A/N: Second story and I can't get the storyline out of my head so I thought I might as well get started. Might be slow on updates since I'm still working on the other story, "You're My Head and You're My Heart". Check that out as well if you haven't already :) ID # 8666480
AU: Santana & Quinn are Cheerios, but Glee does not exist in their lives, so they are their own support system in high school. Quinn is pregnant with Puck's baby, but she hasn't told anybody yet.
A/N WARNING: Will contain a lot of deep issues including depression & self-hurt. If you are uncomfortable with the topic or if it may trigger something negative, please do NOT continue to read.
Quinn stared at the three pregnancy tests before her on her bathroom sink. All had the same thing on it: two little pink lines. Two lines that would change her life forever. All three tests read positive; Quinn was pregnant. The young girl pressed her back against the bathroom door and slid down into fetal position, cradling back and forth as she sobbed quietly with heaves of cries breaths in between. How could she raise a baby, when she was only a baby herself? Barely sixteen and the head cheerleader managed to seal her fate as a Lima loser. She buried her face into her knees and sobbed uncontrollably. Her lungs felt tight and her body felt weak. She felt like she was going to die. She wanted to die.
Santana had been calling Quinn's phone for over an hour now. It wasn't like Quinn to miss Cheerios practice without telling anyone, so Santana was naturally concerned for her friend. "Quinn, come on, where are you? Call me back as soon as you get this." It was the fifth voicemail she left Quinn. Santana took a deep sigh and rubbed her forehead in distress, "I hope she's okay," Santana thought. She knew how pressure could get to the best of Quinn sometimes. She'd seen it in the past during sectionals and nationals for the Cheerios in cheer competitions. The girl always tried to be synonymous with perfection and her obsession with it sometimes worried Santana.
Santana felt her phone vibrate.
Q: Sorry to worry you. I just felt sick after school. I'm fine now.
Santana stared at her phone with her brows furrowed. She knew better than to believe that lie, but she didn't want to push the issue.
Okay, feel better blondie, or else it'll be me on top of that pyramid instead ;) xx
The next day at school, Quinn Fabray walked the halls of McKinley proudly as her Cheerios uniform swayed with her body. She hugged her books tightly as she thought of the future and how this uniform would no longer hug her body in a few months. The shame burned inside of her. However, Quinn tried not to seem worried, or let others know that she was falling apart inside, and most of them were convinced that she was fine. But Santana knew better.
Santana caught up with Quinn from behind, "Hey Q, missed ya at practice yesterday."
"I've realized you missed me. You made that blatantly clear through five voicemails last night," Quinn snapped.
Santana stopped dead in her tracks and turned her heel. She didn't need this from Quinn. She didn't need the HBIC attitude from her; not as a response to her only trying to be a caring, good friend to Quinn.
Quinn turned around, "Santana, wait," she called out, feeling bad after snapping at the one person who actually cared about her absence the day prior. Her boyfriend, Finn didn't even text her to see if she was still alive. Santana kept walking, unfazed by Quinn's apologetic tone. Quinn picked up her pace and tried to catch up with her. "Look I'm sorry," she said from behind, "I didn't mean to-"
"Whatever, Quinn. I'm not in the mood for one of your PMS mood swings," Santana interrupted, still not turning around to face Quinn.
Quinn sighed. She desperately wanted to blurt out the confession to Santana. They were pretty much the same person. Slept with the same guy, who had knocked her up, both on the Cheerios cheer squad, ridiculously popular and both shoe-ins for Homecoming Queen. She wanted to take some pressure off of her chest to someone who might understand. She wanted to lighten the hurt in her heart. She wanted to shift some weight off of her shoulders. But when she tried to open her mouth and cry out her circumstances, silence was the only echo that made a sound.
Too late, Santana marched into class, still ahead of Quinn. Still not taking a glance back. Quinn's heart only ached a little more.
During class, Quinn's attention was only to the class clock in the front of the room. The ticking drove Quinn to madness. Each tick and each tock was a reminder of the apocalypse bound to erupt in the matter of months.
Tick. Stretch marks.
Tock. Lima loser.
Tick. Disowned by parents.
Tock. Homeless.
Tick. The stares.
Tock. Loneliness.
The bell rang and made Quinn shake in short shock.
"You okay there, blondie?" Santana called out with a cocked eyebrow.
"Yea, I'm fine," Quinn mumbled as she gathered her things from her desk, "Look San, I'm really sorry about earlier," Quinn started, "I'm just going through some... things," her voice was hesitant, looking around, making sure the classroom was still empty.
Santana shook her head, "I'm not your punching bag, Q. You don't get to push me away, be a bitch to me and still expect me to ask 'are you okay' when we both know that you're not. I don't know who you think I am or who you think you are, but I'm not going to play cat-and-mouse and chase you around for answers that you don't want to provide." If Quinn wanted to uphold her HBIC reputation, so did she. Santana was aggravated by this wall Quinn was trying to build.
Quinn's eyes welled up and her lower lip trembled as she tried to choke out the words, "I'm pregnant."
Santana stood in staggered silence with wide eyes and a clenched jaw. Her fingertips were firmly planted on the table, as if she was making sure she wouldn't float away in this numb shock. The few milliseconds between Santana's alarmed state, and her wrapping her arms around distraught and sobbing Quinn, felt like an eternity. She nearly jumped to her friend in natural response, trying to calm her down. She tried to think of a million things to say, but she wasn't sure what was right. She didn't want to trigger anything else, so she stood there, letting her actions be enough. She let her embrace be the comfort Quinn needed.
Quinn shook in her arms as she held onto Santana's body for dear life. She thought she was going to collapse because air was escaping her as she cried uncontrollably through short gasps. Reality was escaping her. Life was pulling the floor from right under her feet, but Santana held her up. Santana's arms were strong enough to do what Quinn's legs couldn't. She held her up.