them to be. The small glances, the slipped references, the uncomfortable interactions. Something was wrong.
“What happened to you two?” Dylan asked hesitantly.
Brittany’s gaze returned to Dylan, slowly this time. She didn’t answer.
“Britt?
She saw her girlfriend take a deep breath, slumping her shoulders. “We had a fight.” She offered simply.
“A fight?”
Brittany nodded her head.
“About?” Dylan pushed further. Brittany looked away again, avoiding Dylan’s eyes. She was hiding something.
“She didn’t like me dating Artie.” It was the same excuse as before and Dylan was getting frustrated. “Please, D, Babe.” Brittany turned to face Dylan again, this time taking both of the smaller girl’s hands in her own and pulling her in closer. “I want her there. She’s a good person, really. Maybe… maybe you can be friends? I’d really like that.”
Dylan melted under Brittany’s brilliant blue eyes. She couldn’t help but give in to her girlfriend’s pleads. She wanted her to be happy after all. “Okay, I’ll ask her.”
Brittany broke out into a big smile before leaning forward and kissing her girlfriend forcefully. “Thank you! You’re the best, D.”
“Anything for you,” Dylan responded, breaking their embrace but still holding onto one of Brittany’s hands as they made their way up the remaining steps and into the building. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing. She had been trying to help Santana with her sexual identity crisis after all. Maybe being around her and Brittany as a couple would do her good.
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Dylan had been trying to grab a hold of Santana all day, but she always came into classes right after the bell rang and was the first one out. She was finding it impossible to corner the evasive Latina so when the final bell rang, Dylan made a bee-line for Santana’s locker. Just as she turned into the hallway she saw Santana slam her locker shut and weave through the sea of people. Dylan chased after her, narrowly avoiding getting whacked in the face by a backpack to do so. When she finally escaped the bustling crowd she found herself at the choir room door. They still had half an hour before Glee practice so she was surprise to find Santana inside, standing next to the piano, playing with a few of the keys.
Dylan entered slowly, closing the door silently behind her. She prevent the clicking noise the door made as it fell into place, alerting the girl in front of her that she was no longer alone. Santana spun around in surprise and backed up to the edge of the piano.
“Hey,” Dylan offered.
“What are you doing here?” Santana spat out.
“Um, I wanted to talk to you?”
“What?” Santana seemed shocked and looked around nervously. “About… about what?”
“Brittany,” Dylan said cautiously. She saw the Latina swallow hard.
“What about her?”
Dylan took a deep breath. She didn’t want to say what she had planned on telling the Latina next. In a way it actually made her jealous but she had promised Brittany she would talk to Santana, so her she was. “She misses you.”
“She misses me?”
Dylan nodded.
“She told you that?”
Another nod.
“So why are you telling me this?”
“She wanted me to,” Dylan moved further into the room and took a seat on the piano chair, next to where the Latina was standing. She sees Santana look up and gaze at the door of the choir room. “And she wants you to hang out with us this weekend,” Dylan explained.
Santana turned to look at Dylan now, “I’m sorry?”
Dylan forced herself to laugh. “Yeah, well we’re going to have a Disney movie marathon and she wants you to come too.”
A small smile played across the Latina’s face as some distant memory hitched in her mind.
“And she wants us to be friends too.”
Santana laughed, “You’re kidding right?”
“Well… no, I’m not,” Dylan stated dryly. “But even if Brittany hadn’t said that, I still don’t understand why we can’t be friends.”
Santana huffed and looked away.
“Santana…”
“What?” Santana snapped.
“I’m trying to help you…”
“I didn’t ask for your help.” Santana cut Dylan off.
“Yeah, but… I can tell you need it,” Dylan explained, kicking her feet against the linoleum tiles.
“I’m doing fine on my own.”
“Are you?”
“I’m getting there,” Santana crossed her arms as she spoke.
“If only I could show you how wonderful it is to just... to just be, you know. You’d be so much happier.”
