AN: No Brittana in this chapter but it'll come soon I promise.

Just a warning: The updates might be a bit slower than my previous fics but hopefully it'll be worth it!

I hope you enjoy!


For as long as she could remember, Santana Lopez has hated her life. She was born into a high class family, attended the nicest private schools money could afford, and was given everything a teenage girl could ever want. Well, almost everything.

Her parent's had never provided the most loving environment. Her mother was the personal assistant to the leader of their city, and her father was the head of the genetics department at the biggest hospital. Both of them had busy lives and therefore, were rarely ever home.

It was no secret what the genetics department did. They were the ones that conducted the tests on infants that determined if the child was eligible to be put into society or if they would have to be erased. Her father, being the head of the department, was the one in charge of outlining what 'perfect genetics' meant.

Santana couldn't stand the thought of her father making decisions that determined whether or not a baby lived, but that was life. Someone had to make the hard decisions.

Santana walked downstairs to see her mother and father sitting at the table together. At first, she just stood in the doorway and watched them. It was an odd sight since they were usually gone by the time she left for school. She quickly waved to them and grabbed a yogurt from the fridge then headed towards the front door, but she couldn't shake the eerie feeling she got when she saw them sitting in the kitchen so calmly.

"Santana." She heard her mother call before she could make it out the door.

She sighed. "Yes mother?" She looked outside to see a white car in her drive way. Quinn was waiting for her.

"We have to talk to you about something very important after school today. So come straight home please."

Santana paused for a second before answering. The eerie feeling suddenly became dread. "Will do." She left the house before her mother could say anything more.

She opened the passenger side door to the white car and sat down. "It's about time. We're going to be late again you know."

Santana scowled at the blonde beside her. "Shut it Fabray. We'll make it on time, besides it's not like you really care if we're late."

"Unlike you, I actually take pride in my grades." Quinn told her with a smirk.

"You mean, unlike me, you actually have to work for your grades." Santana fired back. She looked over at her friend who was now acting overly hurt by the remark. Santana and Quinn were both straight A students, but Santana didn't even have to try. She rolled her eyes at her friend's exaggeration. "Whatever, let's just get this day over with."

Quinn pulled out of the Lopez driveway and started towards their school. "What's up with you today?"

Santana looked out the window. "What do you mean? I'm always a stone cold bitch."

"I've known you forever Santana. I know you better than anyone and I can tell when you're being your normal bitchy self and when something's actually bothering you." She glanced over at her friend. "So, tell me what's wrong."

Santana sighed. She was right, she did know Santana better than anyone. They had been best friends since they were kids and had been through everything together. If she were being honest, Quinn was the only person in her life she actually liked. "My mom told me they had something important to talk to me about when I got home."

Quinn's eyes widened. "You don't think it's about-"

"I don't know, maybe. Probably."

"Maybe it'll be someone good." Quinn offered, hoping to cheer her friend up a bit.

Santana let out a small, sarcastic laugh. "Right."

They pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. Quinn quickly ran over to her boyfriend who was waiting for them. He wrapped his arms around her and spun her in a circle. Santana waited until their moment was over before rolling her eyes. "Nice to see you too Jamie."

"Hey Santana." He smiled at her.

Quinn looked at her friend apologetically. "I'm sorry."

Santana shook her head and walked into the school with Quinn and Jamie beside her. "Don't be sorry. You're lucky your parents approve of this." She gestured between her two friends. "Not all of us have that kind of luck."

They stopped outside of Santana's class and Quinn grabbed her friend's arm before she walked away. "Whatever happens tonight..." She bit her bottom lip, trying to come up with the right words. "Just, call me ok?"

Santana nodded. "Thanks Quinn."

Quinn smiled and leaned in to hug Santana when suddenly a guy walked past and shoved her into the brunette. "Watch where you're going, defect." The guy called back towards Quinn.

"Shut the hell up you Neanderthal!" Santana yelled back after she regained her balance. She looked at Quinn, who hadn't taken her eyes off the floor. "Don't listen to him. He's an idiot, I don't even know how he made it through screening."

"It's ok." The blonde finally looked up at Santana. "I'm getting used to things like that."

"That doesn't make it ok."

"My brother was erased two years ago Santana and people still aren't over it. It might not be right, but all I can do is get used to it." She gave Santana a sad smile before turning away and walking down the hall.


Every day after class Quinn would spend time with her boyfriend and Santana would walk home alone. Today was no exception. The only difference about today was the conversation with her parents she was dreading. She opened the door slowly and walked into the house, hoping not to draw any attention to her arrival.

"Santana is that you?" She heard her mother call from the other room.

"It's me." She called back as she inwardly cursed her mother's superhuman hearing.

"Would you come into the dining room please?"

Santana rolled her eyes as she put her bag down. The please was just a formality; it wasn't actually a request, it was a demand. She walked into the dining room to find both her parent's calmly siting at the table, looking in her direction. She sat down as far away from them as she could.

