Uhhhhhh. Five weeks to write 2600 words. I don't even know what my brain is thinking. This was originally "Blaintana is best friends and nothing hurts" reaction fic to "Michael". A week later, I was about two thirds of the way through what I expected and heard about the rapping for "Fly" (which I didn't even end up mentioning), so I decided to extend this through the last three episodes...and finished two weeks after "On My Way" aired. So yeah. Title from the song "With a Little Help From My Friends" by either The Beatles or Joe Cocker, whichever version you prefer.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not Kurt, not Blaine, not Chris, not Darren. (and special for this fic, not Santana/Naya either)
For her first sixteen years, the list of people Santana admired was kept relatively short. Her parents. Her brother. Her grandmother. Brittany. Occasionally, Coach Sylvester. Then Quinn convinced her to take a leap into a group that most considered to be social suicide. While cheerleading was an art to some, it was glee club where she fell in love with performing. Santana could revel in the fact that everyone's attention could be only on her instead of the entire team.
She even started to get along with classmates she had never acknowledged before. Sure, Puck, Finn, Matt, and Mike were football players, and in some cases lovers, but she learned more about them behind their athletic abilities. She never would have gotten to know Mercedes, Tina, or Artie without New Directions existing. And yes, there were some rare occasions when Santana could consider Rachel Berry to be somewhat important to her. But it was Kurt that made her take notice. As she began questioning her sexuality, he was at his lowest point at McKinley, battered and beaten down both physically and emotionally every day. His sudden departure left everyone with a hole in their hearts. Even with Lauren replacing him, the group wasn't the same. When Santana decided it was time to admit her feelings to Brittany, she wondered how Kurt felt when he came out to everyone and how he was able to withstand the abuse the school, herself included, gave him.
The Kurt Hummel that showed up at Regionals was a far cry from the one who was chased away from them. Santana noticed during the Warblers' performance that he and the gel-addicted hobbit he brought to Rachel's party a few weeks prior, and who had basically insulted her at Breadstix on Valentine's Day, were making heart eyes at each other the entire time. It would have been nauseating had it not been the first time since Mercedes' ill-fated crush on him that anyone showed interest in Kurt. It was no surprise after the competition ended when he informed everyone outside of Finn that he and Blaine were now an item.
It didn't take long for Blaine to work himself into the group, months before he was even an official member. Slowly throughout the remainder of the school year and into the summer, he opened himself up to everyone. One blistering late July afternoon, when Puck snuck them all in to a pool while the homeowners were out of town, Blaine finally revealed to everyone the reason he was at Dalton. Santana couldn't help but let her ice queen façade down, especially when he talked about how dancing with Kurt at the prom was his way of conquering his fears. That could have been her, helpless and broken, treated as if she was lower than most people. She gave him her phone number that evening, in case he ever needed someone to vent to.
It wasn't until after the school year began that he called her. However, Santana was not expecting Blaine to tell her that he was transferring to McKinley and wanted the Cheerios to help with his New Directions audition. The performance worked well into Coach Sylvester's mission to destroy the glee club, but she didn't let him know what was going to happen at the end. He was too sweet and courteous to all the girls who came to help out, and piano fires set to Tom Jones could have sent him running back to Dalton. The following day, after Santana was forced out of the club, Blaine apologized to her for inadvertently aiding the sabotage. From then on, she knew she had a new best friend that was changing her outlook.
Not that they didn't have their issues. Santana realized early on that Blaine couldn't let go of his frontman role from the Warblers, and he was now going to be Rachel's main competition for the spotlight. Leaving New Directions again after his still entertaining performance of "Last Friday Night" hurt, but she knew he wouldn't hold it against her or Brittany. They still saw each other at rehearsals for West Side Story, and he still smiled at her every day, even if they didn't speak. She could tell something was wrong between Blaine and Kurt on opening night, but when confronted about it, he brushed it off as opening night jitters. The next evening, Santana was relieved that they were back to normal, if not even closer than before with the looks they kept giving each other. The old Santana would have made a lewd comment, but she kept to herself and was proud they had found each other and been comfortable enough to take it to the next level.