“Yeah well, I know. I’m working on it.”
Dylan didn’t say anything. She just sat and listened, giving the Latina her undivided attention, urging her to continue.
“It’s just hard, you know?”
Dylan nodded, remembering the struggle she went through a few years back.
“It’s all those people. The ones who say it’s wrong. Why can’t they just… accept it?”
“Because people suck.”
Santana huffed, turning to walk past the piano towards the ugly maroon chairs that plastered the far wall.
“Hang out with us, Santana. And then you’ll see what you’re missing.”
Santana laughed, “Yeah, really.”
Dylan couldn’t tell if Santana was being sarcastic or overly honest. She turned around on the piano chair and experimentally hit a note. The piano had been one of the many instruments she had attempted to learn as a kid. She had barely lasted a few months before she gave up. But there were a few songs she remembered the basic keys for. That year for Christmas, her parents had given her a book of sheet music containing all of her favorite classic Disney songs. As she plunked at the keys, a small knowing smile grew across her face.
She played the first few notes and looked up at the Latina standing on the other side of the room, he back towards Dylan. She saw Santana turn her head a little to the left as if listening to the notes Dylan was playing. She played a few more sloppy notes, trying to remember the rest of the key strokes. When she was certain she had it down good enough to make it through the song, she took a deep breath and opened her mouth to begin singing.
“I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?” she started cautiously, not wanting Santana to get the wrong idea. “I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder. Over, sideways and under on a magic carpet ride. A whole new world, a new fantastic point of view,” she saw Santana turn around as she listed to the lyrics. “No one to tell you no or where to go, or say you're only dreaming…”
“A whole new world,” It was unexpected and Dylan’s hands faltered on the keys as Santana’s voice cut through the tension in the room. “A dazzling place I never knew, but when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world…”
“Now you’re in a whole new world,” Dylan sang as Santana took slow steps towards the piano.
“Unbelievable sights, indescribable feeling. Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky!” Santana was at the side of the piano now and Dylan struggled to keep playing. “A whole new world!”
“Don't you dare close your eyes.”
“A hundred thousand things to see.”
“Hold your breath - it gets better,” Dylan wasn’t kidding when those lines left her mouth. It was always hard at first, but afterwards, it was worth the pain in the beginning.
“I'm like a shooting star. I've come so far. I can't go back to where I used to be.” There was so much pain in the Latina’s voice. Dylan could swear she saw her eyes glisten with unshed tears.
“A whole new world.”
“Every turn a surprise.”
“With new horizons to pursue,” Dylan motioned to the empty room before her.
“Every moment gets better,” Santana’s eyes locked onto Dylan’s. It was as though the Latina was singing to convince herself that this really was the case.
“I'll chase them anywhere,” their voices coming together, “there's time to spare. Let me share this whole new world with you.”
“A whole new world.”
“A whole new world,” Santana echoed Dylan softly.
“That's where you'll be,” Dylan was assuring as the words came out.
“That’s where I’ll be,” she was singing to herself again, convincing, manipulating.
“A thrilling chase.”
“A wondrous place,” Santana sounded so defeated.
Knowing those were the last lines she would get out of the other girl, Dylan slowed her playing and looked up to lock eyes with Santana, changing the last line to help her prove her point. “If you will just be.”
Santana’s gaze faltered as Dylan banged out the last few rough notes on the piano. She turned to face the Latina, a question hanging on her lips. But before she could ask it, the door of the choir room burst open and an overly enthusiastic brunette came stampeding in.
“Was that singing I heard?” Rachel asked excited at first and then hesitant when she saw Santana standing next to the piano, giving her a death glare.
“Um, yeah. Me. I was practicing,” Dylan said as she glanced at Santana who was shifting uncomfortably in her place. “I wanted Santana’s opinion.”
“Oh, well that’s good. I didn’t know you could play the piano, Dylan,” Rachel said thankfully changing the subject.
“Oh, I can’t. Well not really. Just a few easy songs. Basic stuff,” Dylan explained.