Her father looked across the table to her mother. "I guess I'll begin." He cleared his throat and turned towards Santana. "As you're aware you recently turned eighteen. Now, you know this means that you're legally obligated to get married and eventually start a family. Since you haven't found someone, it is our responsibility to find you a husband."

Her mother pulled out a folder and slid it along the table in Santana's direction. "We've found the perfect guy. His names Matthew."

Santana reached over and opened the folder. Inside was a picture of a well built, dark haired guy that most people would consider attractive. There was something about him though, he looked familiar. He was the guy from school that called Quinn a defect on a daily basis. She threw the folder down on the table. "I'm not marrying that guy."

"Yes you are." Her father stated.

"No, I'm not. He's an idiot!"

"He is of average intelligence Santana." Her mother countered. "And physically, he's perfect."

"Ok then I'm not marrying him because he's an asshole." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"What does that have to do with this?" Her father asked.

She scoffed. "I'm not going to spend the rest of my life with some jerk."

"That's not what this is about Santana. You two have the perfect combination of genes and that is why you are marrying this man."

"So I have to spend the rest of my life with someone I hate because we have good genetics?" She looked between her parents. They couldn't want this for her, they loved her. Right?

"Yes, that's how it works."

"Maybe that isn't how it should work." She stood up.

"Santana." Her father warned.

"Maybe I don't want to marry that guy!" She yelled, ignoring her father's warning. "Maybe we should spend our lives with people we like, and maybe I don't even want to have kids because I don't want to raise them in a world like this."

"Enough!" Her father stood up and slammed his hands loudly on the table. "You will marry him and you will have kids because that's how it works."

"You know he calls Quinn a defect all the time." Her voice was softer now. "She lost her older brother and this guy," she pointed to the folder on the table, "reminds her about it every day."

Her father's features softened slightly but he held his ground. "This isn't up for discussion."

She scoffed at him and narrowed her eyes. "Right, like there was no discussion when Liam was erased."

Her father looked down at the table, remembering the day he made the call for Liam Fabray to be erased. "I was just doing my job Santana."

"Yeah, so I've been told." She turned around to leave but stopped and turned back to face her dad. "You know, no matter how many times you tell yourself you did the right thing, it won't give the Fabray's their son back and it won't give Quinn her brother back." With that she left the room, leaving her parents with the folder that held her future.


Santana walked into the cafeteria and spotted Quinn at their usual table. She sat down across from the blonde. "Where's Jamie?"

Quinn looked up from her book. "He's working on a project in the library." Santana nodded. "You didn't call me last night."

"And you didn't pick me up this morning."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "At least I texted you to tell you I stayed at Jamie's so I couldn't." She closed her book. "You told me you would call me last night."

Santana shrugged. "I got busy."

"How did the talk go with your parents?"

The brunette stared at her friend for a second as she contemplated telling her that it wasn't what they thought it was going to be. She sighed; she couldn't lie to Quinn. The blonde would see right through it. "They chose Matthew."

Quinn's brow furrowed. "Who's that?"

Santana was about to explain it to Quinn when she spotted Matthew walking towards them. "You'll see."

He walked up, sat down and looked between the two girls. Quinn stared at him, mouth agape. He looked at the blonde. "Defect." He greeted, then turned to the brunette. "Santana." He smiled and nodded.

Santana narrowed her eyes at the guy. "You do realize that Quinn isn't actually a defect and the fact that you think she is just shows how much of an imbecile you really are."

He stopped smiling. "Her brother was and it's only a matter of time before her true genetics start showing too." He glanced at Quinn. "Wasn't he the same age you are now when he started going crazy?" He smirked and stood up. He turned to Santana and looked her up and down. "We're going to have so much fun."

Both girls watched as he walked away from them. As soon as he was out of ear's shot Quinn spoke up. "I'm not crazy."

Santana turned to her, clearly confused. "I know that."

Quinn shrugged. "Most people think I am."

"I'm not most people Quinn." The blonde nodded at her friend and gave her a thankful smile. Santana looked around them. There wasn't very many people close to them and everyone was trapped in their own conversations. She leaned closer to Quinn. "Do you think there are actually people living outside of the cities?"

Quinn's eyes widened. "Shut up Lopez." She whispered harshly.

"Nobody's listening."

Quinn looked around and sighed before looking down at her hands. "I hope there are people outside the cities." She said quietly.

"You do?" Santana asked and Quinn nodded. She knew Quinn was unhappy with how the world worked, especially since she lost her brother, but they had never talked about it before. "Why?"

The blonde looked at Santana as if the answer were obvious. "Because then it would mean people can escape and if people can escape then there's a shred of hope that Liam did."

"Right…" Santana had to stop herself from saying sorry. She had apologized to Quinn over and over for her dad's actions and eventually Quinn told her to stop because it wasn't her fault and saying sorry would never bring him back.

