i believe in you.

chapter 1

Santana strode through the halls of McKinley High, her hands clutching her Cheerio's folder in her arms. She felt good. It was a new year, she was back in her Cheerio's uniform and she was going to become cheerleading co-captain with Quinn. The brunette could see people around her parting and moving out of her way as she walked towards the blonde at her locker, her bitch smirk already plastered on her face. Santana stood behind Quinn and tapped her shoulder, "Hey Q."

That smirk on her face soon dropped when Quinn turned around with red, tired eyes and tear stained cheeks. Santana hadn't seen the blonde like that since forever. And to be honest Santana didn't really know how to act, so she frowned and placed her hand on Quinn's shoulder, "What's going on Quinn?"

The blonde couldn't really speak since a lump had formed in her throat and the tears just flowed from her eyes,
"Quinn, you've got to tell me what's going on?"

Luckily for Quinn, Tina and Mercedes rushed over and helped comfort the blonde, although Santana was still beyond confused. And apparently that was clear to Mercedes, "Santana, you look confused?"

The Latina looked over her shoulder, surprised that Brittany wasn't with them yet.

"Yeah...I'm just getting weird, terrified looks from the other kids and I don't know what's up with Quinn." Santana noticed that some Sophomores were staring at her and they quickly looked away again.

"Um, hold up. Where have you been all summer, to not know what's going on?" Mercedes removed her hand from Quinn's back, concerned as to why Santana hasn't heard about the news to do with her other best friend. "Seriously..."

Santana furrowed her brows and looked at the girl who glanced nervously at Quinn and then back to Santana in front of her. "I don't wanna freak you out." Mercedes whispered, moving away from Quinn, "It involves Brittany and it really effected Quinn, so I don't know how you're gonna deal with it 'cause y'all are super close."

Santana just wanted Mercedes to hurry up and tell her what is going on, her heart pounded at the thought of Brittany upsetting Quinn in such a way, "Mercedes just tell me."

The brunette couldn't take it anymore. Mercedes bit her lip and looked at the linoleum floor underneath them, "Okay, well...Brittany was in a car crash and it was pretty bad."

"What?!" Santana felt dizzy, she dropped the folder that she had in her hands and it hit the floor with a thud. But for some reason now, Santana's hearing was muffled and she couldn't see properly. There was a massive aching pain in her chest and Mercedes could see the worry in the brunette's eyes, she placed a comforting hand on Santana's shoulder, but Santana just shrugged it off. "No!" She shouted, her voice was suddenly hoarse, her breathing was uneven and her legs were shaky. Somehow, the Latina was able to move and actually get herself to the empty restroom where she just slid down the wall and put her hands over her face as she sobbed. "Brittany..." Was all the girl managed to force out.

Santana's shaky sobs filled the empty restroom, bouncing off the tiled walls, echoing around her. She brought her knee's to her chest and hugged them as if they were the blonde herself. "Why? Why?" Santana whispered, she shut her eyes tightly and let the tears continue falling. Her throat was tightening and her heart was breaking. She couldn't believe that Brittany, an innocent, sweet girl, had been involved in something so...so terrible.

The brunette bit her lip as she thought about how much the blonde actually meant to her. Brittany had always helped Santana when she needed it most. Whether that was with her cute unicorn jokes or building a fort out of pillows, Brittany meant so much to Santana.

The Latina was drowned out by her thoughts that she didn't even hear the door open, let alone see the person standing in the doorway. But for some reason there was some type of tension in the air that made Santana look up and see a blurred silhouette of someone dressed in white, red and black with blonde hair. Santana shook her head and looked down at her shoes, "Quinn, just leave me alone."

Much to the brunette's surprise, the person stood still and kept silent, only making Santana more frustrated and angry, "Quinn, I said leave me alone!"

When she didn't hear feet move on the floor she furiously rubbed her eyes with her hands and looked up again, gasping in surprise, "Oh...oh my God. B-Britt?"

Santana used her hands to help push herself off the floor as she kept her eyes trained on the blonde, she squinted and stared at the girl. She didn't know if it was her mind playing tricks on her, but she slowly took a step forward towards the silent blonde, "Brittany? W-What are you doing here?"

Brittany just stared at the Latina as if she was a complete stranger who was trying to hit on her, whilst Santana on the other hand, had her brows furrowed in confusion. She took another step towards the younger girl and stood directly in front of her, tears filling her chocolate eyes again. Santana didn't know what to do, so she just reached up and wrapped her hands around the slim figure, "Britt, I-I am so...so sorry. I should've been here."

She leaned up and rested her head on Brittany's shoulder, the tears rolling down her face once again, but this time getting soaked up by Brittany's Cheerios uniform.

"Brittany, please say something?"
Santana waited for the blonde to answer, she just wanted to hear that soft, calming voice.

One of Brittany's hands landed on Santana's back and she smiled, "Hi."

"Oh thank God. Hey Britt." Santana breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled slightly when she felt Brittany's other hand play with her dark, wavy ponytail.

"Pretty." Brittany mumbled and wrapped a strand of hair around her finger, Santana just stood there embracing the blonde for as long as she would let her.

Just as Santana was about to pull away, the restroom door swung open behind Brittany and Mercedes, Tina, Rachel and Quinn stood there astonished. Quinn stepped forward in front of Rachel and looked at the two girls, her smile quickly turned into a frown, "B-Brittany?"
Rachel just opened her mouth, but surprisingly no words left her parted mouth, so she just nudged Quinn. The blonde shook her head and stared at Brittany, "Are-Are...What are you-"

Quinn was struggling to formulate words so instead Santana released her grip on Brittany and stepped back. However just as Santana moved so the two girls could hug it out, Quinn blacked out.