“Well it was lovely, maybe you can sing it for everyone.”
Dylan saw a look of fear appear on Santana’s face briefly and she jumped to clear the air, “Um no Rach, this one’s for me, ya’ know. Not gonna perform this one.”
“Oh, I see. Well that’s okay then,” Rachel said, now apparently out of things to talk about. Dylan heard Santana release a breath she had probably been holding since Rachel entered the room. An awkward minute passed as the three girls stood in the choir room. But as soon as the door opened again and a few more Glee members started filling in, Rachel excused herself and made her way over to Mercedes and Tina.
Dylan got up from the bench and turned to face Santana. “So you’ll come?” she asked softly. She watched as Santana chewed her lip for a few seconds, similar to the way Brittany did when she was thinking really hard.
“I don’t know.” Dylan’s heart dropped. “Maybe, I’ll think about it,” the Latina promised, walking past Dylan to take a seat next to Quinn.
Dylan signed and kicked her feet against the ground again.
“Hey, babe,” a familiar voice sounded, close to her ear. Dylan looked up and was greeted with a nervous-looking girlfriend.
“Hey,” Dylan reached down and laced her fingers with the blonde’s.
“Did you ask her?”
“Yeah.”
“And?” her voice was so hopeful it hurt.
“She said she’d think about it. I think I got through to her though,” Dylan relayed to Brittany. She watched as the blonde in front of her took a hesitant look at the Latina across the room.
“Thank you, Dylan. It means a lot.” Brittany said, head hung low.
Dylan reached up and cupped a pale cheek, “Shh, babe, it’s okay. Anything for my girl.”
Brittany looked up and smiled down at Dylan. Dylan slowly moved her hand from Brittany’s cheek to the back of her neck and pulled her down slowly for a gentle kiss.
“Move it! Portia, Ellen.” Dylan broke the kiss she was sharing with Brittany to look up and see no other than Sue Sylvester. She felt Brittany shrink away under her coach’s glare. “I believe that is highly inappropriate conduct for two young ladies and I suggest you move out of my way before you have to call the EMS squad to administer the Heimlich maneuver.”
Dylan gasped in shock. She couldn’t believe what Sue had just said, it was wrong, so very wrong and Dylan was offended. She released Brittany’s hand and turned to face the tall woman, teeth clenched. But before she could say anything, she felt a soft hand gently wrap around her bicep, pulling her back.
“D, don’t. Come on let’s just sit, okay?” Brittany’s voice was soft and pleading. Dylan released her breath but held her gaze on Sue. Whatever Brittany wanted, Brittany got.
“You’re right, Britt. Let’s go.” And with that she turned and wrapped an arm around her girlfriend’s waist, leading her over to where Tina, Rachel and Mercedes were talking avidly about something. “So, what movies do you wanna watch this weekend, huh?” Dylan asked, hoping to break some of the tension.
“Oh! The Little Mermaid! I love Ariel,” Brittany said as she took a seat next to Mercedes, Dylan following suit. “And the Lion King of course, I know it’s your favorite.”
“Oh my god, I love the Lion King!” Mercedes cut in. “It’s like my favorite Disney movie ever.”
“Yeah, mine too,” Dylan added. “I love the Beauty and the Beast too, and Aladdin.” As she added the last part she chanced a glance back towards Santana. She was met with a dead stare.
“Dylan and I are going to have a Disney marathon,” Brittany added excitedly.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Rachel said, wiggling her way into the conversation. “Disney songs are a classic. I think I know the lyrics to every single one.”
Dylan opened her mouth to challenge the brunette but was interrupted by the choir room door banging shut. Everyone looked up to see Mr. Schuester standing in the doorway, glaring at Sue.
“What are you doing here, Sue?” he asked and Dylan realized she had been thinking the same thing.
“Oh I just wanted to come and see how the bottom feeders are doing,” She explained happily. “As you may have already heard, my Cheerios won their Regionals this year. Again,” she added as a cherry on top.
