A/N: I wrote this and debated about posting it because I'm not thrilled with it. Usually when I write I know why my characters behave the way they do even if I don't put it in the story. Santana's mother however is unusually cruel and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. So she comes off as just some lunatic crazy person. It drove me so crazy it made me unhappy with the story. I finally decided to post it because I hoped somebody would enjoy it. But if you don't I totally get it. In the end I decided she's just like Heath Ledger's Joker. She just wants to pop little kids ballons, flatten the tires on ambulances, and watch the world burn. On a side note it does explain Santana's mean streak, I figured she got it honestly.
In hindsight her nonchalant shrugs and dismissive responses may have tipped her hand. If not, her smirk definitely gave her away. When her mother began ranting and raving Santana sat quietly and smiled. When her mother ordered her to hand over her car keys she laughed out loud.
Her mother had done exactly as she predicted. She'd taken away her car, confiscated her computer, barred Brittany from the house and asked for her to hand over her cell phone. Luckily Santana had shoved her cell phone down the front of her pants and told her mother she'd lost it. Her mother would do a lot of things but reaching down the front of her pants wasn't one of them. Santana knew this and she must have smiled because the woman suddenly became enraged.
"Do you think this is funny? You're throwing your life away." Her mother had gone on and on about her ruining her life by being with Brittany. The fact that she'd taken Brittany to Prom strictly against her mother's wishes surely wasn't going to win her any popularity contests at home either. Despite her mom's fury and rage the woman had given her a sorta compliment by admitting she'd been outsmarted when Santana had Blain Warbler pretend to be her date. When she threw it in her mothers face that Blaine was actually gay the woman seemed genuinely let down.
Santana smirked, she had to admit her mother looked completely crazy yelling and screaming about how being with Brittany was going to ruin her. She couldn't help but laugh out loud. It turned out to be a big mistake. Huge. Santana knew if she was Darth Vader her mother was Emperor Palpatine. Mama Lopez's exploits made Santana's look like amateur hour by comparison. Over the years she'd done some dastardly things. She'd even seen her mother get a woman arrested for shoplifting when the woman grabbed the last tube of her mom's favorite lipstick and wouldn't fork it over. Mama Lopez had shoved a seventy dollar bottle of perfume in the woman's purse and laughed when the security buzzer went off on her way out the door.
When Santana saw her mother's angry scowl fade only to be replaced by a confident smile she knew her goose was cooked. A sudden rush of panic over came her and she realized the mistake she'd made. Her mother had taken away things Santana had predicted without much trouble. The one thing her mother had always been able to do was surprise her. She hadn't accounted for that. The next words out of her mouth were like a kick to the side of the head.
"Since you're lesbiana now, you don't need all the nice stuff I put in your closet. Girls like you should be wearing flannel and motorcycle boots si?"
That's all she said before she disappeared upstairs. If Santana had half a brain in her head she would have ran upstairs and locked herself in her bedroom. Instead she sat on the sofa like a bump on a log. Her mother was upstairs for what seemed like a year. When she finally came strutting back down the stairs she was grinning proudly.
"What happened to the boy with the haircut? The delinquent?" The woman asked.
Santana knew she meant Puck. "He's got a girlfriend." She answered not sure how else to respond. Her mind was racing on how she could get herself out of this. She knew what her mother had done. She'd taken her clothes. It was a contingency Santana didn't plan for. It was a decision so cruel and off the wall she'd have never anticipated it.
Her mother scoffed at the idea of Puck having a girlfriend. "You mean to tell me you couldn't even hold on to a high school boy? Who is this girlfriend? And don't tell me it's Quinn. If you can't steal a boy from a teenage mother you sure as hell aren't my daughter."
"Nobody. A girl named Lauren." Santana confessed.
"Lauren? The big girl from your glee club?" The woman asked.
Santana didn't get a chance to respond before her mother began to shake her head. "You lost a boy to her?" She began to laugh. A mocking laugh that shouldn't have bothered Santana but did.
"I tried to fight her." She said in a lame attempt to defend her self respect.
"Tried, as in she kicked your ass?" Her mother said beginning to laugh harder. "Not only did she steal your boyfriend but she kicked your ass too. Maybe she'd appreciate learning all the stuff I've tried to teach you that you threw away. She at least seems to have some modicum of self respect. If I can get the damn weight off her maybe I'll take her under my wing. Motherhood won't be a complete waste of my time after all."