"Wait." Quinn's voice broke Santana from her thoughts. "You aren't thinking about trying to leave the city are you?"

"I can't marry Matthew."

"Um, yes you can." Quinn stated factually. "He may not be a stand up guy but you have to marry him Santana. You can't run away, you'll be killed."

"So I'm better off stuck here marrying some asshole and popping out beautiful, genetically perfect babies?" Santana scoffed. "No thank you."

Quinn stood up and put her book into her bag. "Look, life here might not be perfect but at least you're not alone." She stopped packing her things to look at her friend. "If you died I'd be alone."

Santana shook her head and crossed her arms. "You'd have Jamie."

"Wow." Quinn let out a short, breathy laugh. "After all these years I thought maybe you would realize how much our friendship means to me but I guess I was wrong." She picked up her bag and threw it over her shoulder. "And you were right, you are a stone cold bitch."


It was night-time but Santana was far from asleep. She couldn't stop her mind from racing, but mostly she couldn't stop thinking about her fight with Quinn.

She rolled over and picked up her phone. She sent a quick text to Quinn saying she was sorry. After waiting a few minutes she heard the buzz of a response. She read the text. "Go to sleep." She smiled to herself, sending a message back asking her friend if she had was home. She waited until her phone buzzed again. "Sleep." She quickly got out of bed and climbed out her window. If Quinn were at Jamie's she would have just said no, instead she avoided the question which meant she was most definitely home.

Quinn only lived down the street so it didn't take long before Santana was climbing up the tree outside the blonde's window. She carefully made her way along the branch that almost touched the window sill and knocked on the glass. She watched as Quinn rolled over and threw her pillow over her head, so she knocked harder. This time Quinn pulled her arm out from under the blankets and gave Santana the middle finger.

"Quinn I'm sorry, come on." She spoke loud enough that she knew Quinn could hear her. "You're my best friend, you know that."

Finally Quinn gave up and got out of bed. She walked over to the window and stared out at her friend... then closed the curtains. Santana was about to climb down the tree when she noticed her friend had opened the curtains back up and was now working on the window.

The blonde opened the window and crossed her arms. "Oh Santana. I didn't see you out there." She smirked.

Santana rolled her eyes and climbed in through the window. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"I know, me too." Quinn sat down on her bed and sighed. Santana could tell Quinn was thinking hard about something, so she leaned against the wall and waited patiently. "Look, I don't want to lose you but if you really want to leave then I know there's no stopping you." She stood up and walked over to her desk. She opened a drawer and started removing things from it.

Santana watched as her friend pulled everything out of the drawer. "I want you to come with me."

Quinn shook her head but didn't look up. "I can't do that."

"Why not? You of all people know how much this place sucks. There has to be some place better than this."

"I hope so, but I can't leave. My parents already lost one child and I won't put them through that again." She reached into the drawer and pulled out what looked to be a false bottom. She picked up a piece of paper and put the false bottom back in. "I never told you this but when my brother died I almost ran away."

Santana's eyes widened. "What? Why didn't you?"

The blonde shrugged and walked over to her friend. "Like I said, I can't leave my parents." Santana nodded, she understood that. If she had parents like Quinn's she probably wouldn't want to leave either. "You realise you're going to be leaving your parents forever right?"

Santana laughed. "Of course. My parents don't love me like yours love you Q. Your parents are great, mine? Not so much."

"You'd be leaving me forever." Quinn watched as Santana swallowed the lump in her throat. "But I want you to do it."

The brunette looked up at her friend in shock. "That's quite the change in opinion from earlier."

Quinn smiled. "I thought about how I felt when Liam was erased, and I get it. I understand why you need to leave. But if you're going to leave then at least do it right. What was your plan?" She studied Santana's face as the girl looked around awkwardly. "That's what I thought. Here." She held out a piece of paper.

Santana took the paper from Quinn. She opened it up to see that a phone number was written on it. "What's this?"

"The number of a guy that can get you out of the city without a problem. He works in security."

Santana's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" Quinn nodded. "So there are people out there."

Quinn shrugged. "He's never really left the city. He gets people to the outskirts and then sends them on their way."

"How did you find him?"

"He's a friend of my fathers. I got into a fight with my parents one night and told them I wanted to leave the city. The next day my dad brought me this piece of paper."

Santana smiled; she had always liked Quinn's parents. They weren't like the majority of society. They cared about their family and wanted Quinn to be as happy as possible. "Thank you."

"I don't know what it's like out there or if you'll even be able to but, if you can, just text me that you're ok. You know, when you make it... Wherever you're going." Quinn brushed away a tear that had started making its way down her cheek.

Santana pulled Quinn into a tight hug. "You're my best friend Quinn."

Quinn nodded. "And you're mine."

The brunette pulled away and looked straight into her friend's eyes. "This isn't goodbye. I won't let it be."

Quinn smiled. "Right well, talk to you later then."

Santana nodded. "As soon as I can, I will get a hold of you. I promise."