“Yes, congratulations, Sue, but why are you here?” Dylan could tell Mr. Schue was getting frustrated.
“Oh, well considering your Regionals performance is coming up in the next two weeks, I just wanted to stop by, and remind you of our little agreement last year.”
Dylan perked up. Since she was new this year, she had only heard of the horrors this woman put the club through last year, and she had yet to experience any. She felt the blonde next to her fidget and she looked up at the rest of the room. They were all shifting nervously. Mr. Schuester stared passively at Sue.
“I managed to scrounge up an extra year for this club, Will, but it is my duty to remind you that if you fail to place at Regionals… Again… Glee club will officially be disbanded.” Her words oozed in hate.
“I am aware of that, Sue. But I am proud to say, we have never been stronger. We’re going to take Regionals this year. I promise you that.”
“Well, Will, you only tied at Sectionals, so you’re going to be competing against one of your very own, again, as well as Vocal Adrenaline. All of the blogs have chosen you to finish last. Sorry buddy.”
“Now hold on just a minute,” it was Mercedes and everyone turned around to face her as she got up out of her seat. “Who are you to come in here and tell us what will or will not happen? We got this this year, and there is nothing you can do to bring us down this time.”
“Mercedes is right!” Rachel said as she jumped up to stand next to Mercedes. “It doesn’t matter what coach Sylvester says. I know we can win this.”
Dylan watched as more members of New Directions stood up from where they were sitting. She felt Brittany give her arm a tug and she soon found herself on her feet as well.
“As a matter of fact,” Rachel added, standing tall and looking around the room, “I believe a new change of royalty is in order. Pretty soon we will be ruling this school and the Cheerios will have to step down off of their throne.”
“I will die before the day that happens,” Sue sneered at the small brunette.
Dylan watched as Mercedes took another step forward, on par with Rachel. “Yeah we can barely wait for that day; we can’t wait to be king of this school.”
Rachel snaps around to face Mercedes, back going impossible straighter. “Mercedes! That is the perfect way of putting it!”
“Well, yeah, wait what?” Mercedes threw Rachel a questioning look.
Rachel just smiled and walked over to the band, whispering into the bass player’s ear. He laughed and nodded his head in understanding. She turned back to face the remaining members of the Glee club, “Dylan, Brittany, ladies, if you may.” Brittany gave Dylan a small confused look as she watched Rachel move a chair to the center of the room. “Ms. Sylvester, would you be so kind?” Rachel asked offering her a seat.
Sue looked around the room and back at Will who just shrugged showing he was not involved in the current happenings in any way. As Sue took a seat, Rachel turned once more towards her teammates, who all still wore confused looks. Until the music started.
Dylan started laughing. She couldn’t help it. It really was perfect. She looked up and met Brittany’s excited expression and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward as the flute started.
Rachel laughed enthusiastically as the girls got up to join her. The band hit the last note of the intro and paused. Rachel smiled at Dylan and spun around, to face Sue as she started singing. “I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware!”
Sue huffed at the girl in front of her, “I've never seen a champion, with winning being so rare.”
“I'm gonna be the main event like no king was before,” Brittany jumped forward, holding up both of her arms, pretending to flex her muscles.
Dylan smiled at her girlfriend before turning around and jumping up a level on the risers, “I'm brushing up on looking down, I'm working on my ROAR!”
Sue just stared at her unimpressed, “Thus far a rather uninspiring thing...”
“Oh, I just can't wait to be king!” Mercedes cut in.
“A rather long way to go there… if you think…” Sue tried to cut in but she was cut off by Rachel.
“No one saying do this!”
“Now when I said that…” Sue attempted to defend herself.
“No one saying be there!” It was the first time Quinn had spoken up, but her voice filled in the void.
“What I meant was…” Sue was obviously addressing Quinn, but Dylan cut her off again.
“No one saying stop that!”
“What you don’t realize…” she was attempting to blame the new girl, but Mercedes wouldn’t let her.