Santana's lowest point – the fight with Finn, the political ad that deliberately outed her, and the slap heard 'round the school – it should have been the moment when she relied on Blaine and talked to him. Instead, she was so angered by the events she couldn't bear to witness him being all cute with his boyfriend while singing for her. Once everything died down, she did speak to him about everything. It turned out that Blaine was familiar with the heartbreak Santana felt from her Abuela not accepting her. She agreed to spending an evening at the Andersons' downing Ben & Jerry's and watching The Notebook, if only to appease to Blaine's crush on Ryan Gosling. It helped that Rachel McAdams in '40s-era costuming was something Santana found herself appreciating.
The days leading up to sectionals were rough. Santana tried to be there for Blaine, who was having problems with Finn, fought with Sam the day after he came back, and had a new friend from Dalton who was always at a 10 when it came to flirting with Blaine and pissing off Kurt simultaneously. The Troubletones went into the performance with no drama, somewhat of a relief to Santana after beginning the controversy the previous year. She felt they gave it their all on their mashup after the Unitards' performance, and was even more confident when New Directions took the stage. With Rachel suspended, the first song had been led by the odd combination of Quinn, Tina, Mike, and Kurt, four people whom Mr. Schuester had never given the chance to shine before in competition. Santana recognized the second song as an old Janet Jackson hit and was pleased to see Blaine take control of the stage. He had the charisma to hold the entire audience's attention, even while switching vocals off with Artie. Their final song, a Michael Jackson classic, seemed to be enough to seal the deal with the judges. The defeat, followed by Ms. Corcoran's departure, stunned all the girls, but Santana was thrilled to return to her friends after Quinn confronted them.
Santana and Blaine hung out a few times over the holiday break and into January, even planning a few double dates so they didn't leave out Kurt and Brittany, who had become closer than ever after the election. However, it was an after school discussion at the Lima Bean when Santana was introduced to the navy and red clad lizard known as Sebastian Smythe that she realized how much Blaine meant to her. She spent the entire drive home from the parking garage and into the next day before Kurt updated everyone worrying. With Kurt's hesitance at getting revenge, she took matters into her own hands, thanks to some undercover tricks Artie informed her on, and confronted Sebastian on Dalton grounds. The thrill she felt from the singoff and resulting confession was quickly marred by the new, uncontaminated slushie dripping down her face and chest. But the feelings came back the next afternoon when the rest of the Warblers turned on Sebastian, realizing that Blaine and Kurt would always be better friends than him.
While Blaine was out recuperating from his surgery, Santana focused more on school and Brittany. The former led to Mr. Schuester finally owning up to his incapability to teach Spanish, something Santana knew a thing or two about thanks to her ancestors. When Mr. Martinez visited the glee club, it was refreshing. She even noted how much Kurt was into him with his boyfriend gone and wondered if she should tell Blaine or not, until she remembered she wasn't that girl anymore and really wasn't keen on severing their relationship. Besides, Valentine's Day was quickly approaching and she needed to find the perfect gift for Brittany. When she witnessed the God Squad's song for Rachel, she immediately knew that was it. Blaine agreed when she went to visit him that afternoon, and he mentioned that if his next checkup went fine, he would be at Sugar's party and was working with Mercedes on something special for Kurt. Early on that evening, she noticed how down Kurt was looking, assuming Blaine was unable to be there. Santana asked him about it, but he flinched and said he wasn't in the mood to talk about anything. Even after her gift was performed and she got to kiss her girlfriend in the middle of Breadsitx with all of their friends present, he was still dejected. Thankfully, Sugar introduced her "surprise guest" right then, and Santana was probably even happier to see her boys together for the evening.
With regionals being held the following week and Blaine swamped with his return to school, there wasn't much time for the two of them to speak until tragedy hit. Hearing that Dave tried to end it all due to harrassment at his new school, however, got to Santana. During a painful glee rehearsal that resulted in everyone reminiscing about his time at McKinley, she admitted to everyone that she figured out he was gay the year before and blackmailed him into running for prom king to keep both of their sexualities secret, earning a disgusted look from Kurt. After the rehearsal ended, Blaine pulled her aside and told her the truth, about the horrific kiss he accidentally caused and where Kurt's secret admirer gifts came from. Santana had never felt more awful. She made it up to Kurt by purchasing him a new Burberry scarf even though he said he didn't hold the happenings of the dance against her.
