Home Is Where the Heart Is (Brittana)

Chapter 4

Brittany's POV

I woke up before anyone else in my house to leave for Chicago. I grabbed my bag and my phone, quickly getting into the car to bring it back.

The entire drive, butterflies fluttered in my stomach, dreading seeing Reid again. I didn't know if he would hurt me. He never had while we were dating, but things were different now, and I was scared. That was the main reason why I'd told Santana (besides the fact that I needed a ride back to Lima).

Throughout the entire drive, I listened to music, but my heart wasn't into it. All I could think about was how anxious I was to return to Chicago and see Reid again.

Arriving at the apartment building, I let out a deep breath while sitting in the car.

"You can do this," I told myself. "You'll barely see him. Just drop the key off, and then leave."

I stepped out of the car and headed into the apartment building where I rang the buzzer for Reid's apartment, and the apartment I'd lived in for quite some time.

"Who is this?"

The moment I heard his voice, I felt my chest tighten.

"It's Brittany," I replied, my voice shaking. "I have your car and the key."

He didn't reply, but I heard the buzz that allowed me to go inside and make my way up to the apartment.

"Hello, Brittany," Reid said when I got to the apartment.

"Hi." I handed him the key.

"Is that all you came to do?" he asked.

"Yes. Now, goodbye Reid." I turned to leave.

He tried saying something to me, but I ignored him, taking the stairs down to the main level of the apartment building before exiting. When I was finally outside again, I could breathe easier, allowing the cold air to soak into my lungs.

From my old apartment, I walked to a coffee shop to wait for Santana. She'd texted me during one of my many pit-stops to use the bathroom on my drive, saying that she would get to the shop around 10 o'clock, which it almost was.

I ordered a hot chocolate and drank it while I waited.

"Hey."

I immediately smiled hearing Santana's voice in a place where I'd always been without her. Turning around, I saw that she was smiling too.

"Do you want to go right away?" she asked.

I shrugged. "If you're interested, maybe we could go to the aquarium?"

"Sure!" Santana paused, looking down for a second before returning her gaze to me. "If you're interested... maybe it could be a date?"

"I would maybe be interested," I teased.

"Let's go, then?"

"Let's go."

Santana drove the two of us to the aquarium, with a lot of extra help from both myself and my phone, and by the time we were parked, it was almost lunch.

"I'm starving," I complained, half as a joke and half because I was actually really hungry.

"Should we get some lunch before we start walking around?" Santana asked.

"Yes, please!"

We paid for our tickets, then went and got some lunch. We didn't act like it was a date, but there were a lot of people around, so I really couldn't blame her.

After eating, we started walking through the aquarium, starting with a massive tank filled with a variety of sea creatures. I could have watched them swim forever, but I knew there was a lot more to see, so we moved on.