“No one saying see here!”
“NOW SEE HERE!” Sue shouted over the music.
“Free to run around all day,” Dylan watched as Tina jumped into the mix.
“Well that’s definitely out,” Sue deadpanned.
“Free to do it all my way!” Quinn sang at her cheerleading coach.
With that Sue turned to face Mr. Schuester, a threatening look in her eyes. “I think it's time that you and I arranged a heart-to-heart…” Mr. Schue just held up his hands, dusting himself off from the situation.
“Kings don't need advice from other coaches for a start,” it was Santana, and Dylan could tell everyone was just as surprised as she was that she had the guts to get up and sing that to her coach.
Sue was fuming. She stood up and shouted over the music. But everyone just decided to keep dancing, ignoring what she was saying. “If this is where McKinley is headed, count me out! Out of service, out of Ohio, I wouldn't hang about. This club is getting wildly out of hand!”
Everyone joined together to stand up to the conniving coach. “Oh, I just can't wait to be king!”
Sue turned around to leave but Dylan ran around to stand in her way. When she attempted to get around her she was greeted by a nervous but giggling Brittany. She turned around and was met with Tina’s voice.
“Everybody look left!”
Sue turned around but was halted by Brittany. “Everybody look right!”
Growling, Sue turned yet again but Dylan jumped in her way, throwing her arms up. “Everywhere you look I’m…”
“Standing in the spotlight!” Rachel finished her line and Sue spun around to see Rachel standing at the top of the risers.
“NOT YET!” she shouted before finally shoving past the girls in her way.
Just before she made it to the door the boys gathered their strength and sang loudly in her direction. “Let every person go for broke and sing! Let's hear it in the halls and on the wing! It's gonna be King William’s finest fling!”
The girls joined the boys, “Oh, we just can’t wait to be king!”
Rachel walked down from the platform and motioned towards Mr. Schuester. “Oh, he just can’t wait to be king!”
Mr. Schue clapped, a huge smile plastered on his face as the entire group came together in the center of the room, belting out the last lines of the song. “Oh, we just can't wait... To be king!”
Dylan was doubled over in laughter when she felt strong arms wrap around her. She stood up and allowed herself to be properly engulfed by one of her girlfriend’s infamous hugs, sighing into the hold. Brittany was giggling uncontrollably and it was contagious. After they finally calmed down, Dylan felt herself being pulled forward and happily accepted the heated kiss Brittany was offering.
But after a few moments, when the excitement had died, Dylan felt Brittany’s eyelashes flutter against her cheek as she kissed her. Dylan’s eyes snapped open and was surprised to see Brittany’s eyes were also no longer closed. But she wasn’t looking at Dylan as they kissed, rather, she was looking at something behind the shorter girl. Dylan immediately broke the kiss, giving her girlfriend a questioning stare before turning around to see what the blonde had been looking at.
The Latina shifted nervously under her gaze, realizing she had been caught and made to seem as though she had been rummaging through her bag. Dylan snapped around to look at her girlfriend. “Brittany?” she questioned harshly.
“Hmm?” Blue eyes met hers again and she was captivated.
“What was that?”
Brittany smiled and Dylan watched as her eyes began to darken. “Nothing,” she said deeply, leaning in to kiss Dylan once more. Breaking apart, Brittany placed a wet kiss at the side of Dylan’s moth before making her way up to the short girl’s ear. “Come over tonight.”
Dylan felt her breath hitch.
“My parents are taking my sister to her recital,” she informed with another well placed kiss against Dylan’s ear. “We’ll be alone.”
Dylan pulled back, meeting her girlfriend’s gaze, “Are… are you sure?”
Brittany didn’t answer, not verbally anyway. But the look in her eyes spoke more than words. They were dark, aroused and seductive. Dylan couldn’t help but plunge forward and kiss her girlfriend forcefully. Glee club and Santana be damned, she just couldn’t resist those eyes.
Part Two of Two