Santana went up to her room locked her door and cried. Usually she didn't let her mother get under her skin. The woman was a sadist, she enjoyed inflicting emotional pain. Unfortunately for Santana she had no escape. She had to deal with the woman and despite her tough girl demeanor her mother always knew how to hurt her feelings.
It took a few hours but her mother finally came pounding on her bedroom door. "Hija. Open the door I have your things."
Santana practically jumped out of bed. Was her mother finally growing a conscience? Taking her clothes was cruel and unusual punishment. Maybe the woman wasn't so bad after all. She pulled the door open almost letting a smile creep across her face. When she saw the woman standing before her with a pile of clothes in her hands she almost let herself get excited.
"Here you go hija. If you want to be a lesbiana it's my job as a mother to help you be the best." It sounded like a comment from a caring mother but the woman was smiling. Smiling was always bad. When Santana looked at the pile of clothes in the woman's hands she saw a pile of brand new flannel shirts and jeans. "I bought you some boots too. Combat boots. You can look like a soldier."
Instead of waiting for Santana to take the clothes her mother dumped them on the floor at her feet. She pushed passed Santana and disappeared into her bathroom. She emerged a few seconds later with Santana's full makeup kit.
"What are you doing now? You've already taken everything?" Santana asked, her voice cracking under the emotional strain.
"You don't need this anymore. Make up is for girls. I can get you some chewing tobacco if you want though." She said as she disappeared down the hallway. Santana slammed her door and locked it. She couldn't do anything but cry.
Later that night…
Santana felt the warm body slide next to her and wrap arms around her. She tightened her already shut eyes and pretended things were as they were yesterday. Yesterday was awesome. How could they go so bad in one day?
"I'm so proud of you. I promise you I won't let you go through this alone." She heard Brittany whisper into her ear.
It was comforting having her here. Even though she knew her mother would explode if she found out Brittany had snuck into the house. Despite that it was nice to know she hadn't been abandoned. Not that she expected Brittany to abandon her. This was all her idea. She had to step up.
"If my mother finds you here she'll kill me." Santana warned.
"I don't care. She can't keep me away from you. Your all mine now."
Santana buried her head into Brittany's chest and began to sob. "Thanks for coming. I really needed you today."
"You don't have to thank me, I love you. Tell me what happened. I want to hear everything. Don't hold it in."
In the morning…
"Don't blame me. You're the lesbiana. If the kids make fun of you maybe it's because you deserve it."
Deserve it? Santana asked herself. Was she serious? This wasn't a choice she'd made. This was just who she was. Didn't she see that?
"How can you say that? You don't think I tried to be what you wanted me to be? If I could just do what you want my life would be so much easier." Santana said. "I don't want you to hate me. I want you to love me. It's all I ever wanted. I don't deserve this."
Her mother sighed. "I do love you hija. I just want you to expect more from yourself and if humiliating you in public accomplishes that goal then be prepared to be laughed at."
As her mother's Mercedes Benz pulled into the parking lot Santana took a deep breath. She felt like a lumberjack dressed in the boots and flannel. How would this play out? Normally this wouldn't be a problem, she was back on the Cheerios after all. Unfortunately Friday after school, before prom Coach Sylvester confiscated all of the Cheerios uniforms and burned them in garbage cans in the faculty parking lot.
Without the comfort of the uniform she was forced to wear her own clothes to school and her mother had assured that she had nothing decent to wear. Not only that but it was the first time since seventh grade she hadn't worn some form of makeup to school.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Okay, she told herself. Be tough. Be Santana, HBIC.
"You gotta be kidding me." She heard her mother utter.
Santana opened her eyes as her mother's car slowed to a stop in front of the school. Standing outside were a half a dozen girls dressed in flannel and boots. None of them were wearing makeup. Brittany was conspicuously missing but Quinn was standing front and center.
Her mother turned to her with a glare and for the first time since doling out this punishment lost her confident smirk. "How the hell did you pull this off?"
The sight almost made Santana misty eyed. Brittany had done this. She'd promised her that she wasn't alone and she'd come through. God did she love her so much right now. If everybody worth a damn dressed this way nobody would say a thing about her mother's stab at humiliating her.
"Minions mom. You really should get some. I run this place. If you're hoping to beat me you really should come up with something a little less pitiful. If I dressed in a paper sack half the school would wear one the next day. I actually expected better from you." Saying the words were the hardest thing she'd ever done. Her mother had no doubt heard her cry herself to sleep last night. The crazy bitch probably laughed on the other side of the door.
Santana couldn't be sure but she thought she saw her mother smile. "Get out. I'll see you after school."