When New Directions beat the Warblers a few days later, everyone agreed to push the actual celebration back to partner with the wedding reception. Santana knew Quinn was against Finn and Rachel marrying at such a young age, but wondered if she was taking it a little far by taking her time arriving at the courthouse. It was Finn's mom who received the call, with the receptionist in the ER being one of her closest friends and remembering that Quinn and Finn used to date. While everyone began rushing around, Santana was frozen to the couch. Blaine finally joined her and pulled her into an embrace. Neither were able to express their thoughts, but both knew if it was them, some people in their lives may not care. They were the last ones to head out with their respective partners, Brittany already asking if she should draw a card. It was the thing that got them to crack smiles, finally relaxing a little while Kurt drove them to the hospital.
Santana's final months of high school flew by. She decided over spring break that she would begin college at the Lima branch of OSU, taking some time to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. Before she knew it, senior prom arrived. When the school board got word that two same-sex couples were planning to attend the dance, they tried to prevent it from happening until Principal Figgins stood up to them and mentioned that one of the couples attended together last year, when one of the involved persons wasn't even a student at McKinley. Brittany, as class president, was placed in charge of the theme. Santana, Blaine, and Kurt agreed to help her out with everything to show the board it didn't matter who they loved. When all was said and done, prom ended up put together beautifully thanks to Kurt, and everyone who went had a great time. The two couples even switched partners a few times, and Santana was impressed with the moves Blaine had on the dance floor and began trying to recruit him as a Cheerio for his senior year.
Nationals for both Cheerios and New Directions ended as well as they could. After preventing Coach Sylvester from winning another title last season, Santana led the team back to the top spot. Blaine came along to root for them, spending the weekend with his brother who had an apartment in Miami where the competition was held. He kept claiming he was against the idea of being on the team, but Santana knew she'd break him down before auditions began in June. The following weekend, everyone headed to New York, ready to pull out the performance of their lives since it was the final one for most of the club. When they made the finals, everyone was overjoyed and didn't even mind that they ended up in fourth place. It didn't hurt that Vocal Adrenaline ended up placing ninth. Afterwards, Santana and Blaine took Brittany and Kurt out for a night on the town, enjoying the freedom they had to be themselves in public and not worry about what others would think of their status.
The Santana of freshman year would have laughed if she had been told she'd be in tears at her high school graduation, but that was what happened. She was saying goodbye to the best four years of her life, to the friends she never expected, and moving on. Some were headed for New York, some for Columbus, and Quinn, fully recovered from the accident, was still looking forward to beginning at Yale. As she walked across the stage, Santana looked in three different spots for the people who made her happy. She looked farther back in the line for Brittany, to where her parents and brother were seated, and finally to Blaine, sitting with Kurt and Finn's parents. When the ceremony ended and everyone went to Rachel's for her party, Kurt told Santana she better spend the next year keeping an eye on his boyfriend so he could make it to New York in one piece. She laughed, completely agreeing.
Santana was thankful Blaine had become one of her best friends. The following years led to them supporting each other as much as possible. His own national championship with the Cheerios, her graduation from Ohio State as a communications major, his final choir performance before he got his teaching degree, and their inevitable weddings once the country agreed to give them the rights they deserved. Santana knew Blaine and Kurt wanted their own children, and if she wasn't so scared of childbirth, she would have agreed to carry for them. Instead, Brittany, who opted not to pursue the limelight and became a dance teacher, said she would do it. Once the little boy was born, Santana was surprised to find out he was being named Jackson Lopez Hummel-Anderson. Blaine said he wanted to honor all four of the parents he would have, but Kurt refused to use Pierce as the first name, so they went with Brittany's mother's maiden name. Holding Jackson for the first time, Santana felt anew. This little being was the product of her wife and her best friend, and she hoped he would grow up and treat the world exactly the way they treated her.