"This weeks assignment is… Disney!"
Santana gaped incredulously at the curly haired man standing in front of her as the rest of her muppet baby teammates chattered happily among themselves.
"Perfect! Oh, I have all the sheet music to every song from every movie at home!" Rachel squealed happily, turning to the Latina.
"If anyone needs any, I'd be more than happy to make them copies. Santana, I assume you aren't familiar with Disney?"
Santana's eyes dulled and she blocked out the jabbering girl next to her, an annoyed scowl on her lips.
"Can I sing something from Cinderella? She's super pretty." Brittany asked quietly from Artie's lap.
"Sure Brittany. And everyone has to do a song- it can be a solo or a duet!"
Kurt shrieked happily, turning to Blaine, beaming.
"Oh dear Gaga, We should do Aladdin! A Whole New World!"
Blaine smiled.
"You would have the song already picked out…"
"Mr. Schue, Disney? We're teenagers, I haven't watched a Disney movie since the last time I wet the bed." Santana snapped, irritated. Her gaze fell on Brittany, rubbing her nose against Artie's, and her scowl deepened.
"Santana, the point of the assignment is to find a song from Disney that you can relate with-"
"Well guess what? Not all of us have the sun shining out our ass like Berry. No way can I relate with any of those Zippity Doo Da everything is amazing songs!"
Anger bubbled as her thoughts were invaded with Brittany's refusal to be with her, and the 'family' dinners the past couple weeks. She felt the building pressure of tears behind her eyes and wordlessly walked out, heading blindly towards the parking lot. She located her car and fell into it, a few tears escaping her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.
She jumped as someone tapped lightly on her window. She glared furiously at Rachel who was opening the car door.
"WHAT?" she snarled, a small, hiccupy sob making her ferocious tone sound sad and pathetic. She wiped her eyes carefully with her sleeve, and went to start screaming at the shorter girl, when she found herself enveloped in a pair of strong, tiny arms. Santana stiffened at the embrace before sinking into Rachel's arms, letting her tears escape again.
"Brittany told me she liked Artie after I told her I'd come out to be with her. I wanted to be with her, and just her, but she'd rather be wheeled around on that legless wonders lap than be with me. And last night, my dad was going psycho about how gays were disgusting animals who needed to be contained and destroyed, and he kicked my older brother out a couple years ago because he was gay, and now- now-"
Her words were mangled and twisted with sobs after that, but Rachel sat and listened.
After a few minutes, her sobs subsided and she pulled away from Rachel's arms.
"If you tell anyone, Berry, I'll go to my grave denyi-"
"You can live with me."
Santana gave the amazingly calm girl an odd look.
"You should hate me. I'm a fucking bitch to you. If the roles were reversed-"
"You'd torture me?"
"Wait, how did you…?"
"Quinn said the exact same thing last year when I told her glee would be there for her when the cheerios weren't," Rachel explained, fishing around in her bag and pulling out a packet of tissues.
"You can come live with me. We have a guest room upstairs, you could stay there. My dads wouldn't mind- they would love to help, I'm sure. You don't have to, of course, but you can, if you want. You wouldn't have to nod and smile when your dad lamented about homosexuals, though, and you would be free to do whatever you wanted- within a certain boundary, of course- at my house. Just think about it."
Rachel gave her a small, encouraging smile and squeezed her hand before opening the door. Santana stared at her lap, thinking. As Rachel went to close the door, she called out.
"Rachel?"
The brunette looked back at her expectantly.
"Th-thanks."
"It was my pleasure, Santana." She told her softly, setting a piece of paper on the passenger seat and gently closing the car door.
It wasn't until she was finally calm and pulling out of the parking lot ten minutes later that she glanced over at the piece of paper.
What the hell was Mulan?
xxx
"You remember Leroy Berry, honey? Big black guy. Played varsity with me?"
Santana stiffened at the mention of Rachel's father, concentrating on the peas on her plate.
"Of course, George. He was always such a quiet gentleman. Never did see him drunkenly groping other cheerleaders!"
Santana rolled her eyes at the accusatory tone of her mother and the dismissive grunt of her father.
"That's because he's another one of those filthy homos. Honestly, no one is safe! Poor parents, what an utter disappointment!"
He grumbled incoherently for a few moments before Santana looked up angrily.
"Mr. Berry's cool. He gave me a drive home one day when you were drunk out of your mind and it was pouring outside." She informed her father timidly. She flinched as he slammed him fist against the table angrily.
"You got in a car contaminated with their kind?"
"What kind ? What the hell are you talking about? Mr. Berry and Mr. Berry are human beings too."
"No, they aren't. It's unnatural, what they do. They have a daughter, too. Rachel, is it? You stay away from her, you hear me? She's just a product of sin."
"I like Rachel. She's nice to me- She's nice to pretty much everyone!"
Her mother gasped and Santana screamed in shock and pain as her father's hand collided with her cheek, leaving it burning and red.
"You stay away from their kind! They are the mud under our shoes, young lady! God shuns them, and you will too! Look at your brother! Wasting his life to be with another man! God has turned his back on him and all other sinning homosexuals! You will go up to your room and pray until god forgives for trying to justify the blasphemy they commit everyday!"
Santana stood up angrily, eyes blazing. Her mother flinched and her father stared incredulously as her chair toppled over.
"Then I'll turn my back on god before he turns his back on me too, because I'm in love with Brittany Pierce!" Santana screamed, running up the stairs.
Crying, she threw her things into two large duffel bags without thinking and grabbed her keys, gently touching her bruising cheek and wincing at the pain. She steeled herself as she ran down the stairs, ignoring her mother and father who were at the foot.
"And where the hell do you think you're going? The Pierces aren't going to take you in. We already called them. Brittany is not permitted to speak to the likes of you anymore. Besides, she's dating that cripple, Abrams."
"Artie isn't a cripple, he's a human being! Why do you insist on referring to him like that? Besides, it doesn't matter where I'm going. They won't be like you." She called out evenly as she slammed the door behind her, walking out of her old house for the last time.
It was raining; perfect.
xxx
Rachel was in the middle of retelling her day to her father's when someone knocked uncertainly on the door. Frowning curiously, she stood and went to it, opening it a crack before throwing it open.
Santana Lopez was standing on her doorstep, crying in the rain, with two huge bags slung over her shoulder and an incredibly purple cheek.
"Santana! What happened? Oh dear, you're soaked!" she cried, pulling the girl inside.
"M- my dad was being an asshole, so I stood up for…" she jerked her head towards the dining room where Leroy and Hiram were seated, and Rachel's expression darkened, her lips pressing into an angry line.
"And he hit me and told me to go ask god for forgiveness, because I was trying to justify being gay, and god turns his back on gays, and so I-I told him…"
Santana looked down at her sneakers, her face crumpling.
"It's okay, Santana. Do you want to sit down?"
Santana nodded, sobbing, and fell onto the couch. Rachel sat down next to her, putting an arm around her.
"I told him I'd turn my back on him first and told him I loved Britt! Th-then they called Britt's parents, and she's not allowed to talk to me, and- and, I didn't know what to do, so I left…"
They sat in silence for a few moments, before Rachel spoke.
"Did you eat yet?"
"I- I had a few peas…" Santana explained weakly.
"We're having vegan lasagna. It might not be what you're accustomed to, but..."
"Rachel? What's taking so long? Bring your friend in to eat." Leroy called.
"Just a second, Daddy!" Rachel called, turning back to Santana and standing.
"Come on, you're probably frozen and hungry," she chastised, throwing what looked like a very expensive throw blanket around Santana's shoulders and pushing her into the dining room.